Our Escalating Border War

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2 U.S. Immigration and Customs agents shot in Mexico, U.S. embassy official says - AP 17 minutes ago via breakingnews.com

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America's Third War: Texas Farmers Under Attack at the Border

By Kris Gutiérrez
Published March 03, 2011 | FoxNews.com

In Texas, nearly 8,200 farms and ranches back up to the Mexican border.

The men and women who live and work on those properties say they’re under attack from the same drug cartels blamed for thousands of murders in Mexico.

“It’s a war, make no mistake about it,” Texas Agriculture Commissioner Todd Staples said. “And it’s happening on American soil.”

Texas farmers and ranchers produce more cotton and more cattle than any other state, so Staples is concerned this war could eventually impact our food supply, and calls it a threat to our national security.

“Farmers and ranchers are being run off their own property by armed terrorists showing up and telling them they have to leave their land,” Staples said.

To raise awareness, Commissioner Staples launched the website ProtectYourTexasBorder.com. It’s a place where frustrated and scared farmers can share their stories.

One Texas farmer, who asked not to be identified, said it’s common for him to see undocumented immigrants walking through his property.

“I see something, I just drive away,” he said. “It is a problem, I’ve learned to live with it and pretty much, I’ve become numb to it.”

Another farmer, Joe Aguilar, said enough is enough. After walking up on armed gunmen sneaking undocumented immigrants into the United States through his land, Aguilar decided to sell his farm.“It’s really sad to say, you either have to beat ‘em or join ‘em and I decided not to do either,” Aguilar said.

Aguilar's family farmed 6,000 acres of land along the Texas-Mexico border for nearly 100 years.

“Our farmers and ranchers can’t afford their own security detail,” Staples said. “We’re going to become more dependent on food from foreign sources.

Americans don’t like being dependent on foreign oil, they won’t stand for being dependent on foreign food.”

For more on the battle at our border, visit http://www.ProtectYourTexasBorder.com.

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Gun Battle on Border Leaves 13 Dead

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Mexican troops cross into the United States at Bridge Two

By KGNS News

Story Created: Jun 23, 2011
Story Updated: Jun 23, 2011

A convoy of three military trucks loaded with Mexican soldiers crosses the border at Bridge Number Two clearly violating international law.

It happens as Customs and Border Protection inspectors try to figure out what to do.

A CBP spokesperson says they got on the phone with Mexican authorities after being alerted that the military trucks were heading their direction loaded down with soldiers and weapons.

Mexican leaders say the soldiers, who had just been deployed to Nuevo Laredo, didn't know the area, got lost and then made their way through Bridge Two.

It's important to note that CBP did not tell us about the potentially serious situation. It came from another law enforcement agency.

Some callers to our newsroom were upset inspectors allowed the Mexican military to get so close to all those inspection booths over at Bridge Number Two.

Some noted had it been Mexican drug lords they could have taken inspectors by surprise and easily crossed the international border deeper into the United States.


Nuevo Laredo is Under Martial Law

By KGNS News

Story Created: Jun 22, 2011
Story Updated: Jun 23, 2011

No major media outlets are reporting it, but several hundreds soldiers and marines are en route to Nuevo Laredo, Tamps. (MX) to try and get a grip on a violent few months in our Sister City. Several websites report that Nuevo Laredo, Tamps. (MX) is essentially under martial law as the military moves in and relieves city police officers. Soldiers were seen at police headquarters seizing guns.

It comes as the federal and state government move into a new phase of security efforts in an attempt to turn up the heat on local drug cartels.

More troops are expected to move into the city to beef up security, and it's not just in Nuevo Laredo but the whole state of Tamaulipas.

Last week demonstrators took to the bridges to protest military presence.

Many claim those holding signs and chanting "no more military" were paid as much as a $100 a day by cartel members to protest at the bridges.

Drug cartels don't want that information out; therefore, the Mexican media is not reporting it.

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Message to US agents: 'We'll chop your heads off'

July 1, 2011 9:12 PM

CIUDAD JUAREZ, Mexico — A spray-painted sign threatening death for U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agents was found Friday next to a school in a northern Mexico state capital, officials said.

Addressed with profanity to "Gringos (D.E.A.)," the unsigned graffiti warned: "We know where you are and we know who you are and where you go. We are going to chop off your (expletive) heads."

Anonymous messages conveying threats and other warnings are common in areas hit hard by Mexico's drug war, but it is rarer for them to threaten U.S. law enforcement. Authorities do not know who left the message, which was removed.

The DEA referred questions to the U.S. State Department. Officials there did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The message was left in the Chihuahua state capital, also called Chihuahua, which is about 220 miles (360 kilometers) from the U.S. border.

In February, suspected Zeta cartel members killed U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent Jaime Zapata and wounded colleague Victor Avila on a highway in the Mexican state of San Luis Potosi.

Also on Friday, five copies of a message addressed to Chihuahua Gov. Cesar Duarte were found painted on blankets known as "mantas" in Ciudad Juarez, a city across the border from El Paso, Texas. Those messages, apparently posted by rivals of the Sinaloa drug cartel, accused officials of protecting the Sinaloa organization.

It was not clear if the messages in Chihuahua and Ciudad Juarez were related.

"This sort of message will not stop us from continuing the fight to bring peace back to this state," Chihuahua Interior Secretary Graciela Ortiz said.

The threatening message against Duarte comes amid threats to the governor of Nuevo Leon, another northern state bordering Texas. Two of Gov. Rodrigo Medina's bodyguards were mutilated, killed and dismembered in June.

