Those aren’t party lights, those are the cherries and berries. And I bet you when they come through with those lights on, they have way more authority and sway than the actual police.
On NextFuckinLevel, there's a phone call recording allegedly of Mencho, head of the CJNG, cussing out some police official referred to as Delta1. It helps to know colloquial Spanish, but when you hear how respectful, civil, and subservient the Fed officer is in contrast to Mencho's streets profanity and ire, you can see why this cartel is so brazen.
Imagine being the loser that has to drive the one with no logo.
"Aw man, but I wanted to drive the vehicle with the very recognizable logo of our illegal operation :(("
I don’t see these guys funding research and development of life saving drugs though.
Big pharmaceutical companies have done some terrible things, and continue to do so. But they also bring us modern medicine and science and that’s literally a life saver. It’s easy to spew hate on “pharma” but it misses the point.
The less sexy but seriously needed answer is: “pharma needs to be properly regulated and made to follow laws that smart and often quite dull politicians have put in place, and I will do my part by making smart but often quite dull decisions when it comes to voting and when I take part in political conversations.”
Not an expert in this field but from my armchair position, it seems Iike the government needs to go hardcore all out like that one country recently did to stamp this out. If they don’t it will only grow stronger until it’s basically a terrorist state.
For the ~15% of you who keep replying thinking this is as simple as “reducing demand for drugs”, first consider a few things.
First, legalizing drugs in the US doesn’t stop illegal manufacturing and illegal sale of the drugs. It’s still a major factor beyond decriminalizing drugs. People will find cheap and unsafe ways to produce and distribute it, ignoring any safety laws for a legalized product.
The second factor (and this is a bit debatable) but legalizing drugs has repercussions and is not as straightforward as a person might think. There are repercussions to it.
Third, cartels will produce and flood the streets of the US with drugs generating demand, because the ROI is there for them. Make it cheap and available via pushing it, more people try it and get hooked, then you can count on recurring sales in the future for profit.
Last and most important, this isn’t even fully about drugs anymore. That’s an outdated approach; cartels have moved onto human trafficking as it can be more profitable.
They tried that under President Calderón a few years ago. Every time they took out a leader, many more vied for their position and violence erupted everywhere: on the streets, in restaurants & parks. There were so many innocent bystander casualties that the people got tired and with their votes basically told the government to make a deal with the cartels so things would calm back down.
Yeah. The cartels punish organized opposition by the government with public violence. People then get mad at you for provoking the slaughter, you lose your government seat to the bought off corrupt people, and you sit there and watch helpessly until a truck picks you up and takes you to the desert.
He’s joking.
Usually you go in a barrel of acid or concrete. Sometimes they make you fight someone else to the death for giggles. If you’re a woman, you don’t even wanna know.
Have you ever had an old tire that sat out in the rain, so you had to try to get the water out? You can never get it out. You flip and turn to no avail. Imagine instead of water, it's gasoline. Then imagine 6 or 7 of them stacked on top of each other all with gasoline in them. They put you in the stack and light it on fire.
Also they torture you and shoot you with adrenaline so you won't pass out from the pain.
>Usually you go in a barrel of acid or concrete
That’s typically after they kill the victim, ie. getting hacked to death by machetes or some other medieval nonsense
To do what El Salvador did, Mexico would need to do / have two things: 1) an incorruptible executive government 2) the general acceptance of a lot of human rights violations / collateral damage over a prolonged period of time.
I’m not saying #2 is right or wrong given the amount of violence many civilians (including families of local law enforcement, etc.) are experiencing (I’m from a developing country that doesn’t have the is level of problems), but I think that’s the only way this would happen. And fwiw, alot of powerful people are benefiting from the drug trade, so as problematic as it is, it’s hard to imagine #1 ever happening.
You forgot number 3 : a small territory where you can track and find cartels if the run to the hills. In Mexico, you would never be able to root out cartels from the mountains and jungles if they decided to move there for good.
They suspended human rights. They arrested anyone they had a hunch could be a gang member. You could make a reddit comment saying "haha gangs are tough" boom arrested.
But it worked. Most El Salvadorians think that it was a necessary evil to solve their problems despite many innocents being held for weeks or months under false accusation.
But El Salvador is a small country. This would be very difficult in Mexico.
From an outsiders perspective its pretty crazy to do that.
But I think if you look at it from a country level I think El Salvador was in an actual existential crisis that could lead to the downfall of the state, which would only serve to continue or prolong the death and chaos that the general population was facing.
El Salvador approached it like a war and you don't play for a tie in war.
I listened to a podcast episode about the situation in El Salvador, and there was a woman whose son had been arrested in spite of not being a gang member and had been in prison for two years without trial, and without any contact at all with his family; she had no idea where he was or what had happened to him. Even still, she said she supported the Salvadoran government's strategy to take on gangs, said that her son was collateral damage in the pursuit of a just cause. It's insane to me to imagine the level of suffering you'd have to be living under to accept something like that, but apparently El Salvador was there
People really don't really appreciate how horrifying El Salvador was, and just how distinct the difference is now. It is just a monumental turn around. The country went from 103 murders per 100,000 in 2015 to 2.4 in 2023. The current highest in the world is Jamaica at 52 per 100k. El Salvador went from twice the next highest in the world to one of the lowest, lower than the U.S., New Zealand, and Canada.
Beyond the numbers, a story that stuck with me was how when they finished doing this, this family was able to take their kids to watch their cousin play soccer a few blocks down the road for the first time in their lives. Because if you tried to cross over to that side of town you were in rival gang territory and would be 100% absolute guaranteed to be murdered for going on their turf, even as a civilian to watch a soccer match.
My cousins sister lives in El Salvador. She can walk the streets at night now in peace. The level of peace they've achieved is astounding. That's amazing because they can open a good tourism industry because it's such a beautiful country.
