Via CNN -
Mexican army special forces have arrested a top lieutenant for alleged drug kingpin Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, the Defense Ministry said Monday.
Troops arrested Felipe Cabrera Sarabia on Friday in "a surgical operation in Cuiliacan" in the northwestern state of Sinaloa, said Ricardo Trevilla Trejo, a Defense Ministry spokesman.
Cabrera, who was responsible for the activities of the Pacific Cartel in Durango and the southern part of the state of Chihuahua, was detained after fleeing from Durango, Trevilla told reporters.
"The analysis of his behavior permitted (us) to find the building where he was hiding" and Cabrera was taken into custody without violence, Trevilla said. Firearms, computer equipment and other documentation were seized, too, he said.
Cabrera, who appeared Monday in the office of a prosecutor who specializes in organized crime, was responsible for Guzman's security in Durango, the state-run Notimex news agency said.
[...]
Guzman, who is under indictment by U.S. authorities in Chicago, New York and Los Angeles, is described by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration as one of "the most powerful drug traffickers in Mexico." In 2004, the U.S. government announced a $5 million reward for information leading to his arrest and conviction.
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Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman heads Mexico's and the world's largest and most powerful drug trafficking organization, the Sinaloa Cartel, named after the Mexican Pacific coast state of Sinaloa where it was initially formed.
Showing posts with label Mexico. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Mexico. Show all posts
Monday, December 26, 2011
Monday, December 19, 2011
Mexico Drug Cartels Kidnap Telecommunication Workers to Build Private Phone Networks
Via NPR (Dec 9th, 2011) -
The Mexican military has recently broken up several secret telecommunications networks that were built and controlled by drug cartels so they could coordinate drug shipments, monitor their rivals and orchestrate attacks on the security forces.
A network that was dismantled just last week provided cartel members with cellphone and radio communications across four northeastern states. The network had coverage along almost 500 miles of the Texas border and extended nearly another 500 miles into Mexico's interior.
Soldiers seized 167 antennas, more than 150 repeaters and thousands of cellphones and radios that operated on the system. Some of the remote antennas and relay stations were powered with solar panels.
In announcing the operation, a spokesman for the Mexican army in Monterrey, Maj. Margarito Mendez Guijon, said the clandestine system allowed organized criminals to communicate throughout all of northeast Mexico.
[...]
Kidnappings Linked To Technical Needs
Stewart says these networks are relatively simple to build and often use commercially available equipment. But the Zetas still needed technicians and engineers to design, construct and maintain their system.
And it appears that they got at least some of this expertise through kidnappings.
Over the past two years, at least 13 cellphone network technicians have been abducted in northeastern Mexico. None of them have returned alive. Two radio communication specialists working for the state-run oil company Pemex disappeared in 2010 and were later found dead. The other 11 remain missing.
In the northeastern state of Coahuila, Blanca Martinez works with a support group for family members of the disappeared. She says in 2009, a group of Nextel technicians who were repairing cell towers in Tamaulipas were abducted from their hotel. Martinez says it wasn't a normal kidnapping.
She says there has never been a ransom demand in any of the cases involving telecommunications workers. Martinez says this is quite unusual in kidnappings. Wives of several missing Nextel workers say they believe their husbands are still being forced to work for the cartels.
The Mexican military has recently broken up several secret telecommunications networks that were built and controlled by drug cartels so they could coordinate drug shipments, monitor their rivals and orchestrate attacks on the security forces.
A network that was dismantled just last week provided cartel members with cellphone and radio communications across four northeastern states. The network had coverage along almost 500 miles of the Texas border and extended nearly another 500 miles into Mexico's interior.
Soldiers seized 167 antennas, more than 150 repeaters and thousands of cellphones and radios that operated on the system. Some of the remote antennas and relay stations were powered with solar panels.
In announcing the operation, a spokesman for the Mexican army in Monterrey, Maj. Margarito Mendez Guijon, said the clandestine system allowed organized criminals to communicate throughout all of northeast Mexico.
[...]
Kidnappings Linked To Technical Needs
Stewart says these networks are relatively simple to build and often use commercially available equipment. But the Zetas still needed technicians and engineers to design, construct and maintain their system.
And it appears that they got at least some of this expertise through kidnappings.
Over the past two years, at least 13 cellphone network technicians have been abducted in northeastern Mexico. None of them have returned alive. Two radio communication specialists working for the state-run oil company Pemex disappeared in 2010 and were later found dead. The other 11 remain missing.
In the northeastern state of Coahuila, Blanca Martinez works with a support group for family members of the disappeared. She says in 2009, a group of Nextel technicians who were repairing cell towers in Tamaulipas were abducted from their hotel. Martinez says it wasn't a normal kidnapping.
She says there has never been a ransom demand in any of the cases involving telecommunications workers. Martinez says this is quite unusual in kidnappings. Wives of several missing Nextel workers say they believe their husbands are still being forced to work for the cartels.
Monday, December 12, 2011
Mexico's Navy Captures Zetas Leader "El Lucky"
Via Reuters (Dec 12, 2011) -
Mexico's navy captured a leader of the Zetas drug cartel, Raul Fernandez, President Felipe Calderon said on Monday via his Twitter account.
Fernandez, who is also known as "El Lucky" (The Lucky One), had a bounty of 15 million pesos ($1.09 million) on his head, operated in the Gulf state of Veracruz as well as the central state of Puebla and Oaxaca state in the south, Calderon said.
The Zetas, formed at the end of the 1990s by deserters from elite army forces, are believed to have been behind some of the bloodiest crimes against civilians in recent years including the arson attack on a casino in northern Mexico that killed 52 people in August.
Since sending in the army five years ago to crack down on cartel activity, Calderon has made a point of targeting top leaders. With Fernandez's capture, Calderon said the government had accounted for 22 of Mexico's 37 most-wanted drug lords.
-------------------------------------------------
Raúl Lucio Fernandez-Lechuga (alias El Lucky) was a Mexican drug lord of the Los Zetas. He was captured on Monday 12th December 2011. The government of Mexico has listed Fernandez-Lechuga as one of its 37 most wanted drug lords and offers the equivalent of over $2 million USD for information leading to his capture.
Mexico's navy captured a leader of the Zetas drug cartel, Raul Fernandez, President Felipe Calderon said on Monday via his Twitter account.
Fernandez, who is also known as "El Lucky" (The Lucky One), had a bounty of 15 million pesos ($1.09 million) on his head, operated in the Gulf state of Veracruz as well as the central state of Puebla and Oaxaca state in the south, Calderon said.
The Zetas, formed at the end of the 1990s by deserters from elite army forces, are believed to have been behind some of the bloodiest crimes against civilians in recent years including the arson attack on a casino in northern Mexico that killed 52 people in August.
