Beauty Queen's Last Order: "Do Not Shoot," Contradictions and More Contradictions

Borderland Beat

The clearer Proceso version of the events surrounding the death of Maria Susana Flores Gamez is overly truncated, glossing over some important points provided in the original Riodoce version. Riodoce's version is too lengthy and sometimes fails to acknowledge seemingly deliberate misinterpretations of events in the various reports by the military. Neither publication is at fault. In my opinion, it was the military that purposefullly created smokescreens of confusion by leaving out facts. It may be still early in the process, and a clearer, interpretation may be pending.  Havana

The tragic death of Sinaloa Woman winner of 2012 exceeds the epic imagery of glamorous drug trafficking.  In the midst of conflicting versions, the authorities fail to provide a credible report of clashes between gunmen and army elements which overwhelmed the young Maria Susana Flores Gamez in the dawn of November 24. Witnesses say the shooting soldiers shot her even as she surrendered, begging them not to.  Exclusively, Proceso presents fragments of a vivid chronicle of those events that the Sinaloa weekly Ríodoce published in this week's edition. 

MEXICO CITY (Proceso) - "Do not shoot!" She pleaded. "Do not shoot!"  She shouted again. But her words were lost in the rattle of the G-3. The bursts from the army, did not cease,  having pursued them since Caitime. The skirmish continued for several minutes. The beauty queen was killed by a bullet that shattered a carotid artery in the left side of her neck, according to the medical report made in the preliminary investigation. 

Farewell to the glamor,  the catwalk, to photo shoots, to the crown. The winner of the Sinaloa Woman 2012 beauty, Maria Susana Flores Gamez, stepped down from the white pick up,  "carrying a long gun," said the military information delivered to the PGR along with various weapons, magazines, rounds of ammunition and implements of war, which interviewed neighbors (by Riodoce) in El Palmar de Los Leal contradict, she yelled for surrender to the Army.

The vehicle from which the girl descended was destroyed upon entering El Palmar de los Leal, Mocorito. Several rifles were found lying on the ground around her, including an AK-47, known as "goat horn," which authorities say, she was carrying when she got out of the vehicle.

She was abandoned to her fate by Orso Ivan Gastelum , El Cholo, and three more gunmen. Upon entering the town, the leader of the Sinaloa cartel hitmen in the area, instructed to "the miss ": "Say you were  kidnapped ... they're not going to do anything, they'll let you go."

That said,  the gunmen released a burst into the air to distract the army, who were trying to encircle them, El Cholo escaped with the rest between the houses and weeds, into  those valleys that produce sesame and vegetables.

The Nightmare

It all started in Caitime, a village of perhaps five thousand inhabitants which is divided by Mexico 15,  approximately 20 kilómeters south of the city of Guamúchil.

The dawn of November 24, a convoy with dozens of soldiers crept into town with the order to hunt Orso Ivan Gastelum, El Cholo, an operator of Joaquin "El Chapo Guzman", who in August 2009  escaped from the prison in Culiacan after a farewell party.  It's assumed his employer had given that word.

The uniformed officers didn't arrive in official vehicles, but in particular trucks, including double wheeled armored ones. The same vehicles military forces seized three years before in Guasave from hitmen Isidro Meza Flores, El Chapo Isidro, a sworn enemy of the El Cholo. They were hidden under straw bundles.

When Orso Ivan Gastelum's circle of security realized that armed men surrounded the house, they alerted their boss, who was in another hideout, less than 100 meters away. Thinking that it was a rival Guasave group, they began shooting at the strangers. But when they found that it was not the Chapo Isidro they faced but soldiers instead, they took all the weapons that could and mounted in at least two trucks and fled knocking down bushes, fences, speeding down a dirt road leading to El Progreso.

Thus began a chase that spanned three villages and over 15 kilometers and would end when the military shot Susana María Flores Gámez, at the entrance of El Palmar de Los Leal.

Back in the first skirmish a soldier had been shot and  killed.  Later More soldiers and gunmen would die, including a worker who crossed the shooting and was killed.

One of the military reports integrated into the investigation given to Seido informs that the military received an anonymous denouncement at 21:30 hours on Friday the 23rd in which they said, " People belonging o organized crime established a military check point very early in the morning in some of the access areas entering the town"

An operation was planned and executed at 05:00 the following day. When they arrived, some gunmen fled in their trucks up to a house. The soldiers followed them and were greeted with bullets by offenders who received reinforcements from the interior of the property.

In the scuffle Eleazar López Bernal was shot.  Some gunmen managed to escape, but they were chased and gave in, capitulated: "We surrender. Do not shoot," says the military  report they detained Alvaro Cázarez Iribe with AR-15 rifle, Gabino Ramirez Lopez, who was carrying an AK-47, and Giovanny Rodriguez Beltran, with another "goat horn".

