Great article. I've never been to Morelos, but I've heard it is bad which is a shame given the natural beauty . Extortion appears to be rampant in many parts of Mexico. I've been told that factories in northern Baja have shut down and moved to Malaysia and Vietnam not because the cost of labor is cheaper, but the cost of running a business is cheaper. The government is really failing miserably.
Yeah, Morelos is still a great place despite all the violence and crime but it is doing so much damage to it. I also think it's a shame as the crime in Morelos is more avoidable if the government only had its act together.
Powerful article. What's happening in Morelos and in many other parts of Mexico is tragic. As if the country doesn't have enough problems without worrying about extortion. After retiring from the Department of Justice in 2010, I worked in Mexico City for a Fortune 500 company and spent weekends visiting some of the "Pueblos Magicos" outside the city. Tepoztlan was one of those towns. I don't recall extortion as a big problem in this town at that time. I love Mexico...love the people. But this criminal cancer is eroding the fabric of Mexican society. Where does this all bottom out? Stay safe Ioan.
Well appreciated Kenneth. Tepoztlan has thankfully managed to stay shielded as a bit of an oasis to this problem, for various curious reasons. As to where Mexico hits bottom? That is a good question. Unfortunately, there is a tendency here I fear to avoid rather than confront these problems, but at some point things can blow up. Let's see, but it's far from over yet. I hope one day we can say the worst is behind us.
Sadly pueblos mágicos don't necessarily correlate well with tourism and peace. I live between two of them in Guanajuato state and both have high death and extortion tolls. Extortion down to the tortillería and fruit puesto.
On a positive note, according to my friends, weed and meth are sold locally but there is no fentanilo, for now at least.
Thanks Ioan for another great insight into some grim local news.
My comment may not be related directly to this article but I had been wondering if reduction in illegal immigration on southern border reduced meth and fentanyl coming in USA.
so I did an informal survey in San Bernardino California.
I work as in mental health and substance abuse programs there and a vast majority of clients use drugs.
My hypothesis was that if there is reduction in drugs coming in then street prices will go up and drugs will be difficult to get.
I asked some of clients about it.
None of them reported any increase in prices or lack of meth in community.
Thanks for this great comment and insight Tapeesh and great to have your voice in the mix. I have been wanting to do a story about precisely this issue and I would need to do more rearch to come to conclusions. But I will say a few thoughts off the bat -
- The current crackdown has reduced fentanyl coming through Mexico but not meth. (That could be a good story in its own right).
- Fentanyl is also coming from Canada
- There could have been a certain dip in demand as the death toll from fentanyl the last decade has reduced the population of users (would need to do more to look at that espeically)
Great article. It’s sad to read what’s happened to Cuautla. I spent a year living there in 2007/08 before they killed El Barbas and it’s true what you write, it was a safe place. You could walk around even late at night and no one would bother you. I never heard about even petty crime, let alone murder. The people of Cuautla are great and I hope for their sake things change soon.
Thanks much there Tim. Yeah, its interesting to hear about it was before. So sad, but I hope this is not forever. Great to have your voice here friend.
Who the f$&k thought having a FOOTBALL PLAYER as a mayor and then GOVERNOR was a good idea? I mean the guy literally celebrated by “peeing” like a dog on the goal net.
Sadly, morelenses got exactly what they voted for.
Your article reminds of the Camorra in Naples, Italy, certainly the gang structure. No one vertical criminal organization in control to focus on. Decentralized gangs making pinpoint police enforcement difficult. Youth gangs trying to prove themselves and used by gangs in the area. Corruption of the police agencies is a huge problem in Morelos and Naples.
Italy has concentrated groups of judges together to combat the control of the Camorra and has dedicated police units to attack the Camorra. Also businesses there have developed their own private self defense groups against extortion but it is extremely expensive. A communitarian style of self defense would be effective in Mexico and has been in some areas, developed within the businesses and community. Corruption within the police certainly is the number one enemy of these self defense groups. Ideally, police foot patrols should be massively expanded and connected with the businesses with communication like panic alarms through cell systems.
If these gangs and cartels ever learn the real art of politics and really invest into the political structure of every major Mexican city and Federal government, then like Italy, Mexico maybe permanently entwined with criminal cartels. The Camorra maybe the cartels manual for future longevity in Mexico.