Since sending in the army five years ago to crack down on cartel activity, Calderon has made a point of targeting top leaders. With Fernandez's capture, Calderon said the government had accounted for 22 of Mexico's 37 most-wanted drug lords.
-------------------------------------------------
Raúl Lucio Fernandez-Lechuga (alias El Lucky) was a Mexican drug lord of the Los Zetas. He was captured on Monday 12th December 2011. The government of Mexico has listed Fernandez-Lechuga as one of its 37 most wanted drug lords and offers the equivalent of over $2 million USD for information leading to his capture.
Wednesday, December 7, 2011
Mexico: Gadhafi Son Tried to Enter Country Under False Name
Via Google News (AP) -
Mexico said Wednesday that a son of the late Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi and three relatives had plotted to sneak into Mexico under false names and take clandestine refuge at a posh Pacific coast resort.
The elaborate plan to bring al-Saadi Gadhafi to Mexico allegedly involved two Mexicans, a Canadian and a Danish suspect, all of whom have been detained, Interior Secretary Alejandro Poire said.
He did not reveal which relatives had planned to accompany Al-Saadi Gadhafi, who is known for his love of professional soccer and run-ins with police in Europe.
The plot was uncovered by Mexican intelligence agents in early September as al-Saadi was fleeing Libya shortly after his father's ouster. He never made it to Mexico, but did reach the Western African country of Niger, where he has been living.
The plotters allegedly jetted into Mexico, opened bank accounts and bought properties meant to be used as safe houses in several parts of the country, including one at a resort on Mexico's Pacific coast.
"The large economic resources which this criminal organization has, or had, allowed them to contract private flights," Poire told a news conference.
Poire said the leader of the plot was a Canadian woman he identified as Cynthia Vanier. He said she had been detained on Nov. 10 and is being held, along with three other suspects, under a form of house arrest on suspicion of using false documents, human smuggling and organized crime.
Poire said Vanier "was the direct contact with the Gadhafi family and the leader of the group, and presumably was the person in charge of the finances of the operation.
The plot also allegedly involved a Mexican woman who lived in the United States, who Poire said served as the liaison to obtain the falsified Mexican identity documents.
A Danish man was "the logistic liaison" for the plan, Poire said. He said the alleged conspirators also traveled to Kosovo "and several Middle Eastern countries."
"The activities of the criminal organization in our country included the falsification of official documents, the opening of bank accounts with false documents (and) the purchase of real estate that was intended, among other things, to serve as a residence for the Gadhafi family at a house located in the zone of the Bahia de Banderas," just north of the resort of Puerto Vallarta, Poire said.
The Mexican officials made no mention of Moammar Gadhafi himself being involved in the plan, and Poire did not say which relatives might have planned to accompany the son to Mexico. The elder Gadhafi was ousted from power in late August and was captured and killed in Libya on Oct. 20.
Mexico said Wednesday that a son of the late Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi and three relatives had plotted to sneak into Mexico under false names and take clandestine refuge at a posh Pacific coast resort.
The elaborate plan to bring al-Saadi Gadhafi to Mexico allegedly involved two Mexicans, a Canadian and a Danish suspect, all of whom have been detained, Interior Secretary Alejandro Poire said.
He did not reveal which relatives had planned to accompany Al-Saadi Gadhafi, who is known for his love of professional soccer and run-ins with police in Europe.
The plot was uncovered by Mexican intelligence agents in early September as al-Saadi was fleeing Libya shortly after his father's ouster. He never made it to Mexico, but did reach the Western African country of Niger, where he has been living.
The plotters allegedly jetted into Mexico, opened bank accounts and bought properties meant to be used as safe houses in several parts of the country, including one at a resort on Mexico's Pacific coast.
"The large economic resources which this criminal organization has, or had, allowed them to contract private flights," Poire told a news conference.
Poire said the leader of the plot was a Canadian woman he identified as Cynthia Vanier. He said she had been detained on Nov. 10 and is being held, along with three other suspects, under a form of house arrest on suspicion of using false documents, human smuggling and organized crime.
Poire said Vanier "was the direct contact with the Gadhafi family and the leader of the group, and presumably was the person in charge of the finances of the operation.
The plot also allegedly involved a Mexican woman who lived in the United States, who Poire said served as the liaison to obtain the falsified Mexican identity documents.
A Danish man was "the logistic liaison" for the plan, Poire said. He said the alleged conspirators also traveled to Kosovo "and several Middle Eastern countries."
"The activities of the criminal organization in our country included the falsification of official documents, the opening of bank accounts with false documents (and) the purchase of real estate that was intended, among other things, to serve as a residence for the Gadhafi family at a house located in the zone of the Bahia de Banderas," just north of the resort of Puerto Vallarta, Poire said.
The Mexican officials made no mention of Moammar Gadhafi himself being involved in the plan, and Poire did not say which relatives might have planned to accompany the son to Mexico. The elder Gadhafi was ousted from power in late August and was captured and killed in Libya on Oct. 20.
Monday, December 5, 2011
Operation Northeast: Mexican Military Dismantles Clandestine Radio Networks
Via Valley Central (AP) -
The Mexican army says its troops have dismantled a telecommunications system set up by organized crime in four northern states.
A Defense Department statement Thursday says soldiers confiscated 167 antennas and 166 power supplies that gang members used to communicate among themselves and to monitor military movements.
The operation also netted more than 1,400 radios and 2,600 cellphones in the border states of Tamaulipas, Nuevo Leon and Coahuila and in the state of San Luis Potosi.
The army hasn't said which cartel was affected.
During the summer, Mexico's navy dismantled a communication system used by the Zetas cartel in the Gulf state of Veracruz.
The Zetas have a strong presence in all four of the states involved in the army's operation.
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Official Statement (Spanish)
http://www.sedena.gob.mx/index.php/sala-de-prensa/comunicados-de-prensa-de-los-mandos-territoriales/8104-1-de-diciembre-de-2011-monterrey-nl
Google Translated Version (English)
http://translate.google.com/translate?sl=auto&tl=en&js=n&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&layout=2&eotf=1&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.sedena.gob.mx%2Findex.php%2Fsala-de-prensa%2Fcomunicados-de-prensa-de-los-mandos-territoriales%2F8104-1-de-diciembre-de-2011-monterrey-nl&act=url
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By being able to maintain their communication capabilities isolated from public telecommunication infrastructure, such as mobile operators, the cartels are able to communicate between members and cells spread across their territory with minimal risk of interception or detection.
The Mexican army says its troops have dismantled a telecommunications system set up by organized crime in four northern states.
