Mexico's security chief says drug cartels are recruiting former Colombian soldiers
Security Secretary Omar García Harfuch's comments followed the arrest last week of 12 Colombians in the western state of Michoacan in connection with a mine attack that killed eight Mexican soldiers.
Through contact with Colombian authorities, García Harfuch said that nine of the 12 individuals were former soldiers and the remaining three were civilians with weapons training.
Close underworld ties have long existed between organized crime groups in Mexico and Colombia. For many years, Colombian drug traffickers produced cocaine and heroin and moved it themselves by boat or plane to the United States. Later, as U.S. authorities cracked down on trafficking in the Caribbean, Mexican cartels' power grew as they moved Colombian drugs over land and via small plane to the U.S. border and smuggled them across.
Decades of internal conflict in Colombia have produced tens of thousands of former soldiers, paramilitaries and guerrillas with weapons training and combat experience.
Colombians have been hired guns in the 2021 assassination of Haiti President Jovenel Moïse and in the ongoing war in Ukraine.
In recent weeks, Mexican immigration authorities rejected 69 Colombians trying to enter Mexico, some of whom in interviews said 'they had been coopted by some criminal group.' García Harfuch said Tuesday that both the Sinaloa and Jalisco New Generation cartels were recruiting Colombians.
Colombia's ambassador to Mexico, Fernando García, said last week that he feared the arrests would negatively impact ongoing negotiations with Mexico to reduce the number of Colombians prevented from entering the country at Mexican airports.
In March, the Colombian government had said that talks with Mexico were progressing with mechanisms for Mexico and Colombia to verify information about those seeking to enter Mexico.
In October 2023, Mexican authorities arrested eight Colombians also in Michoacan state, who allegedly were helping to make explosives dropped by cartel drones.
Former soldiers from other countries have worked with Mexican cartels too. More than a decade ago, the fearsome Zetas, whose leaders came from Mexico's military, recruited former members of Guatemala's special forces Kaibiles in their ranks.
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He then fled to Israel where he told investigators he met 'some men', who allegedly told him his entire debt would be forgiven if he paid around $600,000. When asked if the men were from the notorious Musli mafia, the man replied, 'No comment.' 'The Musli crime group is the single largest and one of the most violent organized crime groups in Israel," a detective wrote in the affidavit. 'They are known for engaging in murder, car bombings and extortion rackets throughout the world.' The man also told investigators that Gershman hosted illegal games at Arenas' Encino home. Arenas has pleaded not guilty to the charges and was released on $50,000 bond. Trial is scheduled for September 23. The former NBA star's house on Gable Drive has since been sold and is now operating as a drug rehabilitation center. Arenas, who once played in the NBA for the Golden State Warriors, Washington Wizards, Orlando Magic, and Memphis Grizzlies, took to his social media a day after. The video, posted on his social media, was captioned: 'I'm Back on the Streets. This ain't got shyt to do with me ' just rented the house' Wasn't apart of the Festivities'. 'I'm snitching,' he said of his co-defendants. 'I don't know your name. What's your name? Igor? Yeah, let me write that down.' The Daily Mail has reached out to Arenas's attorney. Toutouni said he has never played any poker games with Arenas, Gershman or any of the other suspects. The entrepreneur, who has been blasted by his critics for his provocative social media posts with scantily-clad models, told the Daily Mail his card games were 'just between a bunch of friends' and claims they were not organized illegal operations. When asked if his poker game nights also had women catering to the male players, Toutouni told the Daily Mail: 'I mean, usually when there's people playing poker, there are women there, but that doesn't mean anything illegal was happening. It doesn't mean they are prostitutes.' Toutouni, who goes by the social media name 'Lunatic Living', said Emil Lahaziel was not a close friend, but was invited to participate to his poker party the night of June 6. Lahaziel was living in Miami, Florida but hailed from Ashkelon, a coastal city in the southern district of Israel. His family described Lahaziel as a doting father and often posted pictures of his lavish lifestyle with his family in Miami. The father-of-five wasn't afraid to flash his wealth with images of private jets and sparkling blue poolside shots posted across Instagram. 'We have been playing with the same group for years, but I had met him about two weeks before so I didn't know him that well,' Toutouni said of Lahaziel. 'He was down quite a bit, maybe like $200,000. He was just a bad player. I watched him play and he was just horrible.' The game went all night and into the early morning. 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Corral and Sanchez have pleaded not guilty. Toutouni told the Daily Mail he and his friends are no longer renting the Hollywood Hills home where Lahaziel was shot to death. He also has stopped the poker games indefinitely. 'I haven't played since the day of the shooting,' Toutouni said. 'I never slept in that house after that and I haven't hosted any more porker gamed after. I kind of just walked away from that whole thing and don't want any part of it.'
