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New Leader of the CDG, Mario Armando Ramirez Trevino, Alias "X-20" or "Pelon"

September 14, 2012, 5:54 am
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Posted and translated in Borderland Beat Forum by AJ
Minor editing by staff

Different versions point to Mario Armando Ramírez Treviño, alias "X-20" or "Pelon" as the new leader of the Gulf Cartel.
 
The arrest of Jose Eduardo Costilla Sanchez "El Coss", by the Navy Department, marks the end of a command structure in the criminal organization of the Gulf Cartel (CDG), which may lead to a new leadership from a person that is based in the city of Reynosa, Tamaulipas.

Different versions point to Mario Armando Ramírez Treviño, alias "X-20" or "Pelon" as the new head of the CDG, who is a main distributor of the trafficking of marijuana and cocaine to the U.S. from the border of Tamaulipas.

Mario Ramírez Treviño came to the spotlight on September 2011 of authorities on both sides of the border after the execution of Samuel Flores Borrego "Metro 3", leader of the Gulf Cartel in the Reynosa area, who's death was attributed to Juan Mejía Gonzalez "R-1", and Rafael Cardenas Vela "El Junior," both members of the Gulf Cartel's cell group "Los Rojos" who are in an internal struggle with "Los Metros" for control of the organization.

Unconfirmed versions mention that Jose Eduardo Costilla Sanchez "El Coss", maintained control of the group "Rojos", while the "Metros" kept their loyalty to Osiel Cardenas Guillen (imprisoned in the United States), who had managed to retain control of CDG through his brother Antonio Cardenas "Tony Tormenta" (killed in November 2010), and Mario Cardenas Guillen "El Gordo", arrested by the Navy on September 3rd in Altamira, Tamaulipas.

"X- 20 "took over the 'Plaza' in the middle of the fight between the Gulf Cartel and Los Zetas, for control of the border between Tamaulipas and southern Texas, which includes the municipalities of Reynosa, Nuevo Laredo, Miguel Alemán and Matamoros.

He managed to keep off the radar screen from authorities as he climbed up the ladder of the organization. He managed to win the trust of Jaime González Durán "El Hummer", founding member of Los Zetas, when this group served as the "armed wing" of the Gulf Cartel. "El Hummer" was arrested in November 2008 and is currently serving a sentence of 35 years in prison in the Penal del Altiplano.

After the break between the two organizations, "X-20" was included into the ranks of the Gulf Cartel, as number (Two) of the plaza of Reynosa.

Upon being appointed the 'Plaza' Leader, he was placed on the list of most wanted criminals from the Department of Justice of the United States, who provided a 5 million dollars for any information that would lead to his capture. The Attorney General's Office is now offering a reward of 30 million dollars for his capture.

In March of this year, La Jornada published a news story about private conversations that were taped from a period of 90 to 180 days that had revealed that "X-20" had become a leader of the Gulf Cartel. His name appeared on a list of records of persons subjected to surveillance by the agency of the Mexican Ministry of Interior.

On August 29th, in Nuevo Leon, a group of criminals kidnapped and killed four people in the community of Mitras Norte in Monterrey. This was part of a violent escalation that went on for 48 hours that left a toll of 33 people dead. Authorities attributed it to the settling of scores between the cartel. In particular the quadruple homicide in Mitras Norte, where a group of gunmen left a narcomensaje, which read:

 "Comandante X20 presente CDG"

What could be taken as a message to the cells operating in the state, before a possible change of command in the organization. A week later, Mario Cardenas Guillen "El Gordo" was arrested. Media reports say that the split between "Rojos" and "Metros" moved to the upper echelons of the Gulf Cartel, causing the breakdown between Cárdenas Guillén and Jose Eduardo Costilla Sanchez "El Coss", and the capture of "El Gordo" would mean the end of the split, restoring the chain of command through Mario Armando Ramírez Treviño, alias "X-20" or "Pelon".

The current circumstantial rearrangements within the CDG poses the potential of future intensifications of criminal activities among all the cartels including Los Zetas who are looking to assume full control of Tamaulipas and Nuevo Leon, and a likely intervention from the Sinaloa Cartel who may now seek to expand it's operations to the Gulf and thus, establish itself as the leading criminal organization in Mexico.

Original source: Vanguardia
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Video of the Capture and Transfer of "El Coss"

September 14, 2012, 11:49 am
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Chivis Martinez for Borderland Beat

He sure isn't as large as one would think when looking at his close up...just another watermelon head.  I saw this yesterday and thought I would share, I don't think it has been posted here...Paz, Chivis


Jorge Eduardo Costilla Sánchez "El Coss" the leader of the Gulf Cartel was captured at 6:15 in the evening, In Tampico, Tamaulipas,  subsequently he and the other captured with him were transferred to Mexico City. Tampico is in the southern most of the stae of Tamalipas and is adjacent to the state of Veracruz. 
 
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Extreme Violence and Terrorism in Mexico

September 14, 2012, 7:19 pm
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Borderland Beat
A Dialogue between Howard Campbell and Tobin Hansen
 This dialogue between anthropologists Howard Campbell, author of “Drug War Zone Frontline Dispatches from the Streets of El Paso and Juárez” and Tobin Hansen explores the relationship between violence, politics, and terrorism in Mexico’s narco-conflict. The dialogue (in form of an interview) took place  August 2012 in El Paso, Texas. It addresses the question: Is narco-violence terrorism?
Narco Terrorism
 
Tobin Hansen: Violence related to drug trafficking in Mexico began to spike in the mid-2000s, so why start researching the violence vis-à-vis terrorism now?
Howard Campbell: I started working on the issue of narco-terrorism two years ago when the violence began to spike in Ciudad Juárez. It became very outrageous, it was a daily occurrence and it began to be a real threat to civil society and the good life in Mexico, not just in Juárez but all over the country. I think it’s a subject that deserves much more attention. There has been a reluctance to use the term terrorism when describing Mexican drug violence because of a fear of the implication of the word: that terrorist groups work against the United States, that they’re Islamic, or in the case of Mexico it would be activity that hasn’t been seen since perhaps the 1960s. But I think we need to discuss whether the violence in Mexico has reached the level where we can use a very loaded term like “terrorism” just because the number of deaths related to this drug-related violence from 2006 to 2012 alone is maybe between 60,000 and 100,000.

The number of victims is very large, but also the form in which some people are killed is extraordinarily dramatic, public, and macabre. So we need to understand why this is happening in Mexico now and how it can be stopped. Inevitably then we have to use language like “terrorism” because it is so extreme, it’s such a public spectacle, but I think it’s important to use this language with a great deal of caution because of the political implications. We don’t want the United States to use this as an excuse to intervene in Mexico or to tighten the screws even more on Mexico politically. We don’t want to use the word “terrorism” to encourage the more reactionary factions within Mexican politics, but we want to use this language in order to understand how Mexican civil society and the political system have broken down to such a degree that you have this dramatic and broad-ranging violence carried out on a regular basis with impunity.
Cartel Violence
 
TH: I’ll ask you for more specifics on the violence in a minute. But first, looking at what the literature of terrorism has discussed historically, to what extent does the current violence in Mexico fit the literature?

HC: The literature on terrorism is vast. The phenomenon of terrorism, as defined by western intellectuals and politicians and so on, goes back at least 100 years in the western world, and it has generated a vast amount of academic literature and public policy, etc. The discussion in the United States is of course a result of 9/11. We need to understand what’s going on in Mexico in terms of trends that can be seen in other societies, such as in the United States, in Europe, in the Middle East, and to develop a sociological and anthropological explanation of why this extreme and public violence is occurring and why the Mexican government seems unable to stop it.

TH: What conclusions have you been able to draw regarding this violence? To what ends do the traffickers perform the violence? To what extend do they achieve their objectives?

HC: What I’ve tried to do in recent research is understand Mexican drug-related violence as not just a criminal matter but to understand it as a political phenomenon. In that sense, my work, and my work with you on these topics is perhaps a novel contribution to the study of drug trafficking in Mexico. I think there’s been a tendency to view drug related violence as strictly about control of markets, to make money through selling marihuana, cocaine, heroin and so on. People want to attribute it to out-of-control criminal groups or rare, depraved individuals. But there’s been a reluctance to discuss it as a political phenomenon for the reasons I mentioned, people don’t want to face up to how much the Mexican political system has decayed, people don’t want to address the extent to which politicians or elements of the Mexican government have been corrupted, coopted, or controlled by criminal groups. So I think it’s important to try this form of analysis that looks at violence as quasi-political or just political behavior.

In my opinion, and yours I know from discussions we’ve had, it’s about power, domination, control of regions, business, and the hearts and minds of people. In that sense it’s akin to what happens in official wars or what are called small wars or insurgencies. I personally believe the Zetas aren’t looking to control the Mexican State, but they are seeking to control large chunks of Mexican territory and territory in Central America and drug corridors in the United States. I don’t see why we can’t call this political because it involves the control of huge regions, of entire states, big cities. So I say let’s switch the focus from just the criminal side of drug trafficking and look at its consequences in the real world, including control of huge portions of Mexican territory, which has been admitted by the Mexican government, and has influenced gubernatorial elections and even perhaps presidential elections and entire towns from top to bottom. That’s politics. Whatever else that is, it’s also politics. So let’s understand the drug related violence as a political struggle involving the use of war tactics and techniques, propaganda, all the tools used historically by insurgent groups throughout the world, particularly cyber technologies, computers, and advanced weapons technologies and communication systems. So our argument is that Mexican drug related violence can be understood both as terrorism and as a political phenomenon, but these issues need to be dealt with extremely carefully and delicately.
Tactics of War & Terror
TH: You mention tactics and techniques generally. What could you say specifically about the methods that cartels employ?

