Blog dedicated to reporting on Mexican drug cartels
on the border line between the US and Mexico
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Wednesday, December 4, 2013

Stolen Radioactive Material found removed from Box thieves are most likely dead

Borderland Beat
Men who took device are probably dead or dying
 
 
More Serious than Reported (December 5)
 
Mexican soldiers set up a safety perimeter around a cancer-treating device containing dangerous radioactive material that was stolen along with a truck from a gas station.
The people who stole the truck and removed the device from a steel-reinforced wooden box and left it in a rural area north of Mexico City are probably already dead or dying, the national nuclear safety board said.
But the danger of contamination is minimal because the area where the device was found is so uninhabited, it added. No evacuations were necessary.
There was no immediate word on who might have stolen the truck. It was on its way to dispose of the disused medical device at a nuclear storage facility.
Experts are trying to figure out the best way to recover the device safely, the National Commission for Nuclear Safety and Safeguards (CNSNS) said in a statement Wednesday evening.
The thieves apparently just wanted the truck, which was stolen Monday, without knowing about the cargo it carried, officials said.
The device containing cobalt-60 was taken out of its container and left hundreds of meters (yards) from the truck in Hueypoxtla, said Mardonio Jimenez, operations director at the CNSNS.
"It's almost absolutely certain that whoever removed this material by hand is either already dead or about to die," CNSNS director Juan Eibenschutz told Milenio television.
Eibenschutz said the transport company failed to live up to its commitment, saying the truck lacked a tracking device or proper security despite the firm's experience. He said the matter should be investigated.
The white Volkswagen Worker truck was transporting the device from a hospital in the northwestern city of Tijuana when it was stolen at a service station in central Hidalgo state.
The vehicle was supposed to deliver the material to a radioactive waste disposal facility in the central state named Mexico.
The International Atomic Energy Agency warned that the material was "extremely dangerous" if removed from its shielding. Experts also said the 60 grams of cobalt-60 inside it was enough to make a "dirty bomb", designed to spread radioactivity.
Authorities had searched for the truck in six states and the capital, delivering radio messages for people to call an emergency number in case they saw the truck.
The driver told investigators that two gunmen approached him at a Pemex service station, tied him up and drove away with the truck, according to a text of the testimony shown by the Hidalgo state prosecutor's office.
The manager of the Pemex service station, an hour's drive north of Mexico City, told AFP the driver appeared to have parked across the street to rest overnight.
The material was on its way to the Radioactive Waste Storage Center in Maquixco, Mexico state. The facility is surrounded by a white fence topped with barbed wire, but no armed guards were visible outside, an AFP correspondent said.
An official from the center said the truck driver had been waiting for the facility to open at 8:00 am on Tuesday.
Mexico's drug cartels have diversified their illegal activities in recent years, stealing oil and minerals, but officials have not said who the cobalt-60 thieves might be.
'Sufficient' for dirty bomb
Experts have long warned about the risks posed by the large amounts of radioactive material held in hospitals, university campuses and factories, often with little or no security measures to prevent them being stolen.
In an incident involving a teletherapy device in Thailand in 2000, 425 Curies -- the measure of radioactivity -- of cobalt-60 was sufficient to make 10 people very ill, three of whom died, according to the IAEA.
The equipment stolen in Mexico contained nearly 3,000 Curies, CNSNS radiological security director Jaime Aguirre Gomez told AFP.
Cobalt-60 is a radioactive isotope of the metallic element cobalt and the gamma rays it emits destroy tumors
 
Update Recovered!
Note:  While some news reports say the material was found with the truck, other reputable sources say the truck is empty.  Universal is reporting the truck was tampered with but that authorities are being secretive if the material was taken, or not. According to Milenio the National Nuclear Safety Commission of the country, Juan Eibenschutz, initially reported the truck was open and empty, later he was reported as saying the cobalt was dangerous in a mile radius of where it was found in the truck.....
 

Mexican authorities on Wednesday recovered a truck and the radioactive medical equipment it was hauling to a waste facility when gunmen stole it from a gas station two days ago.

