In an effort to confront criminal gangs in northwestern Mexico, the state governments of Sonora and Baja California (led by Alfonso Durazo Montaño and Marina del Pilar Avila Olmeda) agreed to implement a single command to reinforce security in the border area that is disputed by several antagonistic organized crime groups for the purpose of crossing illegal material into the United States.
This initiative, presented at the Regional Security Roundtable held in San Luis Río Colorado, seeks to establish a Single Command for operational and preventive tasks in the area of San Luis Río Colorado and the Mexicali Valley, where criminal gangs confront each other for the transfer of drugs, weapons and migrants. Therefore, the collaboration between the states of Sonora and Baja California, together with federal forces, seeks to improve security and provide peace of mind to the inhabitants of this region.
Alfonso Durazo Montaño, governor of Sonora, stressed the need to confront the problem of organized crime through a comprehensive vision and geopolitical coordination that transcends jurisdictional boundaries. “We have to build a model that allows us to streamline coordination at the level that the Army, the National Guard, and the Navy currently have. We have to strengthen many of the attributes that would allow us to have better municipal security bodies,” said the governor of Sonora.
“We have recurring acts of violence in San Luis Rio Colorado due to the confrontation between two criminal organizations, one based in San Luis, and another based in the Mexicali Valley. Consequently, we have to analyze the problem with a comprehensive vision and that is the reason we will work on a security plan that includes San Luis Rio Colorado and the Mexicali Valley with a single command and the advantage of the single command is that it allows us to streamline efforts,” Durazo told La Jornada.
She denied that this coordination to reinforce security is due to the arrest of a boss or leader of a criminal organization: “This meeting is for that reason, there are absolutely no additional particularities.”
For her part, the governor of Baja California, Marina del Pilar Avila Olmeda, stressed the importance of working together with federal institutions, such as the National Defense Secretariat (Sedena), the National Guard and the Navy. “The actions that were implemented here (in Sonora) seemed to me to be necessary to put a stop to crime; to make a proposal that allows us, together with the Army and the Navy, to have that coordination,” he said.
Also, during the Regional Security Roundtable, the results obtained from July 22 to 29 were presented, a period in which the Single Police Command was implemented in San Luis Río Colorado. They assured that in that period, there was a 50 percent reduction in intentional homicides, going from 13 to 6 cases. Likewise, the seizure of 403 kilos of marijuana during 2023 was highlighted, within the framework of joint inter-institutional operations and the permanent deployment in the 45th Military Zone of the region.
At a press conference, Durazo added that other notable results include the seizure of 508 kilos of cocaine, 91 kilos of fentanyl, 1,662 kilos of methamphetamine, 339 firearms, 1,307 magazines, and 46,000 cartridges. In addition, 187 vehicles and 13 armored vehicles were secured, as part of the actions to combat organized crime and strengthen security in the area.
Source: jornada