The narco fights the Mexican Army with drones and human shields, and only fears the Blackhawk helicopter gunships

By Mark Stevenson -

The Mexican government is running out of tools to control the expansion of the dreaded Jalisco Nueva Generación Cartel at the forefront of the narco-war in the state of Michoacán, where the even combat on the ground is now being complemented by an

The Jalisco Nueva Generación Cartel, the most powerful drug trafficking gang in Mexico from a military point of view, has also begun to use the inhabitants of the towns to act as

which they are only trying to maintain. separated to rival cartels.

"If they try to enter here again, we will put 2,000 people to stop them,"

said Habacuc Solórzano, a 39-year-old farmer who leads the civil movement associated with the cartel.

His statement, like most of what comes from the jail, is not pure boast: Last week, some 500 local residents marched - and then crossed a river - to confront an Army squad blocking a dirt road.

[The Mexican Army captures the wife of 'El Mencho', leader of the Jalisco Nueva Generación Cartel]

The inhabitants of Aguililla are fed up with the Army's strategy of limiting itself to separating Jalisco from Michoacan from the Viagras gang.

Army policy allows the Viagras - feared for their kidnapping and extortion - to establish roadblocks and checkpoints that have blocked all trade with Aguililla.

Leaving limes and cattle, or incoming supplies, must pay a war tax on Viagras.

Mexican soldiers behind a barricade of car tires in front of protesters, during a march against the blockades in Loma Blanca, Michoacán, Mexico, Tuesday, Nov. 16, 2021. Eduardo Verdugo / AP

“

”A protester shouted at the soldiers during a tense hour-long clash between the protesters and a platoon of a dozen soldiers who took cover behind a barricade of car tires.

Many of the protesters carried rocks and powerful slingshots, but did not use them.

Residents want

"Let the two cartels fight and kill each other,"

shouted another protester, "(the cartel) Jalisco is going to beat everyone!"

[The complete interview with Miguel Ángel Félix Gallardo.

He speaks from prison about the murder of 'Kiki' Camarena: "I did not know him"]

That opinion is generalized.

"What we need is for

said a priest, and "everything indicates that this group is the Jalisco Cartel."

Above all, what the residents want is

As they have to go through these checks from time to time, none of the residents wanted to give their names for fear of reprisals.

[This is how 'El Mencho', the successor of 'El Chapo' operates as the bloodiest narco in Mexico]

But one of them explained it this way to the Army brigade: “The only entrance road to Aguililla is blocked and controlled by a cartel that is only 500 meters from you and

said.

"They don't know how hard it is to pay a war tax that is being used to kill us," he added.

Miguel Ángel Félix Gallardo denies everything but the evidence says otherwise: this is how an expert explains it

Aug. 19, 202107: 49

Actually, that's a pretty accurate description of the government's policy: preserving the

and keeping each cartel in its own territory.

But the one from Jalisco does not accept that the Government is the arbiter of the territorial divisions of the drug cartels;

a local narco leader says the Army is only trying to protect the weaker of the two gangs, the Viagras, for corruption reasons.

The Jalisco cartel is everywhere in Aguililla, from the vans and homemade armored cars that bear their initials to the little trampolines the gang set up for children in each town.

Some residents say they

fearing that their water or electricity will be cut off if they don't.

Others are simply tired of paying war taxes on Viagras and being cut off from the outside world.

One protester described how her father died in early 2020 because Viagras did not allow them to pass to get to a hospital.

The Government of Mexico warns that the narco recruits young people through online video games

Oct. 21, 202102: 09

Dozens of cartel members with guns openly wear bulletproof vests with the group's initials, CJNG, on the back, and on the front, “FEM” —El Mencho's Special Forces—, a reference to the cartel leader's nickname, Nemesio. Oseguera.

The Jalisco cartel is the only cartel in Mexico that does not hide what it is, and does not play politics of relations with the press or moderation.

"We are drug traffickers,"

said the local leader, who did not give his name, "everyone must take care of their own affairs."

His problem with Viagras and other gangs he fights against is that they "want everything for themselves."

