New fighting erupts Saturday morning in Nuevo Laredo: 10 die

By Chris Covert
Rantburg.com

Fighting between drug gangs and Mexican security forces began anew early Saturday morning in Nuevo Laredo, killing 10 armed suspects, according to Mexican news accounts, Twitter accounts and narcoboard postings.

According to a post in Mforos.com, gunfire was exchanged in numerous colonies in Nuevo Laredo beginning at 0230 hrs. The colonies affected included, Infonavit, Benito Juarez and San Rafael colonies in western sectors of the city.

According to the account, units of the Mexican Army observed a convoy of vehicles, and as the drivers of the convoy were signalled to stop, soldiers were fired on, sparking a pursuit and gunfight.

A second pursuit and gunfight took place about 20 minutes later when a separate Mexican security forces convoy came under gunfire and pursuit. The exchange of gunfire included Mexican Army, Mexican Naval infantry and Tamaulipas state police units.

The fighting lasted until 0420 hrs.

According to a late report posted on the website of Proceso newsweekly, local government sources claim they have counted a total of 10 armed suspects dead in six separate engagements.

Father south in Ciudad Victoria, the state capital of Tamaulipas, one armed suspect was killed in an armed confrontation between a Mexican Army road patrol and two armed suspects Friday. According to news posted on the website of Milenio news daily, the two suspects fired on the Mexican Army unit from a vehicle.

Mexican Army return fire killed on suspects. The news story does not state the second suspect had been detained so it is presumed the second suspect escaped the shootout.

One pistol and the vehicle was seized following the conclusion of the encounter.

New Los Zetas Group Appears

According to a news item posted on the website of Noticias-mexico.com website, a news story on Saturday morning's firefights had been appended with an announcement of the formation of a new separate Los Zetas group, according to the translation, opposed to Los Zetas' leader Miguel Trevino, who has apparently assumed leadership of the gang in the wake of the shooting death of Heriberto Lazcano Lazcno at a baseball field in Coahuila earlier this month.

The group has dubbed itself Los Legionarios, which has been described as a renegade Los Zetas group. The announcement said that Trevino, known as Z40, had a hand in the death of Lazcano Lazcano.

It is unclear if Saturday morning shootouts had anything to do with the formation of the new group. Blog del Narco has claimed fighing has erupted between shooters aligned with Z40 and the new Los Legionarios group, which has reportedly killed eight.

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

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Mexican security forces reinforce Coahuila in wake of shooting

You can read the BorderlandBeat.com account of the murder of Jose Eduardo Moreira Rodriquez here.

Foto de Twitter

By Chris Covert
Rantburg.com


An undisclosed number of Mexican federal security troops have been deployed to northern Coahuila state in the wake of the shooting of the nephew of Coahuila state governor Ruben Moreira Valdes.  He is also the son of former Coahuila governor Humberto Moreira Valdes, Wednesday night, according to Mexican news accounts.

According to a news report posted on the Borderland Beat website, Jose Eduardo Moreira Rodriquez, 28, was found shot to death near the village of Santa Eulalia, near the border city of Ciudad Acuna Wednesday night.   Moreira Rodriquez was apparently engaged in work for the poor as regional coordinator of social programs of the Department of State Development.

Foto de Twitter

Ciudad Acuna, which is less than 40 kilometers from Piedras Negras, has been the scene of a number of shootings and security incidents, which like Piedras Negras stem from a prison break in Piedras Negras September 17th.

Until the murder of Moreira Rodriquez, Mexican federal response to the numerous shootings in the area has been tepid.  Much of Mexico's security in the state is concentrated in the east of the state in support of Operacion Noreste, which is itself centered in Tamaulipas state and Seguro Laguna, which is centered in La Laguna, where Torreon, Coahuila and Gomez Palacio, Durango form a sort of twin city metropoitan area.

According to various tweets and news story, including an item posted on the website of Vangardia news daily, Mexican naval infantry and Policia Federal troops arrived in the airport at Plan de Guaralupe in Ramos Arizpe municipality, near Saltillo, the state capital of Coahuila state.  Other tweets have said that other federal investigatory units, characterized as elite, have been spotted in Ciudad Acuna, barely 24 hours after the murder of Moreira Rodriquez.

