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on the border line between the US and Mexico
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Monday, December 13, 2010

Document: Mexico can't control border



In this photo released by Guatemala National Civil Police, PNC, anti-drugs police officers carry packages containing cocaine in San Andres, northern Guatemala, Sunday, April 13, 2008. Authorities seized more than one ton of cocaine during an anti-drugs operation at this border area with Mexico. (AP Photo/National Civil Police)

By Diana Washington Valdez
El Paso Times

The Mexican government has no control of its 577-mile border with Guatemala, where arms, drugs and immigrant smugglers appear to have free rein, according to a U.S. diplomatic cable disclosed recently by WikiLeaks.

The document says that Mexico does not have enough resources to patrol the border.
"Limited resources also undermine the effort: while there are 30,000 U.S. CBP officers on the 1,926-mile Mexican/U.S. border, only 125 Mexican immigration officials monitor the 577-mile border with Guatemala," the document states.

"The weakness of the state (Guatemalan government), the pervasive violence, the widespread corruption, and the country's strategic location for drug trafficking are creating a very dangerous cocktail."

The state of lawlessness in Guatemala is such that residents rely on the Zetas instead of police to provide security, the released documents say. The Zetas, who formerly worked for the Gulf cartel, are reported to be making inroads in Chihuahua state.

Several U.S. documents leaked to online whistleblower WikiLeaks mention diplomats' interest in the drug trade and drug corruption in Latin America and the Middle East.
In another recent document, U.S. diplomats voiced concerns that Mexican drug dealers could end up buying certain high-tech weapons that Russia had sold to Venezuela. Such weapons are capable of shooting down U.S. combat helicopters.

The document said U.S. officials feared that members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) would obtain the weapons for the Mexican cartels.

FARC guerrilla members have been reported in Mexico for the past 10 years and are suspected of helping one of the Mexican drug cartels kidnap a high-level official of the National Action Party, officials said.

Last month, the Colombian government asked Mexico for details about a shooting victim in Juárez who was suspected of belonging to FARC. In Colombia, officials said, the FARC has carried out hundreds of kidnappings and extortions, and collaborates with drug cartels to finance its operations.

Mexican drug cartels also have operations in Nicaragua, where U.S. diplomats were told that high-level Nicaraguan officials received suitcases filled with cash to protect drug-traffickers, and that judges in that country released drug dealers soon after they were arrested by Nicaragua's police.

Other leaked U.S. documents have portrayed a Mexico that has lost control of some regions to drug cartels and struggles to develop an effective anti-drug strategy.

President Obama condemned WikiLeaks' disclosure of sensitive U.S. diplomatic cables, and called Mexican President Felipe Calderón on Saturday to assure him the leaks would not interfere with U.S.-Mexico relations, the Associated Press reported.

The Mexican government's crackdown against drug cartels began under Calderón in December 2006, but U.S. statistics indicate Mexico's drug wars have not put much of a dent on drug-trafficking in the West Texas region.

Seizures for cocaine, heroin and methamphetamine rose in calendar year 2009 compared to the prior year, according to the West Texas High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area in El Paso. Only marijuana seizures were down.

West Texas HIDTA reported the following seizures in pounds as follows:

Cocaine: 3,040 pounds in 2009; 1,115 pounds in 2008.

Heroin: 132 pounds in 2009; 65 pounds in 2008.

Methamphetamine: 67 pounds in 2009; 18.6 pounds in 2008.

Marijuana: 210,854 pounds in 2009; 295,814 pounds in 2008.

The High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area agency coordinates and funds federal, state and local task forces to disrupt or dismantle drug-trafficking organizations.

Different regions across the United States are represented by regional HIDTAs.

According to a 2010 Drug Intelligence Center report, cocaine smuggling routes have shifted due to the increased flow of cocaine to Europe, tougher enforcement in Mexico, unrelenting drug cartel violence and U.S. interdiction efforts.

"Conversely, heroin seizures along the Southwest border have been increasing, most likely as a result of the growing Mexican influence in heroin production and transportation," the 2010 report said.

Mexican officials said drug dealers in Mexico are also selling more illegal drugs in the domestic market than in the past, probably because they are finding it harder to smuggle drugs across the U.S. border.

Drug rehabilitation experts said this is a troubling trend that can be seen in Juárez, which is ravaged by unprecedented violence, and where the number of drug addicts (excluding alcohol addicts) surpasses 100,000.

DEA officials said most of the drugs smuggled into the United States come through Mexico, which is also a producer of heroin and marijuana.

For U.S. border agents, intercepting illegal narcotics is practically a daily occurrence.