HC: There’s a lot of people that get killed in drug related incidents in Mexico in an isolated way, their bodies are dumped in the desert and nobody ever hears about them. Many people die, shot to the head, and that barely makes it into the newspaper. But when you talk about massacres involving more than 100 people or bodies that are carved up, disfigured, people tortured and it’s filmed and put on Youtube meant for public display, that is in fact a war-like tactic and a tactic of terror because it’s designed to terrorize enemies of a drug cartel, be they members of another cartel or enemies that are members of police or military forces. It’s also designed to terrorize members of the civilian population because they allow these drug cartels, as they are called, to control a region. That’s clearly a tactic of warfare that involves terrorism and propaganda. If these people were calling for a succession or the independence of Chihuahua or Tamaulipas or wherever, we would right away understand them to be terrorists or insurgents. But because their initial impetus was to make money and they don’t make openly partisan statements there has been this tendency to not see them as political groups. They’ve posted thousands of messages on banners, on signs, on the internet, making statements that have para-political content. So to answer your question, I would say yes, the techniques of drug trafficking groups are mainstream tactics used by armies as well as insurgent groups throughout the world, so we need to understand the dimensions of drug trafficking groups. They’re not only about money, even though that’s their primary purpose. They’re also about creating a state within a state, or a regional or territorial empire and that to me is an insurgency, and the tactics involve terrorism and propaganda.
Failed State?
 
TH: You’ve talked about the taking of control by these groups and the decay of the Mexican political system. To what extent is Mexico a failed state today?

HC: I think it’s a misnomer to say that Mexico is a failed state. It does have functioning institutions, elections—that may be disputed—although there are means for political opponents to make claims against the government, a free press, although journalists are murdered by drug cartel members. There are institutions that function quite well in various parts of the country, such as for example branches of the federal bureaucracy in Mexico City; the census bureau; health departments at federal, state, and local levels. They have their flaws and their problems, but these are functioning institutions of modern states that you’d find in any country in the world that has attained a certain level of development. As an economy, Mexico has a huge GDP and is one of the top 20 biggest economies in the world. With a population of more than 110 million people, it’s a very modern state at many levels. Nonetheless, in certain parts of the economy or the political system, that one could call either backward or ultra-modern, cartels have decided to form their own society within a society and not obey the rules of the national state or regional or local authorities. They have become the authorities. That’s why I say the situation should be judged as a political phenomenon. So the failed state notion is easy to shoot down and even the American government doesn’t view Mexico as a failed state and most serious analysts don’t either but I think parts of the countryside are failed states with a small “s.” Tamaulipas surely and various other states are not controlled by the federal government in Mexico City, they’re controlled by drug cartels, especially in the Zetas dominated areas and areas controlled by the Sinaloa cartel.
The Role of the United States

TH: In light of the situation that you’re describing, as we look forward what are the policy options that we should explore both in Mexico and the United States?

HC: I think smart, informed, caring people in the United States who know something about Mexican history would realize that the United States needs to be part of the solution, not part of the problem. We have no business meddling in Mexican internal affairs. We are a big cause of the drug trafficking problem given our consumption and that we allow guns to be sold and spread so easily into Mexico. So the first thing is that we need to put our own house in order regarding consumption and sales of weaponry. Secondly, we need to support elements of the Mexican government that are working to create a less violent society and develop a society governed by the rule of law. Historically, the United States has backed groups in Mexico that support large American business interests, and the political and economic interests of the United States. Ultimately, the United States is more concerned about the security of Americans and the strength of the U.S. economy and they don’t worry a whole lot about the majority of Mexican people who are poor and victims of this kind of violence. However, if things get worse in Mexico it will start to affect the United States’ interests a lot.

So on humanitarian grounds the United States should play a more progressive role in Mexico. That would include to a large extent the United States backing off and allowing Mexicans to decide how they should run their own country. Also, we should use our power in ways that support the most progressive political and economic leaders in Mexico—something we have not done. I don’t expect a radical change in U.S. policy vis-à-vis Mexico, but I would hate to see a swing even farther to the right and a channeling of U.S. hardware, manpower, and intelligence services and the like that we’ve used in Afghanistan and Iraq in Mexico to “help” fight drug cartels in Mexico, as those wars wind down. The results would be disastrous for the United States. They would create a quagmire that would be comparable to Iraq or Afghanistan.

The PRI historically was the architect of drug trafficking in Mexico through their corrupt patronage. The United States needs to look at the history of Mexico and realize that the PRI in effect developed the system that allowed drug cartels to prosper. Now that drug cartels are out of control, what is the PRI going to do to put cartels back in the box, or at least to reduce the harm that they’ve done? The United States can play a powerful role in pushing president elect Peña Nieto towards the least violent of the various options on the table. What are those options? Well, one is to only fight drug trafficking to the extent that it’s a violent activity, but to tolerate a certain amount of drug dealing and drug consumption as long as it doesn’t entail violence. That’s a policy endorsed by presidents of Brazil and Guatemala for example, and by leading Latin American intellectuals, and American intellectuals as well. We could also deal with the fact that the Mexican political system is one that involves a lot of back room negotiating with groups that are beyond the pale, such as drug traffickers and cartel leaders. That happens and will continue to happen, perhaps even more so. If it leads to less violence in Mexico, we should accept that as the way things go. That’s probably a good thing compared to the current situation of rampant violence and constant conflicts between cartels and government forces. There needs to be a smart policy vis-à-vis drug cartels, not a reactive policy like that of Calderón that created a quagmire that by almost anyone’s definition in Mexico and the United States has been a failure. Clearly, there needs to be a shift in the course of how this is handled. There needs to be an understanding of the damage done by narco-terrorism and the ways in which these drug cartels have become political. That can help us craft smarter policies.

Getting Out of the Game

TH: Could you describe the various projects you’ve developed recently?
HC: You and I have a current project concerned with narco-violence in Mexico and whether that narco-violence should be classified as terrorism. We’ve also completed an innovative research paper titled “Getting out of the Game: Desistance from Drug Trafficking” that will be published in the International Journal for Drug Policy. It’s about the challenges people face in drug cartels or drug dealing gangs in Mexico or the United States and particularly on the U.S.-Mexico border. You have all these people involved in this and some want to leave. They’re tired of trafficking, they’re tired of the dangers it involves, tired of being around drugs and violence. It’s not as easy as it may seem. You can’t quit the way you quit a job at K-Mart or Walmart. Often drug traffickers carry a lot of cultural baggage with them, which causes it to be very difficult for them to quit the drug trafficking game. Their identity is wrapped up in that of being a drug trafficker because their friends, family, neighborhoods, social acquaintances, etc. are often caught up in trafficking networks, or see the person as a drug trafficker even if they’ve quit trafficking. So much of their sense of who they were as young men—although women are involved as well and face similar challenges, most of our informants were men—was as being studs, powerful, having money, being the generators of things. This was something they could only do through drug trafficking because most of these people were from poor neighborhoods in Ciudad Juárez, Mexico or El Paso, Texas. So there are all these obstacles to getting out of the game.

We interviewed thirty people that did successfully get out of the drug trafficking game. I think our article in many ways is optimistic. It shows ways in which people, despite all these structural obstacles, i.e. personal, familial, societal, economic obstacles, left the game, although most of them had a sort of hangover effect in which they still felt that part of their sense of who they were was tied up in drug trafficking. Even though they had quit drug trafficking, people see them as drug traffickers still, and many of them yearn to be back in the business. I think this is an important article because this hasn’t been studied much before, but more importantly it shows that there is some light at the end of the tunnel. Under the right circumstances, people will quit drug trafficking and all the troubles that it causes, in terms of health problems, criminal and legal problems, and violence. This maybe is a fresh way of looking at drug violence in Mexico. By understanding the lives of these drug traffickers we can propose policies other than just locking them up and throwing away the key, but by socially persuading people to get out of trafficking and live productive, non-criminal lives. We feel this is an important contribution to drug literature, both in terms of drug trafficking and also in terms of drug consumption because many of our informants were also drug users. It’s important to not get into a nihilist, negative state of mind when it comes to the situation of violence and drug trafficking in Mexico. Mexico for large periods of its history has been a society of peaceful, law-abiding people in which you had a normal life and not one in which bombs were blowing up in public plazas and dozens of bodies were found with their heads chopped off. So if we can develop policies that encourage people to leave drug trafficking, it seems to us a very useful contribution to public policy.
References:
Campbell, Howard. 2012. “Narco-propaganda in the Mexican ‘Drug War’: An anthropological perspective.” Latin American Perspectives. URL

Source: Small Wars Journal -JPS/El Centro
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Another voice in Mexico silenced? Where is Ruy 5algado "El 5anto"?

September 14, 2012, 7:41 pm
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**UPDATE:  Since posting this story there have been many new events, particularly a series of VERY ambiguous statements by the admins of El 5antuario.  Shortly after El 5antuario's initial press release regarding the disappearance of Ruy, reports began surfacing that his murdered body was found in Neza and confirmed via a DNA test performed on his sister and/or mother.  This story was quickly dispelled by the other admins of the blog mainly because it stated that Ruy had stepped out of his domicile at 10pm making a run to the store, when in fact he was broadcasting at that very moment up until the transmission fell around 11:02pm.  After the 48 hour window given to Ruy to come forward or else his personal information would be leaked passed, El 5antuario released yet another statement saying that they had made contact with his family and would be releasing ONLY information authorized by them, particularly asking the community and their readers not to point fingers/blame any particular individual or political entity.  A timeline was given of the events with no real clear answers as to what had occurred, nor more importantly where Ruy was or his state of being.  The question still remained, where is El 5anto???  As is the case with uncertainty, rumors began to fly that he had chosen to exile himself, there was infighting within his blog, he was ill and battling cancer, someone posting on another channel claiming he was well and was handling affairs in another state to the very disappointing claim that this had all been a publicity stunt gone wrong.  Which of these scenarios are true, nothing has been cleared by either family, the admins of El 5antuario, let alone Ruy himself.  To further complicate matters, today El 5antuario has chosen to suspend ALL activity on their blog and YouTube channel until Ruy's whereabouts are cleared up.  Strangely at the very end of their statement they made it clear that they were not being threatened by anyone or any political figure.  This is truly turning into one huge 5antodrama!  Stayed tuned...**

Although many of our readers do not live in Mexico nor experience the day to day happenings, it is safe to say that we do empathize, if not at the very least sympathize on a basic human level with what occurs.  Ruy 5algado also known as El 5anto is the founder of the blog el5anturario.org and a staunch critic of the current and incoming political administrations.