A Defense Department statement Thursday says soldiers confiscated 167 antennas and 166 power supplies that gang members used to communicate among themselves and to monitor military movements.
The operation also netted more than 1,400 radios and 2,600 cellphones in the border states of Tamaulipas, Nuevo Leon and Coahuila and in the state of San Luis Potosi.
The army hasn't said which cartel was affected.
During the summer, Mexico's navy dismantled a communication system used by the Zetas cartel in the Gulf state of Veracruz.
The Zetas have a strong presence in all four of the states involved in the army's operation.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Official Statement (Spanish)
http://www.sedena.gob.mx/index.php/sala-de-prensa/comunicados-de-prensa-de-los-mandos-territoriales/8104-1-de-diciembre-de-2011-monterrey-nl
Google Translated Version (English)
http://translate.google.com/translate?sl=auto&tl=en&js=n&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&layout=2&eotf=1&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.sedena.gob.mx%2Findex.php%2Fsala-de-prensa%2Fcomunicados-de-prensa-de-los-mandos-territoriales%2F8104-1-de-diciembre-de-2011-monterrey-nl&act=url
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By being able to maintain their communication capabilities isolated from public telecommunication infrastructure, such as mobile operators, the cartels are able to communicate between members and cells spread across their territory with minimal risk of interception or detection.
Thursday, December 1, 2011
STRATFOR Above the Tearline: Mexican Cartel Violence In Texas
http://www.stratfor.com/analysis/20111129-above-tearline-mexican-cartel-violence-texas
In this week’s Above the Tearline, we are going to look at an incident that appears to be a Mexican cartel-related murder in Texas.
Last Monday, in the Houston area, several undercover officers from a High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas Task Force (known as a HIDTA) were following a tractor-trailer from south Texas transporting drugs in an undercover operation. Four suspects ambushed the truck, firing shoulder weapons, shooting and wounding a task force police officer and killing the driver, who media have identified as an undercover government informant.
Read more: Above the Tearline: Mexican Cartel Violence In Texas | STRATFOR
In this week’s Above the Tearline, we are going to look at an incident that appears to be a Mexican cartel-related murder in Texas.
Last Monday, in the Houston area, several undercover officers from a High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas Task Force (known as a HIDTA) were following a tractor-trailer from south Texas transporting drugs in an undercover operation. Four suspects ambushed the truck, firing shoulder weapons, shooting and wounding a task force police officer and killing the driver, who media have identified as an undercover government informant.
Read more: Above the Tearline: Mexican Cartel Violence In Texas | STRATFOR
Saturday, October 29, 2011
Anonymous Threatens to Expose Zeta Cartel's Secrets
Via Houston Chronicle (Oct 28, 2011) -
An international group of online hackers is warning a Mexican drug cartel to release one of its members, kidnapped from a street protest, or it will publish the identities and addresses of the syndicate's associates, from corrupt police to taxi drivers, as well as reveal the syndicates' businesses.
The vow is a bizarre cyber twist to Mexico's ongoing drug war, as a group that has no guns is squaring off against the Zetas, a cartel blamed for thousands of deaths as well as introducing beheadings and other frightening brutality.
[...]
He also implies that the group will expose mainstream journalists who are somehow in cahoots with the Zetas by writing negative articles about the military, the country's biggest fist in the drug war.
"We demand his release," says the Anonymous spokesman, who is wearing a mask like the one worn by the shadowy revolutionary character in the movie V for Vendetta, which came out in 2006. "If anything happens to him, you sons of (expletive) will always remember this upcoming November 5."
The person reportedly kidnapped is not named, and the video does not share information about the kidnapping other than that it occurred in the Mexican state of Veracruz during a street protest.
Anonymous draws its roots from an online forum dedicated to bringing sensitive government documents and other material to light.
If Anonymous can make good on its threats to publish names, it will "most certainly" lead to more deaths and could leave bloggers and others open to reprisal attacks by the cartel, contends Stratfor, an Austin-based global intelligence company.
"In this viral world on the Internet, it shows how much damage could be done with just one statement on the Web," said Fred Burton of Stratfor, which published a report Friday that probes the implications of the cartel drawing the activists' ire.
Mike Vigil, the retired head of international operations for the Drug Enforcement Administration, said the Zetas must take Anonymous seriously.
"It is a gutsy move," Vigil said. "By publishing the names, they identify them to rivals, and trust me, they will go after them."
An international group of online hackers is warning a Mexican drug cartel to release one of its members, kidnapped from a street protest, or it will publish the identities and addresses of the syndicate's associates, from corrupt police to taxi drivers, as well as reveal the syndicates' businesses.
The vow is a bizarre cyber twist to Mexico's ongoing drug war, as a group that has no guns is squaring off against the Zetas, a cartel blamed for thousands of deaths as well as introducing beheadings and other frightening brutality.
[...]
He also implies that the group will expose mainstream journalists who are somehow in cahoots with the Zetas by writing negative articles about the military, the country's biggest fist in the drug war.
"We demand his release," says the Anonymous spokesman, who is wearing a mask like the one worn by the shadowy revolutionary character in the movie V for Vendetta, which came out in 2006. "If anything happens to him, you sons of (expletive) will always remember this upcoming November 5."
The person reportedly kidnapped is not named, and the video does not share information about the kidnapping other than that it occurred in the Mexican state of Veracruz during a street protest.
Anonymous draws its roots from an online forum dedicated to bringing sensitive government documents and other material to light.
If Anonymous can make good on its threats to publish names, it will "most certainly" lead to more deaths and could leave bloggers and others open to reprisal attacks by the cartel, contends Stratfor, an Austin-based global intelligence company.
"In this viral world on the Internet, it shows how much damage could be done with just one statement on the Web," said Fred Burton of Stratfor, which published a report Friday that probes the implications of the cartel drawing the activists' ire.
Mike Vigil, the retired head of international operations for the Drug Enforcement Administration, said the Zetas must take Anonymous seriously.
"It is a gutsy move," Vigil said. "By publishing the names, they identify them to rivals, and trust me, they will go after them."
Friday, October 28, 2011
STRATFOR: Dissecting a Mexican Cartel Bombing in Monterrey
Via STRATFOR (Security Weekly) -
Early Oct. 20, a small sedan apparently filled with cartel gunmen rapidly pulled in front of a military vehicle, drawing the military patrol into a car chase in downtown Monterrey, Mexico. After a brief pursuit, the vehicle carrying the cartel gunmen turned at an intersection. As the military vehicle slowed to negotiate the turn, an improvised explosive device (IED) concealed in a parked car at the intersection detonated. The incident appears to have been intended to lure the military patrol into a designated attack zone. While the ambush did not kill any soldiers, it did cause them to break off their chase.
