Reynosa explodes: 14 die

A total of 14 individuals, including two Policia Federal units were killed Tuesday in armed confrontations in Reynosa, Tamaulipas, according to Mexican official news accounts.

A news release published by the state government of Tamaulipas on the state website said that three separate encounters were recorded in the city.

The gunfights began at 1200 hrs in Beaty colony when an armed group attacked a Policia Federal road patrol.  Two unidentified Policia Federal agents died in the encounter, one at the scene and the other later while receiving medical attention.

An attempt by a Mexican Army unit to respond to the gunfight was attacked by armed suspects traveling aboard a Ford Lobo (F-150) pickup truck, presumably near the area of the first encounter.  Army return fire killed all four unidentified attackers.

Two others were found dead aboard two separate vehicles, hit by stray gunfire from the firefight.  Both victims were in their 20s.

Later on, a Mexican Army patrol encountered armed suspects traveling aboard a Chevrolet Silverado pickup truck in Aquiles Serdan colony, killing all six by return gunfire.

Criminal gangs inside the city blocked roads to  slow security forces response to the fighting.  Blocks were reported on the Reynosa-Matamoros highway, on Bulevar Morelos in Ampliacion Rodriguez colony, Libramiento Monterrey in José Lopez Portillo colony, on Libramiento Monterrey in Las Cumbres colony,  on Bulevar Morelos in Petrolera colony and on Bulevar Hidalgo in Longoria colony.

The Mexican Army also claimed a total of 10 rifles, accessories, ammunition, weapons magazines and two vehicles were seized following the gunfights.

Fighting in Reynosa has exploded because a top drug gang leader, identified only as El Mono was executed Monday, presumably by Gulf Cartel shooters.  Cartel related messages on narcoboards indicate that the drug gangs inside the city were vowing revenge for the killing.

Chris Covert writes Mexican Drug War and national political news for Rantburg.com and BorderlandBeat.com  He can be reached at grurkka@gmail.com

Read More

4 die in Tamaulipas state

By Chris Covert
Rantburg.com

A total of three armed suspects were killed in two separate incidents in Tamaulipas state since Thursday, and a Mexican federal police official was assassinated, according to official Mexican government news accounts.

According to a new release posted on the state government website of Tamaulipas, last Friday night a Mexican Army road patrol intercepted a convoy of at least two vehicles in ejido El Olivo near Recinto Ferial in Matamoros municipality.  The suspects in the vehicles fired on the army patrol and return fire by soldiers hit and killed two.

As others in the convoy managed to escape, both of the dead were left on the roadway.  The report said the men who were killed were both in their 20s.  Soldiers seized one AK-47 rifle, weapons magazines and ammunition, and one Chevrolet Malibu sedan.

Meanwhile in Reynosa municipality, one armed suspect was killed in an apparent traffic stop attempt by a Mexican Army road patrol.

The incident took place at around 1200 hrs near the intersection of Bulevar Tiburcio Garza Zamora and Calle San Luis in Rodríguez colony, where the army patrol attempted the stop, but were instead fired on by the driver, said to be in his 20s, who was aboard a Chevrolet Tornado pickup truck.

Soldiers seized one AR-15 rifle in the aftermath, as well as the vehicle.

The day before in Gonzalez municipality, an unidentified Policia Federal Preventativa inspector was shot and killed at 1015 hrs near the intersection of Avenida Insurgentes and Calle Honduras in Aviacion de Villa Manuel colony.

Suspects aboard a Chevrolet pickup truck are suspected in the attack.

Secretario de Seguridad Publica del Estado resigns

According to a news release on the Tamaulipas state website, Tamaulipas' Secretario de Seguridad Publica del Estado> (SSPE) resigned his position after 36 months in office.

Lomeli Martinez was said to have personal reasons for his resignation.  The website report notes that Lomeli Martinez oversaw the certification of police in the state, the worst record in Mexico at only 43 percent of police certified to work as police as of last fall.  At the time, police certifications were due to be complete, but Mexico's national Chamber of Deputies extended the deadline another year, the third extension in four years.

Replacing Lomeli Martinez is Brigade General Arturo Gutierrez Garcia, who was formerly chief of staff of the Mexican IV Military Region, based in Monterrey, Nuevo Leon between 2012 and 2013.  Searches of government websites yield little in the way of former commands for the general, although Mexican civilian press says he has extensive field experience.

The Secretaria de Defensa Nacional (SEDENA), controlling agency for the Mexican Army indicates that General Gutierrez Garcia has served as military attache to Honduras a few years ago.

It must be noted that Lomeli Martinez, himself a former Mexican Army first captain, became SSPE just as the mass graves in San Fernando were being discovered.  The total dead found was 193, the worst in the Mexican Drug War.

His predecessor, Brigadier General Ubaldo Ayala Tinoco, resigned his position after only 107 days in the wake of the discovery of the immensity of the mass murders in San Fernando municipality.

Command Shuffling in Northeast Mexico

Both of the two command units covering Tamaulipas have undergone changes of command since last December, 2013.  Every November, the SEDENA comes out with its latest promotions of flag officers, and sometimes with it new commanders are reassigned.  The Mexican Army likes its commanders to have extensive experience in the field, and so commanders tend to stay in place, so that they may train new subordinates.  Normal command shuffling takes place in June, but sometimes they are known to take place directly after the promotions lists come out.

Th IV Military Region, which includes Tamaulipas, Nuevo Leon and San Luis Potosi states, recently experienced a change of command as General de Division Tomas Jaime Aguirre Cervantes took command of the region last December, according to data supplied by Milenio news daily.

General Aguirre Cervantes has extensive command experience commanding several military zones including the 11th, 33rd and 40th Zones.  He has taught at Mexico's Escuela Superior de Guerra and was commandant of Heroico Colegio Militar.  His other assignments include work in intelligence and in counterintelligence.

He replaces General Noe Sandoval Alcazar, who took an administrative job for SEDENA in Mexico City.

Meanwhile the 8th Military Zone, a subordinate unit to the IV Military Region, experienced a change of command as General de Brigada Pedro Felipe Gurrola Ramirez took command, replacing General de Brigada Miguel Gustavo Gonzalez Cruz, according to a news report in El Manana news daily.

General Gurrola Ramirez is a special forces soldier with command experience in Culican in Sinaloa state and in Chiapas state.

Chris Covert writes Mexican Drug War and national political news for Rantburg.com and BorderlandBeat.com. He can be reached at grurkka@gmail.com

Read More

5 suspects in 2010 Juarez car bomb released

By Chris Covert
Rantburg.com

Five suspects in the July, 2010 car bomb in Ciudad Juarez were released from prison, after Mexican authorities said they had no role in the crime, according to Mexican news reports.

A news report which appeared in the online edition of El Diario de Chihuahua said that representatives of the Procuraduria General de la Republica (PGR) or attorney general of Mexico said that not only were the five accused tortured into confessing the crime, they had had no role in the crime.

The innocents were identified as Noe Fuentes Chavira, Rogelio Amaya Martinez, Victor Manuel Martinez Renteria, Gustavo Martinez Renteria and  Ricardo Fernandez Lomeli, all from Chihuahua state.

