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UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY

INSTITUTE FOR THE STUDY OF VIOLENT GROUPS (www.isvg.org)DAILY BORDER NEWS REPORT FOR 2 DECEMBER 2011

COMPILER, INSTITUTE FOR THE STUDY OF VIOLENT GROUPS (www.isvg.org)EDITOR, JOINT TASK FORCE NORTH (www.facebook.com/USA.JTFN)

(U) This document is UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY and portions may be exempt from mandatory disclosure under FOIA. DoD 5400.7R, "DoD Freedom of Information Act Program", DoD Directive 5230.9, "Clearance of DoD Information for Public Release", and DoD Instruction 5230.29, "Security and Policy Review of DoD Information for Public Release" apply.

(U) FAIR USE NOTICE. This document may contain copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making it available to recipients who have expressed an interest in receiving information to advance their understanding of threat activities in the interest of protecting the United States. We believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.

(U) Use of these news items does not reflect official endorsement by Joint Task Force North or the Department of Defense.

For further information on any item, please contact the JTF-North KnowledgeManagement (KM).

Compiled By: Mr. Tom Davidson, Institute for the Study of Violent GroupsEdited by: Mr. Jonathan KauppApproved for Release by: Dr. Rodler Morris CONTENTS: (Note: All active EXTERNAL hyperlinks have been removed)CONTENTS................................................................................................................................1

A. CANADA AND NORTHERN BORDER STATES...........................................2Detroit-Area Manager Charged Criminally for Hiring Illegal Aliens (MI)..............................2Court System Close To Collapse (BC)......................................................................................3

B. INNER UNITED STATES..................................................................................41. Major FBI Drug Busts Nets 10 Suspects (MO)...................................................................42. Homeland Security will comply with subpoena (DC).........................................................53. Latin Kings Fugitive Surrenders to Police (IL)...................................................................74. Bay Area MS-13 gang leader convicted of racketeering charges (CA).............................7

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C. MEXICO AND SOUTHERN BORDER STATES.............................................8Highly sophisticated cross-border drug tunnel discovered near San Diego Investigators seize

nearly $65 million worth of marijuana, arrest 6 suspects (CA/BC)....................................8Another body appears in Nuevo Laredo’s ‘execution’ monument (NL).................................10Another body appears in Nuevo Laredo’s ‘execution’ monument (TAMPS).........................11Human smuggler gets 30 years for role in immigrant drowning deaths (TX).........................12'El Junior' pleads not guilty, jury selection set for January 9 (US)..........................................12Son of slain Gulf Cartel leader arrested outside popular hotel (TAMPS)...............................13Hacker group threatens action over bus passenger kidnappings (TAMPS)............................14U. S. Deports Zetas Cartel Member to Mexico (TX)..............................................................16

D. CARRIBEAN, CENTRAL, AND SOUTH AMERICA....................................171. Bundles of Pot Found in Abandoned Boat in Boynton Beach (FL)...................................172. South Florida woman sentenced for human smuggling (FL).............................................17Coast Guard Cutters Berholf, Boutwell Nab Drugs, Smugglers on High Seas (EC/PA)........18Honduras: Soldiers to Take on Cartels (HN)..........................................................................20

E. OPINION AND ANALYSIS.............................................................................211. Sinaloa cartel now calling shots in border region (BC)......................................................212. “Sham” Universities Under Fire (DC)................................................................................243. New Mexico now pleads for help – Drug Cartel terror (NM)............................................254. Mexico’s top 2 crime gangs engaged in turf war (JAL).....................................................29

A. CANADA AND NORTHERN BORDER STATES

1. Detroit-Area Manager Charged Criminally for Hiring Illegal Aliens (MI)

29 November 2011US Immigration and Customs Enforcement

DETROIT — A manager at a specialty pallet and box manufacturing company in northwest Detroit was arrested Tuesday by agents with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) on criminal charges of knowingly accepting false documentation in the course of hiring undocumented workers.

A supervisor at Grigg Box Company in Detroit was taken into custody Tuesday morning without incident by ICE HSI special agents.

"Employers who evade the law not only fuel the demand that is responsible for much of the country's illegal immigration, but their actions also hurt lawful workers who are seeking jobs in

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this challenging economy," said special agent in charge of ICE HSI in Detroit. "Criminal prosecutions are just one of many tools HSI is using to reduce the demand for illegal employment and protect job opportunities for the nation's lawful workforce."

As part of the enforcement action, agents also executed a federal search warrant at the business seeking evidence in this ongoing investigation into the company's hiring practices. The supervisor is charged in a criminal complaint with continuing to employ unauthorized aliens. The arrest is the culmination of an investigation that began in February when an ICE HSI audit of the company's hiring records identified 35 employees who used suspected counterfeit documents to obtain their jobs.

According to the court documents, after ICE HSI notified the company about the suspicious documents, Grigg Box Company sent a written reply advising the employees in question had been terminated. Subsequently, investigators conducting surveillance of the premises, observed several of the "terminated" employees continuing to work at the company. Additionally, through the use confidential informants, ICE HSI special agents recorded the Supervisor in the process of hiring two individuals who admitted their documents were counterfeit and had been purchased. This individual was later paid by the individual charged in the form of an official payroll check from the company.

The individual is expected to make an initial appearance in federal court Tuesday afternoon. The charges carry a maximum penalty of up to ten years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000.Employers are required to complete and retain a Form I-9 for each individual they hire for employment in the United States. This form requires employers to review and record the individual's identity and employment eligibility documents and determine whether the documents reasonably appear to be genuine and related to the individual. Additionally, an employer must ensure that the employee provides certain information regarding his or her eligibility to work on the Form I-9.

Source: [www.ice.gov/news/releases]Return to Contents

2. Court System Close To Collapse (BC)

30 November 2011Langley Times

VICTORIA – One of the last exchanges in the B.C. legislature’s fall session was over the state of the court system.

Drug dealers are walking free; NDP leader Adrian Dix reminded Public Safety Minister Shirley Bond in the final question period. Dix referred to a Prince George case this fall where a convicted cocaine dealer racked up more trafficking charges while he was on trial, and then was released because he couldn’t be tried in a timely fashion.

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The NDP was picking up on an unusually political speech last week by B.C. Supreme Court Chief Justice Robert Bauman. Speaking to the annual B.C. judges’ conference in Las Vegas, Bauman warned that funding cuts have the B.C. court system “going over a cliff in slow motion.”

The cuts are real. By next year, court service budgets are expected to be down 10 per cent since 2008, and staff down 15 per cent. The provincial court is down 17 judges from 2005. There aren’t enough clerks. And the federal government is about to push through new sentencing guidelines that will add more inmates to B.C.’s overflowing prison system.

….

Justice Bauman acknowledges that courts have to clean up procedures too. Set aside the baseless conspiracy theories around the Dave Basi-Bobby Virk saga, and you have two small-time crooks whose lawyers were allowed to spin the case out for seven years in a tangle of evidence disclosure demands.

As the legislature adjourned, Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson joined previous mayors, from Conservative Party member Sam Sullivan to Mike Harcourt, in calling for marijuana to be legalized and regulated.

Not on my watch, replied Prime Minister Stephen Harper. So instead, we’re getting de facto legalization of crack cocaine.

Source: [www.langleytimes.com/opinion/134752503.html]Return to Contents

B. INNER UNITED STATES

1. Major FBI Drug Busts Nets 10 Suspects (MO)

30 November 2011KTRS

Ten people are in custody after federal authorities conducted a series of drug raids that took down an entire drug trafficking organization yesterday morning. The simultaneous arrests took place in nine separate locations in St. Louis City and County, and St. Charles County. The suspects face various federal charges of narcotics conspiracy, firearms violations, and money laundering. FBI officials say the arrests are the result of a two-and-a-half year investigation and have dealt a major blow to the heroin trade in Saint Louis. The suspects in custody are: 

A 29-year-old man of St. Charles, a 32-year-old of Florissant, a 31-year-old of Florissant, a 31-year-old of St. St. Louis, a 23-year-old female of St. Louis County, 33-year-old man of unincorporated St. Louis County, a 35-year-old female of St. Louis, a 36-year-old female of

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Florissant, 28-year-old female O’Fallon, MO, and a 26-year-old male of Pagedale. 

