Security forces mobilize in Michoacán in response to continued cartel attacks.
A wave of violence has beset western Michoacán in the last nine days, as rival gangs continue heavy-weapons battles for territory in 13 municipalities that began November 30.
The latest attacks occurred Wednesday in the Tierra Caliente municipalities of Chinicuila and Tepalcatepec, where authorities say two Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) cells arrived in armored vehicles, engaging in gun battles with local police, the National Guard, and armed residents.
In Chinicuila, the battle left government buildings, homes, cars, and an elementary school damaged, but there were no casualties.
In Chinicuila, cartel hitmen arrived from Colima around 4 a.m. in six makeshift armored vehicles, first attacking the small community of Villa Victoria, where they engaged in gun battles with authorities and residents, damaging homes and cars before fleeing and moving on to municipal headquarters, where they damaged government buildings and a nearby school. All told, the attack lasted about an hour, authorities said.
The two attacks came two days after 13 people were killed in just two days in three other Michoacán municipalities — Morelia, Zamora and Uruapan, where intense gunfights between rival armed groups left three civilian bystanders dead in Uruapan.
Netherlands-based Vitol is the world's largest oil trader.
President López Obrador said Thursday that federal authorities are investigating Pemex officials who allegedly received bribes from a large oil trading company that has admitted to engaging in corruption in Mexico, Brazil and Ecuador.
Vitol, the biggest independent oil trader in the world, admitted in the United States last week that it paid bribes through employees and intermediaries to state oil company officials in Mexico between 2015 and 2020. The admission came during a criminal settlement with the United States Department of Justice.
A Dutch company with offices around the world, Vitol agreed to pay authorities in the United States and Brazil more than US $160 million to resolve probes related to its corrupt activity.
The company admitted to paying about $2 million in bribes in Mexico and Ecuador to obtain contracts and inside information.
Speaking at his regular news conference on Thursday, López Obrador said that an investigation into Vitol’s payment of bribes in Mexico is underway.
“It’s accused in the United States of having delivered bribes to Pemex officials, not just in the previous administration but also during our government. … It’s being investigated and if it’s true those responsible will be punished. We don’t cover up anything,” he said.
“… What we must do is clean up, we all have to help so that there is no corruption … and no impunity.”
The news agency Bloomberg reported that the trading arm of Pemex is imposing an informal temporary ban on conducting business with Vitol, saying that its information came from people with knowledge of the situation.
Duncan Wood, director of the Wilson Center’s Mexico Institute in Washington, said he doubted Mexico will carry out an effective investigation into Vitol’s activities in Mexico.
“The capacity doesn’t exist, and honestly the political will doesn’t exist either,” he said.
However, the accusation of wrongdoing “plays directly into the hands of the president in his attacks on the private sector and particularly on foreign companies,” Wood said.
Brazilian construction company Odebrecht has also admitted to paying bribes in Mexico during the previous federal government.
Former Pemex CEO Emilio Lozoya has admitted to negotiating bribe payments with the company on the government’s behalf and is currently cooperating with authorities in the hope that he will be acquitted or given a lighter sentence on the corruption charges he faces.
He has accused former president Enrique Peña Nieto and his finance minister Luis Videgaray of leading a bribery scheme within the 2012-2018 government, effectively portraying himself as a victim of their corruption.
Same-sex marriage supporters in Tlaxcala on Tuesday.
Cheers and the waving of rainbow flags by supporters greeted Tlaxcala’s Congress after it voted 16-3 on Tuesday to approve same-sex marriage.
“It’s to be celebrated that on this day, after more than a decade since it was approved in … Mexico City, marriage equality in the state of Tlaxcala has become [a reality]. The Congress is doing their part in Tlaxcala,” said Leticia Hernández, a National Action Party deputy.
The newly updated legislation in Tlaxcala, originally proposed by Democratic Revolution Party (PRD) lawmaker Miguel Ángel Covarrubias Cervantes, changes the state’s civil code by defining marriage as between two consenting people 18 or older whose objective is to create a communal life together in which both persons are guaranteed respect, equality and mutual assistance.
PRD lawmaker Laura Flores Lozano said legislators could not turn their backs on a sector of the public that demanded that equal marriage be legal to eradicate discrimination and guarantee a legitimate right.
The conservative Social Encounter Party was one of the parties opposing the change. It called the legislation unfortunate and said “the term marriage is left empty of meaning.” Party officials also said it eliminated legal support for the family.
