MEXICO CHANGING CRIMINAL LANDSCAPE
The rapid spread of one crime group in Mexico is revealing a shifting power base for the country's illicit drug trade. Prior to 2010, most Mexican crime groups that emerged from the rural region known as Tierra Caliente worked as subsidiaries of powerful Sinaloa- and Tamaulipas-based syndicates such as the Gulf cartel and the Sinaloa Federation. However, the expansion of Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generacion (CJNG), one of Mexico's most powerful crime syndicates, reflects the gradual breakdown of organized crime in Sinaloa and Tamaulipas states since 2010, which has made way for the spread of Tierra Caliente groups into other parts of Mexico.
The CJNG originates from the organization led by a Sinaloa Federation lieutenant, Ignacio "El Nacho" Coronel Villarreal, who was killed by federal troops in July 2010. After continuous infighting and years of aggressive pursuit by the military and law enforcement, Sinaloa and Tamaulipas groups began to lose control of organized crime in Tierra Caliente, leading to the expansion other independent groups.
Now the CJNG is rapidly expanding. In Baja California state, the cartel has allied with crime groups derived from the Arellano Felix Organization (also known as the Tijuana cartel or the Cartel de Arellano Felix) to seize control of the Tijuana plaza, the Tijuana-based investigative journal Zeta reported June 15. If the report is accurate, the CJNG is apparently seeking to end the dominance that Sinaloan groups have had around Tijuana since at least the 1980s. Meanwhile, in San Luis Potosi state, the group appears to be attempting to wrest control of towns from several other drug trafficking operations: the Velazquez network (also known as Los Talibanes or the Gulf cartel) and possibly Los Zetas.
As with all organized crime networks facing persistent law enforcement pressure, the CJNG is doomed to one day decentralize, a fate all the more inevitable after the Mexican government vowed to dismantle the group earlier this year. But for the time being, the cartel will remain the fastest-expanding crime group in Mexico. And as it spreads, it will cement the status and influence across Mexico of criminal groups that originated in the Tierra Caliente region.
Stratfor.com
Give thanks to God for the "gradual breakdown of organized crime in Sinaloa and Tamaulipas states since 2010". This positive development parallels the increased prayer focus that prayer organizations including the IPC have devoted to the drug cartels. Pray for the Mexican authorities to be strong and effective in dealing with the criminal organizations and for the dissolving and overthrow of the CJNG cartel, now "the fastest-expanding crime group in Mexico".
PRAY FOR ISIS
Frontiers has built a powerful 30-day prayer guide calledPrayforISIS.com. In just over a week, we have seen an incredible response from faithful prayer warriors, answering Christ's call to pray for their enemies. I believe this to be one of the most critical prayer needs of our time. Those of us who are within Christ, are not without hope. However, those who are not, do not yet know a reason for the hope we have. They need to hear the Good news of the God who reigns, and whose active and pursuing love is the hope they have been looking for. Two ways you can help. You can help by joining us in praying for ISIS through Frontiers' new prayer guide, PrayforISIS.com. It will challenge you to embrace God's heart for the Muslim world, asking Him to bring members of ISIS into the knowledge of His love and grace.
(Click here on this green strip to get to the prayer guide.)
You can also help by sharing this with others. Where two or more are gathered, God is also among them.
(Mat. 18:20) Imagine the possibilities if all God's people, were united under the banner of prayer for hearts of
ISIS to be broken!
Bob Blincoe, PhD
President
Frontiers USA
More on North Korea
We have been praying for almost a year now for the release of Canadians (and good friends) Kevin and Julia Garratt from custody in China where they have been accused of "spying." Last February we were happy to report that Julia was out on bail. At the same time, however, her husband Kevin had been moved to a high security prison. The latest news we have is that she is still being held under house arrest. Please keep this lovely and faithful couple in your prayers.
We have also been praying for South Korean pastor, Kim Jong-wook, sentenced to hard-labor in the North. Now, two more pastors from the South, one who is also a business man, have been sentenced to life in prison at hard labor.
