Watch out Jaliscienses, as well as citizens of other states throughout Mexico: the Russians are coming.
Or rather, Venezuelans and Colombians are coming, and not the sort you’d bring to your parents’ house for dinner.
According to the State Attorney General Eduardo Almaguer, 2017 has seen a sharp influx into the country of career criminals from the aforementioned South American nations, entering mainly through Cancun and Mexico City.
So far this year, Jalisco law enforcement has detained 29 Colombians and 15 Venezuelans. Through these detainees, they’ve managed to extract information on the criminals’ modus operandi, which includes, upon entry into the country, bribing immigration officials into falsifying documents that allow them to move freely in the country without fear of questioning or extradition, as well as renting vehicles and hotel rooms in areas adjacent to their illicit operations.
Almageur detailed further that these lawbreakers were arrested in the process of mugging ATM users, robbing homes and businesses, and dealing drugs. Locales in Guadalajara identified as important nuclei for these and other operations, usually undertaken in groups of five to seven persons, include Plaza del Sol and along Avenida Vallarta. After completing a job, they send the majority of the booty back to Mexico City and Cancun. Almageur also indicated that each group performed at least five jobs before moving on to a different state.