Mexican Narcos Invest in Dubai

Translated by Yaqui for Borderland Beat from: Universal

Investigative Report June12, 2018
Check out: C4ADS

The luxurious city of Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), has become in recent years a den of international magnates enriched with criminal capital and sanctioned by the United States Treasury. 

Along with smugglers of nuclear material, sponsors of armed conflicts, kleptocrats, money launderers and financial terrorists also appears Mexican Hassein Eduardo Figueroa Gómez , a businessman from Jalisco who, along with his father, Ezio Benjamín Figueroa Vázquez, was identified as a drug trafficking ringleader by the Kingpin Act in 2012.

The Sandcastles-Tracing Sanctions Evasion Through Dubai's Luxury Real Estate Market report from the private firm Center for Advanced Defense Studies (C4ADS), located in Washington, to which Universal had access, Figueroa Gómez and Figueroa Vázquez  were accused by the US of trafficking tons of chemical precursors from Europe and sub-Saharan Africa to Mexico, to sell to  Mexican cartels to produce methamphetamines.

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“In journalism, the love of what we do goes beyond fear,” After Miroslava Breach murder, her newspaper closed. Now it's back.

 Posted by DD Republished from El Paso Inc. 

 

After the murder of his journalist Miroslava Breach in March  2017 the owner of the popular newspaper El Norte told his readers goodbye because he was no longer going to risk the life of his other reporters and staff due to increasing violence in his city of Juarez.  He told them this would be the last edition of El Norte that they would ever read.  

                              BUT HE IS BACK AND ANNOUNCING
                 “In journalism, the love of what we do goes beyond fear,”

El Norte owner Oscar Cantu closed the popular daily more than a year ago after one of its journalists was killed.  He is relaunching the publication even as media companies are under increasing pressure from cartel violence and the state. 

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Precursor Providers to Sinaloa and CJNG DTO's

Translated by Yaqui for Borderland Beat from: Universal

June12, 2018

The names of Ezio Benjamín Figueroa Vázquez and his son Hassein Figueroa Gómez first sounded in 2012, when they were designated drug lords by the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC, for its acronym in English) of the US Department of the Treasury. .

The accusations were formalized after, in November 2011, Figueroa Vázquez was captured due to his links with Joaquín El Chapo Guzmán, according to the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).

These are the main distributors of pseudoephedrine and ephedrine that  Mexican cartels employ dedicated to producing methamphetamine for the US market, using a network that goes from Europe and sub-Saharan Africa to our country.

According to the Federal Court of the Eastern District of Virginia, they resorted to suppliers in countries where such chemical precursors are legal. In the investigation Belgium cooperated , as "part of a global effort to intercept the access of Mexican drug trafficking organizations," said the DEA.

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Jalisco: Mencho on the run as Mexican Navy in hot pursuit

Posted by Char for Borderland Beat from Contramuro

The night that he presented the images in his television news program, Ciro Gómez Leyva asked: In what country of the world does the armed forces attack and nothing happens?......We had the answer on the screens: in Mexico.

At the time of her arrest, Rosalinda González Valencia, wife of Nemesio Oseguera, alias El Mencho, immediately destroyed her cell phone.

"They are not unpremeditated," high-level sources told Semar yesterday.

They emphasize that the head of the Jalisco Cartel New Generation  is "furious" over the capture of his spouse, but that the lethal reaction they expected, after the capture of the woman, has not occurred.

"We surprised him," an admiral told us.

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Video: Narco Lab and Huachicol Found in Basement of Municipal Palace in Edmx

Translated by Yaqui for Borderland Beat from: El Debate

June 11, 2018

México State:  In clandestine places, often hidden from society, clandestine drug labs have been located, but this time was different. In the basement of the  Municipal Palace in the Municipality of Isidro Fabela a center of distribution of stolen fuel was located; along with deposits with chemical materials and various implements  found to treat these materials. The investigations have established that this site was used as a laboratory to produce some type of synthetic drug in the community of Tlazala, in Isidro Fabela.

The finding was made by the elements of the Army and the Office of the Attorney General of Justice, who also carried out operations in Nicolás Romero and Jilotzingo.

