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

Friday, March 31, 2017

Narco blockades in Tamaulipas

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

Subject Matter: Reynosa, Narco Blockades
Recommendation: No prior subject matter knowledge required

Chaos in Reynosa because of Narco Blockades; Marines attend the emergency


Reporter: Proceso Redaction
Elements of the Marines continued operations this morning in various sectors of Reynosa, Tamaulipas, earlier during the evening the operatives answered the call when a State emergency alert was activated because of blockages of streets and avenues.

According to information given in the daily "El Manana de Reynosa", the first reports of blockades and paralysis on the roads and arteries registered around 21:45 Wednesday, which obligated the Municipal Government to send out a Yellow alert in its face book and twitter accounts at 22:12.


Thursday, March 30, 2017

Nayarit: Attorney General arrested at border for drug trafficking-distribution operation

Chivis Martinez for Borderland Beat Tu Sancho thank you for video.....

Edgar Veytia, 47, the attorney general of the Mexican state of Nayarit, has been arrested at the U.S./Mexico border, specifically, at the Cross Border Xpress airport terminal, a transit point that links San Diego to the Tijuana airport.

The arrest was made after a filing of charges, derived from  a sealed indictment on March 2, 2017. 

Veytia, was openly spoken about as being in charge of trafficking for the Zetas, in a drug trafficking distribution operation.  In a video included with this post and arrested Zeta declares Veytia as his boss for  Nayarit operations.

He will remain in San Diego until after his April 11 hearing, then he will transfer to New York to face charges:
Count I: International Heroin, Cocaine, Methamphetamine and Marijuana Manufacture and Distribution Conspiracy; 
Count II: Heroin, Cocaine, Methamphetamine and Marijuana Importation Conspiracy; 
Count III: Heroin, Cocaine, Methamphetamine, and Marijuana Distribution Conspiracy.

El Chapo complains to court of "draconian prison conditions" and "hearing voices"

Chivis Martinez for Borderland Beat

Different prison, different country….same old song incarcerated Sinaloa capo, Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzmán Loera, is singing while in his Manhattan prison cell.

Not many that are long time followers of the Mexican narco war, will forget that Chapo has escaped from two high security prisons, one supposedly via a laundry cart, and more recently, when he became the first inmate to escape Mexico’s highest security prison, Altiplano No.1.  From No.1 he fled through one of his famous tunnels, constructed from a farm near the prison.  He descended through a hole created through the concrete shower floor. 

While Chapo was in No.1 he filed several complaints about his conditions.  He was transferred to No. 9 in Juarez.  He began immediately filing about the conditions at the Juarez prison.  It was cold, it was loud, he was awaken every hour causing high blood pressure and other ailments.  He actually won a transfer back to No. 1 but was given a different transfer instead…to New York City.  When he was awaken for the extradition he asked if he was being taken to No.1, he was told no, “the United States”. 

As soon as he landed in the U.S. the complaints began.  And make no mistake; they are taking precautions as seldom seen before.  It is not solely an escape that concerns authorities; it is for the safety of those working towards a long incarceration.  It has been alleged that Chapo has ordered killings in the past, even to transpire in foreign countries, so authorities are taking no chances. 

He is in a private cell, windowless, visits from his attorneys twice a day, and no outside time.   He is not allowed visits from his wife, Emma Coronel.  Coronel provided a marriage certificate to the court.  However if the court checked with Mexican prison authorities they would see that Chapo is still legally married to his first wife, who he never divorced, and who he listed as his wife on prison records.

Nevertheless, the court was not going to allow the visits. 

Official Start of Campaigns Still Days Away, Moreira and Calderon Already Throwing Mud

Posted by DD Republished from MexicoNewsDaily

 

Days before the official start of the election campaign in the state of Coahuila, two prominent ex-politicians have taken over the limelight, one of them a former president.

Humberto Moreira Valdés, a former state governor and former national leader of the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), has been widely condemned for embezzling billions of pesos, but never charged.

 

When it was made public late last year that he was pursuing a Deputy’s seat in the state Congress, politicians and other public figures expressed disbelief and outrage, with some remarking on the accusations of ties to the Zetas cartel.

It was also asserted at the time that behind Moreira’s revived political aspirations lay the pursuit of a fuero, a constitutional privilege that grants immunity against prosecution to government officials.

Earlier this week, Moreira — considered one of the 10 most corrupt Mexicans by Forbes magazine in 2013 — confirmed his intention to obtain a candidacy from the local Young Party, or Partido Joven.

He stated it was not a whim, having attempted on four occasions to run for different offices after his term as governor ended in 2011. But the PRI denied all of them, even when he was “ahead in the polls.”

In this context, ex-president Felipe Calderón Hinojosa accused Moreira of not only being close to Los Zetas, but of allowing the criminal gang to live “comfortably in the state” during his stint as governor.

Another Veracruz Journalist Shot as Attacks Against Journalist Soar

Posted by DD partially Republished from Toronto Metro, by: Lev Garcia The Associated Press, and some material translated from Regeneracion.Mx and TeleSur


VERACRUZ, Mexico — A reporter in Mexico's Gulf coast state of Veracruz was reported in
Armando Arrieta Granados
serious condition after being shot outside his home early Wednesday in a region plagued by drug cartel violence. It adds to a string of attacks on reporters in a country considered one of the most dangerous places to practice journalism

Regeneration Mx. reported that although it has not been an official part by the statement by authorities of the Public Security Secretariat of the State of Veracruz or the State Government, the first versions indicate that Armando Arrieta received at least four 9 mm caliber bullet hits, He was rushed to a clinic, where his condition is reported as severe.

