AZMEX SPECIAL 30 APR 2014
Note: This is the corruption story Ildifonso Ortiz had been covering.
Five of the Panama Unit trial individuals were sentenced, 6 to be sentenced tomorrow
Posted: Tuesday, April 29, 2014 9:00 pm
Daniella Diaz and Dave Hendricks | The Monitor
http://www.themonitor.com/news/local/five-of-the-panama-unit-trial-individuals-were-sentenced-to/article_4076b596-d00b-11e3-affd-001a4bcf6878.html
McALLEN — U.S. District Judge Randy Crane sentenced four disgraced lawmen Tuesday for participating in the Panama Unit corruption scandal, handing down prison terms ranging from eight to 10 years.
The Panama Unit scandal eventually enveloped 12 men — nine lawmen and three drug traffickers — and cast a shadow over the Hidalgo County Sheriff's Office. Tuesday's sentencing, which will continue this morning, marked the end.
Family and friends packed the ninth-floor courtroom at the Bentsen Tower. With reporters, attorneys and reporters all jockeying for space, the defendants awaited sentencing in the jury box.
Crane considered four lawmen and one drug trafficker individually on Tuesday, starting with 60-year-old former Deputy Jorge Garza, the only person involved who didn't plead guilty. A jury convicted him at trial.
"It seemed like easy money," Crane said, referencing Garza's cooperation with drug traffickers, who paid him to conduct fake traffic stops. "(This) caused you to compromise your principles and become a criminal."
Afterwards, Crane offered Garza an opportunity to apologize.
"I'm truly sorry," Garza told the court. "I want to apologize to all of the people of Hidalgo County."
Former Deputy Claudio Mata apologized. So did James Phil "J.P." Flores, who headed the Hidalgo County Crime Stoppers program. Even drug trafficker Fernando Guerra Jr. attempted to make amends.
Only former Deputy Gerardo Mendoza Duran declined to speak, opting not to take the opportunity to apologize. Afterward, Crane handed down their prison sentences.
>> Crane sentenced former Deputy Jorge Garza to 10 years and one month in prison with four years of supervised release.
>> Crane sentenced drug trafficker Fernando Guerra Jr. to eight years in prison, with four years of supervised release.
>> Crane sentenced former Deputy James Phil "JP" Flores to 10 years in prison with four years supervised release.
>> Crane sentenced former Deputy Claudio Mata to 11 years and eight months in prison with four years of supervised release.
>> Crane sentenced former Deputy Gerardo Mendoza Duran to eight years in prison with four years of supervised release.
Crane granted Guerra Jr., Mata, Flores and Mendoza Duran reduced sentences for providing information to federal investigators.
The FBI and the Homeland Security Investigations division of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement started investigating the Panama Unit — an anti-narcotics task force that brought together sheriff's deputies and Mission police Investigator Jonathan Treviño, the son of Hidalgo County Sheriff Lupe Treviño — during August 2012, according to federal court records.
The investigation went public on Dec. 12, 2012, when the crooked cops discovered GPS tracking devices hidden within a cocaine shipment.
Initially, federal agents arrested Jonathan Treviño, two sheriff's deputies and Mission police Investigator Alexis Espinoza, the son of Hidalgo police Chief Rudy Espinoza. Prosecutors eventually indicted nine lawmen and three drug traffickers.
After several delays, sentencing began Tuesday, following a lengthy court discussion about whether or not the disgraced lawmen would face stiffer sentences for wearing body armor when they stole drugs and escorted narcotics shipments.
When Mata was sentenced, his family could be heard sobbing behind him.
At one point, former Deputy Salvador Arguello, who wasn't sentenced Tuesday, bent over in his seat. He occasionally brought his hands together, closed his eyes and prayed. Arguello was the most notably anxious. Others seemed relatively nonplussed.
They're set for sentencing Wednesday.
"I guess this is one more night of freedom," Crane said before adjourning the sentencing hearing, sending five lawmen home for the night.
end
Wednesday, April 30, 2014
Tuesday, April 29, 2014
AZMEX EXTRA 29-4-14
AZMEX EXTRA 29 APR 2014
Eagle Pass, Texas across the Rio Grande from Piedras Negras, Coahuila
Eagle Pass CBP Officers, Border Patrol Agents Seize Weapons Cache
Tuesday, 08 April 2014 10:51
http://eaglepassdaily.com/latest-news/2572-eagle-pass-cbp-officers-border-patrol-agents-seize-weapons-cache-
DSCN338
EAGLE PASS, Texas – Federal authorities at the Eagle Pass Port of Entry intercepted a load of assault rifles and ammunition bound for Mexico Friday. In an unrelated incident, Thursday, inspection of outbound traffic turned up a man wanted for alleged weapons smuggling.
