Zetas' Race Horses Are Auctioned Off at Last

November 4, 2012, 4:09 pm

≪ Previous: Calderon’s Pursuit of Developed Nation Status and Why it is Denied

Borderland Beat

San Antonio Spurs Owner purchases a Zeta Cartel Quarter Horse for a Million Dollars.

last we heard

Horses were dying from illnesses and the heat at an overcrowded ranch here federal prosecutors allege was being run with drug money from a ruthless Mexican cartel.

"The veterinarian, as well as other industry sources, has reported that there are too many horses on the Oklahoma ranch, given the size of the property," said Scott Lawson, FBI Special Agent

Eleven horses have died and others have become sick or hurt since FBI agents raided Zule Farms June 12, prosecutors reported to a judge.

The horses were seized in June at an Oklahoma ranch run by José Treviño Morales, an older brother of one of the world’s most dangerous drug traffickers, Miguel Ángel Treviño Morales, Z-40 leader of Mexico’s Los Zetas drug cartel. The Treviño brothers established a prominent organization in the United States that bought, trained, bred and raced quarter horses, Tremor Enterprises, which allowed them to launder millions of dollars in drug money, the authorities said. The horses, bred from champion lineage, won some of the industry’s biggest races.

José Treviño was arrested in the raid, one of a total of 15 people charged with money laundering. He and several defendants are awaiting trial in federal court in Texas, but his brother Miguel Ángel Treviño, among those charged, remains at large in Mexico.

Because of the health issues and other concerns, the judge in Texas has agreed to let the federal government sell all of the more than 450 horses linked to the drug cartel. About 380 of the horses are at the Lexington ranch.

“There is good cause to sell these horses sooner rather than later,” U.S. District Judge Sam Sparks wrote in an order filed Thursday in Austin, Texas.

Quarter horse racing experts said it was just a coincidence that so many of the horses being sold this week at an Oklahoma City auction had cartel in their names. The word is often used to show that a horse is a descendant of a certain blood line. But prospective buyers uncertain who used to own the racehorses had other names to give them a clue. In addition to Coronita Cartel, Big Daddy Cartel, Cartel Mischief and Cartel Syndicate, there was Merry for Money and Break Out the Bullets.

The annual fall mixed sale at the Heritage Place auction house, which began Thursday and ends Saturday, has been one of the most unusual horse shows Oklahoma has ever seen — more than 300 quarter horses the authorities said were used by a Mexican drug cartel to launder the proceeds of their ruthless, multimillion-dollar drug operation were auctioned off by the federal government.

The alleged ties between the horses and drug traffickers didn't bother Bob and Sandy Brown of Des Moines, Iowa, who paid $50,000 for a 1-year old filly named Follies and Corona that they plan to race and then breed because of its top-quality blood lines.

"The breeding is the No. 1 criteria for us," Bob Brown said. "We came down here to buy top quality brood mares."

Matt Witman, a ranch manager at Lazy E Ranch in Guthrie, said the government-owned horses provided a huge boost to the horse show and attracted buyers from countries all over the world.

"The cartel had amassed one of the greatest collections of horses we've ever seen," Witman said. "They're as good as it gets."

Julianna Holt, new owner of A Dash of Sweet Heat

Although many of the horses had names like Big Daddy Cartel and Coronita Cartel, those names refer to the horse's lineage as a descendant of noted sire Corona Cartel and not the alleged activities of its previous owners, said Debbie Schauf, the executive director of the Oklahoma Quarter Horse Racing Association.

"That is just a kind of fluke-like coincidence," said Mr. Schauf "Any offspring of his has 'cartel' in the name because they want to show the blood line."

A Dash of Sweet Heat

“There’s no fear in buying any of these horses,” said Special Agent Mike Lemoine, a spokesman for the criminal investigation division of the Internal Revenue Service, which seized the horses and was overseeing the government’s role in the auction.

Indeed, the activities of the horses’ former caretakers appeared to have no effect on those attending the auction, and on the prices they were willing to spend. Mr. Lemoine watched in amazement as the bidding on one of the sought-after mares, A Dash of Sweet Heat, steadily climbed and climbed.

“We’re at 450,” Mr. Lemoine said by phone late Thursday, as a fast-talking auctioneer could be heard in the background. “Now we’re at 550. 750. 850. 880 right now. 920. Hang on here.”

He had been referring not to hundreds of dollars, but to hundreds of thousands. A Dash of Sweet Heat ended up being bought for $1 million by Julianna Hawn Holt, the wife of Peter Holt, the principal owner of the San Antonio Spurs.

Eva Longoria, Peter and Julianna Holt

An owner of the San Antonio Spurs has repurchased one of the most valuable horses seized by the U.S. government from the Zetas cartel in a record sale that cost her $350,000 more than she sold the horse for last year.

Records from a horse auction in Oklahoma City show Julianna Hawn Holt, who with husband Peter Holt owns the largest stake in the Spurs partnership, made the winning bid of $1 million for A Dash of Sweet Heat, a 2-year-old horse she previously owned and sold. She did not personally bid Thursday but had a representative do so, according to sale attendees.

Julianna Holt is involved in the quarter horse industry and runs a ranch in the Hill Country. She often has her horses bred at the famed 6666 Ranch in Guthrie, near Lubbock, according to news reports about the quarter horse industry and Julianna Holt.

The Holts were unavailable for comment.

Julianna Holt

A Dash of Sweet Heat is one of more than 400 horses seized in June by the FBI and the Internal Revenue Service during an investigation into the money-laundering activities of the Zetas, who control smuggling corridors in Mexican states bordering most of Texas.

The feds allege the cartel's leader, fugitive Miguel Angel “El Cuarenta” (or “40”) Treviño, laundered drug money in the quarter horse industry by quietly using fronts and his older brother, José, 45, who lived in North Texas and Oklahoma before his arrest in June.

Some of their horses were long shots but made $2.5 million in important races between 2009 and 2012. Some also raced at Retama Park.

The three-day auction, which was reported in the San Antonio Express-News on Thursday, the day it began, includes 341 of the seized horses, including some bred from America's top racing bloodlines.

The auction does not include five of the most valuable horses because the parties the government seized them from have not yet agreed to their sale. The matter is being litigated in a civil forfeiture case in Austin. The $1 million paid for A Dash of Sweet Heat eclipses the previous record paid for a broodmare at a quarter horse public auction.

San Antonio Spurs

In January 2010, $875,000 was paid for Dash in Follies, one of the horses reportedly bought by the Zetas or its associates and seized by the government in June, according to a search warrant affidavit. Dashin Follies is one of the five valuable horses still in dispute in the forfeiture case, records show.

“The auctioneer said this was the second-highest sale of a quarter horse at a public auction,” said Special Agent Mike Lemoine, spokesman for the IRS Criminal Investigation unit in San Antonio.

“Of the horses we're selling now, we estimate this is probably the highest-valued horse.”A Dash of Sweet Heat was born in 2010. The filly was sired by Mr. Jess Perry and came from a top broodmare, Corona Chick, according to the auction catalog.

Just last year, Holt sold A Dash of Sweet Heat at public auction at Ruidoso Downs in Ruidoso, N.M., according to a Web blog posting on sallyharrison.com, “where breeders do their homework.”

A Dash of Sweet Heat

The $650,000 price for A Dash Of Sweet Heat broke the Ruidoso Select Sale record for a filly, sallyharrison.com reported. It was purchased at that time by “A Dash of Sweet Heat Partnership,” the blog site reported.

The horses' parents, too, are important in breeding circles. Mr. Jess Perry is one of only four stallions in American Quarter Horse Association history to sire earners of more than $39 million, according to the Web site for 6666 Ranch, owner of Mr. Jess Perry.

Corona Chick is a multiple race champion, record breaker and winner of nearly $600,000, according to sallyharrison.com.

Corona Chick also was the AQHA Broodmare of the Year in 1997 and produced champions that include All American Futurity winner Corona Cash and stakes-winning Corona Cartel, the blog said. Corona Chick was already owned by Holt, the blog said.

“She'd get rid of me before she'd get rid of Corona Chick,” the blog quotes Peter Holt joking about his wife's devotion to the mare.

Proceeds from the three-day auction will be placed in escrow until the case is resolved. Federal authorities expect to raise several million dollars by the end of the day Saturday. If the defendants are convicted, Mr. Lemoine said, the proceeds will be deposited in the Treasury Department’s forfeiture fund and will be used to finance law enforcement activities that include, naturally, fighting the war on the drugs.

ABCNews, NY Times

Milenio

↧

The Zeta Control of Coahuila

November 4, 2012, 8:13 pm

≫ Next: The Drug War in the Sierra Tarahumara and the Fall of a “Robin Hood”

≪ Previous: Zetas' Race Horses Are Auctioned Off at Last

Borderland Beat

Of course this is not news to us in Coahuila, and there are some inaccuracies in the report, such as the number of disappeared which even by government approximations there are over 1400. But it is a little insight to the hold Zetas have of the state....Paz, Chivis

Few outside Coahuila state noticed. Headlines were rare. But steadily, inexorably, Mexico's third-largest state slipped under the control of its deadliest drug cartel, the Zetas.

The aggressively expanding Zetas took advantage of three things in this state right across the border from Texas: rampant political corruption, an intimidated and silent public, and, if new statements by the former governor are to be believed, a complicit and profiting segment of the business elite. It took scarcely three years.

What happened to Coahuila has been replicated in several Mexican states — not just the violent ones that get the most attention, but others that have more quietly succumbed to cartel domination. Their tragedies cast Mexico's security situation and democratic strength in a much darker light than is usually acknowledged by government officials who have been waging a war against the drug gangs for six years.

Raul Vera

"We are a people under siege, and it is a region-wide problem," said Raul Vera, the Roman Catholic bishop of Coahuila. A violence once limited to a small corner of the state has now spread in ways few imagined, he said.

What sets the Zetas apart from other cartels, in addition to a gruesome brutality designed to terrorize, is their determination to dominate territory by controlling all aspects of local criminal businesses.

Not content to simply smuggle drugs through a region, the Zetas move in, confront every local crime boss in charge of contraband, pirated CDs, prostitution, street drug sales and after-hour clubs, and announce that they are taking over. The locals have to comply or risk death.

And so it was in Coahuila. One common threat from Zeta extortionists, according to Saltillo businessmen: a thousand pesos, or three fingers.

With the Zetas meeting little resistance, wheels greased by a corrupt local government, there was little violence. But the people of Coahuila found themselves under the yoke of a vicious cartel nonetheless.

"It was as if it all fell from the sky to the Earth," said Eduardo Calderon, a psychologist who works with migrants, many of whom have been killed in the conflict. "We all knew it was happening, but it was as if it happened in silence."

The "silence" ended in rapid-fire succession in a few weeks' time starting mid-September. Coahuila saw one of the biggest mass prison breaks in history, staged by Zetas to free Zetas; the killing of the son of one of the country's most prominent political families (a police chief is the top suspect); and, on Oct. 7, the apparent slaying of the Zetas' top leader by federal troops who say they stumbled upon him as he watched a baseball game.

"Apparent" because armed commandos brazenly stole the body from local authorities within hours of the shooting. The military insists that the dead man was Heriberto Lazcano, Mexico's most feared fugitive, acknowledging that he had been living comfortably and freely in Coahuila for some time.

"He was like Pedro in his house," former Gov. Humberto Moreira said, using an expression that means he was totally at home and could go anywhere.

The Zetas had such confident dominion over the state that Lazcano, alias the Executioner, and the other top Zeta leader, Miguel Angel Trevino, regularly used a vast Coahuila game reserve to hunt zebras they imported from Africa.

Since their formation in the late 1990s and early 2000s as a paramilitary bodyguard for the then-dominant Gulf cartel, the Zetas operated primarily in Tamaulipas state on Mexico's northeastern shoulder and down the coast of Veracruz and into Guatemala.

For most of that time, Coahuila, rich in coal mines and with a booming auto industry, was used by cartels as little more than a transit route for drugs across the border. The Zetas maintained a presence limited to Torreon, the southwestern Coahuila city that served as a bulwark against the powerful Sinaloa cartel that reigned in neighboring Durango state.

In 2010, the Zetas broke away from the Gulf cartel, triggering a war that bloodied much of Tamaulipas and spilled over into neighboring states. Coahuila, with its rugged mountains and sparsely populated tracts, became a refuge for the Zetas, and they spread out across the state, including this heretofore calm capital, Saltillo.

Even if the violence hasn't been as ghastly as in other parts of Mexico, nearly 300 people, many of them professionals, have vanished in Coahuila, probably kidnapped by the Zetas for ransom or for their skills.

The man in charge of Coahuila during most of the Zeta takeover was Moreira, the former governor. After five years in office, he left the position a year ahead of schedule, in early 2011, to assume the national leadership of the Institutional Revolutionary Party on the eve of its triumphant return to presidential power after more than a decade.

But scandal followed Moreira, including a debt of more than $3 million he had saddled Coahuila with, allegedly from fraudulent loans. He was eventually forced to quit the PRI leadership, dashing what many thought to be his presidential aspirations.

Tragedy followed when Moreira's son Jose Eduardo was shot twice in the head execution-style in the Coahuila town of Acuna early last month. Investigators believe that most of the Acuna police department turned Jose Eduardo over to the Zetas as a reprisal for the killing of a nephew of Trevino. The police chief was arrested.

LA Times

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The Drug War in the Sierra Tarahumara and the Fall of a “Robin Hood”

November 5, 2012, 4:16 am

≫ Next: Another "Lieutenant" of Chapo Captured in Edomex

≪ Previous: The Zeta Control of Coahuila

Borderland Beat

THE LAND OF NOBODY

Last week the decapitation execution of Antonio Erives Arduño,39, the leader of the Sinaloa Cartel in the municipality of Uruachi, worried the villagers of the region.

At the end of March of last year, the plaza leader had positioned himself as the “protector” of the citizens, due to the lack of response and security from the authorities of all levels of government.

“Toño”, which is how he was known, helped people with money, groceries and other needs. He defended even those who did not want to be involved with him. Although he rescued teenagers that were forcibly recruited by other criminal groups, he also enlisted some of them into his group.

For a year, Antonio Erives managed to maintain “calm” in the village, but Saturday morning October 27^th, his rival arrived, one of the leaders of the criminal group La Linea, nicknamed “El Vaquero”, to fight for the territory. The confrontation kept the inhabitants inside their homes.

According to local authorities, several people were killed, although the exact number is unknown. The confrontation lasted more than five hours.

There seems to be impunity to kill on the Sierra Tarahumara. Authorities and society blame the families, the community, saying that they’ve cultivated and produced marijuana and poppy for decades, mainly without realizing that violence has reached entire villages and manufactured thousands of anonymous victims.

The confrontations between drug traffickers are historical, the villagers say that there has always been organized criminals (armed people); and Indians and mestizos (persons of mixed race) have always cultivated drug. That excuse seems to justify permission to kill anyone, no matter the cause or how many killed, because the Sierra of Chihuahua is the “land of nobody”.

The power of Toño Erives

The last week of March and beginning of April 2011, the confrontation between the two criminal groups, Sinaloa Cartel and La linea, caused an entire town to spend the night on the mountains. They slept that week out in the open and with low temperatures. It was in Jicamorachi, of the municipality of Uruachi.

The morning of April 9^th, Lidia, niece in-law of Antonio Erives, came down from one of the mountains. She was accompanied by her mother in law, several aunts and a group of children, which had ran away after some strangers (La Linea) burned five of their properties.

Toño Erives, one of the uncles of her husband ( her husband was killed in 2009 at the age of 19), reached important positions in La Linea, branch of the Juarez Cartel. He soon started to stand out in that organization; however, the Sinaloa Cartel convinced him to unite with them and his power in the region grew immensely

“He was a noble man” said Lidia “he gave protection, helped people, lend them his trucks to go to the hospitals. He’s a man with handsome features, a nice person.”