Rodrigo Iván Cortés, president of the National Front for the Family, told the newspaper El Universal that the legislators who voted for the bill had not prioritized the family and its needs.
Despite Hernández’s support for the vote, not all PAN lawmakers agreed. During the debate on the bill, Omar López Avendaño also rejected the legislation, saying the bill did not cover the issues of procreation, adoption, and the education of children of same-sex couples.
Twenty-two states now permit same-sex marriages, either fully or partially. By order of the Supreme Court, all states are required to recognize same-sex marriages performed in other states. The court has also ordered Sinaloa and Tamaulipas to legalize same-sex marriage in their states after declaring their civil codes unconstitutional.
In three states, Guerrero, Querétaro, and Zacatecas, it is permitted in certain municipalities. Last month, Puebla changed its civil code to legalize same-sex marriage after the court struck down the code’s legality in 2017 because it defined marriage and common-law marriage as between a man and a woman.
The first entity in Mexico to approve same-sex marriage was Mexico City in March 2010, followed by Quintana Roo in 2012.
The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) has warned that the coronavirus pandemic is worsening across the region, noting that Mexico, the United States and Canada are all recording high case numbers.
In a press briefing on Wednesday, PAHO director Carissa F. Etienne said the Americas region in recent has weeks been experiencing “the highest levels of new Covid-19 cases since the start of the pandemic.”
“In North America, Canada and the U.S. are reporting jumps in weekly case counts. In Canada, infections continue to climb, and record deaths have been reported in some provinces. Meanwhile, in the U.S., daily case counts are reaching 200,000 and more than 100,000 people are currently hospitalized due to Covid illness,” she said.
“Mexico is also experiencing a resurgence in cases in the state of Baja California, near the U.S. border.”
The federal Health Ministry estimates that there are almost 2,800 active cases in the northern border state, the fifth highest total among Mexico’s 32 states after Mexico City, México state, Guanajuato and Nuevo León.
There are more than 75,000 estimated active cases across the country while Mexico’s accumulated tally passed 1.2 million on Wednesday. The Health Ministry reported 11,974 new cases – the third highest single-day tally of the pandemic – increasing the total to 1,205,229.
While Mexico’s daily tally of cases is just a fraction of its northern neighbor – more than 218,000 new cases were reported in the United States on Wednesday, according to The New York Times – the testing rate here is much lower than in the U.S., making it inevitable that large numbers of cases, especially mild and asymptomatic ones, go undetected.
As of Wednesday, the United States per-capita testing rate was about 27 times higher than that of Mexico.
Even with a very low testing rate, Mexico ranks 12th in the world for total cases, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University, and fourth for confirmed Covid-19 deaths with 111,655, including 781 reported on Wednesday.
Coronavirus cases and deaths in Mexico as reported by day. milenio
PAHO director Etienne said the continuing rise in infections in North America is “particularly worrisome” as winter approaches in the Northern Hemisphere.
“Seeking refuge from the cold, people may be tempted to gather indoors in poorly ventilated areas – the perfect conditions for the virus to spread,” she said.
Coronavirus figures and trends across the Americas “make it clear that our region must redouble preventive measures, especially in preparation for the year-end holidays.”
“Now is not the time to relax,” she said.
Etienne said PAHO is hopeful that Covid-19 vaccines will help contain the pandemic but noted: “This will take time and advance planning.”
She said PAHO is convening members states this week to an extraordinary session “where we’ll meet with the ministries of health of our region to discuss the preparation for vaccine roll-out and purchasing and distribution of Covid-19 vaccines in the region through our revolving fund.”
Accumulated coronavirus cases by state. milenio
Mexico last week struck a deal with Pfizer to purchase 34.4 million doses of its vaccine, while Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard announced Wednesday that Health Minister Jorge Alcocer had signed an agreement to buy 35 million doses of China’s CanSino Biologics vaccine.
“More options for Mexico,” Ebrard wrote on Twitter without citing an expected arrival date for the CanSino vaccine, which has only been approved for use in the Chinese military and whose efficacy is not publicly known.
The government also has an agreement to purchase 77.4 million doses of the AstraZeneca/Oxford University vaccine, which was shown to have up to 90% efficacy in phase 3 trials. It has not yet been approved for use in any country.
As Mexico waits for vaccines to arrive and prepares to implement its vaccination plan, it has the more immediate task of providing care for the ill as the health system comes under increased pressure from the recent increase in case numbers.