"The Eagle Pass POE Enforcement Team is made up of U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers from the Port of Entry and U.S. Border Patrol agents," said Cynthia O. Rodriguez, CBP Port Director, Eagle Pass. "They bring together unique skill sets that allow us to maximize our effectiveness."
"Preventing weapons like these from being smuggled into Mexico deprives criminal organizations of the tools of their trade."
Friday morning, the POE Enforcement team was conducting outbound inspections at Eagle Pass International Bridge I when a 1995 Ford F-150 pickup truck arrived, bound for Mexico. Using non-intrusive imaging equipment to inspect the pickup, Enforcement Team members discovered a cache of weapons hidden in the vehicle. Team members seized a total of 18 AK-47 assault rifles, along with 17 magazines, and 4,029 rounds of ammunition.
In an unrelated incident the previous evening, the Enforcement Team inspected a taxi as it left the United States headed to Mexico. During routine inspection, Enforcement Team members learned that a passenger in the vehicle was the subject of an FBI warrant, and was also wanted on weapons smuggling charges. The passenger, a 28-year-old Del Rio man, was turned over the FBI.
The Office of Field Operations is the primary organization within U.S. Customs and Border Protection tasked with an anti-terrorism mission at our nation's ports. CBP officers screen all people, vehicles and goods entering the United States while facilitating the flow of legitimate trade and travel. Their mission also includes carrying out border-related duties, including narcotics interdiction, enforcing immigration and trade laws, and protecting the nation's food supply and agriculture industry from pests and diseases.
Working together, Office of Field Operations and U.S. Border Patrol are integral to the South Texas Campaign, which leverages federal, state and local resources to combat transnational criminal organizations.
Border Patrol agents nab AK-47s
Written by Staff
Monday, 21 April 2014 15:23
http://eaglepassdaily.com
000_0037
EAGLE PASS, Texas – For the second time in two weeks, federal authorities at the Eagle Pass Port of Entry intercepted a load of assault rifles bound for Mexico, Friday.
"The Eagle Pass POE Enforcement Team is comprised of U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers from the Port of Entry and U.S. Border Patrol agents," said Cynthia O. Rodriguez, CBP Port Director, Eagle Pass. "Preventing weapons like these from being smuggled across our borders deprives transnational criminal organizations of the tools of their trade."
Late Friday night, the POE Enforcement team was conducting outbound inspections at Eagle Pass International Bridge I when a 2003 Ford Expedition arrived, bound for Mexico. Using non-intrusive imaging equipment to inspect the vehicle, Enforcement Team members discovered a cache of weapons hidden inside. Team members seized a total of 12 AK-47 assault rifles, along with 12 magazines, and 22 rounds of 7.63-caliber ammunition.
Working together, the Office of Field Operations and U.S. Border Patrol are integral to the South Texas Campaign, which leverages federal, state and local resources to combat transnational criminal organizations.
"Taking weapons like these out of the hands of criminals helps ensure the safety and security of communities on both sides of the border," STC Commander Robert L. Harris said. "These types of seizures highlight the vigilance of our officers and agents, as we and our partner agencies continue disrupting TCO operations in the South Texas Corridor."
The Office of Field Operations is the primary organization within U.S. Customs and Border Protection tasked with an anti-terrorism mission at our nation's ports. CBP officers screen all people, vehicles and goods entering the United States while facilitating the flow of legitimate trade and travel. Their mission also includes carrying out border-related duties, including narcotics interdiction, enforcing immigration and trade laws, and protecting the nation's food supply and agriculture industry from pests and diseases.
END
Eagle Pass, Texas across the Rio Grande from Piedras Negras, Coahuila
Eagle Pass CBP Officers, Border Patrol Agents Seize Weapons Cache
Tuesday, 08 April 2014 10:51
http://eaglepassdaily.com/latest-news/2572-eagle-pass-cbp-officers-border-patrol-agents-seize-weapons-cache-
DSCN338
EAGLE PASS, Texas – Federal authorities at the Eagle Pass Port of Entry intercepted a load of assault rifles and ammunition bound for Mexico Friday. In an unrelated incident, Thursday, inspection of outbound traffic turned up a man wanted for alleged weapons smuggling.