The 2010 Ciuidad Juarez car bomb was the first car bomb used in the Mexican Drug War since the start in 2007, and the first of a series by other criminal groups in northeastern Mexico between that time and early 2011.

That attack which took place in Zone Centro of Ciudad Juarez took the lives of four including one Policia Federal agent.  At the time it was thought the explosive used was US made C4 plastic explosive, but it was later learned that the explosive was a commercial grade dynamite known as Tovex.  Tovex is used extensively in mining operations in the sierras of western Chihuahua state as well as by Pemex, the state owned petroleum entity.

The Policia Federal unit operating in Ciudad Juarez were the target of the attack.

At that time the five had been placed in preventative detention, which is a common practice for serious drug related crimes in Mexico.  Among the crimes which landed the five in prison were possession of marijuana and possession of a weapon under the Firearms and Explosives Act, which prohibits anyone without explicit permission from the government from owning  the same caliber of weapon used by Mexican security forces.

According to a lawyer with Centro de Derechos Humanos Paso del Norte (CDHPN) or Human Rights Center, Diana Morales, said that the Istanbul Protocol was applied in the cases of the accused, and it was found that because torture could be proved, the five must be released.

Additionally, the document used to charged the five had already been filled out, dated for August 11th instead of August12th, the date of the actual detention.

According to the account, the human rights office met with current PGR Jesus Murillo Karam and said that if any of the five had been subject to torture, then must all go free.  It later transpired all five had been abused by federal police while in custody.

The Guadalajara Juzgado Primero de Procedimientos Penales de Distrito ordered the release of the accused Thursday and last Friday they left prison.

The complaint about torture  had been filed a year ago.

The Policia Federal unit which was attacked by the car bomb, had long been under suspicion in the press for illegal practices such as torture and abuse of authority.  This writer saw news reports at the time including video which purportedly showed top local Policia Federal officials engaged in torture of suspects, but could not credit the information.  Those officials also reportedly used drugs seized in other operations which were planted as evidence in other cases.

The practice at the time was so bad that the unit itself was under nearly constant attack from criminal elements in the city, one week suffering several attempted ambushes of their patrols, losing three agents.

Finally on August 8th, a mutiny took place at the hotel where the unit was billeted where the grievances were aired out publicly.  Two days later the entire unit was rotated out by air and replaced with another different unit.

Two months later in October 2010, forty agents, presumably in that unit, were relieved of duty and imprisoned.  The El Diario report does not say if the same Policia Federal elements were involved in in illegally extracting the confession from the five accused.

The Juarez car bomb was an attack conceived by Jose Antonio Acosta Hernandez. AKA Diego, the prolific number two man in La Linea, the enforcement wing of the Juarez Cartel.  Acosta Hernandez was busted in Chihuahua city by a Policia Federal special forces unit in the summer of 2011.

According to the El Diario de Chihuahua report, several suspects are to be tried in the bombing.  Thery include  José Ivan Contreras Lumbreras, AKA El Keiko,  Jaime Arturo Chavez Gonzalez, AKA El Jimmy,  Mauro Adrian Villegas, AKA El Blaky or El Negro, Fernando Contreras Meraz, AKA El Barbas, Martin Perez Marrufo, AKA  El Popeye or  El Gordo, Lorenzo Tadeo Palacios, AKA El Shorty or Shorty Dog and Jorge Antonio Hernandez, AKA  El Chapo or  El Chapito.

Acosta Hernandez is also accused in the attack, but since he is in prison in the United States, he will not be prosecuted.

The El Diario report also said that the Policia Federal's role in the wrongful imprisonment and torture are still under investigation.

Chris Covert writes Mexican Drug War and national political news for Rantburg.com and BorderlandBeat.com. He can be reached at grurkka@gmail.com

Read More

Armed suspects fight Mexican security forces in southern Tamaulipas

By Chris Covert
Rantburg.com

Tamaulipas state police and Mexican Policia Federal have been reportedly involved a a number of armed confrontations with criminal groups in south-central Tamaulipas state, according to official government reports.

According to a news release posted on the Tamaulipas state website, the fighting has been going on at a location between Jimenez and Padilla municipalities.  The report said that Mexican security forces were fired on by armed suspects, and apparently security forces returned fire.

No one from either side were reported hurt in the encounters.

Possibly unrelated is the report from the same website that two unidentified assistants of the municipal president of Abasolo were injured in an auto accident a few hours later about 20 kilometers away,

According to the news release the vehicle's tires had been punctured or were blown out, causing the crash.  Both victims were said to be at a hospital in Ciudad Victoria, the state capital of Tamaulipas.

The latest two incidents comes on the heels of the announcement of a new self defense group in southern Tamaulipas, colloquially known as autodefensas.

According to a news report which appeared in the leftist Proceso news weekly, said that the new group had distributed a leaflet detailing their existence earlier in the week.

The group, dubbed the  Brigada Alberto Carreta Torres, was formed to counter the criminal activities of Los Zetas drug cartel in the area.

According to a separate report which appeared in El Universal news daily  last February 11th, several autodefensas have formed in Tamaulipas, and were operating in Hidalgo, Tula and Ocampo municipalities.  The Proceso article, dated two days ago, said that the newest group was operating in Ciudad Victoria.  The article also hinted that the new group were operating checkpoints in the city.

The Brigada Alberto Carreta Torres  group has claimed a number of executions of Los Zetas criminal operatives.  The autodefensas of Michocan, unlike the Brigada Alberto Carreta Torres, had not, to this writer's understanding, targeted one criminal group over another as they began their own security operations

The Brigada Alberto Carreta Torres sounds like the Matazetas group from Veracruz and Jalisco states three years ago, which were groups funded and operated by local drug gangs to gain public sympathy for their goals, even as they rounded up and brutally murdered innocents at the time.  The Matazetas were later found to be funded by the Sinaloa drug cartel. 

The absence of a reference to the Sinaloa and Gulf cartels in the announcement of the existence of the group, both of which are in alliance would seem to indicate they were in fact funded and operated by one and/or the other group.

The Proceso article also said that another group, autodefensa Columna Pedro J Mendez, was operating in Hidalgo municipality and had claimed the lives of a number of Los Zetas.

Dip. Elizondo Salazar

In the El Universal article a Tamaulipas state deputy, Francisco Elizondo Salazar lamented that since elements of the Policia Federal had been redeployed to Michoacan, "insecurity permeated the streets" of the state.

Two days later, at least some Policia Federal units returned to the state to begin new operations.

Deputy Francisco Salazar also repeated a warning that travel in Tamaulipas at night should be discouraged.

Chris Covert writes Mexican Drug War and national political news for Rantburg.com and Borderlandbeat.com. He can be reached at grurkka@gmail.com

Read More

Mexican police rescue 73 migrants in Reynosa

A total of 73 migrants were released from captivity by a Policia Federal road patrol Monday, according to Mexican news accounts.

An El Universal wire dispatch  posted on the website of Milenio news daily said that a Policia Federal road patrol had observed two individuals in a Ford Grand Marquis on Calle Cerro San Miguel, and gave chase until they arrived at a residence in Las Fuentes colony.

