Blog dedicated to reporting on Mexican drug cartels
on the border line between the US and Mexico
.

Friday, July 31, 2015

Tijuana: "You have 24 hours to leave the plaza"

'You have 24 hours to leave the plaza" 

On a inconspicuous late 80's model Toyota Camry, with California plates, authorities found an narco message, scrawled in black pen on a piece of paper, taped to the windshield.  'Luis, you have 24 hours to leave the plaza or this will keep happening" -The Black Belt, were the contents of the note. 

The message was found near the international border, where a metal mesh fence divides the countries, and very close to Zona Norte, the lucrative red light district, on of Tijuana's biggest retail drug distribution points.  An area that has been in contention for years, a long held CAF zone, has been in chaos since the murder of Luis Manuel Toscano, 'El Mono' earlier this year.  

Mono was murdered with his in bodyguards, moments after leaving an appointment with his parole officer in  the La Mesa district.  His murder set off a series of murders and public killings, including narco messages and the killings of women and children.  It is said that Mono was merely a minor player, whose family and CAF old guard really controlled the plaza.  Mono was known for causing problems, numerous arrests, drug use, and the sexual abuse of women.  

The victory of "El Chapo" over the Arellano Felix Brothers

Translated by Otis B Fly-Wheel for Borderland Beat from a Sinembargo article

[ Subject Matter: "El Chapo, Sinaloa Cartel, Arellano Felix Organization
Recommendation: Some prior knowledge of CDS and AFO would be useful]

Together with his capacity to escape from prisons, one of the characteristics most notable of Chapo Guzman is his performance in war, a permanent condition in his type of business.

He fought against the Juarez Cartel and today Amado Carrillo Fuentes, El Señor de Los Cielos, is dead. He warred against the Gulf Cartel and their top Capo Osiel Cardenas Guillen, " El Mata Amigos" or the "friend killer", who currently lives in a cell in Colorado's super max facility in the United States. He fought against Los Zetas and his major enemy Heriberto Lazcano Lazcano, "the executioner", who fell under Military fire. He betrayed the Beltran Leyva Organization and their leader, Arturo, "El Barbas" who is also dead.

The same occurred when he other-threw the leaders of the Tijuana Cartel, at one time considered the major cartel in the world for movement of drugs and who made the first recruitment of Sicarios with the intention of starting a drugs war.

He sent his squadrons against "El Chapo".......  a bad idea.


Mexico issues warrant for U.S. extradition of 'El Chapo' Guzman

Lucio R. for Borderland Beat -Republished from AP
AP:

A judge in Mexico issued a provisional warrant to detain escaped drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman based on an extradition request from the United States.

A federal official who was not authorized to be quoted by name said Thursday that court hearings would be required before the extradition could ever be carried out.

Guzman also faces a host of Mexican charges following his July 11 escape through a tunnel from Mexico's highest-security prison.

The U.S. filed an extradition request for Guzman on June 25, about 2½ weeks before he escaped.

Former Mexican Attorney General Jesus Murillo Karam said earlier that Mexico wouldn't extradite Guzman until after he had served time for his crimes in Mexico, saying the U.S. might get El Chapo in "about 300 or 400 years.


Note from Lucio:

In the article below it eludes to the expectation that El Chapo would now face “a host of other charges following his July 11th escape.”  In Mexico, it is rare that an inmate is charged with escaping.  

There would have to have been deaths or injuries involved in the escape.  Mexico does not prosecute for the escape itself, holding to the philosophy, that it is a natural compulsion for humans to escape confinement, thereby escaping or attempting escape is reacting in a  natural human instinct and should not be punished.


Let’s refresh our memory and go back to what Mexican Attorney General Jesus Murillo Karam [aka #YaMeCanse] said in January 2015;
"I could accept extradition, but at the time that I choose. 'El Chapo' must stay here to complete his sentence, and then I will extradite him," Murillo Karam told The Associated Press in an interview. 
"So about 300 or 400 years  — it will be a while." 
The United States also filed a warrant with Interpol, similar to that of Chino Antrax, if Chapo should be captured in a country outside Mexico, he will, after a hearing, be sent to the United States.

