Politics: State of security in the wake of El Marro
Until recent years, the state of Guanajuato didn’t feature in discussions of organized crime. But all that has changed since a petty drug dealer, car thief and extortionist in the tiny town of Santa Rosa de Lima rode the burgeoning huachicol racket of stealing and distributing gasoline from Pemex pipelines and facilities to a place of prominence. Far from the radar of most coverage of major criminal organizations, the self-styled Santa Rosa de Lima Cartel (CSRL) quickly became adept at milking the pipelines and a major Pemex refinery, and even extended its influence into municipalities in two neighboring states. Their success eventually attracted the attention of the nationally ascendant Jalisco New Generation Cartel with the resulting turf war catapulting the local CSRL cartel into the national spotlight, and making the state the most violent in the country amid a major expansion of other rackets such as rail freight theft, extortion and burglarizing businesses.
The inability of local officials to stem the killing and rise in criminal activity in general eventually led to renewed coordination with the López Obrador administration, which it has been highly critical of.
The recent arrest of the CSRL boss Antonio Yépez Ortiz, popularly known as El Marro, is the first major victory in that alliance and a devastating blow to the gang, but whether the authorities will have similar success in rolling back the operations of the much more powerful Jalisco New Generation (CJNG) and other criminal groups active in the state will depend both on support from federal forces and improved coordination between state and municipal security forces.
Unfortunately, so far the AMLO administration’s high profile yet inefficient crackdown on huachicol operations dating back to its first days in office has never focused on dismantling the graft and bribery networks working directly out of Pemex on which the criminals’ logistical and operational structures depend. As long as federal forces remain in the state the CJNG will probably bide its time, but the state administration will also have to put its house in order if it hopes to rebuild a sense of public security in the state.
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