This past week, two El Pasoans with express border crossing privileges were arrested in two separate busts after U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers found marijuana in their vehicles.

Officials identified the suspects caught at the Stanton Street international bridge as Raunice Reyes, 33, and Esther Ivon Navarro, 53.

They were charged with drug smuggling, and their SENTRI status was revoked.

To get a permit under the Secure Electronic Network for Travelers Rapid Inspection program, applicants must undergo a background check and pay extra fees.

"We have an absolute zero tolerance policy for violations in the SENTRI lane, and we maintain the integrity of the program through random and targeted exams," said William Molaski, U.S. Customs and Border Protection's El Paso port director.

30 comments:

  1. Who controls the border of Guatamala? The Federacion or Los Zetas?

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  2. I'm pretty sure its the Zetas, Capo.
    I remember they had been actively recruiting retired Guatemalan military by putting ads on the radio.
    Then there was that Zetas training camp near the border on the Guatemalan side.

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  3. Here's an article I just dug up, Capo.

    http://www.cipamericas.org/archives/3279

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  4. These allegations that FARC is supposedly involved inside Mexico with supplying weapons to Mexican drug cartels and trafficking drugs, too, stinks completely of US government and CIA propaganda, fed to a complaint US press, and used to help encourage the US public to go along with greater US military and spy intervention into Mexico itself.

    Further, the allegations can be used against the Mexican government itself, to discredit any signs of noncompliance with D.C.s demands.

    'Look, Mexico, you can't control your Southern border so we need to do it for you' being the operative message being thrown out.'

    US citizens would be wise to not accept this message unthinkingly and passively accepting of these newest of US government lies. How many times are we too passively be led like a group of trusting sheep like this?

    Here primping the El Paso public reads our El Paso Times kool aid ... the 'Several U.S. documents leaked to online whistleblower WikiLeaks mention diplomats' interest in the drug trade and drug corruption in Latin America and the Middle East. In another recent document, U.S. diplomats voiced concerns that Mexican drug dealers could end up buying certain high-tech weapons that Russia had sold to Venezuela. Such weapons are capable of shooting down U.S. combat helicopters. The document said U.S. officials feared that members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) would obtain the weapons for the Mexican cartels. FARC guerrilla members have been reported in Mexico for the past 10 years and are suspected of helping one of the Mexican drug cartels kidnap a high-level official of the National Action Party, officials said. Last month, the Colombian government asked Mexico for details about a shooting victim in Juárez who was suspected of belonging to FARC. In Colombia, officials said, the FARC has carried out hundreds of kidnappings and extortions, and collaborates with drug cartels to finance its operations. Mexican drug cartels also have operations in Nicaragua, where U.S. diplomats were told that high-level Nicaraguan officials received suitcases filled with cash to protect drug-traffickers, and that judges in that country released drug dealers soon after they were arrested by Nicaragua's police.'

    YES, any such short passage of words in a propaganda piece masquerading as real reporting, that manages to throw in suspicions about Mid East terrorism, Nicaragua (an unpopular government with the US government, FARC, and Venezuela, and Mexican drug cartels, should be easily seen for what it is- US government fed PROPAGANDA to our not so free, Business World daily press. It's a lot of e-coli filled bs and no real beef in this sandwich of lies fed to us in these few paragraphs!

    Ernest1

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  5. I just remember readings that El Chapo had homes in Guatemala and they had supposibly arrested him there once. Maybe this is when they sent him to La Puente, back before Zetas spread like roaches.

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  6. hey Ernest...in your zeal to discredit anything that goes against your "view"..did you ever stop to consider that some/if not all these "Lies" might be true?

    Why don't u keep an open mind and ANALYZE information instead of immediately considering it US Proproganda.

    If all you ever see is Lies...then lies is all you will ever get.

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  7. We have many new inroads in the state of coahuila many of these cross through private ranches,some of these funded by the state to provide alternate routes for the zetas the current governor is pro zeta along with 99% of media

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  8. (Document: Mexico can't control border)

    They want the US to go in there and do it for them. While dropping millions in aid on the convenient laps of the president.
    Jake.

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  9. @ ernest 1

    so you don't think there are any dealings been done between FARC..Venezuela..Nicaruaga...and Mexican cartels...or might be in the future..


    maybe not...maybe they are all thrown in together to increase the fear level, and as an excuse to intervene in Mexico

    what do you think the US has to gain from becoming involved in Mexico.....oil?....a market...where is the profit?

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  10. Kevin, I have seen and heard the government lies from times way back Vietnam/ SE Era to now and they all have a pretty common pattern to them. The spin is much always the same.

