Note: this tactic had worked before, we will see what happens this
time.
Officer slayings increase: Juárez killings may point to surge in
violence, experts say
by Alejandro Martínez-Cabrera \ El Paso Times
Posted: 01/28/2012 12:00:00 AM MST
The recent wave of police slayings in Juárez may signal increased
bloodshed reminiscent of the early stages of the current safety
crisis, experts said Friday.
Two police agents were ambushed and gunned down Friday morning,
bringing to seven the number of officers killed so far this year,
officials said.
The two officers -- a man and woman -- were killed by a group of
armed men when they headed into work, said Adrián Sánchez, a police
spokesman.
Their names have not been released.
Two police commanders also were killed earlier this month. On
Wednesday, two other police officers were shot after finishing their
shift, and another officer was killed earlier.
Friday's killings follow Wednesday's discovery of about 10 banners,
allegedly signed by members of the so-called New Juárez Cartel, in
different parts of the city.
The messages, addressed to Juárez Police Chief Julián Leyzaola,
threaten to kill a police agent every day to force Leyzaola to resign.
Leyzaola dismissed the signs and said threats are not going to stop
his efforts to fight criminals.
Sánchez said his agency had mounted an operation to find the
officers' killers. He added that for now, police weren't linking
Friday's slayings to the banners.
"We aren't linking them to anything," he said.
Hours after the slayings, Leyzaola met with Juárez Mayor Héctor
"Teto" Murguía at city hall behind closed doors, a city spokesman
said. Details of the meeting are unknown, but it is likely they
discussed Friday's police casualties, the spokesman said.
A police news release on Friday asked anyone with information on the
attacks to contact the authorities. "The police officers of Juárez
continue to do their work, even when the cost is something as
precious as their lives," it said. "Crime will end when citizens
decide to end it by fighting it through their reports."
Juárez City Manager Héctor Arcelús said he thought the recent
slayings were connected to the police department's recent work. "It
is definitely a reaction of organized crime. The mayor's instructions
were to fight crime and we have. In no way will we discontinue our
intent to do so," he said.
Arcelús said municipal authorities are discussing the safety of
police officers, but he did not mention the adoption of any new
security measures.
"We have identified several measures, but because of safety concerns,
we're not revealing them," he said.
Police officers have told local media that they would feel safer if
they could carry their 9mm handguns after work hours. Because of city
guidelines, police officers must must return their handguns when
their shifts end.
Arcelús said local authorities have discussed the measure but did not
add any details. Since 2008, when a war broke out between the Juárez
and Sinaloa drug cartels, more than 9,300 people have been killed in
Juárez.
University of Texas at El Paso Professor Howard Campbell said the
recent attacks on the municipal police bring back memories of the
early days of 2008, when hit lists with the names of specific police
officers began to appear throughout the city.
"Those threats were carried out, and these (slayings) are very
similar," he said.
Campbell added that the attacks could be the beginning of a new surge
in violence.
"Obviously this is an attack on Leyzaola, but I would guess it's also
a struggle to control drug sales and other criminal enterprises like
extortion rackets and the informal economy," he said. "I'm sure
Leyzaola is going to fight back, and that's the ominous part. This
thing could explode again."
Scott Stewart, vice president of tactical intelligence at a
geopolitical analysis company, Stratfor, agreed that the slayings
could lead to a rebound in violence, but that it would probably be
smaller in dimension and would eventually lead to a downturn.
"I seriously don't think the remnants of the VCF (Vicente Carrillo
Fuentes cartel) have the power they had in '08," he said.
"They are significantly weaker and will continue to be weakened as
law enforcement reacts to these killings."
In a recent report, Stratfor attributed a recent decrease in violence
in Juárez to what seems to be the Sinaloa cartel's consolidation of
power in the region and dominance over its rival Juárez cartel.
Stewart said the slayings showed that the New Juárez Cartel -- which
he said is likely to be a "rebranding" of the Juárez cartel after
heavy losses to its leadership last year -- is still fighting to hold
on to its territory.
"The VCF is trying desperately to hold on to their plaza," he said.
"Sinaloa is basically like a boa constrictor choking them out."
But Campbell thought Stratfor overestimated the Sinaloa cartel's grip
on the region and said it was too early to say Juárez was on its road
to recovery.
"Summertime is usually the most violent time in the city. We also
have to consider the effects of the (coming Mexican presidential)
elections and the fact that the Sinaloa cartel doesn't seem to be
supreme," Campbell said. "This war seems to continue and the
potential is there for things to get back as they were."
Alejandro Martínez-Cabrera may be reached a.martinez@elpasotimes.com;
546-6129.
The army fighting kills six criminals in Veracruz
The scene is secured five rifles, a handgun, 59 magazines for
different weapons, a thousand 516 cartridges
Notimex
http://www.excelsior.com.mx/index.php?m=nota&seccion=seccion-
nacional&cat=1&id_nota=805998
THE Apothecary, View January 28 .- Six suspected criminals were
killed by the Mexican Army after holding gun battles in different
municipalities of the state, according to the National Defense
Secretariat (SEDENA).
According to a statement, on January 26 after conducting a ground
survey of the ranch near the boundary, belonging in the town of
Panuco, gunmen opened fire on troops who repel aggression after shot
dead five suspected criminals .
The scene is secured five rifles, a handgun, 59 magazines for
different weapons, a thousand 516 cartridges of different calibers
and two vehicles.
Also, the Department of Defense announced that the January 27
military personnel were attacked with firearms in the municipality of
Puente Nacional, so after a confrontation hold a suspect died and six
others were arrested.
These men were seized with three rifles, 43 magazines for different
weapons, 876 rounds of different calibers, 12 kilograms of marijuana
and five vehicles.
