Hand Grenade Tossed in U.S. Consulate in Nuevo Laredo

A Mexican security memo issued 12 April over the increasing spike in violence by STRATFOR Global Intelligence.

Courtesy: casamerica.es

(NUEVO LAREDO, Tamaulipas) - On April 9, at approximately 11 p.m. local time, an explosive device detonated in the compound of the U.S. Consulate in Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas state. The device was thrown over the wall of the compound by unknown suspects who then fled the area. There were no injuries and only minor damage to windows in the compound. While authorities have yet to confirm the exact type or composition of the device, STRATFOR sources have indicated that it was a hand grenade.

The U.S. Consulate in Nuevo Laredo and the Consulate General and Consular Agency in Piedras Negras, Coahuila state, were closed April 12 and will reopen when U.S. authorities believe there is sufficient security at the facilities to keep visitors and staff safe. The Mexican government deployed 1,200 additional troops April 9 to the Nuevo Leon-Tamaulipas border region merely hours before the consulate attack to improve the general security situation in the region.

No suspects or criminal groups have been named in the investigation thus far, largely because of the widespread availability of hand grenades and the proliferation of this type of weapon among all manner of drug-trafficking organizations (DTOs) in Mexico. The motives remain unclear for the consulate attack, which is the latest in a string of violent acts toward U.S. diplomatic missions and personnel in recent months.

In October 2008, the U.S. Consulate in Monterrey, Nuevo Leon, was attacked by two men who rammed their truck into the consulate's perimeter gates, fired several rounds at the main building and then threw a grenade over the fence that failed to detonate. More recently, the U.S. Consulate in Monterrey was the subject of a suspected Los Zetas probe of the consulate's physical security measures that resulted in a standoff between foreign national consulate guards and masked gunmen in two SUVs. However, the most publicized incident involving U.S. personnel was the March 13 killing -- apparently targeted assassinations -- of three people tied to the U.S. Consulate in Juarez, Chihuahua state.

The uptick in attacks against U.S. diplomatic missions and personnel in Mexico has been attributed to two main groups, Los Zetas and the Vicente Carrillo Fuentes organization (VCF), also known as the Juarez cartel, and their associates. Additionally, a Barrio Azteca (BA) leader who works in conjunction with the Juarez cartel recently divulged in an interview with a local newspaper that the organization was targeting U.S. personnel specifically to force the U.S. government to intervene in Mexico because the Mexican government is demonstrating favoritism toward the Sinaloa Federation. Both Los Zetas and the VCF have been bearing the brunt of an offensive by both Mexican federal forces and elements of Sinaloa. There are also reports that the VCF and Los Zetas have developed a working relationship on the basis of common foes -- namely, the Sinaloa Federation and the Mexican government. The statements made by the BA leader have yet to be verified by either Mexican or U.S. authorities, but the increased violence against the U.S. diplomatic community in Mexico and the developing relationship between the VCF and Los Zetas cannot be dismissed.

Sinaloa Takes Control of Juarez

An FBI intelligence report released April 9 indicated that the Sinaloa Federation, led by Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman Loera, has taken control of the Juarez Valley drug trafficking corridor and appears to have the upper hand in the conflict with the VCF. The FBI cites information from confidential informants involved in the drug trade and located in and around Juarez, Chihuahua state, and El Paso, Texas. Additionally, drug seizures in the El Paso area show that upward of 60 to 80 percent of the drugs confiscated come from the Sinaloa Federation. This shift in power could mean changes for the long-term security environment in the Juarez Valley, but the violence will likely continue unabated in the short term.

STRATFOR sources have described the Juarez Valley landscape as largely under the control of Guzman and the Sinaloa Federation, with pockets of VCF control. Indeed, the Juarez Valley is the core turf of the VCF, and the organization has said on several occasions that it will fight to the death, along with its associates in La Linea, BA and Los Aztecas, in defense of the territory. This mindset could have inspired the BA leader's statement above that the organization was targeting U.S. personnel specifically to force the U.S. government to intervene in Mexico.

We have seen time and again throughout Mexico that DTOs can be remarkably innovative and resilient when they are backed into a corner. The VCF will fight to stay relevant on the drug-trafficking scene, and it will likely pursue this ambition violently -- as will the Sinaloa Federation -- in an attempt to dominate the Juarez Valley drug trade. Eventually, this could lead to the VCF's extermination. Or the current situation could result in a truce between Sinaloa and VCF, since both have had previous arrangements with each other. In any case, the VCF is down but not out, and violence in the greater Juarez area will not be ending any time soon.

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April 5