[Ryan Ruck]

YouTube: Nogales Shootout - September 22, 2011

[Ryan Ruck]

Mexican Police Cross Into US

September 2, 2011

Mexican federal police momentarily crossed the Rio Grande into the United States on Thursday morning in an incursion under investigation by both countries, a U.S. Border Patrol spokesman said.

The incursion occurred east of the Zaragoza Bridge while three hunters were on the U.S. side on the first day of dove season.

Channel 9-KTSM reported a relative of the hunters told the station that gunmen in Mexico fired at the hunters and that the gunmen crossed the border and stole their chairs.

Border Patrol spokesman Doug Mosier said border agents and Texas Parks and Wildlife officers responded immediately. There were no reported injuries.

Agents arriving at the scene saw Mexican federal police crossing the river back into Mexico after they had been on the U.S. side, Mosier said.

Border Patrol officials said they did not receive any allegations that shots were fired across the border and had no information anything was stolen on the U.S. side. It is unknown why Mexican police crossed the border. The incident is under investigation.

A Mexican federal police spokesman could not be reached.

Texas game warden Robert Newman said a game warden was nearby because of the start of dove hunting season. The three hunters were in a spot that wasn't open for hunting and should have been farther downriver, he said.

Dove hunting zones on the Rio Grande are east of El Paso. The U.S. International Boundary and Water Commission has a map on its website (www.ibwc.state.gov) showing hunting areas along the Rio Grande.

"There were quite a few hunters out there in the levee but less than there used to be because of the (border) fence and everything," Newman said.

Last year, a large law enforcement mobilization occurred after residents reported hearing gunfire near the river. The source turned out to be hunters.

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Perry suggests US military role in Mexico drug war
856 total comments



updated 10/2/2011 1:37:30 AM ET 2011-10-02T05:37:30

MANCHESTER, New Hampshire — Republican presidential candidate Rick Perry said on Saturday he would get the U.S. military involved in Mexico's war with drug cartels, in comments likely to upset the Mexican government.

The remarks appear to be a new misstatement on foreign policy by Perry, the Texas governor who is struggling to hold on to the mantle of frontrunner for the Republican nomination.

Perry said that as president he would work with Mexico in the same way that the United States has worked with Colombia to combat drug cartels.

"The way that we were able to stop the drug cartels in Colombia was with a coordinated effort," he said in a campaign speech in New Hampshire. "It may take our military" working with the Mexican government to win Mexico's drug war, he said.

The U.S. military has advisers in Colombia who are involved mainly in training, logistical support and intelligence backup for the Colombian armed forces as they fight cocaine traffickers and leftist guerrillas.

But there are no U.S. armed forces in Mexico fighting the drug war and Mexico strongly opposes any U.S. military involvement in its territory, although it has received more than $1 billion in U.S. aid to take on the cartels.

More than 42,000 people have been killed in Mexico's drug feuds since President Felipe Calderon took office in 2006.

Perry, one of two main Republican contenders to take on President Barack Obama in the 2012 election, has stumbled before on foreign issues. He gave a rambling answer during a debate between candidates last month to a question about what he would do as president if the Taliban got hold of nuclear weapons.

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Dissecting a Mexican Cartel Bombing in Monterrey

October 27, 2011 | 0851 GMT
By Scott Stewart

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.

Why We Look at an Incident

Hundreds of violent incidents take place every day worldwide, from fuel depot explosions in Sirte, Libya, to shootings in southern Thailand to grenade attacks in Nairobi, Kenya — just a few of the things that happened on a single day this week. Indeed, a typical day sees dozens of incidents in Mexico alone, from shootings and beheadings to kidnappings and cargo theft. Unless one has a method to triage such incidents, they quickly can overwhelm an analyst, dragging him or her down into the weeds struggling to understand the tactical details of every one. This can result in information overload. The details of so many incidents simply overwhelm the analyst’s ability to understand them and place them in a context that allows them to be compared to, and perhaps linked with, other incidents.

STRATFOR’s methodology for placing items in context begins with our interrelated array of net assessments and forecasts. Net assessments are high-level overviews of the significant issues driving the current behavior of nations, regions and other significant international actors. Forecasts can be drawn from these baseline assessments to predict how these actors will behave, and how that behavior will impact regional dynamics. In this way, net assessments and forecasts provide a strategic framework of understanding that can be used to help create assessments and forecasts for tactical-level items.

In the case of Mexico, we have long considered the country’s criminal cartels significant tactical-level actors, and we have established an analytical framework for understanding them. We publish this framework in the form of our annual cartel report. The higher-level framework generally shapes such tactical-level analyses, but at times the analyses can also contradict and challenge the higher-level assessments. We also maintain a regular flow of tactical analyses such as the weekly Mexico Security Memo, which serves to explain how events in Mexico fit into our analytical framework. The items we select as bullets for the second section of the Mexico Security Memo are significant and further the analytical narrative of what is happening in Mexico but do not require deeper analysis. This helps our readers cut through the clutter of the reporting from Mexico by focusing on what we find important. We also strive to eliminate the bias so prevalent in today’s media landscape. Our readers frequently tell us they find this analytical winnowing process quite valuable.

Based upon this tactical framework, we then establish intelligence guidance.

This lays out tripwire events that our analysts, regional open-source monitoring team and even our on-the-ground sources are to watch for that either support or refute our forecast. (In STRATFOR’s corporate culture, challenging an assessment or forecast is one of the most important things an employee can do. This ensures we stay intellectually honest and on target. There is nothing more analytically damaging than an analyst who falls in love with his own assessment, or a team of analysts who buy into groupthink.)

