Video Shows Convoy of La Familia Michoacána Gunmen in Trucks Travel to Fight Los Tlacos in Guerrero

By "El Huaso" for Borderland Beat

A video shows part of a column of armed gunmen in trucks travelling through the small community of Oxtotitlán in the municipality of Teloloapan, in northern Guerrero. Hours after, a shootout was reported in the nearby town of Tlatzala.

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CSRL Interrogate and Kill CJNG Captive on Camera Near Celaya, Guanajuato

By "El Huaso" and "Sol Prendido" for Borderland Beat

This article shows photos and videos of violence.

A man identified as a member of the Cártel Jalisco Nueva Generación (CJNG) is interrogated and killed on video by several armed members of the Cártel Santa Rosa de Lima (CSRL) near Celaya, Guanajuato.

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Video Of Cartel Members Exercising On a Training Hike Emerges

By "El Huaso" for Borderland Beat

A video showing a large group of armed sicarios marching up a hill in a training exercise, holding rifles and equipped with bandoleers and magazine belts, surfaced on twitter this morning, posted by account @guerrerolibre12. This user claims the group is a cell of CJNG.

In the video, about 25-30 armed men can be seen taking part in the exercise. Some are wearing military-style uniforms, leading the group and bringing up the rear. The rest are dressed in civilian clothes, except for their guns and military equipment.

A photo in the same thread, allegedly of the same event, shows several cartel members in military-style uniforms and rifles standing in a courtyard. On the chest of one of the men can be read the letters 'RS', a reference to his criminal cell.

The location of the video is unknown.

Sources: Twitter user @guerrerolibre12

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Fotos and videos of balacera in Reynosa

Thanks to Chivis for the links:

From Valley Central, an excerpt:

Authorities have confirmed that three gunmen and one soldier are dead following a gun battle near an oil company facility in Reynosa.

It all happened in the Colonia Petrolera next to a PEMEX facility off Boulevard Morelos in central Reynosa around 9 a.m. Wednesday.

Reynosa residents turned to the #reynosfollow hashtag of the social media network Twitter to report the deadly firefight.

The Tamaulipas Attorney General's Office (PGJE) later confirmed that the deadly firefight between gunmen and Mexican soldiers lasted about an hour and fifteen minutes.

From Sin Embargo:

 En menos de 24 horas nueve personas pedieron la vida en dos balaceras distintas ocurridas en los municipios de Reynosa y San Fernando en el estado de Tamaulipas.

De acuerdo con reportes oficiales, el enfrentamiento que esta mañana se registró en Reynosa dejó cuatro muertos, tres civiles armados y un elemento del Ejército Mexicano

Photos from Twitter:

En menos de 24 horas nueve personas pedieron la vida en dos balaceras distintas ocurridas en los municipios de Reynosa y San Fernando en el estado de Tamaulipas. De acuerdo con reportes oficiales, el enfrentamiento que esta mañana se registró en Reynosa dejó cuatro muertos, tres civiles armados y un elemento del Ejército Mexicano.

De tuitero @Raptor_111

De tuitero @tuidolo4ever1

Links:
Valley Central
Sin Embargo

En menos de 24 horas nueve personas pedieron la vida en dos balaceras distintas ocurridas en los municipios de Reynosa y San Fernando en el estado de Tamaulipas. De acuerdo con reportes oficiales, el enfrentamiento que esta mañana se registró en Reynosa dejó cuatro muertos, tres civiles armados y un elemento del Ejército Mexicano.

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Drug trafficking for 'justice' in Mexico

A Mexican drug cartel named after a medieval order of knights is winning favour among the community where it works, in the state of Michoacan.

The Knights of Templar say they are fighting a war against injustice and poverty, and they have a reputation much stronger than local police.

Meanwhile, they traffic drugs and create harsh and violent punishments for those the organisation deems to be bad for the community.

Al Jazeera's Monica Villamizar reports from the city of Apatzingan in Mexico's Michoacan province.

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CDG Dismembers Zeta with Ax: Video

There is a new video that was made by members of the Gulf Cartel. it is shown at the end of this article, but we must warn you that the content is extremely graphic.

This is the full text that was sent along with the recording that lasts for about eight minutes:

"Here is a video on behalf of the Gulf Cartel dedicated to the filthy Zetas, we challenge you to give each other a bump (fight) fucking assholes, this is what is going to happen to all of you assholes and to your supporters, citizens do not fear, we do not come after you, we just came to clean the garbage of people called zetas, we are here to protect and serve the people, we want everything to be secure but for now it is not, so we have to throw away the garbage."