The radioactive material, cobalt-60, was found about a half-mile from the truck and its empty protective lead container near Mexico City, said Juan Eibenschutz, director general of the National Commission of Nuclear Safety and Safeguards.
Radioactivity was detected in the area, which authorities cordoned off.
 
The radiotherapy material used in cancer treatment "could be extremely dangerous to a person if removed from the shielding, or if it was damaged," the International Atomic Energy Agency said earlier.

Direct exposure to the radioactive isotope would result in death within a few minutes, Eibenschutz told the Associated Press.
"This is a radioactive source that is very strong," Eibenschutz said, adding that it can be almost immediately fatal, depending on proximity. "The intensity is very big if it is broken."
Authorities have not said whether any suspects have been found, dead or alive.

Eibenschutz said nothing indicated that the thieves had targeted the material; they most likely waited the white 2007 Volkswagen cargo vehicle with a moveable platform and crane.
The material could not be used to make a nuclear bomb, but could be used in a dirty bomb, a conventional explosive that disseminates radioactive material, he said.

Eibenschutz didn't know the exact weight, but that it was the largest amount stolen in recent memory, and the intensity of the material caused the alert. Local, state and federal authorities, including the military, are searching for the truck.

The material was used for obsolete radiation therapy equipment that is being replaced throughout Mexico's public health system. It was coming from the general hospital in Tijuana when it was stolen.

The truck marked "Transportes Ortiz" left Tijuana on Nov. 28 and was headed to the storage facility when it stopped to rest at a gas station in Tepojaco, in Hidalgo state north of Mexico City, driver Valentin Escamilla Ortiz told authorities.

He said he was sleeping in the truck when two men armed with a gun approached about 1:30 a.m. Tuesday. They made him get out, tied his hands and feet and left him in a vacant lot nearby.
When he was able to free himself, he ran back to the gas station to get help

The truck has a GPS locator but it wasn't active at the time of the theft.

"Our suspicion is that they had no idea what they had stolen. This is a area where robberies are common," Fernando Hidalgo, spokesman for the Hidalgo state prosecutor, told Reuters.

Authorities sent out an alert to six central states and the capital, and Mexican customs officials were on alert to prevent the truck from crossing the border. All of the U.S. ports of entry have radiation detectors in place, and trucks crossing the border are routinely screened for radiation.

Such unwitting thefts of radioactive materials "are not uncommon," IAEA spokeswoman Gill Tudor told NBC News.
"In some cases, for example, radioactive sources have ended up being sold as scrap, causing serious health consequences for people who unknowingly come into contact with it," he said.
 
Original report:
The theft of a truck with a dangerous medical radioactive material in Hidalgo, in central Mexico, Wednesday generated alert Mexican authorities, U.S. and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) .
Mexican authorities reported to the IAEA that the truck carrying cobalt-60 used in therapy device of a hospital in the city of Tijuana, was stolen in the early hours of December 2 when it was transported to neighboring State of Mexico.
"At the time of the theft of the truck, the source (radioactive) was properly sealed," the IAEA a  statement . "However, the source can be extremely dangerous to a person if the seals are removed, or if they are damaged."
Mexico alerted the IAEA theft following international protocol for such incidents , said Jaime Aguirre Gomez, deputy director of the National Commission of Nuclear Safety and Safeguards.
The Department of Homeland Security United States said Wednesday that it is working with their Mexican counterparts in the investigation of the theft.
Radioactive material was used in radiotherapy for cancer treatment at a hospital in Tijuana, in northern Mexico, and was no longer in use, he said.
The shield that protects the cobalt-60 is designed so that the radioactive source is difficult to remove, Aguirre said. The housing is designed not to be easily opened or perforated. Cobalt-60 can be used for both medical and industrial purposes, he said.
The vehicle left the Tijuana November 28, on a planned travel  distance of about 2,750 kilometers. The driver, Valentin Ortiz Escamilla said he stopped in a parking lot of a gas station to rest when at approximately 01:30 pm (local) two men assaulted him and forced him out of the truck, Notimex reported.
Once it was reported stolen, the Attorney General indicated that Hidalgo initiated an operation to search for the vehicle and the stolen material in which the governments of Querétaro and Mexico State, Hidalgo collaborated.
CNN Mexico-US Today-Associated Press
Big thanks for the reader giving a heads up on the update!

