CELAYA IN GUANAJUATO TAKING MATTERS IN THEIR OWN HANDS AGAINST CARTELS3

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
Welcome to Understanding Gangs. This podcastexamined street and prison gang structure and activity
in the United States from the perspectiveof law enforcement academics and former gang members.
Let's get started pre test of defense. If you want a past test,

(00:22):
you could keep it, says tobe another tongue on a a story
from ABC News, A dead manlay on his back in the parking lot
of a convenience store in late Februarywhen journalists rolled into the north central Mexico
city of Salaya to interview police.A spray of bullet casings and spent projectiles
lay around the corpse, a siteall two common in the state of Wadawata,

(00:43):
one of the most violent states inMexico with the highest number of homicides.
The policeman have been driving his wifeto work on February twenty eighth when
a cartel gunman who apparently followed himopened fire on the car. The policeman
killed one attacker before dying. Hiswife and one year old fortunately were unharmed.
But a week earlier, cartel gunmanshot a police officer to death.

(01:04):
Well she took her eight year olddaughter to school. That killed the daughter
as well. Welcome to Salaia,say some are going to be the most
dangerous place per capita to be acop in North America. At least thirty
four police officers have been killed inthe city of five hundred thousand people in
the last three years alone, andWanawato It's population just over six million,

(01:25):
close to La more police was shotto death in twenty twenty three, about
sixty than all of the United States. In the United States, I think
about sixty five to seventy police officersdie from a felonious gunshot is what they
would call it. Other officers getkilled, unfortunately by cars hitting them on
the freeway, or when they're standingnext to a car, heart attacks,

(01:47):
things of that nature. But actuallybeing shot to death, it's about sixty
to seventy, So just one state, wanta Wata has sixty. As Mexico's
June second president election approaches, thecity lies at the crossroads of a national
debate about security. Solaia has declinedto follow AMLO's policy of not confronting the
cartels and ignored his policy of encouragingencouraging local people to seek out peace packs.

(02:14):
When Catholic bishops announced they had metwith cartel bosses in February to negotiated
truce Amlo. The president said,I think it was very good. Usually
when they do these truths, thoughthere's a given take happening. Mexico's president
dislikes police and would like to relyon the military for everything. He dissolved
the old federal police, accusing themof corruption, and cut almost all federal

(02:34):
funding. Unlike some other cities,Salaia Farming, an industrial hub in northwest
of Mexico City, has refused toeliminate its local police force and then rely
almost completely on soldiers in the quasimilitary National Guard. That means it had
to take on the Santa Rosa Delimacartel, a gang so unreflectively violent that
any sort of truce in negotiation wasprobably out of the question. The Santa

(02:55):
Rosa de Alima cartel controls Salaya.The current mayor, Hobbiermande, and made
the decision to break the criminal control. It was a decision that cost the
life of his son, who hasshot to death. Now the cartel is
trying to hunt Selaia's cops into submissionor extinction. Two officers were killed in
their car Sunday and at al Puato, the next town over, and of

(03:15):
the Santa Rosa Delima cartel, lefta claim of responsibility. Killings of police
in Mexico rose last year, eventhough Amlos says overall homicide numbers have dropped,
which they could they could have.The safety of the public is not
something you can negotiate, never,says the police chief of Salaya. Under
the President's approach, Mexico has botha shortage of police and some towns there

(03:38):
are no police, and at thesame time, thousands of experienced former federal
police officers who chose not to jointhe militarized National Guard are now unemployed.
Solaia themselves decided to hire some ofthem. Rivera Peralta, like most of
his forces, are former member ofthe federal police. They're almost all from
outside Solaia. They live in squesbarracks and go out only to patrol,

(04:01):
earning his nickname Fedepalis, a combinationof the word federal and municipal. Because
they're outsiders and new cops sore lesslikely to have ties to the cartels.
Most of the locals who used towork as a municipal police have resigned,
and it's easy to see why.As Stefani and Salaya policewoman who would not
give her last name for security reasons, narrowly escaped and an attack as she
drove to work in early twenty twentythree. So what's interesting to me is

(04:27):
you have this story coming in theABC News, so hitting a lot of
the mainstream. I'm not sure howmuch this is a web news. Another
thing they mentioned here is that asAmlo would like to rely more on the
military. Mentioned that he wants tohand over control to the National Guard,
over the National Guard to army control, but at the same time he doesn't
want troops directly confronting the cartels,and this has created very unusual scenes.

(04:49):
If you remember the neighboring state ofMete Khan, a National Guard or Army
truck may roll by a corner storeon a patrol. While inside the store
everything costs forty percent more than normalbecause it's owners forced to pay extortion money
to the local cartels. The NationalGuard doesn't arrest many suspects or investig grete
crimes either, which is because itcould be why he wanted to hand over

(05:11):
the National Guard. Like the militarymainly owned, follows orders and arrests criminals.
Only if they are caught in theact. Salaia unusual among municipal police,
does its own intelligence and investigation work, so you can see it's basically
almost two countries operating here in acertain aspect. Very unusual. But we'll
see what June second has to offer, what the cartels are up to in

(05:32):
this election. Usually a lot ofthe elections can be very deadly, so
hopefully it's not this time.