Today’s take-down, which dismantled the drug trafficking organization (DTO), was a culmination of an investigation that started with a tip to the FBI in April 2009. 

The DTO had a hierarchy that included leaders, drug runners, and subjects who redistributed the heroin in St. Charles County and Madison County, Illinois. Special Agent in Charge of the FBI St. Louis Division said, “Today’s take-down should make an impact on the rising problem of heroin overdoses and the violent crimes associated with drug trafficking organizations.” 

Four other members of this ring were previously arrested. The FBI is still looking for two fugitives. 

A 52-year-old male of unincorporated St. Louis County and a 29-year-old of Alton, Illinois.

Source: [www.ktrs.com/news/local-news/item/406-major-fbi-drug-busts-nets-10-suspects] Return to Contents

2. Homeland Security Will Comply with Subpoena (DC)

30 November 2011Washington Times

The Administration will comply with a subpoena seeking details on illegal immigrants it has come in contact with but failed to deport under its Secure Communities initiative, one of the program’s leaders told Congress on Wednesday.

House Republicans have been seeking the information as they try to evaluate how the administration is prioritizing which illegal immigrants it deems important enough to deport, and which ones it doesn’t feel rise to the level of concern.

“I am confident that we will supply the information you have requested,” executive associate director for enforcement and removal operations at U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, told the House’s immigration subcommittee.

The Secure Communities program checks information on people arrested by state and local law enforcement officials against government databases to see whether any are immigrants eligible for deportation.

The program has drawn criticism from both sides - those who want a crackdown on illegal immigration say the administration isn’t detaining all of the people who pop up as deportable when the checks are run; and immigrant-rights advocates who say it acts as a dragnet to catch illegal immigrants who don’t rise to the level of major criminals.

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Advocates also say that the program is subject to racial profiling, which they said harms the program, and that Secure Communities has had a chilling effect on relations between local police and immigrant communities.

“Immigrants will continue to fear that contact with the police could lead to deportation, crimes will go unreported and criminals will remain free to prey on others,” the retired chief of police in Sacramento, Calif., told the panel.

The  administration has been trying to reorient enforcement inside the U.S. away from rank and file illegal immigrants to focus instead on more serious criminals. As part of that effort, it has issued guidance to ICE agents telling them to use discretion in deciding which illegal immigrants to pursue.

Still, the administration says even focusing on illegal immigrants with criminal records or multiple immigration law violations are enough to strain the system. In fiscal 2011, which ended Sept. 30, the administration deported nearly 400,000 aliens, and ICE says about 90 percent of them were in what it deemed priority categories. Homeland Security Secretary has said 400,000 are about the limit ICE can deport in any year under the current level of funding.

Opponents of Secure Communities say it also has snared U.S. citizens. A report from a law professor at the University of California, Berkeley found that 3,600 citizens had been apprehended by ICE as of April 2011.

But others want to see the program unshackled from the boundaries the administration has imposed. That’s one reason why Republicans have issued the subpoena for data on the approximately 300,000 immigrants ICE has flagged under Secure Communities but declined to detain for deportation.

“Sooner or later we will get it,” vowed Judiciary Committee Chairman, Texas Republican.The subpoena gave a Nov. 10 deadline, but he said ICE didn’t turn over the information he was seeking by then.

The next legal step would be for the committee to vote to hold ICE in contempt of Congress, but that decision has yet to be made.

ICE spokesman said that ICE has the information Congressman requested for about 70 percent of the people it declined to hold, but that they are still trying to figure out how to provide information that is held by the FBI and to track down missing information on some of the immigrants on the list.….

Source : [www.washingtontimes.com/news/2011/nov/30/homeland-security-will-comply-with-subpoena]Return to Contents

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3. Latin Kings Fugitive Surrenders to Police (IL)

01 December 2011Chicago Sun Times

One of two fugitives wanted on charges of conspiring with the Latin Kings to racketeer has turned himself in, according to federal court records.

The 38 year old man of Lansing, Ill., surrendered to police on Wednesday, according to records with the U.S. District Court in Hammond.

He was among 21 defendants named two weeks ago in a federal indictment accusing them of running an organized criminal group in Northwest Indiana and Chicago, trafficking drugs and using violence to control their territories. The charge includes responsibility in 19 homicides during the past decade.

All the defendants named in the case had been arrested when the charges were announced except for him and a 29 year old female from Chicago. She had still not been arrested as of Wednesday evening, according to court records.

The suspect was ordered held without bond pending a detention hearing and arraignment, set for Tuesday, according to court records.

In separate hearings Wednesday, seven other defendants in the case — including former Chicago police officers — pleaded not guilty to the charges in the case. The two ex-police officers are accused of using their position as officers to rob rival gang members and drug dealers, giving the loot to the Latin Kings in exchange for money.

Another co-defendant, a 20 year old female from Chicago, pleaded not guilty in the case and was released on a $20,000 bond, according to court records.

Source: [posttrib.suntimes.com/news/lake/9163653-418/latin-king-fugitive-turns-self-in]Return to Contents

4. Bay Area MS-13 Gang Leader Convicted of Racketeering Charges (CA)

29 November 2011US Immigration and Customs Enforcement

WASHINGTON — Following a four-week trial, a federal jury Tuesday convicted a Bay Area leader of La Mara Salvatrucha, or MS-13, street gang of racketeering conspiracy and related charges stemming from a multi-agency probe spearheaded by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).

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The panel found the suspect guilty of all charges, including conspiracy to participate in a racketeering enterprise, conspiracy to commit murder in aid of racketeering, conspiracy to commit assault with a dangerous weapon in aid of racketeering, and using and discharging a firearm in connection with a crime of violence. His co-defendant and fellow MS-13 member, pleaded guilty to related charges during the trial, including using a firearm to murder an individual.

….

Source: [http://www.ice.gov/news/releases]Return to Contents

C. MEXICO AND SOUTHERN BORDER STATES

1. Highly Sophisticated Cross-Border Drug Tunnel Discovered Near San Diego Investigators Seize Nearly $65 Million Worth of Marijuana, Arrest 6 Suspects (CA/BC)

30 November 2011US Immigration and Customs Enforcement

SAN DIEGO – Agencies with the San Diego Tunnel Task Force Wednesday announced the arrest of six suspects and the seizure of more than 32 tons of marijuana following the discovery of the most elaborate smuggling tunnel uncovered along the U.S.-Mexico border in recent years.Investigators say the passageway, found Tuesday as a result of a six-month investigation by the multi-agency Task Force, connects a warehouse in San Diego's Otay Mesa industrial park with one in neighboring Tijuana, Mexico. The 612-yard long passageway is equipped with electric rail cars, lighting, reinforced walls and wooden floors.

On the Mexican side, the tunnel's entrance is accessed through a hydraulically-controlled steel door and an elevator concealed beneath the warehouse floor. At the bottom of the tunnel shaft is a large storage room where agents recovered approximately three tons of marijuana. Another ton of marijuana was piled in bundles near the tunnel's entrance. Meanwhile, investigators searched the Otay Mesa building that housed the tunnel's U.S. entry point, where they found another 20 tons of marijuana wrapped in plastic and stacked neatly on pallets.

