Beyond The Horizon

ICYMI: The Los Chapitos New Rivalry And the Youngest Mayor In Ecuador Is Gunned Down

Ecuador serves primarily as a transit country for illegal drugs, particularly cocaine, destined for North America and Europe. The violence associated with narcotrafficking in Ecuador often involves clashes between rival drug trafficking groups, as well as confrontations with law enforcement agencies.

Several factors contribute to Ecuador's importance to cartels:

Geographic Location: Ecuador's strategic location between Colombia and Peru, two major cocaine-producing countries, makes it an attractive transit route for drug shipments heading northward.
Weak Law Enforcement: Ecuador has faced challenges in combating narcotrafficking due to corruption within law enforcement agencies, limited resources, and vast, difficult-to-patrol areas such as dense jungle regions along its border with Colombia.
Ports and Airports: Ecuador has several ports along its Pacific coastline and international airports, providing multiple entry points for drug shipments. These facilities are exploited by cartels for smuggling drugs into and out of the country.
Political Instability: Periods of political instability in Ecuador have created opportunities for criminal organizations to expand their operations, as government attention may be diverted from combating narcotrafficking.
Money Laundering: Ecuador's relatively lax financial regulations have made it an attractive location for laundering drug proceeds. Cartels use various methods, including shell companies and real estate investments, to launder their illicit profits.

In our first article, we see how that violence has played out and increased over time and how it cost the youngest Mayor in Ecuador's history her life.

The Los Chapitos are a faction within the Sinaloa Cartel, one of Mexico's most powerful and infamous drug trafficking organizations. The faction is led by the sons of Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán, one of the most notorious drug lords in history.

The internal struggles within Los Chapitos have been fueled by various factors, including power dynamics, rivalries, and external pressures from law enforcement and competing cartels. Here's a breakdown of some of the key elements:

Power Struggles: With the absence of their father, El Chapo, who was known for his iron grip on the cartel, Los Chapitos have had to assert their authority within the organization. This has led to internal power struggles as different factions vie for control and influence.
Rivalries with Other Cartel Factions: The Sinaloa Cartel itself is not a monolithic entity but rather a loose federation of various factions and groups. Los Chapitos have encountered opposition and competition from other factions within the cartel, leading to conflicts over territory, drug routes, and control of lucrative drug markets.
External Pressure: Law enforcement efforts, both within Mexico and internationally, have targeted the Sinaloa Cartel and its leadership. This pressure has forced Los Chapitos to adapt their strategies and operations, leading to internal tensions as different members advocate for different approaches to evade capture and maintain control.
Generational Divide: Los Chapitos represent a new generation within the cartel, with different ideas, strategies, and alliances compared to the older generation led by El Chapo. This generational divide has contributed to internal friction as older members may resist the influence or leadership of the younger generation.
Alliances and Betrayals: Within the complex world of cartel politics, alliances are formed and broken frequently. Los Chapitos have had to navigate shifting allegiances among various factions and individuals within the cartel, leading to betrayals and mistrust among members.
External Threats: Beyond internal struggles, Los Chapitos face external threats from rival cartels, vigilante groups, and government forces. These...

