Chihuahua state authorities are confirming the death of a Sinaloa cartel cell leader also known as "El Chapo Calin," after a drug related gun fight near the mountain town of Guachochi eight bodies have been recovered from the scene that was immediately transported to the nearest hospital The gruesome scene included the charred remains of two vehicles a Chevrolet Silverado and a Nissan Frontier Among those identified include: "El Chapo Calin," Mario M.L. Three of the bodies recovered had been incinerated the state Attorney General's Office confirmed Sources claim this dispute broke out as the result of a feud between two factions of the Sinaloa cartel fighting for drug trafficking routes and other organized criminal activities "El Chapo Calin" was an infamous criminal leader working under the command of the Salguerio Nevarez family He was thought to be one of the leaders that controlled illegal logging and timber trafficking in the southern region is one of the most powerful drug cartels in the world and is largely responsible for the manufacturing and importing of fentanyl for distribution in the United States El Chapo Calin had become a priority target for local authorities due to being one of the main instigators of violence mainly in the southern region of the state El Chapo Calin would order attacks against not just opposing groups and enemies El Chapo Calin had been arrested on drug and weapons charges Mexican news media claimed that on June 5th of this year El Chapo Calin was to blame for a shooting at a church in the community of Santa Anita This terrible violent act forced dozens of residents to flee despite the local priest calling on the drug traffickers to leave residents out of their affairs This incident highlights just how prevalent drug related violent crimes are still prevalent in Latin America exemplifying the dangerous ongoing Mexican Drug War Although one of the leaders of the Sinaloa Cartel is now gone it does not mean there is not another waiting to step into his open role it can almost be guaranteed that there will be retaliation for this latest incident The Mexican army has deployed 500 soldiers to a new camp in the Sierra Tarahumara military and Chihuahua state officials said The new army camp in Guachochi formally opened Friday with a military parade and welcoming ceremony in the small town in the mountain region of Chihuahua known for the scenic Barrancas del Cobre "These troops are part of the new 21st Military Police Battalion that will guarantee security and tranquility in the Sierra Tarahumara," Chihuahua Gov The soldiers stationed in Guachochi are public safety specialists and will support federal the Mexico Secretariat of National Defense said in a news release Chihuahua tourism officials have said that travel to the Copper Canyon is safe but the region was mentioned in the latest Mexico travel warning issued by the U.S "Crime and violence remain serious problems throughout the state of Chihuahua particularly in the southern portion of the state and in the Sierra Mountains including Copper Canyon," the warning stated Ojinaga and Nuevo Casas Grandes in Chihuahua Visitors are advised to exercise caution and travel during the daytime There have been outbursts of drug-related violence recently in the rural mountains in the southwestern corner of the Chihuahua where marijuana and heroin poppies are grown Last year, a propaganda-style video was shared on the Internet showing a convoy of pickups with dozens of heavily-armed masked gunmen stopped on a mountain road in the region A road sign in the video shows directions to the towns of Creel and Guachochi Chihuahua authorities said the video was actually filmed prior to a battle in September 2014 that left at least 11 men dead and four vehicles torched near the town of Tonachi Daniel Borunda may be reached at 546-6102; dborunda@elpasotimes.com; @BorundaDaniel on Twitter The Bellingcat Investigation Team is an award winning group of volunteers and full time investigators who make up the core of the Bellingcat's investigative efforts On April 08 2015, the person behind the “La Polaka” Youtube profile posted this video (YouTube) It features an unidentified cameraman walking alongside a resting convoy of about 15 vehicles and 50 heavily armed men wearing assault gears radio communications can be heard between a group leader and “Meny” – likely an advanced element of the commando scouting for possible enemies or security forces One can hear the cameraman repeating “Animo sicarios” which can be translated as “let’s go get them The scene was reportedly filmed during late fall 2014 Based on what can be observed in the video it is possible to pinpoint the exact location of the deadly convoy “La Polaka” mentions that the video took place in Chihuahua and indications for the towns of Guachochi and Creel can be seen at 02:00 in the video The most direct route connecting Guachochi and Creel is a paved road with a length of 158 kilometres Considering that the indication for Creel points towards the left side of the screen and that Guachochi is on the opposite side it can be deducted that the filming location is on the Western side of the main road linking both towns it appears that the location is