The Mexican military has been engaged in high intensity warfare against the cartels for over a decade. When Texas committed treason against the US the Union didn’t even have to occupy much of it before it rolled over and surrendered
Gee, because A) the cartels make vast amounts of money off the US, who played a major role in helping the cartels rise to power in the first place— Felix Gallardo was close with Reagan‘s favorite death squad, the Contras.
B) the cartels are extremely well armed
“Sicarios were equipped with a mix of small arms. These include a range of both AK (primarily 7.62 × 39 mm; at least one 5.56 × 45 mm example was observed) and AR-15 (5.56 × 45 mm) platform rifles, as well as
FN Herstal Minimi / M249 SAW belt-fed machine guns (5.56 × 45 mm), and handguns including Beretta and Glock models. Many of the AK rifles had features consistent with Romanian origin.
At least one M72-series shoulder-fired rocket launcher and two unidentified revolvers were also observed. Following the woundings and capture of police and military members, it is possible cartel forces have acquired additional firepower. Videos purported to show at least two captured weapons: an AR-type rifle and a short-barrelled FX-05 Xihucóatl.”
Body armour and load-bearing equipment were used by many cartel members, including examples marked ‘Marina’ (Marines) or ‘Policía Estatal’ (State Police). Even ballistic helmets were seen in use.
Modern optics, including AimPoint types and the distinctive Vism ECO 4×34 model were seen. Other firearms accessories were also observed, including laser aiming modules; aftermarket furniture such as fore-ends, stocks, vertical grips; and white lights. Many sicarios were observed carrying small UHF radios. The cartel operated primarily from white-coloured vehicles, with some sources indicated that as many as 50 vehicles may have been stolen to facilitate the cartel response.
Despite this range of personal weaponry and equipment, the cartel’s firepower superiority inside the city was achieve due to light weapons, and especially the employment of technicals: civilian pick-up trucks used to carry heavy machine guns. At least four different technicals were used during the incident, with one being disabled by government forces. It’s noteworthy that the disabled technical is the one with a gunner cupola on it, which negates a clear advantage that these technicals exploit: being able to pass visually as civilian vehicles until they manoeuvre to firing positions, and later merge again into traffic. Several more technicals were observed moving toward the affected area during and following the most intense periods of fighting.”
The ARES Team Editor's Note: Readers should be aware that an unusually large number of false posts have been associated with the incident in Culiacán. These include images and video from movies, TV shows, and various other incidents in Mexico and elsewhere around the world, presented as being...
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Yeah, an AR-15 isn’t going to do shit against people with that level of firepower
And C; the conflict with the cartels is as much tied to social and economic tensions as it is a simple military problem.