The federal and state governments did not respond to repeated requests for comment on the strategy. “We managed to make one of the cartels, the Jalisco, retreat to the border line of Jalisco,” Cresencio Sandoval said in October. Luis Cresencio Sandoval has publicly said the soldiers are here to stop the Jalisco cartel’s incursions into Michoacan. While journalists could see few open threats in Jalisco’s newly taken town of Aguililla, Michoacan, local residents report Jalisco gunmen have abducted, and probably killed, youths they suspect of working for rival gangs. The cartel based in Jalisco state is invading neighboring Michoacan, causing thousands of farmers to flee, with some seeking asylum in the United States. “I can monitor you on Facebook, and I’ll find you.”Ībout 3 kilometers (2 miles) down the same road, one formally enters another cartel's territory, marked by squads of armed men and pickups and primitive homemade armored trucks bearing the letters “CJNG,' Spanish initials for the Jalisco New Generation Cartel.īetween them stand the soldiers, doing very little at all. “Be careful about what you publish,” the leader of the Viagras roadblock told journalists passing through. Further north, avocado growers are subject to similar protection payments on every box of fruit they ship. They weigh and charge separately for each head of cattle. Local farmers say the Viagras are charging about $150 for each truckload of limes. The Mexican army has largely stopped fighting drug cartels here, instead ordering soldiers to guard the dividing lines between gang territories so they won’t invade each other’s turf - and turn a blind eye to the cartels’ illegal activities just a few hundred yards away.Īt the first roadblock, set up by the Viagras gang that has long dominated the state of Michoacan, a truck stands parked across the highway and stacked sandbags protect cartel gunmen.Įvery few hours, the gunmen roll back the truck to allow farmers through, but they interrogate each passing driver about how many crates of limes - the area’s most valuable product - or heads of cattle are being transported to market. In the other direction, a rival cartel carries out armed patrols in trucks bearing its initials. In one direction, almost within earshot, one drug cartel operates a roadblock extorting farmers. AGUILILLA, Mexico - In western Mexico a small squad of soldiers with about a half-dozen trucks and sandbag emplacements stands guard on a rural highway.

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