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lence, but all that changed when President of the major players today. The Mexican
Felipe Calderón took office on December 1, drug wars have seen the rise of two domi-
2006. Within weeks, some 6,500 troops nant cartels, which have elevated indiscrimi-
were dispatched to the state of Michoacán nate violence and coercion to levels previ-
(along the country’s mid-Pacific coast) to ously unimaginable. The Sinaloa gang is the
curtail drug violence. It was of little avail. country’s largest cartel, based on the volume
McCaffrey testified in 2009 that “squad- of drugs it moves. It grew out of the coastal
sized units of the police and [Mexican] army state of Sinaloa, once known for its poppy
have been tortured, murdered, and their de- fields and opium gum produced by Chinese
capitated bodies publicly left on display.” immigrants. Now it is produced by hun-
Media accounts appeared describing in- dreds of thousands of Mexican campesinos.
stances where the police auctioned their The Sinaloa Cartel operates up Mexico’s
loyalty to the highest bidder. Today, some Pacific coast and along the U.S. border—
45,000 Mexican troops—about a quarter of from Tijuana in the west, to Ciudad Juárez
the standing army—are engaged in a do- and Nuevo Laredo in the east. Since a differ-
mestic war with drug cartels, which shows ent chief, or capo (the Mexican cartels have
no signs of abating anytime soon. adopted the same terminology as their
mafia counterparts), controls each territory,
Rise of the New Cartels the Sinaloa Cartel has also become known
Amid such seemingly indiscriminate as “The Federation.” But at the top of the
violence, it’s critical to understand who is chain sits Félix Gallardo’s former lieutenant,
fighting whom, and to have a little history “El Chapo” Guzmán; Forbes magazine esti-
“
to wage this war. The
Navy lost one man, Ensign Gunmen went to the home of the
Melquisedet Ángulo
Córdova, in the raid on
grieving family, killing the hero’s
Beltrán Leyva. President mother, two sisters, brother, and
Calderón hailed Ángulo
Córdova as a hero and gave
him a state funeral. But
aunt as they slept.
hours after he was laid to rest, gunmen went
to his grieving family’s home, killing his
mother, two sisters, brother, and aunt as
”
ing speed. By August 2007, six months af-
ter “Black Thursday,” 11 Aguascalientes po-
lice officers had been murdered. One of the
they slept. Only one sister survived the victims was a deputy police chief who was
attack. shot, execution style, in the nearby town of
Pabellón de Arteaga while he was eating in
Takeover of a Town a restaurant. After the attack, Mexican me-
Until Black Thursday, Aguascalientes was dia speculated that he was killed in reprisal
immune to such violence. Nestled high on for the drug-related arrests of seven suspect-
Mexico’s central rocky plateau some 300 ed gunmen several weeks earlier.
miles north of Mexico City, the city and the In early 2008, a wave of kidnappings
state had remained a haven of relative stabil- spread across the state targeting the chil-
ity and prosperity. As recently as 2004, the dren of prominent businessmen. By this
University of London published a study that time, Los Zetas had perfected the art.
ranked Aguascalientes “as one of the only Kidnapping, especially in wealthy and
few [Mexican] states that has a well-func- relatively drug-free states, can be a more
tioning judicial system.” An earlier survey immediate source of liquid funds than
ranked Aguascalientes first in terms of con- trafficking in drugs. In May 2008, Nicolás
fidence in the judicial system, and indicated Martínez Reyes, the son of a wine distribu-
that it had the lowest levels of corruption in tor, was kidnapped from El Pescador del
the country. Business flowed into the state. Pargo, a busy seafood restaurant in down-
Aguascalientes’ skilled labor attracted some town Aguascalientes where he was dining
$4.3 billion in foreign direct investment with a group of friends. Martínez Reyes
from companies like Nissan, Bosch, and was held for 35 days. His kidnappers tor-