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The Battle for Monterrey Zetas Vs Zetas

September 4, 2012, 10:51 pm
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Posted and translated in Borderland Beat by Milo

 

All the writing is exactly what it is said on the video



Besides the battle between the Gulf Cartel and Los Zetas, the presence of the Beltran Leyva and Sinaloa Cartel, is now a part of this explosive cocktail.

 There is an extra ingredient to this explosive cocktail of organized crime in this city.

 In addition to the war between the Gulf Cartel and Los Zetas, the presence of the Beltran Leyva and Sinaloa Cartel, now the infighting of "the zetas" is a threat to Monterrey.


 Unofficial sources indicate that Monterrey is conceived as one of Miguel Angel Trevino Morales plazas, and it is presumed that he moves between Monterrey, Nuevo Laredo, Piedras Negras Coahuila and Tamaulipas.

 Because of this, all the people loyal to Miguel Trevino will be targets to all the Zeta renegades who follow Ivan Velazquez Caballero alias "Taliban" or "Z-50".

 It will be Zetas vs Zetas.

  Velazquez Caballero "Taliban" is conducting a cell separation of the Zetas in San Luis Potosi, Zacatecas, Coahuila and parts of Guanajuato.

 This are the plazas where "Taliban" used to run directly under "Z-40" and "The Lazca", but due to several differences, including a dispute over a woman, he now became independent of the organization.

 Velazquez Caballero "Taliban" accused Treviño Morales of treason and accused him of trying to take complete control of the organization while Heriberto Lazcano "The Lazca" has ceased to operate directly in the organization.

 El Taliban claims, that "Z-40" is giving away all original leader that can compete against him, as he would have done recently with Jesus Enrique Rejon Aguilar "El Mamito", among others.

 "El Taliban," says that "Z-40" provided information to the Federal Police to arrest " El Mamito."

 So, from San Luis and Zacatecas to Coahuila and Nuevo Leon, Velazquez Caballero and his followers will seek to eliminate Zetas loyal to "Z-40".

 On June this year, "El Taliban" hang blankets talking about the betrayal of "Z-40".

 The same day blankets where placed in Monterrey, one on a footbridge on Félix U. Gómez avenue in front of the IMSS Clinic, and another one on the Historic Park of Independence in Zacatecas.

 The blanket had a photograph of "El Lazca" in the center and next to him the photographs of Zetas who were arrested or killed.

 Among them was  Efraín Teodoro Torres "Z-14", Jesus Enrique Aguilar Rejon El Mamito, Jaime González Durán El Hummer, Arturo Guzmán Decena "Z-1" and Raul Lucio Hernandez Lechuga "El Lucky".

 And according to the blanket they had all been betrayed or killed by "Z-40".
 El Taliban also complained that "El Lazca" left the organization in the hands of Treviño Morales and therefore Trevino has done what he wanted, mainly for his ambition.

 He said "Z-40" is a man who had worked washing cars in Nuevo Laredo and his ambition is so big that he will betrayed anyone in his way.

 On June 7, the same narcomensaje appeared in front of the Mayor's office in Ciudad Mante, Tamaulipas.

 But this time it was placed at the door of a truck that had inside 14 mutilated bodies.

 Coincidentally the same number that were killed in San Luis Potosi in revenge for Mante, these were attributed to "Z-40".

 And the fight will continue.
 "Taliban" put up the blanket in Ciudad Mante, Zacatecas and in Monterrey center, now it's up to him to avenge the death his 14 followers who were killed by Zetas loyal to Treviño Morales.

 The streets of Monterrey will be the center of executions like when 32 people were killed in three days, between the Gulf Cartel and Los Zetas.

 Now the division of this criminal group is a new ingredient that will generate violence.

 In this fracture the organization's top leader Heriberto Lazcano "The Lazca" will have to take sides, an action that will surely divide the organization even further.

 The war in Monterrey is crucial for these enemies that used to be partners, it is crucial because this city is under the control of "Z-40".

 Followers of "Taliban" will surely try to attack those who are loyal to Treviño Morales, in revenge of the 14 killed in San Luis Potosi.

 All were employees of "Taliban", who swore revenge.
 In fact, Attorney of San Luis Potosi, Miguel Angel García Covarrubias said that it was a clash between two sides of Los Zetas.

 García Covarrubias confirmed that this is the war between Treviño Morales and Ivan Velazquez.

Old grudges
 The break up of the Zetas began with allegations within the organization against Miguel Angel Trevino Morales "Z-40" "Lazca's" right hand.

 Zetas in Veracruz, Zacatecas and San Luis Potosi accuse him of having betrayed other leaders of that group.

 Since October 2011, Report Indigo has published some of the Zetas accusations against Treviño Morales.

 The first complain about him was in Veracruz, he was identified as the mastermind of the death of Efraín Teodoro Torres "Z-14".

 He was accused of the murder Torres in 2007.
 "Z-14" was a hit man one of the first 14 former soldiers who formed the Zeta group in times of Osiel Cardenas Guillen, now arrested and extradited to the United States.

 According to the indictment, on that year, when the Zetas were still an armed wing of the Gulf Cartel, "Z-40" ordered to kill "Z-14" at a horse race.

 On August 2011, Zetas protesters uploaded on youtube a ballad (narco corrido)in which they accuse Treviño Morales of betrayal.

 Now some Zetas not only blame him for ordering the murder of "Z-14", they also accused him of killing other leaders and submit information to the Federal Police to arrest others.

 On the ballad it is said that "Z-40" is looking to further up in the hierarchy and that the only left over him will be "El Lazca".

 Therefore, these Zeta cells think that eventually Treviño Morales will seek to kill or deliver "El Lazca" to the police.

 Treviño Morales a "Judas".
 In the video, they ask their leader, "Lazcano", to analyze how so many high-ranking Zetas have been arrested by the federal Public Security Secretariat without firing a single shot.

 They assure that Jaime González Durán "The Hummer", arrested in November 2008 and Rejon Enrique Aguilar "El Mamito", arrested in August 2011, were delivered by "Z-40".

 They also say that he gave these Zetas because they were an obstacle for him to continue climbing in the organization.

 The ballad indicates that Treviño Morales was approach by Jose de Jesus Mendez Vargas, alias "El Chango Méndez", leader of La Familia Michoacana.

 But once the Michoacan drug trafficker traveled to the town of Cosio, in Aguascalientes, "Z-40" betrayed his location to the federal Public Security Secretariat.

 In fact, they said Treviño Morales is a faithful friend of "The Smurfs", as they call the federal police.

 Then came another video: which narrates the alleged betrayals committed by the "New Judas," Treviño Morales, against members of that organization.

 And we still need to know what determination Heriberto Lazcano "The Lazca": will take, if he will support "Taliban", or continues to support Treviño Morales "Z-40".

 Some say that the top leader of Los Zetas Lazcano gave up people loyal to Treviño Morales in Quintana Roo, because he thinks on supporting "Taliban".

 For now, it is a fact that Miguel Angel Trevino Morales aka "Z-40" seems to have taken full control of the group, even above the leader.

 This fracture is the missing ingredient to Monterrey, already decimated by war between Zetas and the Gulf Cartel, a war that broke out in January 2010 and still continues.

 Still a quarter to finish the year, but the city is shaping up to be, once again, the most violent year in its history.

 Every 12 months exceeds the crime in Monterrey and the authority is convinced that all is well.

