How is the highway of “terror” in northern Mexico where dozens of people have disappeared this year

Nuevo León authorities, for their part, report only 41 disappearance investigations on 20 months, with 1.4 people on average per case. And they have announced new measures for their search.

But FUNDENL and other organizations warn that there is one “black number” of unknown cases due to lack of complaint.

A modern and dangerous road

The highway 85 D that connects Monterrey with Nuevo Laredo is not a secondary road, like those that come to be controlled by criminal groups in some conflictive regions of Mexico.

Quite the opposite: it is a four-lane highway , with electronic toll booths and overpass infrastructure almost entirely along a route straight.

It is part of the Pan-American highway , which connects the American continent from north to south.

Being the shortest route from central Mexico to the US border .UU. , is an important route, both for the export and import of merchandise, as well as for the inhabitants of Monterrey who go through tourism or business to the cities of southern Texas.

“It is the way to the border for people who go to EE. .US. Of purchases or for personal reasons. And that is why we consider that for years the authorities have had information that disappearances have occurred. And there are no permanent video surveillance or operational systems, ”says Orozco.

Despite being a vital infrastructure , safety for drivers -both cargo transport and civilians- “is not guaranteed.”

The section of the danger

In particular, there is a section that has been the riskiest in recent months: that of the border between the states of Nuevo León and Tamaulipas.

Just the 19 last June, a systems engineer from 35 years -with his identity reserved- he was kidnapped for several hours by armed men dressed in military clothing.

In a complaint to the Nuevo León public prosecutor’s office, he states that there was a checkpoint of armed individuals on the highway that detained him. One of them told him “take your things and get out of the vehicle” to check his truck.

They put him in a vehicle, covered his head and began to “move all day on an unknown dirt road,” he explained.

They asked him ” where is the drug he was bringing “and that” for whom did he work?

Even He was hit by a wooden board at one point to make a confession, despite the fact that he assured them that he worked in a systems company and that he had his work data on his cell phone.

Explain that in the end they abandoned him with covered eyes on a dirt road. He found a town and asked for help. Later he was able to locate his truck and return to Monterrey.

FUNDENL has also detected that Drivers of applications such as Uber or Didi, who are requested to make trips to the border, have also been attacked by criminals.

“In general, we have documented cases since 2011. And with the crisis since this year, we began to receive reports from previous years ”, explains Orozco.

of cartels

For a few months there has been a growing dispute between criminal groups for the control of the cities that border the United States. .UU. In the states of Tamaulipas, Nuevo León and Coahuila.

These are key points to drug and illegal merchandise trafficking, as well as the flow of economic resources that the cartels seek to manage, explains public security researcher Víctor Sánchez to BBC Mundo.

“The commandos stop trailers carrying goods. The trucks or sometimes just the merchandise are taken. And sometimes the drivers disappear. The same about private vehicles: s and focus on equipped vans that they later use for their activities ”, indica.

Although it has been a practice seen for a decade, it has worsened in recent months.

“It is a zone of conflict and dispute, but it goes beyond the simple dispute of criminal organizations. It has a lot to do with the DNA of Los Zetas “, explains Sánchez.

And it is that the Northeast Cartel -CDN, formed by members of the extinct bloodthirsty group Los Zetas- controls the city of Nuevo Laredo, which has been the target of other organizations recently.

“The offensive has intensified a lot in recent months by the Jalisco Nueva Generación Cartel, led by a local organization, the Metros, which is a faction of the Gulf Cartel, ”says Sánchez.

“The CDN suspects any ostentatious vehicle that circulates on the road at certain times, anticipating an incursion. And that may explain some of the disappearances in recent months, “explains the researcher, a resident of the neighboring state of Coahuila.

Many victims of disappearance are not found because the posters avoid leaving evidence , such as the bodies of the victims.

response from governments

Faced with the increase in cases of disappearance, state and federal governments have begun to take action in recent weeks.

The federal National Guard was deployed to conduct patrols along the highway 85 D.

And last week, the governors of Nuevo León and Tamaulipas met to agree on a better coordination in the investigation of cases of missing , something they have recl loved the families of the victims.

“The installation of fixed intermittent points is contemplated, especially in specific areas such as the kilometer stretch 100 to the 176 (border zone between states) ”, they indicated in a joint statement.

“Not only is the highway, there are gaps where the National Guard, Civil Force and the Mexican Army also enter to monitor, to dissuade, to look for individuals who are seeking to harm people, ”said the commissioner of the Nuevo León Civil Force, Jorge Garza Morales.

Orozco, however, note that these actions are usually temporary . When they run out, the problem returns.

“The operations since June, how good they are doing them, but they should have started them since there were reports that something was happening, since April,” he says.

“The government discourse is the same, of attacks between criminal gangs. But they are attacking workers and families directly. It is unfortunate“.