Fascinating comparison. There are definitely lessons to be learned from southern Italy, from the government and society but also like you say, sadly from the bad guys as well. One big difference is that while murders in Southern Italy were high by European standards they never got anyway near what is happening in Morelos, with 77 murders per 100,000. Perhaps, Central America and El Salvador is a comparison to the gang, extortion model - and we are seeing an answer (brutal but effective) to that one. Community police like you say are likely part of a solution, although they can so quickly become themselves fronts for cartels...
The political awareness and political acumen of the Camorra is what distinguishes them from the gangs in Mexico and El Salvador. The Camorra have truly embedded themselves into the political framework of politics especially in Naples. That makes eliminating corruption almost impossible especially with the corruption of the judges. Bukele did destroy the magistrates in El Salvador anticipating their past corruption and their obvious obstacles to his control.
Good question and one I have thought on a lot over the years. On one side, the drug business keeps thugs busy away from other activities. But on the other, the illegal drug economy corrupts institutions and provides money and guns the thugs can use for other things. Mexico has both a drug economy and extortion. The US has a drug economy but not too much extortion. Singapore has little of either. So either way you need law enforcement on these issues - but I am open minded on a broader drug policy reform…
There are protection extortion rackets still in the United States particularly in large cities where gangs and crime perpetuate. Chinatowns in various cities are subject to triad extortion and protection payments. New York has an extortion problem particularly among the illegal population centers. Street vendors are especially vulnerable. Los Angeles with a huge number of illegal businesses have been extorted by the Mexican Mafia. Chicago gangs are still extorting businesses. The extortion in the US is not publicized lately, probably because most of the extortion occurs among the illegal population. Extortion against illegal labor is massive and deserves it's own article. Forced to cut their labor rate, forced to buy very expensive groceries, pay outrageous rates for lodging, etc. The illegal economy equals extortion.
Singapore is the shiny beacon of no drugs, drug crime or any violent crime and extortion but it consists of the underworld financial crime of money laundering and versions of financial manipulation and financial extortion.
Drugs has allowed the criminal expansion into all avenues of capital expenditure and new avenues of criminal activity. Making drugs legal will not solve the problem of the criminal activities of large cartels. Too much money has been invested into all avenues of legal economic activity and thus opened to new criminal activity if drugs were legalized.
Singapore isn't exactly drug free, or they wouldn't need to hang around 4 or 5 people for importing drugs every year. For every 1 dealer they kill, how many are arrested or simply uncaught? Your guess is as good as mine but it must be dozens if not hundreds.
Yes, good point on the U.S, extortion in migrant communities and the MS-13 did some, I am not sure if they are still at it after the latest offensives...
The conclusion you’re arriving to is the same conclusion most Mexicans also arrive to. It’s partly true but there’s more to it.
From my experience living in different countries, corruption in Mexico is a symptom more than a root cause; and unfortunately the symptom itself makes the issue grow even more and it also becomes a part of it. Mexico has many systems and institutions that do not function properly regardless of corruption. For instance, we still have communal land (i.e. communism) in some places, we have an archaic justice system, and laws that make it hard to even defend yourself from an attack at your domicile.
In addition to that, we have lots of incentives for the machine to continue operating just as it is: drug money and guns flow in from the US without resistance, corruption is so widespread that (some) people find it a part of life, and people in power are mostly from the same families from 100 years ago - and so they don’t experience the levels of violence that others do.
Take those two and corruption is almost inevitably the answer to how to get around things: both “good” things that you should do, as well as glaringly inconvenient ones that you shouldn’t need to.
I don’t think corruption will slow down in Mexico until institutions change, and incentives are reordered so it’s easier to do the right thing than to break the law. That way we weed out the lazy (physically and morally) from the truly terrible, violent psychopaths that must be removed from society.
Great article. I've never been to Morelos, but I've heard it is bad which is a shame given the natural beauty . Extortion appears to be rampant in many parts of Mexico. I've been told that factories in northern Baja have shut down and moved to Malaysia and Vietnam not because the cost of labor is cheaper, but the cost of running a business is cheaper. The government is really failing miserably.
Yeah, Morelos is still a great place despite all the violence and crime but it is doing so much damage to it. I also think it's a shame as the crime in Morelos is more avoidable if the government only had its act together.