Duration:: 12m
Broadcast on:: 04 Jul 2024
Audio Format:: mp3

What's up everyone and welcome back to the program. In this episode we have two different articles that we're going to get to, one of them is based in Mexico and has to do with El Chapo's sons and the new war that's brewing with the offshoot cartel that broke away from the Sinoloa cartel that is now at war with the Chapitos. So that is going to turn into something that is very, very bloody and there is going to be a lot of bodies that end up getting dropped and more times than not things like this tend to escalate. In our second article we're going to talk about a situation that's going on down in Ecuador where the youngest mayor in the history of the country was just assassinated and this is all playing into the same exact thing that we see in Mexico and that's the cartels establishing their dominance. They're active in Ecuador, they're active in Peru, they're active in Colombia, you name it, the cartels are there. And down here in Ecuador it is a very crucial corridor when it comes to getting their product to market from South America. So Ecuador is a gigantic linchpin for them and they're going to do what they have to do in Ecuador to make sure that the politicians and everybody else is playing ball. And if not, well, this is the result. Our first article is from the Delhi Star and the headline. Expect gruesome killings to ramp up in new cartel war with El Chapo's sons, expert warns. This article was authored by Ethan Blackshaw. gruesome killings will likely ramp up following the outbreak of a war between El Chapo's sons and a newly formed drug cartel according to an expert. And when I'm rambling on about cutting the head off the snake and how it doesn't work, this is what I'm talking about. When you cut the head off the snake, somebody else just pops right up. And in this case, the snake didn't even have to be decapitated for offshoot group to form. All it takes is some internal politics to go south. And before you know it, this is what you're dealing with. And this is exactly the biggest problem in Mexico right now, considering how many of these offshoot groups have formed. It's almost impossible to keep track of all of them. Horrifying videos have emerged out of the Mexican state of Sonota in recent weeks after three small Plaza gangs, Las Salazar, a cartel whose name translates to the walls, and the third cartel, which is the Los Casadores, which translates to the hunters. And these are the three offshoots that are now at war with their former cartel, which is the Sinaloa cartel, and their group, which is the Chapitos. These groups have united against the Sinaloa cartel faction, led by El Chapo's sons, known as the Los Chapitos. The new cartel has been dubbed the new independent cartel of Sonota. The groups that formed it were all previous allies of the Los Chapitos. And this is something that happens relatively often. You get these kinds of egos together, and before you know it, there's so much money on the table, people are thinking they're getting robbed, they're not getting what they deserve, and it leads to bloodshed. That's why you need powerful figures, keeping things together, people like El Mayo. That's why someone like El Mayo has been able to exist for as long as he's existed in this world. And that's because he brooks no bullshit, and along with that he has so much power when it comes to those officials that he has in his pocket. Sinaloa's online recently showed nine hitmen from the new organization, decapitated by hitmen from the Sinaloa cartel. There was also a clip of Sinaloa hitmen, dragging a corpse using a truck, and another showing hitmen from the new group hacking at a man with machetes. And unfortunately, this is exactly what you can expect. Whenever you have this sort of situation break off, and you have the fragmentation of a cartel, there's going to be all kinds of animosity because there was something that drove that wedge between them, right? So that's only going to escalate. And for the Sinaloa cartel, it's amazing how many of these internal beefs they've had throughout the years and the fact that they've been able to maintain dominance for so long goes to show you just how much power and how much political influence they wield. But nothing's forever, right? And if they're not careful, they could easily find themselves falling behind the pack. Security expert Dr. Robert J. Bunker, Director of Research and Analysis at CO Futures, previously said that the formation of the new independent cartel of Sinaloa shows we're witnessing the gradual fragmentation of the Las Chapitos organization. And I think there's a lot of truth to that. And when we talk about the Chapitos, I think we have to differentiate from El Mayo and his group in the Sinaloa cartel because they're very different, distinct groups, right? They're all under the same banner, maybe, of the Sinaloa cartel, but they all have their differences and they're all operating according to their own sets of rules. He told the Delhi star this week it's likely that we will see these gruesome back and forth retaliatory killings ramp up in Sonora. Yeah, you kill one of ours. We kill five years. That's the age-old retaliation, right? And we're going to be more violent when we're doing it. Bunker reckons Las Chapitos could be using the extreme violence in Sonora to send a message, both to other plaza gangs, perhaps considering betraying them, as well as rival organizations elsewhere. The Sinaloa cartel is likely still in control of most of Sonora. He explained, but fragmentation appears to be occurring in two possible ways. He explained, parts of this is how the cartels are organized, straight down, hierarchical, or networks of influence. It seems like the Sinaloa cartel is a bit of both. Pretty good structure, but alliances, friends, families, also form part of this, 1000%. And