Defence Viewpoints from UK Defence Forum

Lessons from an ambush in Mexico

By Scott Stewart

On the afternoon of May 27, a convoy transporting a large number of heavily armed gunmen was ambushed on Mexican Highway 15 near Ruiz, Nayarit state, on Mexico's Pacific coast. When authorities responded they found 28 dead gunmen and another four wounded, one of whom would later die, bringing the death toll to 29. This is a significant number of dead for one incident, even in Mexico.

According to Nayarit state Attorney General Oscar Herrera Lopez, the gunmen ambushed were members of Los Zetas, a Mexican drug cartel. Herrera noted that most of the victims were from Mexico's Gulf coast, but there were also some Guatemalans mixed into the group, including one of the wounded survivors. While Los Zetas are predominately based on the Gulf coast, they have been working to provide armed support to allied groups, such as the Cartel Pacifico Sur (CPS), a faction of the former Beltran Leyva Organization that is currently battling the Sinaloa Federation and other cartels for control of the lucrative smuggling routes along the Pacific coast. In much the same way, Sinaloa is working with the Gulf cartel to go after Los Zetas in Mexico's northeast while protecting and expanding its home turf. If the victims in the Ruiz ambush were Zetas, then the Sinaloa Federation was likely the organization that planned and executed this very successful ambush.

Protective Intelligence Lessons from an Ambush in Mexico

Photos from the scene show that the purported Zeta convoy consisted of several pickup trucks and sport utility vehicles (two of which were armored). The front right wheel on one of the armored vehicles, a Ford Expedition, had been completely blown off. With no evidence of a crater in the road indicating that the damage had been caused by a mine or improvised explosive device (IED), it would appear that the vehicle was struck and disabled by a well-placed shot from something like a rocket-propelled grenade (RPG) or M72 LAW rocket, both of which have been seen in cartel arsenals. Photos also show at least one heavy-duty cattle-style truck with an open cargo compartment that appears to have been used as a troop transport. Many of the victims died in the vehicles they were traveling in, including a large group in the back of the cattle truck, indicating that they did not have time to react and dismount before being killed.

Unlike many other incidents we have examined, such as the ambush by CPS and Los Zetas against a Sinaloa Federation convoy on July 1, 2010, near Tubutama, Sonora state, the vehicles involved in this incident did not appear to bear any markings identifying them as belonging to any one cartel. In the Tubutama incident, the vehicles were all marked with large, highly visible "X"s on the front, back and side windows to denote that they were Sinaloa vehicles.

Most of the victims were wearing matching uniforms (what appear to be the current U.S. Marine Corps camouflage pattern) and black boots. Many also wore matching black ballistic vests and what appear to be U.S.-style Kevlar helmets painted black. From the photos, it appears that the victims were carrying a variety of AR-15-variant rifles. Despite the thousands of spent shell casings recovered from the scene, authorities reportedly found only six rifles and one pistol. This would seem to indicate that the ambush team swept the site and grabbed most of the weapons that may have been carried by the victims.

Guns may not have been the only things grabbed. A convoy of this size could have been dispatched by Los Zetas and CPS on a military raid into hostile Sinaloa territory, but there is also a possibility that the gunmen were guarding a significant shipment of CPS narcotics passing through hostile territory. If that was the case, the reason for the ambush may have been not only to kill the gunmen but also to steal a large shipment, which would hurt the CPS and could be resold by Sinaloa at a substantial profit.

Whether the objective of the ambush was simply to trap and kill a Zeta military team conducting a raid or to steal a high-value load of narcotics, a look at this incident from a protective intelligence point of view provides many lessons for security professionals operating in Mexico and elsewhere.

Lesson One: Size Isn't Everything

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Thursday, 02 June 2011 21:36

Up and out : Promotions and retirements June 2011

Promotions and retirements

On the up

Lt General SV (Simon) Mayall CB - Middle East Adviser May 2011

Lt General R L (Richard) Barrons CBE - DCDS (Ops) May 2011

Lt General A J Bradshaw CB, OBE - Deputy Commander ISAF Nov 2011 (succeeds Lt Gen J J C Bucknall CBE)

Maj General The Duke of Westminster KG, OBE, TD to be Deputy Commander Army Reserves May 2011

Maj General T P Evans DSO, MBE to be Commandant RMA Sandhurst April 2012 (succeeds Maj General P C Marriott CBE)

Maj General J R Everard CBE - ACGS April 2011

Maj General Chris Deverell MBE to be promoted Lt General and Chief of Materiel (Land) w.e.f. May 2012 (succeeds Lt General G R Coward)

