Mexico’s top security official said authorities are investigating a video showing dozens of troops in uniform with military-grade weapons and armored vans apparently connected to a major drug cartel.
The video, which circulated on social media on Friday, appeared to be a show of power by members of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG), one of the most powerful criminal groups in Mexico.
Alfonso Durazo, secretary of security and civil protection, said that the “propaganda video” was being analyzed to confirm its authenticity.
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He added that “there is no criminal group with the ability to successfully challenge the federal security forces.”
Many of the vehicles parked on a dirt road in the video have makeshift weapon turrets or welded steel armor on them.
Several dozen masked men, wearing bulletproof vests and brandishing assault rifles, are also heard shouting that they are “Mencho’s people,” a nickname used by the head of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, Nemesio Oseguera.
The launch of the video coincided with a visit by Andrés Manuel López Obrador, President of Mexico, to the heart of the group.
López Obrador has favored a less conflictive approach to security than his predecessors and has supported measures to tackle social problems, such as poverty and unemployment, which he says have contributed to crime.
The strategy called “hugs, not bullets” has been controversial and some security analysts have warned that it has emboldened criminal groups.
“They are sending a clear message … that they basically govern Mexico, not López Obrador,” Mike Vigil, former chief of international operations for the US Drug Enforcement Administration, told Reuters.
Vigil cautioned that the president’s approach “only led these cartels to operate with more impunity.”
Falko Ernst, a senior analyst in Mexico at the International Crisis Group, said the video sent a clear warning of possible retaliation against the government by the cartel.
“Is , taken yesterday in the Sierra de Jalisco, as I have been told, is more than clear in his message to the federal government: you come behind us and we will strike back, “Ernst wrote on Twitter.
He added: “Instead of a declaration of war, from my point of view, it is mainly aimed at protecting the status quo, at a crucial moment in which the federal government has to define its future position regarding the CJNG.”
CJNG is considered the strongest gang in Mexico, along with the Sinaloa Cartel previously led by imprisoned drug trafficker Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán.
In late June, the cartel was quickly identified as the likely culprit in an attack on Omar García Harfuch, Mexico City’s chief of security, that took place in broad daylight in a wealthy neighborhood of the capital.
Additional agency reports
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