"The Eagle Pass POE Enforcement Team is made up of U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers from the Port of Entry and U.S. Border Patrol agents," said Cynthia O. Rodriguez, CBP Port Director, Eagle Pass. "They bring together unique skill sets that allow us to maximize our effectiveness."
"Preventing weapons like these from being smuggled into Mexico deprives criminal organizations of the tools of their trade."
Friday morning, the POE Enforcement team was conducting outbound inspections at Eagle Pass International Bridge I when a 1995 Ford F-150 pickup truck arrived, bound for Mexico. Using non-intrusive imaging equipment to inspect the pickup, Enforcement Team members discovered a cache of weapons hidden in the vehicle. Team members seized a total of 18 AK-47 assault rifles, along with 17 magazines, and 4,029 rounds of ammunition.
In an unrelated incident the previous evening, the Enforcement Team inspected a taxi as it left the United States headed to Mexico. During routine inspection, Enforcement Team members learned that a passenger in the vehicle was the subject of an FBI warrant, and was also wanted on weapons smuggling charges. The passenger, a 28-year-old Del Rio man, was turned over the FBI.
The Office of Field Operations is the primary organization within U.S. Customs and Border Protection tasked with an anti-terrorism mission at our nation's ports. CBP officers screen all people, vehicles and goods entering the United States while facilitating the flow of legitimate trade and travel. Their mission also includes carrying out border-related duties, including narcotics interdiction, enforcing immigration and trade laws, and protecting the nation's food supply and agriculture industry from pests and diseases.
Working together, Office of Field Operations and U.S. Border Patrol are integral to the South Texas Campaign, which leverages federal, state and local resources to combat transnational criminal organizations.
Border Patrol agents nab AK-47s
Written by Staff
Monday, 21 April 2014 15:23
http://eaglepassdaily.com
000_0037
EAGLE PASS, Texas – For the second time in two weeks, federal authorities at the Eagle Pass Port of Entry intercepted a load of assault rifles bound for Mexico, Friday.
"The Eagle Pass POE Enforcement Team is comprised of U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers from the Port of Entry and U.S. Border Patrol agents," said Cynthia O. Rodriguez, CBP Port Director, Eagle Pass. "Preventing weapons like these from being smuggled across our borders deprives transnational criminal organizations of the tools of their trade."
Late Friday night, the POE Enforcement team was conducting outbound inspections at Eagle Pass International Bridge I when a 2003 Ford Expedition arrived, bound for Mexico. Using non-intrusive imaging equipment to inspect the vehicle, Enforcement Team members discovered a cache of weapons hidden inside. Team members seized a total of 12 AK-47 assault rifles, along with 12 magazines, and 22 rounds of 7.63-caliber ammunition.
Working together, the Office of Field Operations and U.S. Border Patrol are integral to the South Texas Campaign, which leverages federal, state and local resources to combat transnational criminal organizations.
"Taking weapons like these out of the hands of criminals helps ensure the safety and security of communities on both sides of the border," STC Commander Robert L. Harris said. "These types of seizures highlight the vigilance of our officers and agents, as we and our partner agencies continue disrupting TCO operations in the South Texas Corridor."
The Office of Field Operations is the primary organization within U.S. Customs and Border Protection tasked with an anti-terrorism mission at our nation's ports. CBP officers screen all people, vehicles and goods entering the United States while facilitating the flow of legitimate trade and travel. Their mission also includes carrying out border-related duties, including narcotics interdiction, enforcing immigration and trade laws, and protecting the nation's food supply and agriculture industry from pests and diseases.
END
Monday, April 28, 2014
AZMEX EXTRA 28-4-14
AZMEX EXTRA 28 APR 2014
Donan 183 weapons and 29 grenades
Alejandro Monjardín
04/27/2014
At least four grenades per day delivered to the modules .
Photo: IONSA .
http://www.noroeste.com.mx/publicaciones.php?id=943481&id_seccion=70&fecha=2014-04-27
During the first week CULIACÁN._ Campaign Donation and Firearms Registry , citizens gave four grenades and 30 weapons per day for destruction in the municipalities of Ahome and Salvador Alvarado.