Though this IED ambush is interesting in itself for a number of reasons, we would like to use it as a lens to explore a deeper topic, namely, how STRATFOR analyzes a tactical incident like this.
Read more: Dissecting a Mexican Cartel Bombing in Monterrey | STRATFOR
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STRATFOR Dispatch: Implications of a Mexican Drug Lord's Capture
http://www.stratfor.com/analysis/20111027-dispatch-implications-mexican-drug-lords-capture
Early Oct. 20, a small sedan apparently filled with cartel gunmen rapidly pulled in front of a military vehicle, drawing the military patrol into a car chase in downtown Monterrey, Mexico. After a brief pursuit, the vehicle carrying the cartel gunmen turned at an intersection. As the military vehicle slowed to negotiate the turn, an improvised explosive device (IED) concealed in a parked car at the intersection detonated. The incident appears to have been intended to lure the military patrol into a designated attack zone. While the ambush did not kill any soldiers, it did cause them to break off their chase.
Though this IED ambush is interesting in itself for a number of reasons, we would like to use it as a lens to explore a deeper topic, namely, how STRATFOR analyzes a tactical incident like this.
Read more: Dissecting a Mexican Cartel Bombing in Monterrey | STRATFOR
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STRATFOR Dispatch: Implications of a Mexican Drug Lord's Capture
http://www.stratfor.com/analysis/20111027-dispatch-implications-mexican-drug-lords-capture
Vice President of Tactical Intelligence Scott Stewart discusses the arrest of Rafael Cardenas Vela and what it means for the Gulf Cartel and for security in Mexico’s northeast.
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
Friday, October 21, 2011
STRATFOR: Reflections on the Iranian Assassination Plot
Via STRATFOR (Security Weekly) -
On Oct. 11, the U.S. Department of Justice announced that two men had been charged in New York with taking part in a plot directed by the Iranian Quds Force to kill Saudi Arabia’s ambassador to the United States, Adel al-Jubeir, on U.S. soil.
Manssor Arbabsiar and Gholam Shakuri face numerous charges, including conspiracy to use a weapon of mass destruction (explosives), conspiracy to commit an act of terrorism transcending national borders and conspiracy to murder a foreign official. Arbabsiar, who was arrested Sept. 29 at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York, is a U.S. citizen with both Iranian and U.S. passports. Shakuri, who remains at large, allegedly is a senior officer in Iran’s Quds Force, a special unit of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) believed to promote military and terrorist activities abroad.
Between May and July, Arbabsiar, who lives in the United States, allegedly traveled several times to Mexico, where he met with a U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) confidential informant who was posing as an associate of the Mexican Los Zetas cartel. The criminal complaint charges that Arbabsiar attempted to hire the DEA source and his purported accomplices to kill the ambassador. Arbabsiar’s Iranian contacts allegedly wired two separate payments totaling $100,000 in August into an FBI-controlled bank account in the United States, with Shakuri’s approval, as a down payment to the DEA source for the killing (the agreed-upon total price was $1.5 million).
Much has been written about the Arbabsiar case, both by those who believe the U.S. government’s case is valid and by those who doubt the facts laid out in the criminal complaint. However, as we have watched this case unfold, along with the media coverage surrounding it, it has occurred to us that there are two aspects of the case that we think merit more discussion. The first is that, as history has shown, it is not unusual for Iran to employ unconventional assassins in plots inside the United States. Second, while the DEA informant was reportedly posing as a member of Los Zetas, we do not believe the case proves any sort of increase in the terrorist threat emanating from the United States’ southern border.
Read more: Reflections on the Iranian Assassination Plot | STRATFOR
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While many foreign policy and terrorism experts look at the recent alleged Iranian plot with skepticism, STRATFOR outlines similarities between the recent plot and previous Iranian assassination plots in both the US and Europe.
On Oct. 11, the U.S. Department of Justice announced that two men had been charged in New York with taking part in a plot directed by the Iranian Quds Force to kill Saudi Arabia’s ambassador to the United States, Adel al-Jubeir, on U.S. soil.
Manssor Arbabsiar and Gholam Shakuri face numerous charges, including conspiracy to use a weapon of mass destruction (explosives), conspiracy to commit an act of terrorism transcending national borders and conspiracy to murder a foreign official. Arbabsiar, who was arrested Sept. 29 at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York, is a U.S. citizen with both Iranian and U.S. passports. Shakuri, who remains at large, allegedly is a senior officer in Iran’s Quds Force, a special unit of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) believed to promote military and terrorist activities abroad.
Between May and July, Arbabsiar, who lives in the United States, allegedly traveled several times to Mexico, where he met with a U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) confidential informant who was posing as an associate of the Mexican Los Zetas cartel. The criminal complaint charges that Arbabsiar attempted to hire the DEA source and his purported accomplices to kill the ambassador. Arbabsiar’s Iranian contacts allegedly wired two separate payments totaling $100,000 in August into an FBI-controlled bank account in the United States, with Shakuri’s approval, as a down payment to the DEA source for the killing (the agreed-upon total price was $1.5 million).
Much has been written about the Arbabsiar case, both by those who believe the U.S. government’s case is valid and by those who doubt the facts laid out in the criminal complaint. However, as we have watched this case unfold, along with the media coverage surrounding it, it has occurred to us that there are two aspects of the case that we think merit more discussion. The first is that, as history has shown, it is not unusual for Iran to employ unconventional assassins in plots inside the United States. Second, while the DEA informant was reportedly posing as a member of Los Zetas, we do not believe the case proves any sort of increase in the terrorist threat emanating from the United States’ southern border.
Read more: Reflections on the Iranian Assassination Plot | STRATFOR
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While many foreign policy and terrorism experts look at the recent alleged Iranian plot with skepticism, STRATFOR outlines similarities between the recent plot and previous Iranian assassination plots in both the US and Europe.
Thursday, October 13, 2011
STRATFOR: Increased Cartel Violence in Mexico City
http://www.stratfor.com/analysis/20111012-above-tearline-increased-cartel-violence-mexico-city
Vice President of Intelligence Fred Burton examines two recent violent incidents in Mexico City that could indicate a tactical shift in cartel strategy.
Vice President of Intelligence Fred Burton examines two recent violent incidents in Mexico City that could indicate a tactical shift in cartel strategy.
Top Zetas Drug Cartel Leader Accused in Deadly Casino Attack Arrested
Via CNN -
A top Zetas drug cartel leader -- who allegedly ordered the attack and arson at a casino that killed 52 -- has been captured, Mexican defense officials said Thursday.