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Mexico not pressing massive bribery charges due to election

Translated by El Profe for Borderland Beat from Animal Politico
                 
                    

The investigations into alleged acts of corruption of officials of the government of President Enrique Peña Nieto in the Odebrecht case have been hampered because it could affect the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), ahead of the elections on July 1, say three people interviewed by The New York Times.

According to what these three people told the newspaper, the millions of dollars in bribes from Odebrecht were paid to the officials who work for the company Petróleos Mexicanos (Pemex), through accounts in tax havens to guarantee infrastructure contracts.

The contracts, payments of bribes and monetary transfers that were revealed by the Brazilian government and Mexican media on the case are corroborated with the files that are part of the investigation.

However, Mexican authorities did not extend the investigation to seek new contracts or payments that the Brazilian government may have overlooked, the three people who know the case told The New York Times.

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La Barbie sentenced this morning ..but it is sealed

Chivis Martinez Borderland Beat

AP reports 50 years details are sealed

Edgar La Barbie Valdez Villarreal, was arrested in Mexico in 2010 and was extradited to the U.S. in September 2015. He pleaded guilty in January 2016 to charges of conspiring to import and distribute cocaine and conspiring to launder money.

He was sentenced today in Atlanta in a hearing slated for 9:30 AM. Prosecutors were asking the court to send him to prison for 55 years [660 months] and order him to forfeit $192 million.  He was facing leaving prison in a pine box, before he cut a deal.

His sentencing is sealed, which probably indicates he is set to testify against one or more defendants.  With the trial of Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán closing in, a good guess is that Valdez will be on the witness list.  He was on the witness list against Alfredo “ El Mochomo” Beltran Leyva.  Beltran Leyva pleaded guilty and did not seek a plea deal. 

Although the particulars are sealed, AP is reporting he was sentenced to the 50 years the  government was apx asking for.

Below is the 27 page government sentencing memorandum, it is a historical background of Valdez and details of his criminal life and interactions with others including Zetas and Osiel Cardenas.  It is worth reading.

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Boss of Cartel del Tigre arrested in Chihuahua

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

Subject Matter: Cartel del Tigre, El Chuma, Chihuahua
Recommendation: see link to article by myself on El Tigre

Reporter: Reforma Redaction
Elements of the State Commission for Security and the Federal Police detained one Jesus Manuel B.L, alias El Chuma, alleged new boss of the Cartel del Tigre. The Attorney General of the State informed that, after the capture of Julio Escarcega, El Chuma had assumed command of this criminal group.

Together with El Chuma, were arrested another two persons called Espiridion C.P, alias El Zorry and Jose Luis R.P nicknamed El 77, who, added the functionary, were known members of the criminal cell that operates in the region, and who work for Escar Gamboa Sosa, alias El Once.

The arrest was made in the municipal capital of Nonoava, where the troops carried out patrols, when they noticed the presence of three armed men. "The alleged criminals fled when they noticed the Police presence, but after a chase, the officers managed to thwart their escape attempt, and arrested the three armed men."

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Feds and Ca State Officials Crackdown on Mexican Cartel Grows Again

Posted by Yaqui for Borderland Beat

Feds and California State authorities seek a crackdown on Mexican cartel pot grows on public lands as they ramp up the efforts to keep illegal grows and growers from poisoning more of California's wildlife, streams, rivers and people.

June 10, 2018

Material from: Redheaded Blackbelt, Ukiah Daily Journal and Houston Times Standard

California Attorney General Xavier Becerra and U.S. Attorney and Eureka native McGregor Scott said during a news conference last week that they want to “redouble” efforts to eradicate illegal marijuana grows and pesticide use on public lands that are ravaging the environment and putting the general public at risk.

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Video: Piedras Negras Federal Candidate Killed as he exited debate

By Chivis Martinez for Borderland Beat

“We took back the city from the Zetas!” said Purón in the debate minutes before his murder

Violence continues out of control during this deadly Mexico election season.

The latest murder is that of PRI candidate, Fernando Purón Johnston. which was recorded by a security camera. He was shot twice, one was a head impact. 

In the footage, the shooter is seen to the far left adjacent to the UA de C building in Piedras Negras,  he moves to the left just under the sign, wearing a jacket and a cap.  Meanwhile Purón Johnston is mingling with a few supporters, and taking selfies, when the killer makes his move, extracting a gun from his jacket moving towards his target, gets close and shoots.