Foto de Twitter

Mexican Army and Naval Infantry troops, originally spotted at the Government palace in Saltillo, where security meetings were held including military officials, were later seen heading north towards Ciudad Acuna and Piedras Negras, according to Twitter accounts.  Saltillo is also the location for the headquarters for the Mexican 6th Military Zone.

High level military officials attending included Admiral Jose Santiago Álvarez Valdés , Chief of the General Staff of the Mexican Navy, and General Alcazar Noah Sandoval, commander of the Ninth Military Region. and General Dagoberto Espinosa Rodríguez, commander of trhe 6th Military Zone.

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

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Mexican security forces redeploy to Choix, Sinaloa --UPDATED

You can read past news reports on Borderland Beat on the fighting in Choix, Sinaloa by clicking here  New information with four more dead found.


By Chris Covert
Rantburg.com

Mixed groups of Mexican federal security forces including Mexican Army units have begun to redeploy to Choix municipality in Sinaloa following reports of a large number of shootings, according to various Mexican news accounts.

A Saturday afternoon news item posted on the website of El Diario de Coahuila news daily, quoted an El Universal news story saying four more dead were found Saturday in Choix municipality near the village of Lorito.  The unidentified victims were killed three days before.  The find was made from an anonymous telephone call.

In a news report on the website of El Siglo de Durango news daily, several recent incidents have forced security forces to re-enter an area that only a few weeks ago was the location one of the most violent large scale intergang fighting since the summer of 2010.

According to a news item on the website if Azteca Noticias news daily, gunfights have taken place in Culican municipality and in Choix in recent days with at least one dead and three wounded.  The Choix gunfight took place last Tuesday afternoon and last five minutes.  A number of wounded were taken to a local medical clinic.

Periodico Expreso news daily reported on their website Thursday that two had died in Choix and three more had been wounded.

Choix municipality was the location last May where several armed operatives from the Beltran-Leyva cartel, Juarez Cartel and Los Zetas had combined to fight operatives from the Sinaloa cartel.  The fighting in the area began last April 28th and lasted several days, and had spread to other municipalities including Guasave and Culican totalling, by this writer's count, 56 dead.  Eventually Mexican Army and Naval Infantry units totalling 600 effectives  filtered into Choix municipality attempting to cordon the western approaches to the area.

Unconfirmed news reports at the time said a number of cartel operatives had escaped the cordon to the east into Chihuahua state and passed Mexican Army road patrols.

Chris Covert writes Mexican Drug War and national political news for Rantburg.com
© Copyright 2012 by Chris Covert.  You must obtain permission to reprint this article.

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Mexican Marines detain local Los Zetas security chief

By Chris Covert
Rantburg.com

A local Los Zetas security chief was detained Wednesday by a Mexican Naval Infantry detail in Xalapa, Veracruz, according to a news release posted on the website of the Secretaria de Marina (SEMAR), the controlling agency for the Mexican Navy.

The unit was dispatched to a location in Animas colony based on an anonymous complaint of shots fired.  The suspect, identified as Luis Alberto Perez Casanova AKA Casanova, was aboard a sedan, and attempted to flee the area as soon as he observed the marine unit.  The road unit blocked his attempt to flee, then detained him.

Marines seized one rifle, three handguns, 15 weapons magazines, 242 rounds of ammunition, two fragmentation grenades, 16 kilograms of marijuana, a quantity of cocaine divided for retail sale, communications equipment, the sedan, and miscellaneous contraband.

Perez Casanova is said to be the security chief for the central region of Veracruz, specifically in Xalapa.

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

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Fighting continues in Choix, Sinaloa: 12 die

You can read previous Borderland Beat stories on the ongoing fighting in Choix, Sinaloa, buy clicking here and here


By Chris Covert
Rantburg.com

The death toll in fighting between criminal groups and Mexican security forces in the Sierras of northeastern Sinaloa state increased to 32,  as 12 more unidentified armed suspects were killed Monday, according to Mexican news accounts.

In a brief account on the website of Noreaste de Sinaloa, 10 suspects were killed near El Pichol and two more were killed near Bacayopa, which is closer to the Chihuahua state border.  A reported additional two dead were reported in another area close to the border with Chihuahua state called Los Tascates.

Mexican Army and naval infantry forces have reportedly set up a cordon in the area to prevent armed groups from filtering back to the western side of Choix municipality.  At least two naval infantry units were deployed near Chinobampo, which is south of Choix municipal seat to aid the Mexican federal security effort.