that's really all a cartel is, a bunch of criminal groups, getting together and working under one banner. That's all a cartel is. And when it's moving, like it should move, at least as far as the criminals are concerned, and everything's functioning just like a Fortune 500 company. You have the old narcos who are more restrained, versus the younger generation who appear more violent and/or grew up a bit spoiled, not in poverty like some of the original kingpins. What is happening in Sonora depends on whether you consider the new independent cartel of Sonora leaders as old narcos or younger narcos. He said, Las Chapitos certainly fall into the second category. Oh, 1000%. These guys are the new age and the new face of what the cartel is going to look like unfortunately, moving forward. The days of having bosses who are telling their operatives that it's not a good idea to kill their customers, that it's not a good idea to drop bodies in the hotel corridor, then days are over, and the dance is now being led by this new age of narcos. Young narcos, lording over old narcos causes issues, like disrespect from the old lieutenants. Bunker explained, disrespect can get you killed, or start a war between criminal organizations, whereas if both are considered younger, what we are seeing now is likely due to one group challenging the other. That's what it comes down to. They're challenging the Chapitos for power, and what they're trying to do is press them and see how far they'll flex. Unfortunately, for the region, I highly doubt the Chapitos have any interest in flexing even one bit. So it's going to be a bloody violent struggle, and my guess is when all is said and done that the Chapitos come out on top. Alright folks, we're going to move on to our second article, and this article is from the Daily Mail and the headline. Ecuador's youngest mayor, 27, is assassinated along with a raid in latest murder of a political figure in crime-ravage country. And again, for all of the reasons that I stated in the opening, when you have a country like Ecuador that's placed where it is, it's going to be involved in the drug trade, and when you have so much product coming through, you know that the violent element is going to ramp up their activity to try and get their peace. And if the local officials don't want to get on board, this is what happens. This article was authored by Shannon Mcwegan. The youngest mayor in Ecuadorian history, under staffer, were shot dead in the latest spree of political killings in the crime-ridden country. Mayor of San Vincente, Bridget Garcia, 27, under communications director, Hido Lorr, were found shot dead inside a rented car in the province of Manabe, early on Sunday. Both victims sustained wounds from gunfire, which emanated from inside the vehicle, according to police. So, somebody obviously assassinated them, and my guess is, when they find out who that person is, they'll have ties to insert cartel here. The car transporting the mayor and Mr. Lorr contained a GPS system and was being tracked, Reuters reports, huh, yeah, using that Titan software that we talked about previously. The cartels have access to this software, and they're able to track down their enemies, their rivals, and their targets. Ms. Garcia was a member of ex-President Rafael Carreo's left-wing party called the Citizen Revolution Movement. One of the party's most recent presidential candidates, Louisa Gonzalez, took to ex to brand the 27-year-old murder as an assassination. "I've just found out that they've assassinated our fellow mayor of San Vincente, Bridget Garcia," Gonzalez said in a post, "I have no words, in shock, nobody is safe in Ecuador, nobody. If the politicians are getting clipped and they're getting clipped at this rate, well, if you're a regular person in Ecuador, you think you have a chance?" The young politician is the latest political figure to be killed in the South American country. Last August, presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio was gunned down while leaving a rally, with only two weeks to go until the election. Lage, shared on social media, showed Villavicencio, who was 59, being escorted out of the rally venue at 620, local time, and into a waiting car. He was climbing into the back seat when gunfire rang out. The windows did not appear to be bulletproof. A week before his death, the ex-journalist, who was well known for taking on corruption head-on, revealed he had been threatened by a gang leader connected to drug trafficking. In July, 2023, another Ecuadorian mayor, Augustine Intriago, was shot dead whilst he toured his city, Monta. The president at the time, Guillermo Lasso, declared a state of emergency in the provinces of Manabe and Los Rios, and the city of Doran, following the death. Ecuadorian president, Daniel Naboya's government has condemned the murders of the 27-year-old mayor, and her staffer. They say they are collaborating with authorities, and the prosecutor's office to ensure a quick investigation. This comes after Naboya declared a state of emergency in Ecuador after a surge of violence, which saw hooded thugs invade state TV news studio in January. He also categorized 22 criminal groups as terrorist organizations. In March, he extended the state of emergency in the South American country. For all the good it's doing, and unfortunately they're just overmatched. They're not just dealing with a local element. There are cartels from Mexico here, and their presence is pretty heavy, and that's what's driving a lot of this violence. So unfortunately, we're just going to see a lot more of this in Ecuador as the day is March on. And as violence ramps up between the cartels elsewhere, you can expect the blowback to be felt down in Ecuador as well. Alright folks, that's going to do it for this one. All of the information that goes with this episode can be found in the description box.