The (''Special Forces''), also known as ''FES'' (the initials of their motto) and ''Cuachiqueh/Quachis'', is a

special forces Special forces and special operations forces (SOF) are military units trained to conduct special operations. NATO has defined special operations as "military activities conducted by specially designated, organized, selected, trained and equip ...

unit of the

Mexican Navy The Mexican Navy is one of the two independent armed forces of Mexico. The actual naval forces are called the ''Armada de México''. The ''Secretaría de Marina'' (''SEMAR'') (English: Naval Secretariat) includes both the ''Armada'' itself and ...

officially established in late 2001. Its motto is "" (''Strength, Spirit, Wisdom''), they are currently under the naval special command structure of the UNOPES. These forces are capable of carrying out non-conventional warfare in the air, sea and land, by utilizing all means of infiltration available to develop the most variable operational incursions with the use of

military diving Underwater divers may be employed in any branch of an armed force, including the navy, army, marines, air force and coast guard. Scope of operations includes: search and recovery, search and rescue, hydrographic survey, explosive ordnance disposa ...

techniques,

parachuting Parachuting, including also skydiving, is a method of transiting from a high point in the atmosphere to the surface of Earth with the aid of gravity, involving the control of speed during the descent using a parachute or parachutes. For ...

, vertical descent,

urban combat Urban warfare is combat conducted in urban areas such as towns and cities. Urban combat differs from combat in the open at both the operational and the tactical levels. Complicating factors in urban warfare include the presence of civilians and ...

sniping A sniper is a military/paramilitary marksman who engages targets from positions of concealment or at distances exceeding the target's detection capabilities. Snipers generally have specialized training and are equipped with high-precision r ...

and use of

explosives An explosive (or explosive material) is a reactive substance that contains a great amount of potential energy that can produce an explosion if released suddenly, usually accompanied by the production of light, heat, sound, and pressure. An expl ...

. The units are well organized, trained and equipped to operate independently in maritime, lake, riverine or terrestrial scenarios; they usually participate in joint-training exercises with the

U.S. Navy SEALs The United States Navy Sea, Air, and Land (SEAL) Teams, commonly known as Navy SEALs, are the U.S. Navy's primary special operations force and a component of the Naval Special Warfare Command. Among the SEALs' main functions are conducting sma ...

teams.

Operations

Operations undertaken by the Special Forces of the Mexican Navy are classified, as well as casualties and collateral damage. It has played a major active role in the Mexican Drug War, undertaking direct action missions, intelligence gathering, reconnaissance operations, personnel, weapons and facility seizures, law enforcement arrests and kill or capture missions. The unit was made famous in the media for being responsible for Operation Black Swan, which saw the final capture of major cartel leader

Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán Joaquín Archivaldo Guzmán Loera (; born 4 April 1957), commonly known as "El Chapo" (), is a Mexican former drug lord and a former leader within the Sinaloa Cartel, an international crime syndicate. He is considered to have been one of th ...

, ending a manhunt that began after his second escape from a Mexican federal prison. They also participated in the Operation Barcina, which gained media attention due to a leaked video recorded by a civilian which saw operators from the ''Puma Squadron'' through a Black Hawk Helicopter making use of a

M134 Minigun The M134 Minigun is an American 7.62×51mm NATO six-barrel rotary machine gun with a high rate of fire (2,000 to 6,000 rounds per minute). It features a Gatling-style rotating barrel assembly with an external power source, normally an electric ...

gunning down a Beltran Leyva Cartel leader Juan Francisco Patrón Sánchez aka. “El H2”. In July 2022, they carried out the successful "Operación Leyenda II" in which they captured the notorious drug lord "

Rafael Caro Quintero Rafael Caro Quintero (born October 24, 1952) is a Mexican drug lord who co-founded the now-disintegrated Guadalajara Cartel with Miguel Ángel Félix Gallardo and other drug traffickers in the late 1970s. He is the brother of fellow drug traffic ...