Thursday, July 30, 2015

Eight family members decapitated in north Mexico

Borderland Beat posted by DD republished from Yahoo News
The state of Chihuahua has endured much of the gruesome violence that has plagued Mexico
 DD:  Lucio's title to the podcast "If you think you know what is going on in Mexico, you are misinformed" just about says it all.  Mark Twain made a similar statement that would apply to Mexico;  "If you don't read newspapers you are not informed, if you read newspapers, you are misinformed.

Yahoo News printed 2 stories on the eight family members killed in Chihuahua, one was from the news agency AP and one was from the AFP agency.  The AP story said all the victims were stabbed and had their throats cut and said officials denied there was any decapitations.  AP said the bodies were dumped in a deep gully.  AFP said the bodies were decapitated and left at different places along a road.

The only significance of the difference of the 2 versions of what happened is decapitations have traditionally been associated with 2 cartels fighting over territory.  This took place in an area known as the Golden Triangle which has experienced extreme violence in the Senaloa/Juarez cartel battles for control of the Juarez plaza.

 AFP made the statement "US law enforcement officials suspect that Sinaloa drug cartel leader Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman is hiding in the region following his July 11 escape from prison".  Several commentators and "experts" have predicted increased violence following Chapo's escape as he seeks to reinforce his hold on existing territories and that he may try to expand by going after a Texas trafficking plaza as he has wanted for years.,  .If he does, that would likely be Juarez.

Large drug shipment de 'Tigre' seized in Tijuana

Large drug shipment seized in Tijuana


The product was taped, color coded and packaged for shipment to the United States, through the San Ysidro or Otay Mesa crossing, where 70% of the meth in the country comes through.  The couriers were well dressed, professional, and had the look of Sinaloense, no surprise as the hundreds of kilos in crystal, coke, and heroin was from Sinaloa.  

The owner, or person in charge of crossing the product (delegating the process) was Jose Gastulem Soto, 'El Tigre', a prominent trafficker in Tijuana, who despite having his name on the DEA's list of top Baja/San Diego traffickers has eluded capture and kept a mostly low profile.  

Tigre comes from the post 2008 world of the Tijuana plaza, a onetime enforcer of Teodoro Garcia Simental, 'El Teo', who along with the Azarte brothers, have risen to become the most wanted in the state.  Soto is not publicly named in any unsealed US indictments, out of the Southern District of Califronia, or anywhere else in the US.

 He managed to avoid Operation Narco Polo, which indicted the Azarte brothers, Los Antrax, Chino Antrax, Serafin Zambada Ortiz, and a dozen plus other significant active traffickers.  He is thought to have influence in Rosarito and Tijuana.  

Tigre fought against the Sanchez Arellano people in earlier years, as well as Aquilles, and other fallen cell leaders, like El Cuervo and El Guicho, in the confusing world of retail drug markets and competing cells under the same banner.  

In total, the load contained 108 kilos of crystal, 46 kilos of cocaine, and 43 kilos of heroin.  An expensive shipment, both across the border and in Tijuana.  Roughly estimating the loss through an imperfect, but mostly accurate process....Pounds of crystal go for roughly 3,000 directly across the border, gaining value of course, the further they travel, whether it be Los Angeles, or the crystal ravaged Inland empire.  

Wednesday, July 29, 2015

Podcast: "If you think you know what is going on in Mexico...You are misinformed"

Lucio R. Borderland Beat Republished from Radio WhoWhatWhy Podcast


In this podcast, Guillermo Jimenez speaks with journalist and author Ioan Grillo, as they explore "facts" of  the El Chapo prison escape, and rumors surrounding the event.

Grillo probes into the outlandish and the plausible in this entertaining and honest exchange.  Of course corruption and mistrust by the people are a part of the discussion along with along with the much discussed on BB, “Bald-Gate”.

Jimenez brings up a SinEmbargo article, which he mentions was translated to English by Borderland Beat, follow this link to read the post, Translated by “Valor”.

Apologies to BB readers for having to post in this format, Blogger is not capable of posting audio, so we went around the problem by "tweeting" the story.


