Trent Barr

Latin America Desk Chief

With years of specialized training, Trent brings deep expertise to his role as the Latin America Desk Chief for Atlas News, where he provides critical insights and analysis on regional developments.

Good morning, and welcome to The Situation Room. Today we’re getting into:

The murder of the Director of Police of Villanueva, Zacatecas State, Mexico, the kidnapping and torture of two Colombian police officers at the hands of Clan del Golfo, and the firing of Israel's Defense Minister, Yoav Gallant.

Lets get into it!

Four Arrested in Connection to Murder of Director of Police, Mexico

By: Trent Barr, Latin America Desk Chief

Four people were arrested by Mexican authorities in connection to an armed attack that led to the death of the Director of Police of Villanueva, Zacatecas State, while police state that the arrests dismantled the criminal cell that was responsible for the killing.

Another Death as Conflict in Mexico Continues

The attack occurred on Saturday, November 2, and resulted in the death of one civilian and the injury of another. During an operation in which members of Zacatecas’ state police were responding to a report regarding the presence of armed individuals in the area, armed assailants opened fire on the responding officers. Later that same night, authorities announced the four arrested individuals had been captured, which included a 17-year-old Zacatecas native. Following the appearance of security forces, the four suspects attacked authorities before attempting to flee the scene. The Director of Police was identified as Hugo Cruz González by the Directorate of Public Security and Roads Villanueva.

Security forces seized two rifles, one pistol, 31 containers of marijuana, and 55 packets of methamphetamines following the arrest of the four suspects, three of whom were residents of Jalisco.

The presence of three residents of Jalisco could point to the involvement of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG), whose brutal expansion across Mexico as one of the nation’s most powerful cartels has been especially concentrated in Zacatecas in a likely effort to control vital drug trafficking routes due to the state neighboring Jalisco and its connection to the US-Mexico border. Furthermore, the state itself offers opportunities to further expand to surrounding states due to its proximity to vital smuggling routes in surrounding states.

The CJNG’s presence in Zacatecas is not unopposed, with the criminal organization having been reportedly engaged in conflict with other cartels such as the Sinaloa Cartel and the now severely weakened Los Zetas cartel, the former of which is currently engaged in a brutal civil war in the cartel’s founding state and namesake.

Mexico’s security situation has only worsened in recent months following the arrest of notorious drug lord and founding figure of the Sinaloa Cartel, Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada, on July 25, 2024. Following his arrest, Sinaloa has fallen into a bloody civil war due to El Mayo’s claims that his arrest was orchestrated by the Chaptios, a faction within the cartel that is led by the sons of notorious drug lord Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán. Since his arrest, those loyal to El Mayo have formed their own faction known as La Mayiza, which is led by one of the sons of El Mayo.

Since then, numerous murders have been attributed to the internal conflict within Sinaloa, while both factions have launched their own propaganda campaigns in an effort to win over Sinaloa’s civilian population, weakening their opposition. One such effort was conducted by La Mayiza, who previously dispersed fliers to the civilian population of Culiacán in which the faction promised to end the “abuses” carried out by the Chapitos. In the pamphlets dispersed by the faction, it denounced the “government that supports them [Chapitos]” before providing a number for civilians to report any such instances of alleged corruption.

As conflict between and within Mexico’s cartels continues to plague the nation, pressure to address the security crisis within the country continues to mount on the nation’s newly elected president, Claudia Sheinbaum.

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