Still Another New Group

In running down the new gangs operating along Mexico's Pacific Coast, I forgot to mention the Independent Acapulco Cartel, which began making noise last year, especially with the kidnapping and murder of almost two dozen michoacanos. The group was in the news this weekend, with the arrest of a boss blamed for 22 killings already this year. That makes at least four new groups coming to life along Mexico's West Coast in less than a year; this does not bode well for a peaceful 2011, although the replacement of giant gangs with smaller fragments, in the long-term, presents less of a threat to Mexican institutions.