Jalisco maintains its sizeable army of troops with a potent mix of money — the cartel has a lot, from the traffic of fentanyl and methamphetamine to the United States — and cocaine, which it flies in from Costa Rica.

[Do not consume drugs and do not kill without the order of the boss: the rules of 'El Mencho' in the Jalisco Nueva Generación Cartel]

While the local chief is at a makeshift command post along the street, a pickup truck full of members of Jalisco armed with AR15 assault rifles pulls up.

The driver says: "The Scorpion says he needs some things," and the boss reaches into his own truck and hands the co-pilot a plastic bag with what appears to be a brick of cocaine, apparently for "the troops."

The Patron of the Sinaloa Cartel is sentenced to 10 years in prison

Aug. 27, 202102: 18

Jalisco understands brute force;

At the moment, it doesn't bother the residents of Aguililla much, because it doesn't have to.

But if you suspect that a resident is actively working for Viagras or passes information to them, that person's life expectancy is likely to be very short.

The local kingpin shrugs off the government's claims that cartels like Jalisco's have trouble finding young recruits, due to the current Administration's youth employment and training programs.

[These are the tests that the men of the Jalisco Nueva Generación Cartel must pass to become hitmen]

“It depends on the type of young people,” he says, “

"I make it clear to my people that they come here to fight," he adds.

Beyond food, regular pay, and unlimited drugs, the cartel also offers its young

a kind of family structure.

Everyone, including the local boss, refers to their immediate superior as “Apa”, as a child would say “Papa”.

Both cartels have developed bomb-carrying drones, and the most feared warrior on these battlefields is the

, or drone operator.

Although initially crude and dangerous to carry and handle - and remains indiscriminate - drone warfare has improved, and it is not uncommon to see barn roofs or metal sheds open like cans from the impact of explosions.

Emma Coronel will plead guilty to aiding 'El Chapo' Guzmán in criminal activities, according to The New York Times

June 8, 202101: 24

Locals also claim - although there is little evidence beyond a few craters in the roads - that cartels are beginning to use landmines.

To deal with the growing firepower in the conflict, the Mexican government has turned to a powerful card to overcome the Jalisco Cartel:

equipped with

rotating-barreled

that can fire

[A daughter of 'El Mencho', leader of the Jalisco Nueva Generación Cartel, arrested in the United States]

It is a weapon that almost defines "indiscriminate cover fire" and is prohibited in most countries in civil conflicts.

It's the kind of weapon that the president, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, says he no longer wants.

But for the moment, that enormous firepower is the only thing holding the cartel back.

"They shot and burned two of our trucks," said the local gang chief about the helicopter gunships, "when the soldiers arrive with a helicopter, there is nothing you can do, you just get out of the way."

These are the arguments of 'El Chapo' to request the annulment of his sentence

Oct. 26, 202104: 46

It is not clear that this will be the case for long.

Jalisco is known for two things: being the most armed cartel in Mexico and the only one that has shot down a military helicopter.

In 2015, cartel gunmen shot down a Eurocopter transport helicopter with a rocket-propelled grenade, killing eight soldiers and one police officer.

Although the helicopters Jalisco faces now are Blackhawks, there is no doubt that the cartel can come up with something more forceful.

The newspaper El Universal published transcripts of intercepted cartel communications in which a leader is heard instructing a sniper with a .50 caliber rifle to pierce the door of a helicopter with armor-piercing bullets.

The Army did not respond to a request for comment on this or other issues.

In the past, the Jalisco Cartel has obtained squad machine guns, .50 caliber sniper rifles, and 40mm grenades and launchers.

Ohio court comes out in defense of Pablo Escobar's 'cocaine hippos'

Oct. 27, 202101: 42

The government, fearful of the kind of bloodbath that began in 2018 when the Jalisco cartel moved to the neighboring state of Guanajuato, is now left with an unviable policy of defense of the gangs' territorial divisions, and a military advantage each time. narrower.

An unidentified Army captain who tried to speak to the Aguililla protesters voiced the predicament.

"How can it be that Mexicans are killing other Mexicans?" Said the captain, "this simply cannot be."