From elaborate prison breaks to uncanny methods of smuggling drugs, cartels in Mexico are constantly distinguishing themselves as some of the most innovative criminal organizations in the entire world. Their high-profile exploits have generated deep-rooted rivalries amongst law enforcement agencies in Mexico and the U.S., while legendary drug lords such as Amado Carrillo Fuentes and El Chapo have inspired critically acclaimed television shows such as Narcos: Mexico by Netflix. But what is often lost through the lenses of spectators from afar is the brutality heaped upon innocent families and victims who want nothing to do with gang violence or illegal activity. One of the most prime examples of this notion is the rising crime rates being committed by cartel members against medical students. According to reports, various individuals belonging to the Mexican cartel have been kidnapping medical students and/or forcing them to perform impromptu medical surgery on the spot in service of men who have been injured in the line of duty against rival gangs.
Last week a medical student named Eric Andrade Ramirez was fatally shot, by cartel members, while on the job at a hospital where he worked. The tragic incident took place in the state of Durango, and it has since sparked a series of intense protests against the Mexican government (for their lack of protection) and the feuding cartels. What was once a growing problem has become a serious epidemic that has caused the national government and the president of the Mexican Association of Medical Schools to intervene in hopes of presenting the public with a safe resolution, starting with the prospect of relocating medical students to safer areas so that they can fulfill their community service requirement in peace. Still, the notion of getting snatched up by the cartel at any given time has several medical students on high alert as several reports have begun to surface of kidnappings where undergraduates have been forced to steal medical supplies and deliver them to criminal organizations while they are still at a bloody crime scene.
“We were always worried for our security,” said Adonai Esparza, a 28-year-old who was once forced to give medical attention to a drug boss's son while two gunmen oversaw the procedure back in 2019. “After that, I felt a bit strange. I realized I had security but not the security that I had expected.”
Incidents like this have forced several medical students in Mexico to vacate their assigned destination for community service out of fear for their safety. Therefore, the Universidad Autónoma de Durango (aka the University of Durango) has vowed to reassign about 180 of its students to neighborhoods with less gang activity until the government can find a sustainable way to protect them.
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Source: MSN
