Guatemalans Arrested in Case of 5 Severed Heads
LA Times : Hector Tobar : September 13th 2006

Link:
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-drugwar13sep13,1,2650499.story?coll=la-headlines-world&ctrack=1&cset=true

Summary:
Authorities have arrested 3 Guatemalans in connection with an armed raid on a night club in the city of Uruapan this month, where the severed heads of 5 drug dealers were tossed onto the floor as a warning. Mexican officials are investigating whether or not the Guatemalans are members of the Kabiles, a Guatemalan special forces unit. Jose Luis Santiago, Mexico’s top organized crime investigator, has stated that he believes there are as many as 100 Kabiles working for drug cartels in Mexico. This has been rumored for quite some time. The three arrested men were found among 5 in the town of Aguililla, 240 miles South West of Mexico City. Authorities commented that the men had an arsenal of a dozen assault rifles, thousands of bullets, nine Kevlar helmets, replica police uniforms and three grenades.

Analysis:
The Kabiles are a special forces unit that specializes in jungle warfare and counter-insurgency, and are considered elite within the Guatemalan military. They are also known for making there recruits bite the heads off of live chickens.Their appearance in the drug cartels is another indication of the militarization of the drug trade. Msthirteen.com has documented the involvement of the Zetas in the Gulf Cartel. It stands to reason, that if one cartel begins to recruit top of the line military trained enforcers, the other cartels would follow suit in order to compete. As you may also recall from earlier posts, MS-13 members have also been recruited as hired guns by the Gulf Cartel.