    Now you don't want me to see this stuff clearly but just replace it all with some weird idea of Happy Think that you think I should be having? Smile, grin, see no evil even when it stares us right there this obviously as in this article? Why would you want me to do that? Reality builds up, you know? You cannot just dream it all away.

    'If all you ever see is Lies...then lies is all you will ever get.'

    No, it is not me that just fabricates these lies all in my head, Dude. And it is not like all this is honesty except in little ol' Ernest1's head. Think that it's only the other guys that make propaganda and can feed it to people? Not so.

    Ernest1

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  11. Brito, you ask a good question...

    'what do you think the US has to gain from becoming involved in Mexico.....oil?....a market...where is the profit?'

    No not oil. In fact, the oil is running out for Mexico quicker than it is for the US. Controlling oil resources is not the principal reason for any of the US interventions throughout Latin America though it has been for the interventions into the Middle East. However, Mexico is the anchor of the Monroe Doctrine where the US has long claimed control over all the Americas for itself. So let's think about NAFTA some and the US efforts to extend it farther south...

    NAFTA was, and is still seen, as a tool to compete against the Asian and European economic blocks, and Mexico has always been most central to that effort by the US business community and government. Obviously this whole effort is in grave danger now of becoming a total meltdown.

    The urge to deepen US government intervention into running Mexican affairs much more directly is now seen by US top dogs as becoming urgent and utterly critical to the US economy itself staying semi afloat. That is the 'profit' for it.

    Ernest1

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  12. Interesting read. FARC terrorists in Juarez working alongside la linea, totally possible. The farc is a huge producer of cocaine and it makes sense that they would send terrorists to help out the juraez cartel kill it's competitors and make sure their product makes it to the US. Now it seems clear were all the exotic military weapons are coming from. Several columbian nationals have been killed and kidnapped in Mexico in the last couple years.

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  13. 8:04 Anonymous, do you know how absolutely difficult it is for Colombians to travel into Mexico with their much different accents than the Mexican ones, and then to do much of anything without being under a high powered microscope? It is not like Colombian nationals can just waltz into Juarez and start dancing around and 'helping out the Juarez cartel' all unnoticed, undetected, and 'help'ful like, enjoying street taquitos meanwhile and musica nortena. In fact, it would be about like a strong British accented group of folk coming over from the fascist National Front of Britain to try to 'help' organize the KKK in Birmingham, Alabama!

    'The farc is a huge producer of cocaine and it makes sense that they would send terrorists to help out the juraez cartel kill it's competitors and make sure their product makes it to the US.'

    Besides, the Colombia government is 'a huge producer of cocaine' producing, death squad experts. Their US trained expertise would be much more likely expended on 'helping' the Mexican army train than any supposedly FARC Colombian kids helping Mexican Juarez teenager street gang types traffic drugs to El Paso!

    Ernest1

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  14. charles bowden blames the U.S. government for being part responsible for the war in juarez. american companies promoted and sold juarez as a economic booming city of indusrty all throughout mexico. so many people south, moved to juarez for work with the dreams of making decent money. but when they got to juarez, they realized that their expectations were met with very hard labor and very cheap pay. many of these people ended up on the streets selling drugs or doing drugs. many neighborhood blocks became drug infested. then el chapo invaded and gave the people more oppurtunities to make money. after that, everything blew up.

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  15. There are no Colombians in Ciudad Juarez. They wouldn't last a week there since they would stand out like a sore thumb. It is like thinking that Chicago gangsters would have been able to organize their line of 'work' in Glasgow, Scotland under the direction of Al Capone. This is pure myth for gullible Americans this 'FARC terrorists' in Juarez stuff.

    Ernest1

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  16. @ ernest 1

    but wasn't NAFTA was already going strong...the sweatshops y factories were being built...the gob de Mexico was already "playing ball"...thats the thing...it seems like the US already has anything it would gain by invading Mexico

    except control of the drug market...it is still controlled by "local boys"...

    but still it dosen't make sense...the gran plaza of the US market sort of controls the Mexican market anyway

    it is not that i don't think there could be something going on behind the scene..i am just having trouble finding a good profit motive

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  17. ERNEST1-There you go again.

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  18. "There are no Colombians in Ciudad Juarez." -ernest1

    lololol

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  19. Ernest1 that is not true. There are many people from many other parts of mexico that moved to juarez for work during the industry boom and there are many people from central and south america who stay in juarez. Many are in juarez waiting to cross over. Many venezuelens, guatemaltecans, colombians, argentinians, etc live there. I've even met puerto ricans there. Im sure that many of them have left by now. But many south americans are accepted in juarez and can even pass as mexicans.