The president of the state commission for the protection of journalists, Ana Laura Perez, said a bullet punctured the lung of Armando Arrieta Granados, who worked as the news editor for the newspaper La Opinion de Poza Rica.

 Armando Arrieta holds a Masters Degree in Higher Education from the Universidad Veracruzana and since 2005 was a harsh critic of the authorities, and has demanded the clarification of the murder of his leader and owner of the same newspaper, Raul Gibb Guerrero, in April of that year. year.

It was the second shooting attack on a journalist in two days in Mexico. A bodyguard protecting a threatened journalist was shot to death on Tuesday in the Baja California resort of San Jose del Cabo.Journalist Julio Omar Gomez was not wounded in that attack at his home. But his bodyguard was reportedly shot when he tried to repel the attack.

Gomez previously ran an internet news site, and currently works for the city press department. He had been the apparent target of two previous attacks on his home, and the government had supplied bodyguards to protect him.

Wednesday's shooting also was the fifth attack on journalists this month; the previous three were fatal.



Los Chapitos confuse Al Jazeera Journalist for Los Damaso , kidnap and assault them

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

Subject Matter: Journalists, Los Chapitos, Villa Juarez
Recommendation: No prior subject matter knowledge required

An armed group of Ivan Archivaldo Guzman, son of El Chapo Guzman, detained and assaulted Al Jazeera journalists when confusing them with another delinquent group linked to Damaso Lopez "El Licenciado", in Villa Juarez, Navolato.


The group of journalists were held for 45 minutes and were later released after the armed group realized their mistake. However the journalists were stripped of their vehicles, work tools and cell phones, and then set free in a field a kilometer from the Villamoros community.

The victims had arrived in Sinaloa to work on a report on agricultural workers and violence, but in the course of carrying out their work were intercepted by the armed group.


Wednesday, March 29, 2017

El Z-40 transferred to Ciudad Juarez Prison

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

Subject Matter: Miguel Angel Trevino Morales, El Z-40
Recommendation: No prior subject matter knowledge required

The Commission for National Security has informed that the ex leader of Los Zetas, Miguel Angel Trevino Morales, was transferred from the maximum security prison of Altiplano, to the Cefereso at Ciudad Juarez.


Reporter: Milenio Digital
The leader of Los Zetas, Miguel Angel Trevino Morales, El Z 40, was transferred from Altiplano to the Cefereso at Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua, informs the Commission for National Security.

"It is a precautionary rotation, that is carried out as a matter of course with the authorization of Judiciary", indicated sources of the Commission.

El Z-40 was detained by elements of the Marina during a surprise operation in Anahuac, Nuevo Leon, in July of 2013. ( Otis: See Link to article by Chivis on his capture).


Monday, March 27, 2017

Third Mexican Journalist assassinated in March; this time in Chihuahua capital (UPDATED)

Posted by DD republished in part from Mexico News Daily and Insight Crime

 


Reported by Mexico News Daily,
A well known Chihuahua journalist was killed Thursday morning in the state capital, the third to be assassinated in Mexico this month.

Miroslava Breach Velducea, 54, was killed by four gunshots fired at close range while in a vehicle in the Infonavit Nacional neighborhood at 7:00am, said state police in a statement.

She was outside her home when the attack took place, and was about to drive her son to school.

The victim was a correspondent for La Jornada and El Norte de Juárez and had recently launched a news agency.


 According to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), 74 percent of journalists killed in Mexico since 1992 covered crime, 29 percent covered corruption and 24 percent covered politics.

Insight Crime reported "Along those lines, Marcela Turati Muñoz, an award-winning reporter for the Mexican news outlet Proceso, told InSight Crime that it was impossible to confirm that organized crime was directly responsible for these killings. But Turati also pointed out that it is just as plausible that the assassinations have to do with political power struggles involving corrupt local politicians and businessmen as it is that they have do with drug trafficking cartels.

"It is easy for many assassins in these areas [where the journalists were killed] to disguise their crimes as the work of organized crime, because they know that no one will thoroughly investigate if the crime presents organized crime characteristics," Turati wrote in an email.

"In Chihuahua, for example, there aren't only cartel disputes, there is also an ongoing political dispute, a political readjustment. And in each of these three states [Guerrero, Veracruz, Chihuahua], links between politicians and cartels come to light," she added.

In March 2016, Breach had written specifically about these links in the state of Chihuahua, revealing the family ties between local candidates for elections and criminal groups."

 
 During her career, the journalist had spoken out against human rights violations and the negative impacts of drug trafficking. Among the most recent subjects she investigated was the displacement of hundreds of familes by drug trafficking organizations in Chihuahua, and organized crime's infiltration of local elections.