In March 2011, El Vaquero, one of the leaders of La Linea, and former boss of Erives, arrived in Jicamorachi. There was a queen coronation ball. There was a quarrel between the group, the neighbors of the place indicated that one of them had a truck full of drugs and two men were killed.

Two days after, a commando dressed with federal police uniforms burned six houses, among these, one that belonged to the doctor of the town and several vehicles. The rebels came in to town randomly shooting. Fear drove the people, old, kids, complete families, to the mountains. Jicamorachi is nestled between several mountains.

Some families managed to escape and more than half of the 122 families of the town didn’t return, said one of the former regional commissionaires of Tepehuan. (dozens were also kidnapped). The villagers remain a whole weekend on the mountains, the distribution buses wouldn’t go up to Jicamorachi because of the risk that involved, the children became ill; the weather was cool, that is why they decided to return home.

Almost all of the villagers that remained in the mountains and hadn’t fled to other cities, returned, except Lidia’s family, who remain in the mountains with her aunts. The houses that the group burned belong to her family. They also burned a carpentry shop that belonged to the father of Antonio Erives. In early April, the army came and settled in the elementary school of Jicamorachi and that is how the villagers were able to return to their homes.

Frightened, Lidia came down the mountain; she wouldn’t say a word, just nodded that her desire was to stay with her mother in-laws. She refused to leave that town where she lived during her short marriage and lived face to face with violence. They are paying the price of unlawful practices that naturalized over decades in the Sierra Tarahumara.

At that time, the young woman evaded any person that asked details of those violent events. She was proposed an offer to leave town to go with her family, but she refused, she said that her desire was not leave her mother in-law and her aunts, alone.

A week later, she left the town with her in-laws. The Single State Police offered support to leave town by helicopter. They arrived in Sonora and weeks later, Lidia decided to go with her family to one of the major cities of the state. She got a job at a department store, she seemed calmed and during her lunch hour, she agreed to talk about her life in Uruachi.

She accepted that she needed counseling. She was determined to resume her life. A few weeks later she got married and now is expecting a baby.

Click to enlarge

Wave of shooting

After the gunmen took the town of Jicamorachi against Erives in March 2011, he and his men ambushed a caravan of vehicles of an opposing group that was passing by one of the roads of the municipality. El Blanco was the leader of another group. El Vaquero managed to escape in an armored vehicle, said a teenage relative of Lidia that is also part of the group of Erives.

As revenge, days later, people under the instructions of El Vaquero, took a passenger bus, where Antonio Erives’s sister, a councilor of Uruachi was travelling. Gunmen kidnapped her and the negotiation began: the plaza in exchange for the woman.

The agreement was to meet in a location near Gosogachi.

The councilor was taken by helicopter and given to her brother, but she had been tortured: her feet were burned. After getting her sister, “the war started”, both groups confronted the conflict from different hills. Toño’s group won.

In that same period, another village of Uruachi, Memelichi was also taken. Through emails, the victims indicated to their acquaintances that they were not allowed to leave the village. Out of fear, the men ran to hide, but women and children were kept in the village.

After the “war”, the enemy of Erives arrived in the main town with about 70 armed people to the and began a five hour shootout. Besides Toño’s group, poorly armed policemen and “three or four young men” participated, they climbed the roofs to shoot so the rivals wouldn’t know where the shots came from, also participated.

They fired from the rooftops and killed several men. The people with whom it was possible to have telephone communications, claimed that they saw people that were wounded or killed, but the groups took the bodies, so it is unknown the exact number of those killed or wounded.

The ladies said that they saw teenagers going into their yards with big guns, terrorizing them. The villagers said that in the “war”, apple harvesters were recruited.

The mayor, Aldo Campos Rascon, said a day later that the people were in shock; many houses were fired upon and the vehicles windows were broken. He assured that about 10 people were injured. The mayor requested permanent presence of the armed forces to try to contain the violence.

“If we don’t stop this situation, the Sierra will become a powder keg. It has turn into the population arming themselves or wanting to participate in some way or another in these groups and those more interested are the young people.”

“It’s a little bit of everything, people get tired of living like this, in fear, trying to take a stand one way or another. It is complicated and if we are not careful we will become a powder keg in a short time. People are concerned, there is mistrust,” said the mayor.

In view of that situation, suddenly, the villagers of the municipality realized that they were protected by Toño Erives and his people, who substituted for authority functions, beginning with protecting their lives to support transfers to hospitals and feeding.

Since that time, in late March and early April 2011, executions were isolated and sporadic, until last weekend, when the rival group attacked against and killed Antonio Erives, who had become the “Robin Hood” of the villagers of Uruachi. Now, they fear of how to accommodate both groups and the decisions the leaders will make.

Source: Proceso

↧

Another "Lieutenant" of Chapo Captured in Edomex

November 5, 2012, 11:24 am

≫ Next: Narco Zones: Hospitals without Doctors

≪ Previous: The Drug War in the Sierra Tarahumara and the Fall of a “Robin Hood”

Borderland Beat

In a military operation in Huixquilucan, State of Mexico, JESÚS ALFREDO SALAZAR RAMÍREZ, “El Muñeco” y/o “El Pelos,” presumed killer of activist Nepomuceno Moreno Nunez was arrested November, 1.

JESUS RAMIREZ ALFREDO SALAZAR,
“El Muñeco” y/o “El Pelos

JESUS RAMIREZ ALFREDO SALAZAR, is considered one of the most important lieutenants of Joaquin Guzman Loera (a) "El Chapo Guzman", and allegedly was responsible for the control of planting, production and trafficking of drugs in the state of Sonora and mountainous part of the state of Chihuahua, which mainly sent to the United States of America.

Salazar Ramirez is wanted by the Government of the United States of America and has an arrest warrant issued against him from August 24, 2006, by the Federal Court of Western District of Texas, on charges of conspiracy of possession with intent to distribute five or more kilograms of cocaine, in violation of the narcotic code of the United States of America.

In addition, there is a provisional warrant for extradition international drug crimes and conspiracy, issued by the Ninth District Court of Federal Criminal Proceedings in the Federal District, the January 13, 2009.

Salazar Ramirez, leader of the criminal group, "Los Salazar" (part of the "Pacific Cartel,"), is identified as the alleged perpetrator of multiple executions in the states of Sonora, Chihuahua, Sinaloa and the District Federal, among which:

 The activist Nepomuceno Moreno Nunez, November 28, 2011 in Hermosillo, Son.

 And Lawyer Lic.. Ruben Alejandro CEPEDA LEOS, killed on December 20, 2011, in the city of Chihuahua , Chih.

The prisoner was brought before the Federal Public Prosecutor SEIDO.

The arrest ALFREDO SALAZAR JESUS RAMIREZ (a) “El Muñeco” y/o “El Pelos," joins a series of actions carried out by the Army and Air Force, during the months of September, October, November in order to affect the leadership, command, control of operation of criminal organizations. Among the recently arrested are:

• Jorge Gomez SALDAÑA (a) “El Matamoros”, the second most important man in the criminal structure of "Los Zetas" in the plaza of Matamoros, Coahuila.

• Ramon Alvarez AYALA (a) “R-1”, RAFAEL ÁLVAREZ AYALA (a) “R-2” y JESÚS ÁLVAREZ AYALA,

• JOSÉ LORENZO ZEPEDA SAENZ (a) “El Tío” y/o “El Lic.”, alleged accountant for "Los Zetas"criminal organization in Monclova, Coahuila.

• ADRIAN GONZÁLEZ MARTÍNEZ (a) “El Comandante Niño”, plaza boss in the towns of Control, Empalme y Progreso, Tamps., for the criminal organization "Gulf Cartel".

• FRANCISCO JAVIER DÍAZ SALINAS (a) “El Chipiturco” Plaza boss for the criminal organization "Los Zetas" in General Escobedo y García, N.L.

MAURICIO RAMÍREZ TAMEZ (a) “El Diamante” Plaza boss in San Luis Potosi, SLP for the "Gulf Cartel".

• JOSÉ MANUEL TORRES FÉLIX (a) “El Ondeado” y/o “El M-1”, who was the operator of the "Pacific Cartel" and Ismael Zambada Garcia lieutenant ( a) "El Mayo Zambada", in Culiacan, Sin.

• JESÚS CAMACHO ESPINOZA (a) “Parotas”(a) "Parotas" and six members of the criminal organization "The Knights Templar", in the Tierra Caliente region in the state of Guerrero.

• ERASMO ISRAEL SOTELO HERNÁNDEZ (a) “El Frío” Plaza boss in Cuernavaca, Mor., for the criminal group "Guerrero Unidos."

JOSÉ SALGUEIRO NEVÁREZ (a) “El Che”, a lieutenant in the state of Chihuahua to the organization criminal "Pacific Cartel".

CARLOS ARNULFO FLORES FLORES (a) “El Flaco” y/o “Fantasma”,, head of the Plaza de Acuña, Coahuila., for the criminal organization "Los Zetas."

El Flaco

With these actions, the National Defense Secretariat reaffirms its unwavering decision to perform actions without any distinction against all criminal organizations that threaten the health, safety and peace of Mexican families.

Capo Elimination not good enough

MEXICO CITY, Nov. 5 (El Universal). - The strategy to eliminate the leaders of the cartels has caused more violence due to infighting in organizations over position a next boss. There requires a comprehensive approach to fight, as drug traffic will remain despite the killings or detention of all possible bosses, said Tony Payan, a visiting researcher at the James A. Baker III Institute at Rice University.

Payan's analysis indicates that drug lords are as always targeting profit., its members are dispersed sometimes among whole families, so the anti-cartel strategy must consider the entire chain, from production to consumption.

The intelligence services in Mexico and the United States have identified a significant number of drug lords, who are on the list of most wanted, and most of the combat strategy has focused on them, 32 of which have been arrested by the Mexican government.

"The question is whether to attack drug barons. Is it an effective strategy in the war against drugs. The answer is yes, but it can not by itself end the war, it is just one component, "he said.

Capturing weakens the organizations leadership , but "in Mexico learned that lieutenants often arrange family members or others to assume business, or sometimes newer, lower members in the hierarchy challenge "assumed leaders", this strategy of going after the kingpins costs many lives because members of the cartels will often compete for power within the group, and frequently, causes horrific bloody scenes as the cartel resets its leadership," he said.

Noticieroelcirco, Universal

↧

Narco Zones: Hospitals without Doctors

November 6, 2012, 3:29 am

≫ Next: Knights of Templar Say They Know Where Z-40 is

≪ Previous: Another "Lieutenant" of Chapo Captured in Edomex

Borderland Beat
Chivis' Borderland Beat - Ciudad Juarez: Toughest Place to be a Nurse

Doctors and interns assigned to areas with a strong presence of organized crime have been threatened, extorted, kidnapped and murdered without the benefit of health authorities and security forces to promptly protect them. In some cases, narcos charge protection fees, and others threaten the doctors to meet with certain patients.

the IMSS, lists at least 50 doctors this year so far that have requested a change of work place due to the high risk of violence placed on them, from the dangerous hospitals that they were originally assigned, said Manuel Vallejo Barragán, the newly elected secretary general of the National Union of Social Security Workers.

"The doctors are receiving threatening messages from narcos saying that they have the addresses of their families." Vallejo said in an interview.

We are very concerned that doctors and nurses do not want to work in high risk hospitals and that many hospitals are left with a shortage of doctors, such as in Tamaulipas."He explained that Chihuahua, Tamaulipas and Michoacán are states where IMSS doctors have reported much concern about the violence. In February 2011, the coordinator of advisors of the undersecretary of Integration and Health Sector Development [Ramiro Tamayo] acknowledged that violence and insecurity has affected the hospitals in Baja California, Chihuahua, Durango, Nuevo Leon, Sinaloa and Tamaulipas, but stressed that they were committed to the quality of health care and safety ofthe patients.

In response, an official from the House of Representatives, expressed his concern for the safety of doctors in various parts of the country. The official proposed establishing strict control measures of access to the hospitals, health centers, particular emergency departments.

In Tamaulipas, the state Health Secretary, Norberto Treviño Garcia Manzo, said currently six clinics have closed because of violence in Padilla, Soto la Marina and the border cities. Sara Cortes, president of the Mexican Association of Colleges and Schools of Medicine (AMFEM), said that the health authorities of the three levels of government and heads of campuses, agreed to provide basic security for interns sent to dangerous areas.

They also agreed to issue an official standard of governing the physical conditions of the medical units, although it was acknowledged, there is no progress in this regard.

Multiple Risks

Reforma analyzed assault cases reported by faculty interns, media, medical blogs and local health authorities:

The results indicate that in the last six years, three medical interns were killed, two were kidnapped, one was attacked with an ice pick, at least two armed commandos arrived at the hospitals and forced doctors to assist injured narcos, one woman was beaten and raped, and 62 others were threatened.

Most of the reported cases occurred in Chihuahua, Jalisco, Sonora, Monterrey, San Luis Potosi, Michoacan, Nuevo Leon, Durango, Guerrero and Campeche. [in narco controlled zones]

The president of the AMFEM indicated that the attacks increased after 2007, many of which happened in states that were not even considered violent and that not all the attacks came from organized crime.

"It is a phenomenon we are seeing more and more. Some years ago the medical staff was embraced by the community, but that is being lost, especially in states where organized crime conditions are worse. The fact is that they are not appreciated despite all their hard work." he lamented.

As noted by example Norma Angelica Aguilar Avila, a medical intern, from the National Polytechnic Institute (IPN) was murdered in December 2008 in the community of Huascuato, Jalisco, by a parent who's child was refused by the hospital emergency.

Given the failures of the authorities, some medical schools have taken steps to protect its graduates: in 2011, Tamaulipas announced their decision not to send interns to rural communities and in October the Instituto Politecnico Nacional (IPN) suspended Social highland municipalities of San Luis Potosi.

Personal vulnerabilities
The vulnerability of the medical staff was evident in October 2010, after an armed group entered the General Hospital of Mazatlan and shot to death a young man.

According to a national and local review by Media Reform; from 2010 to the present, armed commandos have stormed in at least 18 hospitals in Michoacán, Jalisco, Guerrero, Coahuila, Morelos, Chihuahua, Sinaloa, Durango, Monterrey and Zacatecas, most of the time to finish off wounded patients that had just arrived at the hospitals.

In recent months, doctors and students have staged demonstrations in Nuevo Leon, Nayarit, Sonora and Chihuahua to demand greater security.

The protests intensified after that. On October 15, a medical intern in Tecuala, Nayarit, a young woman nurse who was a trainee, was raped and beaten by a group of men when she was left alone in a medical center. Currently the girl is in a coma at a local hospital.

An official, Sara Cortes said "In the case of the young woman who was sexually assaulted in Nayarit, her family reached an agreement with the state government to provide security to the trainees who are not in safe areas. What we are asking is for this to be extended to the whole country and that all trainees, including men and women, are given security to protect them in high risk areas." she said.

Serving with fear
A study published in 2011 by the Faculty of Medicine of the UNAM, states that 60 percent of 2009-2010 graduates were sent to clinics that did not even have telephone service, 72% reported that the hospitals were not being constantly monitored, 35% reported that they had at least one or more break-ins, 19% were victims of a robbery and kidnapping.

According to the study, 37% of medical interns felt unsafe in the place where they did their social services, and 23% had thought about quitting because they felt that their lives were in danger.

Another study published by the same institution in May, indicated that about 36% of medical interns sent to Durango, Chihuahua, Hidalgo, Oaxaca, San Luis Potosi, Sonora, Tabasco, Veracruz and Zacatecas felt unsafe at the hospitals to which they were assigned to, while 22% had thought about quitting.