Semei Verdía re-arrested on charges he "murdered" Templarios in May clash

By Lucio R. Borderland Beat

Salvador Jara, the graduate from the  Fausto Vallejo University of corruption, the PRI Governor of Michoacán made good on his threat to assure indigenous autodefensa leader, Semei Verdía,  remains incarcerated.

He presumed Verdía would be locked up for the foreseeable future, but was dealt a blow when the federal government determined the case against Verdía lacked evidence.  That is zero evidence, as none was presented.

Verdía was ordered released by the court.

Jara was incensed and said there would be new charges filed, this time from his puppet administration. 

He followed through on his threat.

Verdía was re-arrested at 11:30 pm, as he was leaving the prison in Tepi, Nayarit, where he was held since the July 19th arrest.

On the Michoacán state PGJE twitter page the following was tweeted (paraphrased):

“PGJE makes it known we have completed two arrest warrants against Cemei (Semei) Verdía Zepeda, for the criminal acts of aggravated robbery and homicide.”

According to the state agency, the warrants were issued by two separate criminal courts in the state.

After the new arrest in Tepic, Verdía was immediately transferred back to Michoacán, to the Mil Cumbres State prison in the state capital of Morelia.

Without providing details, PGJE stated that the crime of robbery originated from the city of Aquila. 

Tuesday, July 28, 2015

Semei Verdia to be released and American tourist assisted citizens in attack by government forces

Lucio R. Borderland Beat

Update on the Semei Verdia release below


New video at bottom

In this video I would recommending beginning around 1:30, before then is wasted shaky footage.

View the video keeping in mind the government said those killed and wounded, mostly children, was due to the firing of weapons from armed citizens.

They had to revise the story after videos appeared showing citizens were not armed, except for those armed with black painted sticks.  The government then said government forces, “shot into the air”, which may have resulted in some people being hit.

Witnesses, including tourists said soldiers indiscriminately shot at anything, buildings, people outside, anything.  Some people were hit simply sitting inside their homes. 

This action by federal forces goes even beyond extrajudicial killings of late, these amount to the slaughter of innocents.

This event stemmed from the arrest of the Indigenous autodefensa leader Semei Verdia on July 19th

Monday, July 27, 2015

The engineers of El Chapo

Translated by Otis B Fly-Wheel for Borderland Beat from a Zetatijuana article

[ Subject Matter: Engineers, El Chapo Guzman, tunnel building, Sinaloa Cartel
Recommendation: No prior subject matter knowledge required]

Far from the Mexican frontier from California to Arizona, in the storm drains of Culiacan, Sinaloa, and below "Altiplano" Cefereso no.1 in Alomoloya de Juarez, Mexico State, Joaquin Guzman Loera extended a network of underground passages both to distribute drugs and to escape from the authorities. The worlds most want Kingpin, discovered in Engineering, his best weapon and tool.



Reporter: Ines Garcia Ramos
In a cell of less than 8 square metres with a bed and a concrete floor, shower and toilet included, was the space where Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman waited for 1 year and 139 days, while under "Altiplano" a tunnel was excavated to facilitate his escape.

The leader of the Sinaloa Cartel who occupied cell number 20, in the supermax area of "Altiplano". The prison constructed to house 724 inmates, but since August 2014 has a inmate population of 1140, according to the statistics of the Federal Government.


GATES Tactics called into question: Body with Messsage found in Nava, Coahuila

Lucio R. Borderland Beat with material from La Rancherita, BB Readers 

Coahuila  Violence

BB readers on the ground in northern Coahuila have been reporting extrajudicial executions and kidnappings by police groups in the state.

Coahuila is one of the blackout narco news states, limiting factual reporting or a complete lack of reporting on most stories. 

BB has several reliable sources on the ground that send us information, and beginning 8 months ago we began receiving emails and comments from people on the ground expressing fear, while reporting the  Coahuila state police groups known as GATES and Policía Estatal Acreditables have been killing and kidnapping people, and not solely the bad guys.

According to citizens, the “disappearances” have been indiscriminately selected, innocents, young, old, female, male, In numbers as much as those connected to criminality.