When an event, or a combination of events, occurs that does not fit the analytical framework, the framework must undergo a rigorous review to ensure it remains valid. If the framework is found to be flawed, we determine if it needs to be adjusted or scrapped. Due to the rapid shifts we have seen on the ground in Mexico in the past two years in terms of arrests and deaths of major cartel leaders and the emergence of factional infighting and even new cartel groups, we have found it necessary to adjust our framework cartel report more than just annually. In 2011, for example, we have felt compelled to update the framework quarterly.

And this brings us back to our IED attack in Monterrey. When we learn of such an event, we immediately apply our analytical framework to it in an effort to determine if and how it fits. In this case, we have certainly seen previous IED attacks in Mexico and even grenade attacks in Monterrey, but not an IED attack in Monterrey, so this is clearly a geographic anomaly.

While we don’t really have a new capability, or a new actor — Los Zetas were implicated in a command-detonated IED attack in January in Tula, Hidalgo state — we do have a new location in Monterrey. We also have a new tactic in using a vehicle chase to lure a military vehicle into an IED ambush. Past IED ambushes in Juarez and Tula have involved leaving a cadaver in a vehicle and reporting it to the authorities.

Some early reports of the Monterrey incident also indicated that the attack involved a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device (VBIED). If true, this would contradict our assessment that the Mexican cartels have refrained from employing large IEDs in their attacks.

Also, according to our analytical framework and the intelligence guidance we have established, Monterrey is a critical Zeta stronghold. We already have asked our tactical analysts to keep a close eye on activity there and the patterns and trends represented by that activity for indications that Los Zetas might be losing control of the city or that other cartels are establishing control there.

Because of all these factors, the Monterrey attack clearly demanded close examination.

How We Look at an Incident

Once we decide to dig into an incident and rip it apart analytically, we task our analysts and regional open-source monitors to find everything they can about the incident. At the same time, we reach out to our network of contacts to see what they can tell us. If we have employees in the city or region we will rely heavily on them, but when we do not, we contact all the relevant sources we have in an area. Depending on the location, we will also talk to our contacts in relevant foreign governments with an interest in the incident. Of course, like open-source reports, information we receive from contacts must be carefully vetted for bias and factual accuracy.

As information begins to flow in following an incident, there are almost always conflicting reports that must be reconciled. In the Monterrey case, we had reports from sources such as the Mexican newspaper El Universal saying the IED had been hidden in a vehicle parked beside the road, while The Associated Press ran a story noting that the car being pursued exploded. In some cases, news stories can even seemingly contradict themselves. In the above-mentioned AP story, the author noted that the vehicle containing the IED almost completely disintegrated, but then added that the bombing caused no other damage. It is rare that an IED large enough to disintegrate a car would cause no other damage. We have found that most journalists do not have much experience dealing with explosives or IEDs, as their reporting often reflects.


Photo courtesy of El Universal
Scene of the Oct. 20 improvised explosive device ambush in Monterrey

Such conflicting accounts highlight the importance of photographs and video when analyzing an attack. Photos and videos are no substitute for investigating the scene firsthand, but traveling to a crime scene takes time and money. Moreover, gaining the kind of crime scene access STRATFOR employees enjoyed when they worked for a government is tough. That said, an incredible amount of information can be gleaned from some decent photos and videos of a crime scene.

In the Monterrey attack, the first thing the photos and video showed us is that the vehicle containing the explosive device had not completely disintegrated. In fact, the chassis of the vehicle was mostly intact. It also appeared that the fire that followed the explosion rather than the explosion itself caused much of the damage to the vehicle. The explosive damage done to the vehicle indicated that the main charge of the IED was relatively small, most likely less than 5 pounds of military-grade high explosive. Some media reports said a fragmentation grenade thrown from the vehicle being pursued caused the explosion, but the damage to the car appeared quite a bit greater than would be expected from a hand grenade. Also, no apparent fragmentation pattern consistent with what a grenade would cause was visible in the metal of the car or on the smooth, painted walls of the auto repair shop the car had been parked near.

The lack of fragmentation damage also made it apparent that the bombmaker had not added shrapnel such as ball bearings, nails or nuts and bolts to enhance the device’s destructiveness. Also, while the repair shop’s garage door did have a hole punched through it, the hole appears to have resulted from part of the car having been propelled through it. The door does not display any significant damage or disfiguration from the blast effect. The painted walls do not either, though they do show some signs from the high heat of the explosion and resulting vehicle fire. This is another indication that the blast was fairly small. Finally, that the bulk of the significant damage to the car is in the rear end of the vehicle makes it appear that the small IED had been placed either in the vehicle’s trunk or perhaps on the vehicle’s backseat.

After analyzing such photos and video, our tactical analysts contact other experienced blast investigators and bomb technicians to get their impressions and ensure that their analysis is not off track. Like doctors, investigators frequently chat with other knowledgeable investigators to confirm their diagnoses.

Of course, the process described above is how things happen in an ideal situation. Frequently, reality intrudes on the ideal and the process can get quite messy— especially in the middle of a large ongoing situation like the 2008 Mumbai attacks. Taming the chaos that tends to reign during such a situation is difficult, and we sometimes have to skip or repeat steps of the process depending on the circumstances. We run a postmortem critique after each of these crisis events to determine what we did well and what we need to do better as we strive for excellence.

Piecing It All Together

When we looked at all the pieces of the Monterrey incident, we were able to determine that due to the location and execution of the incident, Los Zetas most likely were behind the attack. It was also clear that the device was a well-constructed, command-detonated IED and that the Mexican troops were drawn into a carefully executed ambush. From the size and construction of the device, however, it would appear the operational planner of the ambush did not intend to kill the soldiers. Had that been the objective, more explosives would have been used in the IED. (Commercial explosives are cheap and plentiful in Mexico.) Alternatively, the same smaller quantity of explosives could have been fashioned into an improvised claymore mine-type device intended to hurl shrapnel at the military patrol — something likely well within the skill set of a bombmaker capable of building and employing an effective command-detonated IED.