The enforcement actions leading to the tunnel's discovery began unfolding Monday evening when investigators observed a tractor trailer truck leaving the Otay Mesa warehouse. After parking overnight in the Miramar area, a man picked up the rig early Tuesday and headed toward Los Angeles. Canines at the U.S. Customs and Border Protection-Border Patrol checkpoint in San Clemente alerted on the tractor trailer for the presence of drugs. Agents, aware of the ongoing investigation, waived the truck through the checkpoint and the driver proceeded to the City of Industry, Calif. There, he pulled into the parking lot of a warehouse located at 14837 Proctor Ave. and, together with three other individuals, began unloading the trailer's contents.

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At that point, agents with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) moved in, taking custody of four suspects and seizing close to 11 tons of marijuana packed inside the truck's trailer. All told, Tuesday's enforcement actions resulted in the interdiction of more than 32 tons of marijuana with an estimated street value of nearly $65 million.

Two other suspects linked to the scheme were arrested overnight in Baldwin Park, Calif. The six defendants, all Hispanic males, are expected to make their initial appearances in federal court in Los Angeles and San Diego Wednesday afternoon.

Based on the continuing investigation, federal officials believe this latest tunnel had only recently become operational.

"From the conditions inside the passageway and our ongoing investigation, we're confident we've been able to shut this operation down before the perpetrators were able to use it for smuggling narcotics," said special agent in charge for ICE HSI in San Diego. "It's clear though, from the level of sophistication involved, that the criminal organization responsible for constructing this tunnel had very ambitious plans."

The investigation into this latest cross-border passageway is being conducted by the San Diego Tunnel Task Force. The Task Force is made up of representatives from ICE HSI, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Border Patrol, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), and the California Bureau of Narcotics Enforcement. Formed in 2003, the Task Force uses a variety of techniques to detect cross-border tunnels, from state-of-the-art electronic surveillance to old fashioned detective work. That includes following up on tips, many of which come from the public.

"This is yet again an example of what can be achieved when law enforcement agencies join forces to address a common threat," said San Diego Chief Patrol Agent. "It clearly demonstrates that the hard work of the men and women on this interagency taskforce can and will make a significant impact on the security of our nation."

"The Tunnel Task Force, working together with the Government of Mexico, is putting a stranglehold on the cartels' ability to smuggle drugs into the United States," said, acting special agent in charge of the DEA in San Diego. "Seizing close to 50 tons of marijuana in one month denies the cartels the financial means to continue their operations."

Tuesday's tunnel is the second major cross-border smuggling passageway detected in the San Diego area in the last two weeks. The Tunnel Task Force uncovered another tunnel Nov. 15 that came up inside a warehouse near the Otay Mesa border crossing. That enforcement action resulted in the seizure of more than 14 tons of marijuana. The passageway uncovered Tuesday is the seventh large-scale drug smuggling tunnel discovered in the San Diego area since 2006. In the last four years, federal authorities have detected more than 75 cross-border smuggling tunnels, most of them in California and Arizona.

Source: [http://www.ice.gov/news/releases]

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Return to Contents

2. Another Body Appears n Nuevo Laredo’s ‘Execution’ monument (NL)

30 November 2011Borderland Beat

Another body appeared in Nuevo Laredo's Christopher Columbus monument early Tuesday morning, along with a long rambling placard aimed at a former associate of Los Zetas in that border city.

The monument, located in the upscale Colonia Madero, has been the scene in recent weeks of gruesome exhibitions of the remains of two bloggers accused by Los Zetas of supplying information to federal authorities and messages threatening Nuevo Laredo's anti-organized crime bloggers.

However, Tuesday's execution victim, a male described as between 50 and 60 years old is believed to be a relative of Antoñio Peña, alias "El Amenaza", "EL Tony" or "Norteño12", a member of a well known Nuevo Laredo family with a history of involvement in drug trafficking.

The unsigned message, most likely authored by Los Zetas, accuses Antonio Peña of stealing $5 million and of ordering the murder of Rodolfo Torre Cantu, the PRI candidate for Governor of Tamaulipas who was assassinated in 2010 while campaigning for office.

Antoñio Peña is alleged to be a money launderer, weapons procurer and a source of political and economic connections for Los Zetas.

According to a local Laredo newspaper, the murder victim and other members of the family, including several women, were abducted last week.

None of the missing family members have reappeared.

The message on the placard:

“Don't be saying this was a kidnapping f------g old pitarron (informer, whistleblower?) its the $5 million we gave you, you know what for, and you did not meet your obligations on the contrary you left the country. Why play the fool it was you Don Toño (Tony)Peña who ordered Rodolfo Torres killed because he was going against the interests of the businesses that Osiel Cardenas and Tomas Yarrington are partners in. (Osiel Cardenas is the previous head of the Gulf cartel now incarcerated in the U.S., Tomas Yarrington is a former Tamaulipas Governor with alleged ties to organized crime). Whatever, you killed him for nothing because his brother is there and still screwing with them. F------g old hypocrite that's preaching the word of God you swallow saints and shit devils your still a money laundering murderer living in the U.S., nice and peaceful well isn't it there that they fight drug trafficking and money laundering because they have the best money launderers??”

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Source: [www.borderlandbeat.com]Return to Contents

4. Human Smuggler Gets 30 Years for Role in Immigrant Drowning Deaths (TX)

01 December 2011Valley Central

MCALLEN, TEXAS (AP) -- A Mexican man has been sentenced to 30 years in federal prison for his role in the 2004 drowning of nine Central American immigrants.The nine died when the vehicle in which they were being smuggled plunged into a South Texas canal.

Joel Cardenas-Meneses had been convicted in a McAllen federal court on 11 counts of bringing and harboring illegal immigrants. He was in charge of recruiting Central American immigrants for the smuggling ring, getting them to the border city of Reynosa, Mexico, and coordinating their trips across the border.

On Aug. 9, 2004, a 17-year-old driving the immigrants away from the river one night with his headlights off drove into the canal, drowning the nine Honduran and Salvadoran immigrants.It was the most severe sentence assessed several co-defendants.

Source: [www.valleycentral.com/news/story.aspx?id=692622#.Ttf_zGO5MVA]Return to Contents

5. 'El Junior' Pleads Not Guilty, Jury Selection Set for January 9 (US)

30 November 2011Valley Central

A man who was supposed to be the alleged 'heir' to the Gulf Cartel empire is expected to go to trial in January after pleading 'not guilty' during an impromptu arraignment.

Gulf Cartel leader Rafael Cardenas-Vela (aka 'El Junior') and two alleged bodyguards were scheduled to be arraigned on federal charges on Wednesday morning.

Bodyguards Francisco Javier Escalante-Jimenez and  German Alejandro Huizar-Marroquin are still scheduled to appear but their alleged boss already made his court appearance.

Records show that U.S. Magistrate Court Judge held a separate and an otherwise unscheduled arraignment for Cardenas-Vela on Tuesday, November 22nd.

Cardenas-Vela pleaded not guilty to a federal drug trafficking indictment filed against him.The records show that jury selection for the jailed Gulf Cartel leader is now scheduled to take place on January 5th.

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U.S. Immigration & Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents arrested Cardenas-Vela following a traffic stop in Port Isabel back in October.

Federal officials are looking to seize $20 million dollars in cash, a luxury home outside Rio Hondo and a house in northwest Brownsville from Cardenas-Vela.

Source: [www.valleycentral.com/news/story.aspx?id=692035#.TtgBtmO5MVA]Return to Contents

6. Son of Slain Gulf Cartel Leader Arrested outside Popular Hotel (TAMPS)

29 November 2011Valley Central

The son of slain Gulf Cartel leader 'Tony Tormenta' has been arrested following an incident outside a Matamoros hotel popular with tourists from the Rio Grande Valley.

The Mexican Navy (SEMAR) confirmed that marines arrested 23-year-old Ezequiel Cardenas-Rivera during a special operation late Friday night.

It all happened outside the Gran Hotel Residencial just off Avenida Alvaro Obregon just south of the B&M International Bridge.

Witnesses told Action 4 News that marines had the hotel surrounded and had made numerous arrests early Saturday morning.