Details of the Executive Secretariat of the State System of Public Security indicate that total donation received 183 weapons, including 29 grenades .
In total they donated 82 long firearms and 20 handguns of those allowed by the Federal Firearms and Explosives; of weapons for exclusive use of the armed forces 31 handguns, 20 long guns , 29 grenades and 1 40mm grenade were donated.
In the municipality of Ahome delivered 160, of which 90 are allowed by law to the possession of citizens and 70 are for the exclusive use of the Army and Air Force.
Citizens also went to record 12 short and 14 long guns .
In the municipality of Salvador Alvarado donated 19 weapons and four grenades.
In exchange for the donated weapons SESESP gave 20 citizens a laptop and the others 1000 or 2500 pesos in cash depending on the caliber of the weapon.
The 13 Campaign Donation and Firearms Registration began on April 21 in the affected municipalities , where the receive will remain open until May 2 .
Tomorrow will open modules in the municipalities of Salvador Alvarado and Guasave .
The campaign will be traveling and modules will tour the 18 municipalities until 14 October.
Last year in the 18 municipalities donated 1014 firearms, of which 342 were grenades.
end
Note: As usual, registration will result in confiscation.
28 April 2014 Last updated at 21:17 ET
Mexican army begins disarming vigilantes in Michoacan
Vigilantes will no longer be allowed to publicly carry assault rifles, such as AK-47s and AR-15s
Related Stories
Mexico vigilantes refuse to disarm
Knights Templar drug lord killed
Mexico vigilante boss Mora detained
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-27200412
The Mexican army has begun registering the weapons carried by vigilantes in the western state of Michoacan.
The process begins nearly four months after the "self-defence groups" launched an offensive against the Knights Templar drug cartel.
The vigilantes will be allowed to keep their weapons, but will be banned from publicly carrying assault rifles.
Most of the drug cartel leaders in Michoacan have been killed or arrested since the beginning of January.
The vigilantes began the assault on the Knights Templar cartel independently.
They took over several towns before federal police and soldiers were deployed in the area, west of Mexico City.
The vigilantes were eventually allowed to join the official Mexican forces in the operation against the Knights Templar.
Local farmers, shop owners and other residents were victims of extortion, robbery and kidnappings.
This is the first step in a wider process of disarming the vigilantes now that their initial request - the removal of the heads of the Knights Templar cartel - has all but been fulfilled, says the BBC's Will Grant in Mexico City.
The only outstanding Knights Templar leader, Servando Gomez Martinez, alias La Tuta, is being tracked to a region around the western port of Lazaro Cardenas, says our correspondent.
Drug conflict experts say it is only a matter of time before either the authorities or the vigilantes catch up with him.
On Monday, five suspected cartel members were killed in a shootout with vigilantes in the outskirts of Lazaro Cardenas.
The government says the registration process of high-powered rifles and automatic weapons and should be finished by 10 May.
The aim is to set up that a database of the vigilantes' arms, allowing all future use of the weapons by the quasi-legal groups to be traceable.
Vigilantes will also be expected to return to the army illegal weapons, such as grenades and rocket-launchers.
Mexican vigilante in Coalcoman
Vigilantes are having their finger prints registered and their weapons tested for ballistics matches
Alfredo Castillo, government envoy to Michoacan
The Mexican government envoy to Michoacan, Alfredo Castillo, fires into a water barrel in the first day of the weapons registration process in the state
Mexican police and vigilantes in Michoacan
Mexican police and vigilante groups continue to work together in the search for the Knights Templar leader
Residents of Michoacan say the cartel terrorised them.
end
Donan 183 weapons and 29 grenades
Alejandro Monjardín
04/27/2014
At least four grenades per day delivered to the modules .
Photo: IONSA .
http://www.noroeste.com.mx/publicaciones.php?id=943481&id_seccion=70&fecha=2014-04-27
During the first week CULIACÁN._ Campaign Donation and Firearms Registry , citizens gave four grenades and 30 weapons per day for destruction in the municipalities of Ahome and Salvador Alvarado.
Details of the Executive Secretariat of the State System of Public Security indicate that total donation received 183 weapons, including 29 grenades .
In total they donated 82 long firearms and 20 handguns of those allowed by the Federal Firearms and Explosives; of weapons for exclusive use of the armed forces 31 handguns, 20 long guns , 29 grenades and 1 40mm grenade were donated.