From others who work inside, we also hear that the level of general tension and fear is much higher than in the past. Internal security continues to tighten up, especially on families with members who have escaped to South Korea. At the same time, people are getting tired of their young leader's war games and other extravagant projects such as a new railroad that requires non-existent electricity. Another big project that is due to go public this month is the new Pyongyang airport. Kim Jong Un toured there in June, showing off but also unhappy about the design. Apparently his complaints got the architect executed. Interesting, First Lady, Ri Sol Ju's fashion statement at the grand tour--brooch instead of leaders' portrait pin--has been drawing criticism.
North Korea is sending workers to Tumen, China under tight security in its ongoing desperation to obtain foreign currency. Efforts also include a new fleet of taxis in Pyongyang under a new KKG brand (Kumkang Group) that is part of a newly expanding commercial arrangement with Hong Kong business conglomerate, Queensway Group, closely linked to North Korea's infamous Office 39.
But all is not doom and gloom. It seems that North Korea has produced a miracle drug that can cure Ebola, MERS, SARS, and just about anything else that ails you. All you need is a good Kumdang-2 injection. After all, "Everyone has the right to be healthy."
Ben Torrey
Director
The Fourth River Project, Inc.
North Korea - LETTER OF DEMANDS TO THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY:
To the Leaders of Korea, America, China, Russia, Japan, the United Nations and the Entire International Community,
We Refuse to Allow the North Korean Genocide to Continue Any Longer. Over 4,000,000 Innocent North Koreans have been Murdered through Starvation by the DPRK regime since 1995, and an estimated 1,000,000 North Koreans have been Murdered as a result of Slave Labor, Rape, Torture, Brutal Beatings, Human Experimentation, Starvation, and Execution in North Korea's Political Concentration Camps. The Very Existence of these Concentration Camps makes the North Korean State Illegal, Illegitimate, and Criminal, and Demands the Immediate Intervention of the International Community.
Our Demands, based upon the foundation of International Law and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights are as follows:
1. The Immediate and Total Liberation of All North Korean Political Concentration Camps
2. Compensation and Reimbursement to All North Korean Victims of Slavery, Starvation, Torture, All Concentration Camp Survivors in addition to All Execution, Experimentation and Murder Victims' Families for Immeasurable Loss and Suffering
3. The Immediate Stepping Down from Power of the DPRK Leadership
4. Prosecution of Kim Jong-un and All Individuals Responsible for Commissioning or Carrying Out Acts of Genocide and Crimes Against Humanity
5. Through the Guidance and Oversight of a Coalition of North Korean Refugee Leaders and Human Rights Activists, in Partnership with the Republic of Korea and the International Community, WE DEMAND THE LIBERATION AND REBUILDING OF NORTH KOREA BASED UPON THE FOUNDATION OF ENSURING AND GUARANTEEING WITHOUT FAIL THE HUMAN RIGHTS AND SAFETY OF EVERY NORTH KOREAN INDIVIDUAL ACCORDING TO THE UNIVERSAL DECLARATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS AND INTERNATIONAL LAW, WHICH WAS COMPOSED TO PREVENT THE ATROCITIES OF NAZI GERMANY FROM EVER OCCURRING AGAIN. WE, THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY, HAVE ALL FAILED TO KEEP OUR PROMISE AND UPHOLD INTERNATIONAL LAW, AND MOST MISERABLY IN THE CASE OF NORTH KOREA.
Worldwide Coalition to Stop Genocide in North Korea (Non-partisan)
The following petition commemorates the 65th anniversary of the Korean War's outbreak. Please consider sharing it with all of your networks and encouraging those you know to sign. This website has more information and helpful videos on the situation in North Korea that will stir your heart and motivate your prayer and action.
https://www.change.org/p/liberate-north-korea
Let's pray for this demand and its points above to impact the leaders of nations and to become an outcry they can no longer ignore.
