Criminal groups are becoming increasingly powerful in Mexico

In the last decades, the inaction and omission on behalf of several governments, along with failed strategies, pushed Mexico into a wave of violence . The current administration changed its strategy and it’s not going after cartel leaders; however, this change hasn’t lowered the number of homicides and on the contrary, they continue to increase.

It can be said that the strategy used by the current administration seems to have push criminal organizations to become bolder, which attack rival groups and authorities in broad daylight, knowing that no one will confront them. Criminals haven’t backed down amid the public health emergency.

Yesterday, the Defense Ministry announced that on June 20, they arrested El Marro’s mother and sister during an operation in collaboration with the National Guard and Guanajuato authorities. José Antonio Yépez, aka “El Marro,” is the leader of the Santa Rosa de Lima Cartel , which operates in Guanajuato. At the same time, a video that showed the criminal threatening the federal government went viral.

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This time the threat was made public; however, other incidents have also represented a challenge for the federal government in recent months. Amid the COVID-19 pandemic , criminal groups have distributed groceries among impoverished communities . On the other hand, criminals have set vehicles on fire and blocked roads.

In October 2019, the Sinaloa Cartel wreaked havoc in Culiacán after Ovidio Guzmán was arrested, which prompted authorities to release him to prevent attacks against civilians. Weeks later, the LeBarón family was ambushed and criminals killed six children and three women. Days later, dozens of gunmen arrived at Villa Unión, Coahuila, in broad daylight to attack the presidential municipality.

Criminal groups

are acting recklessly. The federal government has no other option than to strike back, although they will need more than that. Intelligence work must be the core of the strategy, as well as the collaboration of authorities at all levels and a strict reliability evaluation model. It is evident that to bring peace, Mexico needs more than a weak strategy.

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