Powerful article. What's happening in Morelos and in many other parts of Mexico is tragic. As if the country doesn't have enough problems without worrying about extortion. After retiring from the Department of Justice in 2010, I worked in Mexico City for a Fortune 500 company and spent weekends visiting some of the "Pueblos Magicos" outside the city. Tepoztlan was one of those towns. I don't recall extortion as a big problem in this town at that time. I love Mexico...love the people. But this criminal cancer is eroding the fabric of Mexican society. Where does this all bottom out? Stay safe Ioan.
Well appreciated Kenneth. Tepoztlan has thankfully managed to stay shielded as a bit of an oasis to this problem, for various curious reasons. As to where Mexico hits bottom? That is a good question. Unfortunately, there is a tendency here I fear to avoid rather than confront these problems, but at some point things can blow up. Let's see, but it's far from over yet. I hope one day we can say the worst is behind us.
Sadly pueblos mágicos don't necessarily correlate well with tourism and peace. I live between two of them in Guanajuato state and both have high death and extortion tolls. Extortion down to the tortillería and fruit puesto.
On a positive note, according to my friends, weed and meth are sold locally but there is no fentanilo, for now at least.
Thanks Ioan for another great insight into some grim local news.
Thanks there Lee. That is sad and worrying to hear that about Guanajuato. Stay well and safe there friend.
My comment may not be related directly to this article but I had been wondering if reduction in illegal immigration on southern border reduced meth and fentanyl coming in USA.
so I did an informal survey in San Bernardino California.
I work as in mental health and substance abuse programs there and a vast majority of clients use drugs.
My hypothesis was that if there is reduction in drugs coming in then street prices will go up and drugs will be difficult to get.
I asked some of clients about it.
None of them reported any increase in prices or lack of meth in community.
What are your thoughts.
Thanks for this great comment and insight Tapeesh and great to have your voice in the mix. I have been wanting to do a story about precisely this issue and I would need to do more rearch to come to conclusions. But I will say a few thoughts off the bat -
- The current crackdown has reduced fentanyl coming through Mexico but not meth. (That could be a good story in its own right).
- Fentanyl is also coming from Canada
- There could have been a certain dip in demand as the death toll from fentanyl the last decade has reduced the population of users (would need to do more to look at that espeically)
If you have any ideas they would be most welcome.
Thanks and best, Ioan
Sounds to me like the cartels have been stock piling for just such an enforcement on supply.
The amounts of fentanyl coming over around 2022 to 2024 were absolutely huge so that could well be the case.
Some great insights there and all best Sacred Outlaw Dispatch
Good one Ioan. Thanks for this article that reminds me of your many early journeys and informative reports from Mexico.
Thanks much there and it’s nice to keep up the leather shoe reporting in the beautiful tragic country. All best friend!
Thank You for your honesty, integrity, character and unlike Mexico News Daily , manly courage in reporting the truth.
Thank You!
Super appreciated friend and great to have you on board and your voice here. Stay well there.
Great article. It’s sad to read what’s happened to Cuautla. I spent a year living there in 2007/08 before they killed El Barbas and it’s true what you write, it was a safe place. You could walk around even late at night and no one would bother you. I never heard about even petty crime, let alone murder. The people of Cuautla are great and I hope for their sake things change soon.
Thanks much there Tim. Yeah, its interesting to hear about it was before. So sad, but I hope this is not forever. Great to have your voice here friend.
Excellent work, dude.
Who the f$&k thought having a FOOTBALL PLAYER as a mayor and then GOVERNOR was a good idea? I mean the guy literally celebrated by “peeing” like a dog on the goal net.
Sadly, morelenses got exactly what they voted for.
Cheers Diego. Yeah, and I only scratched the surface of many things people were saying about Cuauhtemoc there!
Oh wow! Would be very interesting to know all that! Thanks for all the great reporting.
Excellent & eye-opening on-the-ground reporting. Props to you for taking the risks necessary to produce this article.
Well appreciated my friend and hope all is well there from the northern banks of the Rio Grande...
Your article reminds of the Camorra in Naples, Italy, certainly the gang structure. No one vertical criminal organization in control to focus on. Decentralized gangs making pinpoint police enforcement difficult. Youth gangs trying to prove themselves and used by gangs in the area. Corruption of the police agencies is a huge problem in Morelos and Naples.
Italy has concentrated groups of judges together to combat the control of the Camorra and has dedicated police units to attack the Camorra. Also businesses there have developed their own private self defense groups against extortion but it is extremely expensive. A communitarian style of self defense would be effective in Mexico and has been in some areas, developed within the businesses and community. Corruption within the police certainly is the number one enemy of these self defense groups. Ideally, police foot patrols should be massively expanded and connected with the businesses with communication like panic alarms through cell systems.