56 comments:

  1. Perhaps Chapo will parlay this into his presidency?

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  2. Did he not know he was in Mexico? And who sends such a load without escort. Mexico has so much to learn.

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    Replies
    1. What is this motherfucking "nuculear"waste doing in the center of the country?
      From Tijuana?
      How many may be in the hands of them crazed jihadistas?
      how long before the princesses of the Royal Republic start blaming the President?

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    2. Escorts dont help much.

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  3. Just wait a week, then look for some hairless, glow-in-the-dark Zetas.

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    Replies
    1. Lmao!!! I was thinking the same thing.

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    2. Lol you made my day

      G(-)057

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  4. It's in Chapos hands now!! Only Chapo can move radio active chemicals and be able to sell them.. all other cartels are morons and don't have connections like El Shorty!!

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  5. Started from bottom selling oranges now he's got the plug on that C-60 shit not even zzzz are on that level they are still mining coal like some roaches...keep up baby cartels your getting left behind in the dust..

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  6. 12:12 theft occurred in hidalgo state,the proud birthplace of heriberto lazcano,I highly doubt that el chapo has any use for stealing a truck of popo.
    this looks more like the job of a hungry,unpaid carwazhing maruchaneros...

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  7. And so this is how the Zombie apocalypse begines.. Some idiots stealing sh*t they know nothing of. Tampering with Cobalt-60 and contamination begines. Ha! Perfect movie script..

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  8. it only has a 5 year half life, im sure its more than half into that by now. Either this is a ploy by the government for more money from us to stop these now nuclear capable cartels (lol) or some asshole stole the wrong truck.

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  9. I believe Caro Quintero is behind this since the U.S denied the visa for his grand daughter to come over to the U.S to get cancer treatment

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  10. Some people say the stupidest things on here. Chapo, Chapo this and that.
    Dude shut up already Chapo Is probably sick of ppl talking about him.

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    Replies
    1. You know if it were true that your ears rang every time someone spoke of you, Chapo would have gone crazy by now!

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  11. It's probally chapo or el h or could even be la linea or even c.a.f

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  12. Jajaja!!! Glow-in-the-dark Zetas. True.

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  13. This was radioactive waste. Probably some two-bit locals saw a shiny truck and decided to hijack it. Worthless. But cool story none the less.

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  14. Cartels in bed with al qaeda. Their doom is imminent. USA tanks rolling across the border.

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    Replies
    1. And US was backing up Syrian rebels who had connections to Al Qaeda and you see nobody complaining

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    2. @5:59p.m not u.s ppl our illustrious idiotic congressman.the citizens of america dont want no part of that mess in syria!!

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  15. This is just a standard procedur in Mex. Somebody will spend a lot of time trying to open that thing... Since it will be difficult fo open... They may think it is pure "cash" inside... People not living in Mexico may think this is a big plan from a very well organized org... but nope... it is just Pepe and Chencha trying to get some easy money... they will end-up dead...

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    Replies
    1. Anything is possible but i think you're right

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    2. Agree 100%.. people and their little lives only wish cartels were capable.

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  16. this is going to create a real flap until they find the missing material. but on the positive side - if they find it fast then it may save the lives of some villagers or their children.

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  17. Lo Jack anyone? Especially on radioactive material

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  18. Mainstream media reports that the truck was equipped with Gps tracker, but at time of theft, it was not activated. This is an inside job or just complete stupidity. I lean to the former.

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  19. http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/12/04/us-mexico-nuclear-iaea-removal-idUSBRE9B31B020131204
    The truck has been found. The container that held the radioactive material is empty. See link above for story in English. I sure hope this news story turns out to be untrue!
    Maybe the thieves know exactly what they were stealing. That would be the worst-case scenario.