In the municipality of Ahome delivered 160, of which 90 are allowed by law to the possession of citizens and 70 are for the exclusive use of the Army and Air Force.
Citizens also went to record 12 short and 14 long guns .
In the municipality of Salvador Alvarado donated 19 weapons and four grenades.
In exchange for the donated weapons SESESP gave 20 citizens a laptop and the others 1000 or 2500 pesos in cash depending on the caliber of the weapon.
The 13 Campaign Donation and Firearms Registration began on April 21 in the affected municipalities , where the receive will remain open until May 2 .
Tomorrow will open modules in the municipalities of Salvador Alvarado and Guasave .
The campaign will be traveling and modules will tour the 18 municipalities until 14 October.
Last year in the 18 municipalities donated 1014 firearms, of which 342 were grenades.
end
Note: As usual, registration will result in confiscation.
28 April 2014 Last updated at 21:17 ET
Mexican army begins disarming vigilantes in Michoacan
Vigilantes will no longer be allowed to publicly carry assault rifles, such as AK-47s and AR-15s
Related Stories
Mexico vigilantes refuse to disarm
Knights Templar drug lord killed
Mexico vigilante boss Mora detained
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-27200412
The Mexican army has begun registering the weapons carried by vigilantes in the western state of Michoacan.
The process begins nearly four months after the "self-defence groups" launched an offensive against the Knights Templar drug cartel.
The vigilantes will be allowed to keep their weapons, but will be banned from publicly carrying assault rifles.
Most of the drug cartel leaders in Michoacan have been killed or arrested since the beginning of January.
The vigilantes began the assault on the Knights Templar cartel independently.
They took over several towns before federal police and soldiers were deployed in the area, west of Mexico City.
The vigilantes were eventually allowed to join the official Mexican forces in the operation against the Knights Templar.
Local farmers, shop owners and other residents were victims of extortion, robbery and kidnappings.
This is the first step in a wider process of disarming the vigilantes now that their initial request - the removal of the heads of the Knights Templar cartel - has all but been fulfilled, says the BBC's Will Grant in Mexico City.
The only outstanding Knights Templar leader, Servando Gomez Martinez, alias La Tuta, is being tracked to a region around the western port of Lazaro Cardenas, says our correspondent.
Drug conflict experts say it is only a matter of time before either the authorities or the vigilantes catch up with him.
On Monday, five suspected cartel members were killed in a shootout with vigilantes in the outskirts of Lazaro Cardenas.
The government says the registration process of high-powered rifles and automatic weapons and should be finished by 10 May.
The aim is to set up that a database of the vigilantes' arms, allowing all future use of the weapons by the quasi-legal groups to be traceable.
Vigilantes will also be expected to return to the army illegal weapons, such as grenades and rocket-launchers.
Mexican vigilante in Coalcoman
Vigilantes are having their finger prints registered and their weapons tested for ballistics matches
Alfredo Castillo, government envoy to Michoacan
The Mexican government envoy to Michoacan, Alfredo Castillo, fires into a water barrel in the first day of the weapons registration process in the state
Mexican police and vigilantes in Michoacan
Mexican police and vigilante groups continue to work together in the search for the Knights Templar leader
Residents of Michoacan say the cartel terrorised them.
end
Thursday, April 24, 2014
AZMEX UPDATE 24-4-14
AZMEX UPDATE 24 APR 2014
Note: most of the human traffickers are considered scum of the earth in these parts. Altar Valley a main smuggling route into AZ. Altar just a few miles south of the fence.
Fearing Rape, Female Migrants Are Taking Birth Control Before Crossing The Border
By David Agren
Published April 24, 2014Fox News Latino
http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/news/2014/04/23/fearing-rape-female-migrants-are-taking-birth-control-before-crossing-border/
MEXICO CITY – As a priest in the town of Altar, near the Arizona border, the Rev. Prisciliano Pedraza sees migrants stocking up on supplies such as food, water and medicine for treacherous treks through the desert.
But he sees female migrants stocking up on something else: contraceptives, which they take preventatively to protect themselves against sexual violence all too common as they make the journey through Mexico to the United States.
"The women passing through here know that they're going to be raped," said Father Pedraza, director of a shelter for migrants in Altar.
"Migrants are a vulnerable group, and the most vulnerable among them are women."
Thousands of Central Americans travel through Mexico every year attempting to reach the United States. But because they make the trip illegally, they are vulnerable to kidnappings, extortion and robbery – with organized criminal groups such as Los Zetas often acting in cahoots with law enforcement authorities.
