In response to rising violence in Tabasco, President Claudia Sheinbaum sent 180 soldiers and National Guardsmen to the Gulf Coast state this week.
“We have sent reinforcements from the Defense Ministry (Sedena) and the National Guard,” she said during her Wednesday morning press conference. “We are working with Governor [Javier] May to develop an effective strategy.”
The decision to reinforce the security detail in Tabasco comes as violence spiked in the state to a 10-year high last year, according to El País newspaper. Last October, a new criminal organization identifying itself as the Tabasco New Generation Cartel (CTNG) declared that it would protect residents from corrupt officials.
The rise in violent crime came to a head this week when seven dismembered bodies were found on the Villahermosa-Teapa highway alongside a narcomanta (narco banner) signed by the CTNG. Three other bodies were dumped at a cemetery in Nacajuca, about 30 kilometers north of Villahermosa, the state capital.
Additionally, police officials have increasingly been subject to armed attacks, with one ambush this week resulting in the death of an officer and the wounding of three others.
There was also a viral video in which alleged members of the notorious Jalisco New General Cartel (CJNG) handed out toys and slices of Rosca de Reyes across the state on Jan. 6. ACLED, a group that conducts analysis to describe and explore conflict trends, says the violence in Tabasco is the result of a turf war between the CJNG and local criminal gang “Los Barrenderos,” according to El País.
During the first two weeks of the year, Tabasco has been the scene of a massacre (in which seven people were killed and five wounded), the daylight murder of a prominent businessman and the assassination of two policemen, including the former head of the state’s Bureau of Investigation.
The current focus in Tabasco, Sheinbaum said, is addressing the needs of the state’s youth in an effort to prevent them from joining criminal gangs and emphasizing intelligence-gathering so as to identify and arrest top crime bosses.
“We are going to fortify our strategy and you will see the results,” she said, according to El Sol de México newspaper.
Sheinbaum declared on Wednesday that in addition to executing the four pillars of her national security strategy across the country, she is emphasizing “the development of specific strategies for each state while also preparing regional strategies.”
The four pillars of national security as presented on Oct. 8, 2024 are: addressing the root causes; consolidating the National Guard within Sedena; strengthening intelligence and investigative units; and, working hand-in-hand with state authorities.
Governor May thanked Sheinbaum after the arrival of the reinforcements. “[They] will enhance our security efforts … and we will restore peace and tranquility,” he said, according to El País.
Sheinbaum expressed confidence in May, who took office on Oct. 1, 2024. “He is a very good governor, very dedicated. He knows his state very well.”
At the same time, the president said she is not considering sending Security Minister Omar García Harfuch to Tabasco to oversee the implementation of the new strategy. García is presently in Sinaloa in northwestern Mexico, where he has personally taken charge of state security operations after a conflict within the Sinaloa Cartel caused a spike in murders and disappearances.
With reports from El País, El Sol de México and Infobae