The bulk of the violence is occurring in; Piedras Negras, Nava, Allende, Morelos in the area of Cinco Manantiales (Five Springs), and to a lesser degree Acuña.

Resurgence of Violence in North Coahuila

Borderland Beat posted by DD republished from Proceso and el Norte  

 Piedras Negras, Mexico (July 25, 2015) .- The violence caused by the drug war has had a resurgence in northern Coahuila.

The awakening of what the authorities themselves have called 'the monster' of drug trafficking has resulted in executions and shootings.

In Piedras Negras, at least five innocent civilians and a suspect were injured after a clash sparked yesterday morning.

 Through a statement, the State Security Commission reported that the incident occurred during a patrol..

Riding on Boulevard Eliseo Mendoza Berrueto, agents of the Group of Special Weapons and Tactics detected a Jetta car with plates of Coahuila.

Officials said the car matched the description of a car that had been reported as involved in depriving a person of their liberty.  The officers signaled the Jetta to stop and the suspected criminals fired on the agents.  and the agents responded to the aggression with gunfire.

In the shooting one of the criminals was wounded, while the other two were arrested on the spot.

Sunday, July 26, 2015

Zacatecas: Zetas exerting power, Zetas Beheading Video released, Extrajudicial killings of 7

by Lucio R. Borderland Beat written with material from AccesoZac, El Circo Zac, Zacatecas 3.0 
Zeta's leave decapitated head of Lizeth Ruiz in cooler

Zacatecas, becoming stronger Zetas

There is an uptick in violence in Zacatecas, as Zetas have returned with even greater force than before.

Cartel Monterrey (CDN) has been on the ground in Zacatecas supporting Los Zetas.

Beheadings are back

Beheadings and the video taping of the gruesome atrocities, have made a comeback.

After the discontinuing the practice of decapitation video publishing, the violent conflict in Zacatecas has resumed the practice.

[WARNING: Decapitation Photo on Second Page]         

Prosecutors in Jalisco launch wide ranging search for 2000 missing

Borderland Beat posted by DD republished from Fox News Latino

 Promises are made by the government and then they are forgotten all too often in Mexico.  Maybe, just maybe the new Attorney General for the State of Jalisco, Eduardo Almaguer,  may keep his.






An operation has been launched to find the "nearly 2,000 people" reported missing in the western Mexican state of Jalisco, state prosecutors said.

The operation started on Saturday, with some 100 agents visiting the homes of victims to try to determine their whereabouts and close the cases of people who have been located, the Jalisco Attorney General's Office said.

"With actions like this, we are following through on the commitment we made to Jalisco's residents to work to protect their security," Attorney General Eduardo Almaguer said.

Almaguer replaced Luis Carlos Najera as the state's top law enforcement official in early July.

The operation comes after the AG's office and the state government denied for more than two years that disappearances were a problem in Jalisco, which ranks No. 2 in Mexico in terms of forced disappearances, trailing only the northeastern state of Tamaulipas.

Guatemala extradites Zeta to United States

Translated by Otis B Fly-Wheel for Borderland Beat from a Milenio article

[ Subject Matter: Jairo Estuardo Orellana, extradition
Recommendation: No prior subject matter knowledge required]


Jairo Estuardo Orellana, was accused of various assassinations to make his life as a drug trafficker easier, he was transferred under tight security

Guatemala
Jairo Estuardo Orellana, alleged Guatemalan narco trafficker, was extradited to the United States, under tight security, he was taken into custody by Agents of the DEA.

Orellana is required by the Court of Colombia, Virginia, for the crimes of conspiracy to use fire arms to traffic drugs in the United States.

The Government vice-Minister, Elmer Sosa said to the Association Press that the Government were satisfied with the capture.

Saturday, July 25, 2015

San Diego indictment: Cessna planes purchased to launder drug profits

San Diego: 200 count Indictment accuses 9 of money laundering

According to the 200 count indictment, a Tijuana airplane broker, Vicente Contereras Amezquita and 8 others conspired through 2007 until 2012 to facilitate the purchase of Cessna airplanes for drug traffickers.  The 44 year old Amezquita was arrested last week, and in federal court yesterday, he remains in custody awaiting a detention hearing on July 30th.  