The small explosive charge and lack of fragmentation, then, indicates the ambush was intended more to send a message than to cause a massacre. The Mexican cartels have a history of kidnapping, torturing, and murdering Mexican military personnel, so they normally are not squeamish about killing them. This brings us back to our analysis regarding the cartels’ use of IEDs, and our conclusion that the Mexican cartels have intentionally chosen to limit the size of explosive devices they employ in Mexico.

This incident may also be consistent with our analysis that Los Zetas are feeling pressured by the increased military presence in Mexico’s northeast. The message this incident may have been intended to convey is that the military needs to back off. At the very least, at the very lowest tactical level, it will certainly give the Mexican military second thoughts the next time they consider pursuing apparent cartel vehicles in Zeta territory.

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Feds: Mexican Cartel Plotted Attack Against US

November 12, 2011
Associated Press|by Karen Hawkins

CHICAGO -- The leaders of a powerful Mexican cartel, frustrated that U.S. law enforcement was interfering with their lucrative drug business, plotted a military-style attack on a U.S. or Mexican government building to "send the gringos a message," federal prosecutors allege in documents filed this week.

Leaders of the Sinaloa cartel sought dozens of American-made weapons for an attack in Mexico City on possible targets that included government buildings, an embassy or consulate or media outlet, according to documents in the case against Vicente Zambada, an alleged top lieutenant in the cartel.

Zambada is in jail in Chicago awaiting trial, one of dozens of defendants charged in the city as part of a sweeping international investigation. He has pleaded not guilty to charges that he conspired to import and sell large amounts of cocaine and heroin in the United States, including Chicago.


Authorities say his father, Ismael Zambada, runs the cartel along with Mexico's most wanted man, Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman. There's nothing in the documents to indicate the plot was carried out.

Vicente Zambada's lawyers claim he and other cartel leaders were granted immunity by U.S. agents - and carte blanche to smuggle cocaine over the border - in exchange for intelligence about rival cartels engaged in bloody turf wars in Mexico. Prosecutors have denied that such an agreement exists.

But deals with key players in the cartel have allowed prosecutors to chip away at its operations. Pedro and Margarito Flores, twin brothers who bought and distributed drugs from the cartel in Chicago, are among those cooperating with the government.

Margarito Flores has alleged that the plot to attack a government or media building was hatched during a 2008 meeting at a mountaintop compound in Mexico. Cartel leaders, upset about the recent arrest of Ismael Zambada's brother, griped that the Mexican government was allowing American law enforcement to "do whatever they want," Flores has told prosecutors.

When Guzman asked what leaders were going to do about the problem, Ismael Zambada allegedly responded, "It will be good to send the gringos a message. Whatever we do, we have to do it in someone else's territory," according to a 63-page proffer filed Thursday in which prosecutors summarize their evidence against Vicente Zambada and the cartel.

During the conversation, the documents say, Guzman suggests they target a Mexican or American government building in Mexico City. Vicente Zambada then turns to Margarito Flores and tells him to find a U.S. soldier returning from overseas to give him 20-30 "big powerful weapons," specifying that they be American-made. During a later recorded phone conversation, prosecutors say, Vicente Zambada reiterates with Flores that the cartel will buy the weapons.

Prosecutors also laid out in the proffer how the cartel has smuggled tons of cocaine and kilograms of heroin into the United States over land, sea and air over the years.

Members of the cartel have allegedly evaded arrest by means including the bribing of public officials and law enforcement and carrying out brazen acts of violence - including killing officers who wouldn't accept bribes. The elusive billionaire Guzman escaped from a Mexican prison in a laundry truck in 2001.

[Ryan Ruck]

Zeta Soldiers Launched Mexico-Style Attack In Harris County, Texas

November 22, 2011

The mission was supposed to be a textbook "controlled delivery" - a routine trap by law enforcement officers using a secret operative posing as a truck driver to bust drug traffickers when their narcotics are delivered to a rendezvous point.

Instead, things spun out of control. Shortly before the marijuana delivery was to be made Monday afternoon, three sport-utility vehicles carrying Zetas cartel gunmen seemingly came out of nowhere and cut off the tanker truck as it rumbled through northwest Harris County, sources told the Chronicle.

They sprayed the cab with bullets, killing the civilian driver, who was secretly working with the government. A sheriff's deputy, who was driving nearby in another vehicle, was wounded, possibly by friendly fire.

The Chronicle has learned that investigators believe the deputy's shooting was the result of confusing radio communications between the multiple agencies that responded. Some of the arriving officers may have thought the deputy was one of the culprits when in fact he was a member of the surveillance team watching the truck.

For some at the scene, it seemed all too similar to what has been playing out in Mexico, where drug cartels operate with near impunity as they clash with each other and with the military and police.

"We are not going to tolerate these types of thugs out there using their weapons like the Wild, Wild West," said Javier Pena, the new head of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration's Houston Division. "We are going after them."

A load of pot

"Everybody is surprised at the brazenness," Pena continued as he stressed a full court press by the DEA, the sheriff and police. "We haven't seen this type of violence, which concerns us."

Sources discussed aspects of the shoot-out on the condition that they not be identified public- ly due to the sensitivity of the ongoing investigation.

A contingent of law-enforcement officers had been covertly shadowing the truck as it eased its way through the Houston area to deliver a load of marijuana fresh from the Rio Grande Valley.

Officers open fire

As the gunmen attacked, officers quickly jumped into the fray and also opened fire on the attackers. The truck kept rolling until it careened off the roadway and came to a halt.