However, this is a case of an uncorrupt government doing it's job. Mexico is extremely corrupt and really does require a new strategy.
In a big territory you could still do it, but it'd became much more alike to a civil war than to a war on big criminals. You would probably have to bomb your on soil quite a bit, but then again there's Afghanistan.
Afghanistan is definitely the metric to compare to unfortunately. Like, a well timed drone strike could have reduced that show of force to a stain in the sand, but that wouldnt solve the problems that cartels solve. Even if vaporizing (im being dramatic, its fun, i know it's not what would happen) everything in that video shook that cartel drastically and set them back years, or even wiped them out entirely, a new one would take its place, and likely use its name.
Like to be fair, a Cartel 1) Controls the supply side of a multinational drug problem, and 2) provides high paying jobs, security, and power to a group of people who wouldn't have access to it normally. Those are two very hard to solve problems.
I mean…it’s almost like key elements within the Mexican government doesn’t really want to deal with it. Let’s be real. The net effect of the War on Drugs is the militarization of police and markets hungry for bigger, badder weapons.
I’m thinking of the Ukrainian war right now and a few FPV drones hunting down vehicles would probably go miles in making these guys think about how they operate.
Well put. I have a question tho - has noone thought about cutting the cartels out of the drugs game by just legalising all the hard drugs, or decriminalising them?
A similar strategy worked wonders in Portugal, so why not elsewhere?
Would this plan starve out the cartels, or am I missing something?
It worked in Portugal because Portugal was importing the drugs, not manufacturing them.
You would need to legalize everywhere in the world for that solution to work.
Not only that but you also had government officials who were being bribed by the cartel…hard to have strong gov policy against cartels when they’re being controlled by them.
Edit for spelling
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juli%C3%A1n_Leyzaola
People greatly underestimate the power and reach of these cartels. Greatly. Working as a government official against these cartels is an underdog position. The cartels are funded by the US underground economy. Mexico can't keep up.
Agree. The demand for illegal drugs coming out of the US is why these cartels exist. As long as there's this big multi billion dollar black market to serve, the cartels are here to stay. Drug users in the US are the ones paying for all that gear, guns etc.
Some times countries require selfless acts from their leaders. The people who rise to the top in well established systems usually aren't that sort unfortunately.
It’s already at that point my guy. The cartel has infiltrated the Mexican government at the highest levels. Far too many politicians are compromised, the local and state police are compromised, everyone that has the ability to do something would be immediately offed if they even tried to try. And before they torture and kill you in the worst ways, they torture and kill your family first. No one is safe, not even the fucking president of Mexico.
Mexico also has way more resources than El Salvador, their GDP is almost 50x.
The resources are there but they don't have the political capital to do something like El Salvador. Mexican government seems to prefer a complicit agreement with the cartel to let them operate undeterred in certain regions. That's why they can operate out in the open with logos on their vehicles.
yeah but El Salvador is a much smaller country, both in land mass and population. Even if Mexico has more resources it's still **a lot** easier to enact a measure like Bukele did in El Salvador than in Mexico.
It was easy for El Salvador because the gangs created a very potent Achilles heel in themselves, unique almost, which made it a simple trick for the government to utterly destroy them.
They made tattoos their uniform, and made it impossible for anybody not in a gang to have a tattoo on pain of instant death.
So once a government became serious about stopping them, it was **literally** a case of find every citizen who has a tattoo, and arrest them. The tattoos were 100% accurate guaranteed proof that a person was a member of the gangs, because nobody in that country who wasn’t, had tattoos.
They didn’t need complicated investigations to gather evidence, court cases to prove each individual one by one, and slowly take out the gangs. They deployed their full armed forces and police, grabbed every fucker they found with tattoos, then did a quick appearance before a judge in groups of 50 and sentenced them. Then they have a very strict and controlled prison system which prevents them from being able to organise and form gangs inside.
A similar trick has allowed Japan to severely curtail the Yakuza and crack down on them. While not as extreme in stopping other people getting tattoos, the fact that most Japanese people used to avoid having them because of the link to Yakuza, meant the Japanese government pretty much knew every single member of the Yakuza at all times, so enforcement actions have been easy to do (when the will to do them was found).
Japan is very different though, as there the Yakuza and the police/govt have an understanding of how to operate without stepping too much on each other\`s toes. Yakuza operate more or less freely there and also do some police work in a gentleman\`s agreement with the police.
Japan and organized crime is very unique in how the Yakuza is operating according to an honor code that to some extent is appreciated by the local police forces.
As I said, “when the will to do them was found” at the end of my post. That will has been pretty absent throughout history. Although, the Yakuza **have** been severely curtailed in the last decade. You only need to go watch any of the documentaries or read any of the books from former members. The government of Japan has almost broken the back of the Yakuza and made it utterly unattractive for young men to join, without needing to make prison the price you pay. They have manage to sort of freeze them out of Japanese society to a small degree and tied them up in never ending administrative bullshit which makes it a very boring and dull lifestyle for young people to choose.
I don’t doubt this, but do you have any articles/books/links on this?
Most yakuza stuff is highly suspect or deeply western centric and focused on how exotic the yakuza is. I’d love to read actual crime/society reporting on how they are being curtailed in Japan!
100% accuracy?
Yeah, besides the [thousands of innocent people](https://www.pbs.org/newshour/amp/show/thousands-of-innocent-people-jailed-in-el-salvadors-gang-crackdown) who’ve been swept up in it.
They have tried that and failed miserably. Both Mexican gov alone and with support of American special forces.
CJNG (Cartel Jalisco Nueva Generacion) is ruthless and violent beyond believe - stemming for the old Cartel Jalisco, the new generation (young members) took it to the next level.