Source:
http://narcomexicodrugsgangs.blogspot.com/2012/09/videola-guerra-por-monterrey.html
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Last Brother from Mexico's Arellano Felix Cartel Pleads Not Guilty

September 5, 2012, 7:05 pm
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By Marty Graham
Reuters

Accused Mexican drug kingpin Eduardo Arellano Felix, whose Tijuana-based cartel was dramatized in the Oscar-winning film "Traffic," pleaded not guilty to federal drug charges on Tuesday in his first court appearance since extradition to the United States.

Arellano Felix, 55, the fourth brother from the reputed crime family to be taken into U.S. custody, arrived in California on Friday to face charges of racketeering, money laundering and conspiracy to distribute and import marijuana and cocaine.

During a brief hearing in U.S. District Court in San Diego, a public defender assigned to the case entered not guilty pleas on his behalf to all charges. He faces up to 140 years in prison if convicted.

Arellano Felix, shackled and dressed in an orange jumpsuit, sat expressionless and silent with his hands folded during the proceedings, surrounded by five federal marshals. He nodded in the affirmative when asked by the judge if he understood the charges against him.



A bail hearing was set for Friday.
Arellano Felix, arrested in Mexico in 2008 following a gun battle with Mexican special forces, is accused of helping run one of Mexico's biggest trafficking cartels with several of his brothers.

He is described in an indictment as a "senior adviser" to his brother, Benjamin, the former head of the organization, who pleaded guilty in federal court to drug trafficking, money laundering and racketeering in January.

At the height of its power in the 1990s, the Arellano Felix organization was known to smuggle hundreds of millions of dollars in narcotics through a 100-mile-wide corridor stretching from Tijuana, south of San Diego, to Mexicali, south of Calexico, California. The cartel also was alleged to be behind hundreds of murders in Tijuana and across Mexico.

The brothers gained an added measure of international notoriety when the Tijuana cartel and its battle with the rival Juarez cartel were depicted in the 2000 film "Traffic," which earned four Oscars, including the Academy Award for best director for Steven Soderbergh.

But the family was hit hard by U.S. and Mexican authorities in the 2000s. Ramon Arellano Felix, the cartel's flamboyant enforcer, was killed in a shootout with police in 2002. Brothers Benjamin and Francisco Javier were captured in 2002 and 2006, respectively, and are now serving time in U.S. prisons.

An older brother, Francisco Rafael, was arrested, indicted and turned over to the United States in the early 1980s. He served six years for selling cocaine and was deported back to Mexico.

With the downfall of the Arellano Felix brothers, the rival Sinaloa cartel run by Mexico's most-wanted man, Joaquin "Shorty" Guzman, has largely taken over the Tijuana cartel's valuable turf.

Mexican President Felipe Calderon has extradited record numbers of reputed drug kingpins to the United States while Mexican police and soldiers have rounded up thousands of hit men and smugglers.

However, the offensive has led to more violence, with more than 55,000 drug-related murders during Calderon's six-year term. President-elect Enrique Pena Nieto will take power in December and has promised to rapidly reduce the murder rate.
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Inside Mexico's Sinaloa Drug Cartel

September 5, 2012, 7:19 pm
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Mexican Police Arrest 12 Drug Traffickers

September 6, 2012, 9:58 pm
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Twelve suspected Cartel Independiente de Acapulco members wanted for the killings of at least 18 people in the southern Mexican state of Guerrero were arrested, state officials said Thursday.

Jose Alberto Quiroz Perez, one of the cartel's suspected bosses, was among those captured, the Guerrero Public Safety Secretariat said.

Quiroz allegedly was in charge of merging the gangs left leaderless by the arrests of the bosses of the La Barredora drug trafficking organization.

La Barredora fought the Cartel Independiente de Acapulco for control of drug sales, kidnappings and extortion rackets in Acapulco, a resort city on Mexico's Pacific coast.
The two gangs were formed after the break-up of the organization led by Edgar Valdez Villarreal, who was arrested by the Federal Police on Aug. 30, 2010.

The arrest of Valdez Villarreal, known as "La Barbie," unleashed a war for control of Acapulco, one of Mexico's top tourist destinations, sending the crime rate soaring in the port city.

Quiroz Perez and his associates kidnapped members of rival gangs, murdered them and dumped their bodies in public areas along with threatening messages, the secretariat said.

The Cartel Independiente de Acapulco is suspected of being behind extortion rackets targeting businesses in Acapulco.

Acapulco, a favorite among Mexican and foreign tourists for decades, has lost business to other destinations due to the violence.

The cartel operates in Acapulco and cities in Guerrero's Costa Chica region that were previously controlled by La Barredora, whose members were recruited by Quiroz Perez, the secretariat said.

Police seized three vehicles, six rifles, four handguns, 150 bags of a substance that appears to be cocaine and communications equipment.

Guerrero Gov. Angel Aguirre Rivero launched a security operation last year with the support of the federal government to step up law enforcement in areas frequented by foreign and domestic tourists.

"Operation Safe Guerrero" was launched on Oct. 6, 2011, in an effort to reduce the soaring crime rate in the state.

Source: EFE


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Seven Die in Gangland Violence in Mexico

September 8, 2012, 8:55 am
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Seven people died in two separate instances of gangland violence in northern Mexico, officials told Efe on Friday.

Five people were fatally shot before dawn Friday inside a business in the city of Torreon, a source in the Coahuila state Attorney General’s Office said.

Killed were the business owner and his two adult sons, another adult and a 15-year-old boy.

“We have already identified the murdered people and an operation to find the aggressors was launched,” the source told Efe, adding that army soldiers, state and municipal people were conducting the manhunt.

Police in the business and industrial metropolis of Monterrey found two men decapitated on a street in the Arturo B. de la Garza neighborhood.

The bodies of the two victims, both in their mid-20s, were covered with blankets and bound with cable, while their severed heads were left nearby in a bag, a source in the Nuevo Leon state investigations agency told Efe.

Neighborhood residents said they saw several armed men pull up in two vehicles and unload the bodies from one of them and the bag containing the heads from the other before driving away at high speed.

Nuevo Leon and Coahuila have been wracked in recent years by a territorial struggle between the Los Zetas and Gulf drug cartels that has resulted in hundreds of deaths.

Source: EFE
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Clandestine Drug Lab Shut Down in Jalisco

September 8, 2012, 8:58 am
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Mexican Marines found and dismantled a clandestine drug lab in the western state of Jalisco, the Mexican navy department said Friday.

Troops discovered the lab while on patrol near an agave plantation about 11 kilometers (7 miles) from the town of Ciudad Guzman, the department said in a statement.

The lab contained two centrifuges, a boiler, four burners, metal and plastic receptacles of various sizes, 390 kilos of butane gas and more than seven tons of chemicals used in the manufacture of synthetic drugs such as methamphetamine.

Authorities have found a number of similar labs in Jalisco, where the Los Zetas and Jalisco Nueva Generacion drug cartels are battling to dominate the illegal trade following the death of Ignacio “Nacho” Coronel, a top figure in the powerful Sinaloa cartel.

Mexico produces most of the crystal meth consumed in the United States and Mexican cartels are the main suppliers of illegal stimulants to the U.S. market.

The U.S. drug market has seen declining demand for cocaine and a simultaneous rise in demand for synthetic drugs, officials and analysts say.