Each year, more than 12,000 medical graduates do their social service in different states, which lasts for one year. In return, they receive a scholarship of between $650, $6,000 and $10,000 pesos annually.

According to the health sector, medical interns cover about 50% of the their medical expenses.

Sara Cortes said in an interview that schools and students are aware that social service is a constitutional responsibility. However, demand that the authorities comply with their obligation to provide trainees basic safety measures.

"The country needs to pay more attention and should not ignore us. Finally, we want our interns to fulfill their social services in reasonable conditions of security and that their complaints and requests for support are addressed with the urgency and value that this subject demands." she said.

Connect to AJ's original version in the Forum:Thank you AJ , La Policiaca

↧

Knights of Templar Say They Know Where Z-40 is

November 6, 2012, 7:25 am

≫ Next: Piedras Negras Erupts With Violence Up to 10 Dead

≪ Previous: Narco Zones: Hospitals without Doctors

Borderland Beat

The Knights Templar Challenge Z-40...Again

Mexico City - On Monday, municipalities of Guerrero, Coahuila and Guanajuato dawned with 'narcobanners' messages expressing 'solidarity' with civilians butwith threats against members of the Zetas cartel, which they referred to as "cancer."

"The Knights Templar congratulate society especially that which is being stalked by the cancer of the Zetas, thanks for the information and entertainment in the State of Guerrero, thanks, too long", could be read in separate blankets located in Zihuatanejo and signed by 'The Knights Templar' split from La Familia Michoacan.

In Guanajuato mantas were hung on 15 other footbridges Irapuato, Acambaro, Celaya Villagran, Coroneo, Apaseo El Alto, Apaseo El Grande, Jerécuaro, Salvatierra and Tarandacuao.

Saltillo, Coahuila, dawned a blanket exposed in one of the viaducts Distribudor de Vial El Sarape.

In all messages, 'The Knights Templar' also thanked the community for giving information on the presumed location of the leader of Los Zetas. The blankets were removed by military or municipal police in all cases.

Chilpancingo, Gro., (Ap). - The criminal organization the Knights Templar returned in the early morning Monday to remind people by making their presence felt in this state by placing half dozen narcobanners against Los Zetas in Ixtapa-Zihuatanejo tourist corridor, right where the governor Angel Aguirre Rivero was touring.

Proceso reported on November 5, according to official reports, narcobanners were placed in different parts of Zihuatanejo, one of the points of the Costa Grande disputed by different criminal groups.  

The narcomensaje read:
"The Knights Templar congratulate society especially that which is being stalked by the cancer of the Zetas, thanks for the information and hospitality in the State of Guerrero, thanks, little is missing/won't be long and that's why we return to challenge Z-40 and not to murder the innocent, this scourge facing us, not only society perhaps they don't understand that nobody wants you, to pronounce the letter Z, it alone produces disgust and fear, do not mess with society. "

"Sincerely, The Knights Templar."

So far, no state authority has issued a position of this recorded fact in the middle of a tour made by the Governor Aguirre to this important beach destination, and nothing was mentioned about Guerrero municipalities especially Acapulco, being plunged into a spiral of violence and impunity.

Strengthening Security in Zihuatanejo, Guerrero

Zihuatanejo, Azueta• Given the ongoing repressive acts against commercial vendors allegedly by organized crime, there will be an increase in the presence of security forces in the town, mainly in the center of Zihuatanejo.

So, informed the security coordinator Pedro Salinas Solache, who declared that they were reenforcing security forces in coordination with federal, state and municipal forces

As leaders and business organizations wanted to comment about the closure of three commercial businesses because of criminal groups but chose to remain silent about the alleged threat.

The general coordinator of Municipal Public Security Zihuatanejo Azueta, Salinas Solache said the rightful responsibility corresponding will be to increase the Preventive Police patrol the streets of the city.

He noted they also will be coordinating with the Navy of Mexico and the Mexican Army to reinforce the presence of the security forces in the coastal towns in the Costa Grande region of the state.

However he clarified that in the case of the Municipal Preventive Police, that is not their responsibility to prosecute members of organized crime, but with the presence of the elements help inhibit criminal acts.

"We have neither power, capacity or weapons to combat organized crime, but it is not our competition or responsibility without the federal forces," the official said.

Salinas Solache said last week they had intensified physical training of more patrols.
The operating elements took a course in ambush combat, taught at the Regional Police Training (Crapol)

Mayor of Acapulco, Guerrero Says 500 Police to be fired becaue of corruption

ACAPULCO, Mexico— Five hundred police officers in this resort city will be fired because they failed tests used to identify corrupt officers, the mayor announced Friday.

Mayor Luis Walton Aburto said he will ask the federal government to send in federal agents to help what is left of the 1,700-officer police force provide security in the city of 800,000 people. He said the officers would be let go in January.

Police corruption has been a constant problem in Mexico, where poorly paid and poorly trained officers are easily corrupted by drug cartels.

Interior Secretary Alejandro Poire said this week that there are 43,000 state and local police who failed confidence tests and should be dismissed.

Drug violence has grown in Acapulco since the December 2009 killing of cartel boss Arturo Beltran Leyva, which set off fighting among factions of the Beltran Leyva cartel.

Sources:Milenio,Diario,Proceso,Miami Herald

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Piedras Negras Erupts With Violence Up to 10 Dead

November 6, 2012, 5:07 pm

≫ Next: Washington and Colorado: The Legalization of Pot

≪ Previous: Knights of Templar Say They Know Where Z-40 is

Borderland Beat
Update 11.7.12 another confrontation last night, it follows the first post of the Monday conflict. Additionally reports of massive convoys of SEDENA and PFP into Piedras Negras.

Conflicting reports with respect to number of dead. Lowest tally is 4 narcos (Zetas) and 2 federal police killed. The highest number is 4 narcos and 6 federal police. This inability to report numbers that are reported uniformly is a frustration and happens throughout Mexico, but Coahuila is one of the worse offenders.

There was an attack on the headquarters of the Federal Police in Piedras Negras, Coahuila, which caused confrontations between elements of the ARMY/NAVY, and Federal Police against armed commandos in several locations of the city.
.

According to the daily news Vanguardia, the shootouts occurred after the Hotel Posada Rosa, where the officers of the Federal Police were being housed, was attacked with grenades by armed commandos, which caused mobilization in avenues such as San Luis, 16 de Septiembre and Lopez Mateos.

The daily news reports that it was informed off the record that a Federal Police vehicle was burned after the explosion of a grenade, which was parked in the headquarters in the Hotel Posada Rosa.

However, according to the diary Reforma, the person in charge of the office of the Secretariat of Public Safety of the state, Jose Gerardo Villarreal, said that the federal agents were attacked when they were driving through the avenue Colegio Militar and San Luis Street, in the colony Roma. After the attack, other confrontations and pursuits iitiated which lead to the zona centro (downtown), which caused the closure of the International Bridge.

Likewise, the spokesman on Safety of Coahuila topics, Sergio Sisbeles, discounted the report that it was an attack to the hotel where the federal Police agents are staying. On his twiiter account he wrote- click to enlarge-:

An hour later he confirmed another death:

At 14:10 hours, the spokesman reported a new shootout in the colony Espejos.

Raziel Valdez, of the local channel RCG Noticias, showed images of the city after the confrontation of this morning. This is his version of the events:

Video translation

Armed gunmen attacked the headquarters of the Preventive Federal Police, located in the Hotel Posada Rosa, in the streets Lopez Mateos and Sinaloa of the colony Roma. At the time of this attack, students of the 5th technical secondary school had to be sheltered on the auditorium of that institution.

Based on data given by the Attorney General Office of the State, three suspects were killed and 2 federal police agents with minor injuries. The quick intervention of the officers of the Federal Police, Army and Navy during the confrontation resulted in scuessfully halting the attacks. These events were immediately reported so the International Bridges 1 and 2 were closed to avoid a major problem.

(Interviewing some people of an ice cream store about the shootout)

Woman: “I was sitting there”.

a man stuttering also says: “And I was sitting there”

Another woman: “She was scared because it happened very close”

Interviewer: “Did something happen to you?”

First woman: No, Thank God nothing happened to us”

In another place, a man says: “It was awful; I was in this pharmacy when it happened”

Reporter speaking: Images from Raziel Valdez - RCG Noticias - Piedras Negras Coahuila, Pedro Jaime Valdez

IMeanwhile, in Torreon guman attacked federal police installations such as the hotel they are using for housing:

11.7.12 Update New Piedras violence:

Piedras Negras. - The Attorney General of Justice of the State and the Secretariat of Public Safety, reported that yesterday in Piedras Negras agents of the Special Arms and Tactics Groups (GATE), repelled the aggression with a fire weapon and killed a criminal.

The conflict began around 11:50 hours, agents of GATES were patrolling as part of the “Operation of search and localization of the Inmates fugitives of the Social Rehabilitation Center”, when crossing the Carranza Avenue and Primero de Mayo, were attacked with gunfire from a white vehicle model Ram 1500, with no license plate.

After repelling the attack, they killed a man of approximately 22 years of age and confiscated the mentioned vehicle, as well as a long gun caliber 5.56 Del Ton Inc. supplied with 21 cartridges and 8 tire spike strips.

Marines check commercial plaza

Almost at 19:10 hours, social network users reported the presence of armed men in a mall of this city.

Marines went to the location, in an investigation, which included inspecting businesses on the premises, however were unsuccessful

People on twitter, pointed out that the marines were guarding several spots of downtown, some witnesses indicated on the same social network that the authority was following several suspects with long guns.

Source: Vanguardia and Twitter

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Washington and Colorado: The Legalization of Pot

November 7, 2012, 5:21 pm

≫ Next: Mexico: Rules of Game Have Changed

≪ Previous: Piedras Negras Erupts With Violence Up to 10 Dead

Borderland Beat

Two articles from Washington and Colorado, voters approved the pot initiative making pot legal for recreational use over the age of 21. I long held the belief that this would pass in Washington but frankly am surprised it passed this go around in Colorado. Oregon and California will be next to legalize marijuana. With some of the best mota grown on the west coast, and cartels illegally growing it in public forest land it will be interesting to see if or how it effects Mexican mota trafficking in that region.....Paz, Chivis

Celebrating in Colorado though a bit premature as the law is not in effect as yet

Seattle Times:

Washington enthusiastically leapt into history Tuesday, becoming the first state, with Colorado, to reject federal drug-control policy and legalize recreational marijuana use.

Initiative 502 was winning 55 to 45 percent, with support from more than half of Washington's counties, rural and urban.

The vote puts Washington and Colorado to the left of the Netherlands on marijuana law, and makes them the nexus of a new social experiment with uncertain consequences. National and international media watched as vote counts rolled into I-502's election-night party in Seattle amid jubilant cheers.

"I'm going to go ahead and give my victory speech right now. After this I can go sit down and stop shaking," said Alison Holcomb, I-502's campaign manager and primary architect.

"Today the state of Washington looked at 75 years of national marijuana prohibition and said it is time for a new approach," she said.

As of Dec. 6, it will no longer be illegal for adults 21 and over to possess an ounce of marijuana. A new "drugged driving" law for marijuana impairment also kicks in then.

Tuesday's vote also begins a yearlong process for the state Liquor Control Board to set rules for heavily taxed and regulated sales at state-licensed marijuana stores, which are estimated to raise $1.9 billion in new revenue over five years.

Many legal experts expect the U.S. Justice Department, which remained silent during presidential-year politics, to push back and perhaps sue to block I-502 based on federal supremacy.

But Seattle City Attorney Pete Holmes said Seattle's U.S. Attorney Jenny Durkan told him Tuesday the federal government "has no plans, except to talk."

Initiative 502 ran a disciplined campaign with a tightly focused message, criticizing what it called the failed "war on drugs" without endorsing marijuana use itself.

A study, released late in the campaign, found more than 67,000 arrests for low-level marijuana possession in the past five years in Washington, with African Americans and Latinos arrested at widely disproportionate rates.

I-502 spent heavily, raising more than $6 million, including more than $2 million from Peter B. Lewis of Ohio, chairman of Progressive Insurance.

A broad group of mainstream leaders — including former top federal law-enforcement officials, the King County sheriff, the entire Seattle City Council, public-health experts, African-American leaders and the state labor council — backed the measure. John McKay, U.S. attorney in Seattle under the George W. Bush administration, became a public face of the campaign.

The initiative faced surprisingly little organized opposition. The Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs and a state drug-treatment-prevention group were opposed, but did not raise money to counter I-502's $2.8 million TV-ad spending in October.

At debates, police and treatment providers predicted I-502 would lead to marijuana use, especially among teenagers. "It is a grave social injustice to trade the right of a minority to get 'high' for the right of youth to grow up drug free," said Derek Franklin, president of the drug-treatment group.

The loudest opposition came from some in the medical-marijuana industry, who said they feared being ensnared by I-502's DUI law, which does not exempt patients.

The DUI law also sets a zero-tolerance level for marijuana for drivers under 21, significantly stiffening current law.

Initiative 502 does not change the medical-marijuana law, leading to allegations that opposition from the industry was self-serving.

Tuesday's result was quickly hailed by activists such as Keith Stroup, founder of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws. He called I-502 "the single most important thing in the marijuana legalization movement in the last 75 years," and predicted it will become a template for other states to confront the federal ban on marijuana.

"That's exactly what happened at the end of alcohol prohibition. I think that's exactly what's going to happen here," Stroup said.

CBS Denver:

The statewide amendment to legalize marijuana use for adults in Colorado has passed.

Amendment 64 supporters were ecstatic at their gathering in Denver Tuesday night when news came down.

“Marijuana prohibition has failed in Colorado and it has failed in all sorts of other places,” Amendment 64 advocacy director Betty Aldworth told CBS4. “I’m so proud and so honored to have worked with this team of people and to live in a state where people recognize marijuana prohibition is a failure and we can do better.

Colorado

The amendment allows adults over 21 to possess as much as an ounce of pot. It also allows people to grow as many as six pot plants in secure, private areas.

Supporters believe legalization will generate tens of millions of dollars in tax revenue for Colorado.

The approval of the amendment puts Colorado in defiance of federal drug law.

“It’s still against federal law,” Gov. John Hickenlooper told CBS News anchor Scott Pelley about an hour later. “I’m not sure we can make it as legal as the voters would like us to do. But clearly the will of the voters spoke.”

Hickenlooper, who opposed the measure, said it’s “not immediately apparent” how the amendment will hold up against the national law.

Jeff Dorschner, spokesman for the U.S. Attorney’s office released a statement after the measure’s passage, saying the “Department of Justice’s enforcement of the Controlled Substances Act remains unchanged.”

“In enacting the Controlled Substances Act, Congress determined that marijuana is a Schedule I controlled substance. We are reviewing the ballot initiative and have no additional comment at this time,” Dorschner said.

State voters rejected recreational pot in 2006, but Aldworth said this measure comes at a time when voters have a different mindset, thanks in part to the burgeoning medical marijuana industry in several areas of the state.

“Amendment 64 is quite different from Amendment 44 in 2006 in that it envisions the regulated model for marijuana sales whereas Amendment 44 only decriminalized for adult use,” she said. “What we know is that Colorado voters have accepted the idea that we can regulate marijuana like alcohol successfully and we can make a safer, healthier and more just Colorado by doing so.”

The measure had the backing of the NAACP, the ACLU and the state public defender’s office, but most major state leaders came out in opposition.

Roger Sherman, the No on 64 campaign director, released a statement just after 9 p.m. on Election Day conceding the race:

“We knew all along this was an uphill battle against a well-funded national movement. We appreciate the efforts of Governor John Hickenlooper, former Governors Bill Owens and Bill Ritter, Attorney General John Suthers, Mayors Michael Hancock and Steve Hogan and countless other sheriffs, county commissioners, district attorneys and local elected officials who joined with the business community and citizens of Colorado to oppose this ill-conceived amendment.