Via his daily vlogs on YouTube, he also informs regarding the ongoing drug war and has openly challenged this past July 1st election results, which according to him were marred with corruption and are in direct violation of the democratic process.  Ruy was scheduled to join many of his followers this past Sunday at the AMLO manifestation in Mexico City, but failed to appear. 

His last vlog was posted on Saturday, September 8th and was mysteriously cut off mid transmission, he has not been heard from since.  Below is the official press release made by the other admins of his blog regarding his disappearance. 

I will be translating it in a few minutes for our English only audience.  I wanted to make our readers aware of the many rumblings which are gaining force via Twitter and the internet.


**Translated video:
"Esteemed 5antuarista Community,
This is an official press release on behalf of el5anturio for all of you.  We wish to inform you that on Saturday, September 8th of the current year around 11:02pm, with one hour left on his vlog, we stopped having contact with our friend, Ruy 5algado.  Ruy was scheduled to attend the massive AMLO manifestation the very next day being held at El Zocalo in Mexico City, unfortunately he never showed up. 

It is for this reason that if in the next 48 hours, from the time this is published, we do not have any news regarding his whereabouts and physical condition, we will begin a massive information campaign via the various (news) outlets, beginning with ours.  We will be publishing his picture and personal information as is, full name, address, vehicle he drives and anything else related to his person. 

It is very important to mention that we here at El 5anturario have taken measures in order to locate him in the shortest time possible.  We make a strong call asking our community for their support  in spreading the news and if at this moment you find yourself listening to us, Ruy 5algado, we ask that you please contact us immediately because on the contrary we will make your personal information known, with the understanding that by not communicating with us it means that your integrity has been violated. 

As to the prior, we insist that we have initiated denunciations and preliminary research regarding this situation.

Attentively,
El 5antuario

I am joined by (other bloggers), they introduce themselves.  This is the press release and we hope to hear news on behalf of someone, on behalf of Ruy 5algado.  Thank you."

The blog is http://www.el5antuario.org/
and his vlog channel on YouTube can be found under el5anto
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Terror in Tamaulipas: 16 die

September 14, 2012, 9:00 pm
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By Chris Covert
Rantburg.com

A total of 16 unidentified individuals have died in ongoing drug and gang related violence in Tamaulipas state, according to Mexican news accounts.

In a post on the website of El Sol de Mexico news daily, nine unidentified individuals were found hanging from the Colosio Bridge in the border city of Nuevo Laredo Friday.  Security forces were alerted to the presence of the dead through social media, such as Twitter.

Mexican news reports say the dead were taken from a bar and from two homes in the city.  Official sources have not reported how the victims died, or their identities.

Last May, nine dead bodies were left hanging from a bridge in Nuevo Laredo only hours after 14 other victims were found mutilated.  It later transpired that many of those dead were innocents caught up in a gruesome struggle between the Los Zetas and Gulf drug cartels.

Nuevo Laredo is the only border/river crossing held by Los Zetas, and has come under an intense struggle as Sinaloa aligned Gulf Cartel has attempted to eject Los Zetas from their home turf.

Meanwhile in San Fernando municipality, seven unidentified men were found executed Friday morning by a Mexican Army unit operating in the area, according to a news item posted on Animal Politico website.

The army unit had been conducting a raid at around 0850 hrs at a location on Kilometer 18 of the San Fernando to La Carbonera road when soldiers found the victims.  The dead were in their 50s and 60s, and had been bound, then shot to death using rifles.

Chris Covert writes Mexican Drug War and national political news for Rantburg.com
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PGJE: Mass Takedown of 37 Knights Templar Sicarios

September 14, 2012, 9:39 pm
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Borderland Beat

15 of the detained were presented in Guanajuato-the operation continues

Irapuato, Guanajuato. - GERI agents and PME police ,supported by preventive police from Irapuato and San Miguel de Allende, achieved in fast operational surprise, capturing at least 25 gunmen, belonging to the Knights Templar cartel. They secured vehicles, safe houses, drugs, heavy weapons, sophisticated communications equipment, extending the operations to other nearby towns in search for more "narcoasesinos". It was the same State Attorney of Guanajuato, who briefly announced "the big blow" that between Wednesday night and all day yesterday, dealt in the appointed cities coordinately with other nearby towns. Indicating that until 20 hours, they had just over 25 subjects captured presumably they were related to killings, kidnappings, extortion, drug trafficking and other serious crimes.

Ministry officials, specifically of Irapuato signaled they had captured 2 criminals Wednesday night, had them in their "dens" and that after questioning, they were " singing" and giving up people and details of their accomplices. So overnight Wednesday and Thursday morning, several farms were searched, where they captured another 9 subjects, who also indicated they were members of organized crime. At least seven of the gunmen were located and captured in Irapuato neighborhoods, where they were hiding, after kidnapping and murdering their victims or rivals. Being in areas where gangs and criminals abound, they went unnoticed. But with the data supplied from their accomplices, GERI group , the ministerial officials, supported by the local preventive, could cordon off the area and "burst" the two houses, capturing them with relative ease.

Along with the 9-10 "narcoasesinos", officials secured long, high caliber rifles used both to threaten their victims, and to cruelly kill more of them. They also confiscated vehicles that were used for traveling to watch potential future victims who were on their lists to kidnap. Carlos Zamarripa, Prosecuting States attorney, who up until last night accredited group of gunmen but later added that besides drugs and various communications equipment, at least five assassins and kidnappers, captured in the Irapuato area , but for reasons of prudence would not elaborate or give out any information of citizens victimized by them. He said that they also operated Silao and León, and agents are working to clarify just how many felonies involved. Although neither deny nor were they narcoasesinos said, who executed the latest crimes in Irapuato, but in the course of today will release it officially.
The Update, 12 additional KT sicarios:
A dozen suspects, members of the "The Knights Templar", were captured in the operation led by the State Attorney's Office, which also confiscated an arsenal of weapons, tens of kilos drugs and seven safe houses.  
Detainees, including the leader of the cell, are responsible for killings and kidnappings in this state. The operation began at dawn in several municipalities, including the municipality of San Miguel de Allende, where it is presumed that most were captured.  The operation continues at this time, meanwhile officials have not released complete information about the results and nor when the operation is expected to conclude. .
The state's attorney general, Carlos Zamarripa Aguirre, through his Twitter account reported that the arrest had been  achieved , resulting in almost a dozen members of the cartel of the "Templar", who operated in the northern region of the state, and that these were responsible for drug distribution, multiple murders and kidnappings in that region. . Hours later, In an interview, the attorney without specifying figures, said that most of the alleged kidnappers were arrested in this city.  Apparently among the dozen detainees are those responsible for burning the gas station in San Miguel de Allende a little over a month ago.
Sources: El Sol Irapuata
Thank you Havana
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Nine Bodies Found Hanging from Bridge in Nuevo Laredo

September 14, 2012, 11:09 pm
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The bodies of nine men were found hanging from a bridge Friday in Nuevo Laredo, a border city in the northeastern Mexican state of Tamaulipas, officials said.
 


“The individuals were hung (early Friday) from a bridge at the intersection of Colosio Blvd. and the highway leading to Monterrey,” capital of the neighboring state of Nuevo Leon, a security spokesman in Nuevo Laredo said.
 
The bodies bore signs of torture and the suspected perpetrators of the crime left a message whose content was not disclosed.
 

Prior to the discovery of the bodies, an armed commando had dragged several people from a bar and later set the establishment on fire. Investigators are trying to determine if those victims were the same people hung from the bridge.
 

In May, the bodies of five men and four women who were blindfolded and bore signs of torture were found hanging from another Nuevo Laredo bridge.

On that occasion, suspected members of the Los Zetas drug cartel said in a message that the victims were members of the rival Gulf mob who were killed for “heating up the plaza (drug-smuggling route)” and attracting the attention of the security forces with their attacks.

The Zetas have threatened to wipe out the Gulf organization, which has allied itself with the powerful Sinaloa gang – headed by Joaquin “El Chapo” (Shorty) Guzman – in a bid to seize control of the city, located across the border from Laredo, Texas.

These latest killings came on the heels of Wednesday’s capture of top Gulf cartel boss Jorge Eduardo Costilla Sanchez, alias “El Coss,” by Mexican marines. Not a single shot was fired in that operation in the northeastern port city of Tampico.

Costilla’s detention left the Gulf mob – one of Mexico’s oldest criminal organizations – without its two top leaders. On Sept. 3, marines captured Mario Cardenas Guillen, alias “El Gordo,” who had headed another branch of that drug cartel.

These blows should exacerbate drug-related violence in Mexico, experts say, because the Zetas will look to seize control of areas still under the control of the Gulf cartel, which maintains its stronghold in the northeastern state of Tamaulipas and also operates in other parts of northern Mexico and the country’s Gulf coast.

The Gulf cartel and the Zetas, its former armed wing, severed ties in 2010 and that split has sparked turf battles in northeastern Mexico that have left thousands dead.

That region is one of the flashpoints in a drug war that has left some 60,000 dead since President Felipe Calderon, whose term ends this year, took office in late 2006.

Source: EFE

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The Last of the Shadow/CDG?

September 15, 2012, 10:19 am
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When el Coss was presented to the media a reporter yelled at him asking a question "es el fin del cartel?" or "is this the end of the cartel?" Coss stood there without responding to anything, just that serious stern look, knowing that at least for him, the game was over.

The structure change in the leadership of the Gulf Cartel (CDG):

2003: Osiel Cardenas Guillen (El Duque) is arrested
2010: Ezequiel Cardenas Guillen (Tony Tormenta) is killed.
2011: Samuel Flores Borrego (Metro Tres) is killed.
September 4, 2012: Mario Cardenas Guillen (El Gordo) is arrested.
September 12, 2012: Juan Gabriel Montes (Sierra) is arrested.
September 12, 2012: Jorge Eduardo Costilla Sanchez (El Coss) is arrested.