Dozens of law-enforcement officers descended on the scene as well as fanned out in the surrounding neighborhoods.

Four suspects, all believed to be citizens of Mexico, were arrested and charged Monday with capital murder in connection with the shooting.

They are Eric De Luna, 23; Fernando Tavera, 19; Ricardo Ramirez, 35 and Rolando Resendiz, 34.

Full recovery expected

The sheriff's deputy, who has not yet been identified publicly, was hit in the knee during the melee, which involved several cars and guns.

The eight-year veteran was expected to spend Thursday night in the hospital, but make a full recovery.

Christina Garza, a spokeswoman for the Harris County Sheriff's Office, said much of the inci- dent remains under investigation, including who shot the deputy and the driver.

"Until we get that forensic analysis back we won't know for sure," she said. "There were several people firing weapons. As for who shot who, that is still under investigation."

Authorities would not discuss how the deceased driver, who in addition to being a confidential informant and holding a job as a commercial truck driver, first made contact with the traffickers.

Not the wisest choice

While some of the arrested attackers have allegedly admitted to an affiliation with the Mexico-based Zetas, authorities said they are trying to determine why such a bold and risky attack was launched over just 300 pounds of marijuana.

Sources, who concede this case is especially puzzling, said that if the Zetas had learned the truck driver was an informant and wanted him dead, there were smarter ways to get him, rather than risk an assault on a truck watched so closely by law enforcement.

"If it was a straight assassination, there were points in this controlled delivery where he would have just been a sitting duck," said a law-enforcement source speaking on the condition of anonymity.

A theory being closely looked at is that someone from the drug underworld knew what the truck looked like and knew where it was going, and decided to get crew together to stage a rip-off, but thought much more marijuana was hidden in the truck.

"Pretty brazen to kill a man over 300 pounds of grass," the law-enforcement source said.

[American Patriot]

Ok... see? Where was SWAT here?

LOL

This is my point. No swat team in place, no one "expecting the worst". Yet, they go into someone's home, kick the shit outta granny (ok, threw her to the floor) and arrest a couple of dumb shits for having controlled substances....

but there was no protection for the poor civilian truck driver?

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Companion Thread:

• US Casualty Rate In Afghanistan Under Obama Increases 500%, Yet No Antiwar Protests?

One Mexican State Bordering The US Was Deadlier Than All of Afghanistan Last Year

By Edwin Mora
January 18, 2012
Subscribe to Edwin Mora's posts


More than 47,000 people have been killed in drug violence in Mexico since President Felipe Calderon launched a military crackdown against drug cartels. (AP Photo/Felix Marquez)

(CNSNews.com) – Organized crime-related deaths in one Mexican border state during the first nine months of 2011 exceed the number of Afghan civilians killed in roughly the same period in all of war-torn Afghanistan.

According to the Mexican government, from January through September 2011 2,276 deaths were recorded in the Mexican state of Chihuahua, which borders Texas and New Mexico.

A Nov. 2011 Congressional Research Service (CRS) report states that over nearly the same period – January through October 2011 – 2,177 civilians were killed in Afghanistan, where a U.S.-led war against the Taliban is underway. It did not provide a breakdown of responsibility for that period, but said that in 2010, 75 percent of civilian deaths were attributed to the Taliban and other “anti-government elements.”

Per capita, a person was at least nine times more likely to be murdered in Chihuahua last year than in Afghanistan. (Chihuahua has 3,406,465 inhabitants, according to Mexico’s 2010 census; the CIA World Factbook reports that in July 2011 the estimated population of Afghanistan was 29,835,392.)

According to the reported numbers, the drug-related murder rate was about 67 for every 100,000 inhabitants in Chihuahua last year, while in Afghanistan the civilian killing rate was an estimated seven for every 100,000 people living there. There were more drug-related killings in Chihuahua than in any other Mexican state, according to the government figures. Chihuahua, the largest state in Mexico, includes Ciudad Juarez, a border city located across from El Paso, Texas. It is the deadliest city in Mexico and is considered one of the most dangerous places in the world.
According to the government tally, Juarez accounted for 1,206 (about 53 percent) of the 2,276 drug cartel-related murders in Chihuahua during the fist nine months of 2011.

The state capital, the city of Chihuahua, was also among the five deadliest cities in Mexico over that period, with 402 homicides reported.

The organized crime-related deaths in Mexico – officially referred to as homicides due to rivalry between delinquent organizations – include executions, deaths from encounters with authorities, direct aggression attacks, and killings stemming from violence between organized trafficking groups, according to the country’s government.

Its figures show that a total of 12,903 drug-related homicides took place across the country during the first nine months of 2011, taking Mexico’s drug-war death toll to 47,515 since President Felipe Calderon began a militarized crackdown on organized crime in December 2006.

Again comparing the Mexican and Afghanistan figures, the CRS report shows that 11,007 Afghan civilians were killed from 2007 through October 2011. That is about 80 percent fewer deaths than the 47,515 drug-related murders in Mexico over roughly the same period (December 2006 through September 2011).

Even if Afghan National Army (1,933) and police (3,834) fatalities are added to the civilian death toll the total number of deaths in Afghanistan over that period – 16,774 – is still almost three times smaller than the Mexican figure.

A total of 1,757 U.S. soldiers have died in and around Afghanistan since U.S.-led forces invaded in Oct. 2001 to topple the Taliban after its al-Qaeda allies attacked the U.S. homeland the previous month.

According to CNSNews.com’s detailed tally, which is derived primarily from Department of Defense reports, there were 399 U.S. military fatalities in Afghanistan during 2011, the second deadliest year of the war. (There were 497 deaths in 2010.)