Two suspects were detained at the scene and were identified as Santiago Betancourt Mora, 43, and Daniel Martinez Gonzalez, 25.  A third suspect was detained, Cristian Josue Galvan Hernandez, 18, who was allegedly a lookout for the crew, colloquially known as a halcon.

From inside the residence elements of the PF patrol heard calls for help, and inside they found 73 migrants.  The migrants told PF police that they were being held for ransom at the residence by criminal suspects.

Of the 73 released, 37 were Mexican, consisting of 32 men and five woman.  A total of 36 were Honduran, consisting of nine men and ten women.  A total of 14 were Guatemalan consisting of 12 men and two women.  Three of the rescued were Salvadoran.  Additionally, six children were among the released.

The victims had been kidnapped from bus stations and bus stops, and were held for ransom between four days and four months prior to the rescue.

Police also seized 687 rounds of ammunition, a fragmentary hand grenade, six weapons magazines and marijuana weighing a total of 9.912 kilograms.

Local criminal gangs on the northern border of Mexico look for migrants attempting to cross into the US, kidnap them and hold them as they attempt to contact relatives back home for ransom.

Chris Covert writes Mexican Drug War and national political news for Rantburg.com and Borderlandbeat.com.  His latest work of non-fiction, the Wounded Eagle, Volume 2, can be found at Smashwords and Amazon.com./  He can be reached at grurkka@gmail.com

Read More

11 die in Tamaulipas state

By Chris Covert
Rantburg.com

A total of 11 individuals have been killed in separate drug and gang related incidents in Tamaulipas state since Tuesday, according to Mexican news accounts.

Four unidentified individuals were killed in  a gunfight with a Mexican Army detachment in Reynosa Wednesday morning, according to a news report which appeared in the online edition of Milenio news daily.

According to the report, the gunfight took place at about 0900 hrs in Ampliacion Rodriguez colony and then spread on Bulevar Acapulco to Petrolera colony near a school, and finally concluded at around 1015 hrs.

Armed suspects were traveling aboard a Chevrolet Silverado pickup truck, and had apparently fired on a Mexican Army road patrol.  Army return fire killed three.   One of the dead were identified as Javier Antonio Cardenas Lopez, 30, from Sinaloa state.  In the pickup truck, soldiers seized three rifles, 38 weapons magazines, six grenades and  estrellas metalicas or metal stars, which are used to puncture vehicle tires.

One unidentified Mexican Army fusilero was killed and another was wounded.  Additionally five other unidentified civilians were wounded in the crossfire, three of them requiring medical attention.

In San Fernando municipality, a total of five armed suspects were killed in a firefight Tuesday night with a Mexican Army unit.

According to a news account posted on Milenio's website,  the gunfight took place at around 2015 hrs near ejido Guadalupe Victoria and El Rancho La Isla, where armed suspects traveling aboard an H3 Hummer fired their weapons on the army patrol.

The dead ages ranged between 40 and 16, and were not identified in the news report.  Five rifles, one grenade launcher, 28 weapons magazines and an undisclosed number of grenades were seized following the firefight.

San Fernando municipality is roughly halfway between Ciudad Victoria, the state capital of Tamaulipas and Matamoros, and has in the past been the scene of some of the bloodiest incidents in the drug war.

Meanwhile, two days ago the body of a Mexican journalist was found dead in Reynosa along with an unidentified female, according to a Proceso wire report which appeared on the website Yancuic.com.

The partially buried body of El Ciudadano columinist Mario Ricardo Chavez Jorge was found near ejido Santa Clara.  The female companion found with him had been decapitated.

Monday, a total of 52 migrants were rescued from a safe house in Reynosa by a security group, according to Mexican news accounts.

A new report which appeared in the online edition of El Siglo de Durango news daily said that a Base de Operacones Mixtas (BOM) of Policia Federal and state police stopped two suspects, which were traveling aboard a Dodge Avenger sedan.  The suspects revealed the location of the safehouse with the migrants who had been detained at the location.

The news account did not disclose the location of the safe house.  Of the 52, 48 were from Guatemala and two each were from El Salvador and Mexico.

The detainees were identified as Pablo Avellaneda Torres and Luis Angel Perez Sanabria.

Chris Covert writes Mexican Drug War and national political news for Rantburg.com.  He can be reached at grurkka@gmail.com

Read More

5 die in southern Chihuahua

By Chris Covert
Rantbrug.com

Five members of a family were shot to death Monday night in far southern Chihuahua state, according to Mexican news accounts.

According to a new report posted on the online edition of Milenio news daily,four armed suspects staged an ambush along a dirt road at around 1930 hrs in Guadalupe y Calvo municipality in Baborigame.

The victims were identified as Adelina Carrillo Gutierrez, 61, Jesus Chaparro Loera, 63, Wenceslao Chaparro Carrillo, 36 and two unidentified children ages 11 and 7 were traveling aboard a GMC Sierra pickup truck when the shooting took place.

Several AK-47 and AR-15 spent cartridge casings were found at the scene by investigators.

Guadalupe y Calvo has seen an increase of violent security incidents in recent weeks, the last incident an apparent ambush in a remote part of Guadalupe y Calvo, which claimed the lives of four individuals.  A previous incident of the kidnapping of a political candidate just a week before that shooting preceded a renewed deployment of Mexican federal security deployments including army and naval infantry troops to the region.

Miguel Osorio Chong

Meanwhile Mexico's Secretaria de Gobierno (SEGOB) or interior minister Miguel Osorio Chong, formally announced the training of the first of the news Gendarmaria Nacional, totaling 5,000 effectives, according to Mexican news accounts.

The Gendarmaria Nacional which will operate under the auspices of the Policia Federal, was the centerpiece of the new security strategy by the recently elected President Enrique Pena Nieto.  The emphasis in the  new strategy was to reduce drug and gang related violence which has plagued Mexico for the last several years.

According to a news report posted on the website Animal Politico, Osorio Chong in a radio interview with Joaquin Lopez Doriga, reiterated his government's commitment "in the coming years" to a "news justice model".  The aim, according to several new accounts is to reduce the involvement of Mexico's military in counternarcotics operations, long an objective with Mexico's political left.

The news is a seeming reversal since mention of the Gendarmaria Nacional was omitted from the Plan Nacional de Desarrollo or National Development Plan last May, a move Mexican press claimed was a reneging of a campaign promise Pena made a year ago, despite reepated announcements since Pena's inauguration.

According to a separate news account, in the first stage of the Gendarmaria Nacional plan, a total of 8,500 soldiers and 500 naval infantry troops would be included in the new security force.  It is unclear in Osorio Chong's latest announcement if that part of the plan has been followed.  Osorio Chong has said in the past the the new Gendarmaria Nacional would have both police and military training, which suggests that SEGOB has been or will be moving some elements from the army and navy into the GN.

Currently, Mexico's military and federal police appear to be operating in counternarcotics operations under the command of SEGOB, the Policia Federal under its direct control.  For years during the administration of Felipe Calderon Hinojosa, the Policia Federal had operated as a separate cabinet level agency.  During the legislative honeymoon last December, the Policia Federal were moved as a sub-agency of SEGOB.