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Rambo will cross the border to fight a drug cartel

Posted by El Profe for Borderland Beat from El Universal

                      

Sylvester Stallone is planning to direct the fifth installment of the American war hero saga, which is already being written

Movie actor Sylvester Stallone will fight a drug cartel in the movie Rambo 5, according to the latest information published in the Deadline entertainment and cinema news portal.

According to the publication, the fifth installment of the saga, which began in 1982 with First Blood, will begin shooting next September.

Stallone himself is working on the script with Avi Lerner, who has paired up with the actor on several occasions in movies such as The Expendables and will produce the new film of the Rambo franchise, an epic saga where Sylvester plays a war hero that, in spite of not abiding by military protocols, always achieves his goals.

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Illicit Opioids — Not Prescription Meds — Are Fueling America’s Epidemic

Chivis Martinez Borderland Beat from AZ Central

The opioid problem now isn't so much about doctors and legitimate prescriptions. It's about illegal drugs entering through our border with Mexico.

Most fentanyl comes from Sinaloa Cartel

In 2014, 8 pounds of fentanyl from Mexico was seized by US border agents in the Southwest; in 2015, 200 pounds of fentanyl was seized. 

From October 2016 to August 2017, about 950 pounds of fentanyl was seized nationwide — and more than half of it (550 pounds) was seized at the San Diego and Tucson field offices on the Mexico border.

My sheriff office led the largest drug bust ($2 billion) in Arizona history against Mexico’s Sinaloa Cartel. 

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Pablo Escobar's widow and son are charged with money laundering for Colombian drug dealer

The widow and son of cocaine cartel leader Pablo Escobar have been charged with money laundering in Argentina - and have each had assets worth $1 million seized.

Victoria Henao and her son Juan Pablo Escobar Henao are accused of being part of a criminal organisation and intermediaries in Argentina for Colombian drug dealer Jose Piedrahita.

The pair, whose characters were portrayed in the hit Netflix series Narcos, will remain free while the case proceeds, said Argentina's official judicial news agency.

They can appeal the decision by local judge Nestor Barral, who also ordered the seizing of some of their assets for about $1 million each. Former Colombia soccer international Mauricio Serna was also charged.

Serna is a former midfielder who helped Boca Juniors win South America's Copa Libertadores in 2000 and 2001. The team won the 2000 Intercontinental Cup by beating Real Madrid. He was a regular with Colombia's national team.

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Risk Atlas higlights vote buying and violence hot spots in Mexico

Translated by El Profe for Borderland Beat from Animal Politico                     

                   

The study indicates hot spots of violence against candidates and politicians, purchase of votes, and anomalies during the electoral process.

by Agustín Salgado

Social organizations developed a risk atlas in which the regions of the country most prone to vote buying are located, the electoral sections that have behaved in an atypical manner, and the states where there have been acts of violence against political actors.

The document, presented Thursday night in Mexico City, establishes that from 2006 to May 8 of this year, 292 people, including mayors, candidates, pre-candidates, leaders of political parties, deputies, officials, ex-legislators, social leaders, in addition to journalists who cover elections, have been murdered or disappeared during the electoral campaigns.

The atlas, which can be consulted at atlasriesgoelectoral.mx, was presented on Thursday night in the Roma neighborhood of Mexico City, by political scientist Boris González Romero.

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ONC predicts 2018 will be another year of failed security, worst in 20 years

Translated by El Profe for Borderland Beat from Sin Embargo
                  

By Sugeyry Gándara

Crimes related to gender violence in Mexico, in the first four months of 2018, were increasing by 40.8 percent, on average, according to official figures. According to analysts consulted by Sin Embargo, the lack of reporting, the under-reporting of violence, the weakness of institutions and the lack of prevention, are some factors that do not allow adequate attention to violence that affect, at least, 30.7 millions of women.

Every hour, in our country, five crimes of gender violence were committed, according to figures from the Executive Secretariat of the National Public Security System (SESNSP). While last January there were 2 thousand 656 investigation files for some type of crime, in April, 3 thousand 739 were registered.

Mexico City (Sin Embargo) - The National Citizen Observatory (ONC) predicted that 2018 will be even more violent than the previous year, as it is expected that the incidence of homicides and femicides will increase by 6.88 percent over the previous year.

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