at a T-junction with the convoy resting on a paved secondary route connecting to the Guachochi-Creel main road As there are very few similar sites along the way -107.5267 offers a similar landscape to what can be observed in the video the cameraman is filming the tail end of the convoy One can see that the road is going into a steep curve (1) and that rock walls made from excavation (2) are on both sides of the road A serie of building (3-4-5) and vegetation (6) can also be perceived on top of the small cliff on the right-hand side of the road from the cameraman point of view – which is conform with the features of the commercial imagery As the cameraman is moving towards the head of the convoy the left side of the road is open ground (7) while the right side presents more dense vegetation (8) Considering that the vehicles in the convoy have an average length of six meters with an average five meters of spacing between them the resting convoy would occupy approximately 160 meters which is consistent with what can be measured on Google Map the lead elements of the convoy are seen next to a T-junction at the main Guachochi-Creel road there are a road sign (9) and a building of rectangular shape (10) is not present in any commercial imagery available the last satellite images accessible of the area were taken in June 2010 This certainly explains why the billboard can be seen in the video armed factions of the Sinaloa Cartel (Gente Nueva) and the Juarez Cartel (La Linea) were still fighting in Southern Chihuahua over trafficking routes – with the Sinaloa Cartel having the upper hand Experts also suspect that the fighting was linked to control over resource extraction drug trafficking organizations in Mexico have started to diversify their business activities and turned their attention to mining and energy industries It is thus believed that the commando outlined in the video belongs to either the Gente Nueva or the Juarez Cartel Gente Nueva’s soldiers originate from the Mexican security forces and are considered to be an “elite force” within the Sinaloa Cartel They are known to operate mostly in military uniforms but in several cases they have been seen wearing civilian clothing La Linea is also composed of ex-members of the Mexican security forces but tend to wear civilian clothes with only a few individuals dressing in military fashion La Linea reportedly separated from the Juarez Cartel and formed the Nuevo Cártel de Juarez thus indicating the influence of the group in the area these images offer a rare insight into the crude world of armed enforcers and are a cold reminder of the level of freedom and firepower these groups still retain in some rural parts of Mexico Since Felipe Calderón became President of Mexico in 2006, drug-related violence skyrocketed in the country 000 soldiers by 2012 on the Mexican streets As Mexico and the US went after heads of cartels they atomised the main ones into smaller entities that grew larger Higher rates of crime were thus the direct outcome of inter- and intra-cartel gunfights as well as battles between Mexican security forces and drug trafficking organizations has vowed to not repeat the mistakes of his predecessor Yet events such as the 2015 Hollywood-style escape of El Chapo and the disappearance of 43 students in the city of Iguala back in 2014 have shown the extent to which cartels have penetrated the Mexican government at all levels The only positive note was the rapid recapture of El Chapo which has been hailed as a victory for the Mexican fight against drug trafficking organizations This view however underestimates the rise of new and smaller cartels which according to experts are the future of drug trafficking in opposition to large and centralized groups like the Sinaloa cartel http://www.insightcrime.org/news-analysis/new-video-appears-of-hit-squad-in-mine-rich-mexico-region http://www.jornada.unam.mx/2014/11/04/politica/010n2pol http://www.proceso.com.mx/?p=400706 http://archive.elpasotimes.com/news/ci_27916069/video-narco-gunmen-convoy-was-filmed-last-year/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QQ2j5oeHsd4 http://www.lapolaka.com/animo-sicarios/ http://www.narcoviolencia.com.mx/2015/06/fotos-al-igual-que-los-zetas-y-el-cjng.html http://www.narcoviolencia.com.mx/2015/02/la-gente-nueva-sus-origenes-del.html Notorious drug lord Rafael Caro Quintero – the convicted murderer of United States DEA agent Enrique “Kiki” Camarena – has been arrested in northern Mexico Unnamed officials cited by the newspaper Milenio said that Caro Quintero – founder of the now-defunct Guadalajara Cartel – was captured by marines and federal agents in the municipality of Choix But a Reforma newspaper report said he was detained in Guachochi, a municipality in the Sierra Tarahumara region of Chihuahua, where authorities are currently conducting an extensive manhunt for an accused murderer No shots were fired in the arrest of the 69-year-old trafficker Caro Quintero spent 28 years in jail for the 1985 murder of Camarena before his 40-year sentence was cut short in 2013 after it was ruled that he was improperly tried in a federal court when the case should have been heard at the state level The Supreme Court later upheld the 