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MOR WAR How the Mormons and cartels went to war in Mexico – with anti-terror devices, $1m ransoms and shoot-outs in the street
A WATCHMAN scans the roads for killers in the dead of night, peering out from a tower looming over a small, sleepy hillside town.
It's not a scene from a film, but the daily life of Mormons fighting to keep their families from the bloody grip of drug cartels running riot in north Mexico.
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The world was shocked by the sickening massacre of nine Mormons, including children and babies, in Mexico this week
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The world was shocked by the sickening massacre of nine Mormons, including children and babies, in Mexico this weekCredit: Getty - Contributor
Mum Rhonita Maria LeBaron died along with four of her children
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Mum Rhonita Maria LeBaron died along with four of her children
This week the sickening massacre of nine Mormons - including six children - has shone a spotlight on a fragile community blighted by decades of tragedy.
In a "targeted" hit that has seen a rival of El Chapo arrested, three vehicles belonging to two families were ravaged with bullets on their way to a wedding in Sonora, where babies were left to burn alive and kids were shot in the back.
While police are yet to pin down the hitmens’ exact motives, the grisly scene is just the latest chapter in a long, brutal feud between the two groups plagued by kidnappings and brutal executions.
Most remarkably, it has seen a tight knit, religious community turned into a high security fortress where guards barricade roads like anti-terror units, illegal firearms are smuggled in and ordinary civilians man watchtowers on a seven-day rota round the clock.
Members of the LeBaron family mourn as they examine the burned out car where their relatives were slaughtered
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Members of the LeBaron family mourn as they examine the burned out car where their relatives were slaughteredCredit: AFP or licensors
Soldiers assigned to National Guard keep watch outside the properties of Mexican-American Mormons that were killed in Bavispe
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Soldiers assigned to National Guard keep watch outside the properties of Mexican-American Mormons that were killed in BavispeCredit: Reuters
A caravan of friends and relatives of the LeBaron family arrive at the site at the Sonora-Chihuahua border
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A caravan of friends and relatives of the LeBaron family arrive at the site at the Sonora-Chihuahua borderCredit: AP:Associated Press
Guards man a checkpoint at dusk on the edge of Colonia LeBaron
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Guards man a checkpoint at dusk on the edge of Colonia LeBaronCredit: Adriana Zehbrauska/NYT/Redux/eyevine
A military base was installed in the compound and patrol cars regularly sweep the streets
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A military base was installed in the compound and patrol cars regularly sweep the streetsCredit: Adriana Zehbrauska/NYT/Redux/eyevine
KIDNAPPINGS AND $1MILLION RANSOMS
The LeBarons - a polygamous community where men take multiple wives - were first caught in the cartels’ dangerous web in 2009.
The family’s large houses and nice cars attracted the attention of organised criminal syndicates looking to fill their coffers.
It was here that on May 2 16-year-old Eric LeBaron was seized by five armed men as he worked on the family’s Sierra Madre ranch.
His younger brother was sent to tell his father, Joel, of the news.
The shameless kidnappers called three times to ask for $1million dollars in ransom – refusing to negotiate.
If you give them a cookie, they’ll want a glass of milk. If we don’t make a stand here, it’s only a matter of time before it’s my kid
Craig LeBaron
Furious, the family debated hiring professional bounty hunters, before going over the heads of the local police force to petition in their hundreds the state’s governor and attorney general.
“If you give them a cookie, they’ll want a glass of milk,” Craig LeBaron, told the Desert News. “ If we don’t make a stand here, it’s only a matter of time before it’s my kid.”
The response was immediate.
https://www.the-sun.com/news/us-news/33175/how-the-mormons-and-cartels-went-to-war-in-mexico-with-anti-terror-devices-1m-ransoms-and-shoot-outs-in-the-street/
Alex Bellotti
Published: 7:43 ET, Nov 7 2019Updated: 8:54 ET, Nov 11 2019