Sunday, March 26, 2017

Ten Cartels are fighting for control of Guerrero with more brutality and violence

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

Subject Matter: Organized crime in Guerrero
Recommendation: No prior subject matter knowledge required

Guerrero occupies the third place in terms of most poverty at 62% of the population and first place for homicides at 2884 in 2016 at the national level. It is the state most disputed among organized crime groups. There is a presence of 10 cartels, five of them top level. Its central zone has converted into a battlefield between two organizations Los Rojos and Los Ardillos and possibly others that authorities have not completely identified yet. The presence of 500 military and state police has not contained the disappearances and executions and the criminals come back each time more brutal.



In the last decade, Guerrero has converted in the land of cartels and death; the dispute between the Sinaloa cartel, CJNG, the Beltran Leyva Organization, the Knights Templar, La Familia Michoacana and no less than five local organizations have converted the state into the most violent with 18,000 executions since 2006, when the call to war against the narco was initiated.

In Guerrero, 12 of the 81 towns are considered neutral zones. The geographic location of Chilapa has converted it into a demarcation most fought over since 2012 by Los Ardillos and Los Rojos, and not only because it is an essential corridor for the transit of drugs, also its land is utilized for the growing of poppys, "that has just finished its first harvest of the year", according to the Guerrero Coordination Group.


Friday, March 24, 2017

Drugs, Alcohol, parties and prostitutes in the prison at Culiacan where 5 capos escaped

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

Subject Matter: Culiacan Prison
Recommendation: See link to article on the escape by 5 prisoners


Reporter: Carlos Alvarez
Luxeries, excess and parties, is what its like to live inside the Culiacan prison, where this past Thursday Juan Jose Esparragoza Monzon "El Azulito", Alfonso Limon Sanchez "El Limon", Jesus Pena Gonzalez, "El 20", Rafael Guadalupe Felix Nunez "El Changuito Antrax and Javier Zazueta Rosales "El Pancho Chimal" escaped.

The daily newspapers in circulation El Universal and Reforma informed that the closed circuit tv cameras inside the Aguaruto prison, captured the prisoners with cellular telephones, consuming marijuana and cocaine, cells with flat screen TV's, prostitutes coming into the prison and a party a day before the escape of the five capos.

The festivities inside the prison were carried out with music, alcohol and drugs, according to Reforma a group of familiars of prisoners in modules 7 and 5 of the prison, where the capos were housed, were the governors of the prison for Jesus Alfredo and Ivan Archivaldo Guzman Salazar, sons of Joaquin Archivaldo Guzman Loera, alias El Chapo, and also for Ismael Zambada Garcia "El Mayo".


Thursday, March 23, 2017

Los Cabos: 3 dismembered bodies discovered, as narco war continues in region

Chivis Martinez for Borderland Beat
Click on image to enlarge

On Sunday, "hieleras" (ice coolers) were discovered containing dismembered remains.  The grisly contents were discarded in the heart of the tourist section of the popular vacation destination of Cabo San Lucas (Baja California Sur). Marking the first such violence in the tourist area.

The remains of two male and one female have not been identified.

On March 3 and 4, six bodies were found in an area close to Cabo San Lucas.  An uptick in violence in the region has been noted in the last five months,  near the tourist areas, but the Sunday find, the first that hit the heart of the tourism area.

On Thursday March 3 and Friday March 4th

Thursday:

A female body found on a desolate area leading to the airport.
3 Bodies, all male, discovered shrouded in plastic and covered with a tarp found in San Jose del Cabo.  Bodies revealed signs of torture

Friday:

Two bodies, a male and a female, were found near airport.  Both bodies had bullet impacts

29 prisoners escape from the Ciudad Victoria Prison and 10 have been recaptured say authorities

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

Subject Matter: Prison break out in Ciudad Victoria
Recommendation: No prior subject matter knowledge required


The spokesman for security of Tamaulipas, Luis Alberto Rodriguez, informs that there were 29 prisoners escaped from the prison at Ciudad Victoria and that ten have been recaptured by Federal and State authorities, who launched an operation to find the other 19.





The Finances of Ignacio "Nacho" Coronel

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

Subject Matter: Ignacio "Nacho" Coronel
Recommendation: No prior subject matter knowledge required


Reporter: Zeta Investigations
Papers confiscated from the criminal organization of the descendants of the extinct capo Ignacio "Nacho" Coronel, can describe his finances. The current expenditure of the group, that nominally includes, payments to corrupt Police, gasoline, cellular telephone bills and rent for houses and furniture, is more than a million pesos monthly. As well as extraordinary expenditure for fire arms, ammunition, repayments, and fit out of vehicles modified to carry drugs, armaments and money.

Investigation carried out since 2013 by Federal Authorities in the Cartel de los Coroneles or "La Corona" that permitted the capture of Javier Carrasco Coronel "El 06", in November of 2016, in Sinaloa, contain part of the accountability that form rudimentary running of the criminal organization.


Wednesday, March 22, 2017

Protected By Autodefensas, Students Return To School in San Miguel Totolapan




Translated by Valor for Borderland Beat

Guerrero— Protected by autodefensas, students from San Miguel Totolapan returned to school on Monday, March 20, after schools at different educational levels (preschool, primary, secondary, and upper secondary) closed for three months because of the presence of the criminal group “Los Tequileros”.

According to information from the newspaper El Sur, autodefensa members known as “Movimiento de La Paz” are responsible for protecting students.