The indictment alleges Amezquita and his conspirators laundered 3.6 million dollars in drug proceeds, in the 5 year time period they were operating.  The conspirators engaged in "convoluted financial transactions" to purchase Cessnas and plane parts, including tires.  The deposits were all made in increments of under 10,000 to avoid scrutiny, in a process known as structuring.  

The payments, deposits, and transfers were made from 46 different bank accounts in 5 different states in the 5 year time span of the alleged conspiracy.  The charging documents state that Amezquita picked up the drug proceeds in strip malls, parking lots, fast food restaurants, and airplane hangars. This is very similar to the way the defendants in a another money laundering case out of Chicago conducted their business. 

 That case was unsealed in March, 2015 with over 60 indicted in a complex gold for cash laundering scheme, with traffickers bringing cash to money laundering cells, connected to trafficking groups in Sinaloa.  

The San Diego indictment alleges the purchase of 35 planes during the course of the investigation. This unsealed indictment comes months after Operation Narco Polo, a massive far reaching operation that indicted most of Sinaloa's upper management, and San Diego distribution cells.  The indictment states that traffickers favor the 210 Cessna model plane to run drug shipments, assumedly places like Guadalajara and Sinaloa to Baja California and Sonora.    

Friday, July 24, 2015

US Seizes 8 Tons of Cocaine on a narco sub

Lucio R. Borderland Beat republished by Uncle Grumpy from Business Insider

US authorities gained control of a "narco-submarine" filled with eight tons of cocaine.

In a joint operation, the US Navy, US Coast Guard, and assets from the Customs and Border Protection Office of Air and Marine, intercepted a "narco-submarine" filled with more than 16,870 pounds of cocaine off the coast of El Salvador.
Sub with the 8 Tons

On July 18, a Coast Guard cutter commandeered a self-propelled, semisubmersible vessel carrying 274 bales of cocaine weighing more than eight tons, according to a press release from US Customs and Border Patrol.

The four individuals found with the illicit contraband were detained by US authorities.

Mexican and South American drug cartels and their broader networks are entirely dependent on an ability to get their product onto US soil. And if there's one thing that these organizations are good at, it's changing their operating methods in order to stay one step ahead of the game.

Thursday, July 23, 2015

"El Chapo", Monterrey's New Piñata Star

By Lucio R. Borderland Beat


I am switching it up, with a little levity at the end of a long day.

In Monterrey, Nuevo Leon, the Sinaloa cartel leader Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman is the new star of piñata artists.

El Chapo" appears in a khaki prison uniform, gun and grenade attached to his belt, there is an optional minuscule Donald Chump.  Minuscule perhaps, to match the Mexican opinion of the blustering blatherskite.

It is available with a sign that reads 

“I Make Home Made Tunnels"


The price of the Piñatas are 200-500 Mx Pesos, (13-32 USD) depending on the options selected.   


Violence explodes in all points of Guerrero- 8 bodies found in Zitalala, with Message from Los Rojos

By Lucio R. for Borderland Beat several regional newspapers were used to compile this report

Maria de la Luz
Violence has erupted greater than usual in Guerrero.  In the last 24 hrs 23 reported killings in Acapulco, Iguala and Zitlala. Below is information on 15 of those killings.

Zitlala: 8 Bodies

(Reforma reports) discovered on El Crusco Hill in Zitlala.  El Crusco is an often used dumping ground of bodies, or executions.  Zitlala borders Chilapa de Alvarez.  The attorney General reports the bodies of all showing signs of great torture and killed by gunshots.  One was decapitated.

There was no personal information with respect to identification of the deceased other than they were all male.  One 10 year old boy was with the fated group, but managed to escape.

A message was left behind with the bodies and signed by “Los Rojos” (contents undisclosed) 
8 bodies in Zitlala

Acapulco: 9thBody

A body of a young woman identified as Maria de la Luz, was  found shot to death on Neron and Amilicar Streets in Acapulco. 