According to an article posted in its website Monday evening, El Debate news daily said the new count is based on coffins ordered by funeral homes in Choix municipality.

In a separate article on El Debate's website,  Sinaloa governor Mario Lopez Valdez told reporters that security meetings are being held with the public security chiefs of nearby municipalities including Sinaloa de Leyva, San Ignacio, Concordia and Badiraguato.  The newest security initiative has been dubbed Operacion Condor.

Operacion Condor is the name of a counternarcotics operation implemented during the 1970s in Sinaloa state aimed at drug eradication.

In the same report, Sinaloa state Secretearia de Gobernacion (SEGOB) Gerardo Vargas Landeros said that the area in eastern Choix municipality was under control of security forces.  The problem now, according to the report, are armed groups moving to Chihuahua aboard  vehicles marked falsely as official vehicles.

Three abandoned falsely marked vehicles have been found in San Vicente, Chihuahua, which is just across the border, suggesting some criminal elements have already passed over to seek refuge in Chihuahua state.  The find also suggests that much of the fighting by armed groups have been delaying and diversionary in nature, presumably to allow a leadership element to escape security operations.

News reports say that armed suspects have been demanding food and water from local residents, and have passed easily through the military cordon to make those demands.  Jose Carlos Urias Olguin, 42, was shot in the leg near his residence in the village of Potrero de Los Fierro after he refused to provide an armed suspect with food.

Reports of hostage taking by armed suspects have also been discounted, and appear to be anecdotal, though isolated incidents have occurred.  Resident have also fled their homes, but officials have protested those actions are also not widespread.

Reports suggest that armed groups have recruited shooters from remote villages, presumably to reinforce their numbers in the area.  The military has suspended normal transportation in the area, specifically to Casas Viejas and El Tablo, stranding some area residents.

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

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Mexican Marines detain 9 drug cartel bad guys

By Chris Covert
Rantburg.com

Mexican Naval Infantry units have detained a total of nine suspects -- allegedly affiliated with the Jalisco Nueva Generacion drug cartel -- including two top leaders in three operations in Veracruz state, according to data provided by the Mexican Secretaria de Marina (SEMAR).

The three counternarcotics operations all took place in Boca del Río municipality, starting in Infonavit colony, where marines detained three suspects identified as José Manuel Sanchez Sanchez AKA Cunita, 42, Adriana Reyes Leal, 18,  Noemi de la O. Rodriguez, 30, Martha Crisol Martínez Portillo AKA Tita,  22 and Levi Vergara Yepez AKA Coca, 25.

Marines also secured guns, munitions, quantities of crack cocaine and marijuana and one vehicle.

Based on an anonymous citizen's complains and from information developed from the Infovanit colony stop, marines were dispatched to Primero de Mayo where they detained two individuals on a motorcycle identified as Jorge Luis Feria Hernandez, 23 and José Francisco Torres Lopez, 27.

In Primero de Mayo Mexican Marines also seized guns, drugs and other contraband, including a motorcycle.

SEMAR said that Jorge Luis Feria Hernandez was the Jalisco Nueva Generacion cartel's financial agent for the area.

A final operation took place in Nueva Era colony where Marines detained Noe Humberto Hernandez Perez AKA La P, 28 and a female companion, Claribel Casas Duran, 24.

SEMAR said that Hernandez Perez was the Jalisco Nueva Generacion's plaza leader for the Boca del Rio/Veracruz region.  Weapons drugs ammunition and other contraband were seized in the aftermath of the arrest.

The Jalisco Nueva Generacion drug cartel's top leaders -- Erick Valencia Salazar, AKA El 85 and Nemesio Oseguera, AKA El Mencho -- were detained in a Mexican Army operation earlier last month in Jalisco state, the aftermath of which saw massive numbers of roadblocks and gun battles between cartel operatives and Mexican security forces in Guadalajara, Jalisco, which is the cartel's home turf.
You can read Borderland Beat stories on the Mexican Army operation in Guadalajara last month by clicking here and here

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

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March 29th Badanov's Buzzkill Bulletin

By Chris Covert
Rantburg.com

Between March 15th and March 25th Mexican Amry and Naval Infantry units seized in ongoing counternarcotics operations throughout Mexico 2,622.493 kilograms of marijuana, 4.78 kilograms of cocaine, .254 kilograms of glass methamphetamine, 770 liters of liquid methamphetamine, 326.25 kilograms of solid methamphetamine, MP $7.703 (USD $596.82) and USD $164.00 (MP $2102.60) in cash.