While in Coatzacoalcos, located south of the state, members of the
Mexican Army released a person who was deprived of his liberty,
arresting four suspected kidnappers.
It was reported that after conducting a ground survey in Colonia Las
Palmas in this town, was located at this group of subjects who were
seized eight rifles, two handguns, two hand grenades, 27 magazines
for different weapons, 492 rounds and two vehicles.
The Department of Defense said that the bodies of the deceased, were
arrested and secured arsenal available to the appropriate authority
to initiate a preliminary investigation of law.
JGL
2012-01-28 14:18:00
ATTORNEY GENERAL HORNE ANNOUNCES ARRESTS CONNECTED TO MULTI-MILLION
DOLLAR HAUL OF COCAINE FROM MEXICAN CARTEL
PHOENIX (Friday, January 27, 2012)--Arizona Attorney General Tom
Horne today announced the arrests of 14 of 15 suspected members of a
large-scale marijuana and cocaine trafficking organization. This
organization has smuggled over 19.1 kilograms of cocaine and 2,952
pounds of marijuana into the United States since December of 2010 with
a Tucson, Arizona street value estimated to be between $2,631,600 and
$2,126,400.
This criminal enterprise has been active for more than ten years in
smuggling large amounts of marijuana and cocaine into the United
States through the Nogales Port of Entry. The organization was
utilizing tracker trailer dump trucks with scrap metal as cover,
backpackers, and vehicles with hidden compartments to smuggle the
marijuana and cocaine multiple times per week, and smuggle large
amounts of US currency back into Mexico. Once in the United States,
the marijuana and cocaine were being stored at various Nogales, Rio
Rico, Tucson, and Phoenix area stash houses.
"This is yet another in a growing list of examples why the Arizona
border with Mexico is not secure," Horne said. "For this criminal
operation to exist for the better part of a decade trafficking
millions of dollars worth of poison into Arizona is outrageous and
helps to define the critical nature of this problem. The level of
violent criminal activity near the border and throughout much of
Arizona at large is a direct result of the drug trade, and it simply
cannot continue. In the meantime, the policy of the federal government
remains to peddle the fiction that the border is as secure as it has
ever been. It clearly is not, and I reiterate my call to the
administration to do more to address this crisis."
On December 10, 2010, law enforcement seized 2,873 pounds of
marijuana in a belly-dump trailer pulled by a tractor. On May 14,
2011, law enforcement seized 77.7 pounds of marijuana hidden in the
tires of a truck. On May 31, 2011, law enforcement seized $15,300 in
U.S. currency of illegal drug proceeds hiding in a vehicle during a
traffic stop. On June 11, 2011, law enforcement seized 10 kilograms of
cocaine hidden in a car. On June 15, 2011, law enforcement seized of
9.1 kilograms of cocaine hidden in a false compartment in a car. On
July 21, 2011, law enforcement seized 5 total packages of cocaine,
weighing 5.644 oz (1/3 lbs). On September 29, 2011, law enforcement
seized 6 pounds of marijuana believed to be a sample of a 300 pound
load.
On January 26, 2012, simultaneous search and arrest warrants were
executed on suspected members of the drug trafficking organization and
their stash houses.
The 15 suspected members were indicted on charges ranging from
Illegally Conducting an Enterprise, Conspiracy, Transportation of
Marijuana for Sale; Transportation of Cocaine for Sale; Money
Laundering; Use of a Wire Communication or Electronic Communication in
a Drug Related Transaction or to Facilitate the Violation of any
Felony Provision; and Weapons Misconduct. The remaining defendants are
not being identified at this time, because grand jury secrecy requires
their names be withheld until they have been served.
Agencies working in cooperation with the Drug Enforcement
Administration and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's
Homeland Security Investigations Strike Force are the U.S. Border
Patrol, U.S. Marshal's Service, Nogales Police Department, Tucson
Police Department, Department of Public Safety, and the Arizona
Attorney General's Office. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant
Attorney General Nanette Morrow. These charges are merely allegations,
and the defendants are presumed innocent until and unless proven
guilty.
Indictment charges include:
ILLEGALLY CONDUCTING AN ENTERPRISE; in violation of A.R.S. §
13-2312;
CONSPIRACY; in violation of A.R.S. § 13-1003;
TRANSPORT FOR SALE, IMPORT INTO THIS STATE OR OFFER TO TRANSPORT FOR
SALE OR IMPORT INTO THIS STATE, SELL, TRANSFER OR OFFER TO SELL OR
TRANSFER MARIJUANA IN AN AMOUNT OVER THE STATUTORY THRESHOLD, in
violation of A.R.S. § 13-3405;
TRANSPORT FOR SALE, IMPORT INTO THIS STATE OR OFFER TO TRANSPORT FOR
SALE OR IMPORT INTO THIS STATE, SELL, TRANSFER OR OFFER TO SELL OR
TRANSFER COCAINE IN AN AMOUNT OVER THE STATUTORY THRESHOLD, in
violation of A.R.S. § 13-3408;
MONEY LAUNDERING, in violation of A.R.S. § 13-2317;
USE OF A WIRE COMMUNICATION OR ELECTRONIC COMMUNICATION IN A DRUG
RELATED TRANSACTION, in violation of A.R.S. § 13-3417;
POSSESSION OF MARIJUANA FOR SALE IN AN AMOUNT OVER THE STATUTORY
THRESHOLD, in violation of A.R.S. § 13-3405;
MISCONDUCT INVOLVING WEAPONS, in violation of A.R.S. § 13-3102
POSSESSION OF MARIJUANA, in violation of A.R.S. § 13-3405
Names and photos are attached.
<http://www.azag.gov/press_releases/jan/2012/Contriband.jpg>;
<http://www.azag.gov/press_releases/jan/2012/DrugDumpTruck.jpg>;
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