They are all under arrest  at SEIDO in Mexico City, where they were taken last Thursday.

Also in Caitime they seized six trucks and an arsenal: six AK-47, AR-15 rifle, a grenade launcher attachment, 40 mm caliber grenade, two defensive grenades, a .45 millimeters caliber Colt pistol 37 different chargers, and 1,308 thousand different cartridges. Also clothing and tactical gear.

(Extract from the report published in 1833 Proceso already in circulation)

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Fatal incident reflects new boldness among offshore smugglers

Borderland Beat

A suspected drug smuggler who captained the boat that allegedly knocked a U.S. Coast Guardsman into the ocean, resulting in his death, told authorities he was "taking gasoline to some lost friends," according to federal prosecutors.

 

The 13-page affidavit in support of charging two Mexican nationals — boat captain Jose Mejia-Leyva and Manuel Beltran-Higuera — in the death of Terrell Horne III details a violent confrontation near Santa Cruz Island on Sunday before the the suspects surrendered.

 

After telling authorities he was taking gas to friends who he said were north of Los Angeles, Mejia-Leyva asked for an attorney and stopped answering questions, prosecutors said.

 

 

LA Times

 

The small Coast Guard inflatable vessel was 20 yards from the panga, an open fishing boat that law enforcement officers say has become the craft of choice to ferry untold numbers of marijuana bales and undocumented immigrants from Mexico   to Southern California.

Spotted earlier by a Coast Guard cutter, the panga was running without lights, a standard practice in the illicit trade, according to investigators.

        (Photo of family-wife is pregnant)

The four men on the boat dispatched from the cutter Halibut approached it cautiously, about 200 yards from the shore of Santa Cruz Island, off the Santa Barbara coast. In the darkness, they turned on their blue flashing lights and shouted, in English and Spanish: "Stop! Police! Put your hands up!" according to court documents filed Monday.

In response, the two men aboard the panga throttled their engines and headed straight at the small Coast Guard boat, ignoring shots fired by a crew member, provoking a collision that left a chief petty officer dead and his colleague injured. Then the two men kept going.

One of two men thrown out of the inflatable, Chief Petty Officer Terrell Horne III of Redondo Beach, died of a head injury caused by a propeller, according to the affidavit, which was filed in connection with the murder case against two suspects detained as they tried to flee to Mexico.

Officials say the tragedy underscores the dangers posed by smugglers who have foregone well-policed land routes in favor of the sea. Although more than 500 maritime smuggling incidents have been logged off the Southern California coast since 2010, this was the first violent death, authorities said.

"Most of our interdictions off of California can only be described as benign," Coast Guard spokesman Adam Eggers said. "There may be an attempt to evade, there may be a short pursuit, but we haven't had anything like this."

The men on the panga, Jose Mejia Leyva and Manuel Beltran Higuera, both Mexican nationals, were charged in Horne's death in U.S. District Court. Authorities believe they had been supplying gasoline to other smuggling craft operating off the California coast.

According to the affidavit, military aircraft followed their 30-foot craft as it made its way toward Mexico. With the two men futilely trying to restart their sputtering engine 20 miles north of the border, another Coast Guard vessel overtook them. Crew members demanded their surrender at gunpoint. When the men kept trying to start their engine, the Coast Guard crew doused them with pepper spray.

Encounters with seaborne smuggling have nearly doubled since 2010, with the steepest increases found along the more secluded, less patrolled beaches of Ventura and Santa Barbara counties, according to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

In Santa Barbara County, the surge has alarmed local authorities. In an April letter to Rep. Lois Capps (D-Santa Barbara), Sheriff Bill Brown said the county experienced 16 "panga incidents" since the previous July, including the beaching of a four-engine, 45-foot "super-panga" that could easily have outpaced his department's sole vessel.

"It's a direct byproduct of increased pressure at the border and increased maritime enforcement to the south of us," Brown said in an interview Monday. "They're going further out to sea and they're coming further north."

Capps said she is asking federal agencies for additional enforcement funds in Santa Barbara.

The greatest number of coastal smuggling cases still occurs in San Diego, Orange and Los Angeles counties. But intensive interagency efforts based in San Diego and Long Beach have forced some smugglers farther up the coast, officials said.

"It's not so much that efforts are being stepped up as that agencies are pooling knowledge and experience and expertise," Eggers said. "The beautiful thing about Los Angeles is that there's a ton of law enforcement here."

Upgraded technology, such as infrared radar and enhanced video, is being shared among agencies, he said, along with "actionable intelligence."