Source:EFE
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Tweets of False Shootouts Cause Panic in Mexico

September 8, 2012, 9:08 am
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By Olga R. Rodriguez
Associated Press

Mothers rushed to pull their kids out of school, shopkeepers slammed down their metal gates, and bus drivers radioed one another about streets to avoid after false rumors of shootouts and gunmen traveling in a caravan in a Mexico City suburb began circulating on social networks.

The false reports of violence and impending attacks in Nezahualcoyotl soon included nearby suburbs and at least one borough in the capital, spreading panic and prompting police to take to the streets in force while officials turned to Twitter, television and even hand-distributed flyers to deny the rumors.

Twitter and Facebook are often used to warn of gunbattles and other dangers in Mexico's violence-wracked cities, but the last two years have also seen social networks used to spread false warnings that have caused chaos in several cities. Mexico City has avoided large-scale violence, although drug-related killings and other crime have hit some of its suburbs, like Nezahualcoyotl.

In Nezahualcoyotl, to the west of the capital, authorities have received more than 3,000 phone calls with false reports of violence since Wednesday night, when the rumors began, city council spokesman Luis Percastre said Friday. "They told us an indoor farmers market had been set on fire and we went to check—and nothing, it was working fine.

Then someone else called to report a bank on fire and we also went—and nothing," Percastre said. Authorities deployed all police officers available throughout the crowded suburb and even called in two state police helicopters to patrol, he said.

 Prosecutors said five men had been arrested on charges of disturbing the peace Thursday night by running into a bakery in the neighboring Mexico City borough of Iztapalapa and shouting that members of criminal groups were coming to the area to cause problems.

Percastre said the rumors first began spreading on Twitter and Facebook late Wednesday after pedicab drivers fought with members of an activist group known as Antorcha Campesina, or Farmers' Torch, over who could operate a taxi base in the neighboring town of Chicoloapan. At least one person was killed. Shortly after the clash, people began tweeting that vehicles were being set on fire and that Nezahualcoyotl "was a lawless city," Percastre said. One tweet read: "Warning: Cd.

Neza has been taken by masked gunmen, cutting phone lines." Another warned of gunfire: "Don't get close to the train tracks, there is shootings, they are stealing everything." "These are people with dark objectives who tried to destabilize the city and were able to instill fear in people and make them take refuge at home for a few days because they started a psychosis," Percastre said.

On Thursday, several schools suspended classes, some businesses remained closed and pedestrian and motor traffic declined notably in Nezahualcoyotl, a city of 1.1 million people, as rumors gained strength and began spreading to Iztapalapa. Iztapalapa's borough government said in a statement Friday that its emergency center had received more than 1,300 phone calls echoing the rumors.

Officials have been handing out flyers that say none of the rumors were true. "There were no acts of violence or disorder against families, schools or businesses in Iztapalapa. For your peace of mind, say no to rumors," the flyer says.

Last year, two people in the Gulf Coast city of Veracruz were detained and accused of terrorism and sabotage after re-tweeting rumors about gunmen attacking schools and kidnapping children. The rumors helped set off chaos, and numerous traffic accidents occurred as panicked parents rushed to get their children. The two were later released after pressure from freedom of expression groups led prosecutors to withdraw criminal charges.

In 2010, a wave of messages about threatened violence shut down schools, bars and restaurants in the central city of Cuernavaca. Months earlier, rumors about gunfights in the border cities of Nuevo Laredo and Reynosa caused widespread fear and the suspension of classes.

Alejandro Hope, a security analyst, wrote that rumors spread because they are credible in areas like Nezahualcoyotl, which has seen shooting attacks on bars and the dumping of bodies with signs of torture on the streets. "People are afraid because there is violence," Hope wrote in a column posted Friday in Animal Politico, a blog about politics and security. "If we want to reduce the fear, then we must lower the levels of violence."
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Mexico Arrests Suspect in Fast and Furious Killing

September 8, 2012, 9:16 am
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By Michael Weissenstein
Associated Press

Mexican federal police announced Friday that they have arrested a suspect in the killing of U.S. Border Patrol agent Brian Terry, the slaying at the center of the scandal over the botched U.S. gun-smuggling probe known as Operation Fast and Furious.

Jesus Leonel Sanchez Meza is one of the five men charged with killing Terry in December 2010 during a shootout in Arizona near the Mexico border. One is on trial in Arizona and the other three remain fugitives. Sanchez was arrested Thursday in Sonora state.
Two guns found at the scene were bought by a member of a gun-smuggling ring that was being monitored in the Fast and Furious investigation. Critics have knocked U.S. federal authorities for allowing informants to walk away from Phoenix-area gun shops with weapons, rather than immediately arresting suspects.

In Operation Fast and Furious and at least three earlier probes during the administration of President George W. Bush, agents in Arizona employed a risky tactic called gun-walking—allowing low-level "straw" buyers in gun-trafficking networks to leave with loads of weapons purchased at gun shops.

The goal was to track the guns to major weapons traffickers and drug cartels in order to bring cases against kingpins who had long eluded prosecution under the prevailing strategy of arresting low-level purchasers of guns who were suspected of buying them for others. During Operation Fast and Furious, many of the weapons weren't tracked and wound up at crime scenes in Mexico and the U.S., including the Terry shooting.

In July, U.S. authorities made a rare disclosure linked to the botched gun-smuggling probe, revealing identities and requesting the public's help in capturing the four fugitives accused in the shooting death of Terry. The release of the suspects' identities in an unsealed indictment came with the offer of a $1 million reward for information leading to their capture.

The FBI said it was seeking information related to Jesus Rosario Favela-Astorga, 31, Ivan Soto-Barraza, 34, Heraclio Osorio-Arellanes, 34, and a man identified as Lionel Portillo-Meza, which Mexican police said was an alias of the man arrested Thursday in Puerto Penasco, Sonora. Portillo-Meza's age and birthplace were unavailable.

The other three fugitives were born in Mexico, but their hometowns were not available. Authorities had previously released the identity of the fifth suspect, Manuel Osorio-Arellanes of El Fuerte in the Mexican state of Sinaloa. He was shot during the gunfight and has been in custody since the night of the shooting. He has pleaded not guilty in the case, telling investigators that he raised his weapon toward the agents during the shootout but didn't fire, the FBI said in records. His age was not immediately available.

All five men have been charged with murder. They also face charges of assaulting four federal agents. FBI agents declined to discuss which fugitive is suspected of firing the shot that killed Terry. They also would not comment on whether the weapon was linked to an Operation Fast and Furious purchase.

The five men, plus another who faces lesser charges in the case, went to the U.S. from Mexico in order to rob marijuana smugglers, the indictment said.
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Pena Nieto's opposing coalition threatened with his security policy

September 9, 2012, 11:00 am
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Enrique Pena Nieto
By Chris Covert
Rantburg.com

Throughout last spring's campaign Partido Revolucionario Institucional (PRI) presidential candidate Enrique Pena Nieto, as with his rivals travelled in Mexico with the message of a frontrunner, that of unity and national pride.  Pena Nieto could afford to act as above the fray because from the start he had maintained a solid 20 plus percentage point lead.

One of the issues that Pena Nieto spoke about with caution was security policy.  His rival Partido Accion National (PAN) candidate also tread lightly on the issue after having suffered years of attacks from the Mexican mainstream left over president Felipe Calderon Hinjosa's war on the cartels.

