MEXICO CITY — Authorities in Mexico mentioned Friday they’re investigating a video that seems to point out gunmen from a drug cartel forcing feminine bar hostesses to kneel on the ground in a mock execution and extorting cash from them.
The video, posted on social media, exhibits one of many gunmen holding a pistol to the pinnacle of 1 lady as she is compelled to lie flat on the ground. His foot is on her shoulder as she pleads with him to not shoot.
“Sure, sure, sure. Please do not shoot. Please,” says the lady within the video.
“That is so you realize, the proprietor of the escort enterprise is the CJNG,” the masked gunman says, referring to the initials of the Jalisco New Technology cartel. These initials additionally seem on the tactical vests the gunmen are sporting.
“It’s important to report back to us each week,” the gunman says, although he didn’t say how a lot the ladies might be compelled to pay.
The Jalisco cartel is among the teams which have waged a bloody years-long turf conflict within the north-central state of Guanajuato, which has Mexico’s highest variety of homicides. Authorities there mentioned Friday they’re learning the video to find out if its genuine, or the place it was taped, noting they didn’t but have any proof it was taped of their state.
The gunman says all bar hostesses or waitresses might be compelled to pay safety cash, and that the cartel will distribute bracelets to point out who has paid and who hasn’t. Those that don’t pay might be killed, he threatened in colloquial phrases.
Drug cartels in Mexico are more and more branching out into extortion, kidnapping and demanding safety cash from all types of companies, together with immigrant smugglers.
Throughout final yr’s upsurge in folks crossing the U.S. border from Mexico, some migrants got bracelets to put on, exhibiting which gang had smuggled them and, in some instances, the place they had been headed.
Guanajuato-based safety analyst David Saucedo mentioned that drug cartels have reached new heights in controlling who has paid up and who hasn’t, together with inspection-style stickers on some frequently-extorted autos, like buses.
“Some organized crime teams are distributing stickers to point out who has paid, and who hasn’t,” Saucedo mentioned.
He famous that, whereas some companies have nonetheless not been focused by the extortion racket, the shake-downs are rising ever wider.
“As time goes on, extra companies are added to the listing of extortions,” he famous.
They needn’t even be very profitable companies. For instance, in Guanajuato and the southern Mexico state of Guerrero, drug cartels have shot up or burned tortilla outlets for failing to pay safety cash —or paying it to a rival gang. Tortillas in Mexico promote for about 65 cents per pound, with comparatively small revenue margins.