Cartel Members Storm a Bar in Veracruz and Kill 4 People

“MX” for Borderland Beat

Early Friday morning in Coatzacoalcos, Veracruz, cartel members stormed a bar and killed 4 people and injured several more. The shootout occurred in Villa Allende neighborhood.

The victims were Antonio Jáuregui Villegas, Ernesto Gabriel Cortázar, Eder Domínguez de la Cruz, and Rodolfo Antonio Arias, who died hours later in the hospital.

According to the first reports, after the assault, these subjects fled in a white Jetta vehicle. Elements of the State Police and the National Guard arrived at the scene after an emergency call was made. The owner of the bar, who survived the attack, said she did not know why the gunmen attacked.

At the national level, figures from the Secretariat of Public Security (SSP) place the municipalities of Coatzacoalcos and Minatitlán among the most violent in the country.

Borderland Beat analysis

During the past few years, this southern region in Veracruz was an important turf controlled by the Zetas Vieja Escuela (ZVE), a splinter group of the old Zetas cartel. However, the rival Jalisco Nueva Generación Cartel (CJNG) has been trying to take control of the turf. This has led to an increase in homicides, extortions, and kidnappings.

Both the ZVE and the CJNG are competing for the control of the extortion (“protection”) market in Veracruz. These organizations collect weekly fees from bars in the area.

As reported by Borderland Beat, criminal groups extort businesses in Mexico through derecho/cobro de piso (“user rights”), a form of extortion where businesses are forced to pay criminals periodically in order to be able to work. This is a tactic that is prevalent across Mexico, including Veracruz.

Controlling this market is crucial for a criminal group’s revenue stream and influence in an area. Cartel members sometimes attack businesses that fail to pay them or are paying a rival cartel.

In addition, bars are often established puntos (drug sale spots) for a local cartel. In Veracruz, many of the murders committed by cartel members are driven by competing over drug sale spots to sell heroin, cocaine, and meth.

Sources: Noticiero Sureste; Riodoce; Reforma; Bajo Palabra; La Silla Rota; Borderland Beat archives