Data presented by the Health Ministry at its Wednesday night press briefing showed that 15,312 coronavirus patients are currently in hospitals across Mexico, including 3,515 in beds with ventilators.
The national occupancy rates for general care beds and critical care beds are 41% and 33%, respectively.
According to federal data, 76% of general care beds and 63% of beds with ventilators are currently in use in Mexico City. The figures in both categories are the highest among the 32 states.
However, the Mexico City government says the overall occupancy rate is only 60%. Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum said this week that the discrepancy is because authorities in the capital have more detailed and up-to-date information about the health system in the capital, including information about the addition of new hospital beds.
Nevertheless, Mexico City government data shows that 30 of 44 public hospitals in the capital have occupancy rates above 80%.
Among those with occupancy rates of 100% in general care beds are the National Institute of Respiratory Illnesses, the Tacuba General Hospital, the La Raza National Medical Center and the Ajusco Medio General Hospital.
Across the capital’s 16 boroughs, 4,235 coronavirus patients are in hospital including 958 on ventilators.
Mexico City recorded 5,056 new cases on Wednesday – 42% of the national total – increasing the capital’s accumulated tally to 244,062. Almost 28,000 cases in the city are considered active.
Mexico City registered 126 additional fatalities on Wednesday, lifting the official death toll to 18,516. The latter figure represents 16.5% of the national Covid-19 death toll, meaning that about one in six fatalities in Mexico attributed to the infectious disease occurred in the capital.
More and more of Mexico's workers are contractors who don't receive benefits, seniority, or job stability.
As a wary, bloodied-and-bruised-by-reality AMLO supporter, I often find myself agreeing with his basic ideas regarding what’s wrong with labor and the economy but screaming and pulling my hair in frustration when it comes to his ideas for fixing those problems. It’s a bit of an inversion of the Republicans who abhorred Trump’s crass, obscene style, but held their noses and voted for him because he got them many of the results they wanted.
This is how I felt, once again, when reading about his proposal to force companies to gain federal authorization before hiring contract labor, or “outsourcing.”
AMLO stated, correctly, that “…outsourcing currently causes mass dismissals at the end of the year because companies want to avoid paying bonuses and other benefits to employees as well as prevent them from accumulating seniority.”
This is, unfortunately, a correct assessment of the situation for far too many workers. Even for those who are able to escape the long cycle of being “officially” fired and rehired – or never put on the books officially in the first place – there’s still the issue of job security in general (or lack thereof).
And a depressed labor market in general, especially during this pandemic in which a million small-businesses have permanently closed, means that for the foreseeable future many employers will continue to brazenly offer 1500 pesos a week for hours that add up to a full-time job and a half in cash with no paperwork, benefits, or job security. In my home city of Xalapa, that’s actually considered a reasonable wage even for professional jobs that require college degrees; if the job does happen to offer benefits, then pay is generally lower.
I know this game: I’ve been playing it on the losing side’s team for years, as have most people my age. As a longtime “independent contractor” myself in a variety of jobs, I’ve often lamented the fact that my fancy university education no longer begets the kind of formal, salaried and decently paid job (I’ve grown too cynical at this point to fantasize about anything I’d consider “well-paid”) with full benefits that it once did.
Most of my experience before becoming a full-time freelance writer and translator was in teaching. Save a few years at a high school, I’ve always done so as an independent contractor. While the same level of education and experience has always been required at these jobs as when they used to be secure, salaried positions, what is given in exchange for them these days is much, much less. Even if you want to piece together full-time employment from various jobs, there is no guarantee of being able to work all the hours you want to, as companies and employers increasingly expect the workers to absorb the market blows when demand goes down.
When people then have the audacity to suggest that workers should have simply chosen a better job or profession, it’s all I can do to not scream.
That said, I’ve been at a great advantage because of my privilege as a college-educated bilingual US citizen in the digital age. While what I earn freelancing would not allow me to live above the poverty line in my own country, it stretches quite a bit more generously here. Earning even low US rates while in Mexico puts you at a fairly decent income level; it’s hard to be too frustrated.
Still, I worry. I don’t make enough consistently enough to have any kind of real savings, and should I not be able to work for whatever reason, there’s no official or guaranteed safety net below me. This issue was easy enough to shrug off as a problem for later when I was younger, but I have a kid now. What happens if I’m suddenly unable to bring in money?
It is one of my most deeply held beliefs that anyone who works hard at a full-time job should live comfortably, period. But when more and more people are being hired as independent contractors rather than proper employees, it can make the low pay the least of their problems next to the lack of any kind of worker protections.