What is next, will this be the end for CDG?

A top leader is gone but the cells of Los Metro and Los Rojos remains intact, will they die or remerged with new leadership?

Is Mario Armando Ramírez Treviño  "El Pelon" be able to position himself with anough clout to maintain crontrol of the internal conflict within the CDG and emerge as a top capo? Or will he be the next casualty or will he just fade out of the spotlight?

Only time will tell, but we will be watching!
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The Titanic and El Coss

September 15, 2012, 1:06 pm
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After a chase and shootout, another group of bodyguards led the Mexican marines to home that was occupied by Jorge Eduardo Costilla in Tampico, who surrendered without any resistance.

The captured of a certain Gulf cartel boss and five of the bodyguards of the Gulf Cartel leader Jorge Eduardo Costilla, El Coss, was the reasons that helped the Mexican Marines to apprehend the kingpin hours later. 

Seized and presented to the media were a lot of expensive jewelry, but also, Coss was in possession of two watches made from metal of the actual Titanic. The watches were part of a 200,012 limited edition made to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the ocean liner. According to the company that designed the watches, each piece costs $10,000 dollars. 

The Navy confessed that in addition to the bodyguards arrested in Rio Bravo, there was another key element that allowed for the fall of the capo was Mario Alberto Cárdenas Guillén, brother of Osiel that had been arrested last week. 

The confessions of the bodyguards and of Mario Alberto who is an enemy of El Coss, enabled the naval intelligence to gather enough intelligence in order to send 30 of its Special Forces to arrest the leader of the Gulf Cartel. 

Vice Admiral Jose Luis Vergara, a spokesman for the naval agency, said that at nine o'clock on Wednesday morning, military personnel sustained a showdown at Rio Bravo with five bodyguards the capo who were wearing fake uniforms of the military institution. 

Based on information provided by the suspects, at 18:15 of that same day, military forces conducted an operation on Lomas de Rosales, Tampico, which resulted in a pursuit of a vehicle that contained bodyguards belonging to El Coss. 

The suspects fled to a residence where the boss was located and was arrested without any resistance. 

The Admiral said that the bodyguards of El Coss had confronted the Mexican marines in Buenavista, a municipality of Rio Bravo. Once apprehended they were identified as the bodyguards. Authorities seized six long rifles, more than 3,500 rounds of ammunition, 140 magazines and eight bulletproof vests. 

The escorts were identified as José Lugo Torres, El José; Jorge Luis Gutiérrez Quintanilla, 'El Flaco'; Naún Vázquez Loya, El Minitoy; José Felipe Torres, El Felipe, and José Ricardo Amado Álvarez, El Junior. 

At 1815 hours on Wednesday 12 Mexican marines were conducting operations in Lomas de Rosales, in Tampico where they surprised more collaborators of El Coss. 

After a brief chase, the marines caught up with the fleeing suspects as the attempted to enter a home where Costilla Sanchez was located. 

They were all detained along with the Gulf Cartel plaza boss of Tampico, Ernesto Band Chaires, Campos. 

The men arrested at the home were Miguel Ángel Muñoz Villanueva, El Profe; Servando Antonio Cano Arzola, 'El Güero'; Juan Carlos Castañeda Rodríguez, and Jaime Alberto Corona Constante. 

There authorities seized weapons, vehicles and numerous amounts of jewelry that included the two watches.

Source: Milenio
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The Future of The Gulf Cartel: Two Opposing Views

September 15, 2012, 2:42 pm
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Borderland Beat

I began this AM reading an article in the Houston Chron, in which the summation  suggests CDG (Gulf Cartel) will survive.  The next article I read was in the LA Times, its summation says they are possibly finished. Two respected media sources, possibly the most knowledgeable US newspaper sources on the Mexican Drugwar, viewing the aftermath of recent events differently.   I am not a fan of the catch the kingpin strategy, although there is a moment of euphoria, for the most part it does little to damage a strong cartel, and evaporates too large a bite of the limited resources of Mexico.
 
 Although Calderon has been brave in his fight, and he deserves respect for his attempts, his largest flaw was his failed plan of targeting kingpins.  The middle layer operators should have been the target, the movers and shakers, the money guys if capos are caught in such operations, all the better.  Cartels are well prepared to have replacements, selected in the event of kingpin capture.  As for the Z split, I am not buying that it is between Lazcano and Trevino.  I can’t see a motive.  They have split the business long ago, Lazca has the diversification business and 40 the drugs.  More likely it is a war between 40 and Taliban and that split would lead to little consequence in the long run or that Taliban has jumped ship.  That said, Zs are spread pretty thin, and cover a  massive amount of geography, they need additional alliances or they will suffer during this outbreak of violence.   That is my opinion, like everyone else I have one, like the others time is the only sure bet.  I recall a little over a year ago another BB contributor and I were in a debate about CDG, he thought CDG were much stronger than Zs, and that Zs were so  weak and would be soon eliminated, I on the other hand thought  CDG  would be eliminated and Zs would absorb some of its members, stay tuned……Paz, Chivis
 
US STATE DEPARTMENT MOST TARGETED MEXICAN NARCOS
(click chart to enlarge)

Pena:  "He will have to out-Calderon Calderon."
Houston Chron:
The history of major arrests of Mexican drug “cartel” leaders during the administration of President Felipe Calderón (2006-December 2012) indicates that despite important apprehensions, many Mexican organized crime groups prove resilient. Thus, the arrests this week by Mexico’s Marines of two long-time high-level leaders of the Gulf cartel are not likely to decimate the organization.
Unlike many arrests in Mexico, where mid-level lieutenants are portrayed as cartel heads the moment they are arrested, Jorge Eduardo Costilla Sanchez, or El Coss” appears to have been the genuine article: a true cartel head. Also arrested this week was Mario Cardenas Guillen the brother of former Gulf cartel head Osiel Cardenas Guillen. Mario Cardenas Guillen‘s arrest marks the death or arrest of the last of the Cardenas Guillen brothers.
When Osiel Cardenas Guillen was arrested in 2003 and extradited to the United States in 2007, El Coss and Cardenas’ brother, Tony “Tormenta,” rose in the organization’s ranks. Tony Tormenta was killed in a shootout with Mexican naval forces in 2010.
The Mexican Navy has also made important arrests of drug kingpins, which suggests it has targeted the Gulf cartel for some time. As Wikileaks cables have demonstrated, the Mexican Navy is more willing to act on intelligence provided by the United States on the whereabouts of cartel heads — e.g., it was willing to act on U.S. intelligence on the whereabouts of Arturo Beltran Leyva, killing him in 2009. Unlike that operation, the arrest of El Coss appears to be a Mexican operation according to U.S. officials, suggesting that Mexico has developed its own electronic surveillance capabilities. This is in line with reporting by El Universal and Slate.com that Mexico has dramatically increased its use of surveillance technology in the drug war. It should also be noted that Mario Cardenas Guillen’s arrest contributed intelligence to the El Coss arrest, according to Mexican government officials.
The arrests will certainly be disruptive for the Gulf cartel, but don’t hold your breath waiting for its demise. The Gulf cartel has roots in smuggling networks stretching back to the prohibition of alcohol in the United States. Further, it has deep connections in the social fabric of northeastern Mexico and, as the recent U.S. asset forfeiture of a former state governor in Mexico shows, powerful political ties. Finally, it boasts extensive U.S. domestic wholesale transportation networks.
Analysts, pundits and even government officials have said that the Arellano Felix Organization (AFO, or the Tijuana Cartel) is dead, or have often said that “it is a shadow of its former self” following the arrest of Benjamin Arellano Felix in 2002, the arrest of his brother El Tigrillo in 2006, and the arrest of his other brother, El Doctor, in 2008. U.S. Attorney Laura Duffy was so eager to declare victory that she simply renamed the organization the Fernando Sanchez Organization (FSO)—named for the nephew of the Arellano Felix Organization founders who likely took control of the organization in 2006. Needless to say, the moniker did not stick. The AFO continues to function, according to recent articles in the Mexican political magazine Proceso.
Gulf cartel internecine conflict
The real threats to the continued functioning of the Gulf cartel are its internecine conflicts and its competition with Los Zetas, its former security-force-turned-rivals. There appears to have been an internal rift within the Gulf cartel between factions known as Los Rojos and Los Metros in 2011 over an issue of leadership succession in the Reynosa plaza. It appears that the Metros emerged victorious, controlling the Gulf cartel leadership although the Rojos “retain considerable manpower.”
Divided Zetas
Further complicating the power dynamics in the region, the Gulf cartel’s rivals, Los Zetas, also appear to be suffering an internal split between those loyal to Heriberto Lazcano, alias “El Lazca,” and Miguel Angel Trevino, known as “Z-40.” The Gulf cartel has been reported to have an alliance with the Sinaloa cartel against Los Zetas since the Gulf-Zeta split in 2010.
A bipolar organized crime structure
These arrests can be viewed in terms of the broader organized crime struggles in Mexico. Despite the increase in the number of Mexican “cartels” following the government’s militarized onslaught, a bipolar structure has emerged in Mexican drug trafficking. Much like the Cold War, where smaller powers allied with the United States or Soviet Union, Mexican organized crime has consolidated its alliance structure between two major powers, the Sinaloa cartel and Los Zetas. Smaller cartels find themselves allying with one of these powers, as the Gulf cartel has allied with the Sinaloa cartel against the Zetas since 2010.
Viewed through this lens, it is most likely that former Gulf cartel factions will continue their alliance with the Sinaloa cartel to counter the more immediate local threat from Los Zetas. Any defections from the Gulf cartel to the Zetas would likely be from the Rojos faction, which has lost members to the Zetas in the past and which is likely more disgruntled following the victory of the Metros in their internal struggles. The Zetas may take this as an opportunity to consolidate power in northeastern Mexico in the vacuum left by the arrest of El Coss. However, if reports of Zeta internal strife are accurate, they may be in no position to go on the offensive.
LA Times:
 
