2,982 arrested in Mexico for posing as security forces

By Andrés Estrada

Over the last years, organized crime has sought new ways of operating, such as using genuine or apocryphal uniforms of security forces or even co-opting policemen or army men, according to Simón Vargas Aguilar, consultant in security, justice, politics and education.

"It allows them to operate with greater impunity. Using a cloned police car or uniform allows them to evade authorities more easily," the expert said.

A total of 2,982 people were arrested in Mexico between December 2006 and December 2015 for usurping public functions by using decorations, uniforms, logos and acronyms of security forces, according to documents from the Attorney General's Office (PGR) and the Federal Police (PF) obtained by UNIVERSAL.

In the last nine years Mexico's Federal Police arrested 1,254 people in possession of apocryphal uniforms in the following states: Baja California (153), Tamaulipas (122), Michoacán (93), Nuevo León (91) and Chihuahua (89), while the PGR arrested 1,728 people for the same reason, most of them in Mexico City (529), Tamaulipas (220), Chiapas (210), Jalisco (103), Baja California (62) and the State of Mexico (60).

According to a report from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) the following cartels operate in those areas: Los Zetas, Gulf cartel, Sinaloa cartel, Jalisco Nueva Generación, Juárez cartel, La Familia Michoacana and the Knights Templar cartel. Mexico City mayor Miguel Angel Mancera has repeatedly denied that drug trafficking groups operate in the capital city, despite the record of recent crimes in Benito Juárez and Iztapalapa districts.

Also 60 arrests have been made for cloning vehicles used by security forces, mainly in the State of Mexico (14), Michoacán (10), Nuevo León (8) and Chihuahua (5).

Posing as a member of the security forces is a crime punishable with one to six years of jail and a fine of 100 to 300 days of minimum wage, while manufacturing or distributing fake uniforms is punished with six years of prison.