When the elements of the Gendarmaria Nacional are ready to be deployed, they will likely go to the worst of Mexico's trouble spots, mainly on the northern border where the most intense of the drug and gang related violence has taken place over the years. 

One likely location will be southern Chihuahua state.  Earlier this year Chihuahua governor Cesar Duarte Jaquez had announced that Gendarmaria Nacional troops would be deployed to the region which can now be seen as a rather premature announcement.

Chris Covert writes Mexican Drug War and national political news for Rantburg.com and Borderland Beat.com. He can be reached at grurkka@gmail.com

Read More

Mexican Policia Federal seize 1.4 tons of pot

By Chris Covert
Rantburg.com

Mexican Policia Federal units seized 1.4 metric tons of marijuana in two seizures in northern Mexico according to Mexican news accounts.

According to a news report which appeared in the online edition of Milenio, a Policia Federal regional security division unit was operating a checkpoint on the Mexican Highway 40D in Coahuila state between Saltillo, Coahuila and Monterrey, Nuevo Leon when a truck was stopped and searched.  Inside the van police found 84 packages of marijuana in a hidden compartment totalling 1,344 kilograms.

The truck had originated from Torreon, Coahuila.  The driver, identified in the news account as José Luis Aranda Contreras, 49, was detained at the scene.

Meanwhile in Sonora state, a Policia Federal unit, part of a regional security division operating a checkpoint on Sonora State highway 37, between Carborca and Puerto Peñasco, inspected a Ford Ranger pickup truck with three individuals aboard finding marijuana hidden in the tires.

According to the news report which appeared on the website of El Sol de Mexico news daily, the drugs were arranged in a metal container in a circular pattern.  The total amount seized was 68 kilograms.

Raul Gonzalez Santos, 31, and Aleyda Ibarra Acedo, 30, were detained at the scene, while an unidentified minor was also in the truck was presented to the public ministry.

Chris Covert writes Mexican Drug War and national political news for Rantburg.com and BorderlandBeat.com He can be reached at grurkka@gmail.com

Read More

Video showing torture of suspect in Torreon

This is well out of my wheelhouse, but this video purportedly shows a suspect undergoing a beating administered by Policia Federal and then presumably signing a confession.

Read More

4 security personnel die in kidnapping attempt in Zacatecas

Foto: de Facebook

By Chris Covert
Rantburg.com

An attempted kidnapping of a municipal president by at least 20 armed suspects in a tiny central Zacatecas municipality has left two municipal police agents, one Policia Federal (PF) operator and one security agent for Ferremex railroad dead, according to Mexican news account and an anonymous correspondent for Borderlandbeat.com.

According to a news account published on the website of Zacatecas En Linea news daily, the incident took place in Canitas de Felipe Pescador Wednesday afternoon as armed suspects travelling aboard several trucks attacked the town.

"There was an attempt to kill or kidnap Oswaldo Sabag Hamadan...over 20 vehicles of sicarios (gunmen)," according to the correspondent.

The firefight last for hours, say some press accounts.

A PF detachment was apparently in the municipality when the assault began but it was reportedly too small to deal with such a massive attack, and had to call in and wait for reinforcements, according to press accounts.  The PF detachment had been assigned to guard a freight train as it passed through Canitas de Felipe Pescador, which was the stated reason for their presence.

Several armed suspects were shot and were killed during the firefight, but their bodies were removed by their comrades in arms, a common tactic among drug gangs involved in shootouts.  Going by descriptions in Mexican press, the armed group which attempted to kidnap Sabag Hamadan had apparently badly miscalculated the strength of local and federal security in the town.

Last August Sabag Hamadani was involved in another security incident which sparked fears of a kidnapping.

According to a news account published on the website of Pagina 24,  Sabag Hamadani and his family had closed their residence -- which is less than five blocks from Zona Centro -- and had cut off utilities, all apparently without telling anyone.

At the time, Zacatecas Procuraduria General de Justicia del Estado (PGJE) or attorney general Arturo Nahle Garcia said Sabag Hamadani had not been kidnapped but did not elaborate.

It was not until a month later that Sabag Hamadani reemerged in an announcement by Zacatecas state top police official Secretaria de Seguridad Publica (SSP), Jesus Pinto Ortiz,  according to a separate news account featured in Zacatecas en Linea, played down the disappearance saying Sabag Hamadani "comes and goes as he likes."

The news account quoted Senor Pinto Ortiz as saying Canita de Felipe  Pescador is a "hot spot" for criminal groups.

Wednesday's incident seems to indicate that Sabag Hamadani is a target of one group or another, either Los Zetas or the Sinaloa cartel and their allies.  The Gulf Cartel is also known to operate in the area and the massive influx of vehicles with armed suspects travelling in the open en convoy in large groups is a Sinaloa cartel tactic in this area of Mexico.

According to the anonymous correspondent talking about about last August's disappearance: "...supposedly he went into hiding due to threats from organized crime, he had a reputation of working for the zetas and this was roughly a month before El Taliban´s arrest so I figure El Taliban had already switched sides at that point and that´s where the threats and hiding came from."

Another kidnapping incident was resolved last week this time involving a candidate of the Partido Verde Ecologista de Mexico (PVEM) for Canitas de Felipe Pescador municipal president Jaimie Rincon, according to press accounts.

Two weeks ago Rincon was kidnapped by armed suspects travelling aboard five vehicles at around 0400 hrs April 2nd at his home in La Seccion del Ferrocarril, according to a news account posted on the website of ZTR Zacatecas.  Reportedly no ransom had been made nor had any denunciation of the crime took place at the Zacatecas PGJE or with the national Procuraduria General de la Republica (PGR).

A week ago, April 13 Rincon was released beaten and dumped alive near a cemetery in Villa de Cos municipality.

Since his release nothing has been said about the incident.

Zacatecas is one of several states undergoing primary midterm elections for local deputies and municipal presidents, due to take place next July.

Rincon has been kidnapped three times before.  He had also previously run for election for president of a local ejido, and a local livestock trade group.

In national politics, the PVEM is often closely allied with the ruling Partido Revolucionario Institucional (PRI), now holding the national presidency in the person of Enrique Pena Nieto.

Said the correspondent: "I have no clue if Jaime Rincon, the precandidate from PVEM, had any link with any of the cartels or if Oswaldo was behind Jaime´s kidnapping, it just called my attention 2 kidnappings of politicians, or one plus a failed attempt, in a town so small, I don´t believe in coincidences of this magnitude."


BorderlandBeat.com reporter Chivis Martinez contributed to this story.


Special thanks to the BorderlandBeat  anonymous correspondent for the data and insights into the incidents.



http://ntrzacatecas.com/2013/04/05/confirman-el-secuestro-de-precandidato-del-pvem-en-zacatecas/
http://www.milenio.com/cdb/doc/noticias2011/fa6a3035b9cb09899475cc2077646f6f
http://zacatecasonline.com.mx/noticias/policia/29873-frustran-secuestro-alcalde.html
http://www.lasnoticiasya.com/2013/04/17/intentan-privar-de-la-libertad-a-alcalde-de-canitas-al-menos-un-federal-ha-muerto/

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

Read More

Mexican Army detains 21 suspected kidnappers in Durango

By Chris Covert
Rantburg.com

Mexican Army units and Durango state police agents detained 21 suspected members of a kidnapping crew in the La Laguna region of Mexico, according to Mexican news accounts.