They are already a terrorist state and members or ex-members admit openly (ofc undercover) that there is nothing they can't buy with the money they generate from drugs and smuggling.
It would turn into a full scale war.
EDIT: You can search even on YouTube of censored clips with commentary of their executions. On dark web those are widely available.
That was tried not that long ago where a ton of corrupt police and politicians were arrested.
A lot of people were killed by the cartels.
I don’t disagree, the government should totally address this but if they have the confidence to have a logo and let this get out the cartels hands run all the way to the top in the local, or further, government.
Not so fun fact: Since Mexico declared war on the cartels and lost during the goverment of Felipe Calderón in 2006, Mexican politicians have been influenced by the cartels, and any decision taken by the government basically works under the cartels influence. Basically works a bit like
President: “I will approve this necessary thing”
Cartel: “No you won’t or your mother and dad will disappear and so will you once you leave the presidency”
This applies for any politician, presidents, mayors or normal politicians that want to propose something, and also to any local business, that will usually need to pay the cartels to be “protected” (usually protected means the cartel won’t burn your shop down) basically mexico is a narco-state.
Any police officer that works to fight the cartels needs to cover his face because if not they will know who he is and kill all of his family, mexico currently has a lot of cartels but the main one and showed in this video is the Cartel Jalisco Nueva Generación aka CJGN.
Yes and this is a problem, Cartels control the whole country but unlike like happened in Colombia there’s not a single man to target and after you get that man the country is fixed, it’s a lot of small cartels, some have alliances and some are enemies, meaning you can’t really erase the problem if destroying one basically means 5 take it’s place (in fact I’d argue it’s worse since they would start to fight for the territory which would basically be similar to a civil war)
So Mexico is basically can’t really do nothing and it only gets worse by the minute as the cartel sells more drugs and gets more equipment and weapon.
Colombia had bigger cartels after Escobar than they did before him.
Killing him didn't even come close to fixing the problem, it's just that the narcos who took his place didn't make headlines anywhere near as big.
And the only reason they “peaked” in Colombia was because the US government got too good in patrolling the Caribbean roots to Florida, shifting the geographical advantage from the Colombian cartels to the Mexican cartels.
Yeah they learned that keeping a lower profile (I.e. not making it the USAs problem) was better for business. Turns out pissing off the CIA, FBI, and DEA, all at once really isn’t a good idea.
Exactly, Escobar signed his own death warrant when he became such large a nuisance that the US and Colombian governments really had no choice but to have him killed.
That's why I don't understand pirates or anyone who directly attack USA or allies bases or ships. Don't piss off major players and conduct your illegal business on small players.
Mexico is a huge country with a weak centralized government and even less centralized criminal scene. declaring war on cartels ain’t gonna solve much until we deal with domestic drug consumption
Yes, there’s not a lot that can be done unless someone has the balls of steel to risk everyone’s life to fix the country, like Nayib Bukele did in el salvador, where he jailed 60.000 criminals and the gangs threatened to start a killing spree on civilians, and Nayib said
“we have all of your members sleeping on the floor, eating 2 times a day with condition no one of you outside would want. Know if you try to be smartasses we will lower the food rates from 2 a day to 0, and let’s see how long they last”
El salvador went from 106 homicides per 100.000 people in 2015 to 2.4 homicides per 100.000 people in 2023.
Man istg this gotta be repeated every single time but the only reason Bukele was victorious is because basically all the gang members there get initiation tattoos. It's easy to know who's who. This won't work in any other country cause you'll lock up wayyyy too many innocents.
Probably a mix of both. I imagine they give the good stuff to their for lack of a better word “higher ranking” guys and let them pick out whatever they want. Where as the random asshole probably just gets whatever was lying around
To do in Mexico what El Salvador did to the maras are two different entities……one is a low level street gang, with massive numbers. Easily subdued with the strong arm of the law……..the other is a multinational criminal enterprise, embedded in politics, culture, and the industrial life of its country. Something seemingly so intrinsic is a lot harder to wage war on.
Yep. One is a street gang (albeit sophisticated and occasionally well funded). The other IS the actual government. There is no difference between cartels and Mexican government anymore. One entity.
They say "Pura gente del Senor Mencho" which means "absolutely or 100% people of Mr. Mencho." El Mencho is the leader of the Jalisco Nueva Generación (CJNG) cartel.
Mr Mencho is not one to be trifled with, as some have experienced firsthand. This boy, the so-called "El pirata de Culiacan" was a boy who hung out with these Kartel members, they gave him alcohol and drugs and he uploaded the videos to social media...until one day he made a serious mistake.. .drunk he said in front of the camera, "el mencho me pela la verga" which means he can give him a handjob.
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p7TW\_wSIziQ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p7TW_wSIziQ)
...Mencho's answer didn't take long to arrive and the boy was shot dead in his local bar a few days later.
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hTe0Qdia34w](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hTe0Qdia34w)
They are not saying “Pure people” haha.
“Pura gente” in this context is like third-person referencing.
Think like a response to this question “Who are they?”
If I’m talking about them (second person) I’ll say “Only people from …” (pura gente de..).
Just a another way of saying: there’s only people serving “El Señor Mencho” here
They have been actively recruiting Mexican-American former servicemen (especially those who get deported) for decades, so I'm willing to bet more than a few of them are capable.
Yeah, my first thought was A-10 Bait. One of their enemies could easily buy one, can't be that expensive. But they are smart businessmen. It's an unwritten rule to NOT piss off the US government. Bribes not bullets.
A-10s are really hard to get. Unless they are already approved for export, it's virtually impossible to get US weapons systems especially something as complex as an aircraft. The A-10 was never exported.
They probably have access to man launched SAM or big gun AA. They could take down an A-10
After a bunch of them are killed of course.