The Gran Hotel Residencial is a popular spot for wedding receptions and other events drawing residents from both sides of the border.

It's also the same hotel where a large group of Mexican federal police have been staying since last year.

Arrest DetailsIn a statement released Tuesday morning, SEMAR officials confirm that the whole incident stemmed from an anonymous tip.

Cardenas-Rivera and four others had been at a party inside a building off Avenida Alvaro Obregon.

Marines allegedly saw armed men leaving the party inside three vehicles.

But SEMAR officials reported that Cardenas-Rivera and the four others were arrested without the exchange of gunfire.

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Authorities identified Cardenas-Rivera as the son of slain Gulf Cartel leader Antonio Ezequiel Cardenas-Guillen, who went by the nickname "Tony Tormenta" and was killed in a gun battle with soldiers back on November 5, 2010.

Other ArrestsThe others four arrested outside the hotel were identified as:• Jose de Jesus Garcia-Hernandez, aka "El Chuy", 32• Rene Alberto Munguia-Elizondo, aka "El Amable", 43• Javier Enrique Farias-Garcia, aka "El Contador", 49• Erasmo Garcia-Galvan, aka "El Checo", 37Garcia-Hernandez was identified as the Gulf Cartel plaza boss for Matamoros while Munguia-Elinzondo allegedly worked as his accountant.

Farias-Garcia worked as the Gulf Cartel's chief financial operator while Garcia-Galvan allegedly oversaw drug smuggling operations to the United States.

All five men remain in custody where they're facing federal organized crime charges.

Source:[ www.valleycentral.com/news/story.aspx?id=691841#.TtgDMGO5MVA]Return to Contents

7. Hacker Group Threatens Action over Bus Passenger Kidnappings (TAMPS)

28 November 2011Valley Central

The hacker group ‘Anonymous’ is planning to take justice into its own hands again.The group declared war on the drug cartels over the reported murder of social media users in Nuevo Laredo earlier this year.

But Anonymous is now turning its attention to bus companies and Mexico’s federal government.In an exclusive interview with Action 4 News on Twitter, the group claims little is being done to halt the kidnapping of bus passengers on Mexico’s highways.

There are no official numbers or reports but the group claims thousands have been kidnapped, killed or forced to work against their will in an all-too common scenario.

Cartel CheckpointsThe spokesperson for Anonymous who spoke with Action 4 News said it’s common for armed men to board passenger buses at drug cartel checkpoints.

“They get on the bus, take the men for ransom or to integrate them into their criminal organization,” the spokesperson said. “The women are raped and then kidnapped to work in brothels. The evidence is here."

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The Anonymous member said Central American immigrants and even Mexican nationals headed to the United States have been taken.

As in the case of mass graves found just 90 miles south of the Rio Grande Valley in San Fernando back in April, the kidnappings go unreported until it's too late.

“The bus companies do not report it to the authorities because than they have to report it to the insurance companies,” the Anonymous spokesperson said. “Can you imagine if every bus company reported every claim in a nation in war to the insurance companies? The premiums would be sky high!"

Planned AttackAnonymous is threatening to take down a series of bus company or government websites on December 10th.

A final list of the targets has not been decided but the group said it will release its demands later this week but mostly wants attention to the issue and greater security on the highways.

"Yes, the guilty ones here are the bus companies but when the families of the raped, the kidnapped cry out, they cry out for justice to the government and here is where the government does not jump fast enough,” the Anonymous spokesperson said.

The December 10th attack is taking place on the same date as International Human Rights Day but it’s also the launch of Mexico’s annual “Paisano” campaign to welcome thousands of migrants home for the holidays.

Officials ReactAction 4 News contacted the cyber crimes unit of Mexico’s federal police force but had not received an answer as of Monday evening.

Officials with major bus companies operating in Mexico could not be reached for comment but the company Tranpaís said in a previous statement that its buses are safe.The company reported that it uses GPS devices and communications devices for drivers to stay in touch along their routes.

The American Consulate of Matamoros maintains an April 2011 warning against traveling by bus in Tamaulipas due to reported hijackings that involved American citizens.

Source:[ www.valleycentral.com/news/story.aspx?id=691585#.TtgFbGO5MVB]Return to Contents

8. U. S. Deports Zetas Cartel Member to Mexico (TX)

29 November 2011Latino Fox News

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Mexico City –  A suspected member of the Los Zetas drug cartel wanted for kidnappings in Mexico has been deported by U.S. authorities, the Attorney General's Office said.

Donis Ruiz was detained because he was in the United States illegally, the AG's office said.The Mexican government provided documentation to U.S. authorities showing that Donis Ruiz had a prior criminal record and an immigration judge ordered him deported.

He was taken into custody by Mexican federal agents, the AG's office said.

Donis Ruiz, who was identified as a member of the Los Flacos cell of Los Zetas, has a long record of involvement in kidnappings.

Mexico is "cooperating closely" with the United States and will not allow "borders to get in the way" of carrying out the justice "demanded by the Mexican people," the AG's office said.

Los Zetas, considered Mexico's most violent drug cartel, is involved in a number of different criminal activities, including kidnappings.

Heriberto Lazcano known as "El Lazca," deserted from the Mexican army in 1999 and formed Los Zetas with three other soldiers, all members of an elite special operations unit, becoming the armed wing of the Gulf drug cartel.

After several years on the payroll of the Gulf cartel, Los Zetas, considered Mexico's most violent criminal organization, went into the drug business on their own account and now control several lucrative territories.

The cartel has been blamed for several massacres in recent years.

Los Zetas is accused of carrying out the Aug. 23, 2010, massacre of 72 migrants, the majority of them from Latin America, at a ranch outside San Fernando, a city in the northeastern state of Tamaulipas.

The cartel has also been blamed for the massacre of 27 peasants in May at a ranch in Guatemala's Peten province, which borders Mexico and Belize.

Zetas gunmen set fire to Monterrey's Casino Royale on Aug. 25, killing 52 gamblers and employees trapped inside, most of whom died of smoke inhalation.

Source: [latino.foxnews.com/latino/news/2011/11/29/us-deports-zetas-cartel-member-to-mexico/]Return to Contents

9. Mexican Killings Move Away from Border30 November 2011

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UPI

GUADALAJARA, Mexico, Nov. 30 (UPI) -- The struggle between the Sinaloa cartel and the Zetas has brought violence to central Mexico while homicides are down along the U.S. border, officials say.

In Ciudad Juarez, across the Rio Grande from El Paso, Texas, killings are down 35 percent in 2011, McClatchy Newspapers reported. Recently, there was a period of almost three days with no homicides.

Instead, bodies are turning up in Guadalajara and Veracruz. Last week, 26 bodies were left in three vehicles under the Millennium Arches in Guadalajara.

"Look how we leave you these dead people," a poster signed Z for Los Zetas, said. "We are in your kitchen."

Members of the Sinaloa cartel have been involved for 50 years in smuggling drugs north from Mexico, and the gang, centered on Mexico's Pacific coast, has branched out as far away as Australia.

The Zetas were formed recently. Originally, they were a group of former military commandos who became a militia to protect the Gulf cartel, but they have struck out on their own.

To add to the bloodshed, the Sinaloa group recently formed its own strike force, the Metazetas or killers of Zetas.

Source: [www.upi.com/Top_News/World-News/2011/11/30/Mexican-killings-move-away-from-border/UPI-24741322702712]Return to Contents

D. CARRIBEAN, CENTRAL, AND SOUTH AMERICA

1. Bundles Of Pot Found in Abandoned Boat in Boynton Beach (FL)

01 December 2011NBC Miami

Boynton Beach Police marine unit officers on routine patrol discovered thousands of dollars worth of weed inside an abandoned boat Wednesday evening.

The officers were patrolling the Intracoastal waterways around 5 p.m. when they came across the 18-foot Donzi speed boat beached at Harvey J. Oyer, Jr., Boat Club Park, Boynton Beach Police spokeswoman said.