A message was left with the deceased was signed by “Los Rojos”

Acapulco: 10thBody

The body of a man identified as Jose Najera, was found inside a garage.  45 gun shell casings were also found at the scene. (below)


Wednesday, July 22, 2015

Congresswoman who visited Chapo in prison is the mother of his newborn son

Lucio R. for Borderland Beat republished from an editorial from El Universal

Left to right, Sinaloa PAN party rep, Chapo and Dep, Lucero Sanchez

The congresswoman was appointed not elected to the position

Nobody knows for sure how many children  Joaquin El Chapo Guzman has fathered. The issue became news because after the escape of drug trafficker, federal authority established a line of investigation revealing around a dozen children, known of so far.

What we know for example is that the youngest of El Chapo’s descendants is the son of Lucero Guadalupe Sanchez Lopez, current deputy in the congress of Sinaloa for the district 16 of Cosala. Similarly it is known that by the influence of El Chapo in the municipality of Cosala sierra of Sinaloa and territory of Guzman Loera, the lady Sanchez Lopez was appointed as deputy to the state congress.

In other words the criminal chief would have corrupted the state structure of El PAN, by having appointed to the  legislator,  the mother of the known youngest son of El Chapo.

It is also known that Lucero Sanchez Lopez, visited El Chapo in the Altiplano prison in May 2015, where they decided on which nationality their son would have, Mexican or American.  He was  ultimately born in the United States in recent weeks.  

(I know this makes little sense, unless they were allowed to visit in the private visiting room, which they have in Altiplano.  The article says literally: "the small son finally saw the light in recent weeks".  She does appear pregnant in the photo from the May visit)

Tuesday, July 21, 2015

Consensus of 75 years of combined experience in the trenches of the drug trade ; "Chapo had been thrown back into the drug world to restore order"

Borderland Beat posted by DD republished from Pro Publico
and thanks to Siskiyou Kid for finding this story and posting it on Forum
 
Over eggs at a San Antonio café, a reporter listens as former law enforcement officials and one ex-drug cartel operative swap theories about El Chapo’s latest escape and what it says about the U.S. and Mexico.
 This story was co-published with The Atlantic.
 
Mexico's Attorney General Arely Gomez shows a picture of drug kingpin Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman during a press conference on July 13, 2015.

 The slight man at the breakfast table seemed more like an evangelical minister than someone who once brokered deals between Mexican drug lords and state governors. He wore a meticulously pressed button-down, a gold watch, gold-rimmed glasses, and a gold cross around his neck. His dark brown hair was styled in a comb-over. And when his breakfast companions started to tuck into their bowls of oatmeal and plates of salmon benedict, he cleared his throat and asked for a moment of silence.
“Would you mind if I say grace?” he asked.

The gathering last week at Le Peep café in San Antonio would seem unusual almost anywhere except south Texas, where Mexico kind of blends into the United States — and so does the drug trade. Seated next to the cartel operative was a senior Mexican intelligence official. And next to him was a veteran American counternarcotics agent. They bowed their heads for prayer and then proceeded to talk a peculiar kind of shop.

A few days earlier, Mexico’s most powerful drug trafficker, Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, had escaped again from one of that country’s maximum-security prisons. No one in this deeply sourced group was surprised. Nor were they particularly interested in the logistical details of the escape, although they clearly didn’t believe the version they’d heard from the Mexican government.

Monday, July 20, 2015

Government Deceit:No conflict in the Aquila arrest of Semei? 4 children gunned down

By Lucio R. Borderland Beat
Read Valor’s post by linking here for back story

Six year old girl, 12 year old boy and an adult were killed

Although the government was quick to pronounce there were no shots fired and no conflict in the arrest of Semei Verdia, testimony and photos taken by citizens tell a different story.

The sheer number of soldiers, including the Marina,  Federal Police. and Army, hundreds of elements, was a tip off they were there to take Semei Verdia, no matter the amount of collateral damage.

Reports coming from Aquila; The unarmed community formed a roadblock when they realized Semei had been arrested.  They initiated dialog with the Marina, demanding the soldiers allow their leader to go free. the response was for soldiers to open fire, killing at least two, including a child, and injuring at least 4 other children (reported ages 4, 6, 9, 12, 15).  Melesio Cristiano, 60 years was also killed.

