442: Thugs
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The town of Forencia de Benito Juarez was a typical little mountain town in Mexico. Just 4,000 people. Quiet. Until last fall. Then a drug gang called the Zadas, affiliated with one of the big drug cartels, rolled into town. And people were pretty scared. The Zadas would stop people on the road and take their trucks. They'd walk the streets freely, the police were defenseless. Or maybe they were just on the take in the pockets of the gang. A doctor or reporter who lives in the region, who asked as a precaution not to be named here on the radio, the drug gangs are that powerful in the area. He's been talking to people in Forencia about this since the beginning, and he told me what happened. He said that in May, after months, where people were terrified of these thugs, he'd more or less taken over, the Zadas went away for a few days. The reporter said this wasn't strange behavior for a Mexican drug gang. Everybody knew they'd be back soon enough. But while the Zadas were away, something really strange did happen. Another gang showed up, the chapels, or nickname presumably, for Chapel Guzman, who runs one of the other big Mexican drug cartels, for a while they thought they were from the same group. But on the next day, the group of people went to go visit each of the different business establishments. They told them that they were from the Gulf cartel, that they were coming to liberate the town, so that they can live with peace and tranquility. In fact, the leader of this new group, the chapels, told store owners that if any gang member did something as petty as taking food from a store without paying, please come let him know. It would not be tolerated. They were here to take out the garbage, meaning the Zadas, a woman from Forencia told this reporter. They said they were good people, they weren't going to cause anybody in town any harm. For the people of Forencia, there were protectors. The police fled town, as did the mayor. Things were peaceful, with the chapels in charge, for just a few days, and then the Zadas returned. This was May 20th of this year, a Friday morning. Everybody expected and feared a big battle between the two. What occurred then was that the chapels worn the population, that this was going to occur, and so the people stayed indoors in their houses. The fight started in town and then continued in the mountains for a full day, and when it was over, authorities said that about a dozen were dead, the people in Forencia said it was a lot more, many dozens. The chapels, the supposed protectors of Forencia, won the day, and as with anything heroic or sensational that happens in Mexico these days, of course, there are now Caritos, folk ballads about the battle. Only 10 fallen men reported the government, but I'm not stupid. I know what I'm saying, more than 60 idiots were left on the ground. After that fight, people in town felt pretty safe.
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