Members of the Gulf Cartel based in Nuevo Leon appear dressed in military style uniforms, they have a man who in their words is a member of the criminal organization known as Los Zetas.

With an ax they start to chop up the man, while the leader of the masked men who appears on the recording, begins to send a message to Los Zetas, who they make a point are responsible for killing innocent children in the recent slaughter in San Fernando, Tamaulipas.

"This goes to all of those damn Zetas of 40, 42, to Lazcano, and to all the fucking people who are supporting the cartel of Los Zetas, this is what is going to happen to all of you so take a look bastards and do not forget."

"Everyone who is working as hawks (halcones), working as pussies, those who finance them with money and sucking everything on them, you know that gentlemen, because even at that we are educated, we do not disrespected anyone. If you all think you are all men, come look for us, see how we are going to receive you with pure lead, pure lead, assholes."

The stranger exclaims; "You are very good at killing children assholes, to kill children in San Fernando, Tamaulipas, you all killed a lot of children. You all take advantage of innocent people."

"This goes to all the assholes, Lazcano and 40 and all the whole ball of faggots, and if you think you have balls come confront us. This is what happens to the pussies who hang out with pussies. Be the Federal Police, or the state police, or whatever fucken law enforcement they are and are, all the fucking law enforcement that are with them, Municipal Police, ministerial police or any type of police that support the cause of the Zetas is what is going to happen to you all."

While one of them is chopping pieces of the man, another man says, "Damn bastards, you are not worth a dick's ass, fucking bunch of assholes, if you think you are big dicks, confront us assholes. Fucking Zetas, filthy fucking sons of bitches. This is for the children killed in San Fernando, Tamaulipas, and for all the innocent people they have killed. Here is the Gulf Cartel to defend you all, viva Mexico. "

For several minutes they describe the violent acts the Zetas perform against innocent people, "For the innocent people, hold that son of a bitch, they have no compassion for the children, for all the women they rape, and with all the innocent people that kill assholes. Why should we have compassion with them gentlemen? Never, because they are not worth a shit. Continue, continue, continue killing innocent people and this is what is going to happen, son of bitches, assholes, You take advantage of the unarmed people."

"On behalf of Commander XL and all of his people. Strike him on the bone, on the bone. They have no compassion for anyone nor children. We do have feelings, but not with them, not with them, not with them," the voice of an unknown man is heard yelling.

Source: BDN, NarcoGuerra

Warning: Video is extremely graphic

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Six Gunned Down in Ciudad Juarez

Six men were fatally shot on Friday just a few meters (yards) from the Mexico-U.S. border, the Chihuahua state Attorney General’s Office said.

The victims came under attack while riding in an SUV near one of the bridges that link Ciudad Juarez with El Paso, Texas. Seeking refuge, the driver pulled up to a grocery store.

Two of the SUV’s occupants were killed inside the shop and two others died on the street, while two remained in the vehicle.

Authorities are working to identify the victims, described as ranging in age from 25 to 35.

Drug-related violence has claimed more than 1,000 lives in Juarez since Jan. 1 and upwards of 5,000 over the past 2½ years.

President Felipe Calderon’s administration has deployed about 5,000 Federal Police officers in the border city of 1.5 million to try to stem killings by drug cartels battling for control of smuggling routes into the United States.

Juarez was also occupied for months by thousands of army troops, but the military presence did nothing to quell the violence, while drawing numerous complaints from residents about abuses by the soldiers.

More than 23,000 people have died in Mexico’s drug war during Calderon’s tenure, which began in December 2006.

See More for videos:

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Mexican Drug Lord Killed in Shootout

By Nick Valencia
CNN

The alleged leader of the Beltran Leyva drug trafficking organization was killed in a shootout with federal forces in northern Mexico, state media reported.

Pedro Roberto Velazquez Amador, alias "La Pina," was killed in a shootout Wednesday morning, hours after a military convoy patrolling the San Pedro area in Monterrey was attacked by gunmen.

Velazquez was killed in the subsequent shootout, state-run Notimex news agency reported.

Pictures from a local newspaper showed the body of a man believed to be in his 30s and said to be Velazquez, lying in a puddle of water with a firearm in his hand.

Velazquez is the alleged leader of the Beltran Leyva cartel in San Pedro, according to the National Defense Secretary of Mexico.

However, recent reports say the fractured Beltran Leyva cartel has been splintered into warring groups.

Mexican-American drug trafficker Edgar Valdez, known by his moniker "La Barbie" for his light complexion and blue eyes, is claiming leadership over the cartel.

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Military Finds a Zeta Narco-Camp in NL

In the municipality of Higueras, the Mexican military discovered a "narco camp" that resulted in a confrontation that left one dead and a seizure of trucks, high-powered weapons and grenades.