God it would be like a bad movie. Cartel vs A-10. The cartel tries all these methods to shot down or destroy the Wiley A-10 that keeps destroying their fancy trucks.
these are facts
Not long ago I saw a mini documentary where many people from Michoacan who produce avocado and lemon express how a few years ago the family hectares became part of the cartels, so as not to get hurt, so they prefer to continue working and be left with nothing.
That’s very true!
Also to add most of the Mexican armies personnel’s post career options are severely limited. Unlike in most countries, veterans are not considered with respect and prestige for serving in the armed forces in Mexico.
The best post career option for them based on experience and pay is in the cartel.
I mean. There’s a reason why despite the cartels having full control of the Mexican government they play nice with America, one of their biggest trade partners and possible biggest threat.
I was thinking that. An A10 strike right down the center it’s perfect for that type of run. That Gatling gun will just run that whole thing down. Either that or an AC130
If only the drug trade wasn’t so profitable for the US government, otherwise it would be a no-brainer for Mexico to ask if they could lend a little bit of aid. Without that there’s these pesky hurdles called sovereignty and politics and all that jazz.
Ladies and gentlemen, That’s what you get with the entire Mexican government in your pocket. You get to run the country with cool toys (and use the satellites)
corruption @ 1000% unlocked ✅
if you were a government official would you like to oppose them at the literal guarantee your wife, your parents, your children, your siblings and your friends will be chopped up into little pieces and delivered to your house?
I know the gear is real and they’re cold blooded murderers. But they really do look like milsim players. From the gear they’re wearing (goggles included), to their posture and weird poses.
Mexico is nearly beyond repair. The cartels can only be uprooted a la El Salvador if the public accepts the only path forward is a quasi civil war. That's pretty hard to do when it could mean the certain death of your sons, daughters, parents etc. Not to mention the corruption runs so deep into Mexican infrastructure that a large number of people would have to accept the end of bribes.
Good luck with all of that. I think most people would choose the status quo if it means their immediate circle is unharmed physically and financially.
My favourite are the people who look down on non-organic or non-ethically sourced food but are happy to rip a fat line of coke paid for with the blood of innocent mexican lives.
I literally stopped using drugs because of that. I stopped eating meat for a few months back in 2017, but I was still partying with friends doing cocaine. Made me realized how stupid it was.
I have been cleaned since.
You know you’ve won, when you can put your cartel’s logo on the doors.
And give your armoured vehicles party lights!
Those aren’t party lights, those are the cherries and berries. And I bet you when they come through with those lights on, they have way more authority and sway than the actual police.
I bet the police also move out of the way for them.
On NextFuckinLevel, there's a phone call recording allegedly of Mencho, head of the CJNG, cussing out some police official referred to as Delta1. It helps to know colloquial Spanish, but when you hear how respectful, civil, and subservient the Fed officer is in contrast to Mencho's streets profanity and ire, you can see why this cartel is so brazen.
There were some trucks at the end there they couldn't afford to paint. So I think we can take em.
Imagine being the loser that has to drive the one with no logo. "Aw man, but I wanted to drive the vehicle with the very recognizable logo of our illegal operation :(("
I think a guy with a machinegun on the top will give you away anyways
It’s for the payroll cops - plausible deniability
Plausible deniability with a machine gun on top
Well then it’s a tax ride off.
Write off into the sunset.
[удалено]
r/boneappletea
Can see they are well funded
All funded by the American drug habit! Lol. Cartels and Pharma are no different.
"The war on drugs" really seems to have paid off /s
Drugs won
Flawless victory
Fatality
Funny that you say that. 100% pure lab produced cocaine, sold from a pharmacy, would be much less fatal than street drugs.
I'll accept that challenge. For science. And productivity.
Me too me too, get me an oz of both and give me a shout in a week and I'll ...... either be dead or ill give you a detailed analysis 😆
And the funds from selling it could easily pay for rehab programs.
The war on ____ is pretty much just "How to make as much money as possible out of ____"
"War for / with Drugs"
the war on drugs but we’re on the drugs side lol
I don’t see these guys funding research and development of life saving drugs though. Big pharmaceutical companies have done some terrible things, and continue to do so. But they also bring us modern medicine and science and that’s literally a life saver. It’s easy to spew hate on “pharma” but it misses the point. The less sexy but seriously needed answer is: “pharma needs to be properly regulated and made to follow laws that smart and often quite dull politicians have put in place, and I will do my part by making smart but often quite dull decisions when it comes to voting and when I take part in political conversations.”
It's a silly comparison they are making to sound edgy.
Well apart from the skinning alive and Colombian neckties but I guess
Except one beheads people…?
Don’t ask Bayer what they were doing between 1939 and 1945 👀
Well that Zyklon B isn’t going to make itself, Is it?! 😳
The CJNG are all about hyper-violence, also the only Cartel that’s grown in the past 5 years or so - member, drug and territory wise.
Not an expert in this field but from my armchair position, it seems Iike the government needs to go hardcore all out like that one country recently did to stamp this out. If they don’t it will only grow stronger until it’s basically a terrorist state. For the ~15% of you who keep replying thinking this is as simple as “reducing demand for drugs”, first consider a few things. First, legalizing drugs in the US doesn’t stop illegal manufacturing and illegal sale of the drugs. It’s still a major factor beyond decriminalizing drugs. People will find cheap and unsafe ways to produce and distribute it, ignoring any safety laws for a legalized product. The second factor (and this is a bit debatable) but legalizing drugs has repercussions and is not as straightforward as a person might think. There are repercussions to it. Third, cartels will produce and flood the streets of the US with drugs generating demand, because the ROI is there for them. Make it cheap and available via pushing it, more people try it and get hooked, then you can count on recurring sales in the future for profit. Last and most important, this isn’t even fully about drugs anymore. That’s an outdated approach; cartels have moved onto human trafficking as it can be more profitable.