A news report which appeared on the website of Expreso news daily said that Durango state Fiscalia General del Estado (FGE) Sonia Yadira de la Garza Fragoso held a press conference announcing the arrests.

Fiscalia Yadira de la Garza Fragoso

According to Fiscalia Garza Fragoso, the 21 suspects had operated throughout the La Laguna region including in Gomez Palacio, Ciudad Lerdo in Durango, and in Torreon in Coahuila.  The crew was allegedly responsible for attacks on the businesses and home of Gomez Palacio mayor Rocio Rebollo. 

The crew is also suspected for the kidnapping of two employees of El Siglo de Torreon newspaper, and for the murder of Partido Revolucionario Institucional (PRI) candidate for mayor of Ciudad Lerdo, Mario Alberto Landeros Campero and his driver Cesar Almilkar Valenzuela Morales, both found dead Wednesday in Ciudad Lerdo.

Durango is currently involved in primary elections for state deputies and municipal elections to be held July 7th.

Perhaps more importantly, the crew is allegedly responsible for the murder of six traffic police agents in Gomez Palacio last week.

The detainees were identified as Julio Cesar Najera Rosales, 24, Luis Fernando Martinez, 30, Alonso Ivan Ormero, Federico Aguilar Chaidez, Ruben Hernandez, Julian Valles, Hector Gomez, Uriel Reyes, Sergio Resendiz, Jaime Ramirez, Luis Resendiz and Fernando Martinez.

Separately,  Saul Garcia, Sergio Garcia, Ramiro Hernandez, Miriam Aguilar, Hilda Mejia, Dora Luz Rodriguez, Miriam Muñoz and two unidentified minors were also detained.

The arrests also including the taking of six rifles, three machines guns, seven handguns, five bulletproof vests, telephone equipment, four vehicles and personal quantities of marijuana and crystal methamphetamine.

The detentions are the first major mass arrests since 700 Mexican Army troops were moved into La Laguna last week.  Last week an additional contingent of Policia Federal troops had also been deployed to the area.

The arrests come on the heels of another announcement by Fiscalia Garza Fragoso Tuesday which was reported on the online edition of El Siglo de Durango Wednesday, who told local press that more progress was taking place in security operations in the region.

Senora Garza Fragoso also said during the press conference that she was unaware the reasons why a Policia Federal troop contingent had been deployed to Durango city.  This admission means that neither her office nor apparently the governor, Jorge Herrera Caldera had been consulted by federal officials about the new deployment. 

The new Policia Federal deployment is in contrast with the past in which federal security officials have made a point of meeting with state and local officials to detail their security plans.  But it is also a likely break with past practices in which state officials are to take greater responsibility for their own security strategies, that federal officials will be keeping their plans secret whenever they can.

Separately, the newly installed  Durango state Secretaria de Seguridad Publica  Roberto Flores Mier said Tuesday that police who fail the new confidence test would be given a second chance to take and pass the tests.

According to the report 4,232 local and state police agents statewide had taken confidence tests.  According to a report by the outgoing SSP, Jesus Antonio Rosso Olguin, on February 21st, roughly ten percent of the agents had failed the tests.   Rosso Olguin was sacked the next day.

Jesus Antonio Rosso Olguin

The timing of Rosso Olguin's report is interesting, although his departure was timed just one day after six La Laguna police agents were killed in a single evening in Gomez Palacio.  Durango state officials have not elaborated the reasons why Rosso Olguin left.

At least one Durango politician has disputed that police agents who failed tests will be given a second change.

Durango city mayor Adam Ramirez Soria was quoted in a El Siglo de Durango story Thursday that while the national average for police who failed tests is about 15 percent the rate in his municipality is less than 10 percent.  He said that contrary to the earlier statement by SSPE Flores Mier, police agents who fail tests will not be given second chances.

Nationwide Mexican state SSPs are under increasing pressure by the new security strategy implemented by newly inaugurated President Enrique Pena to get local and state police agents certified by November.  In January the Mexican national Secretaria de Gobernacion (SEGOB), or interior minister Miguel Osorio Chong, who is Pena's plenipotentiary in his new security plans has told SSPs nationwide that every police agent will be certified by November or will out of work.

Meanwhile in Durango, the capital of Durango state an unidentified judge has delayed until March 23rd whether to continue detaining the 64 local police agents from Ciudad Lerdo and Gomez Palacio, according to a separate report posted on the website of El Siglo de Durango.

Seven weeks ago 159 local police agents were disarmed by the Mexican Army and detained, 64 of which were placed in preventative detention colloquially known as rooting.  Past news reports do not make clear the length of the detention,.  Typically, rooting requests are for 30 days or more.

Rooting is a legal tool used by Mexican prosecutors to place suspects in detention without charge or trial until an investigation is complete.

It is most commonly used with drug trafficking suspects but it has also been used against errant state government officials.  The maneuver is meant to keep otherwise dangerous suspects from escaping until trial.  Rooting also known as arraigo has been severely criticized in the past, but it is also a legal tool that can only be used with permission of a judge.

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

Read More

6 die in Zacatecas state

By Chris Covert
Rantburg.com

A total of six individuals have been killed or were found dead in ongoing drug and gang related crime in Zacatecas state, according to Mexican news accounts.

A report posted on the website of El Sol de Zacatecas news daily said that three unidentified individuals were found shot to death Monday in two separate incidents in Zacatecas and Guadalupe municipalities.

In Guadalupe municipality police found the body of a taxi driver who had been shot to death on Calle Tulipanes in Villa del Sol colony.  A message with left with the body which blamed Los Zetas for the killing.

Two unidentified individuals were found in Zacatecas municipality also on Monday morning.  The victims were found near the village of Ojo de Agua near La Piedrera.  A message left with the victims mentioned an ongoing intergang fight involving gangs in the area.  The report also said that the two male victims had been tortured and were dumped at the location.

Three other victims of drug or gang violence were found in Zacatecas state since last Friday.

• Saturday evening an unidentified man was found shot to death in Zacatecas municipality.  The victim was found near a mine on a road that connects the villages of Vetagrande with Sauceda de la Borda.  The victim was shot several times about four days before the discovery of his body.
• An unidentified man was found shot to death on a road leading to Moyahua Juchipila in Juchipila municipality Friday.  Authorities had determined the victim was killed near a nightclub and was dumped at the location he was found.
• An unidentified man was killed and four other men were detained in an armed encounter with a Policia Federal road patrol in Valparaiso municipality Sunday.  Policia Federal operatives secured an undisclosed number of rifles and a fragmentation grenade following the encounter.  The report said that the four detainees were originally from Guatemala.