Higueras, Nuevo Leon - About sixty Mexican soldiers attacked a training camp of the armed group Los Zetas in Nuevo Leon from helicopters and land vehicles, leaving one gunman dead and the seizure of an arsenal of powerful weapons, said a general who coordinated the operation.

Among the weapons seized were more than 230 long and short guns, 60 grenades and rocket launchers, as well as trucks and communication equipment.

The action by the army began when four helicopters of the Mexican Air Force arrived at the camp of Los Zetas, located in a rural area of the municipality of Higueras, 45 miles northeast of Monterrey, capital of Nuevo León.

"About 50 sicarios at the camp began to flee when they heard the sound of the helicopters," a military source said.

The soldiers fired on some of the sicarios from the air and others were chased on the ground by troop at the training camp for sicarios.

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Failure to Act and Protect in Creel

They did not act against the sicarios in Creel because there were only seven officers said Saul Hernandez, director of CIPOL.

Saul Hernandez, director of the Police Intelligence Centre (UNCLE), acknowledged that the day the sicarios took the town of Creel hostage and terrorized the residents while going on a killing spree were being monitored through video by authorities but the police did not intervene because it was only seven of them and the closest military installation was in Cuauhtémoc.

"We did react but the problem is ... there were only 7 officers who immediately contacted the Mexican military but the truth is they can't get from one point to another just like that, I mean they have to get their equipment, they must get organized and they have to leave from where they are, from Cuauhtemoc which is a good few kilometers way" said Saul Hernandez.

He added that in this situation they (military) could not get to the town in three minutes and he highlighted that he wish they could do it in three minutes but logistically they can't.

At the same time he rejected any responsible to the monitors of the video for failure to take any action against the sicarios because they immediately alerted the state police but that logistics problem already mentioned prevented them from intervening.

The wide range of the broadcast of the video of Creel taken hostage by sicarios was cause of worldwide attention.

Related Posts:

Questions of Impotence in Creel

Video of Massacre in Creel

Sicarios from Creel Massacre ID's

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Arizona is "El Chapo" Guzman's Plaza

The news in Arizona report daily on the seizures of drug in the Arizona border from the operators of the cartel of "El Chapo" Guzman, while U.S. federal agents acknowledge that the state is "the world's largest warehouse of marijuana."

On Friday April 23, the same day the Governor Jan Brewer passed SB1070, which criminalizes Mexican immigrants, Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon told the Fox television network: "Where is the DEA? They are not here in Arizona."

"If they were here, there would not be so much illegal drugs in the states," he went on to say. But the data gathered indicates that the lack of efficient border enforcement and the inept knowledge of bilateral cartel operations in the border by local authorities have made Arizona an open territory ... of El Chapo.

"The world's largest warehouse of marijuana dominates federal agents of the United States and Mexico in Arizona. The reason: through this region enters most of all the drugs that is ultimately is distributed to all 50 states.

The enormous concentration of drugs in one area might indicate that perhaps some local law enforcement agencies might be corrupted by drug cartels.

On Thursday April 22 Eastern Arizona Courier newspaper published an article in which Tony Coulson agent for the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) in the state said that there are daily transactions of drugs from Mexico reaching up to 2 million dollars. This data could reflect the size of the problem and it's a profitable business in particular for the Sinaloa cartel.

"It's unbelievable, but Arizona imports from Mexico most of the marijuana consumed in the US, or at least that is what official statistics indicate," said a U.S. federal agent responsible for the state of Arizona in the US and Sonora state in Mexico.

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The President on Organize Crime, Military and Cinco de Mayo

Puebla, Puebla - President Felipe Calderon said the bravery and sacrifice of the Mexican armed forces in the war on drugs make liars of those who doubt, question, or criticize their mission, and called for the people to fervently embrace the causes of the country regardless of risks or costs.

During the ceremony of the 148 anniversary of the Battle of Puebla celebrated on May 5th, the president hailed the Senate approval of the National Security Act which gives a new framework for the intervention of the army in fighting crime, he hoped that the House of Representatives will conduct an analysis and adopt this initiative.

"This fight is for freedom and justice in Mexico and that is why we should support it, that is why we should not only continue ahead, but we must move ahead with a full intent to achieve a victory, a victory with the support of the people and the strength of the state, to the institutions we must attain, and this task of defending the legality, the strength of the country, to protect Mexican families, and the armed forces must play a leading role."

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17 Kidnapping Victims Rescued in Matamoros

Update: The Mexican Navy clarifiied the nationalities of the kidnapping victims: 14 Mexicans, 2 Guatemalans and 1 Honduran.