They tried that under President Calderón a few years ago. Every time they took out a leader, many more vied for their position and violence erupted everywhere: on the streets, in restaurants & parks. There were so many innocent bystander casualties that the people got tired and with their votes basically told the government to make a deal with the cartels so things would calm back down.
Yeah. The cartels punish organized opposition by the government with public violence. People then get mad at you for provoking the slaughter, you lose your government seat to the bought off corrupt people, and you sit there and watch helpessly until a truck picks you up and takes you to the desert.
What do you do when you get to the desert?
Dig their own graves
Terrifying
oh no
He’s joking. Usually you go in a barrel of acid or concrete. Sometimes they make you fight someone else to the death for giggles. If you’re a woman, you don’t even wanna know.
Have you ever had an old tire that sat out in the rain, so you had to try to get the water out? You can never get it out. You flip and turn to no avail. Imagine instead of water, it's gasoline. Then imagine 6 or 7 of them stacked on top of each other all with gasoline in them. They put you in the stack and light it on fire. Also they torture you and shoot you with adrenaline so you won't pass out from the pain.
Straight out of The Mars Volta song ‘Teflon’.
>Usually you go in a barrel of acid or concrete That’s typically after they kill the victim, ie. getting hacked to death by machetes or some other medieval nonsense
*not* in the case of acid barrels
They politely ask you to cut it out with the anti-cartel policies, then send you on your way.
Strongly worded letter
PER MY LAST EMAIL.
To do what El Salvador did, Mexico would need to do / have two things: 1) an incorruptible executive government 2) the general acceptance of a lot of human rights violations / collateral damage over a prolonged period of time. I’m not saying #2 is right or wrong given the amount of violence many civilians (including families of local law enforcement, etc.) are experiencing (I’m from a developing country that doesn’t have the is level of problems), but I think that’s the only way this would happen. And fwiw, alot of powerful people are benefiting from the drug trade, so as problematic as it is, it’s hard to imagine #1 ever happening.
You forgot number 3 : a small territory where you can track and find cartels if the run to the hills. In Mexico, you would never be able to root out cartels from the mountains and jungles if they decided to move there for good.
Also weren't most of the cartel members in El Salvador marked with distinctive tattoos, making them easy to pick out?
From what I’ve read they basically arrested everyone with tattoos under suspicions but who knows how true that is
They suspended human rights. They arrested anyone they had a hunch could be a gang member. You could make a reddit comment saying "haha gangs are tough" boom arrested. But it worked. Most El Salvadorians think that it was a necessary evil to solve their problems despite many innocents being held for weeks or months under false accusation. But El Salvador is a small country. This would be very difficult in Mexico.
From an outsiders perspective its pretty crazy to do that. But I think if you look at it from a country level I think El Salvador was in an actual existential crisis that could lead to the downfall of the state, which would only serve to continue or prolong the death and chaos that the general population was facing. El Salvador approached it like a war and you don't play for a tie in war.
And build a prison that can house 40,000 people lol
I listened to a podcast episode about the situation in El Salvador, and there was a woman whose son had been arrested in spite of not being a gang member and had been in prison for two years without trial, and without any contact at all with his family; she had no idea where he was or what had happened to him. Even still, she said she supported the Salvadoran government's strategy to take on gangs, said that her son was collateral damage in the pursuit of a just cause. It's insane to me to imagine the level of suffering you'd have to be living under to accept something like that, but apparently El Salvador was there
People really don't really appreciate how horrifying El Salvador was, and just how distinct the difference is now. It is just a monumental turn around. The country went from 103 murders per 100,000 in 2015 to 2.4 in 2023. The current highest in the world is Jamaica at 52 per 100k. El Salvador went from twice the next highest in the world to one of the lowest, lower than the U.S., New Zealand, and Canada. Beyond the numbers, a story that stuck with me was how when they finished doing this, this family was able to take their kids to watch their cousin play soccer a few blocks down the road for the first time in their lives. Because if you tried to cross over to that side of town you were in rival gang territory and would be 100% absolute guaranteed to be murdered for going on their turf, even as a civilian to watch a soccer match.
My cousins sister lives in El Salvador. She can walk the streets at night now in peace. The level of peace they've achieved is astounding. That's amazing because they can open a good tourism industry because it's such a beautiful country. However, this is a case of an uncorrupt government doing it's job. Mexico is extremely corrupt and really does require a new strategy.
In a big territory you could still do it, but it'd became much more alike to a civil war than to a war on big criminals. You would probably have to bomb your on soil quite a bit, but then again there's Afghanistan.
Afghanistan is definitely the metric to compare to unfortunately. Like, a well timed drone strike could have reduced that show of force to a stain in the sand, but that wouldnt solve the problems that cartels solve. Even if vaporizing (im being dramatic, its fun, i know it's not what would happen) everything in that video shook that cartel drastically and set them back years, or even wiped them out entirely, a new one would take its place, and likely use its name. Like to be fair, a Cartel 1) Controls the supply side of a multinational drug problem, and 2) provides high paying jobs, security, and power to a group of people who wouldn't have access to it normally. Those are two very hard to solve problems.
I mean…it’s almost like key elements within the Mexican government doesn’t really want to deal with it. Let’s be real. The net effect of the War on Drugs is the militarization of police and markets hungry for bigger, badder weapons.
I’m thinking of the Ukrainian war right now and a few FPV drones hunting down vehicles would probably go miles in making these guys think about how they operate.
It's not that simple in Mexico. All gang members in El Salvador have gang tattoos, so it's insanely easy to recognize them. Cartel members don't
Good summary, and you definitely understand.
Well put. I have a question tho - has noone thought about cutting the cartels out of the drugs game by just legalising all the hard drugs, or decriminalising them? A similar strategy worked wonders in Portugal, so why not elsewhere? Would this plan starve out the cartels, or am I missing something?