But once the election was over, Pena Nieto rolled out his newest advisor of security policy, heralding that he would deal with Mexico's powerful cartels with a new strategy.

Retired Colombian police chief General Oscar Adolfo Naranjo Trujillo was presented as having ideas on how to shift the current strategy to one which is supposed to reduce the violence which has marked much of Calderon's presidency.
General Oscar Naranjo

General Naranjo Trujillo has been credited with reducing the violence in Colombia during the 1980s and 1990s.  His tenure was marked with an emphasis on security for the legal and security structure in Colombia, plus an active record of drug arrests.  Other Spanish language sources suggested General Naranjo Trujillo gained the upper hand in Colombia through the use of targeted killings..

How General Naranjo Trujillo will apply his experience to Mexico's massive organized crime problem is cloaked in mystery.  Colombia is half the size and population of Mexico and unlike Colombia, Mexico has at any one moment in time at least extremely violent drug  six cartels competing for shipment routes and warm bodies.

By contrast, at the current time, Colombia just dealt with a well financed leftist guerilla army, while Mexico has destroyed virtually every attempt at establishing an armed leftist presence.

Last Thursday chief of Pena Nieto's transition team for security matter  Miguel Angel Osorio Chong said that at least temporarily, Mexico's military would remain on the streets in counternarcotic operations.  The subtext in that announcement is twofold.

First it appears that President Pena Nieto will shift responsibility, as well as resources, from the national armed forces to its police apparatus, probably the Policia Federal (PF).  The PF along with the military current patrols Mexico's highways and city streets in large numbers, and like the military some units at east have been accused of sparking violence in the areas they patrol.

The second is purely political.  Mexican news has been report in the first few days of last week that the Partido Revolucion Democratica (PRD) and PAN have been in talks in advance to the seating of the Chamber of Deputies for common ground to deal with many issues before Mexico, mainly before the weakened PRI caucus.

Among the issued discussed in private meetings were reform of media, transparency, fighting corruption, debt control of state governments and non-use of public resources for electoral purposes, according to an article which appeared in El Sol de Mexico news daily website.

The last four items can be closely tied together, as state debt has been used, if you believed PAN and PRD politicians, as a means of gaining a funding advantage in state elections.

One issue that PRI politicians will not talk about but which last year cost their leader, Humberto Moreria Valdes, is state debt levels.  With Coahuila state just one of the most egregious examples of PRI governed state with massive amounts of contracted public debt. 

States which had currently large amounts of public debt include Mexico state, Pena Nieto's old job just before he ran for president.  Pena Nieto himself has been accused by politicians of using the proceeds from banks loans to the state, to bolster the political fortunes of allies in Mexican statehouses throughout his term of governor of Mexico state.

Many of Mexico's 33 political entities have laws which prevent such transactions from being hidden, but many do not.  Coahuila's example was so egregious because laws were in place which should have prevented the government from contracting so much public debt without transparency, but did not.  The result of such bulging state treasuries, however, led to social spending on such projects as income supports, including health care and supplemental income payments for the elderly. 

But those programs funded by debt cannot last long and a return to fiscal responsibility is inevitable.

Decades ago, a PRI government at the national level would have had no problem in bailing out states which found themselves in fiscal trouble, but reforms in put in place by successive PAN governments tie the president's hands of how much federal resources he can steer towards his friends in the statehouses.  If Pena Nieto had privately promised to help out PRI statehouses, he will have to come to the Chamber of Deputies to do it. 

One of the problems PRI faces now is that despite a string finish in the presidential polling and in municipalities, PRI failed to get a majority in the Chamber of Deputies.  In fact, the one party which did increase its seats is the PRD, the main griever in the post election vote buying scandal.

Angry and united, Pena Nieto's political opposition alliance on the face appears to be ready to make PRI pay if it wants to bail out  Mexican states.
Ricardo Monrel

But the legislative coalitialon is fragile.  Among the elements which threaten it is Ricardo Monreal. Monreal, PRD's Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador's campaign coordinator has been threatening to impeach the judges on the panel of the Mexican Tribunal Electoral del Poder Judicial de la Federacion (TEPJF), the public juridical body which settles violations of election law in Mexico.  Said Monreal, according to a news article posted on the website of El Sol de Mexico last week, he charged,"...the comfort presented here does not reflect insecurity and unemployment, the high cost and anxiety of the Mexicans, what a bad start, bad ending: that was the lesson of the last 6 years of an illegitimate government that ends today."

Perhaps the most potent threat to the coalition comes from Pena Nieto himself.  Osorio Chong's announcement coming on the heels of the conclusion of the meeting between PAN and PRD can be seen as a wedge between two ideologically disparate parties, which can weaken the coalition sufficiently so that Pena Nieto can push his agenda through the Chamber of Deputies without reforms demanded by his opposition.

PAN implemented the current security strategy, which PRD in league with Mexico's independent left have for the past six year attacked PAN mercilessly over Calderon's security policy, which the left claims has killed between 50,000 and 65,000 Mexicans.

In security policy, PAN and PRI are political soulmates.  It is possible PRI will split the coalition using Pena Nieto'a security policy to leverage a bailout of Mexican states.

Chris Covert writes Mexican Drug War and national political news for Rantburg.com
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"Mundo Narco" Blog Administrator Killed

September 10, 2012, 12:10 am
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Note: Like anything we report, this news has not been offically confirmed and is presented only for information purposes.



Blog Del Narco is reporting that the administrator of the Mexican narco blog "Mundo Narco" was killed by sicarios at his home. The victim was identified as Luis Gustavo Hernandez Bocanegra, 27 years of age, originally from Culiacan, Sinaloa. According to reports heavily armed men arrived at the home of the victim and shot him in front of his family. The gunmen managed to flee undetected.  
According to witnesses, several men knocked at the home of the victim, who opened the door and told his family to leave to another room. The wife of the victim then heard numerous gunshots. 

The victim sustained numerous gunshots in the face. Authorities found spent casings at the home from a .40 and 9mm firearms. The family of Luis Gustavo said that he had received threats for providing information on his blog, Mundo Narco. This supposedly occurred on August 28, 2012.  
 
The last entry on the blog was on August 27, 2012 where he reported on several narco banners hat were put up by the Sinaloa Cartel and were directed at El Mencho of the CJNG.  


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Reports of torture increase

September 10, 2012, 12:51 am
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El Universal

Silvia Otero

Translated for Borderland Beat by un vato.

According to the report, the problem grew between 2007 and 2011.

El Universal.  9-07-2012. Torture increased in Mexico during this six-year term within the context of the war against organized crime and drug trafficking.  It became a method of "investigation" that all the authorities have resorted to;  just in the period from January 2007 to February 2012, the National Commission on Human Rights (Comision Nacional de los Derechos Humanos; CNDH) reported 251 cases throughout the country that resulted in 56 recommendations, which shows that this practice is far from being eradicated.

This warning is from the document titled, "In the Name of the War Against Crime: A Study of the Phenomenon of torture in Mexico," (En nombre de la guerra contra la delincuencia : Un estudio del fenomeno de la tortura en Mexico) drafted by the organizations ACAT-Francia, the Fray Bartolome de Las Casas Human Rights Center,  the Miguel Agustin Pro Juarez, A.C., Human Rights Center (Centro Prodh) and the Collective Against Torture and Impunity (CCTI).