But smugglers have powerful incentives to take the risk. Dozens of people, paying an average of $6,000 apiece, can cram into each panga. Police say marijuana bales hauled by a typical panga can sell for millions. There's a huge expanse of sea — the Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary is nearly 1,500 square miles — and major roads, including U.S. 101, run right by potential landing areas.

Boat pilots often try to outrun law enforcement and some high-speed chases have ended with U.S. officers shooting out gasoline tanks or performing swerving maneuvers to stop the pangas, said a federal law enforcement officer who spoke on condition of anonymity.

"They aggressively try to get away, but not turn their boat on another boat like they did the other night," the officer said.

On occasion, the rugged terrain of Channel Islands National Park has served as a staging area for smugglers. 

In 2010, authorities seized 2,448 pounds of marijuana hidden in brush in a canyon on Santa Rosa Island, and arrested four people hiding nearby.

In 2011, 15 suspected illegal immigrants were stranded for three days on Santa Cruz Island, abandoned by the panga pilot who had transported them. They were rescued after calling 911 and hailing a boater.

Sunday's incident at Santa Cruz Island occurred in Smugglers Cove, where tequila traders from Mexico once stashed their goods before the trip ashore, Brown said.

"To a certain extent, we have history repeating itself," he said.

In June, six people were arrested as they unloaded 1.5 tons of marijuana from their panga at Santa Barbara County's El Capitan State Beach. The Gaviota coast has been a landing spot for smugglers dating back to the Spanish colonial era.

Arraignment for the two men charged in Horne's death has been set for Dec. 21.

In another panga case Monday, a federal judge took note of the weekend's deadly encounter as he handed a sentence of nearly four years to a Mexican man whose marijuana-laden panga got stuck in rocks near Deer Creek Canyon in Malibu.

U.S. District Judge John F. Walter said the tragedy made it impossible to view the many sea smuggling cases on his docket as "lighthearted" capers.

"It has taken on now a much more serious tone in light of the events this weekend," Walter said, adding, "Something needs to be done about this rash of panga boats."

The defendant, Antonio Robles-Garcia, was arrested in January. His attorney, Dale Rubin, said he had signed on because was desperate to get to the U.S. and work.

Criminal complaint on page two- click image for better clarity-

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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

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Pena selects General Cienfuegos Zepda for Mexican Army top job

By Chris Covert
Rantburg.com

Mexican president Enrique Pena Nieto last Friday presented his commander of Mexico's land and air forces, General Salvador Cienfuegos Zepeda, replacing outgoing Secretaria de Defensa Nacional (SEDENA) General Guillermo Galvan Galvan, according to Mexican news reports and official government sources.

General Cienfuegos Zepeda

General Cienfuegos Zepeda was elevated as head of the Mexican Army after his appointment to the post of Controller and Inspector of Mexican Air and Armed Forces last January, passing over two other top staff generals.

According to several news accounts, General Cienfuegos Zepeda has held several field commands during his career, which began January, 1964.

He is a graduate of Mexico's Heroico Colegio Militar military academy, and holds a masters degree in Military Administration for national security and defense from Colegio de Defensa Nacional.  He also attended staff and command courses at Escuela Superior de Guerra.

Public accounts of General Cienfuegos Zepeda indicates an infantry commander who tended to be low key throughout his career in various infantry unit commands.  Most of his experience is in military region and military zone commands in western and southern Mexico including Jalisco, Guerrero and Michoacan states.

His last regional command before taking the post as controller and inspector of the army was in Chiapas, the Mexican VII Military region, relieving General Cuauhtemoc Perez Antunez in April, 2011.  He came to that post from Military Region I in Distrito Federal.

One of the hallmarks of a Mexican commander being groomed for taking the top job are holding posts as military and air attache at foreign embassies. General Cienfuegos Zepeda was military attache to the embassies of Japan and Korea.

Little public information is available about General Cienfuegos Zepeda in his personal life.  It is known in Mexican press that he has been  friends with Pena Nieto for quite some time.

A recent tradition of allowing the incoming SEDENA to lead the Mexican Army during the Revolution Day parade was broken a second time this passed Revolution Day.  This writer watched the parade and not only did General Cienfuegos Zepeda not lead the parade, his name was also not even mentioned by any press accounts.

The tradition dates back to the inauguration of Miguel de la Madrid Hurtado in 1982, but was broken starting with the election of former president Felipe Calderon Hinojosa in 2006, when General Galvan Galvan was appointed SEDENA despite General Juan Alfredo Oropeza Garnica having lead the 2006 Revolution Day parade.

General Oropeza Garnica was a dynamic frontline commander and counterinsurgency expert who fought leftists insurgents in Guerrero state, even becoming wounded in 1997 while he was commander of the 27th Military Zone.