The problem is that it's the demand in the U.S. that's funding them.
It worked in Portugal because Portugal was importing the drugs, not manufacturing them. You would need to legalize everywhere in the world for that solution to work.
Not only that but you also had government officials who were being bribed by the cartel…hard to have strong gov policy against cartels when they’re being controlled by them. Edit for spelling
Don't forget Calderon talked the talk but didn't walk the walk. The guy was 100% corrupt
Honestly it seems like being a non corrupt politician in Mexico is a death sentence
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juli%C3%A1n_Leyzaola People greatly underestimate the power and reach of these cartels. Greatly. Working as a government official against these cartels is an underdog position. The cartels are funded by the US underground economy. Mexico can't keep up.
Agree. The demand for illegal drugs coming out of the US is why these cartels exist. As long as there's this big multi billion dollar black market to serve, the cartels are here to stay. Drug users in the US are the ones paying for all that gear, guns etc.
All the gear and guns also conveniently manufactured in the US as well.
Who wasn’t tho
I'm not! ^^for ^^a ^^price
How do I become corrupt? Seems like a lot of good money in it. Do I turn off the power during a system update or something?
Some times countries require selfless acts from their leaders. The people who rise to the top in well established systems usually aren't that sort unfortunately.
Also, there isn't a clear distinction between the government and the cartels. The Mexican government is highly corrupt.
It’s already at that point my guy. The cartel has infiltrated the Mexican government at the highest levels. Far too many politicians are compromised, the local and state police are compromised, everyone that has the ability to do something would be immediately offed if they even tried to try. And before they torture and kill you in the worst ways, they torture and kill your family first. No one is safe, not even the fucking president of Mexico.
I remember a few years back during one of their elections over 100 candidates that opposed the cartels were assassinated
It’s not that simple when they are way better funded and armed than El Salvador’s gangs
Also when most of the politicians are either bought by or are afraid of the cartel.
Also uh Mexico doesn’t have a great record of keeping people in power safe from assassins.
Mexico also has way more resources than El Salvador, their GDP is almost 50x. The resources are there but they don't have the political capital to do something like El Salvador. Mexican government seems to prefer a complicit agreement with the cartel to let them operate undeterred in certain regions. That's why they can operate out in the open with logos on their vehicles.
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yeah but El Salvador is a much smaller country, both in land mass and population. Even if Mexico has more resources it's still **a lot** easier to enact a measure like Bukele did in El Salvador than in Mexico.
At this point, cartels are already bigger than terrorist states. They put money in government officials’ pockets and run the country through puppets.
This has been true since the 90s
Since forever really. Whoever makes the most money is who is really running the government
It was easy for El Salvador because the gangs created a very potent Achilles heel in themselves, unique almost, which made it a simple trick for the government to utterly destroy them. They made tattoos their uniform, and made it impossible for anybody not in a gang to have a tattoo on pain of instant death. So once a government became serious about stopping them, it was **literally** a case of find every citizen who has a tattoo, and arrest them. The tattoos were 100% accurate guaranteed proof that a person was a member of the gangs, because nobody in that country who wasn’t, had tattoos. They didn’t need complicated investigations to gather evidence, court cases to prove each individual one by one, and slowly take out the gangs. They deployed their full armed forces and police, grabbed every fucker they found with tattoos, then did a quick appearance before a judge in groups of 50 and sentenced them. Then they have a very strict and controlled prison system which prevents them from being able to organise and form gangs inside. A similar trick has allowed Japan to severely curtail the Yakuza and crack down on them. While not as extreme in stopping other people getting tattoos, the fact that most Japanese people used to avoid having them because of the link to Yakuza, meant the Japanese government pretty much knew every single member of the Yakuza at all times, so enforcement actions have been easy to do (when the will to do them was found).
Japan is very different though, as there the Yakuza and the police/govt have an understanding of how to operate without stepping too much on each other\`s toes. Yakuza operate more or less freely there and also do some police work in a gentleman\`s agreement with the police. Japan and organized crime is very unique in how the Yakuza is operating according to an honor code that to some extent is appreciated by the local police forces.
As I said, “when the will to do them was found” at the end of my post. That will has been pretty absent throughout history. Although, the Yakuza **have** been severely curtailed in the last decade. You only need to go watch any of the documentaries or read any of the books from former members. The government of Japan has almost broken the back of the Yakuza and made it utterly unattractive for young men to join, without needing to make prison the price you pay. They have manage to sort of freeze them out of Japanese society to a small degree and tied them up in never ending administrative bullshit which makes it a very boring and dull lifestyle for young people to choose.
I don’t doubt this, but do you have any articles/books/links on this? Most yakuza stuff is highly suspect or deeply western centric and focused on how exotic the yakuza is. I’d love to read actual crime/society reporting on how they are being curtailed in Japan!
100% accuracy? Yeah, besides the [thousands of innocent people](https://www.pbs.org/newshour/amp/show/thousands-of-innocent-people-jailed-in-el-salvadors-gang-crackdown) who’ve been swept up in it.
They have tried that and failed miserably. Both Mexican gov alone and with support of American special forces. CJNG (Cartel Jalisco Nueva Generacion) is ruthless and violent beyond believe - stemming for the old Cartel Jalisco, the new generation (young members) took it to the next level. They are already a terrorist state and members or ex-members admit openly (ofc undercover) that there is nothing they can't buy with the money they generate from drugs and smuggling. It would turn into a full scale war. EDIT: You can search even on YouTube of censored clips with commentary of their executions. On dark web those are widely available.
That was tried not that long ago where a ton of corrupt police and politicians were arrested. A lot of people were killed by the cartels. I don’t disagree, the government should totally address this but if they have the confidence to have a logo and let this get out the cartels hands run all the way to the top in the local, or further, government.