Federal and state authorities have been ignorant of the problem of violence and insecurity experienced by the inhabitants of the municipality, so that neither members of the different state police units nor the Mexican Army have been present to provide protection in the area.

In the municipal seat, there are three kindergartens, three primary schools, two secondary and upper secondary schools, some of which have closed their doors since January for fear of Los Tequileros.

And this criminal group is the main perpetrator of the kidnappings, extortions, and homicides that have been registered during the last three years in the Tierra Caliente region in Guerrero.

Therefore, autodefensa members have been responsible for providing protection not only to the students, but also to the teachers and workers of these institutions.

Tuesday, March 21, 2017

BLO: Alfredo "Mochomo" Beltran Leyva to be sentenced on April 5th

Chivis Martinez for Borderland Beat-thank you Narcomics!

A week prior to the originally scheduled trial, Alfredo “Mochomo” Beltran Leyva informed his attorney, Eduardo Balarezo, of his desire to enter an “unconditional guilty plea”.  The plea is as bad as it sounds, he unlike any other narco who has litigated in the federal court of U.S. did not seek  a deal in exchange for a favorable sentence,     
From the point of the extradition filing and as the process continued, the case contained irregularities. If one retrieves the life of the case beginning at “Zero”, as Borderland Beat previously pointed out, only at the point that Beltran Leyva was nearing the end of his prison sentence in Mexico, did the United States have him in their crosshairs.  He was not mentioned in previous BLO Cartel indictments, nor named in previous witness testimony given by cooperatives, such as the Flores twins who named, and gave critical information against  scores of capo’s and cartel members they interacted with.  Yet one of the twins was slated to testify in behalf of the U.S. in any trial against Beltran Leyva. 

The rushed indictment was bare bones, boiler plate issue.  When he pleaded guilty,  he was pleading to one charge, taking place in Washington State in November, 2010, the bust occurred while Beltrán Leyva was incarcerated in Mexico.  It is the contention of the U.S.,  that the defendant was still continuing to give operational orders while behind bars.

Tamaulipas:Female kidnapper pleads for her life before being shot 14 times

Posted by senorjoe material from NuevoLaredoVivo

Female kidnapper/extortionist pleads for her life before being shot. She was accused of using the name of cartel when kidnapping/extorting.



Monday, March 20, 2017

Chihuahua: 'La Línea' Leader El Cabo killed in shootout

Chivis for Borderland Beat...........

The State Attorney General's Office (FGE) confirmed the death of César Raúl Gamboa Sosa, alias 'El Cabo', leader of the 'La Línea' criminal group that maintains control in the Cuauhtémoc region.

"El Cabo" was shot and killed by police and soldiers at La Quemada ranch.

Sunday afternoon there was a confrontation in Rubio, in the region of Cuauhtémoc, where municipal
police officers arrived after a report was called in to the emergency line. On arrival they were confront by gunfire.  They called for  for support from state and military elements.  

Four policemen were injured (some reports say killed) and eight suspects were killed, including Gamboa Sosa. In addition, 17 armored vehicles were seized, the FGE reported.


The conflict has been continuing for weeks, between 'La Línea' from Namiquipa and 'La Línea' from Cuauhtémoc, leaders El Cabo vs El 80.  Yesterday a human head was discovered in a foam cooler near Colonia Álvaro Obregón, Cuauhtémoc.  

It was the head  belonging to a bodyguard of El 80s,  who was killed and decapitated on the order of El Cabo.  it is suspected the decapitation led to the shootout.

Veracruz: 47 more skulls unearthed in mass graves

Chivis for Borderland Beat


The Sánchez Pérez family (above) disappeared in September 2016, while attending the Beer Festival, now six months later their remains were discovered  in one of the dozens of  clandestine graves, also known as "narco fosas"  in Alvarado, Veracruz. Narcofosas are mass graves used by cartels to dispose of bodies.

On Sunday,  the Attorney General's Office confirmed that the Queretanos were found, buried in one of the graves in Arbolillo, Alvarado, along with at least 44 more bodies.  

As of now only 6 persons have been identified from the remains unearthed.

Veracruz is notorious for its narcofosas, with thousands of bodies being discovered in the past decade.  More than any other state in Mexico. Funding allocated by the federal government to Veracruz for DNA data cataloguing, was allegedly pilfered, during the corrupt administration of Javier Duarte.  There are only 276 DNA results, instead of the thousands that should be in the data bank.  

Brady’s Super bowl Jersey’s found in Mexico, at La Prensa Director's home

video released of culprit posing as international press stealing the jersey...


Jersey's found in Ortega's home

The NFL issued the statement that confirms that in a joint operation the Brady Superbowl jersey was recovered and now in the hands of the NFL.

“"Through the cooperation of the NFL and New England Patriots’ security teams, the FBI and other law enforcement authorities, the Super Bowl LI jersey worn last month by MVP Tom Brady has been recovered," the NFL said in a statement released on Monday, March 20. "Also retrieved during the ongoing investigation was the jersey Brady wore in the Patriots' victory in Super Bowl XLIX against the Seattle Seahawks in 2015.”

With the help of Mexico’s attorney general’s office PGR, and the federal police, Tom Brady’s stolen jersey's, was recovered in Mexico. This came after a request by the FBI for collaboration in the search, an informant came forward leading investigators to Mexico.

