Security & Strategic Review - September 2012 (ISSN 1741-4202)

It has been widely assumed that President Felipe Calderón was determined to escalate his government’s anti-cartel drive in the remaining months of his tenure, so as to be able to step down with his policy vindicated. Since the 1 July elections he has deployed more troops and federal police to drug-war hotspots, and there have been a number of high-profile captures, but none as impressive as the string carried out in September, which netted much of the top leadership of the Cártel del Golfo (CDG) gang. Just how this, and the reported rifts within Los Zetas, will affect the course of the inter-gang wars, has yet to be seen.