In the case of women, the crimes include sexual assaults, forcing them to take precautions. They often take alternative routes through Mexico, feigning friendships with men in their group to stay safe while traveling. Increasingly, they are buying and consuming contraceptives before they make their trip.
"It's on the increase," says Marta Sánchez Soler, an advocate with the MesoAmerican Migrants Movement. "The first ones (doing it) were women from El Salvador, but now it's everyone."
Many contraceptives are sold without a prescription in Mexico, including the morning-after pill. Sánchez says some women receive injections before leaving or wear patches.
"They go to the pharmacy and buy emergency contraception for their trip to Mexico. This is they would tell us."
Most church groups don't supply the contraceptives – or condone what the women do, but they do help the women in other ways.
"They're not giving it out, but they're offering advice," Sánchez said.
A network of shelters for migrants stretches the length of Mexico – with most run by Catholic priests and religious, who report being queried about contraceptives by women arriving as guests.
"They'll arrive at the shelters and ask the priests or people that work there" about buying contraceptives, says Alberto Xicotencatl, director of the diocesan-run migrant shelter in Saltillo, 195 miles from the Texas border at Nuevo Laredo.
But women are less likely than men to stay at migrant shelters, which are often established near railway lines and frequented by Central Americans stealing rides on northbound trains known as "La Bestia," or, "The Beast" – so named for the way it maims migrants who fall on the tracks and lose limbs.
Women attempt to avoid La Bestia, which organized crime now charges $100 to climb aboard, according to Xicotencatl. Criminal groups also prey on migrants while they wait in railway yards for trains to arrive.
"They would rather risk the immigration authorities than organized crime," he says.
Women, unlike their male counterparts, often arrive in Mexico with more money from their families and hire human smugglers to take them north. In some situations, women will form a relationship with fellow migrants and pretend to be traveling as couples, Father Pedraza says.
Still, incidents of sexual assault are common. Father Pedraza puts the figure at 90 percent of all female migrants, but the number is impossible to know.
Father Alejandro Solalinde, operator of a shelter in the Istmo region of southern Oaxaca state, says the figure has dropped somewhat to perhaps 40 percent, due to increased enforcement in the southern state of Chiapas.
A 2011 survey by the National Public Health Institute at a shelter for migrants in the southern border city of Tapachula found 8.3 percent of women saying they had been raped, while 9.2 percent reported inappropriate touching. Some 28.2 percent said they traded sex for some sort of service or favor – such as northbound rides from truckers or bus drivers.
The Border Patrol arrested a man last year after a 14-year-old girl in Arizona reported she was raped by a "coyote," or the person who smuggled her into the United States. And a Border Patrol agent, Esteban Manzanares, apparently killed himself after he was accused of kidnapping and raping three undocumented women in Texas.
Reliable statistics on border rapes do not exist, says Gretchen Kuhner, director of the Institute for Women in Migration (IMUMI) in Mexico, in part, because researchers inadvertently ask the wrong questions.
"When we did the interviews in the detention centers, women don't even consider being pressured to have sex by the bus driver or truck driver … they don't consider that sexual violence," she says. "It's really hard to ask women about that."
END
3 injured in I-19 rollover south of Tucson, traffic still delayed
45 minutes ago • Kimberly Matas Arizona Daily Star
http://azstarnet.com/news/blogs/police-beat/injured-in-i--rollover-south-of-tucson-traffic-still/article_a00f8b46-cbe1-11e3-949e-001a4bcf887a.html
A car carrying six people and bundles of marijuana rolled on Interstate 19 this morning and the crash continues to cause traffic delays.
The rollover occurred just before 8 a.m. in the northbound lane of I-19 near the San Xavier exit, Raul Garcia, spokesman for the Arizona Department of Public Safety, said in an email.
The car was travelling in excess of 120 miles per hour before it rolled, Garcia said.
Three of the six occupants had minor injuries, one has been arrested and one fled the scene, Garcia said.
One of the northbound lanes remains closed while DPS officers investigate.
Check back with StarNet for updates.
Note: most of the human traffickers are considered scum of the earth in these parts. Altar Valley a main smuggling route into AZ. Altar just a few miles south of the fence.
