AZMEX UPDATE 28 FEB 2013
Updated Feb 28, 2013 - 2:03 am
Maricopa County detectives break up human smuggling ring
By KTAR Newsroom
Originally published: Feb 27, 2013 - 10:23 pm
http://www.ktar.com/22/1614027/Maricopa-County-detectives-break-up-
human-smuggling-ring
Fernando Valdez-Benitez was one of 10 key members of a cartel
arrested by the MCSO (Photo courtesy of the MCSO).
PHOENIX -- After a five-month investigation, Sheriff Joe Arpaio said
the MCSO arrested 10 key members of a cartel, including the kingpin
who shouldn't have eve been here.
"He's been deported eight times," Arpaio said. "Eight times and keeps
coming back."
Detectives arrested the alleged leader, 35-year-old Javier Rito-
Martinez at his home in Laveen.
Arpaio said the group has made millions from smuggling people over
the past four years. The group is accused of directing the flow of
smuggling clients from Mexico's southern border into the United States.
Sheriff's deputies worked with special agents with the U.S.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement's Homeland Security
Investigations to track and arrest the 10 suspects.
Suspect from America's Most Wanted arrested in AZ
By KTAR Newsroom
Originally published: Feb 27, 2013 - 6:56 pm
http://www.ktar.com/22/1613982/Suspect-from-Americas-Most-Wanted-
arrested-in-AZ
A homicide suspect featured on America's Most Wanted has been taken
into custody by U.S Customs and Border Protection officers.
According to U.S Customs and Border Patrol officials, 26-year-old
Raul Marin Sandoval was arrested while trying to re-enter the United
States through an Arizona pedestrian crossing on Tuesday.
Sandoval was featured in AMW episodes that were aired between March
and December in 2011 for a homicide he is suspected of committing in
Salinas.
"I applaud our CBP officers in their role of ensuring this individual
will be brought to justice," Port Directer Roque Caza said. "This
arrest demonstrates just one of the many roles CBP plays in keeping
our communities safe by taking dangerous criminals off our streets."
Note: and then we have this. Seldom a mention of saturation of
border cities by fed law enforcement. Crimes not reported? You
betcha.
Report: Crime falls along U.S.-Mexico border
By KTAR.com
Originally published: Feb 27, 2013 - 12:44 pm
http://www.ktar.com/22/1613834/Report-Crime-falls-along-USMexico-border
The amount of crime along the border between the United States and
Mexico fell between 2004 and 2011, a report from the U.S. Government
Office of Accountability said.
In total, all border states saw crime fall off at an average of 27
percent over the seven-year span covered in the report.
In Arizona, violent crime in border counties fell 33 percent, more
than any neighboring state. However, violent crime in Arizona
remained higher in border counties than in non-border counties, with
a 22 percent decrease in non-border counties.
Violent crime -- specifically aggravated assault -- rose in Pinal
County by 22 percent from 2010 to 2011.
The report did note that crime may be going underreported, as some
crimes may be committed by or against members of drug cartels.
Several politicians have said the upcoming sequester could cause the
border to erupt in crime as funding for officers and materials is cut.
Note: they keep doing it because it often works
Cannon used to shoot marijuana over border
AP Photo/Mexicali Public Safety Department
In this image released by the Mexicali Public Safety Department, a
man holds up an improvised cannon that was confiscated earlier in the
day Tuesday in Mexicali, Mexico. Police in the border city say the
cannon was used to hurl packets of marijuana across a border fence
into California.
8 hours ago • Associated Press
http://azstarnet.com/news/local/border/cannon-used-to-shoot-marijuana-
over-border/article_295f37ee-81cd-11e2-b699-001a4bcf887a.html
MEXICALI, Mexico — A powerful improvised cannon was used to hurl
packets of marijuana across a border fence into California, police in
the border city of Mexicali say.
The device officers confiscated was made up of a plastic pipe and a
crude metal tank that used compressed air from the engine of an old
car, police told the Televisa network.
The apparatus fired cylinders packed with drugs that weighed as much
as 30 pounds, police. It was confiscated last week after U.S.
officers told Mexican police that they had been confiscating a large
number of drug packages that appeared to have been fired over the
border. Mexican police on the border have recovered a series of
similar devices in recent years.
Note: as often mentioned here, corruption not limited to TX
McAllen residents among jailers indicted in federal corruption case
Posted: Thursday, February 28, 2013 9:34 am
Emma Perez-Treviño | Valley Morning Star
http://www.themonitor.com/news/local/article_2f879be2-8160-11e2-
b45a-0019bb30f31a.html
CORPUS CHRISTI — Two McAllen residents are among 29 former jailers
and others arrested after an investigation into widespread
racketeering activity.
The investigation, dubbed "Operation Prison Cell," was a joint effort
to break the "culture of corruption" that permeated the McConnell
Unit Prison in Beeville, U.S. Attorney Kenneth Magidson said at a
news conference Wednesday in Corpus Christi.
The indictment was returned last week by a federal grand jury and
went public Wednesday.
Federal officials said former jailers or corrections officers with
the Texas Department of Criminal Justice smuggled cellular telephones
and drugs to prison inmates. The items then were sold to other inmates.
"Prison is a place where inmates are supposed to do their time, not
where they do their crime," Magidson said.
The Valley residents indicted are former jailers Desiree Silguero,
42, of McAllen and Oscar Juraidini, 24, of Brownsville.
Also indicted was Maria Fernanda Hidalgo, 31, of McAllen. Federal
authorities say she is charged with being a facilitator in the
operation by transporting drugs and cellphones, and paying bribes to
prison employees.