The report was released yesterday, two months before the U.N. Committee against Torture is set to evaluate Mexico, and it states that this practice "continues to be a modus operandi  in the system of justice."

It points out that, "despite how difficult it is to evaluate and compare existing data, the number of complaints or allegations that the CNDH has registered during these past years seems to show an increase in the phenomenon of torture." 

The evolution in the number of complaints alleging inhumane, cruel and degrading actions, the report indicates, leaves no doubt about the phenomenon: 330 (cases) in 2006;  395 in 2007; 987 in 2008; 1,105 in 2009, and 1,161 in 2010.

The report shows that "in the allegations of torture, the actions of the military and of the federal police are especially questioned." The complaints that the CNDH registered against the National Defense Secretariat (Sedena) increased 1000% (one thousand per cent) between 2006 and 2009.

A work mission that carried out field investigations in several states led to the conclusion that "the majority of the accounts of torture, especially those related to cases involving organized crime, describe a recurring modus operandi."  

In all the cases,  "commandos of armed men wearing hoods quickly descend from trucks with no plates or markings. On the street, in their homes, in vehicles, they mistreat the people there and never identify themselves. People are arrested without being told why they are being detained."

When relatives look for the detainee with the federal or local authorities, the statements point out that police agents and officials "deny almost systematically that they are holding the person."

In this scenario, "the arrest and the first hours or days of the detention constitutes the most severe phase of the torture (accounts).  The person arrested is 'disappeared' and at the mercy of those interrogating him.  Often, the authorities admit they are holding the person and allow relatives to visit him only after the confession phase."

Part of the conclusions of the investigation reveals that, "during the Felipe Calderon administration (the practice) has evolved unfavorably and torture has increased."

Law enforcement agencies and judicial authorities "tend to resort to torture to carry out criminal investigations. According to a model observed frequently at the federal and state level, arbitrary detentions are multiplying, particularly through the abuse of the "caught in the act" (in flagrante delicto) basis (for detention). "

Instead of presenting the detainee immediately before a public ministry or before a judge as required by law, "the forces of law and order detain them in secret and torture them to obtain or condition their subsequent inculpatory confessions."

(The report) concludes that "the methods for reporting violations and carrying out the preliminary inquiry, investigation and punishment are often inefficient and do not allow prevention of new (cases of) torture and mistreatment."

Source: http://www.eluniversal.com.mx/nacion/199818.html
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Former Lawmaker’s Body Found in Nuevo Leon

September 12, 2012, 7:47 pm
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The body of a former state legislator was found in the northern Mexican state of Nuevo Leon four days after he was kidnapped by gunmen, state prosecutors said Wednesday.

Hernan Belden Elizondo’s body was discovered on Tuesday at La Huasteca park in the city of Santa Catarina, the Nuevo Leon Attorney General’s Office said in a statement.

The 45-year-old Belden Elizondo was a member of the conservative National Action Party, or PAN.

Belden Elizondo was kidnapped last Friday, but “no money was ever demanded” for his release, the AG’s office said, adding that he was killed the same day.

The disappearance of the former state legislator, who died from a blow to the head, was reported by San Pedro Mayor Mauricio Fernandez.

A person who was on the phone with Belden Elizondo at the time of his abduction from his business in Santa Catarina revealed that the crime had occurred, Fernandez told Mexican television.

Officials, however, said Tuesday that the former lawmaker was abducted in Doctores, a neighborhood on the city limits between San Pedro and Monterrey, the capital of Nuevo Leon.

Belden Elizondo, who served in the Nuevo Leon state legislature from 2009 until Aug. 31, owned a company that makes plastic products.

The Los Zetas cartel has been battling the Gulf cartel for control of the Monterrey metropolitan area and smuggling routes into the United States.

The wave of drug-related violence in Nuevo Leon claimed the lives of 2,003 people in 2011, official figures show.

Source: EFE


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Mexican Marines Captures a Gulf Cartel Boss

September 12, 2012, 7:55 pm
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Mexico’s navy on Wednesday announced the capture of the reputed head of the Gulf cartel in an area of the northeastern state of Tamaulipas.

The arrest occurred Tuesday in Guadalajara, capital of the western state of Jalisco, that institution said in a statement.

The detainee, Juan Gabriel Montes Sermeño, said he was the Gulf cartel’s boss in the southern part of the drug violence-wracked state of Tamaulipas and worked for Mario Cardenas Guillen, who was recently detained by navy personnel.

Cardenas Guillen, thought to have headed one of that cartel’s two main branches, was captured last week by navy personnel in Tamaulipas.

Montes told authorities his role with the Gulf mob was to launder narcotics proceeds, transport drugs and manage ranches in Tamaulipas under the false identity of Jesus Angel Almaraz Guzman.

The arrest occurred after marines on patrol in Guadalajara spotted three people stepping out of an SUV, one of whom was carrying a backpack with a gun barrel sticking out of it.

The marines searched the men and found that one of them – Eusebio Horta, Montes’ bodyguard – had two rifles, ammunition and 100 small bags of marijuana in his possession.

In another bag, Montes was carrying a rifle, ammo, a grenade, 100 packets containing a white, powdery substance resembling cocaine and communications gear, as well as a briefcase with various documents.

The Gulf cartel, one of Mexico’s oldest, mainly operates in the northern part of the country and the Gulf coast region.

It has been weakened in recent years due in large part to a turf war with its former armed wing, Los Zetas, which went into the drug business on its own account in 2010.

News of Montes’ arrest followed an announcement that Mexican Federal Police captured the suspected leader of the La Resistencia criminal organization, which operates in Jalisco.

Ramiro Pozos Gonzalez, aka "El Molca" or "El 7," was arrested on Tuesday in Metepec, a city in the central state of Mexico, Federal Police drug enforcement unit chief Ramon Eduardo Pequeño said in a press conference.

The 42-year-old Pozos Gonzalez was the subject of a reward of 1 million pesos (nearly $76,350) being offered by Mexican authorities.

Pozos Gonzalez was wanted on drug, kidnapping, extortion and murder charges, Pequeño said.

The suspect was a member of the Milenio drug cartel, which was put out of business in 2010 by the arrests of brothers Oscar Orlando and Juan Carlos Nava Valencia.

The break-up of the Milenio organization led to the rise of La Resistencia, which had “the support of the leaders of La Familia (Michoacana) and the Gulf cartel,” and another gang, the Jalisco Nueva Generacion cartel, Pequeño said.

La Resistencia formed an alliance in September 2011 with Los Zetas “to increase its operational power and maintain a strong front against the Jalisco Nueva Generacion cartel,” the Federal Police official said.

The war between La Resistencia and Jalisco Nueva Generacion has left scores of people dead in western Mexico, especially Jalisco state, since last year.

Source: EFE


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Mexico's Attorney General Aircraft Fleet Investigated

September 12, 2012, 8:20 pm
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Translated by un vato for Borderland Beat



El Diario
Distrito Federal. 9-8-2012. The discovery of serious irregularities in the management of the air fleet of the Procuraduria General de la Republica (PGR: Office of Attorney General of the Republic) includes suspicions that some of the aircraft have been used to transport drugs and has triggered one of the most thorough investigations being carried out by the agency.

The anomalies go from an absence of operations manuals to theft and trafficking of spare parts; simulated repairs and "misplacing" flight logbooks and maintenance reports; insurance contracts for helicopters and undertaking flights on aircraft that were not airworthy.  

