TODAY'S NEWSPAPER
Subscribe | PostPoints

SEARCH:

| Search Archives

washingtonpost.com > Photo

Mexico Targets Drug Trade in Michoacan

Since Mexican President Felipe Calderon sent troops into his home state of Michoacan in 2006 to fight drug traffickers, U.S. and Mexican officials have described a growing free-for-all between warring cartels in the state where 10 mayors were recently detained and are being investigated for alleged ties to drug traffickers.

At a police roadblock operation in Zacapu, west of the state capital of Michoacan, Mexico, an officer pulls window tinting off a car window while searching for drugs, guns and other suspicious activity. Although it is illegal to have tinted windows, most of the cartel members drive large glitzy trucks with dark windows. The dominant drug cartel, La Familia, has a strong hold in Michoacan, President Felipe Calderon's home state.

Sarah L. Voisin-The Washington Post

Near Buenavista, a cross erected by the family of Hector Eduardo Bautista Contreras stands where his body was dumped in July 2006 after he was kidnapped and tortured, U.S. and Mexican officials said. Bautista was a local gang leader in Michoacan, where La Familia dominates the drug trade. Shortly after Bautista's murder, heads of decapitated bodies were hung from the original cross, which was black. The dead were expected to be involved in Bautista's murder.

Sarah L. Voisin-The Washington Post

In Uruapan, residents march down the street from city hall to the central plaza in protest of the arrest of their mayor, Antonio Gonzalez Rodriguez. Behind the woman is the mayor's son, Pedro. Recently, 10 mayors in Michoacan, including Rodriguez, were detained and are being investigated for alleged ties to drug traffickers as part of President Felipe Calderon's nationwide anti-narcotics strategy.

Sarah L. Voisin-The Washington Post

In a small town northwest of Michoacan's capital, Morelia, officers patrol the streets for an SUV belonging to armed men who got out of the car and shot a police officer 30 minutes earlier. La Familia is a messianic cult that promises to protect the poor while meting out "divine justice" to its enemies, including ritualized torture in which executioners carve cryptic initials onto the foreheads of their victims.

Sarah L. Voisin-The Washington Post

Writing on an SUV window in Tepalcatepec, Michoacan, expresses support for the town's mayor, Uriel Farias Alvarez, who is one of the 10 mayors being held in Mexico City under investigation for alleged ties to drug traffickers. The arrests were condemned by opponents as politically motivated. By Mexican law, the mayors can be held for 40 days until they are formally charged.

Sarah L. Voisin-The Washington Post

In the small town of Panindicuaro, northwest of Michoacan's capital, a young boy admires the automatic rifle of a police officer. Many children are in awe of the drug traffickers because of their fancy cars and big guns. A police commander said that these children don't want to grow up to be firemen or doctors, they want to be narcos.

Sarah L. Voisin-The Washington Post

In a downtown market in Uruapan, women arrange cowboy hats in their stall. The mayor of Uruapan, Antonio Gonzalez Rodriguez, was one of the 10 mayors arrested in Michoacan. Gonzalez was a long-time member of Calderon's National Action Party, or PAN.

Sarah L. Voisin-The Washington Post

In a small town northwest of the capital of Michoacan, officers investigate the scene of a shooting where a police officer was killed. An SUV drove by and two armed men got out of the car and shot the officer. Violence has continued to escalate in Michoacan, where U.S. and Mexican officials have called the drug trade a growing free-for-all, with the cartels warring over once-stable transit routes through which they ship 90 percent of all cocaine bound for the United States.

Sarah L. Voisin-The Washington Post

A dog looks on as demonstrators march in outrage of the arrest of their mayor, Antonio Gonzalez Rodriguez, in Uruapan, Michoacan. Gonzalez's wife, Ramona Sanchez de Gonzalez, called her husband's arrest a misunderstanding. "The only thing I know is that Antonio is an honorable man," said Sanchez.

Sarah L. Voisin-The Washington Post

In the state capital Morelia, a man window shops for hats. Mexican Attorney General Eduardo Medina Mora recently called La Familia the most dangerous cartel in Mexico and the nation's leading producer of methamphetamines. Authorities have busted 39 meth labs in Michaocan.

Sarah L. Voisin-The Washington Post

At a police roadblock operation in Zacapu, west of the state capital of Michoacan, an officer gives IDs back to two men who were questioned by police. La Familia now dominates the drug trade in Michoacan and maintains "a very, very strong presence" in a dozen American cities including Chicago, Atlanta and Dallas according to U.S. and Mexican officials.

Sarah L. Voisin-The Washington Post

A boy peers out of a bus window at a police roadblock operation in Zacapu. In Michocan, La Familia has presented itself as a semi-legitimate company that hires only Michoacan residents and works for the benefit of the largely impoverished state. La Familia filled a vacuum for social services and community development, according to Ramon Pequeno Garcia, director of the anti-drug operations at the ministry of public security.

