Mexican authorities are investigating reports that members of drug cartels may have been involved in fighting in Ukraine, sparked by a video circulating on social media showing armed men shouting slogans associated with Mexican criminal groups.
This is reported by The Independent.
In the video, men in military uniforms with blue ribbons on their sleeves smoke and shout: "Glory to Ukraine! Long live Mexico, Colombia and Panama". They speak in Mexican slang, and the conversation mentions their connection to Mexican drug cartels.
Thus, one of the participants in the video claims that the other fighters belong to the two largest criminal groups in Mexico — "La Chapiza" (an influential faction of the Sinaloa drug cartel) and "Jalisco — New Generation".
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said authorities would first verify the authenticity of the video and then find out how these people ended up in a war zone in Europe.
She suggests that the men could have been recruited by a private company involved in the conflict, the army, or the government. Ukraine has not yet publicly commented on her statements and videos.
- In August, the Financial Times reported that Colombian drug cartels are sending their fighters under the guise of volunteers to the Ukrainian army to learn how to operate drones and then pass on their experience. They are most interested in how to protect communications from electronic warfare, bypass obstacles, and properly attach explosives to a drone.
- Taras Palyanytsya, an officer at the Recruiting Center of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, stated that the Ukrainian side had already identified Colombians among foreign volunteers who were associated with organized crime. They were suspended from service and returned home.
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