In Mexico, there are certainly many more independent contractor jobs than before, and many of those workers perform duties that are essential to the everyday running of the business that hired them.
Business leaders are scared about this new legislation, and while I don’t think the proposed changes are the best way to go after the problem, I also do not feel sorry for them: if your business model depends on paying your workers less than living wages and classifying them in ways that allow you to avoid taxes on top of that, then you have a failed business model that is bad for workers, and bad for society.
Let’s get real. The point of hiring independent contractors, in theory, is because you truly need temporary help with something that is not usually part of the everyday duties needed to run the business. Examples of reasons to hire an independent contractor are, for example, to hire a decorator or an architect to redo your offices, to hire a consultant to help audit your management system or to contract with a caterer to feed attendants at a conference.
If you’re hiring teachers as contractors, then you’re simply being stingy and dishonest about how essential they are to your business.
Rather than forcing businesses to seek approval from the government, how about just making employers pay all the same taxes and benefits on their workers across the board? How about making those benefits mobile so that they can travel with the worker from place to place?
For example, a temporary seasonal worker at a department store during the busy Christmas season could receive a prorated percentage of prestaciones de ley, which are the benefits that workers in Mexico are entitled to. This would include things like the December bonus, a certain number of paid vacation days, social security etc. Then those accumulated benefits would travel with that worker to their next job, even if it’s another temporary one, where they would earn additional prorated benefits.
Business leaders now have until at least February to negotiate with AMLO on this issue. But whatever we do, let’s keep our eyes on the main goal: the welfare of workers.
Sarah DeVries is a writer and translator based in Xalapa, Veracruz. She can be reached through her website, sdevrieswritingandtranslating.com.
Residents of one of Mexico’s coronavirus-free municipalities jailed one of their local councilors on Tuesday for consuming alcohol and not wearing a face mask in a public place.
The health councilor of the municipal government of San Lucas Zoquiapam, Oaxaca, was thrown in jail after he was caught drinking beer with two other people in a pickup truck. The councilor was also slapped with a fine.
Mayor Alfredo Carrera said the jailing of the official sends a clear message of no-tolerance with regard to the flouting of health measures put in place to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. It was unclear how long the councilor would remain in custody or whether he has already been released.
Located almost 300 kilometers north of Oaxaca city in the southern state’s Cañada region, San Lucas Zoquiapam is regarded as one of Mexico’s so-called “municipalities of hope” because it hasn’t recorded a single, confirmed coronavirus case.
Local authorities implemented a range of strict measures at the start of the pandemic to stop any possible spread of the virus.
They included a curfew, a ban on alcohol sales and a prohibition on gatherings of more than 10 people. Traditional parties and the annual harvest festival were canceled in the municipality of some 11,000 residents.
Most are located in rural, largely indigenous areas of Oaxaca such as the northern and southern Sierra regions and the Mixteca region.
Casas acknowledged that the number of “municipalities of hope” has declined compared to earlier in the pandemic, although the southern state – currently “medium” risk yellow on the federal government’s coronavirus stoplight system – accounts for the vast majority of Mexico’s Covid-free local government areas.
Oaxaca has recorded 25,354 confirmed cases since the start of the pandemic and 1,903 Covid-19 deaths, according to federal data. It ranks 16th among the 32 states for case numbers and 21st for deaths.
Aceves, left, and Salazar, right are happy with the new agreement.
Business groups are divided over a new agreement on outsourcing and subcontracting announced by the federal government on Wednesday.
President López Obrador and representatives of the private sector and the union movement signed an agreement under which they committed to improving a proposal to ban outsourcing without prior government authorization.
Carlos Salazar, president of the Business Coordinating Council (CCE), which represents 12 business groups, declared at the president’s news conference Wednesday morning that the private sector was happy with the agreement.
But three private sector groups that are part of the CCE – the National Chamber for Industrial Transformation (Canacintra), the Mexican Employers Federation (Coparmex) and the National Agricultural Council (CNA) – later said they opposed it.
Labor Minister Luisa María Alcalde said the agreement is made up of four accords.
Firstly, the government, the private sector and the union movement committed to put an end to the abuse of subcontracting. (Many workers are routinely dismissed at the end of the year because companies want to avoid paying legally required bonuses and other benefits to employees as well as prevent them from accumulating seniority.)