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March 28th Badanov's Buzzkill Bulletin

Marines seize precursors in Manzanillo, Colima

By Chris Covert
Rantburg.com

Mexican Army and Naval Infantry units have between March 13 and March 23rd in ongoing counternarcotics operations throughout Mexican, have seized a total of 7,791.35 kilograms of marijuana, 13 kilograms of methamphetamine, 22.255 kilograms of glass methamphetamine and MP $6,470.00 (USD $507.07) in cash.

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2 dead, 1 wounded in firefight in Veracruz state

By Chris Covert
Rantburg.com

One armed suspect was killed and another was found dead in a joint Mexican security forces operation in southeastern Veracruz state Thursday, according to news releases posted on the Mexican Army and Mexican Navy websites.

Elements from the Mexican 26th Military Zone, an unidentified Naval Infantry unit and Veracruz state police agents had been dispatched to a location near Poblacion de Pacho Viejo along the Xalapa-Coetepec highway where an anonymous compliant said armed men were.  One air force, two navy and one Veracruz state police helicopters supported the operation as well.

Security forces came under small arms fire from an undetermined number of armed suspects.  Return fire killed one  unidentified Los Zetas operative.  At the location security forces also found one dead body in a vehicle, and another individual who had been severely beaten, but who was still alive.  The survivor was evacuated from the location for medical attention.

Security forces also found two stolen vehicles, two AR-15 rifles, one 14 gauge shotgun and weapons magazines and ammunition.

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

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Mexican military forces bag 6 bad guys

By Chris Covert
Rantburg.com
Updating with new information
The Mexican Secretaria de Defensa Nacional  (SEDENA) confirmed a total of six drug cartel operatives have been killed in several shootouts in Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas on Tuesday afternoon, according to Mexican news reports.

Previous reports put the death toll at between 10 and 15 with many more wounded.

Shooting scene in Nuevo Laredo Tuesday

Shootings had been reported in western neighborhoods of the border city since mid morning.  Around noon,  several units of the Mexican Army and Naval Infantry forces moved into the area and sealed off eastern and northern approaches, presumably to prevent criminal shooters from escaping the military cordon.  The fighting stopped around 1500 hrs.

Reports also say that several more cartel shooters were wounded in the fighting.

The main location of at least one of the firefights was reportedly neighborhoods between Reservas Territoriales and Aquiles Serdan colonies along Avenida Lincon, which was apparently a running gunfight between cartel shooters and Mexican military forces.  Some firefights  were contained in an area of seven kilometers.

Reports say that citizens saw several individuals lying dead in the streets.  An unconfirmed report said that one of the scenes of shootings was a McDonald's restaurant near the intersection of calles Venezuela and Cesar Lopez de Lara. 

An unofficial report also said that one Mexican soldier died in the fighting.

Los Zetas practically own the Nuevo Laredo river crossing, so it is presumed the six dead were Los Zetas operatives.

Two cartel operatives were detained.

Solsiers also seized a number of contraband including six rifles, 71 weapons magazines, 1,555 rounds of ammunition, five 40mm grenades, one hand grenade, one grenade launcher and three vehicles.


Reports also say that two unidentified local leaders of Los Zetas in Nuevo Laredo have been shot, but those are unconfirmed reports.  The number two man in the Los Zetas criminal gang is Michael Trevino, AKA Z40, who controls the Nuevo Laredo crossing.

Los Zetas have in the past in other locations fought Mexican security forces whenever one of their leaders has been threatened with capture, tactics to include road blocks created through carjacking.  Those tactics were used extensively last Friday in Jalisco state, when elements of the Mexican Army captured two top leaders of the Jalsico Nuevo Generacion drug cartel.

Local government officials as well as US consulate officials in Nuevo Laredo have warned residents via Twitter accounts to stay clear of the zones.

Later reports say that simultaneous armed confrontations between Mexican security forces and drug cartel shooters have taken place in Ciudad Miguel Aleman and Piedra Negras, Coahuila, all river crossing cities generally considered to be Los Zetas territories.

Los Zetas have suffered losses in the last week, including 12 operatives killed in a firefight and pursuit with Mexican Army units in Ciudad Miguel Aleman in Tamaulipas.

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

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