El Chapo Guzman Extradition Progress Leads To Unprecedented Spike In Violence And Homicides In Mexico


Joaquin El Chapo Guzman has for a long time been one of the most revered drug lords in Mexico. Currently incarcerated in a prison in Juarez awaiting extradition to the United States, he was before his capture seen to be the man who kept the peace between gangs in Mexico. Since his 2014 capture and subsequent recapture earlier this year, the relative peace that once prevailed in areas such as Ciudad Juarez, after his drug cartel won the plaza slowly disappeared, with his organization now fighting with the highly violent Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) for that and other strategic drug trafficking areas. Just a few months ago, the CJNG kidnapped his sons in a move that was seen as evidence of a tip in the balance of power in the Mexican drug trafficking underworld.

According to a new report, there has been an unprecedented increase in violence and number of homicides in Mexico in the last few months, mainly due to the weakening of the Sinaloa Cartel and subsequent efforts by rival gangs to take over its territories. The following is an excerpt of a report by Business Insider detailing the situation.

“Nationwide, there were [an unprecedented] 2,187 homicide victims in September, exceeding the 2,155 of August and the 2,098 recorded in July. July was the first time the number of homicide victims was over 2,000 since the government began releasing that statistic at the start of 2014.”

“The number of homicide cases — a data point the Mexican government has released since 1997 — were 1,974 in September, which was a high for this year and the most registered since May 2012, meaning those 1,974 cases are the most recorded in a month since current President Enrique Peña Nieto took office in December 2012.”

Back to El Chapo, his extradition to the United States is observed to be in steady progress. On Thursday, a Mexican federal judge ruled in favor of El Chapo’s extradition to America where he faces drug trafficking and conspiracy charges. The following is a highlight by CNN.

“A Mexican federal judge on Thursday ruled in favor of extraditing Guzman to the US, the Mexican Attorney General’s Office said. The decision does not mean Guzman will be extradited immediately. The judge rejected two of five injunctions presented by Guzman’s legal team against the extradition request. Three others were previously dismissed.”

“Guzman has one more appeal process available before he can be formally extradited. Andres Granados, one of Guzman’s lawyers, told CNN he may file an appeal as soon as Tuesday.”

Presently, El Chapo Guzman’s sons are said to be in the Sinaloa Cartel leadership. However, they are believed to be less influential than their father and not as foresighted; something that makes it very hard for them to assert control as El Chapo did. In August, three of them, Ivan Archivaldo, Caesar, and Alfredo were kidnapped while having a party at a restaurant in Puerto Vallarta, an area that is considered to be one of the CJNG’s strongholds.

Going by their decision to party in their enemy’s territory without armed guards, they have been viewed by some to be much more careless than El Chapo was and unlikely to earn the respect of rival cartels. The kidnapping incident also made them come out as weak and vulnerable, which works against them in a highly volatile environment where these traits are expensive.

Presently, El Chapo Guzman’s Sinaloa cartel is ultimately fighting against the CJNG, which has grown in power since his incarceration. Led by Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, also known as El Mencho, it has in the recent past made headlines for taking the fight to the police, and in one instance shooting down one of their helicopters.

Just last month, an audio of its leader, El Mencho, talking to a police commander hit the internet. In the conversation, the CJNG leader issued death threats against the cop and his subordinates if they didn’t ‘relax’. The following is the audio.

[Featured Image by Marco Ugarte/AP Images]

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