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On 22 April 2023, around 10:00 pm local time, a heavy exchange of fire broke out between members of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) and the Sinaloa Cartel, in the municipality of Teocaltiche, Jalisco.
Local sources reported that the armed confrontation involved the use of long weapons and that security forces did not arrive on scene until an hour after being alerted.
Once authorities were on scene, they found a military-style, heavily modified armored vehicle, called a 'monstruo' (monster), which was likely used during the battle, as well as 74 5.56-caliber cartridges and an ammunition belt. Unconfirmed reports also revealed that road blockades were set up by the cartels on the Nochistlán-Teocaltiche highway.
Following the 22 April armed confrontation in Teocaltiche, a video circulated on social media showing evidence that the Sinaloa Cartel deployed improvised weaponized drones to ambush their rivals. The footage shows the impact of an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) being dropped from a modified drone targeting at least four members of CJNG onboard a truck, as shown in the image below.
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More often than not, the use of drones by cartels, whether for surveillance or as weapons is usually attributed to CJNG. This is the first that TRAC has seen evidence attributing the use of improvised weaponized drones by the Sinaloa Cartel.
The 22 April armed confrontation between CJNG and the Sinaloa Cartel is the most recent out of many that have erupted for the control of Northern Jalisco. This incident comes less than 24 hours after a confrontation between the CJNG and the Sinaloa Cartel took place at the intersection of Matamoros and Miguel Hidalgo, in the Barrio Del Rosario neighborhood, in Encarnación de Díaz, Jalisco.
According to intelligence reports, a Sinaloa Cartel faction known as ‘Los Chapitos’ operating in Teocaltiche and Villa Hidalgo is led by Mario González Gutiérrez, who also goes by the aliases ‘Don Mario’, ‘El Flama’ (The Flame), or ‘M.G.’. Gutiérrez is reportedly in charge of the distribution of synthetic drugs in Northern Jalisco and in this regard, TRAC does not rule out the presence of a Fentanyl laboratory in the said area.
On 23 April 2023, CJNG carried out a flyer-drop campaign by means of a small plane, dropping leaflets across the town of Encarnación de Diaz threatening the Sinaloa Cartel. This was not only in response to the 07 April to the ambush on Police Deputy Director Jorge Antonio Lozano López and his bodyguard Gustavo Beristain on the Encarnación de Díaz Highway, reportedly ordered by 'El Flama,' but also to make it clear that CJNG was coming to claim the territory.
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TRAC Insight:
Accelerationist ‘Z-Cell’ Group Announces their Alliance
to the Order of Nine Angles (O9A/ ONA) Group ‘Teufelsreich’
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On their private Telegram channel, the accelerationist and racist group 'Z-Cell' has officially announced their alliance to the group 'Teufelsreich', which is a branch of the Order of Nine Angles (O9A/ ONA). Even though 'Z-Cell' has purely racist origins and is loosely affiliated with The Terrogram Collective, this alliance does not come as a complete surprise.
The Order of Nine Angles (O9A/ ONA) has been infiltrating many racist groups in an attempt to further their Satanic neo-Nazi cult. Most recently, the National Socialist Order (NSO) has dissolved and reformed as National Socialist Resistance Front (NSRF) after infiltration from O9A.
TRAC is certain that Z-cell is using this new alliance as a way to properly catch foot among the most prominent racist groups, as well as to gain momentum on the amount of members and attacks conducted by them.
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TRAC Incident Report:
National Liberation Army (ELN) Releases a Statement Claiming Responsibility for the Kidnap of Swedish Geologist Ulf Bilger Erlingsson, Tibú, Norte de Santander, Colombia
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Hostage, Swedish Geologist Ulf Bilger Erlingsson | |
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On 27 April 2023, the leftist paramilitary group known as National Liberation Army (ELN) released a statement on social media networks, claiming responsibility for the 01 March 2023 abduction of a Swedish-American geologist and documentary maker, identified as Ulf Bilger Erlingsson, 63. Erlingsson was abducted in a the rural area of Tibú, Norte de Santander.
According to ELN, Erlingsson arrived in Cúcuta on 22 February and was carrying out espionage activities in Tibú on behalf of a United States 'agency' and further claimed that he has been providing his support to the destabilization of democratic governments across Latin America for several years.
Erlingsson's family denies the allegations, saying that Erlingsson was working on an audiovisual documentary on geology in Colombia.
It should be noted that this incident comes amid the ongoing peace talks between ELN and the government and that kidnap for ransom is one of the main nefarious activities through which Colombian illegal paramilitary groups finance their activities across the country and ELN is no exception. Although ELN promised to release Erlingsson only through the mediation of international humanitarian organizations, the Colombian Church, and the Ombudsman’s Office, TRAC is certain that a hefty ransom will be demanded for the liberation of Ulf Bilger Erlingsson.
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TRAC Incident Report:
Clashes Between Anti-Macron’s Reforms Protesters and Police Result in 291 Arrests and 108 Officers Wounded, Paris, France
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On 01 May 2023, violent clashes erupted between police forces and protesters across the streets of central Paris, leading to the arrest of 291 demonstrators and the wounding of a record number of 108 law enforcement agents. It is not clear how many protesters were injured.
Hundreds of thousands of people flooded the streets of Paris to protest against the rise in the state pension age from 62 to 64 imposed by President Macron without a vote. According to authorities, although most of the protesters marched peacefully, Black Bloc anarchists and radical left groups threw Molotov cocktails and fireworks against the police, who responded by executing heavy charges on the demonstrators as well as using tear gas and water cannons.
A number of properties as well as bus stops were reportedly damaged during the clashes. Violence also broke out in Lyons, Toulouse, and Nantes where vehicles were set on fire and businesses attacked.
Social unrest in Paris and across France has been going on since 15 April, when President Macron signed the pension reform into law, despite a large majority of the population opposing the decision. While the French President claims the said reform is a necessity, the trade unions vowed to continue the protest until the government withdraws the newly approved pension legislation, which is expected to come into force by September 2023.
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TRAC Incident Report: The Death of the Prominent Palestinian Detainee & Senior Palestine Islamic Jihad Leader, Khader Adnan, after 87-Day Hunger Strike to Lead to Further Escalation between Israel & Palestine | |
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Video Report:
The Houthi Movement (Ansrallah) Displays Child Soldiers in New Video, Unknown Location, Yemen
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TRAC Incident Report: NSC 131 Provides Security to the Newly Formed "The People's Initiative of New England (PINE)" at the Trump Rally in Manchester, New Hampshire, United States | | | | |
