Mexico Security Memo: Mitigating the Threat of Affiliate Groups

February 8, 2012 | 1814 GMT

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Remobilizing Forces

Two narcomantas signed by the Cartel de Jalisco Nuevo Generacion (CJNG) were found Feb. 3 in Acapulco, Guerrero state. Through the messages, the CJNG vowed to "clean" Acapulco as it did Veracruz, referring to the multiple mass killings of Los Zetas there in late 2011. It specifically called out such criminal groups as the Independent Cartel of Acapulco (CIDA), Los Zetas and residual elements of the Beltran Leyva Organization, all of which are known to operate in Acapulco. The message also noted that the CJNG had no quarrel with Mexican authorities -- the Federal Police, the Mexican Navy and the National Defense Secretariat were all named -- but rather with the cartels that are "terrorizing" Acapulco.
The CJNG is now the third known major criminal organization aligned with the Sinaloa Federation to operate in Acapulco -- La Gente Nueva, Sinaloa's longtime enforcer unit, and La Barredora are the other two. A relatively nascent criminal group, La Barredora has been fighting CIDA for control of Acapulco for some time, and it aligned with Sinaloa in the latter half of 2011. Acapulco is a valuable plaza, so these groups are not interested in sharing power or territory. While La Barredora will continue to direct its efforts toward CIDA, the CJNG will continue its stated intention of fighting Los Zetas and other elements in Acapulco.
Larger cartels often use smaller affiliate groups -- enforcer units or regional gangs -- to assert their control in places far from their home turf. Backed by a powerful and resourceful patron, these affiliate groups become more powerful than they would be on their own (though it is unclear how much autonomy affiliate groups maintain). But this practice poses an inherent danger: If left unchecked, smaller groups could become too powerful, thereby threatening the authority of the patron. Such was the case with Los Zetas, who began as an enforcer unit with the Gulf cartel but have since become the largest cartel, in terms of areas of operation, in Mexico.
Sinaloa Federation leader Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman Loera understands this dynamic, and in utilizing affiliate groups, he is careful not to allow any one group to become so powerful that that it could jeopardize his power. One way he keeps these groups in check by constantly remobilizing them.
This may indeed explain CJNG's recent itinerancy. Hailing from Guadalajara, Jalisco state, the CJNG conducted operations in Jalisco, Michoacan and Veracruz states before being deployed to Guerrero state. Meanwhile, La Barredora, which originated in Acapulco independently of Sinaloa, reportedly was operating in Guadalajara by December 2011. In reshuffling the CJNG, La Barredora and other groups to different territories -- and at times consolidating them into one territory -- Guzman is ensuring that no one plaza is the exclusive domain of any one group.

NCJ Attacking Soft Targets in Chihuahua

For the past month the New Juarez Cartel (NCJ), the new iteration of the Vicente Carrillo Fuentes Organization's (VCF) enforcement arm, La Linea, has been actively killing municipal police officers in Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua state. But now it seems the group has begun to target police officers in Chihuahua, a city the VCF used to own before the Sinaloa Federation largely took it over.
In the past week, three municipal police officers and a brother of an officer from a joint police force were killed in Chihuahua, Chihuahua state. In one instance, gunmen shot an off-duty police officer while he was at a bar. Following the deaths, narcomantas signed by the NCJ were found in Chihuahua city; the messages contained threats to the city's law enforcement, which the NCJ believes is supporting Sinaloa.
Specifically, the narcomantas threatened the Policia Unica, a task force composed of municipal, state and federal law enforcement officials. While the threats are credible, it should be noted that the NCJ generally has not engaged on-duty police officers. Typically, the NCJ targets off-duty officers or small groups of on-duty officers rather than heavily armed groups. The killing of police officers shows the NCJ is trying to loosen Sinaloa's grip on the city. That it is targeting relatively soft targets reflects the weakness of the NCJ.
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