Mexican drug cartels seek to improve their “tactical capabilities” in their fight once morest other criminal organizations, which is why they include retired Colombian soldiers trained for war in their ranks, as revealed in a report by the magazine Proceso.
The objective of this recruitment, according to Proceso, is to improve the “tactical capabilities” of their armed structures, through the integration of elite units to act with “greater lethal force.”
These statements were made to said media by military intelligence sources and former mid-ranking officers involved in the recruitment process, who added that these men have commando training.
The publication details that the sources consulted affirm that, “among the former members of the Colombian Army who are traveling to Mexico “hired” by drug trafficking organizations, there are snipers, special forces instructors, urban operations commandos, canine guides, nurses, explosives specialists. and drone pilots.”
Furthermore, he explains that in most cases they are retired soldiers, around 40 years old, and that they would have served in the military for at least 20 years, so “they are in full power and have been trained for a long time.” in combats once morest irregular armed groups, such as guerrillas and drug trafficking structures.”
“Mexican drug traffickers are taking military personnel with different capabilities, because this has given them very good results in their wars for control of territories and because the gain for them is double: they gain highly trained combatants and they gain instructors for their people.” , one of the sources told Proceso.
The publication describes that several sources agree that the Mexican cartels that have recruited the most Colombians are the Sinaloa cartel (CDS), the Jalisco Nueva Generación (CJNG), La Familia Michoacana and Los Caballeros Templarios.
According to Proceso, the Department of Military Intelligence and Counterintelligence of the Colombian Army has raised the need to carry out a “field investigation” on the issue and “take measures” to prevent the institutional damage that might be caused by the illegal activities of former Colombian soldiers. abroad.
For example, he details, in July 2021, at least 24 Colombian mercenaries, mostly retired military personnel, participated in the assassination of the president of Haiti, Jovenel Moïse.
He assures that, in addition to retired soldiers, young professional soldiers, under 30 years old, who recently left the Army, as well as former Colombian police officers, have traveled to Mexico. “At least one of them, paradoxically, was part of the Jungle Commandos, an elite unit of the Anti-Narcotics Directorate (Diran) of the Colombian National Police.”
Also fighters
The report describes that, according to one of the former Army officers who has participated in the recruitment efforts for the Mexican cartels, “there is information that indicates that they have also incorporated demobilized members of the National Liberation Army guerrilla into their hitman structures ( ELN) and the disappeared insurgency of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC).”
“There are so many Colombians working for the (Mexican) cartels that there have been cases of confrontations between groups in which there are Colombians on both sides and they end up shooting each other,” the former officer points out in the publication, who adds that “the incentive of ex-military and ex-police officers who travel to Mexico is purely economic.”
“There they offer them from US$2,500 to US$4,000 per month and that is a lot of money for retired professional soldiers,” he says.
It was reported that each year regarding 10,500 troops retire from the Colombian Military Forces, most of whom receive monthly pensions of between US$335 and US$800.
Online recruitment
Process details that the recruitment system in Colombia begins in the hundreds of WhatsApp groups of ex-military members.
“In these groups, legal and illegal jobs are offered and word spreads regarding places where there may be employment opportunities,” he details.
When the offers are for legal jobs, they come from private security companies in Colombia. But proposals to join the Armed Forces of Dubai, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Ukraine also come to these WhatsApp groups.
“Going with the Mexican cartels is bad because it is known in advance that it is an activity once morest the law, but the military, like everyone, has families, and we want to help them; There is no future here,” says a former professional soldier who plans to leave for Mexico if he cannot obtain a loan to travel to Ukraine.
The report says that some of the former military personnel consulted affirm that there are “hundreds” of their colleagues working for the Mexican cartels, but others speak of “dozens.” They agree, however, that the number increases every week.
In the first week of last March, for example, a group of 12 Colombian commandos traveled to Mexico, to whom a drug cartel sent money to buy their plane tickets, the publication says.
He points out that a contact waited for them at the international airport in the Mexican capital, divided them into three groups and gave them air tickets to the cities of Colima, Tepic and Zacatecas, where they were placed in different “safe houses.”
It also says that the former Army officer who contacted them and organized their departure through WhatsApp chats says that the cartel, which he did not want to identify, asked him for “three groups of special forces,” each of them consisting of 12 men, as How these units are formed in Colombia. He claims that for that work he received 100 million Colombian pesos, regarding 25 thousand dollars.
“They are highly trained people,” he says. They are doing very well because they know the tactics of irregular warfare, they know how to do intelligence and reconnaissance and they know what the return (the way) is like to control territories and take the points that interest the lords there,” he details in the publication.
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