It appears another extrajudicial event has occurred.


Soldiers opened fire everywhere, people reported bullets entering their homes, all of the killed and injured were reported as being in their homes when shot. Two other adults injured, one seriously another, a woman visiting the home was injured when a bullet grazed her head.
.
Edilberto Reyes 12 years old, died from his injuries that pieced his head exiting through his eye
Neymi Natali Reyes Pineda, 6, died from the bullet wound to her chest
Semei Verdia has been one of Dr. Mireles’ greatest proponents, and has come under attack twice in the past year, attacks that resulted in deaths of members of his autodefensa group, known as the “coastal autodefensas”, and regarded as “genuine” autodefensas. Semei is a humble man whose sole interest is that of ensuring safety and peace for his indigenous community.   Salvador Molina Navarro, the attorney of Dr. Mireles has stepped up to defend Semei.

He is not a murderer, drug trafficker, he is not Chapo Guzman, but hundreds of  soldiers were needed for his “capture”.  

In what is reminiscent of the arrest of Dr. Mireles, Semei appears to have been set up.  He was called to review the delivery of armored vehicles by the government, the Fuerza Rurales were to also attend the meeting.  He was arrested on the spot.


No Rurales were in sight.


Semei was carrying one weapon when arrested, a weapon that was legal and registered.  His arrest had zero to do with his weapon and more so because of his leadership.  Like Mireles and Salgado, he became a strong, outspoken adversary to the transgressions of the government and organized crime.

The community reports that the soldiers took with them their radio system by which they use to protect their community, (indigenous communal land).  The soldiers also took the seal of the community council. 



Indigenous Rights and Autonomy (material was used to write this section from; Ostula culture and defiance) 

The rebellion of the Zapatista Army of National Liberation (EZLN) in Chiapas in 1994 gave a strong impetus to the indigenous rights movement in Mexico by highlighting the particular system of disadvantage faced by so many Mexican citizens who continue to maintain an indigenous identity, not simply in terms of living standards, health, social welfare and access to public services but also in terms of enjoyment of political, civil and human rights.

Sunday, July 19, 2015

Telesur: Chapo back in in Jesus Maria, Sinaloa partying with wife and kids.

Borderland Beat posted by DD republished from TeleSur  

                                                                      From here




 To Here
To Here
They thought the Titanic was unsinkable too

Semeí Verdía Arrested

Dr. Mireles left Semei is leader of what is known as "genuine" autodefensas

Forces from Mexico's Secretariat of National Defense and Mexican Marines arrested Semeí Verdía, leader of the michoacan coastal autodefensas today, Sunday July 19, 2015 in the town of La Placita de Morelos. Semeí was attending a meeting with the Fuerza Rural in the region.

Semeí was immediately transferred to the Mexican Marine base in La Placita where he was then transferred via helicopter to the city of Morelia.

Semeí Verdía Zepeda, along with the commander of the Fuerza Rural of Coahuayana , “Tetos” Héctor Zepeda, were summoned for a revision of the armored trucks that were given to them by the government. Héctor Zepeda did not show up to the revision and was not detained.


El Chapo will be extradited to the USA when recaptured

Translated by Otis B Fly-Wheel for Borderland Beat from a Milenio article

[ Subject Matter: El Chapo, extradition
Recommendation: No prior subject matter knowledge required]

The president of the Bicameral (twin house) Commission, Adriana Gomez, said that they had known that since June 2012 the movement sensors at Altiplano had stopped working.


Reporter: Milenio Digital
The extradition process against Joaquin Guzman Loera "El Chapo", has already started, for when he is recaptured he will be immediately extradited to the United States, said Adriana Gonzalez, president of the Bicameral Commission.

"Yes I have personally asked Miguel Angel Osorio chong about the extradition of El Chapo, and he said that the process was started and will continue with the re capture of the criminal, she said in an interview with Ciro Gomez Leyva, for Grupo Formula.

He said that after an investigation they made, they found out that since June of 2012 the motion sensors had malfunctioned.