    I knew of this notorious gangster in juarez who was very respected and feared. They tried to murder him several times but were unsuccessful. He drove around in a truck with the bullet holes still in the back of his truck. He was a mean mf who went by the name of "el argentino". He never hid the fact that he was an argentinian. They even called him intocable.

    So in juarez, the people are very open-minded, accepting, and respectful people. They are much nicer and friendlier than people in mexico df or veracruz for example. Juarenses have manners. In fact, juarenses do not like people from veracruz. I've heard them talk bad about them but they are the type of people who insult discreetly.

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  20. ajulio, the people in Juarez are a nice enough lot, and I am sure that a Colombian or two has drifted into the city from time to time, as have Central Americans. After all, this is the Border and people end up there at times despite usually there first initial intentions. But the idea that a group of Colombians from the FARC might have arrived there organizing like they owned the place is pure fantasy.

    I have known my fair share of Colombians, having married a Colombian and into being part of her family at one time, and they are not people that enjoyed their passage through Mexico much. Neither have the Nicaraguans I have known that did so, too. Can you guess why? I might mention they they DID NOT feel well accepted in Mexico particularly at all, but rather felt constantly under great risk.

    Mexicans might look at themselves in the mirror and see a group of wonderful fabulous folk, but Latin Americans from other parts around... well I don't really think they feel so like that, despite the fact that to a Mexican they might say mainly what the Mexican wants to hear at any one time.

    BTW, when you mentioned puerto Ricans in Juarez, you made me think of a relative from Puerto Rico who married into my wife's family, he almost got killed and his face smashed in, in Reynosa once. He didn't have the right pedigree there. Plus, I think of my wife's kid by my first marriage (US citizen) who got into a bar fight while traveling through Mexico because he was being ridiculed for having a Colombian-American Spanish. And then there was a friend coming through the North from the Yucatan. Not even he felt all that welcomed there.... in his home country! Let's face it! There are a lot of naco pendejo burlones in many parts of the North and I don't think that these types are quite ready for a Colombia FARC training center to be set up for them in Juarez to do advanced narco courses, do you?

    Ernest1

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  21. @ ajulio
    "So in juarez, the people are very open-minded, accepting, and respectful people."

    But they kill each other by the thousands right?? So much for accepting and respectful ppl my ass haha....

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  22. Im a Colombian FARC hitman, i live near Jose Marti in Juarez... I dare you to find me...

    Los Cumbico

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  23. @Ernest1

    So it's impossible for the juarez cartel to smuggle a couple farc terrorists to assist in their fight against the sinaloa cartel? You must be high. These people smuggle tons of product every month, how hard would it be to smuggle 5 farc members? Remember they are working alongside the Juarez cartel and they are bringing guerrilla tatics which the juarez cartel wants. They would not need to walk through mexico like an ordinary south American immigrant. They would be pick up by cartel members and get VIP treatment. I'm sorry if your a left-wing communist but the farc is a terrorist organization who kills innocents just like the cartels here in Mexico. For your information many columbians live here in Mexico and have honest ordinary jobs and live their daily lives just like any other Mexican national.

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  24. @ 2:20 pm

    perfectly written. i agree with you. ernest1 thinks that in order to train criminals, you need an entire brigade. not true. mexico is a perfect breeding ground for guerilla criminals. FARC is an organization that exists in rural areas similar to mexico's. training can also be practiced anywhere throughout mexico and later used on the streets of juarez.

    FARC is considered by many as the largest and oldest insurgent group in the americas. their influence is probably spread throughout all of mexico. after alvaro uribe took office in colombia in 2002, FARC was slightly dismembered. some of these guerillas migrated to mexico.

    these guerillas also oppose U.S. influence on other latin countries. it is most likely that juarez, a city consumed by a violent war, has members of FARC existing with the intentions of serving their purpose as perpetrators of violence.


    @ ernest uno

    your comment that there is no colombians in juarez, is a farce, and a myth. as for your other comments, they are strictly tongue and cheek. those are isolated incidents that can happen anywhere. to me, they bear no merit, even if they are true.

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  25. Don't be surprised if that car bomb that was exploded in juarez wasn't done with the help of FARC. Its always a possibility. Colombians were notorious for using car bombs during pablo escobar's reign. I don't think that the reportings of FARC members in mexico, in the last ten years is a myth, Do you?

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  26. This last message from an Anonymous claims familiarity with Juarez yet he can't even spell the name of the country Colombia right! I love it!

    'So it's impossible for the juarez cartel to smuggle a couple farc terrorists to assist in their fight against the sinaloa cartel?'

    And just what specialized assistance do you think that FARC has to offer anybody? They don't.

