Sundry Security News

A car bomb exploded in Zuazua, Nuevo León, injuring two people. This is the third such bombing since the infamous explosion in Juárez last summer. Despite everyone leaping onto that incident as a dark omen and turning point, there has been very little coverage of the three that followed. Kind of odd; the media is very fickle.

Continuing an ugly trend from last year, the mayor of Zaragoza, Coahuila was abducted and killed yesterday. He is the first mayor to be murdered this year.

An apparently important underling of Chapo's was arrested in Sinaloa. This is more newsworthy than it typically would be for two reasons: first, the marines were the ones behind the arrest, which suggests that they are going after Chapo. (Previously, there presence in Sinaloa and the Golden Triangle region was very limited.) If recent events are any indication, the use of the marines instead of the army in chasing Chapo also makes his capture much more likely.

Second, this is the second Chapo lieutenant to be arrested in recent weeks, the first coming days after Christmas after a shootout with the Federal Police in Durango. More on the government's tracking of Chapo from Malcolm Beith here.