Silguero was arrested in Corpus Christi; the other two Valley
defendants were arrested in Brownsville and McAllen.
Authorities continue to seek three fugitives, one of them a former
jailer.
"The jailer has now become the jailed," said Brian M. Moskowitz,
special agent in charge with ICE's Homeland Security Investigations.
The investigation began as a gang and stolen car case in Corpus
Christi in 2009, when several Aryan Circle gang members were arrested
after they tried to transport stolen vehicles from Corpus Christi to
Brownsville, a federal fact sheet shows.
The vehicles were to be smuggled across the border and sold to
members of drug cartels in Mexico.
Federal officials said inmates used cellphones to coordinate their
activities.
The inquiry showed a "pattern of greed, corruption and self-service,"
Moskowitz said
Former Eagle Pass Police officer enters guilty plea in connection
with stolen firearm case
Written by Staff
Wednesday, 27 February 2013 20:04
http://eaglepassdaily.com/
EAGLE PASS, Texas -- In Del Rio today, 40-year-old Eagle Pass police
officer Eriberto Leija faces up to ten years in federal prison and a
maximum $250,000 fine after pleading guilty this afternoon to one
count of possession of a stolen firearm announced United States
Attorney Robert Pitman and FBI Special Agent In Charge Armando
Fernandez.
Appearing before United States Magistrate Judge Collis White, Leija
admitted that on July 15, 2012, he possessed a stolen firearm, namely
an M1 .30 caliber rifle with a folding stock. According to the
factual basis filed in the case, Leija claimed to have discovered the
firearm in a vacant lot in Eagle Pass while investigating a drive-by
shooting incident.
Furthermore, Leija admitted to taking a picture of it, then sending
that picture to a co-worker in an attempt to sell the firearm for
$500. The factual basis further states that on the following morning,
Leija contacted EPPD dispatch and requested a firearms check through
the NCIC database to determine if the rifle was stolen. The query
returned a positive hit indicating that the weapon had been stolen.
During questioning by EPPD personnel, Leija stated that he was not in
possession of the firearm, that it was in Mexico, and that he queried
it as a favor to a Mexican Federal Police officer.
The factual basis also states that Leija attempted to cover up the
fact that he knowingly was in possession of a stolen firearm by
soliciting a Mexico Federal Police officer to create a false document
purporting to transfer the custody of the stolen firearm. When
confronted by authorities with the solicitation and photo he sent to
his coworker, Leija admitted that he lied about the scheme and the
fact that the weapon had been in his possession the entire time.
Leija is currently on bond pending sentencing. Sentencing has yet to
be scheduled.
This investigation was conducted by the Federal Bureau of
Investigation together with the Eagle Pass Police Department.
Assistant United States Attorney Jay Hulings is prosecuting this case
on behalf of the Government.
Note: photo shows a variety of AK clones.
CBP officers seize assault rifles in outbound operation
Written by Staff
Wednesday, 27 February 2013 09:21
http://eaglepassdaily.com/
EAGLE PASS, Texas – An Eagle Pass woman is in custody after
attempting to smuggle more than a dozen assault rifles out of the
United States.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers at the Eagle Pass Port of
Entry selected a 1995 Ford F-150 pickup truck for inspection as the
vehicle was leaving the United States, bound for Mexico, Thursday
afternoon. During the initial inspection CBP Officers referred the
vehicle for an intensified inspection after discovering what appeared
to be weapons within the vehicle.
With the assistance of electronic imaging equipment and a CBP canine,
officers discovered a total of 14 assault rifles hidden in the
pickup. The weapons and driver, a 52-year-old U.S. citizen, were
turned over to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's Homeland
Security Investigations for federal prosecution.
"Preventing firearms from illegally being exported from the United
States is an important function of CBP officers at the Port of
Entry," said Cynthia O. Rodriguez, CBP Port Director, Eagle Pass.
"Every weapon our officers seize helps to ensure the safety of our
border communities."
Note: on the way to calif. over 80 lbs. of cocaine and other
synthetic drugs. Unknown at this time who they belonged to.
Localiza Policía Federal más de 40 kilos de cocaína y droga sintética
en Sonora
Detiene vehículo para una revisión, durante la cual detectaron que la
unidad presentaba alteraciones en su diseño, por lo cual se realizó
una inspección a la unidad.
Gustavo Castillo
Publicado: 28/02/2013 17:18
http://www.jornada.unam.mx/ultimas/2013/02/28/171822731-localiza-
policia-federal-mas-de-40kilos-de-cocaina-y-droga-sintetica-en-sonora
México, DF. Elementos de la Policía Federal localizaron más de 40
kilos de cocaína y droga sintética que estaban ocultos en un vehículo
de carga que transitaba en el kilómetro 70 de la carretera Puerto
Libertad-Puerto Peñasco, en Sonora.
La Comisión Nacional de Seguridad dio a conocer que los policías
realizaban patrullajes en la zona y detuvieron al vehículo para una
revisión, durante la cual detectaron que la unidad presentaba
alteraciones en su diseño y al preguntarle al conductos sobre su
procedencia y destino "mostró marcado nerviosismo e indicó que se
dirigía a la ciudad de Tijuana, Baja California, por lo cual se
realizó una inspección a la unidad".
En la parte superior del área destinada a la carga se encontraron
varios paquetes, 14 de ellos con cocaína y 23 con droga sintética
conocida como cristal, por esa razón el conductor, identificado como
Jorge García Mora, fue puesto a disposición del Ministerio Público.
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