General Oropeza Garnica was snubbed however because of his operation in El Charco in Guerrero state in 1998, where 11 insurgents were killed and another five were wounded in an early dawn ambush. Leftist and human rights groups claimed the 11 dead were unarmed, but later investigations showed the group was armed.

General Galvan Galvan

Every indication from press accounts in 2006 indicated the elevation of General Galvan Galvan to SEDENA was a compromise choice meant to quell opposition from Mexico's left after the Calderon's razor thin win.  The choice of General Galvan Galvan was notable because he was an artillery commander throughout his career, unlike his predecessors.


According to a column in El Universal dated November 1st, 2006 by journalist Raymundo Riva Palacio, General Cienfuegos Zepeda was a commander who was being considered for the top spot, while he was commander of IX Military Region in Guerrero, but had very little field command experience to that point.

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

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Smoke Filled Rooms (part 1)

By ACI for Borderland Beat

It’s no secret that the drug war is a dirty war.  A war fought with deception, betrayal and lies.  As in any war information is often the single most prized possession.   This war is no different.  Informants may be the single most important asset the government possesses.  These people are not angles; they are often narcos, killers or any range of unsavory and unpleasant characters.  They provide information for gain not for justice.   

Informants by their very nature are part of the mechanism the government is trying to defeat.   This is the beginning of a series that illustrates the role one informant played in this ever evolving and ever changing war.  The following story is based on truth and it all started with an email.

Somewhere in Mexico

He stared at his computer screen; watching the curser blink.  In all of his years doing this kind of work he never thought he would do this.  An unsettling feeling set in; a combination of fear, excitement and betrayal.   The room was dark, the only light coming from the screen on the computer.  It was set up in a corner of the room and it was ancient.  The fan inside made an awful humming sound, a small radio played music in the background. 

The room itself wasn’t big; maybe 10 by 12 feet, the walls were bare except for a picture of the Virgin Mary in the center of a wall.  The room had tiles floors, not much in the way of furniture.  A mattress on the floor was covered by mound of sheets and cloths.  A few religious candles lay on the floor.  In the corner of the room was a small alter.  A statue of Santa Muerte was at the center.  It was surrounded with little offerings, several candles, some pesos, and a few pictures of Jesus Malverde.  There was no need to guess his occupation.    

Papers littered the floors; boxes filled with files were everywhere.  Many would kill for these files.  Old beer cans overflowing with cigarettes butts covered the desk.  There he sat, staring through the smoke at the screen.  The cursor continued to blink off and on the send button.  He knew once he sent this it would be final, it could not be undone.  But this information was worth money; a lot of money.  He sat in his chair; smoke rose in front of his face, his wire rimmed glasses reflected what was on the screen.  The ash on the end of his cigarette fell on to his lap, he wiped it away, and pondered what his next move was.

There was someone who could help, someone who knew what to do with information.  It was through his sister that he learned of a man, someone with the knowhow to take his information and convert it into money.  He was hesitant and scared.  This wasn’t about doing the right thing; this was about money, pure and simple.  He would try to tell himself he was righting his wrongs but he knew that was a lie.  He knew the risk he was about to take, he knew that he was putting those around him in danger.  After that thought the pit in his stomach grew and a bead of sweet ran down his brow, he wiped it away with his arm.  Was this worth it?  Could this man be trusted?   

Trust means something else when your life is on the line.  He thought how most people take this granted.  He sure did, he thought of the time when his girlfriend cheated on him.  A smirk came across his face.  Those were the simpler times when misplaced trust ended in a broken heart not a death sentence.  But this was an entirely different game, one which his life hung in the balance.  If this man wasn’t who he said he was he knew he was a dead man.    

He pressed the send button; there was no turning back now.

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Garcia Luna's narco ties documented

J. Jesus Esquivel Proceso

Genaro Garcia Luna

Translated by un vato for Borderland Beat

United States intelligence services have an extensive and detailed file regarding Genaro Garcia Luna's alleged ties with drug traffickers, DEA sources tell Proceso. Added to the suspicions surrounding the person who served as Secretary of Public Security in Mexico is a pathetic episode in which he was the main actor. In a meeting of the Merida Initiative that took place last September in Washington, Barack Obama's security cabinet was surprised when Garcia Luna begged "forgiveness" for the attack by federal police officers against CIA agents at Tres Marias. "Deplorable" attitude, says one of the witnesses to the incident.

WASHINGTON (Proceso).-- On September 18, 2012, Genaro Garcia Luna's words left Barack Obama's security cabinet stunned: the head of the federal Public Security Secretariat (SSP) apologized for the attack by federal police agents against employees of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).