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

Read More

January 13th Badanov's Buzzkill Bulletin

by Chris Covert
Rantburg.com

Since December 11th, 2012, Mexican Army units throughout Mexican have seized 11,488.275 kilograms of marijuana, 99 kilograms of marijuana seeds,147.2 kilograms of crystal methamphetamine and 9.1 kilograms of cocaine and 2.125 kilograms of heroin, according to official Mexican government sources.

• A Mexican Army unit with the 5th Military Zone seized more than two metric tons of marijuana in Chihuahua state December 11th.  An army checkpoint near Samalayuca stopped a tractor trailer rig from Guadalajara, Jalisco, bound for Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua.  Hidden among foam bricks soldiers found 3,948 packages of marijuana totalling 2,815 kilograms.  The driver was detained at the scene.
• An army unit with the Mexican 42nd Military Zone seized more than one metric tons of marijuana in Chihuahua state December 11th.  The unit was on patrol in Ciudad Guerrero municipality when it rolled up on three abandoned vehicles.  Inside soldiers seized 2,315 packages of marijuana totalling 1,060 kilograms of marijuana. Additionally a press used to process the marijuana and a trailer were seized.
• A Mexican Army unit with the 45th Military Zone seized a quantity of marijuana in Sonora state December 9th.  The unit was on patrol in Trincheras municipality when it rolled up on an abandoned aircraft which had a total of 425 kilograms of marijuana in 42 packages.  In additional soldiers located three drums with 150 liters of aviation fuel at the location, and three bags of marijuana seeds totalling 44 kilograms.
• An army unit with the 24th Military Zone rescued an unidentified kidnapping victim in Morelos state December 15th.  Acting on a an anonymous complain the unit located the victim in Xochitepec Villas colony in Xochitepec municipality. Two unidentified individuals were also detained at the scene.  Additionally, soldiers seized two handguns two weapons magazines, 20 rounds of ammunition, personal quantities of marijuana, .700 kilograms of marijuana and a vehicle.
• A joint operation involving a Mexican Army unit with the 45th Military Zone and Policia Federal seized quantities of crystal methamphetamine and  cocaine in Sonora state December 19th.  The security forces were at a military checkpoint in San Luis Rio Colorado municipality.  Security agents found 146.3 kilograms of crystal methamphetamine and 2.7 kilograms of cocaine in 129 packages in a false bottom of a fuel tanker truck.  The driver was detained at the scene.
• A military unit with the Mexican 2nd Military Zone seized drugs in Baja California state December 18th.  The packages of heroin were found strapped to the legs of two unidentified suspects near the baggage claim area of the Abelardo L. Rodriguez International Airport in Tijuana.  A total of 2.125 kilograms of heroin were located.  the two suspects were detained at the scene.
• An army unit with the Mexican 2nd Military Zone located marijuana in San Felipe municipality December 19th in Baja California state.  The unit rolled up on an abandoned aircraft containing 350 kilograms of marijuana.  Another vehicle was also seized at the scene.
• A Mexican Army unit with the 8th Military Zone seized almost one metric ton of marijuana in Tamaulipas state December 18th.  The military unit was on patrol when soldiers found 933.075 kilograms of marijuana in 119 packages hidden in the brush in Camargo municipality.
• An army unit with the Mexican 8th Military Zone seized a quantity of marijuana in Tamaulipas state December 19th.  The unit located 17.1 kilograms of marijuana in eight packages hiddden in the brush in Matamoros municipality near the Rio Bravo.
• A Mexican Army unit with the 8th Military Zone seized a quantity of marijuana in Miguelo Aleman municipality in Tamaulipas state December 19th.  The unit located 124.8 kilograms of marijuana in nine packages hidden in the brush near the village of Los Angeles.
• An army unit with the Mexican 8th Military Zone seized a quantitiy of marijuana in Tamaulipas state in two separate operations December 21st and 22nd.  The find were made in Nuevo Laredo municipality on the banks of the Rio Bravo where soldiers seized 314 packages of marijuana totalling 1,287.6 kilograms.
• A Mexican Army unit with the 34th Military Zone seized a quantity of cocaine in Quintana Roo state December 23rd.  The seizure took place at the Cancun International airnport in Cancun where soldiers secured 7.1 kilograms of cocaine in ten packages.  Two unidentified male suspects were detained at the scene.
• An army unit with the Mexican 9th Military Zone raided a location in Sianaloa state seizing quantities of drugs and munitions December 26th.  The raid took place in Culican municipality in the Los Angeles colony.  Drugs secured included .900 kilograms of crystal methamphetamine and a small quantity of marijuana.  Weapons and munitions secured included four rifles, three handguns, a grenade launcher attachment, a grenade, 22 weapons magazines, 511 rounds of ammunition.  A truck and a radio were secured by military personnel as well.
• A Mexican Army unit with the 44th Military Zine seized more than one metric ton of marijuana in Oaxaca state December 27th.  The military unit was on patrol near the village of San Marcos La Chinilla in Miahuatlan de Porfirio Diaz municipality when it came upon the drugs in an abandoned location. Total seized included 1,300 kilograms of marijuana in 90 packages.  Two rifles were also found at the location.
• An army unit with the Mexican 9th Military Zone secured weapons and munitions in a raid in Sinaloa state December 28th.  The raid took place at a residence in Culican municipality on Bulevar Rotarismo in the city.  Weapons and munition secured included nine rifles, five handguns, one grenade launcher attachment, 93 weapons magazines, 13,788 rounds of ammunition.  Vehicles seized included four vehicles and one motorcycle.
• A military unit with the 44th Military Zone secured more than three metric tons of marijuana in raids over three days in Oaxaca state between December 25th and December 28th.  The raids took place near the villages of Romadito and San Vicente Coatlan where soldiers seized a total of 3,175 kilograms of marijuana in various packages.  A total of 45 kilograms of marijuana were also secured.

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

Read More

Northern Zacatecas scenes of thefts shootings and kidnappings

By Chris Covert
Rantburg.com

Despite public promises by authorities to reinforce security in northern municipalities of Zacatecas state, several security incidents have taken place, including the kidnapping of a relative of a Chihuahua state politician Christmas eve, according to Mexican news accounts.

A news story published on the website of El Siglo de Durango news daily Friday reported that three members of the family of Camargo, Chihuahua mayor Arthus Zubia Ordaz died in a carjacking incident near Fresnillo, Zacatecas.

According to the report at around 1200 hrs, the family was bound for Chihuahua state when the victims was intercepted by armed suspects, and then driven some distance only crash at a location about 24 kilometers outside of Fresnillo.

Killed in the crash was Yolanda Zubia Fernandez, a former government official from Guanajuato state and Zubia Ordaz's sister, and Brenda Ordaz Zubia, 34  and her son Luis Alfredo Ordaz Zubia, 14.

Three months ago Chihuahua state politician Alex LaBaron claimed that in September in Fresnillo Max LeBaron, his brother, and two women were taken hostage and driven to a warehouse in Cuencame municipality in Durango.  There Max Lebaron was beaten.  Three hours later the trio were released near Fresnillo.

The last incident probably explains why the Secretaria de Defensa Nacional (SEDENA) the controlling agency for the Mexican Army had announced plans in November to reinforce the northern border areas in Zacatecas, especially near the borders of Durango and Coahuila states.

