Nothing to see here…

From  “Blog del Narco”

The Federal Prosecutor’s Office (PGR) has responded to Senate requests for information by stating that “there are no shock-troops or rapid response teams being substituted by individuals as replacements for military troops in federal security operations.

The federal agency reported that, after “a thorough investigation”, it has no record of any armed group called a “death squad.”

When one sees local news reports on some petty criminal showing up dead, the assumption — implicit or otherwise — is that the departed was somehow connected with the “wrong” set of gangsters… or violated some clause in his own gang’s code.  But it’s completely plausible that these minor “social inconveniences” were simply disposed of (permanently) by those who have some assurances that the murder won’t be investigated.  I suppose it’s possible that organized crime groups , which work like any other large industry, seek to dominate a market and drive out the independent operators … much as Starbucks would seek to close down “Joe’s Cafe”, I suppose Chapo Guzmán y Asociados might seek to remove José’s Mota-2-Go street corner sales operation.

And, consider La Familia Michoacana, which regularly dumped corpses (or at least heads) with a “public service announcement” saying they were merely getting rid of those that were a danger to Michaocan residents — “socially cleansing” the state of narcotics retailers.

Very likely the Federal Prosecutor’s office is right… that the military is not using “death squads.”   The rush to privatization of governmental services and agencies that swept this country (nearly into bankruptcy) never quite got to public security, but this says nothing about the unregulated private security business… nor about the gangsters, nor state or local governments… nor private individuals.