"I want to take this opportunity to apologize on behalf of the institution and personally for the events that took place at Tres Marias," reads the transcript of Garcia Luna's words, contained in State Department "classified documents" -- of which Proceso has a copy-- referring to the meeting of the High Level Consulting Group of the Merida Initiative behind closed doors last September 18th in Washington.

Addressing Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Attorney General Eric Holder and Janet Napolitano, Secretary of Homeland Security, Garcia Luna stated: "We will do everything to punish the persons responsible."

The State Department's classified documents -- in volumes 7 and 8, provided to Proceso by one of the  secretaries present at the meeting -- give the impression that Garcia Luna and Felipe Calderon know who carried out the attack against the CIA agents and a captain of the Mexican marines, and why the attack was carried out.

"The President has instructed us to do our part and our conviction is to carry out an efficient task. The responsible persons will be punished, undoubtedly.

"The agency will do everything necessary to resolve this case and, of course, maintain effectiveness in our cooperation with you," emphasized Garcia Luna in the apology directed at all the members of the United States security cabinet.

 

A truculent figure

CIA agents Stan Boss and Chase Garnes and a Mexican Marine captain were the victims of an attack on August 24 at Tres Marias, Morelos, carried out by federal police agents --then commanded by Garcia Luna-- wearing civilian clothes and using AK-47s.

Garcia Luna "spoke in Spanish, and I was stunned to hear his words apologizing to the United States for the Tres Marias incident, while the United States Border Patrol keeps killing Mexicans on the border and no one, on behalf of the U.S. government, apologizes for that," said the secretary who delivered the classified documents to Proceso.

CIA vehicle in the Tres Marias attack

Trusted fully by Calderon, Garcia Luna was always a truculent and mysterious figure for the United States government, which throughout the six-year term chose not to get involved and avoided commenting about the hundreds of reports it has about the former head of the SSP's ties with organized crime.

"The intelligence services have a bulky file of reports compiled in Mexico and the U.S. that point to  possible links that Garcia Luna has with members of drug trafficking (organizations). For example, with the Beltran Leyvas, with the Zetas and the Gulf Cartel. Some of this information goes back to the Fox administration," a DEA agent, who asked to remain anonymous, tells Proceso.

"If the (Enrique) Pena Nieto government decides to review and follow up the intelligence information regarding Garcia Luna, it's possible that this will clear up some of the doubts and mysteries there are in the Calderon government's struggle against drug trafficking," he specifies.

-- Why now, when Calderon's term is ending, are the U.S. agencies speaking out more openly about Garcia Luna? Why didn't they do this before, if they already had important intelligence information about his?-- the DEA source is asked.

-- Out or respect for Mexican institutions and because he was the direct contact with the United States, assigned by the Mexican president. Only because of that.

-- In the United States, is there proof that could directly implicate Garcia Luna with drug trafficking?

-- There's detailed information. Development of the investigations is the responsibility of Mexican federal authorities, if they have the will to do this and to develop an inquiry-- he answers.

Edgar Valdez Villareal, La Barbie, in a letter  published on November 28 in the journal Reforma, claims that Garcia Luna has been on the payroll of drug trafficking groups for ten years.

"I swear that he has received money from me, from drug trafficking and organized crime, also with a select group made up of Armando Espinosa de Benito, who works with the DEA and would  leak information to me; Luis Cardenas Palomino, Edgar Eusebio Millan Gomez, Fancisco Javier Garza Palacios, Igor Labastida Calderon, Facundo Rosas Rosas, Ramon Eduardo Pequeno Garcia and Gerardo Garay Cadena, who are also part of this group and receive money from organized crime and from me," says La Barbie.

(Excerpt from a report published in Proceso 1883, now in circulation).

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Caballeros Templarios Reveal Agreement With PRI Party

Posted on Borderland Beat Forum by "AJ"

 

The criminal group of Knights Templar revealed alleged agreements that helped the PRI  recover the state of Michoacán in the elections of November 11, 2011.

Through various banners placed in Michoacán and Guanajuato, said that the approach was direct collaborations with Governor Fausto Vallejo.

They note that the commitments made ​​during the elections in Michoacan were organized with campaign leaders, but did not divulge names.

"The last three generations of leaders have had ties to our organization, the Caballeros Templarios and La Familia Michoacana, the connections must be indirect, but solid." cited the messages addressed to the governor of Michoacan.

"In your case, you know there are important figures of the top level who not only sympathize with us but who have subsisted with us."

The banners asked Governor Vallejo to define his position in the criminal organization.

The banners also blamed the Governor for the recent assassination of the former Mayor of Tiquicheo, [Maria Santos Gorrostieta] which was claimed by the Templarios themselves.

They noted that the commitments made ​​during the election were held with PRI leaders of the campaign, but did not reveal any names.

