Mérida, Yucatán -
Mexico's Attorney General is Jesús Murillo Karam. He was appointed by president Enrique Peña Nieto last December, right after the new PRI administration took the helm. Karam wasted no time in advising the country that Mexico has 60-80 drug cartels and regional organized crime groups, as well as hundreds of local gangs. Mexican narco violence stats after first month of new PRI administration not encouraging.
Yesterday while in in this city, Karam called a press conference to deal with this week's arrest of Los Zetas boss Miguel Ángel Treviño Morales, known within the club as Z-40. There have been recurrent press reports that Treviño Morales - aware that la Marina mexicana was hot on his trail - negotiated his own surrender to the government. In return, some reports contend, he agreed to be debriefed on the activities of competitor cartels, with the understanding he would be dealt with more lightly in court.
Karam denied the claims. "I can assure you, he was arrested after an intense intelligence operation. That's not just my opinion. It's what really happened. It's a fact. Z-40 didn't hand himself over, he was taken down by the marines."
The attorney general then moved briefly to the subject of the world's most wanted narcotics trafficker, Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán. It's long been a sore subject with Mexico's government, considering the Sinaloa Cartel boss escaped from prison in January 2001, during the first days of the administration of president Vicente Fox. The PAN government of former president Felipe Calderón has been accused of putting aside an offer by the U.S. to take out Guzmán with a DEA paramilitary strike force, in much the manner Osama bin Laden was decommissioned in Pakistan in May 2011. A Mexican journalist has written that Calderón favored the idea but was pressured to nix it by his military high command, after Washington insisted that no Mexican units would be allowed to participate in the operation. Mexico refused U.S. offer to "take out El Chapo Guzmán."
Answering reporter's questions about Guzmán, Karam said, "We're involved in the same intelligence work. All levels of Mexican law enforcement are cooperating, plus we can count on the assistance of various countries which supply information." The latter was a clear reference to the United States.
Karam also touched upon the army's July 10 capture of Víctor Hugo Delgado Rentería in Guadalajara. Allegedly the highest ranking official of Cartel Jalisco Nueva Generación (CJNG), also known as the Zeta killers, Delgado is the prime suspect in the decapitation of 12 drug peddlers in Mérida in August 2008. Karam said the case was still in the initial stages of the investigation. Suspect arrested in 2008 case of 12 men executed in Mérida.
On the broader question of Yucatán security, the attorney general acknowledged that the PRI run state is commonly regarded as one of Mexico's safest. But he added, "It's not invulnerable. It's all a question of preparation, planning and prevention."
Feb. 1 - Yucatán safety continues to be subject of hot debate
Sept. 21 - Routine traffic stop in Mérida yields Sinaloa Cartel "Boss of the Plaza"
Apr. 24 - El Chapo Guzmán indicted by feds in El Paso
Jan. 1, 2012 - Yucatán - and half of Mexico - belong to Los Zetas, says deputy attorney general
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