Secondly, the parties committed to including a fair and equitable profit sharing scheme in an improved outsourcing proposal to be considered by the Congress.
Thirdly, on the request of the private sector Congress agreed to postpone debate of the updated proposal until February 2021. (López Obrador sent his original proposal to Congress last month).
Fourthly, the parties agreed to the issuance of a call to companies to put an end to outsourcing practices that are detrimental to workers such as mass end-of-year dismissals. The Mexican Social Security Institute (IMSS), the National Workers Housing Fund (Infonavit) and the Federal Tax Administration will be responsible for making the plea and will take legal action against any companies found to be committing crimes related to outsourcing.
Alcalde said that the agreement is a sign of the government’s commitment to resolve differences with the private sector, which argued that the proposal presented by López Obrador last month discourages job creation and threatens economic growth.
The president thanked the private sector and union movement for entering into the agreement.
De Hoyos of Coparmex: problems in the past have been a result of poor supervision by authorities.
Salazar said the deal opens the way to more dialogue about outsourcing with both the government and workers.
“The business community will never defend any irregularity [in the use of outsourcing],” the CCE chief said.
“… [We will] arrive with better proposals for the good of the country. We have to celebrate that we can be seated at the dialogue table with representatives of workers and the authorities. I’m sure that a better proposal will be presented in the end,” Salazar said.
Carlos Aceves, general secretary of the Mexican Workers Confederation, said that workers’ conditions won’t be improved with “the stroke of a pen” but opined that working with the government and the private sector is a good idea.
“We don’t think the same but we understand each other. … We’re convinced this [agreement] is for the good of the workers,” he said.
But Canacintra, Coparmex and the CNA said in a joint statement that they don’t support the agreement.
They said it “preserves the idea of substantially prohibiting the activity of subcontracting,” only allowing it in specialized areas.
“We also reject the stigmatization of the business sector as the architects of non-compliance with tax and labor obligations,” the three groups said.
“The substantial responsibility for irregular activities that have occurred in the past rests with the lack of adequate supervision by authorities such as the Federal Tax Administration, the Labor Ministry, Infonavit and IMSS.”
The three organizations said that restricting outsourcing and subcontracting would threaten the creation and preservation of formal sector jobs, force businesses to close and reduce Mexico’s competitiveness.
It’s “absurd” to blame the abuse of outsourcing on all companies when “an absolute minority” of them have done the wrong thing, they said.
“We want to make it clear that we are in favor of legal practices that encourage the creation of jobs. … We reiterate our willingness to maintain open and frank dialogue” with the president and both houses of Congress “to achieve a law that gives priority to our position on this matter: regulation yes, prohibition no,” the business groups said.
“This dialogue must be held under the premise that subcontracting, being a legal and appropriate activity, must respect the freedom of workers and companies to sign contracts without restrictions and as best suits their interests,” they said.
“This hiring freedom must be allowed without limits other than companies’ compliance with tax and social security obligations … in such a way that workers hired under … [subcontracting or outsourcing arrangements] can fully exercise their rights.”
A healthcare worker administers a flu shot to a passenger in a car in Chihuahua.
The Chihuahua Ministry of Health announced that it is now offering drive-through flu vaccination facilities in the capital and in the cities of Juárez and Cuauhtémoc as a way to vaccinate the public against influenza while avoiding the spread of Covid-19.
Chihuahua city now has drive-through facilities at a children’s hospital, a convention center and at the Autonomous University of Chihuahua. Ciudad Juárez has one on Paseo Triunfo de la República Avenue, and in Cuauhtémoc, drive-through vaccinations can be obtained at the Polideportiva Cuauhtémoc, a municipal sports center.
The ministry’s subdirector of preventative medicine, Wendy Ávila, explained that the coronavirus pandemic has changed the way the state must operate its vaccination programs to avoid crowds of people forming. Recipients at the drive-through facilities will be able to get vaccinated without leaving their cars through the program, which runs until December 20.
The program is meant to vaccinate children, the elderly, and other vulnerable sectors of the population such as pregnant women and persons with asthma, diabetes, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease or obesity.
In addition to the drive-through facilities, Ávila said, people can get vaccinated for influenza and other diseases at the public health centers throughout the state.
Fifty-four percent of the state’s vulnerable population has already been vaccinated against the flu, as have 46% of medical workers, she said.
Locations and hours of operation for the drive-through flu vaccination facilities are:
Ciudad Chihuahua: Hospital Infantil de Especialidades, the Autonomous University of Chihuahua campus and the Centro de Convenciones Expo Chihuahua. All are open Monday–Friday, 9 a.m.–2 p.m. and 9:30 a.m.–5 p.m. on weekends.