The capture of Jorge Eduardo Costilla Sanchez is the second arrest of a Gulf cartel capo in 10 days. A violent power struggle may ensue, posing a challenge to Mexico's incoming president.
Authorities have captured the top leader of the Gulf cartel, a potentially fatal blow to one of Mexico's major drug-trafficking networks that could also unleash a violent power struggle that would pose an immediate and explosive challenge to the incoming government of President-elect Enrique Peña Nieto.
It is the second big catch of a suspected Gulf cartel capo in 10 days and essentially wipes out the leadership of an organization that once dominated large parts of Mexico. The cartel still controls important smuggling routes to the United States through the northeastern border region.
Jorge Eduardo Costilla Sanchez, alias "El Coss," was arrested Wednesday night at a home in the eastern port city of Tampico, in the border state of Tamaulipas, navy spokesman Vice Adm. Jose Luis Vergara said Thursday. He said Costilla did not resist, but five of his bodyguards were captured in an earlier shootout; other gunmen fleeing that skirmish apparently led troops to Costilla's hide-out.
Flanked by masked marines, Costilla was presented to reporters in Mexico City on Thursday morning. Mustachioed and beefy, he remained stone-faced during the appearance. He stood before a table laden with guns, several hundred rounds of ammunition and a collection of high-priced jewelry, all seized in the raid that ended in his capture, Vergara said.
Costilla was one of the most-wanted fugitives in Mexico, whose government had offered a reward of about $2.3 million. In the United States, where he is also wanted on drug-trafficking charges and for allegedly attempting to kill U.S. federal agents, officials had placed a $5-million bounty on his head.
The Gulf cartel had been losing ground to its onetime ally and armed wing, the vicious Zetas paramilitary force, and, to fight back, formed a partnership with the powerful Sinaloa cartel, Mexico's largest. Together, they waged brutal warfare with the Zetas over control of an ever-widening swath of Mexico, from Tamaulipas down the eastern coast through Veracruz state and westward into the once-tranquil, prosperous state of Nuevo Leon. The region saw some of the most ghastly bloodshed of the drug war, including beheadings, massacres of migrants and the dumping of large numbers of bodies in main thoroughfares.
The demise of the Gulf cartel's leadership foretells another likely battle that will be very bloody as gangs scramble to fill the void and seize Gulf assets. Second-tier Gulf lieutenants may vie violently for control, while the Zetas could also sense an opportunity to step up efforts to destroy what's left of the Gulf cartel.
And the Sinaloa cartel, fighting for routes and market share in the northeast through its Gulf proxy, will probably have to enter the fray more directly.
That will hand an ever-more messy landscape to Peña Nieto, who takes office Dec. 1 and will be under pressure to act quickly to quell violence and prove his own mettle in handling drug cartels.
"This could mean a very rough ride for Peña Nieto in the first few months," Alejandro Hope, an analyst and former Mexican intelligence official, told The Times. "He will need to quickly send a message that he is tough, that he is not a pushover" in the drug war. "He will have to out-Calderon Calderon."
President Felipe Calderon and his government celebrated the capture of Costilla, part of their controversial strategy of going after the senior leaders of drug-trafficking organizations in the hope of fracturing and weakening their operations. More than 55,000 people have been killed since Calderon launched his military-led offensive against the cartels shortly after he took office in December 2006.
The captures of Costilla, 41, on Wednesday and of Mario Cardenas Guillen last week in effect wipe out the traditional leadership of the Gulf cartel, one of the oldest in Mexico. Cardenas is the brother of Osiel Cardenas Guillen, a longtime boss of the organization who was arrested in 2003 and extradited to the United States in 2007. He entered a plea agreement in a Texas court in early 2010, receiving 25 years amid suspicion that he was cooperating with U.S. authorities.
It may be that cooperation that has helped U.S. and Mexican authorities penetrate the Gulf cartel more successfully than most other drug gangs. And Vergara, the navy spokesman, suggested that Costilla's detention was a direct result of information provided by Mario Cardenas Guillen.
In November 2010, another of the Cardenas Guillen brothers, Antonio Ezequiel (alias Tony Tormenta), who had assumed the leadership after Osiel's removal, was killed in a gunfight with Mexican marines, the military branch credited with some of the most important scores in the drug war.
"This capture ... puts an end to a generation," Ricardo Ravelo, an expert on cartels who has written extensively on the subject, said in a radio interview. It also leaves the Zetas solidly as the second-most important cartel in Mexico, after Sinaloa, he said.
Yet it is not altogether clear that the Zetas are in a position to take full advantage of the Gulf cartel's weakness. The Zetas are reported to be in the throes of infighting and divisions — possibly a product of how rapidly they expanded in recent years — that could hamper their ability to exploit the moment.
Eduardo Guerrero, a Mexican scholar who specializes in security issues, said both the divisions in the Zetas and the debilitation of the Gulf cartel could end up limiting any violence as a result of Costilla's arrest.
"The detention could provoke a fragmentation of the cartel," he said via email. "It is probable that the Sinaloa cartel would absorb some [Gulf] cells, while others could also affiliate with the Zetas."
Other experts criticized the Calderon strategy of going after cartel leaders without pursuing their money or otherwise truly hurting their operations. Peña Nieto has been vague about his security plans except to vow to continue the war on drug gangs while focusing energies on the crimes of homicide, extortion and kidnapping.
"The problem is that killing or capturing the capo does not end the business," said Jose Reveles, author of "El Cartel Incomodo" (The Uncomfortable Cartel), about the Sinaloa network. "The violence continues. The trafficking continues. The fortunes remain intact."
 
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4 die in Zacatecas state

September 15, 2012, 9:00 pm
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By Chris Covert
Rantburg.com

A total of four armed suspects were killed by Mexican security forces Saturday afternoon in in Calera municipality in Zacatecas state, according to Mexican news reports.

According to a news report posted on the Zacatecas en Linea news website, a Policia Federal (PF) road patrol initiated a pursuit with armed suspects near the intersection of calles 5 de Mayo and Zaragoza, near the municipal cemetery, presumbly in Víctor Rosales, the capitol of Calera.  As the pursuit continued, the suspects opened fire on the patrol unit near Calle Morelos in Zona Centro.

The pursuit and gunfight ended in Nuevo Calera colony where presumably the four were killed.

Several news reports note that a Mexican Revolution Day celebration was scheduled to take place at 1800 hrs that evening in Víctor Rosales, and because of that the city was already heavily reinforced with security forces.

Calera municipality is between Zacatecas and Fresnillo municipalities on Mexico Federal Highway 45, which connects San Luis Potosi state and Durango state

Chris Covert writes Mexican Drug War and national political news for Rantburg.com
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September 15th Mayhem in Monterrey: 12 die

September 15, 2012, 9:00 pm
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By Chris Covert
Rantburg.com

A total of 12 individuals were killed in ongoing drug and gang violence in and around Monterrey in Nuevo Leon, according to Mexican news accounts.

Included in the death toll were two gunfights including one between armed suspects and a local police detachment, according to a news item posted on the website of Milenio news daily.

Four armed suspects were killed in a gunfight with presumed rival gangs members in a Barrio Moderna in Ciudad Solidaridad, north of Monterrey Saturday.  The encounter took place at around 1530 hrs near the intersection of avenidas Gonzalez Camarena and Zeppelin.  The suspects were reportedly in their 20s.

The second encounter took place at about 1545 hrs in Apodaca municipality in Bugambilias de Huinala colony  near the intersection of calles Rio Danubio and Rio Nazas.  The suspects travelling aboard an Ecosport van had fired on a convoy of municipal police agents.  Police return fire killed all three, among them a female. 

Police seized two rifles radio equipment and an undisclosed quantity of drugs.

Three other individuals were killed and around Monterrey, according to news reports in Milenio news daily.
  • An inmate in Topo Chico Centro Readaptacion Social (CERESO) was beaten to death by three other inmates Saturday.  The victim was identified as  Noe David Gonzalez Martinez, 37.   Gonzalez Martinez had been imprisoned since September 2009 for the crime of robbery with violence. He was attacked near the prison infirmary.  The three inmates allegedly responsible for the crime were identified as Juan Manuel Mora Martinez, Juan Flores Aldape and José Cruz Gordiano Mascorro. 
  • A father and son were shot to death in their home in Apodaca municipality early Saturday morning.  The shooting took place at a residence near the intersection of calle Pacto Trigarante and Grito de Dolores in Unidad Habitacional Independencia colony at around 0040 hrs.  The Milenio report said the shooters were armed with assault rifles.  The victims were identified as José Edgar Cerda Resendiz, 48 and Edgar Daniel Cerda Pompa, 21.
  • Two unidentified men were shot to death Friday night in eastern Monterrey.  The victims were both shot in the head by armed suspects who used AK-47 assault rifles.  The attack took place on Revolucion Bridge on Avenida Revolucion at around 2130 hrs.  According to  witnesses, the shooters then fled in a sedan, which was later found and seized by agents with the Agencia Estatal Investigaciones (AEI).
Chris Covert writes Mexican Drug War and national political news for Rantburg.com
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Kidnapped, Tortured, Castrated, and Crucified

September 16, 2012, 11:23 am
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Borderland Beat


This is my first post on the big screen. Big deal, some of you are saying. Me too, really. I wanted to start with an antojito just to get my feet wet. So bear with me. New technology and all. I thank all my friends back there with me in the forum, PincheG, DD, SiskioK, Guero7, Chimera, Milo, J, Armchair, Primus, Baggy, off the top of my head, on and on we could go, but especially I appreciate Chivis and AJ for always being smart, informative, humorous, and protective. Amigos. Buggs too. Now, I'll run back to the cover of the forum. Mostly this story is just another example of impunity that is so blatant and rampant in Mexico lately.
The victim was identified as Eladio Martínez Cruz and according to the police report he was tortured, castrated and assassinated before he was crucified.


Martínez Cruz had his arms outstretched and tied to a wooden stake of nearly three meters long, which in turn hung in tangled loop of rope encircling the metal post road sign.