“We can only hope that our concerns and fears about amending the Constitution to make Colorado the first state to legalize the recreational use of marijuana do not come true.”

The states of Oregon and Washington also had pot legalization amendments on the ballot, and at least one of those states — Washington — also approved their measure.

Colorado is already one of 17 states that allow marijuana use by people with certain medical conditions.

↧

Mexico: Rules of Game Have Changed

November 8, 2012, 9:10 am

≫ Next: Z40s RIght Hand Man in Saltillo Aprehended

≪ Previous: Washington and Colorado: The Legalization of Pot

Borderland Beat

Mexico City --

The main adviser to Mexico's president-elect said Wednesday that votes legalizing recreational marijuana in the U.S. states of Washington and Colorado will force Mexico and the United States to rethink their efforts to halt marijuana smuggling across the border.

Luis Videgaray

Luis Videgaray, head of incoming President Enrique Peña Nieto's transition team, told Radio Formula that the Mexican administration taking power in three weeks remains opposed to drug legalization. But he said the votes in the two states complicate his country's commitment to quashing the growing and smuggling of a plant now seen by many as legal in part of the United States.

"These important modifications change somewhat the rules of the game in the relationship with the United States," Videgaray said. "I think that we have to carry out a review of our joint policies in regard to drug trafficking and security in general."

Videgaray has been central to the planning of a U.S. trip by Peña Nieto planned for Nov. 27. Videgaray said security would obviously be discussed during that trip, and he indicated that marijuana legalization would be an important topic.

"Obviously, we can't handle a product that is illegal in Mexico, trying to stop its transfer to the United States, when in the United States, at least in part of the United States, it now has a different status," Videgaray said. "I believe this obliges us to rethink the relationship in regards to security. ... This is an unforeseen element."

The current Mexican administration has been vehemently opposed to pro-marijuana measures in the United States, and President Felipe Calderon spoke out against a similar legalization move in California two years ago. Calderon and members of his Cabinet remained silent Wednesday on the U.S. votes.

In other Latin American countries, where cocaine production is dominant, some officials, ordinary citizens and independent experts said they expected little immediate change in U.S. drug policy, but expressed hope that the marijuana votes were the start of a softening in U.S. attitudes toward drug production.

Alejandro Hope, a former high-ranking official in Mexico's internal intelligence service who has studied the potential effects of legalization measures, said he was optimistic legalization in the two states would damage Mexican drug cartels.

Hope said a flourishing legal pot market in Colorado could reduce Mexican cartels' estimated annual income from roughly $6 billion to about $4.6 billion.

Source:SF Gate

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Z40s RIght Hand Man in Saltillo Aprehended

November 8, 2012, 2:50 pm

≫ Next: The Twins Who Betrayed El Chapo

≪ Previous: Mexico: Rules of Game Have Changed

Borderland Beat

"El Peluso"

Following the arrest of Said Omar Juarez, 'The Peluso', another member of Los Zetas was arrested in Aguascalientes- Two Z plaza chiefs apprehended ...

Mexico City (November 8, 2012). - Elements of the Navy (Semar) arrested yesterday in Saltillo, Coahuila, Said Omar Juarez, "The Peluso" plaza leader of Los Zetas in that city. "The Peluso", who allegedly is directly connected to Miguel Treviño Morales and directly reports to, "The Z-40", the current leader of the criminal organization, was spotted and apprehended on the Bulevar Galerias, and found to be in possession of drugs and guns.

"This person was was in possession of a package weighing approximate total of 14 kilos 500 grams, containing the same green grass with the characteristics of marijuana and 22 bags which had solid elements with the characteristics of crack cocaine, an AK-47 rifle, three magazines for firearms, 140 rounds of ammunition, a grenade, and communications equipment and an automobile, "he explained.

Following this arrest, but in the city of Aguascalientes, was also arrested yesterday Solórzano Samuel Rodriguez, "The Chikano" who allegedly controlled for Los Zetas drug trafficking in that capital. Both detainees and drug and weapons secured, Semar added, were made available to the Attorney General's Office.

Source: Reforma

↧

The Twins Who Betrayed El Chapo

November 8, 2012, 5:26 pm

≫ Next: Corruption: Edomex, the Example Everyone Follows

≪ Previous: Z40s RIght Hand Man in Saltillo Aprehended

Borderland Beat

The Flores twins, 31-year-old Chicago drug traffickers, had warned their father not to return to Mexico, and especially not to the drug-war-torn state of Sinaloa, home to the Sinaloa cartel, which U.S. intelligence considers one of the most powerful drug trafficking organizations in the world.

Margarito Sr. was never heard from again.

The brothers, now in U.S. custody and acting as informants in a plea deal whose details remain secret, will be the star witnesses in the Chicago trial of Jesús Vicente Zambada-Niebla, a head of the Sinaloa cartel and the biggest Mexican drug kingpin ever to be prosecuted in a U.S. courtroom.

A status hearing on October 9 will set a new date for the trial, which has been delayed several times.

In court filings, Zambada-Niebla’s lawyers claim he, like the Flores brothers, was working with the Drug Enforcement Administration, and that in exchange for intel on rival cartels, the U.S. government turned a blind eye as “tons of illicit drugs continued to be smuggled into Chicago and other parts of the United States.”

In the months building up to the trial, a litany of court documents has been released that describe Chicago as a major distribution hub. The filings also suggest that damning details will be revealed about U.S. cooperation with some of the world’s most powerful narcos.

Zambada

California Governor with drugs bound for Chicago

Between 2001 and 2008, Pedro and Margarito Flores’s drug distribution operation flourished. Raised in Pilsen and Little Village, the brothers had direct access to Sinaloa cartel leader Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán-Loera courtesy of their father, who had made a career of trafficking drugs for the Sinaloa outfit.

Their ties to El Chapo meant they could circumvent the traditional supply chain controlled by local street gangs, and in turn, avoid the gangs’ trifling turf disputes. The purity and quantity of the cocaine they received directly from Mexico (roughly between 1,500 and 2,000 kilos, or about 3,300 to 4,400 pounds, of cocaine per month, according to court documents) further ensured the twins answered to no one but the Mexican cartels.

The Flores’s value and importance as traffickers for the Sinaloa cartel put them among a select number of people to have met in person with the elusive El Chapo, who escaped from a Guadalajara, Mexico, prison 11 years ago and is one of the most wanted fugitives in the world.

Pilsen Chicago where life is rough and violence surrounds

By 2001, the Flores brothers had become the main connection to Chicago for several of the leading Mexican drug cartels. They were the principal link in a drug-supply chain that connected Colombian producers with Mexican smugglers and on to North American consumers. According to court documents, the drugs were delivered to the U.S. by a variety of means—on speedboats, fishing vessels, Boeing 747 cargo planes, container ships and tractor trailers, and even by submarine.

The shipments reached U.S. soil in Los Angeles and were trucked to Chicago, where the Flores operation received hundreds of kilos each week. They unloaded trailers of Colombian cocaine and Mexican heroin into inconspicuous warehouses in Bedford Park and Chicago. They would split up the powder and stash it in still more warehouses in Chicago, Justice, Romeoville and Plainfield.

Click on to enlarge any image

The Flores twins sold some of their product to middlemen who mixed and resold it to street-level dealers throughout the city, but the FBI says the twins handled a quantity of narcotics large enough to supply wholesalers throughout the U.S., presiding over a network sprawling northward to Milwaukee, westward across the Canadian border to Vancouver, and eastward to Detroit, Cincinnati and Columbus, reaching all the way to New York, Philadelphia and Washington, D.C.

Court filings estimate their annual income at $700 million, according to a 2009 Washington Post article; the Flores crew reportedly shrink-wrapped the cash proceeds and hid them inside condominiums and brick split-levels in Chicago, Hinsdale, Palos Hills and Plainfield registered to relatives and girlfriends with no criminal records.

But there weren’t enough trusted homeowners in the network to receive so much money. The immense market share created the necessity to launder the glut of cash in otherwise legitimate businesses, according to sources familiar with the twins. Pedro and Margarito invested in a barbershop in Berwyn called Millennium Cuts, which remains open, and opened a Mexican restaurant in West Lawn called Mama’s Kitchen, which is now closed.

To get an idea of just how large the Flores operation was, one only needs to compare their $700 million estimated annual income to the total street value of all drugs seized in Chicago: $208 million worth in 2009, $139 million in 2008, $118 million in 2007, $143 million in 2006 and $235 million in 2005, according to the Chicago Police Department.

In any given year, drug seizures never reached a third of the value of what the Flores crew dealt annually. After the Flores empire was dismantled, cocaine prices surged on the streets of Chicago, from $18,000 per kilo to $29,000 in 2009, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

That the Flores operation had grown so huge isn’t surprising since Chicago has one of the largest Mexican populations among all U.S. cities, says Special Agent in Charge John “Jack” Riley, head of the DEA’s Chicago Field Division. (According to the 2010 census, Chicago’s Mexican population is fourth behind Los Angeles, San Antonio and Houston.)

“That allows Mexican drug traffickers to blend in more, avoiding sticking out in a crowd, while also having the benefits of more family and friends as support,” Riley says. “Family members in the States are key to the cartels, as trust is central to the operation.”

Though the business rested on their family connections to Mexico, the Flores twins had managed to remain independent of any one cartel in the supply chain. Between 2002 and 2008, they had benefited handsomely from a power-sharing agreement in Mexico between the Sinaloa cartel and a clan of four brothers at the head of the Beltrán-Leyva crime family.

After the six-year span of peace that brought prosperity to both cartels, a feud arose that turned to war in May 2008. At the heart of the violence was a dispute over how the spoils from the lucrative Flores operation were to be divided. Amid an atmosphere of mutual distrust, one of the brothers, Alfredo Beltrán-Leyva, was arrested in Mexico.

His brothers blamed El Chapo for tipping off authorities before the arrest. Their suspicion led them to declare war against the Sinaloa cartel. The Beltrán-Leyva brothers took their vengeance in the streets of Culiacán, the state capital of Sinaloa, where escalating drug-related violence claimed the lives of 387 people, presumably some innocent, in the bloody summer of 2008.

Click any image to enlarge or view slide show

The ethic of violence-for-violence quickly spun out of control, endangering the lives of the Flores family. The Flores twins chose to cooperate with U.S. law enforcement, according to a 2011 government proffer, though the details of this plea deal have not been made public. By 2008, the twins were relaying sensitive information about their cartel suppliers to federal authorities.

Perhaps the most lurid piece of intel supplied by the Flores brothers involved conversations Margarito Jr. secretly recorded with the heads of the Sinaloa cartel in October 2008, some transcripts of which were released by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Chicago. Margarito Jr. was fitted with a wire during a meeting at a remote mountain compound in Sinaloa with the heads of the cartel: Vicente Zambada-Niebla, then 33; his father, Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada-Niebla; and El Chapo.

A close degree of familiarity is evident between the men on the recordings—at one point Vicente is heard affectionately calling Margarito Jr. twin—that offer a rare glimpse into the deliberations of men with a near-mythic reputation for secrecy in their affairs.

“This government is letting the gringos do whatever they want,” El Mayo is heard complaining in one conversation, referring to Mexican President Felipe Calderón and his open-door policy to U.S. law enforcement operating in Mexico.

“They are fucking us everywhere,” El Chapo concurs.

Firepower—how to obtain more of it and what to use it on—is a recurrent theme from the taped excerpts. Vicente is heard asking Margarito Jr. to obtain explosives and military-grade weapons. The men even voice a desire to “send a message” to U.S. authorities by setting off an explosion near a government building or media outlet in Mexico City. No such attack ever took place.

“Twin,” the younger Zambada-Niebla says in one recording, “you know guys coming back from the war. Find somebody who can give you big, powerful weapons, American shit.… We don’t need that small shit. I want to blow up some buildings. We got a lot of grenades, we got a lot of .50 calibers, we’re tired of AKs.” Citing these conversations, prosecutors have expressed confidence in their ability to convict Zambada-Niebla.

Zambada-Niebla, better known in the Mexican press by his nickname, El Vicentillo, which translates roughly to “Pretty Boy Vicente,” was arrested in March 2009 in a predawn raid in Mexico City by an elite team of army troops and federal agents. According to court documents, Zambada-Niebla stands accused as the logistical coordinator of drug shipments for the Sinaloa cartel.

On the day El Vicentillo was paraded before television cameras in handcuffs by the Mexican Army, he sported a stylish haircut, a navy blue corduroy blazer, dark jeans and a striped button-down shirt open at the collar. The man whom the Mexican joint chiefs of staff condemned as the leader of death squads in the Sinaloa cartel’s war with the Beltrán-Leyva family looked more like a Latin Grammy nominee than a captured criminal.

Vicente Zambada-Niebla caught the attention of the Latin American press corps last March when he entered a plea of not guilty by reason of a pre-existing immunity agreement with the DEA. The two-pronged defense argued immunity and “public authority,” a specific kind of immunity that claims he acted under the auspices of the U.S. government. Zambada-Niebla asserts that U.S. law enforcement gave him carte blanche to coordinate the cartel’s smuggling operations into Chicago and throughout the U.S. and permitted the remittance of billions of dollars in cash back to Mexico.

He further alleges that the U.S. was complicit in arming the Sinaloa cartel with semiautomatic weapons, which it used to wage war on its foes.

Indeed, the circumstances of Zambada-Niebla’s arrest raised eyebrows in Mexico. A mere five hours prior to the raid on his safe house, Zambada-Niebla had met with two special agents from the DEA in an upscale Mexico City hotel located across the street from the U.S. Embassy, according to court documents filed last year by both the prosecution and the defense. Zambada-Niebla attended the DEA meeting with Humberto Loya-Castro, a lawyer and adviser to the Sinaloa cartel. The defense argues that Loya-Castro had agreed to serve as an intermediary in the DEA’s communications with the cartel.

Nevertheless, then-U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald, who stepped down in June, dismissed Zambada-Niebla’s claims. “Contrary to [the] defendant’s claim, no immunity was conferred upon him… Nor was any immunity conferred upon Loya-Castro,” Fitzgerald declared in documents filed last September with the U.S. District Court in Chicago.

Still, Henning is skeptical of Zambada-Niebla’s chances in court. “It’s not an easy defense to make out,” he says. “It just can’t be his word against what the government says. A lot of times [when] these defenses are raised, they are not raised successfully."

Other experts find more credibility in the defense’s claims that their drug trafficking enjoyed tacit official approval.

Luis Astorga, a research professor at the National Autonomous University of Mexico, says “the nature of the drug war is such that it is impossible to focus on combating all of the cartels at the same time, so those of us who have been researching this issue have long known that the Sinaloa cartel was not one of the highest priorities of the [Mexican] government. This does indeed contrast with the actual output of its production and its power. This is not at all a convenient case for the U.S. government to try and undoubtedly is quite uncomfortable.”

Security during the Zambada-Niebla trial will be extremely tight, as the Sinaloa cartel has a reputation for pulling off prison breaks (Chapo Guzmán was trundled out of jail in a laundry cart). Prison officials suspected the cartel of having the money and influence to arrange a similarly dramatic escape in Chicago for Zambada-Niebla.

As a result, for seven months Zambada-Niebla was kept in solitary confinement at the Metropolitan Correctional Center, a 27-story federal prison located in Chicago’s Financial District. He was deprived of daylight and nearly any interaction, with no one below the rank of lieutenant permitted to speak within earshot, says a lawyer familiar with the case. His meals were slid on a tin plate through a slot in the door to his six-by-eight-foot cell, the lawyer says.

