Here is a Great little piece i just read on borderlandbeat. It gives some good insight on the structure of a cartel and how they operate within a city or plaza.



Interview of Former CDG
Friday, May 11, 2012 | Borderland Beat Reporter Buggs
Posted in Borderland Beat Forum by Nini_Consentido


First of all, how long were you working for this organization (CDG)?

-More than 6 years


What was the cause of the internal war within the CDG?
-The primary cause was the death of M3


Was there an order to execute M3 or what happened? Why suddenly Rojos Vs Metros?

-The situation is the following, the CDG had a pact with the CDS, Costilla was the one that was able to join with El Chapo, they intended to unite CDG & CDS but a faction of the CDG was not in agreement, this faction was the group Metros led by M3, at that time when he refused to cooperate, they ordered the execution of M3, Los Metros and Mario Pelon (X20) took matters personal and that is when the internal conflict started within the CDG.


Los Rojos are made up of: Kalimanes (People of Commander Sierra), Scorpions (People of Costilla) Group XW (Commanded of Commander Wicho at least until his capture, now they are under the command of XW-2) Los R's under the command of R1, Los X's commanded by Coss, Los Ciclones loyal to Los Cardenas until the capture of Osiel's nephews who now form part of the member XW, this group operates together with CDS, they joined so that CDS can control all of Tamaulipas leaving CDG out who are now Los Metros.


Los Metros: They are Led by X20 (Mario Pelon) and by the Metro 4 (El Negro who is alleged to be brother of M3) they are made up of Metros and Deltas, the Deltas are from Baladezes and Los Metros are from Diaz Ordaz all the way to Rio Bravo.


What do you think will be the fate of the CDG & CDS?
Very simple, CDS will dominate Tamaulipas and CDG will disappear from the map of drug trafficking.
What was the strength of the CDG?

-The unity and the rank of Commanders.


The rank of commanders? How does that work?

-Very simple, you have a leader that puts the commanders in charge of each region or plaza (high command), these commanders are responsible for recruiting people and create their group and within that group is another rank of commanders in charge of the following:

*Commander of escorts: their job is to organize all the people who are used for battle and to give protection to the boss.

*Sector Commander: This person is responsible for monitoring the communities assigned.

*Commander of the Guards: is responsible to distribute los halcones or guards around the city to give information about the location of elements of the army, navy, federal police and also to monitor rival organization so that they don't enter the plazas, in general at the entrances of every town there are more than 2 halcones that are constantly monitoring.

*The Accountant: Is responsible for managing the numbers, what I mean is that he keeps tract of the cost of economic; materials and drugs. With this system you could run a cartel real well and in Mexico there is only one cartel that uses this system very well, that is that Sinaloa Cartel, the Gulf Cartel used it a few months ago or 6 to be exact.

Why do you say that Reynosa and Matamoros are the cradle of CDG?

-Very simple, there is where they cross the drugs.

Why in these sectors, why not Rio Grande or elsewhere?

-Very good question, the reason is this, in other towns we find it very hard to traffic the drugs because many of the towns are very small which allows the army to easily identify us.

To close this interview, what lies ahead for the next months on the issue of insecurity?

-'Well, a lot I would say, because the CDS is fighting very hard here in Tamaulipas and violence will increased when CDS and CDG confront each other <--- (Metros).

New 2012 Video of El Chapo Guzman

A little outdated but still very a good video...

Thanks ivyleague! I've seen this video and its good

Narco War Next Door // Current TV