", however during the final stage of the operation, an accident under unclarified circumstances occurred where a Black Hawk helicopter transporting FES operators crashed, ending in 14 people losing their life. To fulfill their tasks and practice their attributes the unit's members receive specialized training in the following areas: *Direct Action *Counter-terrorism *Air and ground logistics *

Amphibious warfare Amphibious warfare is a type of offensive military operation that today uses naval ships to project ground and air power onto a hostile or potentially hostile shore at a designated landing beach. Through history the operations were conducte ...

Anti-aircraft Anti-aircraft warfare, counter-air or air defence forces is the battlespace response to aerial warfare, defined by NATO as "all measures designed to nullify or reduce the effectiveness of hostile air action".AAP-6 It includes surface based, ...

warfare *CQB and Intervention tactics *General naval forces support *Parachuting *

Mine Mine, mines, miners or mining may refer to: Extraction or digging * Miner, a person engaged in mining or digging *Mining, extraction of mineral resources from the ground through a mine Grammar *Mine, a first-person English possessive pronoun ...

warfare *

Military intelligence Military intelligence is a military discipline that uses information collection and analysis approaches to provide guidance and direction to assist commanders in their decisions. This aim is achieved by providing an assessment of data from a ...

Special Reconnaissance Special reconnaissance (SR) or Recon Team is conducted by small units of highly trained military personnel, usually from special forces units or military intelligence organizations, who operate behind enemy lines, avoiding direct combat and detect ...

Search and rescue Search and rescue (SAR) is the search for and provision of aid to people who are in distress or imminent danger. The general field of search and rescue includes many specialty sub-fields, typically determined by the type of terrain the search ...

Special operations Special operations (S.O.) are military activities conducted, according to NATO, by "specially designated, organized, selected, trained, and equipped forces using unconventional techniques and modes of employment". Special operations may include ...

Submarine A submarine (or sub) is a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability. The term is also sometimes used historically or colloquially to refer to remotely op ...

and counter-submarine warfare *Surface

war War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular o ...

fare FES are divided into multiple assault squadrons, whose primary tasks consist mainly of Direct-Action and Counter-terrorism operations, some of these squadrons are: * Hurón Team * Viper Team * Tigrillo Team * Puma Team * Roble Team (dissolved)

Weaponry

SIG Sauer SIG516 The SIG Sauer SIG516 is a semi-automatic rifle manufactured by SIG Sauer. It is an AR-15 style rifle chambered in 5.56×45mm NATO. Introduced in 2010, the SIG516 was discontinued as of 2019. A variant chambered in 7.62x51mm NATO, the SIG716i, re ...

M4 Carbine The M4 carbine (officially Carbine, Caliber 5.56 mm, M4) is a 5.56×45mm NATO, gas-operated, magazine-fed carbine developed in the United States during the 1980s. It is a shortened version of the M16A2 assault rifle. The M4 is extensively ...

FN P90 The FN P90 is a compact 5.7×28mm personal defense weapon designed and manufactured by FN Herstal in Belgium. It can also be considered a submachine gun. Created in response to NATO requests for a replacement for 9×19mm Parabellum firearms, t ...

* H&K UMP * PSG-1 *

M249 Squad Automatic Weapon The M249 light machine gun (LMG), also known as the M249 Squad Automatic Weapon (SAW), which continues to be the manufacturer's designation, and formally written as Light Machine Gun, 5.56 mm, M249, is the American adaptation of the Belgian F ...

M1911A1 The M1911 (Colt 1911 or Colt Government) is a single-action, recoil-operated, semi-automatic pistol chambered for the .45 ACP cartridge. The pistol's formal U.S. military designation as of 1940 was ''Automatic Pistol, Caliber .45, M1911'' for the ...

Glock 17 Glock is a brand of polymer-Receiver (firearms), framed, Recoil operation#Short recoil operation, short recoil-operated, locked-breech semi-automatic pistols designed and produced by Austrian manufacturer Glock Ges.m.b.H., Glock Ges.m.b.H. The ...

Five-seveN The FN Five-seven (stylized as Five-seveN) is a Semi-automatic firearm, semi-automatic pistol designed and manufactured by FN Herstal in Belgium. The pistol is named for its 5.7×28mm (.224 in) bullet diameter, and the trademark capitalizati ...

References

{{reflist Special forces of Mexico Military units and formations established in 2001

Operations

Weaponry

See also

References