The struggles for control of drug routes and irregular migrants entering Mexico from Central America have unleashed an acute wave of violence in recent weeks that has left dozens dead and missing in clashes between the Jalisco Nueva Generación Cartel ( CJNG) and the Sinaloa Cartel in the town of Frontera Comalapa, a border point between Mexico and Guatemala.
Organizations such as the Digna Ochoa Human Rights Center have documented the exodus of some 3,000 people who, until the recent weekend, left their homes due to the “terror unleashed” in the area. The deaths numbered around 60 and the disappearances of young men recruited by force by the cartels could reach a hundred.
The outbreak of violence in the region – which has been increasing for two years due to fights between cartels – is located just in one of the points where migrants Irregulars make the first stop on Mexican soil before entering that country to continue their journey to the United States.
The InSight Crime Analysis Center alerted over the weekend in Washington that the “war” between the two drug trafficking groups in the border state of Chiapas worsens in “an important route of transnational migrant smuggling.”
When analyzing the situation, that center said that it “resembles” the conflict between organized crime groups in northern Mexico on the border with the United States.
“At a time when thousands of Central American migrants continue to cross the border between Guatemala and Mexico, many make a first stop at Frontera Comalapa. From there, they are taken through the mountains to the La Angostura artificial reservoir and continue north by boat or by road,” the institution warns.
At the end of April some 3,000 migrants they started in a caravan from the border point of Tapachula to the south of Frontera Comalapa to tour Chiapas with the plan to reach Mexico City, but it was dissolved before reaching its destination.
According to the Associated Press, the border strip of Comalapa, between Mexico and Guatemala measures about 80 kilometers, this region is considered a “porous” territory for organized crime activities as drug trafficking, weapons and irregular migrants proliferate.
leaked documents Last year, the Mexican Defense Secretariat (Sedena) identified this region as part of “a network of border towns” used by the Sinaloa Cartel to transship cocaine shipments, according to AP.
Community journalist Argenis Esquipulas reported on his social networks this Monday that the situation has continued to worsen and more residents of the area have decided to leave the town near the border crossing with Guatemala, “since Saturday more than 3,000 people have been displaced after the confrontations where the two drug cartels are disputing the Mexican territory,” he said.
Mexico sent some 500 members of the Army and the National Guard on May 31 to control the situation in the area, but journalistic reports from local community media indicated that the military were received with stones and explosive devices by the residents with clashes between the gangs criminals to meet them, the Mexican federal government has neither recognized nor denied these assertions.
The drug from one side to the other
The expansion of the CJNG is not a novelty on the other side of the border in Guatemalan territory, since the operations of this criminal network are already visible further south in Chiapas, where clashes are taking place these days with the cartel that for years had controlled the zone.
This expanding cartel would have expanded its ties with groups such as Los Huistas, already established to transport drugs from Guatemala to Mexico through the central corridor of Guatemalan territory towards the Comalapa Border.
“In this region of Mexico, bordering on Guatemala, especially the south-central part of Chiapas, criminal activities are transnational, especially drug, arms and migrant trafficking,” explained Professor Javier Oliva, professor of Political Science at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), quoted by InSight Crime.
A high-ranking Guatemalan military officer -under anonymity- revealed for other investigation on the operations of the drug cartels between Mexico and Guatemala, carried out by that center in Washington, and said that there are even Guatemalan army officers who cooperate with the CJNG to traffic cocaine through that corridor, at least since 2017.
This version would be supported by the guilty confession of ex-colonel Otto Fernando Godoy Cordón, captured in the Petén region, Guatemala, in February of this year and extradited to the United States to answer for drug trafficking, as explained at the time by the Public Ministry of Guatemala. .
“He is being required by the Court of the Southern District of California of the United States, for crimes related to drug trafficking,” explained the Guatemalan prosecutor’s office when responding to the extradition request.
“Godoy was confident that his military credentials would help him avoid interference from the authorities while moving to clandestine airstrips, and help find and secure safe landing points for small planes loaded with cocaine (…) this “confirms the accusations to members of the Guatemalan armed forces of providing logistical support to another Mexican drug trafficking group.”, highlighted the InSight Crime report.
The Guatemalan government has said that, on the contrary, thanks to the support of the Army, aircraft “linked to transnational organized crime, actions that strengthen the fight against drug trafficking” have been located.
The operations of organized crime in the area and the two cartels in dispute over territories are also a concern for the United States.
The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) estimates that these organized crime structures are “largely responsible” for the massive entry of fentanyl into the US in recent years.
A issued alert by the Department of State for the capture of the Guatemalan Ana Gabriela Rubio Zea – to be extradited to the North American country – indicates that the children of Joaquín el Chapo Guzmán, “Chapitos” use various means to obtain the chemicals necessary for the production of fentanyl, where the syndicate participated.
The Guatemalan Public Ministry announced upon capturing Rubio Zea in March of this year that he faces extradition as part of the proceedings against “nine extraditables for drug trafficking crimes requested by the US.”
“Rubio Zea used his connections with PRC-based chemical suppliers and manufacturers to acquire fentanyl precursor chemicals for the Cartel. In addition, it put traffickers in direct contact with suppliers based in the People’s Republic of China,” said the State Department, offering $1 million for the capture and evidence to convict Rubio Zea.
The voice of america consulted with several non-governmental and human rights organizations that work in that conflicting border region, but in the face of the crisis of violence, they avoided commenting on the general situation and the dangers for migrants and residents in that strip in “war” between drug traffickers.
Connect with the Voice of America! Subscribe to our channel Youtube and activate notifications, or follow us on social networks: Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
TWEETS
#1
The town of Frontera Comalapa in the southern state of #Chiapas on the border between #Mexico and #Guatemala experiences an escalation of violence due to the territorial dispute between the Cértel Jalismo Nueva Generación and the Sinaloa Cartel, that town is the point of arrival of irregular migrants that enter the country from #Central America on their way to the #USA.
#2
Local reports indicate that in the confrontations and executions carried out by the disputed drug cartels, some 60 have died in Frontera Comalala in #Chiapas, #Mexico, and an estimated 100 have been taken by force. The wave of violence in that 80 kilometer border strip immediately to #Guatemala has led to the flight of some 3,000 residents of the area.