Sarah L. Voisin-The Washington Post

The Michoacan region is a beautiful and fertile area with many tourist spots. The soil is rich for marijuana and poppy fields, which usually are hidden in the Sierra Madre mountain range.

Sarah L. Voisin-The Washington Post

An officer searches a group of men at a police roadblock operation in Zacapu. A senior U.S. law enforcement official said that the rise of La Familia was extraordinarily rapid. "They have developed into a serious force. They are very astute at how they run their operations. They're now the guys in Michoacan."

Sarah L. Voisin-The Washington Post

Highway 120, near the town of Buenavista, southwest of the state capital. "The people are furious," said Sonia Sanchez, a lime farmer in Buenavista. Protesters occupied and shuttered her town hall after the mayor, Osbaldo Esquivel Lucatero, was arrested as he showed up for work.

Sarah L. Voisin-The Washington Post

In downtown Uruapan, police patrol the town square. In response to President Felipe Calderon's nationwide anti-narcotics strategy, the big drug cartels are splintering and then rapidly reassembling into increasingly resourceful criminal enterprises with powers to penetrate and corrupt the state and society.

Sarah L. Voisin-The Washington Post

Three boys sit under protest signs that were taped to the city hall in Buenavista, where authorities removed the mayor, Doctor Osbaldo Esquivel Lucatero. Esquivel was also a physician and popular soccer coach.

Sarah L. Voisin-The Washington Post

At the Parrish of San Francisco of Asis in Tepalcatepec, Michoacan, residents attend a mass on a Wednesday night. "What value is a house, a church, a temple, when we live in fear and terror? It's like we sold our souls to the Devil," said Miguel Lopez, a Catholic priest in Tepalcatepec.

Sarah L. Voisin-The Washington Post

A man glares at an officer who is questioning him at a police roadblock operation in Zacapu.

Sarah L. Voisin-The Washington Post

A couple kisses in the town plaza in downtown Uruapan. Many residents have become accustomed to the extreme violence and corruption. "It's like getting used to pain," said Miguel Lopez, a Catholic priest from Michoacan. "And you know what we are waiting for now? Something even more horrifying."

Sarah L. Voisin-The Washington Post

Mariano Perez, right, a 46-year-old painter, stands guard outside the Buenavista city hall, where authorities chained the doors shut so no one can enter while the mayor, Osbaldo Esquivel Lucatero, remains detained in Mexico City.

Sarah L. Voisin-The Washington Post

Father Miguel Lopez leads Mass at the Parish of San Francisco of Asis in Tepalcatepec, Michoacan. Lopez, who was born and raised in the Tierra Caliente, said La Familia and other cartels have retained public support through fear and favor.

Sarah L. Voisin-The Washington Post

Two norteno singers play music in the downtown Uruapan market.

Sarah L. Voisin-The Washington Post

Highway 37, south of Uruapan, a city of 250,000 about an hour from Apatzingan. One month before his arrest, the mayor of Uruapan, Antonio Gonzalez Rodriguez, was named to a national commission on public security that included mayors representing each state.

Sarah L. Voisin-The Washington Post

Gallery Credits:
Photo Editor, Producer Sam Funt Text Editor Amanda Lilly

Note: Please upgrade your Flash plug-in to view our enhanced content.

This Story A Mexican Cartel's Swift and Grisly Climb Article \| APATZINGAN, Mexico -- In farm towns across the hot, fertile state of Michoacan, famous for its mangos and marijuana, residents are used to seeing military patrols rumbling through their streets. But until late last month, they had never seen soldiers descending on City Hall. Mexico Targets Drug Trade in Michoacan Special Report: Mexico at War This Story A Test of Faith in Mexico's Drug War Article \| TEPALCATEPEC, Mexico -- Father Miguel López drives the parish pickup truck across the muddy river that separates two warring drug cartels. He follows the winding road through the dark green foothills of the Sierra Madre until he comes to a rusting archway where traffickers hung the severed head ... Special Report: Mexico at War Mexico Targets Drug Trade in Michoacan Obama Vows to Focus on Borders		TOOLBOX E-Mail This Save/Share + Digg Facebook Reddit Twitter myspace del.icio.us NewsTrust Stumble It! COMMENT 0 Comments Your browser's settings may be preventing you from commenting on and viewing comments about this item. See instructions for fixing the problem. Discussion Policy CLOSE Comments that include profanity or personal attacks or other inappropriate comments or material will be removed from the site. Additionally, entries that are unsigned or contain "signatures" by someone other than the actual author will be removed. Finally, we will take steps to block users who violate any of our posting standards, terms of use or privacy policies or any other policies governing this site. Please review the full rules governing commentaries and discussions. You are fully responsible for the content that you post. Who's Blogging » Links to this gallery		More on washingtonpost.com • More Photo News » washingtonpost.com
» This Story:Read +\|Watch +\| Comments » This Story:Read +\|Watch +\| Comments

Jobs | Cars | Real Estate | Rentals | Classifieds

SEARCH:

Search Archives

The Washington Post Company: Information and Other Post Co. Websites

Help | Contact Us