In addition to being impaled on a sign, Eladio Martinez Cruz was stuck with two icepicks, imbedded and holding a placard to his chest with the message, "This happened to me for committing rape.  This is going to happen to you gossips, jokers, finger pointers.  Know it this is no game." Martinez Cruz had a criminal complaint against him for rape which was apparently committed against a women who he attacked with a knife this past September 3rd.



According to various versions in the media, the subject was detained and taken by the municipal police for a health check when he was kidnapped by a group of armed men. Days after, he was found and appeared assassinated.  The finding was first reported to the Municipal Police Contepec,  Michoacán then the Attorney General of the State (PGJE). 

Source:Diario Presente


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In 48 Hours a Second Prominent Member of the PRI Party Executed

September 17, 2012, 2:45 pm
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Borderland Beat

Second execution in 48 hours


Prosecutors reported that a state legislator who belonged to the Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI, was murdered on Sunday, Mexico's Independence Day, in Mexico state, which surrounds the Federal District and forms part of the Mexico City metropolitan area..
Jaime Serrano Cedillo was stabbed, the Mexico state Attorney General's Office said.
Serrano Cedillo, a "local legislator from the 25th district of Ciudad Nezahualcoyotl, was hospitalized around 1330 hours on Sept. 16 and lost his life from the wounds," the AG's office said in a statement.
The lawmaker was stabbed in Nezahualcoyotl, a city about 20 kilometers (12.4 miles) from Mexico C
"The Mexico state prosecutor's office will conduct the corresponding investigation to determine how the incidents occurred and find the whereabouts of the suspect or suspects, and will work in strict observance of the law," the AG's office said.
Prosecutors did not say whether the lawmaker's killing was linked to organized crime.
Eduardo Castro Luque and Family
Serrano Cedillo died less than two days after Eduardo Castro Luque, another PRI member, was gunned down.
Castro Luque was shot dead Friday night outside his house in Ciudad Obregon, a city in the northern state of Sonora.
The long-time businessman was elected to represent the 17th district in Cajeme and was to have taken office this week.
 
Mexican President-elect Enrique Peña Nieto, of the PRI, discussed Castro Luque's killing in a Twitter posting.
"I condemn the murder of Dep. Eduardo Castro. I am confident that the full force of the law will be brought to bear on those responsible. My thoughts are with his family," Peña Nieto said.
Mexico state Gov. Eruviel Avila Villegas, who also belongs to the PRI, expressed concern over Serrano Cedillo's death and said he ordered Attorney General Miguel A. Contreras to investigate the lawmaker's murder.
"We will find the person or persons responsible and will bring the full weight of the law down on them. My thoughts are with the family of Jaime Serrano Cedillo," the governor said. EFE
 
Thank you to the reader for providing the link to this homage...Paz, Chivis
You can leave messages of condolences-LINK HERE
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Where the Kingpins live

September 18, 2012, 1:07 am
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Rio Doce. 9-17-2012

By Miguel Angel Vega

Translated by un vato for Borderland Beat
Supermax Colorado living quarters to;
 Francisco Javier Arellano Felix, Osiel Cardenas Guillen, and Hector "El Guero" Palma
Gringo prisons open for Mexican narcos.

Once upon a time they fornicated with Wealth: collector automobiles, exotic animals, jewels, houses appraised at millions of dollars, where luxury and exaggeration were the main ingredients; gold plated faucets, oak dining rooms for the diners, Florentine marble, collector cars and brand new cars waiting at the door, yachts, motor skis.  But, above all, people working exclusively for them.

They were the narco chiefs that, with blood, fire and a great ingenuity for transporting tons of drugs from Clombia to the United States and for laundering money, built an empire.

Until one day, sometimes as a result of their own ostentatious lifestyle, they ended up in the grip of United States justice. Today, they survive in the shadows, in maximum security prisons, some awaiting death under a life sentence. Others watch time go by, knowing that their life is not long enough to serve their sentence. And others see the sky once in a while, aware that time goes by slowly for them, but that on a day already determined by a judge, the prison's doors will open for them.

Javier Torres, El JT,  Benjamin Arellano Felix,  Vicente Zambada Niebla,  Jesus Vicente Zambada Garcia, "El Rey,"  Miguel Angel Caro Quintero,  Hector Luis Palma Salazar "El Guero,"  Juan Jose Quintero Payan,  Francisco Javier Arellano Felix,  Sandra Avila Beltran,  Ismael Higuera Guerrero "El Mayel",  all of them from Sinaloa, and all of them narco bosses in one or another area of the country,  from different cartels and, at one time or another, they all serve sentences or await sentencing in some jail in the United States.

Some are on the brink of freedom, like El JT, who will be released on April 8, 2013, although, according to the sentencing order, he was due to be released on March 16. According to sources close to the Torres family, El JT bribed several inmates into giving him their time allocated for telephone calls and this is why his sentence was extended 22 more days.   The U.S. Bureau of Prisons told Riodoce that it would not comment on the case, but that these are situations that sometimes develop in prison.

The harshest prison in the U.S. is the Supermax in the state of Colorado, which is so strict that inmates see sunlight for only an hour each day. Francisco Javier Arellano Felix,  Osiel Cardenas Guillen, and Hector "El Guero" Palma, among others, are incarcerated here.

The case of El JT is one where a drug trafficker had some success with the American justice system because he had already served a sentence in the U.S., where he was charged with drug smuggling. The other case is that of Francisco Arellano Felix, who, after he was extradited in 2006, was released and deported to Mexico in February, 2008.

Javier Torres Felix, El JT

He's incarcerated in a medium security prison know as the Federal Correctional Institute (FCI) Beckley, located in Raleigh County , about 136 miles from Charleston, West Virginia. El JT was arrested in January, 2004, in an operation by the  Mexican Army, in the community of Tule in the Valle de San Lorenzo. According to SIEDO reports,  El JT was one of the Sinaloa Cartel's major operatives, very close to El Mayo Zambada, for whom he was a lieutenant.

Torres Felix was extradited to the U.S. in November of 2006 after spending two years in Mexican prisons. Among other charges, Felix Torres was alleged to have been involved in the death of a member of the military. His released is scheduled for April 8, 2013.

Jesus Hector Palma Salazar, El Guero Palma

He is serving a sentence in the Supermax, a maximum security prison that maintains the strictest security controls of all of the prison systems in the United States, including satellite surveillance 24 hours a day, inside and outside of the prison. Hence the name "Supermax" (super maximum security prison.)  It's located in Florence, Colorado, 90 miles from the city of Denver.

El Guero Palma was intitiated into the world of drug trafficking in the late 1980s, when he was working under Miguel Felix Gallardo and Rafael Caro Quintero. But one day, after a drug shipment was lost, the chiefs felt betrayed and broke their ties (with him).

In 1995, Palma Salazar boarded a Lear Jet in Ciudad Obregon, headed for Toluca. During the flight, he was warned that they were waiting to arrest him (in Toluca).  Palma Salazar  ordered the pilot to look for an alternative landing site and headed to Zacatecas, where they were also unable to land. They thought about Guadalajara, but a military convoy was waiting for them at the airport.

Almost out of fuel, they approached Tepic, but the pilot was unable to reach the airport and they crash landed in a ranch in Ahuacatlan Municipality. The Federal Judicial Police picked him up there and transported him under guard to Guadalajara.

El Guero Palma was extradited to the U.S. in 2007 and was sentenced in 2009 to 16 years. El Guero Palma will be released on July 16, 2016, because the judge gave him credit for time served in Mexican prisons.

Cell pod at Colorado Supermax
Benjamin Arellano Felix, El Min

(He's) incarcerated in the prison known as the United States Penitentiary (USP), in Coleman, Florida, 50 miles north of Orlando. This is a high security prison.

Arellano Felix was the undisputed leader of the Tijuana Cartel, and,  with his brothers, formed one of the most violent criminal groups in Mexico in the 1990s.  What seemed to be the most implacable cartel in Mexico began to crumble on February 10, 2002, when Ramon Arellano was shot to death in a gunfight in Mazatlan. A month later, El Min was arrested in a residence in Puebla.

He was sent to the Almoloya de Juarez prison and extradited to the U.S. in April, 2012. There, he was sentenced to 25 years in prison after he entered into a plea agreement with the prosecution. Arellano Felix will be released on February 6, 2033.
Home to Benjamin Arellano See orientation booklet
Juan Jose Quintero Payan, don Juanjo
 
He is an inmate in the Federal Correctional Institute (FCI) in Oakdale, Louisiana, 35 miles south of the city of Alexandria.

Quintero Payan was identified by authorities as the second most important member of the Juarez Cartel,  following the disappearance of Amado Carrillo Fuentes. He was arrested on October 29, 1999, in the municipality of Zapopan, Jalisco.   The U.S. justice system was looking for Quintero since the late 1990s on drug and conspiracy charges. From 1978 to late 2002, he was one of the leaders in the Juarez cartel, and was accused of smuggling great quantities of marijuana and cocaine into Texas and other states.

He was extradited to the U.S. in April of 2010, and he is due to be released on April 27, 2018.

Miguel Angel Caro Quintero

He is in prison in the Federal Correctional Institution (FCI), a medium security prison located in Memphis, Tennessee,  after pleading guilty of conspiracy and drug trafficking in federal (district) court in Denver, Colorado. According to PGR (Mexico's Attorney General) documents, "from 1983 to 1994, Miguel Angel was he leader of criminal organization dedicated to importing and distributing marijuana into the United States."  He is scheduled to be released on October 12, 2019.
 
 
 

Francisco Javier Arellano Felix, El Tigrillo

He was sent to the Supermax prison, a maximum security prison in Florence, Colorado, 90 miles from the city of Denver.  El Tigrillo will spend the rest of his life in this prison after he was given a life sentence by Judge Larry Alan Burns in July, 2009. El Tigrillo took over the Tijuana Cartel after his brother Benjamin Arellano  Felix was arrested. But unlike (his brother), Francisco Javier was sentenced to life in prison.

Ismael Higuera Guerrero, el Mayel and Clave Privada 

He spends his days in the Supermax prison in Colorado. El Mayel is from the town of Villa Angel Flores La Palma, in Navolato, and was part of the security apparatus of the Arellano Felix Cartel. He was arrested on May 3, 2000, in Ensenada in a military operation and extradited to the U.S. in 2007. He will be free on July 14, 2040.