40-year sentence After his release, he allegedly returned to the drug underworld as the leader of the Caborca Cartel in Sonora The FBI added Caro Quintero to its 10-most-wanted list in April 2018 placing new pressure on Mexico to capture him However, President López Obrador, who took office in December 2018, has demonstrated scant interest in detaining drug lords, and even ordered the release of one of Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán’s sons after he was arrested in Culiacán Caro Quintero – who was found to have ordered the kidnapping of Camarena in Guadalajara before torturing and killing him – was a major supplier of narcotics to the United States in the late 1970s and early ’80s He blamed “Kiki” for a 1984 raid on a marijuana plantation The murder of the DEA agent negatively affected Mexico-U.S The security forces who detained Caro Quintero – apparently on Friday – were acting on two valid arrest warrants The drug lord is also the subject of an extradition order in the United States where authorities had offered US $20 million for information leading to his capture The apprehension of Caro Quintero is probably the highest-profile arrest of a criminal in Mexico since “El Chapo” was recaptured in Los Mochis It came as the army and Chihuahua police search for José Noriel “El Chueco” Portillo Gil a presumed gang leader who is accused of murdering two elderly Jesuit priests and two other men in the municipality of Urique With reports from AP, Milenio and Reforma ADVERTISE WITH MND COMMUNITY GUIDELINES Subscription FAQ's Privacy Policy Mexico News Daily - Property of Tavana LLC In the canyons of northern Mexico's Sierra Madre Occidental reside some of the fastest runners in the world: the indigenous Tarahumara population "Raramuri" means "foot-runner" or "those who run fast" in their native language This indigenous group excels in running competitions worldwide. But to the authorities, they're becoming known for something else: Narco-traffickers have been exploiting them to smuggle drugs to the US. Between 2010 and 2015, the number of Raramuri arrested at the US-Mexico border doubled from 50 to 100 detainees Though this is a problem the Raramuri community has been dealing with for more than two decades it has gone largely unreported in international media Randall Gingrich is director of Tierra Nativa a Raramuri social and environmental advocacy organization he has advised and supported Raramuri communities and for 16 years lived with them in Guadalupe y Calvo municipality which he says is one of the most violent drug-producing regions in the Sierra Madre A number of factors make the Raramuri vulnerable to local drug cartels [the Tarahumara] have been pushed out of the best lands for the most part and it’s a semi-arid environment anyway," Gingrich says "And climate change has resulted in these devastating droughts that last months and sometimes even years So these Tarahumara have no choice to survive but either to migrate out of the region or to stay and grow drugs." Dale Taylor is a Tarahumara dialect translator who lived among the indigenous group in the village of Caborachi in northern Mexico's Chihuahua state for 15 years who aim to live in peace and harmony with nature “Their whole life revolves around the earth and the environment,” Taylor says But with the introduction of tree logging into the Sierra and now drug cultivation the Raramuri's lifestyle has been significantly affected "What [I] found 25 years ago were communities that were terrorized by basically local drug traffickers who were trying to control the logging in some cases forcing them to grow drugs," Gingrich says "But mostly the relationship between the drug traffickers and the Tarahumarais consensual … Because even a really well-meaning traditional family might only be able to produce 20 percent of the food it needs through traditional agriculture So it's a very complicated problem." Today Gingrich estimates 15 to 20 percent of the entire Raramuri population is involved in the drug trade "In some communities it'll be 90 percent and in other communities it'll be 2 or 3 percent," he says Impressionable young Raramuri men are the typical targets of recruitment Gingrich says they are lured in by local dealers who socialize with them Then the dealers invite them to spend more time with them by doing tasks near the borderlands that can make them money While the Raramuri are used to the mountainous canyon land of the Sierra Madre Gingrich says they are not used to desert terrain toward the borderlands "They're not all ultra-marathon runners," says Gingrich "They're exceptionally strong and in great physical condition but that doesn't mean they're physically ready to put on a hundred-pound pack and hike across extreme deserts that they've never seen before in their life "They may be able to survive the physical endurance but they're deeply scarred from the experience." While there are other Latin American communities affected by drug trafficking Gingrich says the Raramuri's situation is different because in the past they had little contact with the modern world "They have a low population density in the Sierra," he says you're talking about very high population densities and