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The officers found a gallon of water, a plastic bag filled with bread and an extra fuel drum on the boat, suggesting it was used for smuggling, she said. Fishermen told them the boat had been there a couple hours.

A K9 was brought in, and immediately sniffed out a hidden compartment under the steering wheel. Inside the compartment was a garbage bag filled with 11 bundles of marijuana.

The marijuana, some 20 pounds worth, has a street value of $20,000, she said.

Police said it looked like more marijuana had already been offloaded and that the 11 bundles were overlooked and left behind.

Detectives are still investigating and so far there are no suspects.

The find comes less than a month after a similar discovery by Boynton Beach marine officers. In that find, officers arrested two men after 1,300 pounds of marijuana were found on a boat.The street value of that marijuana was put at over $1 million.

Source: [www.nbcmiami.com/news/Bundles-Of-Pot Found-in-Abandoned-Boat-in-Boynton-Beach-134842868.html]Return to Contents

2. South Florida Woman Sentenced for Human Smuggling (FL)

22 November 2011US Immigration and Customs Enforcement

MIAMI – A Miami Gardens, Fla. woman was sentenced Monday to more than eight years in prison after she pleaded guilty to charges of smuggling illegal aliens into the United States following an investigation led by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) in Miami.

The female suspect pleaded guilty to three counts of alien smuggling for profit and one count of aggravated identity theft in May. In addition to prison, she was also sentenced to three years of supervised release.

As part of her plea, she admitted that on or about Oct. 11, 2010, she was aboard Le Superior, a 35-foot U.S. registered Bertram sport-fishing vessel, when it was intercepted by the Coast Guard approximately 32 nautical miles east of Delray Beach, Fla.

She and her co-conspirator were attempting to bring 31 aliens into the United States for profit. The aliens were nationals from various countries, including Haiti, Brazil, Sri Lanka and Jamaica. Seven of the aliens had been previously deported from the United States, and three had been deported subsequent to convictions for aggravated felonies. Moody also admitted that she falsely identified herself to Coast Guard and ICE HSI agents as Sandra Anderson and produced a birth certificate with that name to support a false claim of United States citizenship.

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Three of the migrants pleaded guilty to aggravated re-entry and were sentenced to time served.The investigation that led to this sentencing was conducted by ICE HSI, the U.S. Coast Guard, U.S. Customs and Border Protection and the U.S. Border Patrol.

Source: [www.ice.gov/news/releases]Return to Contents

3. Coast Guard Cutters Berholf, Boutwell Nab Drugs, Smugglers on High Seas (EC/PA)

01 December 2011USCG News

WASHINGTON — The Coast Guard announced Thursday the interdiction of more than 2,470 pounds of cocaine, and the detention of 12 suspects, during three separate missions in the Eastern Pacific the week of Nov. 21.

The Coast Guard Cutter Bertholf, a national security cutter, and the Coast Guard Cutter Boutwell, a Secretary Class high endurance cutter, were on counter-drug patrols in the Eastern Pacific Ocean.  Boutwell’s crew intercepted a drug-laden fishing vessel more than 200 miles west of Ecuador while Bertholf’s crew recovered cocaine jettisoned from a speed boat they were pursuing near the coast of Panama.

Of the 771 metric tons of cocaine known to be bound for the U.S. in 2011, more than 85 percent was transported on the high seas.  In 2010 the U.S. Coast Guard kept 73.9 metric tons of cocaine, interdicted in the maritime transit zone between South America and Central and North America, from reaching our shores, nearly double the amount seized by one million federal, state, local and tribal officials located on our land borders and in communities across the U.S. 

“The pervasive threat of maritime drug smuggling that we witnessed in fiscal year 2011 is a good example of why we need modern capabilities like the national security cutter to protect our nation, ”  said Coast Guard commandant.  “Dollar for dollar, the best investment of taxpayer money for ensuring U.S. security, defending our borders from threats, enforcing sovereignty, and guarding marine resources is in capabilities that enable Coast Guard persistent presence at sea where we can meet threats before they reach our shores.  With counterdrug operations, this strategy has enabled us to seize bulk quantities of narcotics at sea before they are offloaded ashore, separated between dealers, and then broken down for sale on our streets and in our neighborhoods.”

The Coast Guard executed 120 drug interdiction cases in fiscal year 2011, keeping 75.6 metric tons of cocaine and 17.3 metric tons of marijuana from reaching U.S. shores.  More than 23 metric tons of cocaine has been seized since Aug. 29.  The Coast Guard also seized 40 vessels and detained 191 suspects in fiscal year 2011, which ended Sept. 30.

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“The nation relies on the Coast Guard to protect against seaborne threats,” he said.  “Our cutters are stationed in waters vital to U.S. interests and provide the law enforcement and military capability to respond to, interdict and deal with these threats.”

The primary method of maritime drug smuggling remains the “go-fast” boat, which accounted for 58 percent of interdiction cases.  Self-propelled, semi-submersible vessels commonly referred to as drug subs, accounted for 19 percent, while fishing vessels accounted for four percent of maritime drug smuggling activity. 

Boutwell’s interdiction began Nov. 23 when the cutter approached the Ecuadorian-flagged fishing vessel El Soberano, approximately 230 miles west of Ecuador.  The Coast Guard crew observed suspicious packages on board saw there was no fishing gear on the deck and noted the El Soberano was towing a smaller launch.  The Boutwell’s boarding team conducted a search of the fishing vessel, discovering 40 bales of cocaine weighing between 50 to 56 pounds each.  The boarding team detained all nine individuals aboard the two vessels and brought them aboard Boutwell.

….

Bertholf’s action began five nautical miles west of Punta Caracoles, Panama, while the cutter was on patrol in Panamanian waters under the authority of an embarked Panamanian ship rider.  Bertholf was alerted by a maritime patrol airplane that a “go-fast” drug smuggling speedboat was in the area.  The crew of the Bertholf located the “go-fast” using the ship’s Forward Looking Infrared sensor and radar.  The cutter’s over-the-horizon boat was launched and its crew intercepted the suspect boat.  The “go-fast” fled, jettisoning about nine bales, one of which was recovered by the crew of the pursuing Bertholf over-the horizon boat.  The suspect boat eluded law enforcement using the cover of coves and islands in the area of the chase.  The pursuit ended as the chase neared the territorial seas of Colombia.  The marine patrol airplane identified a debris field from which seven bales and one kilo of cocaine were subsequently recovered. 

Two nights prior, the crew of the Bertholf intercepted another “go-fast,” netting two bales of cocaine and three suspects who were turned over to SENAN, the Panamanian Maritime service."My crew's response was exceptional during the prosecution of this case, and I'm proud to report we foiled these drug smugglers and kept the narcotics from reaching their ultimate destination - the United States," said the commanding officer of the Coast Guard Cutter Bertholf.  “The Bertholf is one of the Coast Guard's newest cutters, unique to the United States and uniquely equipped to respond to all threats; it served the nation well during this case.”

….

The Coast Guard Cutter Boutwell is on a 60-day deployment for counter-drug operations in the Eastern Pacific.  So far in this patrol they have been involved in three law enforcement cases resulting in the seizure or jettison of 3,800 pounds of cocaine worth $40 million.  The Boutwell and the Coast Guard's current fleet of cutters is from 30 to 45 years old, constituting one of the oldest fleets in the world while being one of the busiest.

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….Source: [www.uscgnews.com/go/doc/786/1249143]Return to Contents

4. Honduras: Soldiers To Take On Cartels (HN)

30 November 2011The Epoch Times

The Congress of Honduras on Wednesday voted to allow soldiers to take on the duties held by police in an attempt to boost domestic security.Honduras, according to the United Nations, has the world’s highest murder rate at 82 per 100,000 people, which can be mainly attributed violence related to drug cartels.

