When the numbers speak (and drug traffickers cry)
It seems that #TeamSheinbaum not only knows about climate science, because in seven months of government, the National Security Strategy has left a balance that even El Chapo would get nervous: 154 tons of drugs seized (yes, you read that right, enough for Snoop Dogg to declare national mourning) and 20 thousand detainees who now have more free time… in cells. Secretary Omar García Harfuch, who already knows what it’s like to receive bullets (and memes), released the data in the famous “Mañanera del Pueblo”, because what better way to start the day than with a count of drug traffickers behind bars.
The good, the bad and the wtf
Among the highlights: 896 clandestine laboratories destroyed (goodbye, Breaking Bad Mexican version), 10 thousand weapons confiscated (so that thugs have to fight with fists like in the 80s) and a 25% reduction in intentional homicides. That is, 21 fewer deaths per day. It’s no small thing, although it still sounds like the low season of Narcos: México.
But not everything is a party (or free pozole). It turns out that the judges have been more lenient than a grandfather with his grandchildren: 163 criminals returned to the streets due to changes in precautionary measures, including operators of the Zetas, Sinaloa Cartel and Familia Michoacana. Even “Z-40” and “Z-42” managed to postpone their extradition 79 and 54 times (did someone say “bureaucratic procedures”?).
On the feel-good side of the news: Guanajuato breathed a sigh of relief by capturing “Alfa 1”, whose nickname sounds more like a sports supplement than a boss. With his arrest, homicides fell 50%. Moral? Sometimes it is enough to remove a toxic influencer to improve the environment.
The north also exists (and is hot)
In Operation Northern Border, they seized 30 tons of drugs, including 1.1 million fentanyl pills (enough for all of Ohio to forget about their existence). Guys with video game aliases also fell (“Scorpion 42”, really?), showing that organized crime has more imagination than Netflix scriptwriters.
And for statistics lovers: femicides decreased 26.6%, kidnapping 38.7% and extortion 10.4%. In other words, even the criminals are suffering from inflation.
What’s next? Share this article if you think data is worth more than speeches (or if you just want to see your anti-vaccine uncle defend drug traffickers on Facebook). And if you’re interested in the topic, here are more stories about how the country is trying to stop looking like a spin-off of The Purge.
Note to self: 154 tons of drugs are equivalent to 23 blue whales. Just saying.
