La Familia Michoacana or as it is also known, La Familia, has
emerged as one of Mexico's strangest and most grotesque drug
cartels. Its leaders-Nazario "El Chayo" Moreno Gonzalez and Jose de
Jesus "El Chango" Mendez Vargas-insist they are doing the Lord's
work when they discipline teenagers for wearing long hair or
spraying graffiti on colonial buildings in the Michoacan state
capital of Morelia. However, this syndicate is not content with
trying to civilize young people. It captures enemies, who may
belong to Los Zetas or another competing cartel, and tortures,
dismembers, and decapitates them-often leaving heads in public
venues as a warning. Despite their pious opposition to drug
consumption by michoacanos, "El Chayo" and "El Chango" have amassed
a fortune by importing precursor drugs from Asia and Europe through
the Michoacan Pacific Coast port of Lazaro Cardenas. They have
constructed scores of sophisticated laboratories to convert these
chemicals into methamphetamines for sale in an expanding U.S.
market. La Familia also acquires resources by selling protection to
merchants, street vendors, loggers, hotel owners, local gangs, and
small-scale drug sellers. Rather than speak in terms of extortion,
the shadowy organization insists that it "protects" its clients. La
Familia has recruited members from the ranks of the dispossessed.
The North American Free Trade Agreement and the 2008-10 economic
recession have left thousands of young people, mostly males,
wandering the streets of Lazaro Cardenas, Morelia, and many of the
state's other 111 municipalities. Uprooted from their families,
unemployed, poorly educated, and homeless, many of these
individuals had turned to drugs, alcohol, prostitution, and petty
crime to cope with their dreary lives. Along come La Familia's
recruiters with a message of hope. They say, in effect: "Enter a
rehabilitation center, clean up your life, and we will provide
meaningful opportunities." Only after a person has shed their
addiction are they invited to enter a 2-month program based on
periods of silence, intensive Bible study, and exposure to
Evangelical-style speakers. If they complete this training-which is
unabashed brainwashing-they receive a job, a salary, and
integration into a social group. Meanwhile, they contribute to La
Familia's ability to move drugs, especially methamphetamines,
through Baja California and Sonora onto the streets of the United
States. La Familia's strength has grown because it has aligned with
the Gulf and Sinaloa Cartels against Los Zetas in Tamaulipas and
other areas south of the border with Texas. If the three groups
enjoy success, they will gain access to Nuevo Laredo, which is the
largest portal for the bilateral flow of people, money, vehicles,
arms, contraband, and drugs. Dr. George W. Grayson provides an
extremely astute analysis of La Familia, emphasizing its origins,
evolution, ideology, leaders, and goals.
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