    'For your information many columbians live here in Mexico and have honest ordinary jobs and live their daily lives just like any other Mexican national.'

    And just what proof of this nonsense does the man who can''t even spell correctly the name of the country of Colombia offer for his assertion? I think that the answer is rather obvious, which is that you have no evidence for what you say here, Anonymous. There simply are very few Colombians living in Mexico and that's just a fact.

    The Mexicans simply can't dance the cumbia worth a damn and it is painful for Colombians to watch them even try. You're not a Mexican national anyway, because a Mexican would never have misspelled the word- Colombia. Only the gringos do. I doubt seriously that you could even tell the difference between Colombia music and Mexican, Anonymous...

    Ernest

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  27. i think the cartels are more than capable of importing colombians if they want to...but i don't see any real reason for FARC guys to be involved, what could they bring to the table....jungle tactics...northern Mexico is not a jungle..and the local boyz seem to be able to create havoc unassisted....with the dog fight already going on why bring another player in....

    i do think the cartels would probably be mildly interested in new military hardware , for no other reason other than it is exotic...remember some of these guys like to keep tigers as pets...

    I am still trying to get a clear picture of who would gain the most from US intervention..

    i am almost starting to think the cartels especially the Zetas, would stand to gain from it ...even though it would initially impact them , it would also allow them to morph into a more legitimate role as patriotic freedom fighters...who deal drugs.....maybe this is a reason for ties to FARC..

    .but still i think there is a larger plan in the works ...something that would benefit from destabilization of both the USA and Mexico...

    this time i don't smell the usual old money men culprits...they already have, through NAFTA, the cooperation of Mexico to exploit the labor force...and access to the market....

    either way just the mention of FARC raises the fear factor....and draws the US closer to involvement...not good


    viva la cumbia!!!

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  28. Viva la cumbia, Brito!

    I've got an article published just today you will find interesting I think... So here is a portion of it to spark your interest.

    'In that murky vein, Republicans also hope to expose the links they see among Iran, Hezbollah, and Latin American lands, especially Venezuela. Right-wing commentators and military analysts assert Hezbollah is increasingly active in the Colombian drug trade, is working with Mexican drug cartels, and has ties to Venezuelan authorities.

    Rep. Sue Myrick of North Carolina, a member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, has been increasingly vocal in denouncing Hezbollah's reputed march toward the Rio Grande. Earlier this year, she shared her concerns with the Department of Homeland Security. Within weeks, Mexico reported that it had broken up Hezbollah operations, although what "Hezbollah" was actually doing, if anything, is difficult to say.

    Nevertheless, the talk of Hezbollah on the border has grown crazily since the supposed arrest of Jameel Nasr, described in second- and third-hand news accounts as a "Hezbollah operative" in the border city of Tijuana, Mexico. This arrest, initially reported in July by a Kuwaiti newspaper, has not only not been confirmed, but Homeland Security officials insist that they have no "credible information" of any terror groups on the southern border.

    That apparently is not good enough for the American right-wing. They prefer to follow one of the primary laws of the post-9/11 world: whatever can be imagined is in fact true. What "could be" invariably trumps what "is." Is it possible that supporters of Hezbollah are plotting terror attacks from bases in Tijuana? Of course it is, therefore it must be so.

    Could Somalis be lining up to travel to Cuba, Mexico, and Texas? It is possible, as so much is possible, therefore it must be so. A corollary to this law is that if a falsehood or rumor is repeated often enough, it becomes so. Hence, Jameel Nasr, Hezbollah operative, who may not even exist, actually was arrested as he plotted terrorist operations for Hezbollah just south of Texas.'

    The full article, titled 'Terrorama' is here...
    http://www.counterpunch.com/salisbury12152010.html

    Ernest1

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  29. I think I'm gonna go to Juarez for New Years... Just to show all of you... This is way out of proportion. There are no "cartels" in mexico. just a bunch of cowboys playing Escobar. They are reasonable people, that can be dealt with using words, compassion, and religious imagery. We have nothing to fear, except decapitation with a dull butter knife. I love you Mexico! I love Texas too! I will meet you in DT Juarez on New Years! Look for the red head frekled guy waving banners of truth!

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  30. Document: Mexico can't control border? Well how about Cuba and what does the US government really think about their efforts? Here is an interesting article about a wikileaks document that discusses Cuba and its enforcement of trafficking laws in THEIR territory...

    Caribbean Narco-Triangle: The US-Cuba-Jamaica Connection
    by Norman Girvan

    http://www.normangirvan.info/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/caribbean-narco-triangle.pdf

    Ernest1

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