Papa Smurf's Army: Mexico Turns Vigilantes Into Police Force to Battle Drug Cartel RT.com
go to original May 11, 2014

Estanislao Beltran (L), aka "Papa Pitufo" (Papa Smurf in English), leader of the local self-protection police, wearing his new uniform of the rural police, receives an AR-15 assault rifle from the Commissioner for Development and Security of Michoacan, Alfredo Castillo, in Tepalcatepec, Michoacan State, Mexico, on May 10, 2014. (AFP/Ronaldo Schemidt)

Thousands of Mexican vigilantes are signing up to become part of a new rural police force. The government decided to bring the 20,000-strong “self-defense” group under state control amid worries it could turn into a powerful military force.

The regional government of the western Mexican state of Michoacan began to hand out blue uniforms and assault rifles to vigilantes Saturday. They will form part of a nascent rural police organization that will support the Armed Forces in the fight against organized crime in the region.

Around 3,300 vigilantes out of an estimated 20,000 were sworn in during mass ceremonies Saturday by the local government. The leader of the vigilantes, Estanislao Beltran, nicknamed “Papa Smurf” by his compatriots because of his long white beard, said their fight against the cartels had just begun.

“We are not illegal,” Beltran told AFP, after putting on his new uniform. With this change “we are part of the government,” he added.

After Saturday’s ceremonies, authorities said there will be time over the course of the next few days for more vigilantes to sign up.

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