Recently, a series of narco blockades were erected on multiple main highways in the state of Zacatecas. These blockades were so numerous that it forced state authorities to ask residents not to travel during the weekend.ย
The Events Before the Blockadesย
Before the blockades began, two rival cartel groups battled each other in the town of Enrique Estrada, which is located to the south east of the city of Fresnillo, according to newspaper El Sol de Mexico.ย Very few details about what occurred in Enrique Estrada are available.ย
Which groups exactly were involved is unclear but the two major cartel forces in Zacatecas are the Sinaloa Cartel (CDS) and the Cartel Jalisco Nueva Generaciรณn (CJNG).ย
Both sides are supported by some locals associated with Los Zetas or the Gulf Cartel, with the Sinaloa Cartel's subgroup Operativo MZ in an alliance with a part of Los Talibanes, led by Martรญn del Rรญo.ย
They are a former Zetas group, turned CDG group, which is now divided, with one side working under CDS and another working independently. For an overview of Los Talibanes history, please see this previous story.ย ย
The CJNG is allied with a few local CDG-associated leaders like El Fantasma, from Monte Escobedo, (supposedly arrested in February 2022) and รscar Javier Escalante Zurita, alias โLa Moscaโ.ย
La Mosca was presented as a key link in the CDG and CJNG Zacatecas alliance at a federal press conference in a story covered here. He was said to have hitmen operating in โVillanueva, Jerez and Tabascoโ municipalities of Zacatecas, but he was arrested in May 24, 2022.ย
In addition to the battle in Enrique Estrada, Milenio reported a battle occurred in the towns of Mimbres and Trojes, in Valparaรญso region during this same time. It's less clear if those battles are related to the narco blockades that would later be created.
August 27 โ Road Blockades
In the pre-dawn hours of Saturday, August 27, 2022, residents of Zacatecas attempting to drive on major highways discovered that cartel members had created a large number of road blockades.
These were created out of vehicles, such as tractor trailers and box trucks, that hitmen had commandeered from passing motorists, parked across lanes of traffic and then set on fire.ย
These blockades continued to grow in number, continuing into the light of the morning and spreading to further locations. La Jornada reports that at least 15 blockades were created.
El Pais and Excelsior report that five highways were hit, among them were:
Highway 54, on a stretch of road between the city of Villanueva and Zacatecas city, in the state of the same name
Highway 45, which connects Zacatecas city and Fresnilloย
Highway 44, which connects Valparaรญso and Fresnillo
Highway 23, which connects Zacatecas City and Fresnillo
In addition to the burning of vehicles, the hitmen also utilized metal tire spikes, called ponchallantas. Local news sources also reported the presence of hitmen on the streets of the towns of Sombrerete and Rio Grande.
August 27 โ Road Blockades Videos
Check out the videos and read the original article in its entirety at borderlandbeat.com.
The Government Response
When hitmen appeared on the highways near his town, the mayor of Sombrerete, Alan Murillo Murillo, gave a public safety warning, asking residents not to travel to Fresnillo or Zacatecas city โโฆand if you do [travel], take extreme precautionsโ.
Meanwhile Eleuterio Ramos Leal, the mayor of Valparaรญso, recommended the inhabitants of his municipality โstay in their homes, go out only if necessary and avoid using the highwaysโ saying that there are โviolent scenes at various points, with confrontations occurring between armed civilian groupsโ.
Meanwhile, the municipality of Jerez, through a press release, asked its inhabitants โto avoid traveling to the municipalities that are affected.โ
Municipal, state and federal forces were sent to clear various roadblock points. The hitmen who had created them were long gone by the time they arrived and no arrests were reported. Personnel collected the metal tire spikes and removed vehicles after the long process of putting out the fires concluded.ย
At 3:00 pm, General Adolfo Marรญn, the state's head of security, released a video (linked here) saying:
โWe believe that the recent incidents which occurred on Zacatecas highways were done in reaction to the results obtained by the security forces.ย
The investigation has been handed over to agents from the federal Attorney General's Office (FGR) and by the state Attorney General's Office (FGE), with all considerations to due process being upheld.
I want to inform you that we have reinforced security and that, at the moment, the situation is under control. I want to emphasize that actions are being carried out to remove vehicles and operations [are being carried out] that will allow us to find those responsible.ย
These actions [road blockades] were undoubtedly done in response to the strong operations and blows we have dealt to criminal groups in different municipalities of the state.
Evidence of this are the more than 90 priority targets that have been arrested since the implementation of the โZacatecas 2' plan. Through the 911 emergency systems, it was reported that there were vehicles on fire, blocking Highway 54, 45, as well as on Highway 23, all sites where the security forces from the three levels of government were deployed to.
I want to emphasize that what happened in the early hours of this Saturday morning was a reaction of the criminal groups to the strong operations and blows that we have dealt them.โ
The โZacatecas 2โ plan the general mentioned is a security program championed by President Andrรฉs Manuel Lรณpez Obrador as part of his administration's โZero Impunityโ initiative.ย
This initiative emphasizes, among other things, that each state should arrest a certain number of โpriority targetsโ or so called โmain generators of violenceโ. This language is then echoed in the press releases and public statements made about the arrest of any and all criminal figures, regardless of their actual level of importance within the criminal landscape.ย
August 28 Road Blockades
But the cartel members from the day before weren't done with Zacatecas just yet.ย
At around 7:00 pm on Sunday, August 28, the very next day, they created more narco blockades on the highways throughout the state. They started with a double cab tractor trailer near the town of Fresnillo, which they commandeered and burned on Highway 49, near the exit to Rio Grande.ย
Cartel members also placed ponchallantas at various points on the same highway, with some social media users uploading photos of them along with warnings to fellow travelers in the area. Personnel was called to the area to clear the highway for motorists.ย
Then, according to Proceso, there were reports on social media about another blockade on Highway 45, near the exit to Calera. Cartel member allegedly commandeered both aย private vehicle and a truck, then burned them in order to create another blockade.ย
The spokesperson for the Security Roundtable denied the second blockade, stating that โat the moment no similar events have been reported in other parts of the stateโ.
Government authorities emphasized that no injuries have been reported and that work is being carried out to remove the vehicle and the metal stars however newspaper El Universal writes that โon social media there have been alerts of probable confrontations between armed civilians.โย
Newspaper El Sol de Zacatecas also wrote about these same battles, despite the state government's statement to the contrary. El Sol wrote โresidents of the Plenitud and Santa Ana communities, both located within the municipality of Fresnillo, reported confrontations between alleged members of antagonistic groups of organized crime.โ
They detail that, โinhabitants of the community of Plenitud, located west of the municipal seat of Fresnillo, reported a confrontation occurring between members of antagonistic cartel groups, who then also violently entered some of their homes and after evicting their occupants, set them on fire.โ
โMeanwhile, in the community of Santa Ana, near the town of San Josรฉ, armed men forced their way into a house, kidnapped one and set fire to the van that was parked outside the house.โ
Watch the videos and read the original article in its entirety at borderlandbeat.com.