"We as a group of outlaws were encouraged to show apathy towards the political party PAN by  important leaders that we had a mutual coordination with,  it was extensive, arduous and especially expensive."

According to these messages broadcasted in various parts of Michoacán, the aim of this strategy was to stop the PAN and assist PRI candidates.

The messages made by the Caballeros Templarios asked Governor Vallejo to repay the favors made during the electoral process.


Also in Guanajuato

Messages also were placed in Guanajuato, in the municipalities of Penjamo, Acambaro Cuerámaro, Jerécuaro, Celaya and Guanajuato.

The criminal organization, Caballeros Templarios stated that they supported, funded and mobilized people from the Vallejo campaign.

"We are doubtful of the commitments made ​​to us by the leaders of the PRI ", stated the message on the banner.

The cartel also noted that it was their duty  to  assure the PAN party would be defeated in the Michoacán governorship race.

The narco-banners accused the Vallejo family of sympathizing  with the Caballeros Templarios.

The cartel announced that there will be two more releases in banners, demanding that the PRI and the Governor of Michoacan keep their word to the Templarios.

"What is your position before this group officially battles with you?, Unofficially we are waiting for the fruits of our labor  from the (PRI) party, which for the moment we do not see. We know that before the media you must appear fair and impartial in fighting us,  but we unofficially have NO other choice after these months you been in office.", the Templarios stated  in one of their posts.

Source: REFORMA

Posted on BB Forum by "AJ" LINK HERE

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Sinaloa Cartel Sicario Arrested for 8 Murders in Chihuahua

Posted on Borderland Beat forum by Siski you kid

Dumb as he looks fingerprints on narco message led authorities to him

Chihuahua, Chihuahua. - Ministerial Police agents captured an alleged Sinaloa cartel hit man who allegedly participated in the execution of eight people  who were 'kidnapped'  last weekend in the municipalities of Jiménez and Valle de Allende, Chihuahua.

The arrest of Oscar Ontiveros Fernando Ruiz-Esparza , who was arrested by an intelligence operation conducted in Parral, where he sold drugs.

An  undercover  was used to capture the defendant at the address located on the street 57 of the colony Madrid Miguel Hidalgo.

He said a .40 caliber handgun with 10 cartridges, 1 drum magazine with 72 7.62x39mm cartridges, .40 caliber 34 rounds of ammunition, a smoke grenade, a goat horn (AK47), a bulletproof vest and a communication radio.

Ruiz Esparza is said to belong to the Sinaloa cartel, he, along with his companions left their fingerprints embodied in a cardboard with a message in which he attributed  the crime to someone known as  M-10.

"The fingerprints were analyzed in the national database Identification System AFIS and information platform crossed with Mexico and that's how they came up with Oscar Fernando Ruiz Esparza , "the state official said.

He noted that the prosecution has a video where the detainee is involved in the Jimenez, Chihuahua kidnapping  of the now deceased victims.  The video reveals the sicarios quickly exiting from vehicles.

 Authorities released this kidnapping video that will be used in trial:

Source: El Debate and You Tube

Posted on BB forum by Siski You Kid LINK HERE
Kidnap foto from "AJ" BB forum

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Mexico Sends "Flashy" Narco To The US

Posted on Borderland Beat Forum by Athena

 

Did not fight extradiction charges

A flashy American fugitive who fled to Mexico to avoid arrest for leading a Houston-based drug-trafficking organization, has finally been returned  to the United States, officials said.

Raul Sergio Madrigal was flown from Mexico to Chicago, and is expected to be brought before a federal judge inHouston next week, officials said Friday. He’d been on the run since at least 2009, after leaving town as authorities prepared federal charges against him and more than a dozen of other defendants.

 Madrigal was first caught in May at the airport near the northern industrial city of Monterrey. He was snared there by FBI, Drug Enforcement Administration agents and their Mexican counterparts working on a anonymous tip submitted to the stophoustongangs.org Web site, FBI Agent Shauna Dunlap said.

 “Madrigal was one of the original Top Ten Most Wanted Gang Fugitives, that were featured on that Web site,” Dunlap said of the site that was launched in April 2012.

 When he was allegedly running a cocaine-trafficking operation, Madrigal was affiliated with the massive Houstone Tango Blast gang and had several high end sports cars that were confiscated by federal agents.

Madrigal had been on the run since 2009 before the Web campaign started. He didn’t last two months once the Web site launched the Most Wanted Gangster program, in which he was featured. Madrigal reportedly did not fight being sent back to the United States to face charges.

From Houston Chron an earlier article of him being on the run:

In one photo, FBI fugitive and Houston son Raul Madrigal is soaking in a giant bubble bath at an upscale Mexican hotel.