According to the reports from the agency, an investigation has been initiated that involves more than 12 officials that worked since 2006 in the PGR's General Directorate of Aerial Services (DGSA). Attorney General Marisela Morales Ibanez discovered that, out of the PGR's own budget,  the DGSA would pay businesses to package the items that the government employees were stealing and that were then sent to their buyers.

Attorney General Marisela Morales also ordered the suspension of all fleet operations, concentration of personnel and the immediate inspection of all the equipment, because an ongoing audit has determined that out of a total of 80 aircraft, only five are in shape to fly without any (mechanical) problems.

The Oficialia Mayor (the government's office of internal administration) and the Office Specializing in the Investigation of Federal Crimes (Subprocuraduria de Investigacion Especializada en Delitos Federales; SIEDF) and the Visitaduria General (equivalent to Inspector General) were asked to "get to the bottom of this. Wherever it goes," to uncover the corruption networks that are in place among DGSA officials, private contractors and public servants from other agencies, as well as the General Civil Aeronautics Directorate (DGAC), a division of the SCT (Secretariat of Communications and Transportation).

Sources consulted on this story revealed that the actions of the Attorney General generated "warnings not to mess with the DGSA," but, instead of stopping the investigation,  the audit and the grounding of all flights, she ordered: "Don't stop the investigation. Take it wherever it goes." 

Towards the end of the 1990's,  the PGR came to own a fleet of 180 aircraft, which was considered the largest in Latin America. Currently, it has 80, including airplanes and helicopters, that are in "disastrous" mechanical condition. The DGSA audit also revealed that each hour of flight time in these aircraft represents a cost of US$4,629.00,  whereas a private firm charges $3,000.00 (three thousand dollars) for the same service, without (the PGR) having to pay for salaries, insurance, maintenance or fees for hangar space or overnight stays in airports.

The sources consulted on this stated that the case was initiated in May, when the office of internal administration requested in writing that former DGSA director, Capt. Manuel Jesus Gonzalez Flores forward the operations manuals for the area, including the repair shop procedures and (records of) aircraft management. The response was "that this would not be possible and they were not necessary." 

To the inquiry, according to officials interviewed,  have been added the results of the audit performed by the U.S. company, JDA Aviation Technology Solution, comprised of retired specialists from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) of the United States government.
 The president of JDA is Joseph del Balzo, former interim administrator of the FAA; assistant  operations and systems development administrator and head of the technical center for that agency.

The audit firm was established in 1994, "it is an internationally recognized aviation consulting firm that specializes in developing solutions for regular airlines, charter operators, aviation corporations, aircraft manufacturers and component suppliers, repair facilities, training centers, airports and airport authorities, technology companies, developers and other legal enterprises."

The first thing that DGSA auditors requested were the operations manuals and they confirmed that the manuals do not exist. They also discovered that DGAC representatives failed to carry out their duties to inspect and supervise air and naval air facilities and  technical aeronautical personnel. Neither did they (DGAC) insure that work was performed in compliance with international standards.  The DGAC's (legal) obligation is [to insure] that there is safe, competitive and efficient air transport "that satisfies the needs of Mexican society."

Sources consulted pointed out that SCT organizations did not carry out inspections of the PGR's Air Services (office) because an official --whose identity was not disclosed-- was working in both agencies and covered up the anomalies. This is why, along with the former head of the DGSA, Manuel Jesus Gonzalez Flores is also the subject of the investigation.

The auditors began a physical inspection of the bases and maintenance workshops in the southern  part of the country. The facilities located in Tapachula, Chiapas and Chetumal, Quintana Roo, were first. Next were the ones in Acapulco, Guerrero, and Cuernavaca, Morelos. But the most careful work was done at the Guadalajara, Jalisco, facilities, and the so-called Base Mexico, located at the Benito Juarez International Airport in the nation's capital, because that is where the Air Service warehouses are located. There, they found 600 spare parts missing and thousands of parts that are not usable since the PGR does not own aircraft that need these. 

In recent days, the PGR suspended the purchase of an airplane motor. It was discovered in the $3 million dollar contract that it was ordered for an airplane that does not exist in the PGR fleet. With the intensification of the inventory and operational reviews, there were other results: at least 20 of the 80 aircraft in the fleet have to be scrapped because they are in "deplorable condition.  Any attempt to make them operational would cost too much,"  said the officials who were interviewed.

The PGR will need to ask the Administrator of Insured Assets Office for advice on the legal status of the 20 aircraft so they can be auctioned or be written off from government property rolls because they were seized from criminal organizations in years past.

The auditors also discovered that in air operations bases, like the one in Hermosillo, Sonora, the PGR had shops mounted on freight trailers, and mechanics and technicians did not have adequate tools or facilities to perform their work. During one visit, they observed how the main motor on a helicopter was lowered by hand, repaired without the appropriate tools and then installed back on the helicopter. In several installations, they found reports of repairs paid for by the agency where the repairs were never done.

Since 2006, La Jornada (journal) revealed that DGSA workers  had reported acts of corruption in which area directors were involved, but a criminal investigation was never initiated. The fleet then was comprised of 163 aircraft. The head of the PGR was Daniel Cabeza de Vaca and the (fleet) operational level was 47%.  The investigation ordered by Attorney General Marisela Morales "will go back to 2004 if necessary, when supposedly the operational level of the fleet was higher than 75%, in order to determine on what date the complicities (sic) and dismantling of aircraft began," said the officials interviewed.             
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El Coss Captured?

September 12, 2012, 8:35 pm
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Jorge Eduardo Costilla Sánchez, El Coss, was directing operations for the Gulf Cartel along with Mario Cárdenas Guillén, “El Gordo” who was arrested last week by Mexican authorities.

 There are reports coming out of Tampico Tamaulipas that Mexican Marines have captured Jorge Eduardo Costilla Sánchez, aka "EL Coss," leader of the Gulf Cartel.
Numerous Mexican media outlets as well as internet social networks have made reference to this possibility and El Coss is expected to be presented to the media tomorrow in Mexico City, that should enable the Mexican people to finally see El Coss.

The office of the Mexican Naval Intelligence or "Secretaría de Marina Armada de México" is claiming the capture was made without a single round being fired.

Jorge Eduardo Costilla Sánchez was born August 1, 1971 in Tamaulipas and was a former police officer in the city of Matamoros between 1992 and 1995. He was a Lieutenant (lugarteniente) for Osiel Cárdenas Guillén, and after the arrest of Osiel, Coss became a top capo.
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Mexican high court says military drug cases can be tried by military courts

September 12, 2012, 9:00 pm
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By Chris Covert
Rantburg.com

The Mexican Supreme Corte de Justicia de la Nacion (SCJN) or Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that soldiers under going prosecution for drug crimes should by tried in military courts, according to Mexican news accounts.

According to a news item posted on the website of Milenio news daily Wednesday afternoon, in the narrow six to five vote, justices said that  infantry lieutenant Martin Rueda Ovando need not appear before a civilian court for his crimes, since no civilians were involved in the alleged crimes by the soldier.

Lieutenant Rueda Ovando is said to have been under orders by an unidentified superior officer to destroy marijuana plantation near a military checkpoint in Guachochi municipality far western Chihuahua state April, 2010.  The soldier had been charged with dereliction of duty and crimes against health.

