All of a sudden, tow-trucks appeared at the División del Norte Metro station, an area where they don’t operate. It’s questionable whether it’s a no-parking zone, but in 15 minutes they were towing cars to the impound lot. For more than 30 years there has been a sports center in the area. Some of the center workers said that the tow-truck operators visited the center to ask for money in exchange for not towing their members’ cars. The price wasn’t agreed to and so they began to take the cars away.
Those greatly affected were the group of car-washers, since they were left without work. They sought out the tow-truck operators, negotiated a fee and, miraculously, their clients could park there without any problem, same as the fruit vendor whose truck is parked 24-hours on the block, overnight, along with the tables that display his daily products. He also paid.
The members of the center attested to multiple muggings, extortions and even kidnappings that they, their family members or their acquaintances experienced in the area. One dramatic case resulted in deaths. These are issues of everyday conversation in the mist. The neighbors of the opposite neighborhood lived through the murder of one of their own in broad daylight. Two blocks away is a gym where a few hitmen killed a client for reasons that are unclear. All of this occurred within a radius no greater than five blocks. Cars are also frequently stolen.
In light of this, how can the Mexican Congress, those responsible for public security and the procurement of justice, declare that there is no organized crime acting here? They present an idyllic Mexico City where nothing happens, but the reality belies this. Their leader is in pre-campaign mode and they think that they can fool us. Criminals with and without uniforms have us in their hands, yet they don’t see it.