In September 2011, Judge Castillo heard a request from the defense that Zambada-Niebla be allowed daily outdoor exercise. The prosecutor responded by reading a letter to the court from MCC’s warden, Catherine Linaweaver, warning that permitting Vicentillo access to the prison’s recreational area on the 27th-floor rooftop might invite an attack—or even a dramatic prison escape straight out of a Hollywood thriller. But Assistant U.S. Attorney Thomas Shakeshaft eventually relented. “Mr. Zambada-Niebla will be moved to another institution,” he told the judge.

Zambada-Niebla, his head now shaved and skin tightly drawn against his cheekbones, was transferred in October to a federal prison in Milan, Michigan. But his lawyers claim the conditions in prison have actually worsened, with new restrictions placed on his ability to see visitors and to receive his mail on time. The location of the prison, nearly five hours from Chicago, has brought accusations from the defense that the government is hampering his lawyers’ ability to communicate with their client.

The breaks the Flores twins have received for cooperating with the government have made for contentious courtroom exchanges between the government prosecutors and the defense team, who have been filing competing motions dating back to July 2011. At the heart of the issue is the fight for government documents revealing communication between federal agents and cartel members, and the 32-year-old Classified Information Procedures Act the prosecution has cited in denying the release of the overwhelming bulk of these documents.

Alvin Michaelson, a lawyer for the defense, complained at a pretrial hearing last December that the government was withholding information that impugned the credibility of the Flores twins as witnesses. “We know that there are witnesses that have been interviewed here in the Chicago area who…talk about the reputation of the Flores brothers as murderers, as thieves, liars,” Michaelson said before Judge Castillo.

“No one trusts the Flores brothers, no one, and…those are the two key witnesses in this case. We believe, we know, we’ve heard that the government gave enormous benefits to the Flores brothers’ families, friends, including the ability to keep their ill-gotten gains while they were working with the government; that agents here in Chicago perhaps…knew about the situation.

“Look,” Michaelson observed in court, “no one in the Flores family, there were many of them involved in the organization, they have not been charged with any crimes. We want to know the evidence as to why they were not charged with these crimes.”

Judge Castillo refused to comment on Michaelson’s assertions, brushing off the lawyer’s statements as hubris. “I don’t know if that [grandstanding] is for the media or someone else,” Castillo said.

“No, that’s for Your Honor,” Michaelson replied.

The DEA uprooted the Flores empire in a coast-to-coast raid on August 20, 2009. Fitzgerald referred to the indictment that followed as “the most significant drug importation conspiracy ever charged in Chicago.”

The twins went quietly. They remain in U.S. custody, though their exact location is a secret. Sources close to the case tell TOC they are being held in a Wisconsin prison, a state in which they own property and were previously indicted.

Mum’s the word for law enforcement at all levels where the twins are concerned. The U.S. Attorney’s office is withholding the details of its cooperation agreement. A police officer in the Chicago narcotics unit, reached on the phone, snickered at the mere mention of the twins’ names, then went silent. Not even Riley, the DEA’s Chicago director, will talk.

The Flores twins may be important enough to the government’s case against Zambada-Niebla for the record of their once-vast criminal empire to be expunged. But by the end of what stands to be a long and drawn-out trial, what will likely prove most important is what sensitive details are revealed about the true nature of the relationship that federal agencies had with Zambada-Niebla and the Sinaloa cartel.

Did the U.S. allow tons of illegal narcotics into its borders, as Zambada-Niebla asserts? His testimony versus the Flores twins will ultimately decide the outcome of the most important narco case to grace a Chicago federal courthouse in decades.

Source: Timeout Chicago posted in forum by Athena

Added Information from Windy City Kid BB Forum:

How they started in the game?The twins fell into the 2nd generation of distributors in US which is anyone born between 1969 - 1982. Many reporters stated on how it is unthinkable that the capos consider them "gatekeepers" at the age of 25. How did they gain the trust?

1st they were schooled by their father and uncles in Mex, Margarito Sr was a trusted associate of the pacific cartel in chicago late 70s early 80s. Sr had strong ties back home, the twins also had an older brother that was involved in the business through the mid 90s. they were involved at a young age starting around 98.

The older brother & one of the twins "Pedro" had gang ties, The twins were probably introduced to their connect & which point they start moving weight to their own clients. From 1998- 2004 or 2005 they primarily dealt through a person here in Chicago working for Maunel " la puerca" who was under the BLO banner but still a part of the cartel del Pacifico. During this time Pedro was still considered a mid level distributor moving any where from 100-250 a month, in milwaukee they had trouble with one of their clients & in 2002 Pedro was kidnapped & held for ransom of 150 kilos + cash.

How they ended in Mexico?In late 2003 they fled to Mex after being indicted in Milwaukee; even more set backs here in Chi around 2004-05 when a load of 300 kilos was stolen from one of their workers. Like many individuals in the business when you lose a large load they have to answer directly to someone higher then who they were dealing with directly.

This was around the time they had a sit down with the higher ups in the pacific cartel & with the twins now living in mex it was easier for folks to accept them. They had their cards pulled by mid level management and were being dealt a bad hand, in other words they wanted a better price in order to pay back all their loses.

The twins opened up their books to Vincetillo and the rest present to show how much weight they moved for the group between 1999-2004. They desired to take on more responsibility but Vince did not trust them 100% at this time they were not receiving the loads directly and; unloading them in the Chi.

Their crew had truck drivers, that would travel to Cali for loads of 1/4 to 1/2 ton loads bi-monthly. It was not until 2005 that Vince people in charge of transport to Chicago lost a load and; the whole crew.

That's when el Pacifico gave the twins the go ahead to be in charge of recieving larger loads 1000-1500 kilos, plus they had the workers in place and storage warehouses in place to pick up after that other crew was busted. So now their crew had the responsibility to safely recieve and unload the goods in chicago area.

How they moved up in the food chain?In 05 to 06 A number of trusted mid level distribution networks were busted, individuals working under the Pacifico umbrella (nacho and;valencias) group took heavy hits.

So a number of their clients went looking else were for work, who were buying 100 at a time turned to the twins. One can call this downsizing of middle management and higher profits for the capos, the price of coke shot up to 20k and; stayed there for all mid level traffickers in the states.

One has to question the claims of the gov that it was a consist shipments of 1-2 tons a month. But looking at the supply and demand and; the fewer options the capos had to moving loads in the chi and midwest it seems possible...

Continues on next page

↧

Corruption: Edomex, the Example Everyone Follows

November 9, 2012, 2:21 am

≫ Next: Texas Lawyer with Links Milenio Cartel Allegedly Launders 600 Million Dollars

≪ Previous: The Twins Who Betrayed El Chapo

by Rodrigo Vera Proceso

Translated by un vato for Borderland Beat

[Translator's note: Although not directly related to the narco war, this article helps explain the political context in which the war is being fought. The information in the article has been reported in other journals, but this is a convenient synopsis. -- un vato]

Enrique Pena Nieto was shaped in a school of corruption that promotes nepotism and favors oligarchic interests, asserts the president of the College of Architects and Urban Planners of the State of Mexico, Arturo Chavarria Sanchez. According to the specialist, who claims he was imprisoned for denouncing the alleged bad actions of Mexico's next president, the so-called Golden Boy devoted himself to benefiting large enterprises such as Grupo Carso and OHL, among others, and award them juicy public works contracts.

TOLUCA, MEX. (Proceso).--President elect Enrique Pena Nieto "is today the best representative of the corruption and nepotism that, for decades, the oligarchy that controls the State of Mexico has promoted," states Arturo Chavarria Sanchez, president of the College of Architects and Urban Planners of the State of Mexico.

He adds: "Pena Nieto was educated in the school of corruption. That's where he came from. He was trained so that the PRI oligarchy to which he belongs can do business from government posts. Governing for profit! That was his true platform when he was governor of the State of Mexico. Imagine him now as the president of the Republic."

-- Do you think he will have the same attitude?

-- Most probably, because the boy doesn't kinow how to do anything else. It's almost certain that he will repeat at the federal level the same oligarchic scheme, corrupt and repressive. Through him, the small group around him will assume power. Pena Nieto is a real risk for Mexico. Our future is very dark.

-- Can anything be done at this point?

-- For the moment, it's urgent to form an investigative commission to review all the corruption and abuses that he committed in the State of Mexico during his administration, as well as the multimillion (dollar) public works contracts that he awarded his friends. It's got to be an independent commission, above all, with no ties to the PRI. We Mexicans have the right to know the kind of politician who is going to govern us.

Through his College of Urban Planners, Chavarria has been denouncing for several years the acts of corruption allegedly committed by the so-called Atlacomulco Group and by Pena Nieto. He has also legally defended farmers, communal landowners (ejidatarios) and colonists affected by that group. This opposition to the State of Mexico political class has caused him to suffer harassment and even imprisonment.

"I know very well the dirty tricks that the Atlacomulco Group uses to do business and to perpetuate itself in power. I have analyzed multimillionaire contracts that the state's government awards them. I have every case documented here," says Chavarria, pointing to the files placed on shelves in his roomy office and the folders lying open on the round table where he is seated.

-- Which businessmen did Pena Nieto benefit during his administration?

-- A small group of magnates including Juan Armando Hinojosa Cantu, Carlos Hank Rhon, Carlos Slim, Olegario Vazquez Rana, the Azcarraga family and the Spanish company, OHL, which builds large transportation works in partnership with the Atlacomulco Group. They are all part of the corrupt oligarchy that I was mentioning and that will continue to benefit with Pena Nieto as president of the Republic, of that I don't have the least doubt.

"For example, the northern (Mexico) businessman Hinojosa Cantu began to climb during the Arturo Montiel administration, when they began giving him construction (contracts) for public buildings and important urban development, leaving out mid-size and small Mexico state builders.

"He quickly built a group of companies that worked in construction and urban planning, among them Teya and the Higa Group. These are companies that were formed overnight to obtain multimillionaire concessions from the government. They have built hospitals, highways, bridges and several other works."

-- And what's improper about that?

-- "They are projects that are awarded at will, they increase their original costs, they do not respect existing land uses, they run over the rights of third parties... in short, they are inflated projects that systematically violate the Public Works Law of the State of Mexico. They are created to enrich the political business group to which Pena Nieto belongs.

Let me give you an example: When young Pena Nieto was still the Secretary of Administration in his uncle Arturo Montiel's government, (Montiel) ordered the construction of a huge, highly specialized medical center. It was a Pharaonic construction project that Montiel used as a model in his presidential aspirations. The construction (contract) was illegally awarded to a consortium headed by Hinojosa Cantu. That hospital ended up costing three times more than originally projected. And it was built in a Metepec zone whose land use is incompatible with the construction.

"In his out of control megalomania, the governor brazenly christened it with his name: Arturo Montiel Medical Center, which is also illegal. He then place Pena Nieto as president of the hospital's administrative council. I protested because that project from the beginning violated all the rules. I wanted them to explain why the construction got so expensive and why the (contract) was awarded selectively."

-- What response did you get from Montiel and Pena Nieto?

-- The only response was repression. First, they sued me, accusing me of defamation. I wanted to meet face to face with Pena Nieto. But they didn't let him confront me. They protected their golden boy because they knew he didn't have any arguments. To silence my criticism, in 2002 they imprisoned me in the Almoloya de Juarez prison. This is the way I suffered this brutal abuse of power. But a federal judge exonerated me, finding that I was arrested as a result of misconduct by the government of the state.

"Obviously, Pena Nieto was behind my imprisonment. His uncle Montiel, in addition to making him an administrator in his government, was already training him in illegal business deals, corruption and use of the club, which he later wielded very well when he was governor in the repression in San Salvador Atenco.* Therefore, the construction of the Arturo Montiel Medical Center illustrates very well the favoritism shown to that group of businessmen."

-- In what way did Pena Nieto show favoritism to Carlos Hank Rhon?

-- Well, because he is the son of Professor Carlos Hank Gonzalez, one of the emblematic figures in the Atlacomulco Group, Hank Rhon has always enjoyed many privileges. his bank, Interacciones, is the state's bonding agent. In addition, Hank carries out important government projects through two of his companies, La Nacional and La Peninsular.

"One of the most important projects today was awarded specifically to Hank Rhon; the modern highway that runs from Lerma to Tres Marias, which connects at that point to the Mexico-Cuernavaca highway. Its a toll highway approximately 67 kilometers long (40 miles) which cost about 2,600 million pesos (about $200 million). The project began during the Montiel administration and continued throughout Pena Nieto's government."

Deals with Televisa

With respect to Carlos Slim, Chavarria notes that he also has ties to the Atlacomulco Group, because his companies Grupo Carso and La Ideal have also been awarded important projects, like the the northeast expressway from Toluca.

Another favored businessman is Olegario Vazquez Rana, who, through his Construction company, Prodemex -- says Chavarria--built the Las Torres avenue, more than 12 miles long, in Toluca. "Just for this avenue alone, Mexico state residents are paying Olegario 250 million pesos (approximately $20 million) per year for 20 years," he states.

He also point out that Vazquez Rana was awarded the concession for maintaining 70 highways in the State of Mexico, among them important avenues such as Paseo Tollocan, Gustavo Baz Avenue and Lopez Portillo (Avenue).

He says that the relationship that Pena Nieto has with the Azcarraga family is not simply the publicity contracts with Televisa to promote his image. "No. there are other deals in there. For example, the father in law of Emilio Azcarraga Jean, Marcos Fastlicht, is a very powerful businessman who was given wide latitude to negotiate juicy real estate contracts in Huixquilucan," he says.

But without doubt -- he adds -- it is the Spanish company OHL "which has been awarded the great Pena Nieto superprojects": it built the Circuito Exterior Mexiquense (CEM: Exterior Mexico City Loop), the Toluca International Airport and he is now building the Bicentennial Viaduct, the stretch of the Periferico (highway) known as "the second floor", which runs from Cuatro Caminos to Cuautitlan.

Notes Chavarria: "It is not coincidental that the president of OHL-Mexico happens to be Jose Andres de Oteyza, who was Secetrary of Inheritance and Industrial Promotion (now Ministry of Energy) during the Jose Lopez Portillo administration. At that time, Oteyza was the Presidency's go-between with the Atlacomulco Group. Since that time, he has maintained those good relationships on his own, which have resulted in business deals with Pena Nieto.

"However, OHL's projects have caused a lot of damage to ejidos (communal villages), communities and towns through which they are built. They haven't paid all the indemnifications. And the few that have been granted are laughable. Many farmers and communal land owners have been stripped of their lands. Some filed denunciations against the company and Pena Nieto. The litigation continues."

As governor of the State of Mexico, Pena Nieto never tired of preaching that the CEM was the most important highway project in the nation and he used that to secure his campaign for the presidency. But he built it arbitrarily. That wide asphalt strip, which loops around a part of Mexico City, was built without the (appropriate) expropriation procedures (eminent domain) in the communal properties that the project cut through, such as the Tultepec, Huehuetoca, Coyotepec, Zumpango, Melchor Ocampo, Jaltengo and Nextlalpan, among others.

In addition to Pena Nieto's highway, which is bordered by metal barriers and tall embankments, (the highway) also cut off large population centers such as Ciudad Nezahualcoyotl, Chimalhuacan, Texcoco and Tultepec. There were civil resistance protests by residents and mayors who saw their lands mutilated.

The protestors point out that the CEM -- which is 133 kilometers long (approximately 120 miles) and cost 24 billion pesos (almost US $2 billion)-- was not even suitable for public use, but was more a "private deal" that Pena Nieto delivered to OHL as a concession that they could exploit for 40 years, currently charging each driver two pesos for every kilometer traveled (Proceso 1802).