Federal Police and the PGR recovered the stolen jersey, at the home of Mauricio Ortega, a director of the newspaper La Prensa, federal sources confirmed.

The theft of the jersey valued at 500k USD, is a federal crime in both countries.

Video of theft: 




Friday, March 17, 2017

Five prisoners escape from Culiacan prison, including son of El Azul, Pancho Chimal and the leader of Los Antrax

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

Subject Matter: Juan Jose Esparragoza Monzon
Recommendation: No prios subject matter knowledge required


Reporter: Alejandro Monjardin
The Chief of Security from the prison of Culiacan, an Agent of State Preventative Police, Jose Mario Murillo Rodriguez has disappeared, after the escape of five prisoners yesterday, informed the Secretary of Public State Security. Genaro Robles Casilla.

He said yesterday they called him for the operation implemented after the escape yesterday, and today he had not been located and that he is being investigated along with some custodians. The Attorney Generals office has begun an inquiry to establish how the escape was made.

The Under-Secretary of Security, Cristobel Castaneda Camarillo, indicated that it has not been ruled out that they had been aided by prison guards, and may have escaped hidden in vehicles.


Thursday, March 16, 2017

Tijuana: Dead dog with message left in front of Zona Rio bar

Dead dog left with message enfrente de Zona Rio bar

In the early morning hours, the dog's crumbled body lay in front of the door, a bow macabrely wrapped around his neck, a twisted, mocking message of disrespect, blood ran across the lifeless animal, dropped outside Caval Antro Y Bar on Paseo Independencia, in Zona Rio.  

Alongside the dog, lay a cardboard cut out with a message.  The exact message was not revealed by authorities responding to the scene, but the message was said to threaten bands scheduled to perform at the bar over the weekend.



"El Fantasma" and Los Populares de Illano, are set to tomorrow night, from the businesses facebook page.  This comes a few weeks after a banner signed by CTNG and CJNG, was placed at Las Pulgas, in anticipation of a performance by Los Nuevos Rebeldes, known for Culiacan, and Sinaloa corridos. 

The message left at Las Pulgas stated their would be consequences if the group performed, the performance was canceled.  Referencing an escalating blood feud between groups who performed for both Sinaloa backed Aquiles, and their rivals in Tijuana, the banner claimed they would kill those who sang for them, because their singers had also been killed.  Lenin Ramirez was mentioned by name, 'We are going to kill Lenin Ramirez". 

Animals, sometimes pigs, and dogs are often used to send a message to rival groups, slaughtered to send the ritualistic message of disrespect and disregard.  In Northwestern states, groups associated with Zetas and the CDG have left dead pigs at the scenes of body drops, or by themselves.  

In 2010, after a double murder in Tijuana, a CAF lieutenant, Jose Najera Gil, under what was once known as the Fernando Sanchez Organization, ordered a dead dog to be thrown at the headstones of the victims, in Chula Vista, San Diego.  The order was carried out, a dead dog was thrown against the headstones, with a message saying "The family is next". 

Sources: AFN Tijuna 

Cristian Was Kidnapped In Chilapa, Guerrero; He Was Found With a Bullet in the Head Next To another Minor



Cuartoscuro Archive
Last Saturday, Cristian left his house after midday to do homework with some of his classmates.  He told his parents that from there, he would go to see his girlfriend and that he would be back late, but he didn’t return.  Cristian was kidnapped by armed men and someone told his parents that they saw him when they took him in a taxi with tinted windows, after that, they didn’t know about his whereabouts until the following Monday when he was found in the neighborhood Panorámica, located east of Chilpancingo.  Next to him was the body of Luis, a 16-year-old boy from Xocomulco, located in the municipality of Chilapa.  Luis also had a bullet to his head.

By: Zacarias Cervantes | Translated by Valor for Borderland Beat

March 11, 2017— During the funeral of Cristian Peralta Rendón, there wasn’t just crying, there was also anger, despair, rage and calls for justice to the government on the part of their relatives and friends.

They boy was 14 years old and was studying his second year of secondary school in Chilapa, where gunmen kidnapped him on Saturday, March 4 and on Monday, March 6, he was found seriously wounded in a neighborhood east of Chilpancingo next to the corpse of another boy.

Cristian only had on a pair of boxers and had a bullet in the head.  He was transferred alive to the hospital Raymundo Abarca Alarcón where he died Wednesday morning.

After midday on Thursday, Cristian’s body was transferred from his home on Calle 8 Sur de Chilapa to the cemetery where his relatives, friends, and neighbors buried him.

Wednesday, March 15, 2017

El Chapo does not see the light of the Sun, according to his Lawyers

Translated by Otis B Fly-Wheel for Borderland Beat from an Informador.Mx article

Subject Matter: El Chapo Guzman, incarceration conditions
Recommendation: No prior subject matter knowledge required


The Lawyers of Joaquin El Chapo Guzman officially solicited, this Monday to Judge Brian Cogan that the "finish or modify immediately the imprisonment conditions in which the capo lives since he was extradited to the USA on the 19th of January.

In a 24 page letter to which we had access, the defence solicited that they finish that severe isolation in which the ex leader of the Sinaloa Cartel lives, without outside contact to anyone other than his three Lawyers and a translator, with only one hour outside his cell, Monday to Friday.