The ruling by the SCJN is the first ruling which constricts the roles of civilian courts, since last year in Mexico's ongoing drug war, where Mexico's popular military is involved.  However, as matters stand now, since the standard of civilian involvement was imposed last year in cases with civilian victims of the military, the ruling seems to solidify and further clarify the July 2011 ruling.

That July 2011 ruling by the SCJN said that criminal cases against military where civilian victims has involved must be set for investigation and trial in civilian courts.  The effect of that ruling has been to consider all cases where a civilian had been harmed at the hands of the military to be human rights cases.

The case of infantry Lieutenant Rueda Ovando was a clear departure from human rights cases since no civilians were victimized by actions of the military.

The ruling was so narrow because, according to the article the defendant simply failed to fully carry out the order, and did not move the product for sale or committed any other act common to crimes against health.

According to an article which appeared in Informador news daily Wednesday, for example, on the same day, the SCJN ruled nine to two that military police Carlos Fidel Flores Abrego and five other soldiers should be tried before a civilian judge in a 2011 murder case.

In 2011, Dr. Jorge Otilio Cantu was shot to death by elements of a Mexican Army road patrol in Nuevo Leon state.  In that case, Flores Abrego had been accused of planting a weapon at the scene following the shooting, to make it appear  Dr. Otilio Cantu had fired on the soldiers, prompting army return fire.
SCJN Associate Justice Margarita Luna Ramos

SCJN Associate Justice Salvador Aguirre Anguiano
Justices  Margarita Luna Ramos and Salvador Aguirre Anguiano voted against moving the case to civilian court since the case had already already been decided in military courts.

Mexico's court system has been slow in implementing the new standard.  A Jucio de amparo filed two weeks ago which appeared before the SCJN was denied by the court because two forced disappearance victims, Jose Luis Guzman Zuniga, 29, and Carlos Guzman Zuniga 28, were involved.  In that case, 22 soldiers allegedly involved in the disappearance were ordered to trial in a Mexican federal court.

Jucio de amparo lawsuits are common procedural appear meant to preserve the rights of defendants as well as victims in criminal cases.

Chris Covert writes Mexican Drug War and national political news for Rantburg.com
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El Coss is Presented

September 13, 2012, 6:26 am
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Borderland Beat

The Mexican Navy Secretariat (Semar) presented to the media Jorge Eduardo Costilla Sanchez "El Coss", alleged leader of the Gulf Cartel.

 At a news conference, Jose Luis Vergara, a spokesman for Semar reported that Mexico had offered a reward of more than 30 million pesos for anyone who gave information for the whereabouts of El Coss.
 
Authorities said that the leader of the Gulf Cartel was considered by the Mexican federal government and U.S authorities as the most important captured capo in recent times and was arrested along with other accomplices. Among the other men captured some were identified as Miguel "N" El Guero, Jaime "N" El Corona and Ernesto "N."
 
Some of the other men that were displayed were wearing military uniforms and it is suggested that the men might be part of El Coss protection detail.
 
"Jorge Eduardo Costilla Sanchez 'El Coss', was arrested around 6 pm in the Lomas de Rosales, in Tampico, Tamaulipas, that included about 30 armed forces of the Mexican marines," said the spokesman of the federal agency.
 
Jose Luis Vergara said that Costilla Sanchez and 10 others were apprehended and also managed to seize their weapons which will be turned over to the Office of Special Investigations on Organized Crime (SIEDO).
 
Video and more information will be posted as it becomes available
 
Source: Various Mexican media

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Mexico Announces Capture of Gulf Cartel’s Top Leader

September 13, 2012, 4:38 pm
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More on El Coss From New York Times

By Randal C. Aarchibold
New York Times

Mexican marines presented Jorge Eduardo Costilla Sánchez to reporters in Mexico City on Thursday.
 
In a major strike against one of Mexico’s largest drug-trafficking organizations, the Mexican Navy said Thursday that it had detained one of the most sought-after drug kingpins in Mexico and the United States, the top leader of the Gulf Cartel.

In an early morning news conference in Mexico City, the man, Jorge Eduardo Costilla Sánchez, who faces an array of charges in both countries, was marched before reporters by masked marine guards.

A stocky man handcuffed in front and dressed in a checkered shirt and jeans and wearing a bulletproof vest, he looked sternly at the gathering, standing before a table covered with rifle parts, jewelry, a couple of gold-plated handguns and other goods seized during his arrest Wednesday evening.

José Luis Vergara, a marine spokesman reading a statement, said Mr. Costilla, 41, known as El Coss, was detained without any resistance by about 30 marines around 6 p.m. in Tampico in northeastern Tamaulipas State. Several other people detained with him were also shown to reporters, some of them with facial cuts and bruises.

The arrest gives Mexican forces a notable victory in their battle against drug-trafficking leaders, days ahead of Mexican Independence Day celebrations, and presents another blow to the Gulf Cartel, one of the three principal groups feeding rampant violence in the country.



Mr. Costilla has been wanted by the United States since 2002 on charges including drug trafficking, money laundering and threatening to assault and murder federal law enforcement agents, and his arrest sets up the possibility of an extradition.

The agents, with the F.B.I. and the Drug Enforcement Administration, were surrounded and threatened by gunmen, including Mr. Costilla, in the border city of Matamoros in 1999, but were eventually let go, American officials have said.

Just last week, a man identified as another top leader of the gang, Mario Cárdenas Guillén, was detained, also in Tamaulipas, one of Mexico’s most violent states. He had assumed a leadership role after his brother was killed by Mexican forces in 2010, but Mr. Costilla was believed to be running the organization.

George W. Grayson, a professor at the College of William and Mary in Virginia and a longtime researcher of the criminal groups, said the arrest demonstrated both the prowess of the Mexican marines — “they have first-rate intelligence, work closely with U.S. security agencies, and go out of their way to prevent leaks” — and the infighting in the Gulf Cartel.

Mr. Costilla, he said, was in the middle of a battle with other leaders to seize and solidify control of important cities in Tamaulipas.

This arrest, he said, is the most important takedown since Mexican marines killed Arturo Beltrán Leyva, chief of the Beltrán organization, in December 2009. That operation is also remembered for the killing of family members of a marine involved in the operation after his funeral.

Analysts have described the Gulf Cartel as somewhat weakened by a spinoff group, the Zetas, and the largest group, the Sinaloa Cartel, which have battled over turf and trafficking routes. The Zetas, too, are said to be split by factionalism.

Mexican and American drug agents believe that cutting off the heads of the organizations ultimately weakens them, but in many cases splinter groups have emerged. Violence as the new gangs and old ones fight it out, coupled with pressure from Mexican security forces, has led to more than 50,000 deaths, with some estimates far higher, in the last six years.

Mr. Costilla’s capture may help burnish the navy’s reputation after an embarrassment this summer.

In June, it said it had captured the “presumed son” of the most wanted drug lord, Joaquín Guzmán Loera, known as El Chapo, or Shorty, but in one of the government’s bigger public embarrassments, the authorities eventually conceded that it was not him.

As President Felipe Calderón’s six-year term draws to a close in December, there is heightened speculation that security forces will deliver him the capture of Mr. Guzmán as well. The military and the police have nearly caught him at least a few times, Mexican and American officials have said.

Tamaulipas also has been the focus of a political scandal, with a former governor and other officials under investigation over accusations of receiving money from drug traffickers.