Carlos Oliva Castillo, alias "La rana," or frog, was arrested Wednesday at a safehouse without a single shot being fired, the country's Ministry of Defense said.
Possibly the No. 3 man in the criminal organization, Oliva Castillo allegedly oversaw criminal operations for the cartel in three Mexican states. He was captured in Saltillo, Mexico.
Though he was arrested without incident, the cartel tried to distract troops by attacking security forces in different parts of the city, the defense ministry said.
The Zetas' rescue ploy failed.
According to officials, Oliva Castillo was "the principal manager" of the ruthless Zetas in the states of Coahuila, Nuevo Leon and Tamaulipas. He was also described as a confidant of Zetas boss Heriberto Lazcano Lazcano.
Oliva Castilo began working for the Zetas in 2005 in Tamaulipas, the defense ministry said, and rose through the ranks quickly. By 2009 he was in charge of the cartel's finances in Nuevo Leon, before taking charge of all operations in that state, the ministry said. This year he assumed a wider role, the ministry said.
The three northeastern states that Oliva Castillo allegedly oversaw are some of the Zetas' strongest-held territory. Authorities say that much of the violence registered in these states is the result of the Zetas fighting rival groups such as the Gulf cartel and Sinaloa cartel, for access to lucrative smuggling routes.
But the Zetas -- especially in their strongholds -- have branched out from drug trafficking and into extortion of businesses, kidnappings, and human smuggling.
------------------------------------------------
This follows last week's arrest of Jose Alberto Loera Rodriguez, nicknamed "el Voltaje," (the Jock).
A top Zetas drug cartel leader -- who allegedly ordered the attack and arson at a casino that killed 52 -- has been captured, Mexican defense officials said Thursday.
Carlos Oliva Castillo, alias "La rana," or frog, was arrested Wednesday at a safehouse without a single shot being fired, the country's Ministry of Defense said.
Possibly the No. 3 man in the criminal organization, Oliva Castillo allegedly oversaw criminal operations for the cartel in three Mexican states. He was captured in Saltillo, Mexico.
Though he was arrested without incident, the cartel tried to distract troops by attacking security forces in different parts of the city, the defense ministry said.
The Zetas' rescue ploy failed.
According to officials, Oliva Castillo was "the principal manager" of the ruthless Zetas in the states of Coahuila, Nuevo Leon and Tamaulipas. He was also described as a confidant of Zetas boss Heriberto Lazcano Lazcano.
Oliva Castilo began working for the Zetas in 2005 in Tamaulipas, the defense ministry said, and rose through the ranks quickly. By 2009 he was in charge of the cartel's finances in Nuevo Leon, before taking charge of all operations in that state, the ministry said. This year he assumed a wider role, the ministry said.
The three northeastern states that Oliva Castillo allegedly oversaw are some of the Zetas' strongest-held territory. Authorities say that much of the violence registered in these states is the result of the Zetas fighting rival groups such as the Gulf cartel and Sinaloa cartel, for access to lucrative smuggling routes.
But the Zetas -- especially in their strongholds -- have branched out from drug trafficking and into extortion of businesses, kidnappings, and human smuggling.
------------------------------------------------
This follows last week's arrest of Jose Alberto Loera Rodriguez, nicknamed "el Voltaje," (the Jock).
Sunday, October 9, 2011
Top Cartel Figure Arrested In Mexico Casino Attack
Via KSat.com (Oct 4, 2010) -
Federal authorities have arrested one of the alleged leaders of a drug cartel thought to be behind the August attack and arson at a Monterrey casino that left 52 people dead, Mexico's news agency reported Tuesday.
Jose Alberto Loera Rodriguez, nicknamed "el Voltaje," (the Jock), 28, is one of the four reputed leaders of Los Zetas, and allegedly was one of those responsible for planning and carrying out the August 25 attack on the Casino Royale, according to Notimex.
The news agency quoted Luis Cárdenas Palomino, head of the Regional Security Division of the Federal Police, as saying a reward of up to 15 million pesos (about $1 million U.S.) was offered for information leading to Loera Rodriguez's capture.
So far, 14 people have been arrested in connection with the attack.
Five suspects, all suspected Zetas members, were arrested shortly after the incident. Investigators said the men told them they carried out the attack, which occurred in an upscale section of Monterrey, because the owners of the casino had not complied with their extortion demands.
On September 2, a Nuevo Leon state police officer, Miguel Angel Barraza Escamilla, was arrested and accused of being one of the occupants of three getaway cars parked outside, based on surveillance video footage of the entrance to the casino. (On September 15, three of Barraza's family members -- his father, stepmother and stepbrother -- were killed in what a state security spokesman said was "a revenge attack" by a local cartel).
Authorities said the casino's security video shows armed men arriving in the vehicles and carrying what appear to be gallons of gasoline. They burst into the casino and, seconds later, dozens of people flee the smoke and fire. The attack appeared to last 2½ minutes, based on the video.
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STRATFOR: Reconstructing the Monterrey Arson Attack from Surveillance Footage
Federal authorities have arrested one of the alleged leaders of a drug cartel thought to be behind the August attack and arson at a Monterrey casino that left 52 people dead, Mexico's news agency reported Tuesday.
Jose Alberto Loera Rodriguez, nicknamed "el Voltaje," (the Jock), 28, is one of the four reputed leaders of Los Zetas, and allegedly was one of those responsible for planning and carrying out the August 25 attack on the Casino Royale, according to Notimex.
The news agency quoted Luis Cárdenas Palomino, head of the Regional Security Division of the Federal Police, as saying a reward of up to 15 million pesos (about $1 million U.S.) was offered for information leading to Loera Rodriguez's capture.
So far, 14 people have been arrested in connection with the attack.
Five suspects, all suspected Zetas members, were arrested shortly after the incident. Investigators said the men told them they carried out the attack, which occurred in an upscale section of Monterrey, because the owners of the casino had not complied with their extortion demands.
On September 2, a Nuevo Leon state police officer, Miguel Angel Barraza Escamilla, was arrested and accused of being one of the occupants of three getaway cars parked outside, based on surveillance video footage of the entrance to the casino. (On September 15, three of Barraza's family members -- his father, stepmother and stepbrother -- were killed in what a state security spokesman said was "a revenge attack" by a local cartel).
Authorities said the casino's security video shows armed men arriving in the vehicles and carrying what appear to be gallons of gasoline. They burst into the casino and, seconds later, dozens of people flee the smoke and fire. The attack appeared to last 2½ minutes, based on the video.
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STRATFOR: Reconstructing the Monterrey Arson Attack from Surveillance Footage
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
Mexican Navy Smashes Zetas Cartel Communications Network
Via BBC -
The navy said it seized mobile radio transmitters and encryption equipment that the gang was using to coordinate its criminal activities.