"We solicit the Court to free Mr Guzman and put him in the general prison population. As an alternative, the Court might modify certain sections and dispositions of the special administration applied to Guzman Loera because of his dangerousness and history that his defence lawyers consider unconstitutional, specially communication restrictions.


Tuesday, March 14, 2017

El Cuini to be extradited to the USA

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

The SRE concedes the extradition of Abigael Gonzalez Valencia, identified as number 2 in the CJNG, but he will be extradited when amparo he promoted finishes.


Reporter: Ruben Mosso
The Secretary for Exterior Relations conceded an extradition to the USA of capo Abigael Gonzalez Valencia, El Cuini, identified as number 2 in the Cartel Jalisco Nueva Generacion, the exchange will be realized when the amparo he promoted terminates.

According to Judicial registers, Gonzalez Valencia was approved for extradition on 21st of December of 2016, a resolution that the complainant contested, was the motive for the stay of disposition of a Judge of the 12th District in Penal Matters of Amparo in City of Mexico, which refers to his personal liberty, in a place where he is imprisoned, and at the disposition of the authority that carries out the procedure of extradition.

In April of 2015, a Judge of the 16th District of Federal Penal Processes of the North Preventative Prison, in City of Mexico, ordered the provisional detention with end of extradition of El Cuini.


Monday, March 13, 2017

Tijuana: 5 executed in Zona Norte

5 executed in Zona Norte

In a small room between Primera and Miguel F. Martinez streets in Zona Norte, a grim stash house of sorts, a man clings to life.  His associates, friends, perhaps family lay dead, between the floor, and and the bleak furnishings, a few battered couches.  Blood leaked from their wounds, all head shots, one or two apiece, spreading out onto the floor.  

Three women and two men, executed, ambushed, likely betrayed.  All 9mm shells, no signs of heavy weapons, long rifles.  They were part of a narco retail cell operating in La Zona.  The kind of group that bears both the blame, and burden for many of the constant killings and mutilations, severed limbs, and bullet holes, weaving in and out of flesh, hot bullet shells dancing across victims insides.

These killings were different then the public executions, shootouts in bars, clubs, mariscos stands, these people saw their killers, and interacted with them before they were killed.  Single shots mostly, no signs of torture, or bounding have been reported.  More then one, to retrain, and to kill 5 people, without problems. At least 3. 

They may have thought they were going to leave.  They were either surprised, lured, or betrayed. They may have begged, pleaded, confessed. They may have stood defiant to the end.  They may have anticipated the shot, as the deafening crack of gunshots echoed across the room, flinched before the bullet pierced their skin, into the back of their skull. 


The retail cells are many, tentacles of larger cells, dispersed all through Tijuana, esp in La Zona.  The family and group of the fallen El Mono, Manuel Luis Toscano, known as Los Iqualos, still maintains a presence.  The people of Los Aquiles have a certain degree of control.  The people of CTNG, formerly under 'El Gross' operate.   It is simply the largest retail market in the city.

The Red Light district attracts sex tourism from San Diego, and internationally, sending hundreds to the bars and brothels that line the area.  Meth and heroin are sold at a retail level to the desperate addicts of Zona Norte, whose addiction consume them, fuel blood and violence across the city. "Globitos" small quantities of crystal and heroin are packaged, labeled, and sold by the retail cells, who in turn pay plaza, and buy product from a larger group.  

Most all of us, are more then what we do, more then what we have done, or will do, and complexity and humanity lays behind the killings and brutality.  There are very few truly evil people.  It is undeniable though that in death, what we leave behind can represent us, our desperation, our fears, our failures. 

-Maria Guadelupe Ramos Navarro, was 22, bullets struck her neck, and left shoulder.  "Gabriel' was tattooed above her left breast.  

-Unknown male victim, single shot behind the ear, another to the jaw, three skulls tattooed on his forearm.

-Unknown male victim, 30-35 years, single shot behind the ear, "Margarita" tattooed on his left breast. 

-Unknown female, 40-45 years, single shot to the head. 

-Unknown female, 30-35  years, single bullet to the head, behind her ear. "Suerte Puta" tattooed on her chest.

Items found in the room include a 9mm pistol, a box of .22 caliber ammunition, a Truconnect phone, and a glass pipe...

Sources: AFN Tijuana 


Small Wars Journal: Mexican Cartel Tactical Note #29

Mexican Cartel Tactical Note #29: By Robert J. Bunker and Marisa Mendoza

Vehicular Ramps Used to Bypass Border Fencing, "As borders tighten, smugglers raise their game"

  Photos from Border Patrol-Campo Ca
…Ongoing measures to erect 670 miles of new fence on the border are credited with helping to cut arrests to some 870,000 last year from 1.1 million. Nevertheless, smugglers are trying and, in many cases succeeding, in breaching every kind of barrier thrown in their paths.

Sturdy steel posts have been sunk in the ground in many areas to stop vehicles crossing north, although drug traffickers have responded by building elaborate vehicle ramps to drive cars over the top, border police say.

“It’s like the old show ‘The Dukes of Hazzard,’ cars flying through the air,” said James Jacques, a supervisory Border Patrol in San Diego, Calif.