In another, the reputed drug boss with a shaved head and a whisper of a goatee is posing on the beach in Cabo San Lucas. And in others, also posted on the Web, he stares and extends a defiant middle finger, apparently at feds hunting him.

“He is kind of taunting us,” said Brian Ritchie, who leads the violent crimes and gangs task force for the FBI's Houston division, which has been trying to capture him for months.

Authorities contend Madrigal, 29, is a key member of the fast-growing Tango Blast — the largest gang in the city — and that from 2007 to 2009, he helped the Gulf Cartel pump millions of dollars worth of marijuana and cocaine into Houston and the surrounding area.

Fleeing to Mexico follows a Texas border crime tradition, but also speaks to what Washington sees as a growing threat posed by partnerships between Mexican drug cartels and U.S. gangs.

Assistant Attorney GeneralLabby Breuer testified before Congress last week that the Department of Justice  plans to step up investigations of the ties as part of a strategy similar to what was previously used to take on the mafia and other international syndicates.

Madrigal apparently made so much money that authorities intend to seize $18 million in assets in the case against him and 13 other defendants charged with trafficking under Operation Broken Star.



 

They've already seized nine of Madrigal's bling cars, including a Bentley sedan, two BMWs and two Maseratis. All look showroom clean and remain parked in a heavily secured storage facility until they are sold at auction.

A 6.5 carat diamond ring also was taken as drug proceeds, as was a customized three-wheel T-Rex motorcycle, complete with ostrich-skin seats and an LCD monitor.

Authorities won't say whether they expect to see Madrigal in handcuffs anytime soon but note he's likely in a dangerous country where he can't stand alone. “He has probably aligned himself with some people who offer the protection he deserves and has earned,” Ritchie said.

Made friends in prison
 

In Houston, the conspiracy is alleged to have started months after U.S.-born Madrigal was released from his second stint in a Texas prison, where agents speculate he reinforced dubious connections.

Authorities said Tango Blast is an appealing partner for traffickers because it has many members and is spread out across the state. Other more traditional Latino gangs, such as the Mexican Mafia and the Texas Syndicate, also work with the cartels, according to a recent law enforcement report.

“People are so worried the cartels are going to come over here, but they have these people at their beck and call,” said Pat Villafranca, an FBI spokeswoman in Houston.

[Below Tango Blast-full video]

 

The cartel has the drug supply while the U.S. gangs know the streets, have the contacts and can blend in.

“They get these guys to do their dirty work,” said Rick Moreno, a Houston police homicide investigator who has mapped out local gang connections to cartel murders, kidnappings and other crimes.

Among others charged in the conspiracy is Saul Salinas, the brother of a trafficker gunned down here in 2006. The case was recently solved and the suspects await trial.

Tango Blast has been able to strengthen behind bars by attracting prison inmates looking for protection.

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Enrique Nieto Peña: Violence Erupts as New Administration Takes Over in Mexico

Borderland Beat

Violence erupts as Yo Soy 132 destroys every business on Avenida Juarez

In the midnight ceremony the transfer of flag represents transfer of power

Enrique Nieto Peña has become the new leader of Mexico facing the challenge of the drugwar without a mandate earning only 38% support of electorate.  Today marks the return to power of the powerful but corrupt PRI party who is culpable of the drugwar, making pacts with drugtraffickers without thought of  the welfare of the American youth, or a vision of cartels becoming so large,  powerful  and wealthy, they could buy anything or anyone, rendering administrations powerless to control violence and establish security for its citizens. 

 To any logical person it would seem impossible for Peña to be able to change a policy of boots on the ground without a massive increase of violence, however he at times indicated he may do that, to what degree  is blurred    In one sense Peña is extremely lucky new president, for despite inheriting a country riven by violence and corruption, he takes over a nation of nearly 117 million with a resurgent economy that has become one of the most competitive in the world, surpassing Brazil in annual growth rate. …Paz, Chivis

(Video is the ceremony of transferring power)

TIME Magazine

Enrique Peña Nieto takes office today, Dec. 1, as the next President of Mexico—whose young and otherwise successful democracy is beset by narco-bloodshed (60,000 murders in the past six years), an underachieving economy (average annual growth of only 2% since 2000) and a feeling that its Latin American leadership role has been eclipsed by its fast-developing South American rival, Brazil. Peña, 46, the popular former governor of central Mexico state, convinced Mexican voters that his Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), which ruled Mexico from 1929 to 2000 as a corrupt, one-party dictatorship, has righted itself enough to right Mexico. (Read TIME International’s cover story on Peña, available to subscribers.) He spoke with TIME’s Latin America bureau chief, Tim Padgett, and Mexico reporter Dolly Mascareñas at his transition headquarters in Mexico City. Excerpts (translated from Spanish):

TIME: Your presidency marks a critical moment for Mexico. What are the most important things you have to do to lift it out of its hole of drug violence and anemic economic growth?