Divestiture of ejidatarios (communal landowners)

The Toluca International Airport also represents a profitable business deal for OHL and the Atlacomulco Group, since they own a 99 year concession, beginning in 2005. Chavarria specifies that, formally, OHL owns 49% of the concession. Another 26% is in the hands of the state government, and the rest is owned by the federal government.

He mentions other businesses that are tied to the airport: the parking concession, taxicab areas, land transport companies that pick up passengers in Mexico City, shopping centers, luxury hotels and restaurants, etc.

"The Toluca airport quickly became a high demand international airport because it takes air traffic previously captured by the Mexico City airport. In effect, it is an alternate terminal.

"The Atlacomulco Goup's projections are that , in 20 years, the Toluca airport will have the same flights capacity as that of the Mexico City airport," says Chavarria.

For that reason, the Pena Nieto government projected increasing the airport area by 400 additional hectares (900+ acres) which, little by little, it started to take by force from the only place available: the ejido (communal township) of San Pedro Totoltepec, located on the east side of the air terminal.

The government began by cutting off water and electricity from the communal landowners to force them to leave. Then, it began to pressure them to sell their properties, even using death threats. Some of them chose to sell their properties cheap, selling at 400 pesos per square meter when the value of the land there is now 18 thousand pesos per square meter.

But other landowners did not give in to the threats and, in September, 2009, assisted by the College of Architects and Urban Planners of the State of Mexico, they filed a lawsuit against Pena Nieto and some of his officials involved in the wholesale looting. In response, the airport manager, Alexandro Argudin, threatened the communal landowners, warning them that if they did not sell, the government would expropriate their properties. (Proceso 1816).

"The conflict is ongoing. The Atlacomulco Group and OHL are bent on seizing the San Pedro Totoltepec communal lands (ejido). We wil keep on fighting, although we'll have a harder time of it with Pena Nieto in Los Pinos (the presidential palace)," says Chavarria.

He indicates that another large business deal of the Pena government was the construction of the so-called Bicentennial Cities, "large urban centers that began to be built in six counties (municipios) --Atlacomulco, Almoloya de Juarez, Huehuetoca, Jilotepec, Tecamac and Zumpango-- so that building contractors could build thousands and thousands of very small "public interest" homes -- from 30 to 60 meters square--. The same (sic), so that the big department stores would locate there and have captive consumers, and industries, which they plan to build there, (to have) cheap labor."

To this day, he adds, those cities designed to exploit the poor have been a failure because they do not have streets, transportation or adequate public safety, not even sources of employment, as was planned. All they're doing is creating an "ecological disaster" and a "total chaos."

And he adds: "Pena Nieto was characterized by awarding public works concessions on all sides to give a false impression of progress and thus promote his presidential ambitions. He awarded those public works arbitrarily to his close friends in private industry, through a dangerous scheme titled Projects for Providing Services (PPS; Proyectos para Prestacion de Servicios), which consists of saying: 'You, businessman, build the public work, exploit it with a 20 year concession, enjoy doing a great business during that period by charging interest, then you turn it over to the state.'

"In reality, the PPS (concessions) are a scheme to create debt for the public, which must ultimately pay the costs and high interest rates for several years. It's the same as paying for a bank loan. The PPS's that Pena Nieto awarded -- highways, hospitals, schools, etc.-- had an average term of 20 years. So, in fact, he left a substantial debt to the four state administrations that came after his. The citizens will have to pay for it."

As an example, he points to the Regional Hospital of High Medical Specialization (Hospital Regional de Alta Especialidad) at Zumpango, which cost 800 million pesos ($64 million), but which will have a final cost of 5,146 million pesos ($411 million), since Pena Nieto financed the project for 23 years. Each year, (the public) has to pay 300 million pesos.

Or, the Texcoco East Cultural Center, which cost 700 million pesos ($56 million) , but which will eventually cost 5,436 million (pesos) ($435 million), since it was financed for 21 years, with annual payments of 180 million pesos ($14.5 million).

And there are a lot of projects like these.

On another matter, Chavarria warns about the "strong culture of nepotism" from which Pena Nieto drank.

"He is a genuine product of nepotism; he grew up in that school. His uncle Arturo Montiel gave him a high position in his administration so he could later inherit the governorship. Once he became governor, and without any problem, Pena Nieto repeated the scheme to distribute government jobs among his relatives, in violation of Article 42 of the Law on Responsibilities of Public Servants of the State of Mexico, which prohibits those practices."

He details how, as governor, Pena Nieto gave his cousin Alfredo de Mazo Maza the Tourism Secretariat. He appointed his aunt Marcela Velasco Gonzalez Secretary of Urban Development. His cousin Carolina Monroy del Mazo he put in charge of Mexico State Radio and Television, and then appointed her Secretary of Economic Development. He appointed his cousin Gustavo Cardenas Monroy Secretary of Environment. He made his uncle, former governor Alfredo del Mazo Gonzalez, president of the State of Mexico Council of Infrastructure. He gave his cousin Ernesto Monroy Yurrieta the post of Deputy Secretary of Education. He appointed his uncle Arturo Lugo Pena Deputy Secretary of Public Highways of the Communications Secretariat.

Chavarria reiterates: "Pure corruption and nepotism! All of Pena Nieto's political career is characterized by those practices."

*Translator's note: The Atenco tragedy took place during Pena Nieto's administration. He sent police and military forces to suppress ejidatarios protesting the expropriation of their communal lands to build the airport. Some sources reported that dozens of protestors were killed and several women raped. The government tried to cover it up, but it has been widely documented.-- un vato.

↧

Texas Lawyer with Links Milenio Cartel Allegedly Launders 600 Million Dollars

November 9, 2012, 3:58 pm

≫ Next: El Chapo-Owned Drug House Explosion -$1.8 Million Found in TJ

≪ Previous: Corruption: Edomex, the Example Everyone Follows

Borderland Beat

By JUAN CARLOS LLORCA — Associated Press

Mexico City, November 8 - Marco Antonio Delgado, a lawyer accused of "washing" over 600 million dollars in profits for Milenio cartel or Los Valencias, presumed to have been an advisor Enrique Peña Nieto only during his presidential campaign, but even "has been called to advise members of his transition team." Delgado, 46, was released Monday in federal court in El Paso, Texas, to be arraigned, and will remain held without bail while he starts a new detention hearing, according to the Bureau of Immigration and Customs (ICE). The federal judge said that if convicted, Delgado could face a maximum penalty of 20 years imprisonment and a fine of up to $ 250,000, according to the chain KFOX14.

Marco Antonio Delgado

EL PASO, TEXAS — A Texas lawyer and former Carnegie Mellon University trustee pleaded not guilty Thursday to laundering more than $600 million for a Mexican drug cartel.

Marco Antonio Delgado waived his arraignment Thursday, essentially entering a not guilty plea, during a hearing in federal court in El Paso. One of his lawyers, Ray Valverde, asked Judge Norbert Garney to postpone the bond hearing for Wednesday. His other lawyer, Jose Montes, said they would seek Delgado's release on bond next week.

Prosecutors say Delgado conspired to launder the cartel's drug profits from July 2007 through December 2008. The indictment doesn't say which cartel.

In a statement, Homeland Security Investigations said that Delgado is linked to a cartel based in Guadalajara, Mexico and that he conspired to launder more than $600 million of drug profits. If convicted, he faces up to 20 years in prison.

Marco Antonio Delgado

A biography that was recently pulled from the university's website says Delgado took leave from his professional activities to join Mexican President-elect Enrique Pena Nieto's campaign in early 2012 and adds that he is currently part of Pena Nieto's transition team.

Eduardo Sanchez, a spokesman for the transition team, said they had never heard of Delgado and pointed to the group's website, which doesn't list Delgado as a member.

"Clearly this person is not part of the team. We don't know him," Sanchez said.

Sanchez also ruled out the possibility that Delgado could have served as an adviser to Pena Nieto, or worked on or raised funds for his campaign. As to why a former member of the board of trustees provide such information to the university, Sanchez speculated that "criminals normally say things that are not true."

In Mexico, transition teams are tasked by the president elect to meet with current officials and gather information in order to assure a smooth transition from one administration to the next and to provide the new president with reports so he can make decisions soon after being sworn in.

Delgado received a master's in Science in Public Policy and Management from Carnegie Mellon's Heinz School in 1990, and in 2003, he gave the school $250,000 to establish the Marco Delgado Fellowship for the Advancement of Hispanics in Public Policy and Management. In a press release from that time, he credited the school's "outstanding faculty, strong links to the private sector and overall dedication to producing problem-solvers."

Ken Walters, a spokesman for the Pittsburgh university, confirmed that Delgado was a trustee from 2006 through mid-2012.

"I wish it was someone else," he said.

Walters said Delgado provided the biographical information that had been on the school's website, including his claimed links to Mexico's president-elect.

Sinembargo

Kentucky.com

↧

El Chapo-Owned Drug House Explosion -$1.8 Million Found in TJ

November 10, 2012, 3:53 am

≫ Next: La Vaca- Arrested-Confessed Killer of Police Chief of NL

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Borderland Beat

Public Security Secretary of the State, Daniel de la Rosa Anaya reported among the injured is a woman, whose identification was not disclosed, but it's known she is the niece of Raydel López Uriarte, El Muletas.

MEXICO, DF (Ap). - Elements of the Secretariat of Public Security of Baja California and the Army discovered by chance almost two million dollars in cash in a house explosion in Mi Entorno el Lago, a residential subdivision in the border town of Tijuana. During the incident a woman, one adult and five children were injured.The explosion occurred at a residence in Mi Entorno el Lago area, due to an accumulation of gas.

State officials say the property, belongs to the Sinaloa cartel, a criminal organization that is commanded by Joaquin Guzman Loera, El Chapo. According to Gen. Gilberto Landeros Briseno, commander of the Second Military Zone, the money was distributed in several "bales" hidden in several trucks.

Moreover, police discovered an underground or basement, which apparently was used as a clandestine drug laboratory. The head of the SSP of Baja California only said they are stable. Because of they found money, municipal police are guarding the house where the explosion occurred. Although he did not specify the amount found, General Gilberto Landeros Briceño estimated that there is at least a total 1.8 million in small bills.
At the accident site firefighters moved to smother the fire that caused the explosion. Money and vehicles were made available to the federation. The cash was handed over to the Attorney General's Office (PGR)

At the moment clarifications as to the exact amount of money found are needed as well as the confirmed names and affiliation of the people hospitalized with injuries from the explosion.

What it is fully established at this point is that this undetermined amount of money was obtained as a result of illegal activities and the two injured are under medical observation and police custody in the General Hospital.

Sources: Proces o

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La Vaca- Arrested-Confessed Killer of Police Chief of NL

November 10, 2012, 5:53 am

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Borderland Beat

José Valdez Perales 'La Vaca',

Elements of the State Investigation Agency succeeded in capturing a former employee of Roadside Assistance, who confessed to belonging to "Los Zetas" and being involved in the disappearance of the head of the Police Apodaca, recorded last year.

José Guadalupe Valdez Perales, alias "La Vaca" Valdez Perales, is leader of Los Zetas in the municipalities of Apodaca, Guadalupe and Juarez

La Vaca arrested on Oct. 22 and according to his own statement acknowledged his involvement in the kidnapping of the Apodaca police director, Milton Alvarado Rojas.

who was deprived of his freedom along with 10 of officers in April 2011.

Domene specified that "La Vaca" was commissioned to kidnap the vans carrying the official and his bodyguards, the day of the incident.

The defendant had three years of working for the Zetas as "hawk" and later as a bodyguard." Valdez Perales revealed the place where they were allegedly buried the bodies of the police chief of Apodaca and his bodyguards, after they were killed.

He pointed to the location in the municipality of Juarez where skeletal remains were found two people. Domene specified that they already performed DNA tests corresponding to whether the remains are those of one of the missing.

Another crime with which he is associated is the murder of alderman of the PRD in the town of Benito Juarez, Tomas Betancourt Gaitán, who was killed on July 30

Milton Alvarado Rojas

From the original story: The police chief of Apodaca, a city in the northern Mexican state of Nuevo Leon, and 10 of his bodyguards were kidnapped over the weekend by gunmen, officials said.

“We have 11 people missing in the city of Apodaca,” including police chief Milton Alvarado Rojas, Nuevo Leon Gov. Rodrigo Medina de la Cruz said in a press conference on Monday.

“We have a verbal report that was filed last Saturday. We are conducting an investigation,” the governor said, adding that he could not reveal any other information about the investigation.

Three officers who served as bodyguards for Alvarado Rojas were kidnapped last Thursday, officials in Apodaca, a city in the Monterrey metropolitan area, told Efe.

One of the officers later called the chief and asked him to negotiate his release with an organized crime group at an address in the neighboring city of Juarez.

Alvarado Rojas went to the address on Saturday with seven other bodyguards to rescue the kidnapped officers and the group has been missing since then.

The latest kidnappings bring to 18 the number of police officers abducted this year in the Monterrey metro area by drug cartels.

Seven state police officers were kidnapped on March 12 in Guadalupe, another suburb of Monterrey, the capital of Nuevo Leon.

José Valdez Perales 'La Vaca',

Furthermore, La Vaca, allegedly participated in the kidnapping and murder of the alderman of the PRD in the municipality of Benito Juarez, Tomas Betancourt Gaytan.

Tomas Betancourt Gaytan. PRD Coordinator

Two days before the elections on July 1; Municipal Councilman of Benito Juarez, Tomas Betancourt Gaytan who was local coordinator of Lopez Obrador's presidential campaign in Benito Juarez was kidnapped. There was a demand for 100,000 pesos. He was found murdered with four bullets in his body on July 30th.

Sources: Excelsior, Vanguardia, Borderland Beat

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Zeta Teen Sicarios Killed CDG by Gasoline Fire

November 10, 2012, 9:08 am

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≪ Previous: La Vaca- Arrested-Confessed Killer of Police Chief of NL

Chivis Martinez Borderland Beat

Monterrey, NL. Elements of the Road State Police captured three minors allegedly hit men of the criminal group of the Zetas that operated in the rural zone of Nuevo Leon.

Information given by the Secretariat of Public Safety revealed that the three minors were armed, with weapons and vehicles that appeared on a stolen report list.

The arrest occurred on a road called La Peñita of the municipality of Abasolo, after police officers were patrolling in deserted areas and spotted the trio.

Hector “N” of 16 years old, Valentin”N” of 17 years old and Karen “N” of the same age, had joined the zetas, months ago.

In the information, it was revealed that that they confiscated 173 useful cartridges7.62 x 39, four chargers, a fire arm 7.62, an AR-15, a bulletproof vest and three cartridge belts.

Two pickups which had three gasoline containers that were also confiscated by the agent of the Public Ministry.

The teenagers will be charged with committing multiple homicides and for the use of weapons of exclusive use of the Mexican Army.

In their confession, the minors confessed to have killed and burned at least seven people, all members of the group Gulf Cartel.

Teen Justice:

In Mexico there does not exist legal provision for teenagers that allow them to be charged as adults for any crime. They are charged and tried in juvenile court and cannot be held longer than the age of 18. In effect this murders, which they confess to seven,

They cannot be held in baby prison for more than 3 years due to their ages.

Teen sicarios are becoming more common place; however this story brings to mind the first teen sciario that was widely publicized, known as “El Ponchis”, 14 years old when apprehended. His story has many twists and turns.

Ponchis’ real name is Edgar Jimenez, and American citizen born in San Diego, California. Ponchis was born to a cocaine addict resulting in his own addiction at birth. Unwanted, he became a street kid until his paternal grandmother intervened and took him to the slums of Cuernavaca where he had a loving environment for the first time in his life.

Ponchis's Grandparents (deseased)

His grandmother died of cancer when Ponchis was around 9 and once again he was left alone.

Ponchis worked for the South Pacific Cartel since he was 11, according army officials who apprehended him.