Illegal border crossers are also routinely beating pedestrian barriers using ladders tailor-made in clandestine Mexican workshops, border police say, while others have used screwdrivers to try to clamber over new 14-foot tall, steel-mesh barriers designed to deny handholds.

One such attempt was foiled. “It took the man a while, and by the time he got to the top, we were waiting for him,” said Andrew Patterson, a Border Patrol agent in Yuma, Arizona…

Sunday, March 12, 2017

Silvestre Piolo Blas: From Professional Soccer Player to Heroin Trafficker

An Original Borderland Beat Story written by Chuck B Almada

***Note From Chuck: Hi to all Borderland followers and fans, I had to take a brief hiatus from contributing to the blog due to professional and educational reasons, but now I am happy to be back full of energy and eager to report on important stories and issues that matter to all of us. For the past few days, I have been working on this story, a story that perhaps none of you have heard about. This story is by far an exclusive to Borderland Beat and I hope you all enjoy it. This story was possible thanks to information received from reliable sources and also with information obtained through the Open Records Act that helped corroborate some of those facts***


ATLANTA, GA- Early this month, several Spanish language outlets, including Univision, ESPN Deportes, El Debate, and even the Official Twitter account of Monarcas Morelia announced the death of former professional soccer player, Silvestre Blas Fierros better known as “Piolo.”  Up until today, the details surrounding the death of the 23 year old were unknown. Univision originally reported:


“Through social media, Monarcas Morelia revealed that their former player, Silvestre Blas Fierros died this past Wednesday from unknown causes in the United States. Blas Fierros lived in the United States after leaving Monarcas Morelia, the team in which he debuted in 2014 against Necaxa when he was 20 years old. As of right now, there has been no information regarding the death of the soccer player. In their Twitter message, Monarcas Morelia limited their information to only sending their condolences to the family of the soccer player" (Univision, 2017)
After conducting extensive research throughout the web, all news outlets contained similar information as the above statement, with none mentioning details surrounding the soccer player’s death. Through several reliable sources, Borderland Beat received exclusive information regarding the death of Piolo and his activities in the United States prior to his death.

Border Patrol Tunnel Rats

By Javier,  Guest reporter Borderland Beat
They are called "tunnel rats", when referring to the U.S. Border Patrol agents who descend  into underground Narco Tunnel that have appeared along the U.S., Mexico border over the past 20 years.  What may appear clear above ground, could have border patrol on duty below the surface.

Sinaloa Cartel  capo Chapo Guzmán, is credited as the innovator behind the drug tunnels, used primarily to traffic drugs.  But the most infamous usage of the Guzmán tunnels, which increasingly have become very sophisticated over the years, was on  the night of July 11, 2015, when chapo disappeared into the underside of his prison cell shower, descending a ladder,  to the tunnel, hopped on a motorbike and exited to freedom.  Albeit, for only six months.

Arguably, the greatest factor of Sinaloa’s trafficking success, are the tunnels. It provides  the ability to transport drugs, in bulk,  to its number one customer, the United States.

International coaine trafficker of the Comorra Mafia in Napoli arrested in Tamaulipas

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

Subject Matter: La Cosa Nostra, Italian Mafia, Tamaulipas
Recommendation: No prior subject matter knowledge required

Giulio Perrone, alleged member of the Italian Mafia from Napoli, has been sought by law enforcement for 10 years for his probable responsibility in international cocaine trafficking.

Giulio Perrone, alleged leader of the Italian mafia in Napoli, was detained by elements of the PGR in Tamaulipas, for his alleged involvement in international cocaine trafficking.

The detainee, 64 years of age, originally from the province of Gragnano, Italy, had a red notification in Interpol and a sentence of 20 years, 11 months and eight days in prison, handed down by the Napoli court.

Perrone, who has been for 10 years in the list of most sought after fugitives by the Italian Government, delivered by the authorities of his country.


Saturday, March 11, 2017

Arturo Beltran Leyva, the life, the death of "El Barbas" part 3 "The final stand of Don Arturo"

Arturo Beltran Leyva, the life, the death of "El Barbas" part 3 "The final stand of Don Arturo"

Written for Borderland Beat by Otis B Fly-Wheel, with additional material and photos the BB archive.

Subject Matter: Arturo Beltran Leyva, El Barbas, El Fantasma, El Botas Blancas, La Muerte
Recommendation: Read Part 1 of this article here see link
                              Read Part 2 of this article here see link




Born in the cradle of narco's, La Palma ,Badiraguato Sinaloa in December of 1954,though some put his birth day as September 1961. Arutro Beltran Leyva also known by the nicknames, "El Barbas", El Botas Blancas, El Fantasma and La Muerte, he worked with small time poppy growers and learnt his trade from Amado Carrillo Fuentes , and later became known as Jefe de Jefes, boss of bosses. His life was characterized by the extreme violence he visited upon anyone who stood in his way. He was eventually cornered and killed by Mexican Marines with the ELINT intelligence help of the US 7th Special Forces group in Cuernavaca, leading to a power vacuum and the "Hydra Effect".  

