U.S. Forcing Mexico to Take Down Terrorist Cartel, Three of Five Top Bosses Jailed or Killed
Pressure from the U.S. government on Mexico forced the country’s political elite to overlook prior protection and preferential treatment and hunt down key leaders of the terrorist organization Carteles Unidos. The results of this new effort by Mexico to appease the United States led to the arrest of two leaders and the death of a third one in recent weeks, while the two highest-ranking leaders with the most political connections remain at large.
Pressure from the U.S. government on Mexico forced the country’s political elite to overlook prior protection and preferential treatment and hunt down key leaders of the terrorist organization Carteles Unidos. The results of this new effort by Mexico to appease the United States led to the arrest of two leaders and the death of a third one in recent weeks, while the two highest-ranking leaders with the most political connections remain at large.
The most recent raid took place on September 23, when Mexican police forces arrested Edgar Valeriano “El Kamoni or El 50” Orozco Cabadas, for whom the U.S. Department of Justice is offering a $3 million reward. The man known as El Kamoni is a regional leader of Carteles Unidos and is believed to be responsible for the large-scale production of synthetic drugs, as well as the widespread extortion of citrus and avocado growers in the region. For years, Carteles Unidos has been waging a fierce turf war with the terrorist group Cartel Jalisco New Generation (CJNG).
Credit: Breitbart News Foundation / Cartel Chronicles
El Kamoni’s arrest comes weeks after Mexican military forces clashed with and killed Luis Enrique “El Guicho, Wicho or R-5” in Michoacan. As Breitbart Texas reported, El Guicho also had a $3 million reward for his capture. At the time military forces went to arrest him, he and his gunmen clashed with authorities, leading to a deadly shootout where the cartel boss and his teen nephew-bodyguard died.
Credit: Breitbart News Foundation / Cartel Chronicles
Law enforcement sources in Mexico revealed to Breitbart News Foundation that, at the time of the raid, Mexican authorities were also targeting Juan Jose “El Abuelo” Farias, another top leader of Carteles Unidos and head of the Tepalcatepec Cartel. This cartel masquerades as a self-defense movement. Even though authorities were targeting El Abuelo, the crime boss was tipped off by a Mexican official at the highest level before the raid and managed to escape. Breitbart News Foundation
