The chicken war: the last drug threat in Mexico

There is no chicken in Chilpancingo, a strange, striking idea, a turning point: if chicken is not sold, the situation is really serious.

For several days, different markets in the city have woken up with the chicken shops closed, a way of protesting against the latest criminal wave in the region, especially hard on the chain of chicken producers, distributors and sellers.

This Wednesday, finally, most of the premises have opened, tackling the crisis.

At least for now.

The chicken strike responds to a chain of events that is lost in time, but can be counted by chapters.

The last one began on June 6, when a group of gunmen attacked Tomás Ramírez, a chicken distributor, in the Baltazar R. Leyva market, one of the most important in the city.

Ramírez died in the corridors of the same center.

Days later, gunmen attacked another distributor, at the exit of the same market, when he was driving his vehicle.

He also died.

It is not known if the attackers were from the same group.

Last weekend, the situation worsened.

In Petaquillas, a community on the outskirts of the capital, passing through the mountainous area of ​​Quechultenango, stronghold of one of the most important criminal groups in the area, Los Ardillos, gunmen attacked a chicken farm.

Six people died, including the owner and his daughter, a 12-year-old girl.

Two workers were injured.

There are no arrests for any of these attacks.

In an attempt to understand what is happening, the regional press has linked these murders with others against members of different unions, especially the public transport union.

Thus, between June 6 and 7, one or more criminal groups set fire to two vans and three taxis in Petaquillas, vehicles that cover the route between the community and Chilpancingo.

Cyclical situation, the attacks caused the interruption of the transport service for several days.

Are both events related, the attacks against the avian guild and against the carriers?

It's hard to say.

The local press mentions a previous attack, which occurred at the end of May, against one of the transportation leaders of Chilpancingo, Francisco García Marroquín, who was shot to death in the street.

Both activities, transportation and commerce, are often the target of violent actors seeking income from the collection of flats.

In Chilpancingo and surroundings, the changing presence of criminal groups, their interactions and the relationships they maintain with the State define the reality of ordinary people.

Since this Sunday, police and soldiers from the Mexican Army and the National Guard have been installed, including a canine binomial. Dassaev Téllez (Cuartoscuro)

The retired bishop of Chilpancingo, Salvador Rangel, has closely followed the latest events.

“Before there were two groups here, Los Tlacos and Los Ardillos.

There was a certain truce between them, but now another group has appeared that depended on Los Tlacos, they are called Los Jaliacos.

They want to fight Tlacos with Ardillos to keep Los Jaliacos plaza”, he narrates.

A defender of fluid communication with the underworld, Rangel regularly speaks with the leaders of Los Ardillos, Celso Ortega and his family, important actors in regional politics and crime.

"This group of Los Jaliacos are the ones who collect taxes on chicken, bread, everything," he says.

Rangel details the link between the chicken guild and the carrier.

“This problem was aggravated more because of the death of a leader of the carriers, this Marroquín.

He was in trouble because he was driving a lot of pirate taxis and vans.

He combined the issue of pirate taxis… But then they also burned taxis that came from Petaquillas.

What Los Jaliacos want is to create problems, for Los Ardillos to attack Los Tlacos”, he ditches.

The extortion, origin of the mafia

Rangel's arguments portray extortion more as a means than an end, a way of demonstrating power or portraying the lack of control of the theoretically strongest group.

Or even a tool to sow discord and break precarious balances.

Chicken extortion then appears as a distraction, at least in part, with fatal consequences for union members.

Maria Teresa Martínez, professor and researcher at TEC de Monterrey, specialist in legal and illegal protection mechanisms, points out precisely that “extortion, a predatory activity that continues over time, is considered as a way to demonstrate control.

Whoever dominates the extortion market demonstrates territorial control”, she argues.

Martínez, who is currently studying extortion and the collection of flats in Tijuana, adds: “When the State, the main provider of protection, does not arrive, other actors appear.

These can be more or less organized, there is no need for a great organization behind it, just reputation.

As in any market, here it is about seeing who gets the biggest profits.”

In the case of Chilpancingo, profits do not point so much to control, or to the most obvious and direct notion of control, but rather to the paradox of controlling from chaos, as ex-bishop Rangel explains above.

The explanatory scarcity of the Administration in Guerrero may be a communication strategy, but also a reflection of its ability to control the criminal ecosystem in the region.

Martínez says: “Beyond the situation, from the extortions to chicken, to the mine, to fish, it matters how businessmen or merchants are or are not organized, their relationship with the State and the prevalence of protection providers.

That in the end it is the origin of the mafia, the offer of protection, not the illegal markets”, he concludes.

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