Big thanks go out to Chivis and BB's friend Narcomics, for the images. Follow them on Facebook and Instagram @narcomicscorp

Reporter: Otis B Fly-Wheel

An alliance with the Executioner
As Don Arturo made his plans to take what he saw as rightfully his from the Sinaloa Federation, he realized that he would not be able to do it with the personnel available to him in the BLO. Despite the large amount of crews in his organization ( see crews section in Arturo Beltran Leyva part 2 ), he saw common ground with Los Zetas.

Los Zetas were unhappy at this time with Osiel Cardenas Guillen from the Cartel del Golfo and were making their own plans to split from their parent organization and seize power for themselves. Leading Los Zetas at this time were Heriberto Lazcano Lazcano, "The Executioner" and Miguel Trevino "El Z-40". Los Zetas also found common ground with Arturo in his willingness to resort to horrific violence to achieve his aims as a first resort.

Arturo arranged a meeting with the heads of Los Zetas in Torreon, Coahuila. At this meeting it was agreed that three cities were key to their plans for domination. Torreon, Acapulco and Aguascaliente. Torreon was a strategic city for drug trafficking and was previously dominated by the Sinaloa Federation.

The war for Torreon was defined when Los Zetas/BLO alliance attacked Carlos Herrera Araluce in Gomez Palacio, Durango, who was key for the Federation in the city. By some miracle Herrera Araluce and his wife survived the attack, and immediately left the country for Spain. Los Zetas then delivered an ultimatum to Lawyer Alberto Romero, who later disappeared in the form of a letter and a video showing the torture of a Police commander of Coahuila, Enrique Ruiz Arevalo.

The Federation and the Juarez cartel retreated from Torreon, next was Acapulco, and another campaign of be-headings, kidnapping, and executions saw the Federation driven from the town. Lastly was Aguascalientes, which suffered the same fate as the other two cities with the Federation being driven out and BLO/Zetas sharing the plaza.

To dethrone the Federation, El Chapo and El Mayo must die

Don Arturo knew that if he was going to kill "El Chapo" Guzman Loera, currently languishing in prison in the USA, that first he would have to get rid of the people protecting him. As Arturo had been in charge of paying off bribes to those in power high up in the Army, PGR and Mexican Government he was uniquely placed to know exactly who to kill. Indeed the Sinaloa Federation had relied on the extravagance of Arturo and his brothers to charm, or bend the arms of those in power so the Federation could continue its drug production, logistics and sales without interference.

Arturo knew that on while El Chapo had holistic protection, to get close, he had to kill those protecting him locally, the Municipal and State Police in Culiacan and the surrounding regions, who were in the position to tip off  El Chapo to any upcoming threats to him or his immediate family.

Friday, March 10, 2017

The US government is worried 'El Chapo' Guzman's legal team may have cartel infiltrators

Posted via forum by Mica, and republished with the permission of the author Christopher woody. For Business Insider

 
Guzman, right, and defense attorneys Michael Schneider, center right, and Michelle Gelernt, center left, in a court sketch, January 20, 2017. REUTERS/Christine Cornell

 Former Sinaloa cartel kingpin Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman has pleaded not guilty to the array of charges against him and his next court date is May 5.

But the legal wrangling around the Mexican capo has not slacked.

In the most recent development, US prosecutors slated to face Guzman in an Eastern District of New York courtroom have asked that US authorities investigate any foreigners added to Guzman's legal team.

US Attorney Robert Capers and Arthur Wyatt, Narcotic and Dangerous Drug Section chief for the Justice Department's Criminal Division, argued that, based on their experience, an unvetted member of the defense team could compromise the case brought by the government.

"If a foreign lawyer or investigator that also was a member of the Sinaloa cartel was united with the defense team, [they] could travel to the United States, review the evidence that is protected, and travel later out of the United States with that knowledge," Capers and Wyatt wrote in a letter to Eastern District judge Brian Cogan.

"If a member of the cartel traveled to the United States and found out the identity of a cooperating Mexican witness, [they] could later travel to Mexico with this information and give the name of the witness to other members of the Sinaloa cartel who could kidnap or kill the family of that witness," the letter added
Mexican drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman arrives at Long Island MacArthur airport in New York, January 19, 2017, after his extradition from Mexico. Reuters
The letter was confirmed to Univision by Jose Refugio Rodriguez, one of three Mexican lawyers who represented Guzman in his home country.

He said that while they are not allowed to act as lawyers on Guzman's behalf in the US, they had been advising his current legal team and could visit him in the future.

Refugio Rodriguez said it was the right of prosecutors to look into the background of members of the defense team, but he said he took issue with this specific request as it seemed to cast Guzman's Mexican lawyers as complicit with the kingpin, which he said violated the presumption of innocence

Guzman's defense attorneys, Michael Schneider and Michelle Gelernt outside the federal courthouse in the Brooklyn, New York, January 20, 2017. Reuters / Joe Penney
 In their letter, Capers and Wyatt denied that they did not trust Guzman's Mexican lawyers, but said that in the past "foreign professionals," including lawyers, had used their status to commit crimes and bribe officials.

Guzman's US lawyers — Michael Schneider and Michelle Gelernt, two court-appointed public defenders — criticized the request as a "prohibition" on foreigners joining the defense and said the prosecutors' letter did not offer legal arguments for why "the citizens of other countries are less trustworthy than Americans."

According to Refugio Rodriguez, Guzman's US lawyers have already brought a motion against the request, "because lawyers cannot be treated like criminals."