Since that announcement, more than 50 individuals have been killed mostly in intergang fighting and executions.

Incidents have taken place on or near Mexico Federal Highway 54, and have included 13 killed in or around Fresnillo between November 12th and December 16th.  Included in that time frame was a counter kidnapping operation by units with the Mexican 11th Military Zine which led to the capture of four kidnapping suspects.  Other killings have occurred in that time frame in Jerez and Calera municipalities as well as in Guadalupe and Tabasco municipalities.

According to a news item posted on the website of El Sol de Zacatecas news daily intense fighting between armed gang members have been taking place since Christmas.  Locations in Fresnillo include firefights on Calle Miguel Hidalgo, near Zona Centro and near the Palacio Municipio or city hall.  Fighting continued in Zapata colony, on Avenida Huicotand and near Chedraui store.

Reports were also received from the sectors  Lomas de Plateros and  Fovissste, which are near roads leading to Valparaiso municipality.

According to the report fighting continued Thursday in Esparza colony, near the school Secundaria Técnica 2 and in Paseo del Mineral colony near roads that lead to Valparaiso.

No one was reported killed or wounded in these multiple gunfights.

It is worth noting that a comment appearing on the El Siglo de Durango article charged that federal and state police forces in the area were charging tolls at checkpoints in northern Zacatecas.  That comment was removed a few minutes later.  The original remark in Spanish can be seen here.

Criminal gangs also ahve been known to don military uniforms to appear as legitimate security elements to disguise their presence in public.

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

Read More

Pena's Security Plan starts to take form

By Chris Covert
Rantburg.com

President Pena

Barely in its fourth week, the security strategy of newly inaugurated Mexican president Enrique Pena Nieto is slowly becoming apparent. 

Going by Mexican press accounts now and in the past it is possible to detail at least some elements of Pena's new security strategy in dealing with organized crime.

One of the first acts of the incoming president Pena was to make a proposal which would disband and fold the federal cabinet level Secretaria de Seguridad Publica (SSP) into the Secretaria de Gobierno (SEGOB), or interior ministry.  Originally that proposal was met with a great deal of resistance especially with the Mexican left including the Partido de la Revolucion Democratica (PRD), with many top leaders of which calling the move a throwback to the old days when Mexico's SEGOB was one of the most powerful security agencies in Mexico, especially during the Dirty War of the 1970s and 1980s.

Miguel Osorio Chong

As that change moved through the legislature, the new SEGOB, Miguel Osorio Chong, met with several governors, the latest of which included Coahuila governor Ruben Moreira Valdes, as well as the governors of Durango, Nuevo Leon and Tamaulipas.

In a news story posted Saturday on the website of El Diario de Coahuila, Governor Moreira told reporters that a new federal security strategy was about to be implemented to including the "cleaning" of police and help with the proposed Gendarmeria Nacional, which is a campaign promise President Pena made throughout the campaign season last spring and summer.  Then as now, how this new police force would be used is shrouded in mystery.  Little indications exist that the current national police, the Policia Federal (PF), has had their mission  diminished so far.  PF units still patrol many of Mexico crime trouble spots in the north including in Tamaulipas, Coahuila and Zacatecas.

But there is little mistake that the violence level already has been reduced since December 1st, by virtue of the sheer drop in reported incidents.  Such a drop may not mean anything, however.  Confrontations between Mexico's military units and organized crime, at least in the last three years, have historically had their ups and downs.  The Mexican Army changes zone and regional commands in June, and promotions for colonels and higher ranks, a precursor to command shuffling, usually takes place in November.  Commanders in both instances usually need some time to get up to speed.  The new Secretaria de Defensa Nacional (SEDENA), both the controlling agency for the Mexican Army and the cabinet level job now held by General Salvador Cienfuegos Zepeda, will also likely need some time to get up to speed as well.

However, some regional commanders have already attended regional security conferences since November, in Mexico where governors and representative from regional gather to discuss their plans for new security arrangements.

One example was a regional conference, the second of it s kind, which took place two weeks ago including commander of the Mexican V Military Region,  General de Division Genaro Fausto Lozano Espinoza, and the governors of Jalisco, Michoacan, Nayarit, Colima, Zacatecas and Aguascalientes, according to a news item posted on the website of EL Sol de Centro news daily.

The purpose of the meeting was to discuss implementing the Mando Unico Policial or Single Police Command, a federal security scheme which has been partially implemented since 2010.  The idea behind the Mando Unico Policial is for the states to use individuals which have been trained and are usually better paid than municipal or even state police commands to deal more effectively with organized crime.

The news article reported that agreements between the federal government and Aguascalientes and Mexico state have already been signed, which indicates that changes are going to take place which will likely shift resources from supporting the current police agencies in support of a more federal response to organized crime.

Miguel Alonso Reyes

The end game for the new security arrangement has been revealed by Zacatecas governor, Miguel Alonso Reyes, who said the main objective was to return Mexico's military "to the barracks" and allow  police forces to take over security work against organized crime.

Read More

Bloody Zacatecas: 16 die

By Chris Covert
Rantburg.com

A total of 16 individuals were murdered in ongoing drug and gang related violence in Zacatecas state since last week, according to Mexican news accounts.

According to a news item posted on El Sol de Zacatecas news daily, on Monday, one unidentified armed suspect was killed and three others were detained in an exchange of gunfire with a Policia Federal road patrol Monday.

Federal agents also seized quantities of weapons including one AK-47 rifle, one .22 caliber submachine gun, an M1 rifle, 11 weapons magazines,  188 rounds of ammunition and 18 stars used to puncture car tires.  Vehicles seized included one Oldsmobile sedan and one Ford Lobo (F-150) pickup truck.

EL Sol de Zacatecas reported that a total of eight individuals were found executed in three municipalities in Zacatecas.

According to an article, two unidentified young men were shot by armed suspects who were travelling in Valparaiso municipality Monday. Three died at the scene. The report also hints that the two victims were caught in the crossfire of rival criminal gangs in the area.

At 1000 hrs an unidentified man was found shot dead in his residence in Guadalupe municipality Monday. Two hours later another unidentified man was found shot to death in Juan Aldama municipality.  The victim was apparently fleeing the assault when he was shot.

A total of four unidentified females were found executed Saturday on the road between Jerez and Fresnillo municipalities by police.  The victims were between 15 and 20 years old had all been handcuffed.  A message left at the scene as a warning to other who help criminal groups.  The report did not detail which cartel or criminal group.

Seven other individuals were found murdered in Zacatecas state:

• Three unidentified young men were found shot to death in Zacatecas municipality Saturday.  The victims were found near the saloon La Quinta Itzel near the village of La Escondida.  The victims were in their 20s and all had been shot in the head.  A message had been left at the scene, but its contents were not disclosed.
• Two unidentified young men were found a few hours later also in Zacatecas municipality, near the facilities of Tecnologico Superior de Zacatecas.  Both victims were shot in the head.
• Two men were shot to death in Fresnillo municipality Sunday.  The victims were shot by armed suspects who were travelling aboard an SUV.  The victims were identified as Marvin Enrique Amaya Cabrera, 34, who died at the scene and Gilberto Rios, 25 who died while receiving medical attention.  The report said the shooters used AK-47s to kill the victims.