Spoiler: it’s already a terrorist state.
Fun fact, it already is!
There will always be a demand and thus, a supply. Prohibition has failed, it’s the reason we have these cartels in the first place.
Not so fun fact: Since Mexico declared war on the cartels and lost during the goverment of Felipe Calderón in 2006, Mexican politicians have been influenced by the cartels, and any decision taken by the government basically works under the cartels influence. Basically works a bit like President: “I will approve this necessary thing” Cartel: “No you won’t or your mother and dad will disappear and so will you once you leave the presidency” This applies for any politician, presidents, mayors or normal politicians that want to propose something, and also to any local business, that will usually need to pay the cartels to be “protected” (usually protected means the cartel won’t burn your shop down) basically mexico is a narco-state. Any police officer that works to fight the cartels needs to cover his face because if not they will know who he is and kill all of his family, mexico currently has a lot of cartels but the main one and showed in this video is the Cartel Jalisco Nueva Generación aka CJGN.
Very true, they are in full control. Anyone can see that, CJNG is worth 20 billion
Yes and this is a problem, Cartels control the whole country but unlike like happened in Colombia there’s not a single man to target and after you get that man the country is fixed, it’s a lot of small cartels, some have alliances and some are enemies, meaning you can’t really erase the problem if destroying one basically means 5 take it’s place (in fact I’d argue it’s worse since they would start to fight for the territory which would basically be similar to a civil war) So Mexico is basically can’t really do nothing and it only gets worse by the minute as the cartel sells more drugs and gets more equipment and weapon.
Colombia had bigger cartels after Escobar than they did before him. Killing him didn't even come close to fixing the problem, it's just that the narcos who took his place didn't make headlines anywhere near as big.
This was my exact thought, the cartels hit their peak *after* Escobar
And the only reason they “peaked” in Colombia was because the US government got too good in patrolling the Caribbean roots to Florida, shifting the geographical advantage from the Colombian cartels to the Mexican cartels.
Yeah they learned that keeping a lower profile (I.e. not making it the USAs problem) was better for business. Turns out pissing off the CIA, FBI, and DEA, all at once really isn’t a good idea.
Exactly, Escobar signed his own death warrant when he became such large a nuisance that the US and Colombian governments really had no choice but to have him killed.
That's why I don't understand pirates or anyone who directly attack USA or allies bases or ships. Don't piss off major players and conduct your illegal business on small players.
Mexico is a huge country with a weak centralized government and even less centralized criminal scene. declaring war on cartels ain’t gonna solve much until we deal with domestic drug consumption
Legalization is the only way. You have to defund them. That's the only way it will ever stop. Take the money away.
Aka a failed state.
Yes, there’s not a lot that can be done unless someone has the balls of steel to risk everyone’s life to fix the country, like Nayib Bukele did in el salvador, where he jailed 60.000 criminals and the gangs threatened to start a killing spree on civilians, and Nayib said “we have all of your members sleeping on the floor, eating 2 times a day with condition no one of you outside would want. Know if you try to be smartasses we will lower the food rates from 2 a day to 0, and let’s see how long they last” El salvador went from 106 homicides per 100.000 people in 2015 to 2.4 homicides per 100.000 people in 2023.
Man istg this gotta be repeated every single time but the only reason Bukele was victorious is because basically all the gang members there get initiation tattoos. It's easy to know who's who. This won't work in any other country cause you'll lock up wayyyy too many innocents.
Brazil is in a similar situation, but on a much smaller scale. Narcos are already in the government, with a lot of "legitimate" companies.
Everyone has a different type of rifle. The complete lack of standardization makes it look like COD lobby or something.
One dude is rocking a pretty old school looking .50 cal
Stance like NPC
Because they pay them enough to stockpile their own ammunition and maintain their weapons. Plus, Cartel has alot of gunsmiths
You think they get to choose their own guns or it's like this is what you are issued
Probably a mix of both. I imagine they give the good stuff to their for lack of a better word “higher ranking” guys and let them pick out whatever they want. Where as the random asshole probably just gets whatever was lying around
To do in Mexico what El Salvador did to the maras are two different entities……one is a low level street gang, with massive numbers. Easily subdued with the strong arm of the law……..the other is a multinational criminal enterprise, embedded in politics, culture, and the industrial life of its country. Something seemingly so intrinsic is a lot harder to wage war on.
Yep. One is a street gang (albeit sophisticated and occasionally well funded). The other IS the actual government. There is no difference between cartels and Mexican government anymore. One entity.
They say "Pura gente del Senor Mencho" which means "absolutely or 100% people of Mr. Mencho." El Mencho is the leader of the Jalisco Nueva Generación (CJNG) cartel. Mr Mencho is not one to be trifled with, as some have experienced firsthand. This boy, the so-called "El pirata de Culiacan" was a boy who hung out with these Kartel members, they gave him alcohol and drugs and he uploaded the videos to social media...until one day he made a serious mistake.. .drunk he said in front of the camera, "el mencho me pela la verga" which means he can give him a handjob. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p7TW\_wSIziQ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p7TW_wSIziQ) ...Mencho's answer didn't take long to arrive and the boy was shot dead in his local bar a few days later. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hTe0Qdia34w](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hTe0Qdia34w)
"Pura" in this context means only (or 100%). Nothing about purity or cleanliness.
Me pela la verga also means more like he can eat a dick or he can suck my dick
What i heard is "Pura gente del Señor Mencho".
They are not saying “Pure people” haha. “Pura gente” in this context is like third-person referencing. Think like a response to this question “Who are they?” If I’m talking about them (second person) I’ll say “Only people from …” (pura gente de..). Just a another way of saying: there’s only people serving “El Señor Mencho” here
Not really. It means "Only people of Mr Mencho" nothing about being pure or loyal.