I asked explicitly when they had malfunctioned, these sensors that detect whichever movement in the cell block. They said to me that in april of 2012 they had started to play up, and in June stopped working altogether.

Saturday, July 18, 2015

The Arellanos, favourite of the United States

Translated by Otis B Fly-Wheel for Borderland Beat from a Zetatijuana article

[ Subject Matter: Arellano Felix Organization
Recommendation: No prior subject matter knowledge required]


Reporters: Ines Garcia Ramos, Rosario Mosso Castro and Cortesia

During the last five years, Francisco Javier Arellano Felix is only permitted to leave his solitary confinement to meet prosecutors. The rest of the time he is in his cell 23 hours a day, and is denied contact with any other prisoner.

In exchange for details about the structure and functioning of the Cartel Arellano Felix (CAF), Police who were bribed both in Mexico and the United States and other drug traffickers, the youngest of the Arellano Felix brothers was promised to be " properly compensated", and so it turned out.

In November of 2007, he was sentenced to a life sentence by the Judge Larry Alan Burns in the Federal Court of San Diego, California.

Narco trafficking, extortion, kidnapping, attempting to bribe authorities and committing homicides, were the crimes committed by Francisco Javier.

Since 2002, "El Tigrillo" had taken control of the activities of the CAF and ordered crimes perpetrated by this criminal organization in Tijuana as well as San Diego. According to the State Prosecutor of South California, " the activities of the cartel gave and destroyed the lives of thousands of people on both sides of the border".

Friday, July 17, 2015

Mexico's Missing and Murdered Women

Borderland Beat posted by DD republished from the Globe and Mail.
Special Thanks to one of our readers in Canada for e-mailing us this story.

By  BROOKE BINKOWSKI

The killing or disappearance of women in Mexico has become so frequent, a new term has entered the country’s lexicon: femicidio  
A woman holds onto a banner with the photographs of missing women in Ciudad Juarez January 28, 2015. (Reuters)
The woman’s body appeared in the middle of March.

She had been left next to a sewage canal in Mexicali, a Mexican city that borders the dry and dusty Imperial Valley in California. There was a bag over her head, her hands and feet tied with duct tape.  As of June 12, since the beginning of 2015, she is the eighth woman to have  have been murdered. Still more have vanished without a trace.

Mexicali, the capital of Baja California state, is not unique among border cities. All along the United States-Mexico border, women and girls are going missing. They are often of indigenous descent, brought north from impoverished rural areas by the lure of better economic prospects and the possibility of crossing into the U.S. There is also a strong element of structural racism that contributes to the apathy of Mexican authorities when indigenous women disappear, critics say.

Sometimes they aren’t found, but other times their bodies turn up in the desert, desiccated by the heat, or dumped in trash heaps, or left under bushes. The murders of women have reached such epidemic proportions in the past two decades that a new term has entered Mexico’s lexicon: femicidio, or femicide. The Mexican government claims a massive backlog on missing and murdered women cases means many deaths remain unsolved.

“This issue’s been going on for a long time … the mistreatment of women, especially women of colour, the abuse of women, the disappearance of women. And it’s not only happening on the U.S.-Mexico border, it’s also happening on the U.S.-Canadian border,” says Enrique Morones who runs Border Angels, a volunteer group based in San Diego, that fights for immigration reform. “But you don’t hear those stories, and those stories are important that they be told.”

In Ciudad Juarez, a city across the border from El Paso, Tex., Marisela Ortiz Rivera is trying to make sure those stories are heard. She’s the co-founder of a group whose name translates into English as May Our Daughters Return Home, launched after her student, 17-year-old Lilia Alejandra Garcia Andrade, was abducted and murdered in 2001. She began the group with Lila’s mother, Norma Andrade.
 
Silvia Banda walks near a mural depicting her missing daughter Fabiola Janet Valenzuela Banda (L) in Ciudad Juarez May 10, 2015. Mothers and other members of the group"Fighting until we find them" (Luchando hasta encontrarlas) launched a campaign by having the faces of their missing daughters painted on walls in different neighbourhoods of the city, according to local media. (Reuters)