Jimenez was captured with his 16-year -old sister who told reporters they planned to cross the border to San Diego, California to see their mother.

(photo above is of sister Olivia now 18)

"I participated in four executions, but I did it drugged and under threat that if I didn't, they would kill me," the boy told reporters calmly when he was handed over to the federal prosecutor Friday morning, showing no remorse.

"El Ponchis" made grisly headlines in Mexico when reports of murders he allegedly committed surfaced.

Ponchis will soon be 18 at that time will be set free. He is an American citizen so there will be nothing barring him from returning to his native country and no legal restraints preventing him from living and traveling freely within the United States or Mexico

BELOW ARE VIDEOS OF PONCHIS TORTURING AND KILLING

He can be heard singing and laughing while beting and killing the man

WARNING GRAPHIC VIDEOS

Sources used to compose this post: Vanguardia, Borderland Beat Achive Material of Smurf and Chivis

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"Hollywood" Helped Chapo's Twin Betrayers Become Major Traffickers

November 10, 2012, 11:46 am

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Borderland Beat

Windy City Kid contributed this interesting tie-in that relates to my post "The Twins Who Betrayed Chapo. Interesting backstory....Paz, Chivis

Many people have stated that the twins would not have been able to move 500+ keys a month if it wasn't for "Hollywood", he was one of their main customers for 250+ keys at a time. He was their primary distributor for the black street gangs on the southside as well as other midwestern states and east coast.

The twins had a number of customers in chicago and Milwaukee would be fronted 20, 50 a week. But few customers like Kiley that would be fronted 100 keys - 1/4 ton at a time.

Feds: International cocaine ring tied to Henry County . Windy City Kid

The Flores Twins Largest Customer

His home in Atlanta above, and below where he was living at the time of his murder

He bought two houses next door to each other — including a six-bedroom, six-bath, brick home worth $769,000, according to Henry County property records. He also bought a three-bedroom home, worth about $93,000, and had it bricked to look just like the larger house.

He put up a large fence around the two homes, complete with a gate and call box at the entrance —the only one on the block .

But as fancy cars — Porsches, Maseratis, Ferraris, Mercedes — came and went in the middle of the night, neighbors began to think differently of Murray.

“Beautiful cars, cars you dream about, would come in. There would be tons of cars and then nothing, no activity,” a mother of two who lives in the neighborhood said Friday.

This week, neighbors learned what is behind the gate.

Federal prosecutors say Kiley Murray, 37, is part of an international cocaine trafficking ring tied to $1.8 billion in drug sales. He was arrested Wednesday when police raided his Scarborough Road home in Henry County.

“He was a customer of a Chicago distribution crew-The Infamous Twins- that was getting cocaine wholesale from the Mexican cartels,” said Randall Sanborn, spokesman for the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois.

Murray is charged with conspiring with others to distribute five kilos of cocaine and one kilo heroin, according to a federal indictment.

Murray is now on his way to Chicago, where he will appear before a federal judge for a detention hearing, Sanborn said Friday.

“I knew something wasn’t right because he seemed to have more money than God and they never worked,” the mother of two said.

Neighbors asked their names not be used for fear of their family’s safety.

On Friday, parents in Murray’s neighborhood spent the afternoon chatting at school bus stops about the raid and wondering what will happen to the gated mansion that has since been seized by federal prosecutors.

It’s unclear if Murray’s family is still living in the Ellenwood house. There was no answer at the home Friday afternoon.

The neighbor said she came home from taking her children to school Wednesday and saw about 20 police cars at Murray’s house. A white box truck was backed into the driveway while officers loaded furniture, computers and filing cabinets into the truck.

After filing the truck, a U-Haul pulled up and took more of Murray’s belongings, two neighbors said.

Henry County Police said they also seized three vehicles, including a BMW and a GMC Denali.

“They were there for about five hours,” said another neighbor who lives a few houses down. “I thought it was strange they were going through his garbage. But it was trash day — literally.”

Neighbors said neither Murray, nor his wife or three children — including a teenage son, a teenage daughter and a little boy — used the pool, gated basketball court or large yard at the home.

“They never came outside. People came in to do their lawn, their pool, everything. I don’t even know if they checked their own mail,” the mother of two said. “The kids weren’t even allowed outside to play.”

Murray was one of 43 alleged drug leaders indicted this week by the U.S. Attorney as part of a federal crackdown on narcotic sales between the U.S. and Mexico. The indictments include 10 Mexican drug cartel leaders, said Laura Sweeney, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Department of Justice.

Investigators are working to seize $8.65 million that Murray and his conspirators made from drug sales, according to the federal indictment. They have already seized the Ellenwood home and six properties in Chicago.

Murray, who also goes by the names “Cali,” “Kal” or “Hollywood,” worked with several other drug traffickers in Chicago, according to the indictment. All of the other arrests were made in Chicago and New York, Sweeney said.

In addition to the arrests, police are working to seize a total of $1.8 billion in cash proceeds from the drug sales, said Patrick J. Fitzgerald, U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois.

The Chicago ring, which Murray was affiliated with, handled 1,500-2,000 kilos of cocaine a month, Fitzgerald said. They used submarines, private planes, cargo ships and tractor trailers to transport the cocaine, prosecutors said.

18 Months Later....

Kiley Murray of the 11300 block of South Calumet Avenue was pronounced dead at the scene of a drive by shooting, according to a spokesman for the Cook County medical examiner's office.

Preliminary reports said Murray was walking to his house shortly after 9 p.m. when a white vehicle pulled up and two male suspects jumped out, police said. One of the suspects shot the man..
As of Wednesday, nobody was in custody in connection with the shooting. Chicago police are investigating the case.

Murray was out on a $250,000 secured bond at the time of his death. He was arrested in Henry County in August 2009 and later transferred to Chicago, where he was indicted on charges of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute 5 kilos or more of cocaine and 1 kilo or more of heroin, said Randall Samborn, a spokesman with the U.S. Attorney's Office in Chicago.

A month later, Murray was released on the secured bond and was under electronic monitoring and home detention from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m.

He was later allowed to remain free until 10 p.m., and the electronic monitoring was discontinued in September of this year, Samborn said. Murray also was allowed to travel between Chicago and Atlanta. He had a status hearing scheduled for next Tuesday, Samborn said.

"We don't believe there was a trial date set," said Samborn, who declined to discuss Murray's death.

Click to enlarge

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF ILLINOIS
EASTERN DIVISION

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

UNDER SEAL

KILEY MURRAY,

also known as “Cali,”

also known as “Kal,”

also known as “Hollywood”

Violation: Title 21, United States Code,

Section 846

The SPECIAL FEBRUARY 2008-2 GRAND JURY charges:

Beginning in or about 2000, and continuing until at least in or about January 2009, at

Chicago, in the Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division, and elsewhere,

KILEY MURRAY,
also known as “Cali,”
also known as “Kal,”
also known as “Hollywood,”

defendant herein, did conspire with others known and unknown to the Grand Jury, knowingly and intentionally to possess with intent to distribute and to distribute a controlled substance, namely, 5 kilograms or more of mixtures and substances containing a detectable amount of

cocaine, a Schedule II Narcotic Drug Controlled Substance, and 1 kilogram or more of mixtures and substances containing heroin, a Schedule I Narcotic Drug Controlled Substance, in violation of Title 21, United States Code, Section 841(a)(1); In violation of Title 21, United States Code, Section 846.

FORFEITURE ALLEGATION

The SPECIAL FEBRUARY 2008-2 GRAND JURY further charges that:

The allegations of the indictment are realleged and fully incorporated herein for the purpose of alleging forfeiture to the United States pursuant to Title 21, United States As a result of his violations of Title 21, United States Code, Section 846, as alleged in the foregoing indictment,

KILEY MURRAY,

The interests of the defendant, subject to forfeiture to the United States
pursuant to Title 21, United States Code, Section 853, include, but are not limited to, approximately $8,650,000.

it is the intent of the United States to seek forfeiture of substitute property, including but not

limited to the following, under the provisions of Title 21, United States Code, Section 853(p),

as incorporated by Title 28, United States Code, Section 2461(c):

the property located at 428 Scarborough Road, Ellenwood, Georgia, 30294;

the property located at 5527 S. Peoria Street, Chicago, Illinois, 60621;

the property located at 7565 S. Hoyne Avenue, Chicago, Illinois, 60620;

the property located at 612 W. 111th Street, Chicago, Illinois, 60628;

the property located at 11316 S. Calumet, Chicago, Illinois, 60628;

the property located at 8319 S. Green, Chicago, Illinois, 60620; and

the property located at 8308 S. Green, Chicago, Illinois, 60620.

All pursuant to Title 21, United States Code, Section 853.

Sources: The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Archive; Windy City Kid

↧

Badanov's Buzzkill Bulletin

November 10, 2012, 9:00 pm

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≪ Previous: "Hollywood" Helped Chapo's Twin Betrayers Become Major Traffickers

Been a While Edition

By Chris Covert
Rantburg.com

Mexican Army units since October 19th have seized 11,888.741 kilograms of marijuana, 40.4 kilograms of power cocaine, 2.5 kilograms of crystal methamphetamine, 2.3 kilograms of heroin, MX $91,050.00 (USD $6903.11), USD $40 dollars (MX $527.59) in cash, according to official Mexican government reports.

Units with the Mexican 34th Military Zone seized a small quantity of marijuana and illegal cigars in Quintana Roo state October 19th. The seizing of the marijuana was incident to traffic stop in Cancun city. Soldiers detained one unidentified individuals and seized a vehicle. The illegal cigars were found in an abandoned vehicle in the village of Caobas in Othan P. Blanco municipality. A total of 110,000 cigars in 11 boxes were seized.
A Mexican army unit with the 8th Military Zone exchanged gunfire with an undetermined number of armed suspects killing three in Ciudad Victoria in Tamaulipas state October 20th. The encounter took place in Tomas Yarrington colony of the city while the unit was on patrol when it came under small arms fire. A total of three rifles, an undisclosed number of weapons magazines and one vehicle were seized in the aftermath.
An army unit with the Mexican 22nd Military Zone seized and dismantled a hidden drug lab in Mexico state October 23rd. The unit was on patrol in Temascaltepec municipality when the discovery was made. Soldiers found one 150 liter capacity metallic reactor, one 200 liter dairy container, 30 liters of acetic anhydride, three 73 liter drums filled with hydrochloric acid, nine kilograms sacks of sodium acetate, six burners and other materiel.
A Mexican Army unit with the 9th Military Zone seized quantities of diesel and gasoline in Sinaloa state October 22nd. The site was located in the village of Mauto in Salvador Alvarado municipality. A total of 11,000 liters of gasline and 7,000 liters of diesel fuel were found, along with eight 1,000 liter plastic containers and nine vehicles.
An army unit with the Mexican 22nd Military Zone located and dismantled an illegal drug lab in Mexico state October 23rd. The lab was found in the village of La Trampa in Santa Ana Jilotzingo municipality where the unit had been on patrol. The chemicals and equipment found were inside of two warehouses and included 20 bags of soda, eight bags of acid, 20 drums of isopropyl alcohol, 20 plastic drums of acetic anhydrone, 600 kilowatt generator, 23 30 kilograms gas tanks, eight clothes driers, 30 gages, seven gas masks and one bulletproof vest.
A Mexican Army unit with the 8th Military Zone encountered armed suspects October 23rd in Tamaulipas state when soldiers were fired on by an indeterminate number of armed suspects. The gunfight took place as the unit was on patrol in Anahuac colony in Nuevo Laredo municipality. No one was reported killed or hurt in the encounter arms and munitions were seized in the aftermath, including six rifles, 36 weapons magazines, 950 rounds of ammunition, one grenade launcher, two fragmentation grenades and two vehicles.
An army unit with the Mexican 8th Military Zone encountered armed suspects in Ciudad Nueva Guerrero municipality killing one unidentified armed suspect October 23rd. The unit had been on patrol on the Nuevo Laredo to Ciudad Mier highway at the 171 kilometer mark when the gunfight took place. Four rifles, weapons magazines and ammunition as well as one vehicle were seized by soldiers after the gunfight.
A Mexican Army unit with the 8th Military Zone came under small arms fire October 24th in Tamaulipas state, returning fire and killing one unidentified armed suspect. The unit had been on patrol near the 109 kilometer marker on the San Fernando to Reynosa highway when it came under attack. Materiel seized following the conclusion of the gunfight included five rifles, three vehicles, weapons magazines and ammunition, and one vehicle.
Five unidentified suspects were detained and one kidnapping victim was released by a unit with the Mexican 12th Military Zone in San Luis Potosi state October 24th. The army unit with security forces from state and local governments conducted patrols in San Luis Potosi city when the rescue took place. In addition to the five detainees Mexican security forces also seized 13 rifles, one grenade launcher, five 40mm grenades, 43 weapons magazines, 879 rounds of ammunition and one car reported as stolen.
A Mexican Army unit with the 8th Military Zone seized more than eight metric tons of marijuana in Tamauipas state October 22nd. The unit has established a checkpojnt on the Reynosa, Tamaulipas to Monterrey, Nuevo Leon highway at about the 30 kilometer mark. A tractor trailer rig was stopped and searched, and the drugs were found. The total seized was 8,206.2 kilograms of marijuana. The truck driver was detained at the scene.
Troops with the Mexican 9th Military Zone seized more than 400 kilograms of marijuana and an aircraft in Sinaloa state October 23rd. The army unit was on patrol near the village of La Brecha in Guasave municipality when the discovery was made. A total of 407.2 kilograms of marijuana were seized along with a Cessna brand Cessna 206 aircraft.
An army unit with the 2nd Military Zone seized more than 300 kilograms of marijuana in Baja California state October 23rd. While on patrol the unit found an abandoned vehicle in Alamitos colony in Mexicali municipality which had the drugs inside, 39 packages totalling 320.4 kilograms.
Mexican Army troops with the 6th Military Zone exchanged gunfire with armed suspects October 26th. The unit was on patrol in Allende municipality when the gunfight took place. Army counterfire killed two unidentified armed suspects. Materiel seized in the aftermath included drugs in 166 packages for retail sale, two handguns, one weapons magazine, 16 rounds of ammunition, MX $91,050.00 (USD $6903.11), USD $40 dollars (MX $527.59) in cash and one vehicle.
An army patrol with the 6th Military Zone came under small arms fire in Coahuila state. The encounter took place in Nava municlaity October 25th when the army unit came under small arms fire. Army return fire killed three armed suspects. Materiel seized included four rifles, 43 weapons magazines, ammunition and one vehicle.
A pursuit in Baja California state October 26th ended with one unidentified individual detained and almost one metric ton of marijuana seized. A Mexican army unit with the 2nd Military Zone had been dispatched to Lucio Blanco colony in Playas de Rosarito municipality based on an anonymous complaint. When the driver of a vehicle attempted to flee the road patrol, the driver crashed the vehicle. Inside soldiers found 997.7 kilograms of marijuana in 142 packages. The driver was detained at the scene.
An army road patrol with the Mexican 29th Military Zone seized quantities of drugs at a presumed traffic stop in Veracruz state October 26th. The stop took place in Coatzacoalcos municipality. Soldiers found quantities of marijuana and crack cocaine, as well as 9,508 packages of powdered cocaine totalling 40.4 kilograms. A total of MX $1,000 (USD $75.82), a radio and a vehicle were also seized. The driver of the vehicle was detained at the scene.
Troops with the Mexican 28th Military Zone rescued one kidnap victim in an armed encounter in Veracruz state October 26th. The patrol had been dispatched to Villa Azueta municipality based on an anonymous complaint, when it came under small arms fire. Army return fire killed one armed suspect. Three suspects were also detained at the scene. Soldiers also seized three rifles, two handguns and one vehicle following the rescue.
An army unit with the Mexican 41st Military Zone located almost 50,000 liters of gasoline in Jalisco state October 25th. The fuel was discovered in Villa Purification municipality. A total of 49,600 liters were found along with a 10,000 liter tanker and three vehicles.
Soldiers with the Mexican 45th military Zone located weapons in Caborca el Arenoso in Sonora state October 25th. Weapons seized included two rifles, one handgun, 14 weapons magazines, 314 rounds of ammunition, a quantity of marijuana, tactical gear and one vehicle.
On October 26th army units with the Mexican 45th Military Zone seized weapons in Nogales municipality in Sonora state. Weapons seized included four rifles, one fragmentation grenade, two smoke grenades, 646 rounds of ammunition, 36 weapons magazines and one vehicle. In a second incident soldiers located and seized four rifles, one handgun, two smoke grenades, one car, 72 weapons magazines, 430 rounds of ammunition and tactical gear.
Army units with the Mexican 34th Military Zone located a quantity of marijuana, presumably in the water along the coast of Cozumel municipality in Quntana Roo state October 26th. The drugs were found between Mezcalitos to Punta Chiqueros and totalled 17.535 kilograms.
Mexican Army units with the 4th Military Zone seized a quantity of methamphetamine in Sonora state October 27th. The unit had established a military checkpoint in Opodepe municipality and stopped a vehicle with two unidentified individuals aboard. A total of 2.5 kilograms of crystal methamphetamine were found inside two wooden tortilla presses. The driver and passenger were detained at the scene.
A Mexican Army unit with the 4th Military Zone seized a quantity of heroin in Sonora state October 27th. The unit has set up a checkpoint on kilometer 73 of Mexico Federal Highway 15 in Navojoa municipality, and stopped and searched a passenger bus. The search turned up a briefcase with 2.3 kilograms of heroin. One passenger was detained at the scene.
Mexican Army units with the 8th Military Zone seized more than three metric tons of marijuana in Tamaulipas state October 26th in two separate raids. The first raid was undertaken in ejido Echeverria ejido in Diaz Ordaz municipality where soldiers located 839.4 kilograms of marijuana in a vacant lot. In the second raid in the village of Valadeces, an army unit located 2,458.5 kilograms of marijuana, also in Diaz Ordaz municipality.
Army units with the Mexican 35th Military Zone exchanged gunfire with armed suspects in Guerrero state October 28th. The encounter took place in the village of Zacapuato in Cutzamala de Pinzo municipality where a road patrol came under small arms fire. Army return fire killed four armed suspects. Also seized after the encounter were five rifles, one fragmentation grenade, 30 weapons magazines, 810 rounds of ammunition, tactical gear and one vehicle.
Mexican Army units with the 44th Military Zone seized more than one metric tons of marijuana in Oaxaca state October 27th. The unit has been dispatched to a location near the village of Miahuatlan in Porfirio Diaz municipality based on an anonymous complaint where 1,100 kilograms of unprocessed marijuana were found in several packages.
An army unit with the 45th Military Zone in coordination with Sonora state police agents located and seized more than 2 metric tons of marijuana in Sonora state October 29th. The raid took place at a ranch in Nogales municipality where security forces located 2,260.7 kilograms of marijuana in 273 packages.