It became an issue in the July presidential election because the politicians under investigation belonged to the Institutional Revolutionary Party, the same as the victor, Enrique Peña Nieto, who had sought to portray the party as beyond its previous corruption and drug scandals.


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Gunfights leave 4 dead Tuesday in Reynosa, Tamaulipas

September 13, 2012, 9:00 pm
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By Chris Covert
Rantburg.com

Armed confrontations between criminal groups and Mexican security forces have killed four since last Tuesday in the border city of Reynosa, Tamaulipas, according to Mexican news and Twitter accounts.

Two gunfights took place Tuesday between armed groups and elements of the Mexican Army  according to a news item.posted on website of Revista Proceso.

The news item quoted the Tamaulipas Procurduria General de Justicia de Estado, or state attorney general that one gunfight took place in  Mil Cumbres colony, leaving one unidentified individual dead, and an abandoned Jeep Liberty SUV at the scene. That gunfight took place at around 1350 hrs.

A second confrontation took place Lomas del Real de Jarachina Sur colony where armed suspects fired on a Mexican Army road patrol. Mexican Army return gunfire killed three suspects. One GMC pickup truck was seized in the aftermath.

Subsequently armed groups in Reynosa put up roadblocks, blocking  Bulevar Colosio, UAT Rhode bridge and Bulevar Morelos and others.

Thursday additional gunfights and roadblocks took place in Reynosa, but no reports of dead or wounded have been released by official sources. 

A news report posted on the website of Noticias de Tamaulipas news website said that one civilian had been wounded in Calle Quintana Roo, when the victim ran from the area and was reportedly fired on by Mexican Army personnel.

Detentions have been reported, however, but the numbers or identifications have not been released.

According to a news item posted on the website of Televisa, Thursday's gunfights took place on Zona Centro on Calle Madero.  Gunfire was also reported in Cumbres and Jarachina colonies.

Mexican Army units had reportedly been reinforcing Reynosa since last Tuesday, and had intensified patrols in the city since Thursday morning.

Chris Covert writes Mexican Drug War and national political news for Rantburg.com
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Video: El Molca Interview and Translation

September 14, 2012, 5:44 am
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From Borderland Beat Forum, translated and posted by 777



El Molca: My name is Ramiro Pozos González I was born April 7, 1970. I'm originally from Guadalajara, Jalisco.

Official: What's your nickname?

El Molca: El Molca or El 7

Official: What organization do you belong to?

El Molca: Milenio

Official: When did you enter into that organization?

El Molca: I always worked with my compadre. Milenio started like in 2000 after the capture of Armando Valencia. That's when they took the name Milenio. And I was always part of these people. Later there was an alliance with El Lobo's compadre Luis Naranjo and we started working on a larger scale. We started sending like 2 or 3 tons working our way up to 35 or 40.

Official: How often?

El Molca: We would do 4 "jobs" per year.

Official: 4 "jobs" and the amount?

El Molca: From 15 on up. Minimum 15 tons.

Official: Did your status in the organization change because of these activities?

El Molca: I was always a trusted man of El Lobo and I never gave a fuck about ranks. I would only worry about mine and I didn't give a fuck about the rest. My compadre Lobo was detained and I left to Manzanillo, Colima that's when my compadre Tigre was detained and the war starts vs. Los Menchos or Torcidos.

Official: That's how the Cartel del Milenio was divided?

El Molca: That's how the Milenio was divided around May 2010.

Official: Why?

El Molca: Tigre was captured and the way things go is Tigre's and Lobo's trusted man was Pilo. Eric wanted to put Mencho. Mencho wanted to be leader and we say no because the only one who knew how to run things for Lobo and Tigre was Pilo. They asked us to turn in Gerardo Mendoza "El Tecato" or "Cochi". We didn't want to. Gerardo kills some of Mencho's people in Tecoman and that's how the war started.

Official: That's the separation?

El Molca: We didn't hang out anymore. After Tigre was captured they never showed their face because they were the ones that turned him in.

Official: What groups were created?

El Molca: The fight starts for the Milenio name. They wanted to call themselves Milenio. We're Milenio. People begin getting arrested in San Cristobal. There was like 40 of them and they were saying they were Milenio but really they're Eric and Mencho's people. The killings start. They start picking up our people and killing family members and friends. We left Jalisco and Colima. Then the Familia Michoacana sent help and a group was created named La Resistencia. It is made up people from Los Altos, Colima, and people from Guadalajara, Jalisco.

Official: You're the leader?

El Molca: Right now, yes.

Official: Who is fighting in Guadalajara?

El Molca: Right now the war is between Sinaloa and people from CJNG. CJNG is Mencho's people.

Official: What was the agreement with La Familia? How where they going to help you?

El Molca: Well you know there was two leaders in Michoacan. There was El Chango, who was the only one that helped. He's a real friend that even helped with money. And the idea was to regain what was ours and hit Mencho. El Loco came in and wanted us to fight with the PFP and the Negros. We've never fought with the police. We didn't agree, so we went with Don Chuy (Chango) and that's how the problems started. There was a meeting and then they got Papirrin then Don Chuy.

Official: At this moment, who were you trying to align yourself with?

El Molca: I wasn't looking for help. I was waiting for Mencho to get arrested because I think their gonna get him soon. It's a fucking war with no end and no point.

Official: What is left of La Resistencia? How is the Resistencia?

El Molca: La Resistencia doesn't exist anymore. The only one left is Lupe Vega. But he left with the Torcidos (Mencho's people).

Official: Since 2009 how did you move around? How did you protect yourself? How many people did you have with you?

El Molca: The best protection is one's self and I didn't move around with other people. I was always alone. I would go into a plaza and ask for help from the person in charge. He would help me with Don Jesus. I had a good friendship with Don Chuy.

Official: What did they help you with? What did you ask for?

El Molca: I would just let them know I was on my way or I was going to pass by. They would accompany me or I would just hang out with them. I would try to spend my time in the sierra because of how heated things were. I would come down to Uraupan or Zamora to spend a day or two with my family then head back to the sierra.

Official: Were you armed?

El Molca: Yes.

Official: What kinds of weapons?

El Molca: A matapolicias (cop killer) and a 6.8

Official: Were you still using drugs?

El Molca: No. Only marijuana.

Official: How often?

El Molca: Everyday. It's the first thing I do when I wake up.

Official: How long have you been moving around from place to place?


El Molca: Since 2009. First Manzanillo then Colima then Villa Victoria. I lived in La Ruana, Uruapan, Zamorra, etc….

Official: You spoke of some mantas you put up. How did all this start in Guadalajara with the kidnappings and killings. Why is this going on?

El Molca: Sinaloa is pissed because Mencho finished off the people in Jalisco. Everyone that was in Jalisco was kidnapped and murdered.

Official: Who did he kidnap and kill?

El Molca: Everyone that would push dope. If you had a bar he would take it away. He would rob you and if you were "working" you would work for him. If not, you "go". He finished off with the people from Jalisco and then he started picking up Sinaloas. Sinaloa jumped and starting putting mantas and killing people. Then I see that Sinaloa wasn't taking them out so I put up some mantas with pictures of Mencho's people signed by Sinaloa. But the problem with Sinaloa and Mencho is already there. That's the next war.

Official: What's going to happen then?

El Molca: The Z's are going to come in with force. Soon as they (Sinaloa and CJNG) start fighting each other they're going to come in from Michoacan and Zacatecas and Jalisco is going to be finshed.
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