At least 80 suspects have been arrested over the past month.
Founded by former army commandos, the Zetas are considered one of Mexico's most violent cartels.
Last month, the gang was blamed for an arson attack on a casino in the northern city of Monterrey which killed 52 people.
The Mexican navy said the operation against the Zetas in Veracruz was carried out by marine special forces after months of work by naval intelligence officers.
It said the gang had installed secure radio communications systems in at least 10 towns in Veracruz.
The network was being used to coordinate drug trafficking, kidnap, extortion and murder across much of the state.
Map of Mexico showing Veracruz
The equipment seized included high-powered transmitters, computers, radio scanners, encryption devices and solar power cells.
The immediate result of the operation was the disruption of the Zetas' "chain of command and tactical coordination" in Veracruz, navy spokesman Jose Luis Vergara said.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Borderland Beat has several videos showing the seized equipment.
The navy said it seized mobile radio transmitters and encryption equipment that the gang was using to coordinate its criminal activities.
At least 80 suspects have been arrested over the past month.
Founded by former army commandos, the Zetas are considered one of Mexico's most violent cartels.
Last month, the gang was blamed for an arson attack on a casino in the northern city of Monterrey which killed 52 people.
The Mexican navy said the operation against the Zetas in Veracruz was carried out by marine special forces after months of work by naval intelligence officers.
It said the gang had installed secure radio communications systems in at least 10 towns in Veracruz.
The network was being used to coordinate drug trafficking, kidnap, extortion and murder across much of the state.
Map of Mexico showing Veracruz
The equipment seized included high-powered transmitters, computers, radio scanners, encryption devices and solar power cells.
The immediate result of the operation was the disruption of the Zetas' "chain of command and tactical coordination" in Veracruz, navy spokesman Jose Luis Vergara said.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Borderland Beat has several videos showing the seized equipment.
Wednesday, August 31, 2011
STRATFOR: Reconstructing the Monterrey Arson Attack from Surveillance Footage
STRATFOR Vice President of Intelligence Fred Burton demonstrates how video surveillance footage is used to reconstruct the recent arson attack in Monterrey, Mexico.
http://www.stratfor.com/analysis/20110830-above-tearline-reconstructing-monterrey-arson-attack-surveillance-footage
http://www.stratfor.com/analysis/20110830-above-tearline-reconstructing-monterrey-arson-attack-surveillance-footage
Drug War Sparks Exodus of Affluent Mexicans
Via Washington Post -
For years, national security experts have warned that Mexico’s drug violence could send a wave of refugees fleeing to the United States. Now, the refugees are arriving — and they are driving BMWs and snapping up half-million-dollar homes.
Tens of thousands of well-off Mexicans have moved north of the border in a quiet exodus over the past few years, according to local officials, border experts and demographers. Unlike the much larger population of illegal immigrants, they are being warmly welcomed.
It goes counter to the conventional wisdom about the Mexican presence in the United States,” San Antonio Mayor Julian Castro said. The influx “is positive, it is entrepreneurial . . . and one of the keys to a very successful growing city like San Antonio.”
Castro estimates that Mexicans own at least 50,000 of the approximately 500,000 homes and apartments in his city of 1.3 million, which has a vibrant Hispanic culture. Many are in gated communities that have sprung up in the city’s sun-baked northern hills.
[...]
Affluent Mexicans have long visited the United States for business and shopping. What’s different now is that they are coming to stay, fleeing cartel wars that have left more than 37,000 Mexicans dead in four years, according to U.S. and Mexican officials and analysts. The number of investment visas granted to Mexicans has risen sharply over the past five years.
“It’s a very substantial flow; I would say probably the largest since the 1920s, the last great period of upheaval in Mexico,” said Henry Cisneros, a former mayor of San Antonio who served in President Clinton’s Cabinet. “We have whole areas of San Antonio that are being transformed.”
The size of the new wave is difficult to measure, since some of the new arrivals hold dual citizenship or U.S. work visas or already had American vacation homes. One Mexican think tank, the Security and Civic Culture Observatory, estimated last year that 230,000 people had fled the violence-wracked border city of Juarez, with half going across Mexico’s northern border.
But Aaron Terrazas, a policy analyst at the Washington-based Migration Policy Institute, found in a recent study that most of those fleeing Juarez appeared to be moving to other parts of Chihuahua state, not the United States. Still, Terrazas said he found a noticeable increase in one segment of those actually leaving Chihuahua: “the highly educated.”
For years, national security experts have warned that Mexico’s drug violence could send a wave of refugees fleeing to the United States. Now, the refugees are arriving — and they are driving BMWs and snapping up half-million-dollar homes.
Tens of thousands of well-off Mexicans have moved north of the border in a quiet exodus over the past few years, according to local officials, border experts and demographers. Unlike the much larger population of illegal immigrants, they are being warmly welcomed.
It goes counter to the conventional wisdom about the Mexican presence in the United States,” San Antonio Mayor Julian Castro said. The influx “is positive, it is entrepreneurial . . . and one of the keys to a very successful growing city like San Antonio.”
Castro estimates that Mexicans own at least 50,000 of the approximately 500,000 homes and apartments in his city of 1.3 million, which has a vibrant Hispanic culture. Many are in gated communities that have sprung up in the city’s sun-baked northern hills.
[...]
Affluent Mexicans have long visited the United States for business and shopping. What’s different now is that they are coming to stay, fleeing cartel wars that have left more than 37,000 Mexicans dead in four years, according to U.S. and Mexican officials and analysts. The number of investment visas granted to Mexicans has risen sharply over the past five years.
“It’s a very substantial flow; I would say probably the largest since the 1920s, the last great period of upheaval in Mexico,” said Henry Cisneros, a former mayor of San Antonio who served in President Clinton’s Cabinet. “We have whole areas of San Antonio that are being transformed.”
The size of the new wave is difficult to measure, since some of the new arrivals hold dual citizenship or U.S. work visas or already had American vacation homes. One Mexican think tank, the Security and Civic Culture Observatory, estimated last year that 230,000 people had fled the violence-wracked border city of Juarez, with half going across Mexico’s northern border.
But Aaron Terrazas, a policy analyst at the Washington-based Migration Policy Institute, found in a recent study that most of those fleeing Juarez appeared to be moving to other parts of Chihuahua state, not the United States. Still, Terrazas said he found a noticeable increase in one segment of those actually leaving Chihuahua: “the highly educated.”