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Companion Thread:

• Obama Administration Hauls Arizona Before the UN Human Rights Council for trying to enforce it's borders with Mexico
• Napolitano Scolds Reporter for Airing Complaints of Dead Border Agent's Family
• Obama: "Mexicans" Were Here "Long Before America Was Even An Idea"
• Obama to slash National Guard force on U.S.-Mexico Border
• DHS Agents to Replace Arpaio’s Officers in Maricopa County Jails
• Venezuela's Chavez Backing Leftist Guerrillas In Mexico
• Foreign 'terrorists' breach U.S. border
• Mexican Revolutionaries in America

Texas Ranchers Using AK47s to Defend Against Cartel Invaders

By John Hill on January 22, 2012 in Blog, News

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The border is “safer than ever”. So says DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano. Again and again.

Barack Obama has mocked those who say the border is unsafe: “Maybe they’ll need a moat. Maybe they’ll want alligators in the moat. They’ll never be satisfied.”

But for Texas ranchers in the Rio Grande Valley, the border has never been more dangerous. And they are stocking up with the hardware to do the job that the Feds refuse to do – AK47 rifles to defend their property and lives from border violence.

Barbed wire fencing doesn’t keep illegal aliens off the property anymore. One Starr County, TX rancher doesn’t have time to worry about the illegals these days. He now worries about the smugglers protecting their loads.
“I don’t think they would have any conscience of taking someone’s life,” the rancher says.

He saw that will to kill firsthand. A smuggler shot at him on his own land.
“One round was fired at me, and it missed my head by about two feet,” says the rancher.

He says there’s only way to react.

“Fire all the rounds you have, reload, and do it again,” says the rancher.

The local Armory Gun Store says business has been brisk for AK-47s and AR-15s from “countless” ranchers reporting break-ins and home invasions. But this rancher said no matter how many guns they buy, they will always be “outgunned” by the cartels.

I guess these ranchers didn’t get the memo from Obama and Big Sis that their border is “safer than ever”.

What will they want next….a moat?

Full video report:

[American Patriot]

Moats, with gators are good. But a WALL with crenelations, murder holes and boiling oil would work better - with a nice group of sharp shooters atop just to keep them at bay during daylight hours.....

[Ryan Ruck]

He needs to ditch the Barska and get a better quality optic.

A Russian made Kobra which is made for the AK would be perfect for that rifle!

[samizdat]

LUNES 23 DE ENERO DE 2012

Video documental sobre el cártel de los zetas/in English.
http://www.notinfomex.info/2012/01/v...el-de-los.html

[vector7]

Blood Brothers: The alliance between Mexican cartels and U.S. gangs may be the most serious threat to our national security

Thursday, February 9, 2012 | Borderland Beat Reporter Chivis
Posted by Texcoco on Borderland Beat Forum

by Richard Valdemar

Bat Marquez being extradicted

Like the unwanted dandelions that sprout in lawns, cartel and gang partners continue to adapt and survive. Whatever code of conduct that may have restrained them in the past has disappeared.


Their terrible acts of violence and cruelty continue to escalate. The systematic corruption of our police, courts and political system is their goal. Those who they cannot corrupt, they murder. Journalists, police, judges, soldiers, religious leaders, women and children are all potential victims.


When they work together, the cartel-gang alliance is a serious threat to our national security.


U.S. street and prison gangs have done business with Mexican drug traffickers since the 1920s. No one gang or Mexican cartel had exclusive agreements with one another. It was basically a free market, but some of the larger more powerful gangs began forming alliances in Mexico.

Bat Marquez

In the 1970s, California's Mexican Mafia prison gang members such as Joe "Pegleg" Morgan cultivated friendships with Mexican nationals while serving time with them in state and federal prisons. One such connection was Jesus "Chuy" Arajo, a trafficker with connections to Mexican suppliers.


Alex "Hondo" Lechuga had his own connections — to Mexican Mafia member and homeboy of Luis "Huero Buff" Flores, the founder of the Mexican Mafia — and owned businesses in Juarez, Mexico. Half-Mexican and half-Korean Mafia member, Manuel "Mad Korean" Enerva from San Diego, also had his own connections. His father was a police officer in Baja California.


In fact, several San Diego street gangs such as Shell Town, Logan Heights, National City, Pasole, and Del Sol had developed strong alliances in Mexico. However, these alliances were often temporary and between a few members (rather than the whole gang) and any one cartel.


However, U.S. Latino gangs often protected Mexican cartel members while they were in U.S. custody or in the gang turf, and Mexican cartels often employed U.S. gang members when they were "on the run" from U.S. authorities in Mexico.


David "Popeye" Barron was a Logan Heights gang member from 30th Street in San Diego. He was also a member of the California Mexican Mafia prison gang. He crossed over the border and was doing business with the Arellano-Felix brothers.



(Above video is "The Assasins Logan Heights" from 2011-reported to be the largest gang with a membership of 400)


On Nov. 8, 1992, he attended a business meeting with a few of the Arellano brothers as part of their security people. They all met in Puerta Vallarta, Mexico, at "Christine's," a popular discotheque.


Unknown to the Arellanos and their security, Sinaloa Cartel leader Joaquin "Chapo" Guzman had organized an ambush. Much like the infamous St. Valentine's Day Massacre in Chicago, Chapo's hit men were dressed like cops.

David Barron Corona

Chapo Guzman lead 40 men dressed like Federales into Christine's. They entered with pistols drawn and shouting like policemen. The trick didn't work, and a fierce gun battle erupted. Chapo's men killed many innocent patrons and eight Arellano associates.