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

Read More

11 die in shootouts in Tamaulipas state

UPDATED
By Chris Covert
Rantburg.com

Gunfights and roadblocks in Matamoros and Reynosa in Tamaulipas state has left a toll of nine armed suspects  and two soldiers dead, according to Mexican news, narcoboard and Twitter accounts.

An article posted on the website of El Sol de Zacatecas news daily said that shootouts began 1100 hrs Friday morning on the Reynosa to Tamaulipas highway near the villages of Empalme and Control Ramirez, and continued towards Lauro Villar  colony near avenidas Del Niño, 12 de Marzo and Marte R Gomez, Libramiento Emilio Portes Gil and  Avenida Lauro Villa until 1330 hrs.

Initially, press reports stated that no one has been hurt in the armed confrontation, however a later dispatch posted on he website of Proceso news weekly said that unidentified Tamaulipas officials confirmed nine armed suspects and two soldiers had been killed and several Mexican federal security forces effectives have been wounded.

The Proceso report said that a pursuit and subsequent gunfight ended at Playa Bagdad on Kilometer 15 of the Reynosa to Matomoros highway.

According to a separate news report posted on the website of Proceso news weekly, a Mexican federal forces raid on a residence in Modelo colony on Calle Santos Degollado, presumably on Thursday may have sparked the reaction by local drug gangs, to include roadblocks, which are a favorite tactic of drug gangs in cities.

The raid has reportedly netted Mexican security forces the capture of a  local drug gang leader, although the suspect's identity has yet to be released.

Separately, a tweet released described a Mexican Naval infantry unit  responding to a call at Kilometer 57 of Mexico Federal Highway 2 between Matamoros and Reynosa at around 0130 hrs Friday morning where three vehicles were found abandoned.  One of the vehicles, a Chevrolet Cheyenne pickup truck had a dead body inside.  two other abandoned sedans were also found at the scene.

The marine unit subsequently searched the area finding two unidentified armed suspects aboard a GMC Yukon SUV.  The two suspects surrendered to the marine unit without firing a shot.

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

Read More

Federales bag five armed suspects in Torreon

By Chris Covert
Rantburg.com

A Policia Federal (PF) road patrol element encountered several unidentified armed suspects near a farm in Torreon, Coahuila, killing five, according to Mexican news reports.

According to a news item posted on the website of Vanguardia news daily, the shootout took place just after noon Saturday near the Matamoros-Torreon road near the Puerta de Torreon, where a PF patrol designated Grupo Geo observed five armed suspects in Sol de Oriente colony. When shots were exchanged, the criminal group fled into a farm house on calle Toyama.

The armed suspects continued fire on PF agents from inside the house, when agents decided to use pepper gas against the suspects. One suspect attempted to leave the farmhouse but was dropped by police gunfire. At the conclusion, PF agents found four armed suspects dead inside the house.

PF agents found two AK-47 and one AR-15 assault rifles, and one 9mm pistol.

In Torreon, in southern Coahuila state and Piedras Negras in northern Coahuila has experienced what can only be termed a severe uptick in drug and gang related violence especially since the prison break 12 days ago in the border city of Piedras Negras. According to Spanish and English language reports, Piedras Negras has experienced shootings nearly every day since the prison break.

According to Mexican press accounts many of those released from prison were members of Los Zetas criminal group.


According to a report published in last Wednesday's Eagle Pass, Texas Business Journal, the municipality of Piedras Negras has been under martial law.

However, under the Mexican Constitution, martial law can only be imposed by the Mexican president of the republic and only with consent of the Chamber of Deputies and the president's cabinet.  

No other Mexican media outlet or even social media have confirmed that the municipality was under martial law, or that a declaration of martial has been announced.

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

Read More

Death in Durango: 11 die

By Chris Covert
Rantburg.com

A total of 11 individuals were killed or were found dead in ongoing drug and gang related violence in Durango and Coahuila states including three Policia Federal (PF) agents, according to Mexican news accounts.

According to a news account on the website of Animal Politico, the three PF agents had been ambushed in Gomez Palacio by armed suspects who were travelling aboard several vehicles.  The ambush took place near the intersection of calles Victoria and Zaragoza in Zona Centro at around 1100 hrs Thursday.

The three PF agents who died in the encounter were identified as Pedro Cano Rodriguez, 34, Refugio Hernandez Ramirez, 41 and Antonio Lopez Mendez 33.

Meanwhile, eight individuals have died in drug or gang violence elsewhere in Durango state, according to a news report posted on the website of El Siglo de Durango news daily.

• A decapitated body was found in Tlahualilo municipality Tuesday morning near Ejido Banco Nacional. The victim was an unidentified male in his 20s with tattoos, whose hand were bound.  His head was found near by.
• Two women were found shot to death inside a minivan in Gomez Palacio municipality late Tuesday night.  The victims were identified as Ema Martínez Sainz, 55 and Dora Alicia Regalado Ramirez, 40.  They were found aboard a Toyota Quest minivan near the intersection of Avenida Madero and Calle Zaragoza.
• An unidentified man in his 20s was found shot to death along the Durango city to Gomez Palacio highway at Kilometer 41.
• Another unidentified man in his 20s was found shot to death in Gomez Palacio municipality Wednesday night.  The victim was found in  San Alberto colony in Ejido Filadelfia.  He had been shot once in the head.
• According to a news item posted on the website of El Diario de Coahuila news daily, three armed suspects were killed by Mexican security forces in Piedra Negras municipality in Coahuila state Wednesday evening.  According to the report, the gunfight took place near the intersection of calles Lopez Mateos and Alejo Gonzalez in Buenavista colony.  A unit of the Coahuila state Grupo de Armas y Tacticas Especiales  (GATE) located the armed suspects who were travelling aboard a van, and who had fired their weapons at state security forces.  Piedra Negras is under heightened alert due to a mass prison break last Monday,which sprung 132 criminals.

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

Read More

4 die in Zacatecas state

By Chris Covert
Rantburg.com

A total of four armed suspects were killed by Mexican security forces Saturday afternoon in in Calera municipality in Zacatecas state, according to Mexican news reports.

According to a news report posted on the Zacatecas en Linea news website, a Policia Federal (PF) road patrol initiated a pursuit with armed suspects near the intersection of calles 5 de Mayo and Zaragoza, near the municipal cemetery, presumbly in Víctor Rosales, the capitol of Calera.  As the pursuit continued, the suspects opened fire on the patrol unit near Calle Morelos in Zona Centro.

The pursuit and gunfight ended in Nuevo Calera colony where presumably the four were killed.

Several news reports note that a Mexican Revolution Day celebration was scheduled to take place at 1800 hrs that evening in Víctor Rosales, and because of that the city was already heavily reinforced with security forces.

Calera municipality is between Zacatecas and Fresnillo municipalities on Mexico Federal Highway 45, which connects San Luis Potosi state and Durango state

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

Read More