Thursday, August 18, 2011
The Buffer Between Mexican Cartels and the U.S. Government
Via STRATFOR (Security Weekly) -
It is summer in Juarez, and again this year we find the Vicente Carrillo Fuentes organization (VCF), also known as the Juarez cartel, under pressure and making threats. At this time in 2010, La Linea, the VCF’s enforcer arm, detonated a small improvised explosive device (IED) inside a car in Juarez and killed two federal agents, one municipal police officer and an emergency medical technician and wounded nine other people. La Linea threatened to employ a far larger IED (100 kilograms) if the FBI and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) did not investigate the head of Chihuahua State Police intelligence, whom the VCF claimed was working for the Sinaloa Federation.
La Linea did attempt to employ another IED on Sept. 10, 2010, but this device, which failed to detonate, contained only 16 kilograms of explosives, far less than the 100 kilograms that the group had threatened to use.
Fast-forward a year, and we see the VCF still under unrelenting pressure from the Sinaloa Federation and still making threats. On July 15, the U.S. Consulate in Juarez released a message warning that, according to intelligence it had in hand, a cartel may be targeting the consulate or points of entry into the United States. On July 27, “narcomantas” — banners inscribed with messages from drug cartels — appeared in Juarez and Chihuahua signed by La Linea and including explicit threats against the DEA and employees of the U.S. Consulate in Juarez. Two days after the narcomantas appeared, Jose Antonio “El Diego” Acosta Hernandez, a senior La Linea leader whose name was mentioned in the messages, was arrested by Mexican authorities aided by intelligence from the U.S. government. Acosta is also believed to have been responsible for planning La Linea’s past IED attacks.
As we have discussed in our coverage of the drug war in Mexico, Mexican cartels, including the VCF, clearly possess the capability to construct and employ large vehicle-borne improvised explosive devices (VBIEDs) — truck bombs — and yet they have chosen not to. These groups are not averse to bloodshed, or even outright barbarity, when they believe it is useful. Their decision to abstain from certain activities, such as employing truck bombs or targeting a U.S. Consulate, indicates that there must be compelling strategic reasons for doing so. After all, groups in Lebanon, Pakistan and Iraq have demonstrated that truck bombs are a very effective means of killing perceived enemies and of sending strong messages.
Perhaps the most compelling reason for the Mexican cartels to abstain from such activities is that they do not consider them to be in their best interest. One important part of their calculation is that such activities would remove the main buffer that is currently insulating them from the full force of the U.S. government: the Mexican government.
Read more: The Buffer Between Mexican Cartels and the U.S. Government | STRATFOR
It is summer in Juarez, and again this year we find the Vicente Carrillo Fuentes organization (VCF), also known as the Juarez cartel, under pressure and making threats. At this time in 2010, La Linea, the VCF’s enforcer arm, detonated a small improvised explosive device (IED) inside a car in Juarez and killed two federal agents, one municipal police officer and an emergency medical technician and wounded nine other people. La Linea threatened to employ a far larger IED (100 kilograms) if the FBI and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) did not investigate the head of Chihuahua State Police intelligence, whom the VCF claimed was working for the Sinaloa Federation.
La Linea did attempt to employ another IED on Sept. 10, 2010, but this device, which failed to detonate, contained only 16 kilograms of explosives, far less than the 100 kilograms that the group had threatened to use.
Fast-forward a year, and we see the VCF still under unrelenting pressure from the Sinaloa Federation and still making threats. On July 15, the U.S. Consulate in Juarez released a message warning that, according to intelligence it had in hand, a cartel may be targeting the consulate or points of entry into the United States. On July 27, “narcomantas” — banners inscribed with messages from drug cartels — appeared in Juarez and Chihuahua signed by La Linea and including explicit threats against the DEA and employees of the U.S. Consulate in Juarez. Two days after the narcomantas appeared, Jose Antonio “El Diego” Acosta Hernandez, a senior La Linea leader whose name was mentioned in the messages, was arrested by Mexican authorities aided by intelligence from the U.S. government. Acosta is also believed to have been responsible for planning La Linea’s past IED attacks.
As we have discussed in our coverage of the drug war in Mexico, Mexican cartels, including the VCF, clearly possess the capability to construct and employ large vehicle-borne improvised explosive devices (VBIEDs) — truck bombs — and yet they have chosen not to. These groups are not averse to bloodshed, or even outright barbarity, when they believe it is useful. Their decision to abstain from certain activities, such as employing truck bombs or targeting a U.S. Consulate, indicates that there must be compelling strategic reasons for doing so. After all, groups in Lebanon, Pakistan and Iraq have demonstrated that truck bombs are a very effective means of killing perceived enemies and of sending strong messages.
Perhaps the most compelling reason for the Mexican cartels to abstain from such activities is that they do not consider them to be in their best interest. One important part of their calculation is that such activities would remove the main buffer that is currently insulating them from the full force of the U.S. government: the Mexican government.
Read more: The Buffer Between Mexican Cartels and the U.S. Government | STRATFOR
Saturday, July 30, 2011
Leader of La Linea Gang Arrested in Mexico
Via CNN -
A purported leader of the infamous La Linea criminal organization has been arrested in Mexico, state-run media reported, citing a military leader.
Jose Antonio Acosta Hernandez, known as El Diego, was taken into custody during an operation in Chihuahua, Emilio Zarate Landeros told Notimex on Saturday.
Zarate, who leads troops in Mexico's Quinta Zona Militar or Fifth Military Zone, said the raid had been carefully planned and coordinated.
Video from CNN affiliate XHIJ shows several armed men going into a Chihuahua building to detain Acosta.
La Linea is the armed branch of the Juarez drug cartel, federal police official Ramon Eduardo Pequeno Garcia has previously told CNN.
This group ordered the March 2010 killing of U.S. consulate employee Lesley Enriquez, the same official added. She and her husband, Arthur Redelfs, were gunned down as they left a birthday party in a white SUV.
Authorities have said that Jesus Ernesto Chavez Castillo -- arrested last summer in connection with various deadly shootings in Ciudad Juarez -- got his orders directly from Acosta.
Acosta, whose other alias is Blablazo, himself worked under La Linea leader Emilia Ramirez Castillo, or El Negro, according to the general prosecutor's office of Mexico. A 15 million-peso reward was being offered for information leading to his arrest.
A purported leader of the infamous La Linea criminal organization has been arrested in Mexico, state-run media reported, citing a military leader.
Jose Antonio Acosta Hernandez, known as El Diego, was taken into custody during an operation in Chihuahua, Emilio Zarate Landeros told Notimex on Saturday.
Zarate, who leads troops in Mexico's Quinta Zona Militar or Fifth Military Zone, said the raid had been carefully planned and coordinated.
Video from CNN affiliate XHIJ shows several armed men going into a Chihuahua building to detain Acosta.