If these gangs and cartels ever learn the real art of politics and really invest into the political structure of every major Mexican city and Federal government, then like Italy, Mexico maybe permanently entwined with criminal cartels. The Camorra maybe the cartels manual for future longevity in Mexico.
Fascinating comparison. There are definitely lessons to be learned from southern Italy, from the government and society but also like you say, sadly from the bad guys as well. One big difference is that while murders in Southern Italy were high by European standards they never got anyway near what is happening in Morelos, with 77 murders per 100,000. Perhaps, Central America and El Salvador is a comparison to the gang, extortion model - and we are seeing an answer (brutal but effective) to that one. Community police like you say are likely part of a solution, although they can so quickly become themselves fronts for cartels...
The political awareness and political acumen of the Camorra is what distinguishes them from the gangs in Mexico and El Salvador. The Camorra have truly embedded themselves into the political framework of politics especially in Naples. That makes eliminating corruption almost impossible especially with the corruption of the judges. Bukele did destroy the magistrates in El Salvador anticipating their past corruption and their obvious obstacles to his control.
The president versus the judges. Coming to the USA as well!
Good question and one I have thought on a lot over the years. On one side, the drug business keeps thugs busy away from other activities. But on the other, the illegal drug economy corrupts institutions and provides money and guns the thugs can use for other things. Mexico has both a drug economy and extortion. The US has a drug economy but not too much extortion. Singapore has little of either. So either way you need law enforcement on these issues - but I am open minded on a broader drug policy reform…
There are protection extortion rackets still in the United States particularly in large cities where gangs and crime perpetuate. Chinatowns in various cities are subject to triad extortion and protection payments. New York has an extortion problem particularly among the illegal population centers. Street vendors are especially vulnerable. Los Angeles with a huge number of illegal businesses have been extorted by the Mexican Mafia. Chicago gangs are still extorting businesses. The extortion in the US is not publicized lately, probably because most of the extortion occurs among the illegal population. Extortion against illegal labor is massive and deserves it's own article. Forced to cut their labor rate, forced to buy very expensive groceries, pay outrageous rates for lodging, etc. The illegal economy equals extortion.
Singapore is the shiny beacon of no drugs, drug crime or any violent crime and extortion but it consists of the underworld financial crime of money laundering and versions of financial manipulation and financial extortion.
Drugs has allowed the criminal expansion into all avenues of capital expenditure and new avenues of criminal activity. Making drugs legal will not solve the problem of the criminal activities of large cartels. Too much money has been invested into all avenues of legal economic activity and thus opened to new criminal activity if drugs were legalized.
Singapore isn't exactly drug free, or they wouldn't need to hang around 4 or 5 people for importing drugs every year. For every 1 dealer they kill, how many are arrested or simply uncaught? Your guess is as good as mine but it must be dozens if not hundreds.
Yes, good point on the U.S, extortion in migrant communities and the MS-13 did some, I am not sure if they are still at it after the latest offensives...
Ahh, that old chestnut! Not one simple answer but more on this to come and it's a fascinating labrynth...
The conclusion you’re arriving to is the same conclusion most Mexicans also arrive to. It’s partly true but there’s more to it.
From my experience living in different countries, corruption in Mexico is a symptom more than a root cause; and unfortunately the symptom itself makes the issue grow even more and it also becomes a part of it. Mexico has many systems and institutions that do not function properly regardless of corruption. For instance, we still have communal land (i.e. communism) in some places, we have an archaic justice system, and laws that make it hard to even defend yourself from an attack at your domicile.
In addition to that, we have lots of incentives for the machine to continue operating just as it is: drug money and guns flow in from the US without resistance, corruption is so widespread that (some) people find it a part of life, and people in power are mostly from the same families from 100 years ago - and so they don’t experience the levels of violence that others do.
Take those two and corruption is almost inevitably the answer to how to get around things: both “good” things that you should do, as well as glaringly inconvenient ones that you shouldn’t need to.
I don’t think corruption will slow down in Mexico until institutions change, and incentives are reordered so it’s easier to do the right thing than to break the law. That way we weed out the lazy (physically and morally) from the truly terrible, violent psychopaths that must be removed from society.
This is a very fine breakdown of the issues - I’ll have to bookmark and return to this. Thanks Diego!