Fearing Rape, Female Migrants Are Taking Birth Control Before Crossing The Border
By David Agren
Published April 24, 2014Fox News Latino
http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/news/2014/04/23/fearing-rape-female-migrants-are-taking-birth-control-before-crossing-border/
MEXICO CITY – As a priest in the town of Altar, near the Arizona border, the Rev. Prisciliano Pedraza sees migrants stocking up on supplies such as food, water and medicine for treacherous treks through the desert.
But he sees female migrants stocking up on something else: contraceptives, which they take preventatively to protect themselves against sexual violence all too common as they make the journey through Mexico to the United States.
"The women passing through here know that they're going to be raped," said Father Pedraza, director of a shelter for migrants in Altar.
"Migrants are a vulnerable group, and the most vulnerable among them are women."
Thousands of Central Americans travel through Mexico every year attempting to reach the United States. But because they make the trip illegally, they are vulnerable to kidnappings, extortion and robbery – with organized criminal groups such as Los Zetas often acting in cahoots with law enforcement authorities.
In the case of women, the crimes include sexual assaults, forcing them to take precautions. They often take alternative routes through Mexico, feigning friendships with men in their group to stay safe while traveling. Increasingly, they are buying and consuming contraceptives before they make their trip.
"It's on the increase," says Marta Sánchez Soler, an advocate with the MesoAmerican Migrants Movement. "The first ones (doing it) were women from El Salvador, but now it's everyone."
Many contraceptives are sold without a prescription in Mexico, including the morning-after pill. Sánchez says some women receive injections before leaving or wear patches.
"They go to the pharmacy and buy emergency contraception for their trip to Mexico. This is they would tell us."
Most church groups don't supply the contraceptives – or condone what the women do, but they do help the women in other ways.
"They're not giving it out, but they're offering advice," Sánchez said.
A network of shelters for migrants stretches the length of Mexico – with most run by Catholic priests and religious, who report being queried about contraceptives by women arriving as guests.
"They'll arrive at the shelters and ask the priests or people that work there" about buying contraceptives, says Alberto Xicotencatl, director of the diocesan-run migrant shelter in Saltillo, 195 miles from the Texas border at Nuevo Laredo.
But women are less likely than men to stay at migrant shelters, which are often established near railway lines and frequented by Central Americans stealing rides on northbound trains known as "La Bestia," or, "The Beast" – so named for the way it maims migrants who fall on the tracks and lose limbs.
Women attempt to avoid La Bestia, which organized crime now charges $100 to climb aboard, according to Xicotencatl. Criminal groups also prey on migrants while they wait in railway yards for trains to arrive.
"They would rather risk the immigration authorities than organized crime," he says.
Women, unlike their male counterparts, often arrive in Mexico with more money from their families and hire human smugglers to take them north. In some situations, women will form a relationship with fellow migrants and pretend to be traveling as couples, Father Pedraza says.
Still, incidents of sexual assault are common. Father Pedraza puts the figure at 90 percent of all female migrants, but the number is impossible to know.
Father Alejandro Solalinde, operator of a shelter in the Istmo region of southern Oaxaca state, says the figure has dropped somewhat to perhaps 40 percent, due to increased enforcement in the southern state of Chiapas.
A 2011 survey by the National Public Health Institute at a shelter for migrants in the southern border city of Tapachula found 8.3 percent of women saying they had been raped, while 9.2 percent reported inappropriate touching. Some 28.2 percent said they traded sex for some sort of service or favor – such as northbound rides from truckers or bus drivers.
The Border Patrol arrested a man last year after a 14-year-old girl in Arizona reported she was raped by a "coyote," or the person who smuggled her into the United States. And a Border Patrol agent, Esteban Manzanares, apparently killed himself after he was accused of kidnapping and raping three undocumented women in Texas.
Reliable statistics on border rapes do not exist, says Gretchen Kuhner, director of the Institute for Women in Migration (IMUMI) in Mexico, in part, because researchers inadvertently ask the wrong questions.
"When we did the interviews in the detention centers, women don't even consider being pressured to have sex by the bus driver or truck driver … they don't consider that sexual violence," she says. "It's really hard to ask women about that."
END
3 injured in I-19 rollover south of Tucson, traffic still delayed
45 minutes ago • Kimberly Matas Arizona Daily Star
http://azstarnet.com/news/blogs/police-beat/injured-in-i--rollover-south-of-tucson-traffic-still/article_a00f8b46-cbe1-11e3-949e-001a4bcf887a.html
A car carrying six people and bundles of marijuana rolled on Interstate 19 this morning and the crash continues to cause traffic delays.
