Chivis Martinez for Borderland Beat material from Excelsior
The Federal Police and the Navy Secretariat (Semar) detained Leticia Rodríguez Lara, aka "Doña Lety" or "La 40", identified as leader of a Cancun cartel, which conducts criminality in different municipalities of the Riviera Maya.
Authorities explained that Doña Lety was detained in a coordinated operation by both authorities in the state of Puebla.She was arrested on the Mexico-Veracruz highway.
Investigations by the federal government indicate that Leticia Rodríguez Lara, a former agent of the Judicial Police, is originally from Veracruz. In Cancún she allied with the Cartel del Pacífico against the Los Zetas cartel to eliminate their presence in Cancún, Zetas had a lock on Cancún for years.
Leticia Rodríguez Lara is investigated for homicides, as well as kidnappings and extortions committed in Cancun, and Quintana Roo, in the dispute for the control of the “plaza” (Territory, turf. Can also refer to the product being moved or in dispute). The dispute is between cartels of the Zetas, Gulf and Nueva Generación Jalisco.
The dispute over Cancún; The struggle for control maintained by Doña Lety, led to the formation in August 2016 of the group known as Los Combos, organized to overthrow Dona Lety. A failed attempt to assassinate Dona Lety transpired last April.
Los Combos was identified by the Army in September 2016, who told local media the presence of a new cartel in the Cancún-Playa-Tulum corridor. At present this is fractured by internal problems.