There are around 20 murders a day in the Central American country of 8.2 million.

“This legislation will allow the armed forces to take on policing roles to confront organized crime and drug traffickers operating across the country,” Congressman Oswaldo Ramos said, according to the BBC.

The vote is following a move initiated by Mexico in 2006, when President Felipe Calderon began using the army to deal with drug cartels.

In the Honduras vote, Congress approved the use of soldiers “on a permanent basis in the fight against drug trafficking and terrorism, weapons trafficking and organized crime,” reported the broadcaster.

Sergio Castellanos, another Congress member, was concerned over deploying the army to do police work as “this will only strengthen their position in society after the coup,” he said, according to Reuters, in reference to the 2009 incident where the military forced then President Manuel Zelaya out of office.

Source: [www.theepochtimes.com/n2/world/honduras-soldiers-to-take-on-cartels-150873]Return to Contents

E. OPINION AND ANALYSIS

1. Sinaloa Cartel Now Calling Shots in Border Region (BC)

30 November 2011San Diego Red

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TIJUANA – After a three-year bloody battle between the Arellano criminal organization and a breakaway cell that left 2,327 dead and dozens missing, the winner appears to be the Sinaloa cartel.

The Arellanos’ bitter rival has firmly established itself on this stretch of the border and is inaugurating a new era in organized crime, two experts agreed.

This has occurred despite the crackdown authorities have carried against organized crime in this region, which they have called a national success.

“One cartel has been dismantled, but another one has arrived because … consumption has not changed in a fundamental way and that leads to cartels being present in this city,” said Vicente Sánchez, a researcher in the respected think tank College of the Northern border.

Signs of this new phase can be seen already; the number of violent deaths and high-profile crimes are down significantly.

According to authorities, most of the murders that occurred this year are linked to disputes among drug dealers or among various groups or cells, a kind of “clean-up” or reorganization that’s going on at that level, mainly in the city’s east side.

Sánchez said the main difference with the old criminal organization that controlled the transportation and sale of drugs in this city is that the Sinaloa cartel is relatively less violent.Although not dedicated to the kidnapping industry nor targets the general population, the Sinaloa cartel is a criminal group that, like the others, uses violence to impose its will, the researcher noted.

But that cartel, unlike other criminal organizations in Mexico, turns to violence as a last resort, according to a sociologist who has analyzed drug trafficking on the border for more than two decades.

The cartel runs its enterprise – from dealing drugs on the street to money laundering – more like a corporation, and treats each seizure as the price of doing business, he said.

The Sinaloa cartel is the largest and most powerful one in Mexico. The organization, headed by the fugitive Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán and Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada, has faced several setbacks in Baja California this year.

These include the army’s discovery in July of 300 acres of marijuana plants south of Ensenada, the largest drug field ever found in Mexico; the tons of marijuana in packages seized headed into the United States in recent months; and the nearly 800 pounds of cocaine confiscated in Tijuana in early October.

Then there’s last week’s seizure of $15 million in cash found inside a vehicle, among other law enforcement operations.

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On Wednesday, military authorities said that there were signs that the sophisticated cross border tunnel discovered Tuesday in Otay Mesa was linked to the Sinaloa cartel. In all, a record 32 tons of marijuana were seized.

In fact, authorities have said most of the drugs, cash and tunnels uncovered this year belonged to the Sinaloa cartel, which challenges the claim, law enforcement and military leaders have made frequently that no single organization controlled trafficking in the region.

Those seizures did not lead to a convulsion of violence, a common response by other cartels.That’s not to say that the Sinaloa cartel will not use violence. The same week the $15 million was discovered in Tijuana, authorities found 23 people who had been assassinated in Guadalajara and 17 burned to death in Culiacán, events that Mexico’s Attorney General’s Office blamed on the Sinaloa cartel.

The organization is fighting other ones, including the Zetas cartel, for control of strategic drug routes along the border. These clashes have generated unprecedented levels of violence in the states of Tamaulipas, Nuevo León and Chihuahua.

The sociologist explained that since the capture Nov. 4 of Juan Francisco Sillas Rocha, the lieutenant of cartel leader Fernando Sánchez Arellano, the Sinaloa cartel has been able to dominate the border region.

He said it’s clear to him that the Arellano cartel has the least influence than it has ever had, and raised the possibility that its leader may have even signed an agreement with the Sinaloa cartel after the bloody internal fight from 2008 to 2010.

The beginning of the end for the Arellanos began in late 2007, when Teodoro García Simental did not recognize Fernando Sánchez Arellano, the nephew of the founders of the cartel, as the leader of the organization, he said.

A blood bath began the next year to eliminate Fernando Sánchez Arellano, known as “The Engineer,” according to state Attorney General Rommel Moreno.

Authorities said Sánchez Arellano had inherited the top job after Francisco Javier Arellano Félix, known as “El Tigrillo,” was detained off the Baja California Sur coast in August of 2006.Without Francisco Javier Arellano new traffickers flocked to the border, including cells from the Sinaloa and La Familia de Michoacán cartels.

And the problems and violence escalated between García Simental and Sánchez Arellano.In the ensuing three years, more than 2,000 people were killed, dozens disappeared and an indeterminate number moved out of Tijuana, all which combined to put an end to the Arellano organization.

Sánchez, the researcher for Colef, said the criminal groups currently operating in the city are not independent, rather associated with a cell or are paying a “user’s fee” to be able to work in a

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certain area. They are mercenaries that have no problem switching allegiances if need be, he said.

For his part, the sociologist said that, unlike the Arellanos, the Sinaloa cartel prefers to work silently, avoiding public attention.

However, like the other criminal organizations, the Sinaloa cartel uses the strategy of infiltrating law enforcement, in addition to bribing police and judicial leaders, he said. And it has far superior economic power than the other organizations, he noted.

The researcher attributes the drop in high-profile murders this year in Tijuana to this strategy rather than the coordinated law enforcement-military efforts to control drug trafficking. The other researcher, Sánchez, says the reduction of these crimes is due to a combination of both.Baja California authorities said that there have been 436 murders in Tijuana through Nov. 19, about 300 less than the same period last year.

Authorities and politicians, for their part, say that the drop in violent deaths is the result of the efficient coordination between the various levels of law enforcement agencies and the military.They have held up these efforts as a national model; in fact President Calderón has cited “the Tijuana model” as an example of how the war against drug traffickers can be won.

The Sinaloa cartel’s operation extends into the United States, where the son of its co-leader, Vicente Zambada Niebla, and nearly three dozen others have been indicted.[ They are accused of conspiring to import tons of cocaine and large quantities of heroin to Chicago and other American cities between 2005 and 2008.

In documents filed this month in the U.S. District Court in Chicago, the son alleges that U.S. authorities allowed him and other cartel traffickers to operate their business in exchange for information on rival cartels. He said he was promised immunity from prosecution in the United States if he provided that intelligence to DEA agents.

Federal prosecutors deny those allegations and are pressing their case against the son and his alleged accomplices.

In Mexico, President Calderon’s Cabinet has made defeating the Sinaloa cartel a priority of the federal government.

Its leader, “Chapo” Guzmán, 51, remains at large after escaping from a prison in 2001.This year, Forbes magazine listed his worth at $1 billion and called him the world’s most wanted criminal.

Source: [www.sandiegored.com/noticias/20863/Sinaloa-cartel-now-calling-shots-in-border-region]Return to Contents

2. “Sham” Universities Under Fire (DC)

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Not DatedUS IMMIGRATION SUPPORT

A new target in the battle against illegal immigration has come under scrutiny-colleges and universities. According to five Democratic U.S. Senators, (CA), (FL), (MO), (MN), and (NY), these "sham" universities are fronts for smuggling in immigrants on student visas, handing out tickets into the country for potential terrorists and criminals. These for-profit front institutions gain qualifications with the U.S. government through the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to petition for student visas but they don't actually offer classes, only a pathway to U.S. residency. 