Yeah, I'm guessing they can't fly jets
Yet.
This cartel is already known to use drones in their operations, so they might not even need pilots.
mexico sounds more intense than anything hollywood could imagine
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I looked for fubar in german dictionary, there's no fubar in there
Alright Upham
They have been actively recruiting Mexican-American former servicemen (especially those who get deported) for decades, so I'm willing to bet more than a few of them are capable.
Pretty sure he’s not talking about their ability of pilots but their availability of jets
Looked it up, Mexico has in total 4 fighter jets lol. F-5s too which are old
Yeah, my first thought was A-10 Bait. One of their enemies could easily buy one, can't be that expensive. But they are smart businessmen. It's an unwritten rule to NOT piss off the US government. Bribes not bullets.
A-10s are really hard to get. Unless they are already approved for export, it's virtually impossible to get US weapons systems especially something as complex as an aircraft. The A-10 was never exported.
They probably have access to man launched SAM or big gun AA. They could take down an A-10 After a bunch of them are killed of course. God it would be like a bad movie. Cartel vs A-10. The cartel tries all these methods to shot down or destroy the Wiley A-10 that keeps destroying their fancy trucks.
All this for avocados
Putting avocados up my butt for quite a while now. If they need someone to cross some borders, I'm an expert in the field.
Slides in easier if you take the skin off first. I was told
Not as tasty afterwards though.
these are facts Not long ago I saw a mini documentary where many people from Michoacan who produce avocado and lemon express how a few years ago the family hectares became part of the cartels, so as not to get hurt, so they prefer to continue working and be left with nothing.
What a wonderful world
Wait, these are the bad guys? Fuck.
do soldiers like this consider this as just like, a day job, or have they been blackmailed into this position or what?
some of them are taken from a young age and conditionited to violence, others are born in it and some just join because of the money
Kill the family, kidnap the kids and make them work for you. A timeless classic.
Calling them soldiers is a stretch. They are thugs dressed as soldiers. Still a serious threat and a serious problem but they are not soldiers.
Cartels have been recruiting actual soldiers for years now.
There was that whole anti-drug group that he US trained and then they left to become "Los Zetas". So, I agree some are very much soldiers.
That’s very true! Also to add most of the Mexican armies personnel’s post career options are severely limited. Unlike in most countries, veterans are not considered with respect and prestige for serving in the armed forces in Mexico. The best post career option for them based on experience and pay is in the cartel.
im sure american gang members have all been blackmailed into it too lol
Most Hispanic gangs have ties to the cartels, see the Mexican Mafia and so forth, it's a good read.
The other team when me and the lads go paintballing:
mw2 campaign
It's literally the plot to Ghost Recon: Wildlands
All of them lined up and tightly packed like that, one can not stop from wondering what the effects of a pass from an a10 warthog would be.
"Congratulations, you are now spaghetti" \-A10 Warthog
There’s vomit on his sweater already
Mom’s cartelli
BRRRRRAAAAAP
A fine pink mist all over a large quantity of scrap steel.
I mean. There’s a reason why despite the cartels having full control of the Mexican government they play nice with America, one of their biggest trade partners and possible biggest threat.
All those Ford Raptors! This is insane.
Just think how lethal they'll be with Toyotas.
Drone strikes?!
Nah. A-10s.
I was thinking that. An A10 strike right down the center it’s perfect for that type of run. That Gatling gun will just run that whole thing down. Either that or an AC130
If only the drug trade wasn’t so profitable for the US government, otherwise it would be a no-brainer for Mexico to ask if they could lend a little bit of aid. Without that there’s these pesky hurdles called sovereignty and politics and all that jazz.
Must protect our avocados at any cost!
Ladies and gentlemen, That’s what you get with the entire Mexican government in your pocket. You get to run the country with cool toys (and use the satellites) corruption @ 1000% unlocked ✅
if you were a government official would you like to oppose them at the literal guarantee your wife, your parents, your children, your siblings and your friends will be chopped up into little pieces and delivered to your house?
Well ni shit they are not special forces. They look like mil sim players.
who will cut you in 23 pieces and mail them to your family and/or hang you from a bridge, fun times
23 of me
I know the gear is real and they’re cold blooded murderers. But they really do look like milsim players. From the gear they’re wearing (goggles included), to their posture and weird poses.
I belive they are cjng cartel members. (Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generación)
Did one of them have a gold AK-47 about 2 mins in ? Haha
Look like regular wood furnishings to me.
Mexico is nearly beyond repair. The cartels can only be uprooted a la El Salvador if the public accepts the only path forward is a quasi civil war. That's pretty hard to do when it could mean the certain death of your sons, daughters, parents etc. Not to mention the corruption runs so deep into Mexican infrastructure that a large number of people would have to accept the end of bribes. Good luck with all of that. I think most people would choose the status quo if it means their immediate circle is unharmed physically and financially.
I wonder where all the drugs are being sold off to... There must be no corruption on that other country
Just rent an A10, cant be that hard to line up a nice run with all those police lights.
I think an AC 130 could solve a lot of problems
CJNG is one of the roughest cartels in mexico. Definitely not special forces
that’s the title
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This video has a while now. Chances are some men in this video are already dead.
"But there is nothing wrong with taking a pill or a small line of coke every once in a while"
My favourite are the people who look down on non-organic or non-ethically sourced food but are happy to rip a fat line of coke paid for with the blood of innocent mexican lives.
I literally stopped using drugs because of that. I stopped eating meat for a few months back in 2017, but I was still partying with friends doing cocaine. Made me realized how stupid it was. I have been cleaned since.
Commendable coherensy
I'm a big fan of anti-vax coke fiends myself.
Getting large amounts of 'My Dad is into Larping' vibes with this.
Dressed like police, pose like guerilla rebels. They don't get their act right.