In the fog of the fire fight, the American gangster Barron distinguished himself. He grabbed a weapon and shot several of Chapo's police assassins. Barron protected the Arellanos, risking his own life to move them into the bathroom.


He supposedly returned to the discotheque floor to again engage the hit team and re-arm himself with guns stripped from the dead. He eventually got the Arellano brothers out to safety via the sky light. He supposedly hailed a taxi, secured more weapons from the local police "commandante" and returned to the discotheque.


For his bravery and coolness under fire, the Arellanos rewarded him with the position of chief enforcer. They asked him for more soldiers like himself. Popeye Barron would later recruit fellow Mexican Mafia member Jose "Bat" Marquez from San Diego's Del Sol gang and many other members from various San Diego street gangs that he trained as Arellano enforcers.

The Arellano Family

Popeye's enforcers, or sicarii ("sicario" is Spanish for assassin), killed on both sides of the border. In 1993, 26 murders occurred in San Diego as a result of a meth turf battle between the Arellano-Felix Cartel and competing organizations.


In May of 1993, Popeye Barron and 20 of his San Diego gang assassins were on their way to the Guadalajara Airport on Arellano orders to hit "Chapo" Guzman. They were told that Chapo would be driving a white Mercury Marquis. They saw the supposed target on May 24 and riddled the car with bullets. Instead of killing Chapo, they murdered Catholic Cardinal Juan Jesus Posadas Ocampo and six other victims.


Because the drug cartels and their corruption affect every facet of Mexican society, questions remain about the cardinal's murder. Was his death really a mistaken identity hit or was he the actual target? The cardinal had told a childhood friend weeks before his death that he had been called to the home of Mexican President Carlos Salinas and threatened.


It is alleged that Cardinal Posadas had uncovered links to senior politicians and the drug and prostitution trade. The president's brother, Raul Salinas, is currently serving a 27-year sentence for the murder of his brother-in-law and charged with "illegal enrichment" for his links to the drug cartels.

(In the following video the 33 year Los Angeles County Gang specialist explains how
cartels infiltrate cities)



In a deal struck in Mexico between Benjamin Arellano-Felix and the police, two Logan Heights members of the hit team were surrendered — Juan Enrique Vasconez and Ramon "Spooky" Torres Mendez. Spooky Torres was killed while awaiting trial and Vasconez received nine years on Mexican weapons charges. Prosecutors in the U.S. charged nine Logan Height members with the cardinal's hit-squad murder. Three pled guilty and they are serving 18 to 22 years in prison.


In 1993, my LASD Prison Gang Unit had developed an important informant in the Mexican Mafia. Ernest "Chuco" Castro was a respected member of the Varrio Nuevo Estrada (VNE) Gang in Los Angeles and a shot caller in the Mexican Mafia. The EME had begun taxing and controlling street gangs in Los Angeles, Orange County and San Bernardino counties.
The EME leaders would meet once or twice a month at a motel or hotel. Unknown to them, we had formed a multi-agency task force with the FBI, LAPD and CDC. We were covertly monitoring their meetings and wire tapping their phones.


On a sunny Saturday on June 25, 1994 at a Days Inn in Monterey Park, Calif., a dozen or so Mexican Mafia members met in one of the rooms. The meeting was recorded with both audio and video tapes. Attending this meeting was Jose "Bat" Marquez. This is how I first heard about the Christine's discotheque shoot-out and the assassination of Cardinal Posadas, as narrated by EME member Bat Marquez.


Bat's purpose was to ask his Mafia bothers to assist Popeye and the Arellanos to find and kill Chapo Guzman — the head of the Sinaloa Cartel. The Arellanos offered $2 million and whatever state they wanted in Mexico. They also offered drugs and "heavy artillery" and their help crossing it into the U.S.


Bat warned that it would not be easy. He said that Chapo neither drank nor used drugs. He takes care of his family and soldiers. He has a 40-man security force and drives a tricked out four-wheel-drive armored car. He does car bombings. But he does have a weakness. He worships Satan. He had a small son who was ill. Chapo would bring him to the U.S. to be treated, because Chapo doesn't trust Mexican doctors or hospitals.

David Barron Corona Killed by his own men

Bat Marquez said that he wanted to start a chemical lab store and would pick up five drums of ephedrine next week in Mexico. He will keep the chemicals on the Mexican side of the border but the EME brothers were welcome to all they wanted. Bat Marquez only asked for help on how to make the meth.


Several Mexican Mafia members who attended this meeting took trips to Tijuana in the days that followed. Several returned with ephedrine or meth. But 22 of them would be arrested on April 29, 1995, and charged under federal RICO statutes. If we hadn't broken up their games, I'm sure they would have cemented a closer more dangerous alliance with the Arellano-Felix Tijuana cartel. And many more people would have been murdered.


In San Diego in January of 1995, a multi-agency task force comprised of the DEA, FBI, INS, USMS, Customs and the Chula Vista PD was formed to combat the Arellano-Felix Organization (AFO). They would also eventually charge and convict numerous U.S. street gang members and members of the Mexican Mafia.


On Nov. 10, 1997, the Barron-Arellano hit team killed two Mexican soldiers in front of the Tijuana court house. The Zeta Weekly news magazine named David Barron as the assassin.


As a result, on Nov. 22, 1997, Popeye Barron and his hit team ambushed Zeta Editor Jesus Blancornelas, who was seriously wounded. They killed his bodyguard and driver. A stray round struck the pavement, skipped, and hit Popeye above one eye. David Popeye Barron was dead.


In addition, because of the courageous news stories by investigative television reporter Chris Blatchford, together with the effective work of Mexican Army Maj. Felipe Perez-Cruz of the Office of the General Prosecutor (Procuraduria General de la Republica, PGR) and his elite squad, public attention on both sides of the border focused on the Arellano-Felix brothers and their bloody Mexican Mafia assassins.