Four of the Five US Senators In a letter released to the media, Senators said, "Sham universities are not real institutions of higher learning, but rather operate solely for the purpose of manipulating immigration law to admit foreign nationals into the country. When the student visa program can be manipulated by bad actors, it threatens the viability of the entire program for the large majority of bona fide participants." The senators attacked the penalties for student visa fraud, or lack thereof, saying in their letter, "The existing penalties for student visa fraud are simply too low to deter bad actors who can reap large rewards by operating for-profit sham universities and charging foreigners thousands of dollars to come to the U.S." Furthermore, the senators proposed stiffer consequences for said sham universities and said, "These new penalties will assist you in obtaining justice for the bad actors who compromise the system." 

Bogus Universities are Compromising Overall National Security Much of the senators' outrage comes from the fact that some of the perpetrators of the 9-11 World Trade Center attacks had come to the U.S. on student visas. The senators fear that bogus universities are compromising overall national security. The Senator from NY called on Immigration and Customs Enforcement to immediately crackdown on fake for-profit schools. Moreover, these four senators have called on DHS and the United States Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) to share whatever information they have so as to effectively target and shut down fraudulent universities. Under these senators' proposal, DHS and USCIS will identify "high risk" schools and investigate those schools presenting "high risk" information or the lack of proper information.

….

Source:[www.usimmigrationsupport.org/sham-universities-under-fire.]Return to Contents

3. New Mexico Now Pleads for Help – Drug Cartel Terror (NM)

22 November 2011Stand Up America

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BLOOMFIELD — Mexican drug cartels are operating at increased levels within San Juan County, and they steadily are becoming more violent, according to Region II Narcotics Task Force Director.

Speaking to the Bloomfield City Council on Tuesday, the Director outlined recent trends within the cartels and warned that unless aggressive measures such as securing a federal magistrate in the area are taken, the picture looks bleak for stemming drug-related crime and violence.“Drugs and Mexican cartel activities are a real issue in Bloomfield,” he said. “The cells are already here, and all of the problems that U.S. cities bordering Mexico are now dealing with are going to come this way. It’s only a matter of time.”

Cartel operationsThe Task Force Director said that for the past two years the major Mexican drug cartel operating in San Juan County has been the Juarez cartel, but recently the Sinaloa and Michoacan cartels have gained ground.

“What’s happening here is reflective of what’s occurring in Mexico,” he said, adding that Region II is concentrating its investigative efforts on individuals three or four levels above the drug addicts, or those who are directly connected to the cartels.

Going deeper into how the cartels operate in Bloomfield, he said that four to five males are usually sent by the Mexican cartel to Bloomfield to live, and they spend 80 percent of their time in and around the city.

The cartel members bring their families with them to try to fit into the community and to be less noticeable, and do not deal directly with drug addicts which make them difficult to detect.

“These cartel members recruit local gang members to sell drugs to lower-level dealers, who then sell the drugs to the addicts,” he said.

Region II agents rely on background checks and surveillance to identify cartel members, and watch for signs like tattoos and the collection of religious artifacts like shrines.

Recently, the Sinaloa cartel has added Albuquerque as a stepping stone for its drug distribution in New Mexico, and much of the drugs coming into San Juan County are coming from Phoenix, passing through Albuquerque and then being transported into San Juan County via Highway 550. Drugs continue to be transported to the area from Mexico after going through California.Albuquerque is seeing more “enforcers,” or cartel members who resort to kidnappings and violence on order of the cartel leaders in Mexico, Haws said.

While some of the drugs reaching the county stay in the area and are sold to local drug addicts, much of the drugs are further distributed to other states such as Colorado, Utah, Missouri and the Dakotas.

“We are definitely a distribution hub here,” he said.

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Addressing why our area makes a good distribution hub, he said that the cartel members find it easy to import the drugs via wide-open New Mexico roads and reservation lands, and storage of drugs is also relatively easy here.

Obtaining fake documentation is also easy to obtain in this area, despite Bloomfield taking away the ability of illegal aliens to obtain driver’s licenses.

“One of the best forgers in the area lives in Shiprock and works by the side of the road. For $30, it’s possible for someone to get a whole new identity from this person,” he said.

Drug trendsWhile Region II has seen a slight increase in the use and distribution of heroin, he says methamphetamine remains the drug of choice in San Juan County, and that 98 percent of the drug cases Region II works on involve meth.

What is changing, he said, is the purity of the meth coming into the county.“The purity here in San Juan County amazes the rest of the state,” he said.“We’re seeing 94-98 percent purity here, and one recent sample sent to the DEA lab was 100 percent pure. The DEA didn’t even know this level of purity was possible.”

One of the challenges for local cartel members is getting the drug money back to Mexico. Bulk cash smuggling is one way to do this, but a relatively recent trend is to utilize money remitters such as Western Union and local businesses.

“The cartels know how to stay under the radar, and they’ll repeatedly wire $999 back to Mexico to avoid reporting requirements. Since no reporting is required for this amount, the transfers are hard to detect.”

Drug-related crimesDrug-related crimes such as kidnapping, homicide and money laundering are picking up in the county, he says.

One local family consisting of a father, an uncle and a cousin, were all recently kidnapped and taken to Mexico, according to Region II sources.

The family members were never seen again, and are believed to have been killed.“Crimes like these are usually perpetrated by the cartels against undocumented Mexican nationals, so it makes it hard to positively identify a lot of the victims,” he said.

The FBI has been involved in some of the Mexican-on-Mexican investigations, but without a U.S. citizen nexus, their hands are somewhat tied.

“We’re also seeing a lot of extortion cases,” he said.

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“The cartel members might get a small local business to illegally transfer too much money on one occasion, then will extort them to continue the transfers, using the company’s fear of getting into legal trouble.”

Other strong-arm methods of local cartels are to kick gang members out of their homes and move their own families in.

“The gang family may be having some debt issues, and the cartel member will just say, get out, we’re moving in,’” he said.

Fear of cartel violence prevents others from fighting back or reporting these activities, making it difficult for Region II to secure witnesses and informants.

The Director said money laundering is also “huge” in Bloomfield, and that the cartels are using small businesses like clothing shops to launder their drug money.

Investigating and apprehending cartel-related individuals is an extremely dangerous business for Region II and other law enforcement officials.

“We have to always be extremely careful, as each and every one of these guys has multiple guns, and they don’t care about anything or anybody. Even though many of them have families here, they don’t care as much about their wives or their kids as their money. They’ll do anything for the money and to stay alive,” he said.

Federal presence“What we don’t have in this county and what is desperately needed is a stronger federal presence,” he said. While there is an effective FBI office in Farmington, much of the agents’ responsibilities are devoted to investigating crimes on the Indian Reservation and they lack the manpower to fully tackle the cartel issues in the county.

What is most needed, he said, is a federal magistrate.

“We’ve been trying to get a federal magistrate here for years, and have shown through cases and sheer numbers that we have a serious drug problem here. A federal magistrate is warranted, but we’re still fighting this battle.”

Despite the presence of a federal magistrate’s office located in Durango, it can only be utilized only for Colorado cases unless an interstate nexus can be demonstrated.

Some temporary help has come in the form of five Homeland Security investigators who have arrived to work with Region II for the next month, and they are reviewing many of Region’s open drug cases.

A serious warningThe Director made an ominous prediction that Bloomfield will continue to see an increase in Mexican cartel presence and drug-related violence.

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“These people are already here in Bloomfield and in nearby towns, and although most of the violence has involved non-U.S. citizens, I believe it’s just a matter of time before what’s happening in the U.S. towns bordering Mexico will start to happen here, and our citizens will start to be affected more and more. The problem is here. It’s real. And it’s what we’re dealing with every day,” he said.

What can be doneAt the conclusion of his presentation, Bloomfield City Manager asked what the council can do to help, and asked if a resolution which could be taken to other officials, senators and pertinent groups would assist with efforts to secure a federal magistrate for the area.