Maj General J G (John) Lorimer DSO, MBE - GOC 3rd (UK) Division June 2011(succeeds Maj General J R Everard CBE)

Maj General N A W Pope CBE - CDS Strategic Comms Officer June 2011

Maj General T B (Tim) Radford DSO, OBE - Chief of Staff HQ ISAF Dec 11

Rear Admiral D L Potts Cdr UK Maritime Forces also to be Rear Admiral Surface Ships 12 July 11 (succeeds rear Admiral C A Snow CBE)

Brigadier C J Thackray - Asst Commandant (Land) Joint Servics Command and Staff College - August 2011

Brigadier J R Patterson - Head of Capability Ground Manoeuvre, Deputy Chief of the Defence Staff (Capability) - September 2011

Brigadier J R (James) Chiswell - Head of Overseas Operations, Operations Directorate June 2011

Brigadier R P Stearns RM - Head of Defence Support Chain Operations and Movements

Brigadier M L Smith MBE - Deputy Director Engagement (Defence Reform Unit)

Commodore S J Ancona - U K Maritime Component Commander wef Nov 2011 (succeeds Commodore T P Fraser)

Commodore M R B Wallace - Naval Assistant ot the Naval Secretary wef Sept 2011 (succeeds Commodore D J R Dickens OBE)

Surgeon Commodore A S Hughes - Asst Chief of Staff (Medical) Navy Command wef July 2011 (succeeds Surgeon Commodore N S Bevan QHP)

Commodore S W Braham - Head of Destroyers DES (succeeds Commodore S B Brunton)

Commodore M P Bullock MBE - Asst Chief os Staff (Logistics) Navy Command wef July 2011 (succeeeds Commodore D J Marsh)

Cdre J H J Gower OBE - to be Dep Commnadant Jt Services Command (succeeds Cdre K Winstanley)

Cdre R K Tarrant to attend RCDS

Air Marshall S J Hilier CBE, DFC - DCDS (Capability) from June 12 (succeeds Vice Admiral P Lambert)

Air Cdre C Basnett CBE to be Head of Eqt Planning May 2011 (succeeds Brig N A W Pope)

Air Cdre M A Clark - Head of Cert Divn in Military Aviation Authority June 2011

Air Cdre P R Ewen - Head Air ISTAR (succeeds Air Cdre M A Clark)

Leaving with thanks

Brigadier A D Harking June 8th
Brigadier R Beattie 14 June

Thursday, 02 June 2011 08:25

The entangled destinies of the Arab Spring and al-Qaida

By Alasdair McKay U K Defence Forum Researcher

A recording has recently emerged in which Osama Bin Laden, who was killed on May 2nd 2011, pledges his support to the uprisings in the Arab world. In this 12-minute audio message, Bin Laden declares that "The winds of change will spread through the entire Islamic world, God willing." He moves on to say that "The youth need to make necessary preparations and not act without consulting the experience of the honest ones and those who are far from half solutions and compromises with the oppressors." Although he did not mention al-Qaida by name, he advised people struggling against their governments to consider "those who advised early on the necessity of uprooting these oppressive regimes, for they have great trust among all Muslims", which is a clear reference to his group. This endorsement marks a potentially pivotal development for the futures of both al-Qaida and the protest movement which has been named the Arab Spring.

For many, this year's spread of campaigns by men and women to achieve political, social and economic change in the Middle East and North Africa suggested that al-Qaida's approach and ethos may be lacking in appeal. It is no secret al-Qaida has harbored ambitions to violently overthrow the regimes in many Arab countries and establish "true Islamic states" in their place. But what has actually transpired throughout the year has been a flourishing of predominantly non-violent public protests, often from a markedly secular background. In these events, radical Islamists were sidelined as protestors sought emancipation, liberal equality and democracy, demands which differ considerably from the rigid Islamist goals of al-Qaida.

Few of the uprisings that have shaken the region, such as Tunisia's Jasmine revolution and Mubarak's downfall in Egypt, have seen significant Islamist involvement – let alone the extreme jihadist tactics vindicated by Bin Laden. Even in Yemen, which is considered to be a significant stronghold of al-Qaida, Islamism has played little role in the growing movement to unseat President Ali Abdullah Saleh.

Yet,

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Arab Spring al Qaida Syria Egypt Tunisia

Defence Viewpoints from UK Defence Forum

Lessons from an ambush in Mexico

Up and out : Promotions and retirements June 2011

The entangled destinies of the Arab Spring and al-Qaida

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