Badanov's Burnt Blunt Special

Army units with the 2nd Military Zone incinerated more than 7 metric tons of marijuana at an army base in Aguaje de la Tuna in Baja California state. In addition to the 7,551.58 kilograms of marijuana destroyed, also destroyed by fire were 6 grams of methamphetamine, 20 marijuana plants, 15.550 grams of acetone, 23.7978 kilograms of chemicals.

Chris Covert writes Mexican Drug War and national political news for Rantburg.com

↧

Calderon's Indifference for the 'Desaparecidos'

November 11, 2012, 6:57 pm

≫ Next: November 12th Badanov's Buzzkill Bulletin

≪ Previous: Badanov's Buzzkill Bulletin

Marcela Turati Proceso November 10, 2012

Translated by un vato for Borderland Beat

Among the answers and actions that Calderon still owes are the painful complaints about disappeared persons. Mutilated families, especially mothers, have searched for their children among threats by organized crime and the garbage dump that is (Mexico's) system of justice. Because it was all in vain, they took refuge in the inflexible laws of their love, which do not allow them to abandon their struggle merely because government officials change.

Mexico, D.F. (Proceso).-- With stiff bodies under the layer of blankets, the women try in vain to drive away the cold that has settled in their bones. Another day begins in front of the Ministry of the Interior (Secretaria de Gobernacion), sleeping on a platform right on the pavement, in a tent that they covered with photographs of their children and dozens of other "desaparecidos" (disappeared persons.) The noise of the horns from the cars that pass right beside them force them to use up precious energy to make themselves heard.

It's 9:00 a.m. on the fourth day of their hunger strike. Margarita Lopez, Malu Garcia and Julia Alonso are refusing to eat until the government does what it has failed to do throughout this six-year term.

"It has been five years since I filed a complaint because of my son's disappearance and they did not even include my complaint in the file; there is no investigation, they are not looking for him, they have not summoned anybody to give a statement. All this time I thought there were people investigating, I believed in justice. So then, what's the use in waiting any longer? Today, I'm going all out and, if I have to fall in this struggle, I'll stay here," says Julia Alonso without altering her expression, even though she's talking about dying.

Margarita on left, has been a strong avocate since her 19 year old daughter disappeared a year ago in Oaxaca

Her health is the worst. The day before, her glucose (blood sugar) level was 40, less than half of normal. She fainted. A paramedic predicted that during the night she could become unconscious due to hypoglycemia and he requested the authorities to keep an ambulance close by. The Ministry of Interior did not call for one, but the president of the House of Representatives, Jesus Murillo Karam, sent one.

At the entrance to the tent, there is a smiling photograph of her first-born Julio, her Julio. Julio Alberto Josue Lopez Alonso disappeared with three friends on January 12, 2008, after he had gone surfing in the La Boca reservoir, in Santiago, Nuevo Leon. Afterwards, it was learned that they were picked up by municipal police officers employed by drug traffickers.

La Boca, Santiago, where Julio Alberto Josue Lopez was taken by police working for narcos

Margarita Lopez, from Michoacan, who grieves for her daughter Yahaira Guadalupe Bahena, 19 years old, presumably tortured and murdered by the Zetas in Oaxaca, adds: "We will not leave here until we get a resolution to our petitions or we go out dead. What else is left for us if we are at risk of getting murdered for raising our voices? What can be better than dying for an act of justice for our children? We are here and we're not moving."

Fasting in solidarity with them is Malu Garcia, human rights defender from Juarez, displaced after several attacks against her and the murder of a relative. On the street, outside the tent, other mothers pray for their health, victims of the torture of not knowing where their children are.

Time lies heavy on these women, it's their enemy. Not just because of the havoc it wreaks on their bodies, not just because of the vomiting, headaches, ups and downs in their blood pressure and other health problems it causes: every day that passes reduces the possibility of finding their children.

Their measure of time is different from that of Secretary Alejandro Poire, who, when he finally agreed to meet with them the night before, told them to focus on defining "their priorities" because the Calderon officials have only 16 working days left in their terms. And you can bet that bureaucrats measure time differently than a mother who doesn't stop searching on weekends.

"For us, they're all priorities; we're not asking for much nor for anything unreasonable," Margarita Lopez says she responded.

What she's asking for, for example, is for them to give her an official letter so that the FBI will give her the DNA results they obtained from the decapitated body that the authorities want her to accept, blindly, as her daughter's, and to allow the Argentine Team of Forensic Anthropology to compare the information.

Thursday night the Secretary asked them to lift the sit-in protest and to go home to rest. The women said "No"; they have sat around too many dialogue tables from which they leave full of always unfulfilled promises.

"They insist that they are worried about our health. It's fake; they should have worried before," -- says Julia Alonso--. "A mother deserves to be told what happened to her son."

"I want to tell you..."

From Chihuahua their children vanished

The sit-in was born in a fit of desperation, like those common with families with disappeared persons. The women played around with the idea for eight months, but they were always talked out of it by their friends in the Movement for Peace with Justice and Dignity. During the last march outside the PGR, on October 10, with barren results, they could not stand it any more.

November 6 dawned with three women sitting on the bare ground outside the Palacio de Covian. As the story spread, supporters began bringing them tents, blankets, jugs of water, chairs, honey. Mothers from the capital and from around the state also came and put up photographs of their own children on the walls.

"When Julia told me she had made up her mind, I traveled from Lazaro Cardenas. And that's how we saw the sunrise. We began by sitting on the floor, freezing with cold. We didn't have a tent or anything, we didn't know we had to drink honey and water," relates Margarita Lopez.

She was "picked up" last year and warned that she should stop looking for her daughter and stop pointing a finger at the Army in her statements. She's the same person who uncovered networks who were trafficking in young girls; she disguised herself and used wigs to go into illegal businesses and paid millions of pesos to informants (police agents and military personnel, as well as drug traffickers) for information.

Piedras Negras-The man above says both of his brothers were kidnapped

Protesting, desperate for promised answers

They tolerated the first day without too many cramps. The second day, their stomachs were growling and hurting from hunger. The third day, in addition to hunger they had a severe headache because they did not know that they were supposed to take honey and water every 20 minutes. That was a day of dizziness, vomiting, weakness, blood pressure highs and lows and, at night, Julia's fainting spell.

On orders from Deputy Secretary Obdulio Avila, they were denied electricity, which condemned them to suffering from the cold at night, even though they had a heater.

"It gets easier now; the body gets used to not eating," says Julia Alonso, smiling, with half of her body between the blankets.

(Extracted from a report that appears in Proceso No. 1880, now in circulation.)
Source: http://www.proceso.com.mx/?p=324918

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November 12th Badanov's Buzzkill Bulletin

November 11, 2012, 9:00 pm

≫ Next: How Colorado and Washington Can Change the Drug War

≪ Previous: Calderon's Indifference for the 'Desaparecidos'

By Chris Covert
Rantburg.com

Mexican Army units nationwide have seized 669 kilograms of marijuana, 10 kilograms of hashish and MX $19,468.00 (USD $1474.90) in cash since October 28th, according to official Mexican government information.

A Mexican Army unit with the 4th Military Zone in Sonora state located illegal contraband aboard a truck from Querétaro state October 28th. The unit had established a checkpoint on Kiloemter 17 of the Nogales to Hermosillo, Sonora highway and stopped a truck. Inside soldiers found 490,000 cigars packaged in 49 cardboard boxes. The driver was detained at the scene.
An army unit with the 45th Mexican military Zone found a quantity of hashish in Sonora state October 29th. The unit had been on patrol near ejido Desierto de Sonora when soldiers found 10 kilograms of hashish, one rifle and one fragmentation grenade.
An army unit with the Mexican 4th Military Zone located a quantity of weapons and munitions in Sonora state October 30th. The unit had been dispatched to the area based on an anonymous complaint about armed suspects in the area near a ranch near the village of Santa Rosa in Navojoa municipality. Soldiers seized 10 rifles, 17 weapons magazines, 172 rounds of ammunition and one fragmentation grenade.
A Mexican Army road patrol from the 4th Military Zone seized quantities of weapons in Sonora state October 30th. The unit had been on patrol on Mexico Federal Highway 16 between Yecora and Maycoba in Yecora municipality when it stopped three unidentified individuals travelling aboard three vehicles. Soldiers seized two rifles, 10 weapons magazines, 225 rounds of ammunition and three vehicles.
A Mexican Army unit with the 7th Military Zone along with state and local civilian police conducted a raid in Nuevo Leon state October 30th seizing weapons and detaining suspects. The raid took place in Santa Catarina municipality where authorities seized six rifles, 1,083 rounds of ammunition, 35 weapons magazines, eight vehicles and tactical gear. Nine unidentified suspects were detained at the scene.
A Mexican Army unit with the 8th Military Zone seized a quantity of diesel fuel in Tamaulipas state October 29th. Found in Ciudad Madero municipality, the total amounted to 124,000 liters. Soldiers also seized three tractors and four tankers.
A Mexican Army unit with the 8th Military Zone exchanged gunfire with armed suspects in Tamaulipas state October 30th. Armed suspects had attacked the military unit which was on patrol in Nuevo Laredo municipality, so soldiers returned fire killing one unidentified armed suspect. Weapons seized included one rifle, one weapons magazine and 15 rounds of ammunition.
An army unit with the Mexican 9th Military ZOne located a quantity of fuel in Sinaloa state October 30th. The unit was on a road patrol in the sindicatura Villa Adolfo Lopez Mateos of Culican municipality when soldiers found 5,500 liters of gasoline and 11 trucks capable of transporting fuel.
A Mexican Army road patrol with the 8th Military Zone located and rescued five unidentified individuals who had been kidnapped in Tamaulipas state October 30th. The victims were found inside a vehicle between the villages of Villa de Casas and La Lajilla, near Ciudad Victoria. Five rifles and military uniforms were also found at the scene.
An army unit with the Mexican 8th Military Zone exchanged gunfire with armed suspects in Tamaulipas state October 30th. The unit was on patrol in Obrera colony in Matamoros municipality when it came under small arms fire. Army return fire killed two unidentified armed suspects. After the gunfight, soldiers seized two rifles, four weapons magazines, 32 rounds of ammunition and one vehicle.
A Mexican Army unit with the 8th Military Zone located a quantity of marijuana in Tamaulipas state October 30th. The drugs were found in an abandoned vehicle in a remote area in Camargo municipality. A total of 663 kilograms of marijuana were seized.
An army unit with the Mexican 8th Military Zone located weapons and munitions in Tamaulipas state October 30th. The unit was on patrol near the village of Puentecitos in Camargo municipality when the discovery was made. Seized contraband included four rifles, three handguns, two grenade launchers, two grenades,four weapons magazines and 391 rounds of ammunition.
An army unit with the Mexican 8th Military Zone exchanged gunfire with armed suspects in Tamaulipas state October 30th. The incident took place in Alberto Carrera Torres colony in Matamoros municipality, where an army road patrol came under small arms fire. Army return fire killed one unidentified armed suspect. Two rifles and one vehicle were seized at the conclusion of the gunfight.
A Mexican Army unit with the 8th Military Zone seized quantities of weapons and munitions in Tamaulipas state November 2nd. The unit was on patrol on Centro colony in Ciudad Miguel Aleman when it came upon an abandoned vehicle. Inside soldiers found six rifles, two grenades, 1,230 rounds of ammunition, 68 weapons magazines, 53 stars (for puncturing automobile tires), and other contraband.
An army unit with the Mexican 8th Military Zone rescued two unidentified kidnapping victims in Tamaulipas state November 2nd. The unit rolled up on an vehicle with two suspects inside in Infonavit “Cañada” colony in Tampico municipality. Soldiers found MX $19,468.00 (USD $1474.90) in cash, radio equipment and documents and a vehicle. The suspects were detained at the scene.
A Mexican Army unit with the 8th Military Zone raided a camp presumably used by narcotraffickers in Tamaulipas state November 3rd. The raid was conducted in ejido Paso Real in San Fernando municipality where soldiers seized nine rifles, four handguns, six grenades, one grenade launcher, 2,296 rounds of ammunition, 60 weapons magazines, nine kilograms of marijuana, quantities of other drugs, one vehicle, 28 radios.
An army unit with the Mexican 8th Military Zone exchanged gunfire with armed suspects in Tamaulipas state November 3rd. The encounter took place in Victoria colony of Matamoros municipality, where the military unit came under small arms fire by armed suspects. Army counterfire killed two unidentified armed suspects. Soldiers also seized two rifles, 143 rounds of ammunition, four weapons magazines, one vehicle and other equipment including radios.

Chris Covert writes Mexican Drug War and national political news for Rantburg.com.

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