La Linea is the armed branch of the Juarez drug cartel, federal police official Ramon Eduardo Pequeno Garcia has previously told CNN.
This group ordered the March 2010 killing of U.S. consulate employee Lesley Enriquez, the same official added. She and her husband, Arthur Redelfs, were gunned down as they left a birthday party in a white SUV.
Authorities have said that Jesus Ernesto Chavez Castillo -- arrested last summer in connection with various deadly shootings in Ciudad Juarez -- got his orders directly from Acosta.
Acosta, whose other alias is Blablazo, himself worked under La Linea leader Emilia Ramirez Castillo, or El Negro, according to the general prosecutor's office of Mexico. A 15 million-peso reward was being offered for information leading to his arrest.
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
Analysts Expect Mexican Drug Violence to Continue
Via texastribune.org -
A prediction that one of the most notorious cartels operating on the Texas-Mexico border could soon meet its demise was premature, according to a new report on Mexican cartels. Instead, its authors caution that daily bloodshed may continue unabated.
Though it’s not expected to reach the record highs witnessed in 2010, this year’s death toll in Ciudad Juárez is still expected to be in the thousands as multiple massacres continue as a weekly occurrence. At least 1,230 have been murdered there this year, and about 8,670 since 2008, according to local media reports.
The assessment is part of global intelligence firm STRATFOR’s latest quarterly report on Mexico. In April it forecast that the Juárez cartel — the Vicente Carrillo Fuentes organization that has operated under the family’s direction for decades across from El Paso — might meet its end at the hands of its rival, Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman’s Sinaloa cartel. The prediction was a result of intelligence stating the Sinaloa outfit was successfully choking off the hometown gang in the city and surrounding areas, squeezing off its eastern and western supply routes.
STRATFOR estimated then that the violence in the border city might escalate as the Juárez cartel sought ways to replenish its lost revenue, mainly through kidnappings, thefts and extortions. The Juárez cartel has proven more resilient, and Juárez has seen a surge in murders after some observers thought the death toll there would subside.
“Though STRATFOR previously reported that the VCF was hemmed in on all sides by the Sinaloa Federation and essentially confined to downtown Ciudad Juárez, STRATFOR sources have recently indicated that this is no longer quite the case,” the report states.
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In somewhat related news....
Mexico Arrests 1K In Human Trafficking Raids
http://www.ksat.com/news/28655561/detail.html
And as a reminder of the activity that is happening in US cities right now...
http://twitter.com/#!/STRATFOR/status/95917111058243584
A prediction that one of the most notorious cartels operating on the Texas-Mexico border could soon meet its demise was premature, according to a new report on Mexican cartels. Instead, its authors caution that daily bloodshed may continue unabated.
Though it’s not expected to reach the record highs witnessed in 2010, this year’s death toll in Ciudad Juárez is still expected to be in the thousands as multiple massacres continue as a weekly occurrence. At least 1,230 have been murdered there this year, and about 8,670 since 2008, according to local media reports.
The assessment is part of global intelligence firm STRATFOR’s latest quarterly report on Mexico. In April it forecast that the Juárez cartel — the Vicente Carrillo Fuentes organization that has operated under the family’s direction for decades across from El Paso — might meet its end at the hands of its rival, Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman’s Sinaloa cartel. The prediction was a result of intelligence stating the Sinaloa outfit was successfully choking off the hometown gang in the city and surrounding areas, squeezing off its eastern and western supply routes.
STRATFOR estimated then that the violence in the border city might escalate as the Juárez cartel sought ways to replenish its lost revenue, mainly through kidnappings, thefts and extortions. The Juárez cartel has proven more resilient, and Juárez has seen a surge in murders after some observers thought the death toll there would subside.
“Though STRATFOR previously reported that the VCF was hemmed in on all sides by the Sinaloa Federation and essentially confined to downtown Ciudad Juárez, STRATFOR sources have recently indicated that this is no longer quite the case,” the report states.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
In somewhat related news....
Mexico Arrests 1K In Human Trafficking Raids
http://www.ksat.com/news/28655561/detail.html
Authorities in Ciudad Juarez arrested more than 1,000 people over the weekend in an operation aimed at cracking down on human trafficking, police said. Federal police said raids in two dozen bars, hotels and boarding houses netted arrests of 500 men and 530 women they suspect are connected with human trafficking and sexual exploitation. In addition, 20 female minors were rescued, police said.----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
And as a reminder of the activity that is happening in US cities right now...
http://twitter.com/#!/STRATFOR/status/95917111058243584
35 LFM [La Familia Michoacana] cartel members arrested in Austin Texas 7/21. Police say Austin used as drug-trafficking hub.
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
Mexico Arrests US-Born Man Linked to Tijuana Drug Cartel
Via VOA News -
Mexican federal police say they have captured a U.S.-born man tied to Mexico's Arellano Felix drug cartel, also known as the Tijuana cartel.
Officials say 33-year-old Armando Villarreal Heredia, known as “El Gordo”, was taken into custody Saturday in the northern Mexican city of Hermosillo, the capital of Sonora state. Authorities have accused the San Diego native of trafficking drugs from Mexico's northern state of Sinaloa into the United States. The U.S. also wants him on federal conspiracy and racketeering charges.
Investigators have linked him to Fernando Sanchez Arellano, a leader in the cartel, which has been weakened in recent years. Sanchez is a nephew of the Arellano Felix brothers for whom the cartel is named. Many of the brothers have either been arrested or killed.
[...]
Charges against him include conspiracy, money laundering, drug trafficking and organized crime.
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In July 2010, the US Justice department named, the then 32-year old Armando Villarreal Heredia, in a criminal compliant of participating in a federal racketeering (RICO) conspiracy.
Mexican federal police say they have captured a U.S.-born man tied to Mexico's Arellano Felix drug cartel, also known as the Tijuana cartel.
Officials say 33-year-old Armando Villarreal Heredia, known as “El Gordo”, was taken into custody Saturday in the northern Mexican city of Hermosillo, the capital of Sonora state. Authorities have accused the San Diego native of trafficking drugs from Mexico's northern state of Sinaloa into the United States. The U.S. also wants him on federal conspiracy and racketeering charges.
Investigators have linked him to Fernando Sanchez Arellano, a leader in the cartel, which has been weakened in recent years. Sanchez is a nephew of the Arellano Felix brothers for whom the cartel is named. Many of the brothers have either been arrested or killed.
[...]
Charges against him include conspiracy, money laundering, drug trafficking and organized crime.
-----------------------------------------------------
In July 2010, the US Justice department named, the then 32-year old Armando Villarreal Heredia, in a criminal compliant of participating in a federal racketeering (RICO) conspiracy.
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