Jesus Reynaldo Zambada Garcia, el Rey

He's incarcerated in the Metropolitan Detention Center (MDC) in Brooklyn, New York, a medium security prison. Zambada Garcia was one of the leaders of the Sinaloa Cartel, along with his brother Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada, Vicente Zambada Niebla ("El Vicentillo"),  and Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman. According to the DEA, "Zambada Garcia controlled a drug trafficking route through the Mexico City International Airport for his brother Ismael." 

Up until his extradition in April, 2012, El Rey was incarcerated in the maximum security prison in Matamoros, Tamaulipas, after he was apprehended in the Colonia Lindavista in the DF (Distrito Federal), on October 19, 2008.

Currently, El Rey Zambada is facing charges for bringing drugs into the U.S. and is in the process of being sentenced.

Sandra Avila Beltran, La Reyna del Pacifico

She is incarcerated in the Federal Detention Center (FDC) in Miami, Florida, where she faces drug trafficking charges. The so-called Reyna del Pacifico (Queen of the Pacific) is facing charges of conspiracy to smuggle cocaine, including possession with intent to distribute cocaine. Both charges carry a maximum penalty of life in prison, according to a document from the (Federal) District Court, Southern District, in Florida.

She was apprehended in 2007 in the company of Colombian Juan Diego Espinosa, "El Tigre", and both were accused of introducing at least nine tons of cocaine on the ship Macel, which were seized in 2002 in the port of Manzanillo, on the Mexican Pacific coast. Her trial is pending.

La Reyna's new palace, complete with cell phone detection K9s
Vicente Zambada Niebla, el Vicentillo

He is an inmate in a minimum security prison, the Federal Correctional Institution, in Milan, Michigan, 45 miles south of Detroit. Previously, he spent two years in the Chicago Metro Correctional Center (MCC), but after showing that he was living in deplorable conditions, Judge Ruben Castillo ordered his transfer to the Michigan prison.

Zambada Niebla, who was arrested  in Mexico in March, 2009, and extradited in February, 2010, claimed immunity and "public authority" (actions) by the United States government, who admitted having met with the son of Mayo Zambada before his capture.  Nevertheless, the U.S. Attorney states that the accused was never promised immunity, to which the Zambada Niebla defense responds that there are documents under DEA control that prove the opposite. The United States court has scheduled the start of his trial for October 9, (2012), in Federal (District) Court in the Northern District in Chicago.
 
Zambada was transferred to minimum security Milan after his many complaints
of conditions in Chicago, Milan is referred to as "Club Fed"
Extradition Law: Cataracts in Justice
 
On May 4, 1978, federal officials in Mexico and the United States signed an agreement to extradite criminals wanted by the authorities in one or the other country. This treaty was ratified by the U.S. Congress on January 23, 1979.  The agreement obligates both countries to deliver persons wanted by competent authorities, so long as there has been a criminal proceeding initiated (against them), or if they have been found guilty of a crime.

For the extradition to take place, certain requirements  must be satisfied. Foremost among these requirements is that the United States cannot, nor will it, impose the death penalty against any person extradited from Mexico. Also, extradited individuals cannot be tried for the same offense for which they were tried in Mexico. Finally, the document provides that accused individuals may not be extradited if there is insufficient evidence to justify a trial.

However, the agreement does not specify what kinds of agreements the United States justice system can negotiate informally with extradited persons, as was the case Benjamin Arellano and Osiel Cardenas, much less that these agreements be based on a price when a sentence is issued.           
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TALIBAN: Sends a Message Z40s Days Are Numbered

September 18, 2012, 10:35 am
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Chivis Martinez for Borderland Beat

 
 
 
Puebla Mexico- Municipal police confirmed that a new narco manta supposedly having a message from The Taliban formerly  of the Los Zetas Cartel appeared at apx 6AM in the morning Monday  on Highway Puebla-tehuacan.  Taliban is rumored to have jumped ship from the last letter and is now with the Gulf cartel.  This is a bit confusing perhaps readers can shed some light on the message. 

Los Zetas recently attempted to have a truce with Knights Templar, but if this manta is valid it appears they have formed an alliance with CDG.
Mantas also appeared in Zacatecas and San Luis Potosi.  Below is text translated.  This was difficult to translate.  I did not receive the lower photo until after translating, but it is in line with the message of the first reported text. 
Text of narcomanta:

                             C.D.G                                                       Caballeros Templarios
“TALIBÁN”
TO THOSE WHO KNOW HOW TO LISTEN:
Let me make it clear that Miguel Angel Treviño and all his relatives are going to be finished soon and life will have to continue its course. You decide if you want to be part of it or end like he will end, passing a catfish on his back.( this is a saying in Spanish translated makes little sense but means finished/dead) in Rio Bravo, if you are not in our favor, we will understand that you are against us and will be part of the same fate. Think about it. It’s enough, prevent his power from dragging you, Will you risk being dragged.(?) Power is unity and we are united more each time.
Leave him alone z-40 that soon this traitor will not have who to dominate or who to betray. He is sick of power, he got confuse and for him, power was to subordinate, oppress, force, reject, marginalize, intimidate, deceive, insult, underestimate, mistreat, betray, kill and forget…
At the same time he is proud, he gets happy, he brags about it, enriches himself, ignores that the powerful is that one that having the opportunity to take the life of someone chooses not to. He wants to have the power over other people because he could never have it on himself. The makes one stupid, but he was already stupid to begin with, before given the power.
No more blood, no more robberies, kidnapping and extortions. No more suffering of citizens and their families.
That is why you should join the cause. With us, you will add and (we will) multiply. Over there you will subtract, divide and finally will be finished.

Source: Texcoco Drugs Mexico


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7 die in Nuevo Laredo

September 30, 2012, 9:00 pm
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By Chris Covert
Rantburg.com

Seven unidentified men were found butchered and stuffed into two vehicles in Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas, according to Mexican news accounts.

A news dispatch posted on the website of Vanguardia news daily reported that the victim were stuffed into a Ford Lobo (F-150) pickup truck and a Ford Explorer.. The site was discovered at around 1100 hrs Sunday morning near the local Walmart shopping center.

All but one of the victims were in their 30s, with the other in his 50s. All victims had been dismembered.

According to data compiled from news reports which appeared on BorderlandBeat.com, at least 44 individuals have been killed in Tamaulipas state in drug related violence since September 7th, which includes executions and murders, intergang gunfights and security forces encounters with armed suspects.

Chris Covert writes Mexican Drug War and national political news for Rantburg.com
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7 immolated bodies found in Michoacan state

September 30, 2012, 9:00 pm
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By Chris Covert
Rantburg.com

A total of seven unidentified immolated bodies were found in Michoacan state Sunday morning, according to Mexican news accounts.

A report posted on the website of Cambio de Michoacan news daily reported that the find was made at around 1050 Sunday morning on Kilometer 4 of the Yurecuaro, Michoacan-La Concepcion, Jalisco road in Yurecuaro municipality.

The bodies were found aboard a Chevrolet sedan, which had been reported carjacked last September 16th.  Four of the victims had been decapitated.

According to data compiled at Borderlandbeat.com, including this latest find, since September 14th a total of 31 victims have been found in the Michoacan-Jalisco border region where a new conflict between Los Zetas and Los Caballeros Templarios drug gangs has intensified, since an internal power struggle within Los Zetas has made itself apparent.

Chris Covert writes Mexican Drug War and national political news for Rantburg.com
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Corruption: A look at a Meeting Between a Mexican Mayor and LFM

October 2, 2012, 11:10 am
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Chivis Martinez Borderland Beat


PRESIDENT OF TELOLOAPAN CUTS A DEAL WITHTHE FAMILIA MICHOACANA
IGNACIO DE JESUS VALLADARES SALGADO

MUNICIPAL PRESIDENT OF TELOLOAPAN, GUERRERO 2012-2015

This is Mexico’s truth, how cartels are allowed to operate with impunity and at will, how even good men are imprisoned by fear and terrorized at the thought of their love ones paying the price of any misstep on their part .

In the following video Ignacio Valladares Salgado, the elected mayor of the municipality of Teloloapan, Guerrero, has a conversation with representatives of the group “La Familia Michoacana” (LFM)

The location is nonspecific, but most likely near or in Teloloapan, it last for about six minutes. This appears to be the wooing stage of LFM. They ask in peace but the innuendo is clear that if the agreement (compromise) is broken there will be consequences. Seemingly the mayor finds himself in a potition of defeat either way he goes as he edges around the fact he has been approached by other groups. 

The mayor appears relaxed in the meeting, and if not for the fact he is speaking with members representing ta drug cartel it would appear as just a typical business meeting however he does seem to want to say more but is cut off by the narcos. Words with ambiguous meanings are used, but the intention is clear to the new mayor.

Here is the video narrative translated into English. For narrative indentification purposes I have assigned the following codes:

(M)Mayor, (LFM 1)first person speaking and (LFM2) for the second.

LFM1: What is your name?

M: I am Ignacio de Jesus Valladares Salgado

LFM1: Elected president of Teloloapan?

M: Elected president of Teloloapan

LFM1: The reason why we are here is because we want to have a peaceful town and it is in your hands, so we want you to compromise with us in establishing a director like we agreed… Tell me what we agreed on?

M: Yes, well, we agreed, I have to compromise with you and with all the citizens in putting a director of Public Safety that is external to the interests of other people, someone neutral and that dedicates himself to work, just as I will do it, in benefits to the entire citizens.

LFM1: Ok, who will this director be? What options do you have?

M: At this moment I don’t know who that might be, but I compromise in that I would look for a person that is external to the interests of any group or person, always attentive to benefit and care for the physical integrity of the citizens of the municipality of Teloloapan.

LFM1: You compromise with us to do so?

M: I compromise today with you and above all, I make the commitment just like I did when I was member of the parliament….

Interrupts lFM2: With us the Familia Michoacan!