regions that were affected by US-style gang activity that was actually learned by migrants who migrated into Los Angeles You have cultures that were militarized previously very high levels of military and police repression And during those years the Tarahumarawere largely free." Gingrich says the Raramuri who are given jail time for their crimes are getting what he thinks are heavy prison sentences for people of their circumstances some of the Tarahumaraare receiving relatively long sentences," Gingrich says six or seven years for transporting drugs." who has served as a translator on nearly a dozen cases the Raramuri are generally given light sentences serving minimal jail time — just a few months “Their main concern is to get out and home as soon as possible,” Taylor says they will get a reduction of time and so they usually do “I’ve seen a lessening of their sentences because [the courts] don’t know what to do with them They just want to get [the Raramuri] in and out realizing that in some cases they are ignorant to what they are doing … The circumstances of the case will determine the Raramuri are handicapped when it comes to defending themselves because many are not fluent in Spanish and only speak one of their various native dialects Taylor is one of few Tarahumara translators available in the US It is only recently that US prosecutors have begun reaching out to the Mexican government to retain translators from Chihuahua But these services are only reaching a handful of those jailed oembed://https%3A//vimeo.com/120559111 delivered to your inbox every weekday morning Thanks to our sponsor PRX is a 501(c)(3) organization recognized by the IRS: #263347402 Recipes include pork stew stacked in corn tortillas Argentinian chorizo and carne asada torta and chimichurri with a Mexican accent Pati visits one of the legendary cooks in the area Recipes include traditional campechanas and rich conos de crema and candied orange and pineapple empanadas Pati samples some of the local wine varietals in the exciting wine region of Valle de Guadalupe Recipes include orange and piloncillo adobo pork roast pizza and orange piloncillo adobo pizza sauce Pati explores the one-of-a-kind dishes of Loreto garlic and orange roasted duck and kkillet corn tamale with duck fat and roasted garlic are served Pati swims with whale sharks and enjoys local food in La Paz Paste this code where you want the video to appear We provide online video of PBS national programming for KET viewers Please allow KET to access your web browser's location to watch this video 600 Cooper Drive, Lexington, KY 40502859.258.7000 800.432.0951 Easter is a major celebration across Mexico even among indigenous inmates of a prison in Chihuahua While the reenactment of the Passion of Christ is the center of the celebrations for many communities the Rarámuri people have their own blended version called Noriwachi which is celebrated at the Rarámuri state penitentiary in Guachochi The week-long event includes traditional dances starting on Palm Sunday and concludes with a celebration of the start of the harvest season Noriwachi is centered on the fight between good and evil and draws from Catholicism and the Rarámuri religion alike a good harvest and rain made to Onorúame-Eyerúame Celebrations at the Guachochi penitentiary started yesterday with dances accompanied by traditional instruments part of a program designed by the state justice system to promote the Rarámuri traditions along with freedom of religion While the inmate population at Guachochi is exclusively Rarámuri other penitentiaries in the state have their own Easter celebrations that include Passion reenactments organized by the penitentiary system parish Source: Reforma (sp) Well-known Rarámuri runner Lorena Ramírez took second place in the Canyons Ultramarathon held Saturday in her home state of Chihuahua Wearing a traditional long dress and her customary pair of sandals Ramírez completed the 100-kilometer course in 13 hours and 26 minutes just one minute behind Mexico City-based runner Carmela Martinez Traversing the steep and rough terrain in the municipality of Guachochi was made even more challenging than normal for runners in this year’s race due to heavy rain and hail that fell during the event The difficulty of the conditions was reflected in Ramírez’s time which was 42 minutes slower than the time she achieved when she won last year’s event she was forced to run through ankle-deep water the second placing caps a successful couple of months for the 23-year-old athlete Last month, she placed third in her category in the Cajamar Tenerife Bluetrail ultramarathon in Spain at which her brother and sister also competed while last year she won a 50-kilometer event in Puebla the municipal government presented awards to Lorena and other members of her family in recognition of their long association with the Canyons Ultramarathon and their outstanding running ability The male category of the 100-kilometer race was won by Guachochi runner Pedro Parra Cruz in a time of 10 hours and two minutes Rarámuri runners finished second and third in that event and local runners also took first place in both the men’s and women’s 63-kilometer races Source: Notimex (sp)