In Ciudad Juárez: on Paseo Triunfo de la Republica Avenue, 10 a.m.–4 p.m.
In Ciudad Cuauhtémoc: at the Polideportivo Cuauhtémoc, 10 a.m.–4 p.m.
A woman who belonged to the Santa Rosa de Lima Cartel has been sentenced in Guanajuato to 40 years in prison for sedition and aggravated attempted homicide and was fined 1.6 million pesos (US $80,000).
In addition to attacking a public servant, Mariela Josefina “La Chola” Ruiz López organized roadblocks on highways and streets that prevented police from entering the municipality of Santa Rosa de Lima during their hunt for the leader of the cartel, prosecutors said.
She also coordinated the payment of people who participated in the blockades, they said.
Ruiz was arrested in March 2019 along with the alleged financial chief for the cartel’s former leader, José Antonio “El Marro” Yépez Ortiz, and a federal police intelligence officer.
The Santa Rosa de Lima Cartel has gone through big changes since Ruiz’s arrest: In August, Yépez was arrested by federal and Guanajuato authorities and awaits trial.
In October, authorities arrested his successor, Adán “El Azul” Ochoa, who has been accused of ordering the murder of Jesús Tinajero, a mayoral candidate in the Guanajuato municipality of Jerécuaro who was killed and and body left dismembered on a highway on October 8 with a note signed by “El Azul”.
The well-armed Jalisco New Generation Cartel is an e-commerce customer.
Cartel members in Mexico don’t just buy gun parts and tactical equipment from illegal arms traffickers – they also shop online.
An investigation by the United States government found that the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) purchased military equipment on eBay between 2018 and 2019 and had it shipped to Mexico from the U.S. by courier companies.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) detected at least 300 transactions in which cartel members used PayPal to make purchases on eBay in the United States.
Among the items they bought were parts for grenade launchers, rifles and other other guns as well as holographic weapon sights, night-vision goggles and bulletproof vests.
The brothers Ismael and Carlos Almada Castrillo were in charge of the CJNG’s eBay equipment acquisitions scheme, the newspaper Milenio reported.
U.S. authorities detected that Carlos Almada used about 50 PayPal accounts to conceal his identity while he purchased gun parts and tactical equipment on eBay.
He and his brother illegally imported their purchases into Mexico using two courier companies. The vendors of the equipment sent the brothers’ purchases to an address in Los Angeles and from there they were transported to Guadalajara, Jalisco.
The FBI detected that Carlos Almada used the alias Adrián Gallegos Trejo to receive his purchases at one address in Guadalajara and another in the neighboring municipality of Zapopan. He subsequently distributed or sold the items to members of the CJNG, which is usually considered Mexico’s most dangerous and powerful criminal organization.
The courier companies that transported the goods within the United States and to Mexico – M&M Cargo and Calix Packing – are both owned by a man named Julio César Mejía Calix. He admitted to the FBI that he had transported gun parts for Ismael Almada.
Milenio said that U.S. investigation documents only detail expenditure of US $2,000 on weapons and equipments purchases by the Almada brothers on eBay. However, the newspaper said that there is evidence that they actually spent much more.
In addition to the items previously mentioned, the brothers bought hidden camera and microphone detectors, anti-tracking cell phone cases, muzzle brakes and rail systems for firearms and military-grade sights. All of the items are used by drug cartels in Mexico and in some cases have been seized by the authorities.
According to Mary Lacis, an FBI and DEA agent, other cartels might be using courier services to send gun parts, equipment and cash to Mexico.
Carlos Almada was also investigated by Mexican authorities for allegedly importing cocaine to Mexico from Colombia and subsequently sending part of the shipments he received to the United States. He was arrested in September 2019 in possession of weapons and drugs.
He was found dead in his cell at Jalisco’s Puente Grande prison in March, Milenio said, explaining that his death was apparently a suicide.
Ismael Almada was also arrested and has been questioned by United States authorities. Milenio said he was freed on bail but that there is still an active cases against him in Los Angeles.
The CJNG is notorious for showing off its firepower and military-grade equipment in videos posted online.
Its leader, Nemesio “El Mencho” Oseguera Cervantes, is Mexico’s most wanted drug lord and is also sought in the United States, where a US $10-million reward is on offer for information that leads to his arrest.