PEÑA NIETO: I’m feeling a renewed sense of hope and optimism about what we can do in the coming years. First, restore peace and tranquility in Mexico, which means altering our public security strategy: more effective law enforcement coordination, stronger judicial institutions. Second, reduce poverty and inequality. Some 52 million Mexicans live in poverty, and we’ve got to seek innovative solutions that not only give them aid but link them to productive activity. The socio-economic contrasts that persist [here] are unacceptable. Third, revive economic growth. We’ve built more favorable macroeconomic conditions in Mexico, but we have to promote more competition and raise our levels of [bank] credit, build up our development banks.



In your 2010 book, Mexico: The Great Hope, you criticize Mexico’s “ineffective state.” How will you make it more effective—you won only 38% of the presidential vote and the PRI was denied a congressional majority—especially when it comes to corruption, which costs Mexico almost a tenth of its trillion-dollar gross domestic product each year?

Mexico has proven by now that it’s a strong electoral democracy. Now we have to build a democracy that produces better results; if not, then you get a democracy of disenchantment. That means combating the social cancer of corruption. So I’m proposing an autonomous federal institute to ensure more transparency in public records, and an autonomous anti-corruption commission that would be part of Mexico’s Constitution.

Given the strength of the U.S. Latino vote in President Obama’s re-election this month, this a favorable moment for immigration reform. What are your expectations for bilateral relations, not just on immigration but the drug war and trade agreements like the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP)?

I see a lot of opportunity right now. I think we can start moving beyond what is sometimes a monothematic relationship due to the [drug war] issue. We can start focusing on prosperity issues again, like better integrating our economies so we can present a more powerful regional block to the world. The TPP is a great opportunity in that regard. I believe immigration reform is a commitment of President Obama’s government, especially now that it gives him a chance to respond to the great demand expressed by U.S. Hispanic voters for establishing better mechanisms for [cross-border] mobility.

About the drug war, how do the marijuana legalization measures voters just approved in Colorado and Washington complicate drug interdiction for Mexico?

Without a doubt, it opens space for a rethinking of our policy. It opens a debate about the course the drug war should be taking. It doesn’t necessarily mean the Mexican government is suddenly going to change what it’s doing now. But [state legalization] creates certain distortions and incongruences since it’s conflict with [U.S.] federal [law], and that will have an impact on how Mexico and other countries in the hemisphere respond. Personally, I’m against legalization; I don’t think it’s the [right] route. But I am in favor of a hemispheric debate on the effectiveness of the drug-war route we’re on now.

To reduce Mexico’s awful narco-violence, you’ve proposed a national “gendarmerie” and you’re putting the troubled federal police—15 of whose members are under arrest for allegedly being in the pay of drug cartels and ambushing two U.S. C.I.A. agents—under tighter control. But can you really cut the number of Mexico’s homicides by half, as you’ve pledged?

Cases like the one you mention make it obvious that Mexico needs a much more coordinated and professional judicial power, especially law enforcement and prosecution that makes more effective use of criminal intelligence. Only two of every 100 violent crimes in Mexico result in convictions. But preventing violence and promoting economic and social development are part of a vicious cycle. Without better economic opportunity you can’t have better public security, and vice versa.

You recently got the PRI to push through a major labor reform law, but your plan to allow private investment in Mexico’s state-owned oil industry for the first time in 75 years may be more important.

This is a big energy reform that will require a constitutional amendment. It’s a sensitive national issue for Mexicans, but I think in modern times, if we’re going to realize our energy potential, we have to expand capacity and infrastructure, and that means letting the private sector in. Not privatization but private participation. Brazil is a good example, so is Colombia. On the labor reform, President [Felipe] Calderón and I saw an opportunity to create a more modern framework. I think [its passage] signals more maturity among the political parties, more of an agreement-seeking attitude.

But can Mexico produce meaningful economic growth if you don’t reduce its suffocating business monopolies, especially in sectors like telecommunications and building materials?

I am pushing legislation to strengthen the government’s monopoly-busting organs. One of the most important parts of the bill is appeals reform, to prevent monopolies from being able to resort to the constant, endless litigation they use to avoid paying fines and sanctions. You’ll see, I’m committed to confronting and combating monopolistic practices, because the only way to realize the economic opportunity I’ve been talking about is greater competition, lower prices, better products.

No honeymoon: Violence erupts as Yo Soy 132 and Francisco Villa Popular Front  protests against Peña, destroying or damaging  every business on Avenida Juarez and spray painting congressional building: VIDEO

Blood pouring from a gaping wound- protester is hauled to safety by fellow protesters-

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