Video Shows Jalisco Cartel Parading 'Narco-Tank' in Mexico's Street
A video showing Jalisco New Generation Cartel's members parading an armored tank allegedly taken from a rival criminal group has recently surfaced on social media.
According to Mexico News Daily, the video showed the tank and an armored vehicle with the CJNG initials moving down a street in El Aguaje, Aguililla in broad daylight. The report said the rival's tank was seized from the Los Viagras crime gang in the Tierra Caliente region of Michoacán.
The video also showed six heavily-armed men and a woman riding on the stolen tank while parading down the street. One of the men said it was "another little gift," while other cartel members shouted that they were only Mencho's people.
#CirculaEnRedes#Michoacán
Integrantes del #CJNG se pasean en vehículo blindado hechizo que habrían arrebatado a "Los viagras" en la zona de #TierraCaliente pic.twitter.com/uujHRoj9X8— Meganoticias Zamora (@MeganoticiasZAM) March 2, 2021
"El Mencho" is the moniker of the CJNG fugitive leader, Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, who is Mexico's most-wanted drug lord. The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) said El Mencho filled the void left by Joaquin Guzman Loera or "El Chapo" following his extradition to the U.S. So far, El Mencho successfully evaded federal laws.
Armored vehicles similar to those in the new video have also been seen in other parts of the country in the past. Falko Ernst, a senior analyst on Mexico for the International Crisis Group, earlier said videos like this sent a clear warning over potential retaliation against the government by the drug cartel.
Ernst issued the statement after a video showing dozens of uniformed armed troops with armored pickup trucks allegedly connected to the Jalisco Cartel surfaced on social media last July.
"This [video]... taken in the Jalisco Sierra as I'm told, is more than clear in its message toward the fed gov: You come after us, and we will strike back," Ernst noted in an Independent report.
RELATED ARTICLE: Jalisco New Generation Cartel Has Taken Over Mexico
Drug Cartels' Wars
The Jalisco Cartel is against other criminal organizations in various parts of Mexico, such as the Santa Rosa de Lima Cartel in Guanajuato and the Viagras in Michoacán.
Local media reported that last week, a drone video captured 11 armored CJNG vehicles moving into the municipality of Tecaltepec near communities in Jalisco. Reports said the Jalisco Cartel is attempting to capture or kill Juan José Farías, the leader of the rival group, Cartel del Abuelo.
Meanwhile, El Mencho's rapid rise and expansion are allegedly due to the truces he has formed with local criminal groups. A new report by the U.S. DEA warned that CJNG is now in alliance with other criminal groups such as the Familia Michoacana, the Gulf Cartel, and the Guerreros Unidos, according to The Yucatan Times.
The report said the Familia Michoacana expands its connections to Tierra Caliente. The group allegedly handles control of drug trafficking in Mexico State, Michoacan, and Guerrero.
The Jalisco Cartel would expand the business in some northwestern states with Gulf Cartel's help that concentrates its heroin and cocaine trafficking activities by transporting loads in the U.S. near McAllen and Brownsville, Texas.
CJNG is also collaborating with the Guerreros Unidos in transporting drugs into the U.S., according to the DEA.
A total of 629 members of the Jalisco Cartel have been arrested under the current administration, higher than the 245 members of its rival, the Sinaloa Cartel.
DEA specialists claimed that the Jalisco Cartel keeps growing due to Mexico's President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador's lack of efforts to enforce the law against drug trafficking.
Lopez Obrador has allegedly leaned on a less aggressive approach to security as compared to his predecessors. He reportedly focused on supporting measures to address poverty and unemployment, arguing that these factors contribute to crime.
READ ALSO: 12 Suspected Members of the New Jalisco Generation Cartel Found Tortured and Burned
WATCH: Mexican Cartels Are Arming Themselves With Powerful US Sniper Rifles - From VICE News
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