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  20. So they found the truck but no materials. They were definetly targetting that

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  21. Could this be the reason why they installed a Bunker in the Mexican Senate? I'm just wondering..

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  22. i think the authorities involved will figure it out. they're smarter than a lot of the commenters here who think they've figure it out. more will be revealed.

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  23. cobalt 60 is used for x-ray machines in hospitals and x-ray devices for scanning vehicles at checkpoints..looks like whoever wanted the material quite possibly wanted to experiment with it (if it was still usable and viable)..Namely, potential vehicles used for smuggling, to see where the best locations on the vehicle could be used for 'false detection" from cobalt 60...IMO.

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    Replies
    1. @8:02

      They didnt know what they were stealing and you make too many assumptions.

      Delete
  24. The saga continues....stay tune my KOMPAYITOS 4 the next chapter "RADIOACTIVE KARTEL" has sprung up w/ there glow N the dark ZOMBIE ZIKARIOS :)

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  25. sounds like the police are looking for two dead men armed with a gun. they won't live too long.

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  26. Next week zetas will be singing in every corner.. " oooooohhh I'm radioactive, radioactive waaahooo!!!"... #imaginedragons

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    Replies
    1. @9:57 p.m yea and with a third eyeball in the middle of their head and flippers lmao!!

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  27. They thought it was gold, silver or another precious metal. They found out it was a precocious death metal.

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  28. " The truck has a GPS locator but it wasn't active at the time of the theft." Yeah right. Inside job.

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  29. The dumb shits are probably wishing they never touched it, they are probably red as lobsters and bleeding from their orifices

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  30. Lol, precious death metal

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  31. Glow in the dark?? These guys will be dayglow

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  32. "" The truck has a GPS locator but it wasn't active at the time of the theft." Yeah right. Inside job."

    If an inside job - they would KNOW what that cargo was.

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  33. looks like the missing radioactive material has been found - 1 km from the truck where it was stolen. probably the thieves who abandoned it are now very sick in their homes ... and may die.

    http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/12/05/us-mexico-nuclear-iaea-idUSBRE9B30J820131205

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  34. Why aren't ppl saying anything about the health of the 2 men who stole this stuff? They might be suffering a cruel painful slowly death, may they R.I.P if they are dead by now I hope it wasn't ZzZzZzZzZ

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    Replies
    1. @3:51p.m cause ppl dont care about those stooges! Play with fire youre gonna get burned!!

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  35. hahaha! I like how everyone takes responsibility. from the trucker to the company that hired him.. Fucken Mexican Gov and justice system are pieces of shit.

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  36. Im sure that by now the two mensos that stole that stuff are alredy dead.RIP

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  37. " The truck has a GPS locator but it was'nt active at the time of the theft."

    " the area where the device was found is so uninhabited.."

    So how did they find it then?

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    Replies
    1. Satellite radiation detection. Or just looking around the area the truck was found.

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    2. They found the vehicle first... A Volkswagen cargo vehicle with a platform and crane.... Probably fairly noticeable so that's a good place to start... And then they started searching around the vehicle. They found it a"few hundred yards away".. That's not very far away.

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  38. Anonymous said...
    it only has a 5 year half life, im sure its more than half into that by now. Either this is a ploy by the government for more money from us to stop these now nuclear capable cartels (lol) or some asshole stole the wrong truck.


    Hey dumbass, the shorter the half-life, the higher the levels of radio-activity. It is deteriorating faster than an element with a longer half-life.
    Those guys are in bad shape if they handled that without protective gear.

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  39. All this people just talkiing trash that is el chapio and all this crap if you dont know just dont write anything and don comment if you dont know it could have been anybody. Have a nice day folks.

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  40. Not an inside job. Just dumb thugs stealing a truck. If the cartels wanted radioactive material, im sure they could buy it just like they buy drugs and guns.

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  41. Such things should have strict security otherwise next time it will be more deadly for humans in area.
    Grips

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