The Mexican Navy is reporting the rescue of 17 kidnapping victims in Matamoros.

Mexican Navy officials reported the 17 victims were rescued from two safe houses on Monday.

The Mexican Navy reported that they received information about one of the safe houses and went to investigation.

Authorities found 11 people, 10.87 pounds of marijuana and rifle inside the home.

Investigators charged Juan Ponce-Ramirez as being the caretaker of the safe house.

The Mexican Navy reported that the incident lead them to another home where six other alleged kidnapping victims were located.

Authorities said the kidnapping victims had all been held for ransom with their alleged kidnappers demanding money from relatives via telephone.

The Mexican Navy did not release the names of the kidnapping victims but initally reported the majority of them "had homes in the United States."

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PGR Presents Video of Shooting in Monterrey

I know some of our readers feels uncomfortable when we post incidents when the military is implicated in shootings in which innocent victims are killed and are labeled as "collateral damage." Some of the allegations that have been documented and testified to is that some of the victims killed have been caused by the hands of the Mexican military during shooutouts with the bad guys. I have been following these issues very closely and have seen the progression by the military government when it comes to taking responsibility for their part.

I have personally interviewed witnesses of incidents and have spoken with family of the victims.

Be it "friendly fire" "collateral damage" or intentional shooting, they all must be investigated by an impartial process to clear them or hold them responsible. At least from this outcome, we could learn from it if it needs a change in policy or better training. 

Many times when we read the different versions of the federal government's claim it almost feels like a cover up or we see how they omit information that might implicate them as being responsible. One thing I notice that has become very common is that when they present evidence when sicarios are implicated they are very sure of the facts and have detailed evidence to support their claim. But when it potentially implicates the federal government, it's always results in an explication that the facts could not be determined and the evidence was inconclusive or absent.

So the investigations continue and as long as I am alive, I will continue to report on them.

Rewind: March 19, 2010, military get in a shootout with sicarios in monterrey that concluded in the TEC of Monterrey. The military reported that two sicarios had been killed in the shootout. Well, it turns out it was not sicarios that were killed, but two students with excellent academic records from Monterrey Institute of Technology. So the people demanded an investigation and the federal government has been investigating themselves. Yesterday they held a press conference to provide an update of the investigation.

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Mother Says Her Child was Killed by Bullets and Not Grenade

Tamaulipas - The president of the Human Rights Committee of Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas, Raymundo Ramos, said the prosecutor of Military Justice, Jose Luis Chavez Garcia, "lied" in the case of slain children, Bryan and Martin Almanza Salazar. The two were killed on April 3, 2010 in their personal vehicle while traveling with their parents.

He said that the version of facts given by the military prosecutor about Martin, who was riding in the back of the truck, died from grenade shrapnel, however, the Committee on Human Rights presented a picture where you can clearly see the back of the child has two bullets wounds of large caliber.

This is evidence that can't be refuted and which contradicts the official version given by the federal government that is trying to present misinformation to the public and they have not made any effort tell the truth of what really happened.

Ramos said that Chávez García had mentioned that in his investigation the three offices of prosecution are involved: that of the state of Tamaulipas, the Federal Ministry General and the Military.

Ramos maintains during his interview that in the sequence of event there are several inconsistencies, for example one is an April 17 statement from the Attorney General of Tamaulipas when it was reported that the supposedly confrontation occurred at 10 pm however Ramos maintains that the event involving Bryan's family and Martin happened at 7:30PM.

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Vehicle of Missing Journalists Found

Vehicle of Missing Mexican Journalists Found Riddled with Bullets.

Oaxaca - The car carrying two journalists missing since an attack two days ago on a caravan of human rights activists in the southern Mexico state of Oaxaca was found riddled with bullets, the reporters’ boss said Thursday.

“The car of our comrade reporters has more than 30 bullet impacts,” Contralinea magazine editor Miguel Badillo told a radio station in Mexico City, complaining that state and federal authorities are doing nothing to find his missing employees.

Four vehicles carrying some 40 people were ambushed Tuesday while on a mission to deliver food to residents besieged in San Juan Copala, located some 300 kilometers (186 miles) west of Oaxaca city, the state capital.

Two people, Beatriz Alberta Cariño Trujillo and Finnish national Jyri Antero Jaakkola, were killed in the attack, while another activist was wounded and at least four people remain missing.

“Really, there is no search for our comrades,” Badillo said. “We don’t know ... if they are wounded, in hiding, or ... kidnapped.”