One by one the Arellano-Felix leadership began to fall. Jesus Labra-Aviles, a cartel lieutenant, was arrested in March of 2000. Ismael "El Mayel" Higuera Guererro was arrested in May. Arellano Brother Benjamin was arrested in March 9, 2002. In February of 2002, Arellano muscleman Ramón was on his way to murder rival Ismael "Mayo" Zambada in Mazatlan when he was shot by police loyal to Zambada.



(above is the video INSIDE TIJUANA DRUGS LORDS from National Geographic)

A few days later Manuel "Tarzan" Herrera, an important Arellano smuggler, was arrested. Francisco Javier Arellano-Felix was arrested by the U.S. Coast Guard off the Baja California coast, and Eduardo Arellano-Felix was arrested after a shootout in Tijuana by Mexican soldiers on Oct. 26, 2008.


The Arellano-Felix cartel is now being run by Luis Fernando Sanchez Arellano, the son of Enedina, one of the four Arellano sisters. Armando Villareal Heredia and Edgardo Leyva Escandon act as his trusted lieutenants.


The work of federal task forces in San Diego and Los Angeles has resulted in charges and convictions for most of the Mexican Mafia's active members in Southern California in a series of RICO conspiracy cases. Under the administration of Mexico's President Felipe Calderon, a more cooperative relationship has begun.


Many of the American gang members and Mexican cartel members have been extradited to the U.S. Even Mexican Mafia and Arellano associate Jose "Bat" Marquez has been arrested by Mexican drug fighters and extradited to the U.S.

[American Patriot]

Mob in Mexico kills 3 suspected kidnappers

By Associated Press
Saturday, February 11, 2012 - Added 2 days ago



TOLUCA, Mexico — Authorities say a mob in central Mexico has beaten three suspected kidnappers to death.
Mexico State prosecutor Alfredo Castillo says the mob also set two of the men on fire during the Friday night attack.
Castillo said Saturday that 23 people in the village of San Mateo Hitzilzingo have been detained.

He says about 300 angry people took the three men out of the town’s police station and began beating them after a woman screamed that they were kidnappers.
Local media reported that the men had tried to kidnap a teenage boy but Castillo wouldn’t confirm that.
He said authorities are trying to determine why police kept the men at the police station instead of turning over to state investigators.

[vector7]

Gun Battles in Mexico Force U.S. to Shut Down Two Border Crossings

By Edwin Mora
March 14, 2012
Subscribe to Edwin Mora's posts


In this Oct. 31, 2011 photo, work is underway in Big Bend National Park, Texas, on a planned remotely-operated port of entry at the Rio Grande. It would be the first of its kind on the U.S.-Mexico border and provide access to Boquillas del Carmen, Mexico, seen in the distance. (AP Photo/Christopher Sherman)

(CNSNews.com) - Several gun battles between Mexican military forces and drug traffickers prompted U.S. authorities to temporarily shut down two international bridge crossings on the Southwest border last week.

The two bridges are located at the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) port of entry in Eagle Pass, Texas – connecting Eagle Pass, Texas, to Piedras Negras in Coahuila, Mexico.

In an e-mail to CNSNews.com, Douglas Mosier, a spokesman for CBP in El Paso, confirmed that the bridges were closed “in response to violent activity occurring in Piedras Negras, Mexico and as per coordination between the Government of Mexico, the Eagle Pass Police Department and the Maverick County Sheriff's Department.”

“CBP has protocols in place to handle these types of situations and enacted those protocols in response to this incident,” added Mosier. “Our primary concern is for the safety of the traveling public and the safety of our officers.”

He said that the shut down took place overnight between approximately 9 p.m. on March 6 and 8 a.m. the following day.

Traffic to Mexico was stopped at about 9 p.m. Northbound traffic from Mexico coming across the larger bridge – Camino Real International – was rerouted overnight to the Eagle Pass International Bridge.

By 7:40 a.m. on March 7, both international bridges had fully resumed northbound and southbound operations.

Mosier said he could not provide any more details on the battles, which government agency ordered the shut down, and whether CBP often closes down border crossings as a result of drug war violence in Mexico.

However, according to Mexican news reports, the U.S. State Department requested that the bridges be closed in response to a series of gun battles between the Mexican military and bandits in Piedras Negras armed with rifles and rocket grenade launchers.

The State Department did not immediately return calls for comment.

Media accounts from both the U.S. and Mexico revealed that the traffickers used an 18-wheeler engulfed in fire to set up a road block approximately a quarter-mile from one of the bridges and that one female police officer and at least six members of the Mexican military were wounded as a result of the armed conflict.

Eagle Pass Police Chief Tony Castañeda, who referred to the armed criminals as drug traffickers, said, “This is not out of the norm. There have been several gun battles going on here with the narcotics traffickers for quite some time. But it's never gotten to this magnitude where they close bridges,” reported The San Antonio Express-News on March 8.

Speaking in Spanish, Castañeda said in a video that the bridges were closed to prevent the criminals from “fleeing and entering the U.S. to escape because many of them do have the right to enter by means of a passport,” The Eagle Pass Business Journal reported on March 7.

However, Mosier said that CBP was still allowing northbound traffic. It was traffic going into Mexico that was completely stopped.

The decision to close the bridges was aimed at “protecting citizens and preventing some of the delinquents from entering and fleeing from what had occurred on the Mexican side and to maintain security,” added Castañeda.

Castañeda revealed that CBP officers and members of the police force have been placed on alert, adding that as a result he expects northbound traffic on the bridges to be slow for several days following the incident.