Jalisco’s governor: Cartel hired Colombian ex-soldiers

MEXICO CITY – The governor of Mexico’s Jalisco state says the cartel of the same name has hired ex-soldiers from Colombia to train recruits.

The Jalisco New Generation cartel is Mexico’s fastest-growing drug gang, and one of its most violent, directly attacking police and army troops.

Gov. Aristoteles Sandoval said Tuesday that searches of cartel training camps have turned up evidence that people with guerrilla warfare and military training have been training its members.

Sandoval said such experts have also come from other countries.

In 2005, the Zetas cartel enlisted “Kaibiles,” former members of an elite Guatemalan counterinsurgency unit, to train new recruits.