The editor said he and the families of Contralinea reporter Erika Ramirez and photographer David Cilia were “very worried” about their safety.

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The Slaughter Continues in Juarez

Despite the fact that President Felipe Calderon has sent over 5,000 federal police officers to Ciudad Juarez, the violence continues at a record pace. At least 15 people have been killed within the last 24 hours, among the dead are six teenagers, in various violent acts in Ciudad Juarez which borders the United States.

It seems like the more federal police they send, violence just increases, nothing changes in this criminally torn city. People continue to be executed at all hours of the day in Juarez, and we see some of the low level sicarios get arrested, but what we don’t see is the arrest of the heavy weights, they remain immune.

Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua - Shortly after four o'clock in the morning 8 people that were in the bar "Aristos" located on Avenida Vicente Guerrero and Honduras in the community of El Barreal in Ciudad Juarez were shot dead.

Gunmen (sicarios) entered into the bar and took the eight people into the back yard where they were then placed against a wall and executed. The sicarios then walked next to each body and shot each one of them point blank on the head "coup de grace or tiro de gracia" style.



Authorities have mounted a huge police deployment throughout the city in search of those responsible, unofficially it is said that several people were injured and taken to different hospitals in the city.

Police found 12 spent casings and a 1990 Chevrolet Blazer, which apparently belong to the people massacred, said Arturo Sandoval, spokesman for Chihuahua state police.

Several customers and employees were apparently traumatized and were terrified after witnessing the bloody massacre.

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Over 2,700 Shots Fired in Attack on Mexican Official

Relatives of two killed bodyguards cry during their funeral in Morelia April 25, 2010. Two bodyguards who were part of a police team and two civilians were killed and at least eight people injured, including Michoacan State Secretary of Public Security Minerva Bautista Gomez, in an attack by hitmen on Bautista Gomez's convoy last Friday, local media reported.

State of Michoacan - More than 2,700 large-caliber rounds were fired in last weekend’s failed attempt on the life of the public safety secretary of the western Mexican state of Michoacan, state official Fidel Calderon said.

“Organized crime, unfortunately, has great firepower capacity,” the official said, adding that Public Safety Secretary Minerva Bautista Gomez, who was wounded in the attack, “is stable, she’ll leave the hospital very soon.”

An injured bodyguard of State Secretary of Public Security Minerva Bautista Gomez is being taken away after a shoot-out in Morelia April 24, 2010. Bautista Gomez was seriously injured, two of her bodyguards and two civilians killed and at least eight people injured in an attack by hitmen who had previously blocked the road with a trailer truck, according to local media.

The secretary and her bodyguards were attacked early Saturday on a highway in Michoacan that was blocked with a trailer by the hit squad.

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Sicarios of "La Barbie" Captured

15 Suspected Drug Cartel Enforcers Captured in Mexico.

Amacuzac, Morelos - Fifteen individuals suspected of working as hit men for fugitive drug lord Edgar Valdez Villarreal were arrested after a gun battle with Mexican police, the federal Public Safety Secretariat, or SSP, said.

The clash – in which no one was wounded – occurred Friday in the central town of Amacuzac, Morelos state.

That state has been hit by a wave of violence in recent months, including the killing of drug kingpin Arturo Beltran Leyva last December in a shootout with marines in Cuernavaca, Morelos’s capital and main bastion of the Beltran Leyva criminal organization.

The SSP said in a statement that the 15 suspects are “linked to the criminal organization of Edgar Valdez Villarreal,” a former lieutenant of Arturo Beltran Leyva’s who goes by the alias “La Barbie.”

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At Least 6 Police Killed in Juarez

6 Mexican police officers killed in Ciudad Juarez.

Mexican federal officials said six law enforcement officers were killed today in the intersection of Santiago Troncoso and Durango in south Juarez.

Gunmen ambushed two police vehicles at busy intersection in Ciudad Juarez on Friday, killing six officers and a 17-year-old girl who was passing by, authorities said.

Chihuahua state spokesman Enrique Torres Valadez said five of the six police officers were federal, and one was municipal. Authorities said the police officers in the vehicles were distracted by someone selling items on the street when the gunmen opened fire. The assailants then fled in three vehicles.

Members of the Federal Police cover the corpse of a policeman killed by drug traffickers in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, on April 23. Six police officers and a civilian were killed in a shootout in Mexico's most violent city, on the border with the United States, according to a local police officer.

Initial reports from Ciudad Juárez were that the slain officers had simply been performing their jobs.

They were ambushed by many gunmen in an attack that investigators said might have been a response to an operation the previous day, in which the federal police detained eight people in a stolen vehicle with automatic weapons, cocaine and marijuana.

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