“That would definitely help,” said the Director.

“Without a federal hammer’ to help us with our efforts, we don’t have the manpower or resources to keep going after the cartel once some are taken down. They just keep springing up and replacing each other.”

The Mayor agreed that it would be productive to draft a resolution expressing the importance of a local federal magistrate, and the Director stated that he would provide the Council with additional statistical information needed to bolster the resolution’s statement about the need for a federal magistrate.

The Director has also been coordinating with Farmington officials and with the San Juan County Sheriff’s Office to lobby for a federal magistrate, but stated that it would be a tremendous help if everyone could come together to try to work toward this goal.

“Everyone has been doing what they can, but this is a huge problem. We just need to be aware of what we may be facing in the future.” he said.

The Mayor found his presentation to be eye-opening.

“I frankly found it a little alarming, as the activities he was describing are not things we see on a day-to-day basis,” he said.

“If it’s true, and I believe it is, the situation is worse than I thought it was. I think a resolution which we could get other elected officials to sign would be very effective, and if there’s something else we can do to help, we’ll do it.”

The Police Chief agreed.

“These cartel members are hiding in plain sight, and if we don’t figure out a way to stiffen our laws within New Mexico, these cartel activities will start to affect all of us. Law enforcement is understaffed, and we’re going to have to find a way to get ahead of the issue. I’m glad the city is taking a stance on this, and I look forward to working with the city to combat the problem,” he said.

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Source: [www.standupamericaus.org/terror-jihad/new-mexico-now-pleads-for-help-drug-cartel-terror]Return to Contents

4. Mexico’s Top 2 Crime Gangs Engaged in Turf War (JAL)

01 December 2011Anchorage Daily News

GUADALAJARA, Mexico - Mexico's two most powerful criminal gangs are locked in a titanic battle for control of the country's heartland in a struggle that's redrawn Mexico's map of violence.Violence has dropped along the U.S. border, with Ciudad Juarez, once considered the most violent city in the world, seeing a 35 percent decline in homicides this year.

That good news is balanced by bad news in Guadalajara, Culiacan and Veracruz, where the Sinaloa cartel, whose bulwark has always been Mexico's Pacific coast, and the Zetas, a violent gang that originally was created to protect the Gulf cartel along the Gulf of Mexico coast, are locked in a spiraling struggle that's seen each gang invade the other's territory.

The conflict has thrust Guadalajara, an important manufacturing center of 4.4 million people, into the battlefield. After overcoming a spate of drug violence in the mid-1980s, Guadalajara quieted down, perhaps because the Sinaloa cartel held a monopoly on operations in the surrounding state of Jalisco.

"Here in Jalisco, we've seen this as a distant thing. 'Oh, this is happening over in Michoacan.' It felt like it was far away," said Dante Haro Reyes, a law professor and public security expert at the University of Guadalajara. "Now it feels like it's around the corner."

The wakeup call came at daybreak Nov. 24, when mobsters abandoned three vehicles filled with 26 dead bodies at the iconic bright-yellow Millennium Arches that straddle a Guadalajara thoroughfare. A message on a poster board was signed "Z," a signature of Los Zetas.

Boasting of their penetration deep into Sinaloa turf, the Zetas claimed to be "the strongest cartel at the national level, the only cartel that doesn't pass information to the gringos," a reference to the son of a Sinaloa boss who claims to have been a Drug Enforcement Administration informant before his 2009 arrest.

Just a day earlier, the Zetas had dealt another blow to Sinaloa, leaving a truck filled with 16 charred bodies in Culiacan, the capital of Sinaloa state, from which the Sinaloa cartel takes its name.

The war between the groups - clearly the alpha dogs of Mexico's underworld - pits not just weapons but also two very different business models and geographic strongholds.

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"This is a kind of death struggle, a definitive struggle between the Zetas, who have no remorse and expand constantly, and Sinaloa, which is trying to consolidate itself," said Bruce Bagley, an organized crime and narcotics expert at the University of Miami.

Sinaloa operatives appear to have set off the conflict over the summer, forming a group called "Matazetas," or Zeta Killers, to exterminate Zetas in Veracruz, a Gulf Coast state that's a bottleneck on a key smuggling route. The group went public in a big way at afternoon rush hour on Sept. 20, parking three vehicles packed with dead bodies near an urban underpass. Security agents found 35 victims at the grisly scene, nearly all asphyxiated and partially naked.

The "Zeta Killers" released videos of masked gunmen promising to hunt down Zetas and end their rampant extortion in Veracruz against common people.

Even as they execute plenty of their own rivals, Sinaloa bosses are thought to detest the brutality of the Zetas, which they think brings increased law enforcement pressure on crime groups."The Matazetas quite clearly tried to win a kind of public approval and government tolerance. They said, 'Get out of our way and we'll take care of this problem,'" Bagley said.

With the latest Zetas blows against Sinaloa, experts say tit-for-tat violence is taking on its own momentum.

"The theory going around is that this is a battle for total control," Haro Reyes said, adding that reprisals wouldn't take long to occur. "When you get attacked on your own territory, you've got to attack in your rival's territory or you look weak."

Sinaloa and the Zetas have vastly different histories.

Smugglers from Sinaloa began packing marijuana northward half a century ago. Today, the Sinaloa cartel's tentacles loop as far as Australia and West Africa, making it the most powerful drug syndicate in Mexico, and perhaps the world. The group, which is also known as The Federation, is loosely organized and more inclined to negotiate with rivals and bribe authorities.In comparison, the Zetas are upstarts. A militia formed by former Mexican special forces commandos recruited to protect the Gulf Cartel, the Zetas broke away early last year. Unlike the Sinaloa crime group, which sticks largely to drug trafficking, the Zetas branched into extortion, kidnapping, human smuggling and the sale of pirated goods. Brutality and beheadings have become their hallmark.

Only a year or two ago, Mexico had half a dozen significant crime groups, including the Tijuana, Juarez, Beltran Leyva and La Familia Michoacana cartels. Security forces have crippled some of those groups through arrests and killings, while others have splintered, leaving remnants to struggle for allies.

One of those fragmentations occurred in Guadalajara after the slaying of Sinaloa boss Ignacio Coronel on July 29, 2010. Some of his enforcers have allied with another group, Milenio, and moved under the umbrella of Los Zetas.

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If the Zetas win control of Jalisco state, their territory would bisect Mexico, stretching from Tamaulipas along the Gulf Coast through San Luis Potosi and into Jalisco, giving them access to Manzanillo, the nation's busiest port.

While body dumps are becoming common in central Mexico, residents of Ciudad Juarez, where homicides have dropped this year, are finding unusual periods of calm. For 65 hours over Nov. 19 to 21, Juarez tallied no homicides at all, the longest such period in three years.

"There are clear signs of Ciudad Juarez's recovery," Gov. Cesar Duarte of Chihuahua state said last week. "Instead of streets congested with security forces, we have restaurants congested with clients."

To be sure, Ciudad Juarez has tallied 1,832 killings so far this year, an unacceptable rate of about 5.5 homicides day. But the trend line heartens residents.

Ciudad Juarez's police chief, Julian Leyzaola, a former army lieutenant colonel who gained notoriety for tough tactics in quelling crime in Tijuana in an earlier posting there, notes that the drop in murders coincides with his arrival in March.

There may be other reasons, however. The Sinaloa Cartel appears to have reached a settlement with onetime rival cartels in Tijuana and Juarez, negotiating a 60-40 split in drug trafficking profits, "with Sinaloa taking the lion's share," Bagley said.

The agreements may explain why Ciudad Juarez and border areas to the west all the way to Tijuana on the Pacific coast have seen violence drop, he said.

Source: [www.adn.com/2011/11/30/2197201/mexicos-top-2-crime-gangs-engaged.html]Return to Contents