M: With you the Familia Michoacana, just like I did when I was member of the parliament, I served the citizens, I made many public works, my intention now, If God gives me life, is doing it as Municipal Mayor

LFM1: Do you have a friendship with our leaders?

M: Yes, I have a friend relationship…

InterruptsL FM2: Exactly with whom?

M: I don’t know the name…

InterruptsL FM2: What is he called, aka ?

M: El Pez ( the fish)

LFM2: Close friends?

M: Well, not that close but…

LFM2: Just like us, we are friends.

LFM1: The reason for this is because we want to have a peaceful Teloloapan

M: Yes sir

LFM1: And while you don’t mess with any group, we will have everything controlled

M: I have to tell you…

LFM1: Neutral

M: It is not my intention to mess with anybody; my greatest interest is to have peace and quiet and I love life and I want life as well as I want the life of my loved ones and of course I respect the life of others.

LFM2: But here because of the friendship you have with Sr. Pez, with the boss…

LFM1: We are being attentive to you

LFM: And nothing is going to happen here, since we are friends, aren’t we? You with Mr. Pez, with us, everybody

M: We are friends and I hope that people external to you give me the chance of doing the things like I have to, because you also know that we are confronting other situations with other groups and well, I am going to maintain myself out of everything

LFM1: That is what we want, that your police to keep out of this, it is a commitment that we are doing right now so we can have peace and quiet, we never mess with the police. On the other hand, if the police and I want this to be clear, if the police act again against us then, Teloloapan is going to burn

M: What endear the most is that Teloloapan have peace and I tell you that I compromise myself …

Interrumps FM2: Teloloapan is going to have peace as long as we keep the friendship that we have

M: I make the commitment that all the police forces of Teloloapan, at the moment I take office and they are under my orders, I make the commitment that I am going to invite them to not get into any trouble that lead to greater difficulties to them, and to dedicate themselves in keeping the peace.

LFM1: And you have the obligation and the right to tell the army or any competent authority if a police is getting out of line.

M: But it is also my responsibility to tell you that sometimes not even our own children do what we tell them to do and that is when if any, if any gets out of line, we have to act in consequence to us, either fire them or turn them to the competent authorities.

LFM2: That’s right

LFM1: That is correct; you have that compromise with us then?

M: Yes, sir

LFM1: That is all
 
Thank you to the reader that sent this video to me, whoever you are....
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Two BP Agents Shot, One Dies

October 2, 2012, 5:25 pm
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Borderland Beat

The shooting occurred along a major meth drug corridor, the agents were on horseback.  Ironically, they worked out of the BP station named in honor of Brian Terry an agent killed in the line of duty...Due to the many comments sent in regarding the story of the Chula Vista woman shot and killed by a border patrol agent, I have added that story at the bottom.  The article appeared in UTSD...Paz, Chivis

 
     Fallen Agent Nicolas Ivie

Tuesday morning two U.S. Border Patrol agents were shot, one fatally injured,  identified as Nicolas Ivie, age 30, in what is described as an ambush in an area in south Arizona known as a major meth and heroin drug-smuggling corridor.
The identity of the other injured agent has not been releasaed.  The shooting occurred at the Brian Terry Station near Naco, Ariz., which is just south of Tucson. The station was named after an agent who was killed in the line of duty in December 2010. The area is considered a remote part of the state and sources tell Fox News that the shooting occurred at 1:50 a.m. local time and about 8 miles from the border.
"This shooting is a tragic reminder of the dangers the brave men and women who guard our borders face every day."
- Rep. Darrell Issa
The agents who were shot were on patrol with a third agent, who was not harmed, according to George McCubbin, president of the National Border Patrol Council, a union representing about 17,000 border patrol agents. The agents were on horseback at the time of the shooting.
McCubbin said he had no further information regarding the shooting.
The shooting occurred after an alarm was triggered on one of the many sensors along the border and the three agents went to investigate, said Cochise County Sheriff's spokeswoman Carol Capas.
SUMMARY
  • Two border agents shot in remote town in Arizona. One agent died, the other was airlifted to hospital
  • There is a multi-agency search for the shooter
  • The area is known to be a major drug corridor
  • The nearby station is named after Brian Terry, a border agent who died in a 2010 shootout near the border
Two week ago the  Border Patrol Station named in honor of fallen agent
Brian Terry, the same station the agents attacked worked (DIVDS photo)
 
The injured agent was airlifted to a hospital with nonlife-threatening injuries. The injured agent was shot in the ankle and buttocks, the Department of Homeland Security said.
The search for the killer is being led by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Cochise County Sheriff's Office. The area is currently flooded with agents on horseback and helicopters conducting a search for the suspects.
Smuggling activity typically increases at this time of night and year since the weather is starting to cool from triple-digit figures.
Rep. Darrell Issa , R-Calif., released a statement calling an investigation into the shooting and cautioned about drawing conclusions before "relevant facts are known."
"This shooting is a tragic reminder of the dangers the brave men and women who guard our borders face every day," Issa's statement read.
Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, called the fallen agent a fallen hero.
Two weeks ago, the station was named after Brian Terry, who died in a shootout in December 2010 not far from Tuesday's shooting. Terry was the last agent fatally shot while on duty.
Terry's family issued a statement, saying, "We hope that those responsible for this shooting are brought to justice swiftly. The fact that the agents involved in this shooting were assigned to the recently dedicated Brian A. Terry Border Patrol Station in Naco, Ariz., gives us pause to reflect on the life lost and the continued task of keeping our nation safe."
In Terry's shooting, 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.
 
Sources: US Today and Fox
 
 
 Woman Killed by Undercover Border Patrol Agent as She Left Drug House

 
CHULA VISTA — A woman who was fatally shot by a U.S. Border Patrol agent after hitting him with her car had moments earlier been in an apartment known for drug activity where the agents were trying to arrest a felon, according to new details released by Chula Vista police Tuesday.
Police said Valeria “Munique” Tachiquin Alvarado, 32, struck the agent Friday as she pulled the car away from the curb. A second agent reached into her Honda to remove the keys from the ignition, and she pulled forward and struck the first agent again, this time driving with him on the car’s hood.
The agent, fearing for his life, yelled “Stop!” and then pulled out his gun, firing several rounds to halt the car, officials said.
Alvarado, a married mother of five, was on probation for a 2011 drug-related conviction, police said.
The information from police provides the first detailed look at how the incident unfolded, and aimed to address the questions of family members and residents who doubted the Border Patrol’s initial account.
Several people in the area witnessed parts of the incident, though some of their accounts differed.
The Border Patrol declined to comment Tuesday, citing the ongoing investigation.
According to police, who are leading the investigation into the shooting, a group of plainclothes agents went to an apartment on Moss Street near Oaklawn Avenue shortly before 1 p.m. with an arrest warrant for a felon who had been previously deported and had a history of drug charges.
The unit was known to have prior complaints of drug activity, police Capt. Gary Wedge said.




Alvarado was one of several people inside the apartment when four of the agents approached and identified themselves as law enforcement, Wedge said.
She replied that the man they wanted was in the shower in back, then she brushed past the agents and walked toward her car, Wedge said.
The agents alerted two other agents who were guarding the perimeter of the apartment, and they tried to stop her as she got into her Honda. She struck one of them with the car as she started to pull away, police said.
The agent, who wore a badge on his belt, told her she was under arrest for vehicular assault, while a second agent with a badge around his neck smashed the driver’s side window and tried to remove the keys, Wedge said.
Alvarado struck the first agent again, driving west on Moss with him on her hood, investigators said.
Witnesses told police that she was going about 25 mph, and at one point drove through oncoming traffic while attempting to pass another vehicle. Witnesses said the agent appeared scared and yelled “Stop.”
After driving about 200 yards, she made a turning maneuver near Oaklawn. It was at that time that a witness told police the agent drew his weapon and fired multiple rounds through the windshield, Wedge said.
When the car stopped in the middle of the street, the agents attempted first aid until medics arrived, but she died at the scene.
Alvarado was shot nine times, said San Diego attorney Eugene Iredale, who has been hired by the family.
The agent, whose name neither police nor the Border Patrol has made public, was taken to a hospital for unknown injuries and later released. Wedge said the agent has several years of law enforcement experience.
The wanted felon never was arrested, authorities said. His name has not been released.
Iredale said Tuesday that the new information has “raised more questions than answers.”
“Why were they blocking her way? She was not the subject of any warrant. There’s no evidence she committed any crime. She had the right to leave the area,” Iredale said.
The attorney also pointed to the accounts of at least three witnesses who said the agent was standing upright, walking forward toward Alvarado’s car as it went in reverse when the shots were fired.
“The key question is, where was the agent when he fired the fatal shot?” he asked.
The attorney said he plans to conduct an investigation and have witnesses interviewed before the family decides whether to file a lawsuit.
Alvarado’s family members did not return phone calls or emails Tuesday night, after the police released the new details. Police said they told her brother earlier in the day about their findings.
When her father spoke to reporters on Monday, he expressed concern that authorities were going to attack Alvarado’s character, and were “going to want to make my daughter look bad.”
“My daughter was a lovely person, a loving mother, a loving daughter, a good sister. That’s all I can say,” Valentin Tachiquin told reporters. He works as a corrections officer at a women’s prison in Corona.
Alvarado has at least two other criminal cases, from 2004 and 2000, according to court records. Details on those cases were not immediately available.
She lived in Southcrest, although some witnesses told U-T San Diego they saw her Honda often parked on the street at Moss and Oaklawn. Her family said the night of the shooting that they did not know why she was in the neighborhood.
Christian Ramirez, human rights director for Alliance San Diego, said his organization was pleased that the initial investigation has provided some insight into what happened but that many questions remain. The group helped the family organize a news conference Monday morning and a candlelight vigil that night in Chula Vista, which several hundred people attended.
As for Alvarado being in the apartment Friday, Ramirez said, “Our understanding is that she was in the wrong place at the wrong time.”
The FBI and federal Office of the Inspector General is monitoring the investigation. The case is also expected to be submitted to the San Diego County District Attorney’s Office for review.
 

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