The rollover occurred just before 8 a.m. in the northbound lane of I-19 near the San Xavier exit, Raul Garcia, spokesman for the Arizona Department of Public Safety, said in an email.
The car was travelling in excess of 120 miles per hour before it rolled, Garcia said.
Three of the six occupants had minor injuries, one has been arrested and one fled the scene, Garcia said.
One of the northbound lanes remains closed while DPS officers investigate.
Check back with StarNet for updates.
AZMEX EXTRA 23-4-14
AZMEX EXTRA 23 APR 2014
Note: The suppression of useful information continues.
Mexican army seizes weapons in Reynosa
Posted: Wednesday, April 23, 2014 10:53 am
Ildefonso Ortiz | The Monitor
Posted on Apr 23, 2014
http://www.themonitor.com/news/local/mexican-army-seizes-weapons-in-reynosa/article_7410a1fc-caff-11e3-a74a-001a4bcf6878.html
Mexican authorities announced the seizure of a weapons cache in Reynosa.
Following up on an anonymous complaint, soldiers with the Mexican army went to a house in the Hacienda Las Fuentes neighborhood where they found the weapons and ammunition, a news release from Tamaulipas government shows.
Authorities seized 41 rifles, two grenades, 297 ammunition magazines and more than 22,300 ammunition rounds of varying calibers. The release doesn't mention if any arrests were made or the date and time of the seizure.
END
Note: The suppression of useful information continues.
Mexican army seizes weapons in Reynosa
Posted: Wednesday, April 23, 2014 10:53 am
Ildefonso Ortiz | The Monitor
Posted on Apr 23, 2014
http://www.themonitor.com/news/local/mexican-army-seizes-weapons-in-reynosa/article_7410a1fc-caff-11e3-a74a-001a4bcf6878.html
Mexican authorities announced the seizure of a weapons cache in Reynosa.
Following up on an anonymous complaint, soldiers with the Mexican army went to a house in the Hacienda Las Fuentes neighborhood where they found the weapons and ammunition, a news release from Tamaulipas government shows.
Authorities seized 41 rifles, two grenades, 297 ammunition magazines and more than 22,300 ammunition rounds of varying calibers. The release doesn't mention if any arrests were made or the date and time of the seizure.
END
Tuesday, April 22, 2014
AZMEX POLICY 22-4-14
AZMEX POLICY 22 APR 2014
Note: From Border Patrol Local 2544
One More Step Towards Making Our Immigration Laws Meaningless
http://www.local2544.org/one-more-step-to-making-our-immigration-laws-meaningless/
Violating our country's immigration laws is not viewed as a "crime", or at least not a "serious crime". Despite criminal statutes prohibiting such things as crashing our border without permission and living here without permission, all we hear from this Administration is the constant drumbeat of excuses and reasons why our immigration laws shouldn't be enforced. We hear that Americans should wait until illegal aliens commit a "serious crime" before they are considered for deportation. We are still waiting for any politician or bureaucrat to volunteer themselves or a family member to be the victim of a "serious crime" committed by an illegal alien who should not be in this country. We hear that illegal aliens should at least commit a series of other, less significant, crimes before being deported. We hear that we should focus on "national security" threats before considering deportation.
We have DUI laws in this country, but using the same enforcement model that the Obama Administration uses for our immigration laws, nobody should ever be held accountable for merely driving drunk. Only if and when they cause a death or serious injury to an innocent person should they be considered a "criminal" and be held accountable. Does this make any sense? Does it address the root cause, which is drinking to excess and then getting behind the wheel of a car? Will it serve to reduce DUIs? Is it a deterrent?
What you are seeing and hearing is the complete dismantling of our immigration laws and our orderly immigration system. It simply doesn't matter. If you want to come here and you don't want to do it legally, just crash the gates. Then have as many kids as you want, take advantage of everything you can get…just don't become a "national security threat" in the eyes of this Administration and you are home free. As a matter of fact, this President invites illegal aliens to State of the Union speeches. He has never, nor has any other president that we know of, invited a Border Patrol agent to a State of the Union address. But illegal aliens are held up as shining examples of what America is all about. They are simply innocent victims of a "broken" immigration system. And so, millions more will come, millions more will likely be legalized at some point, and our jobs become increasingly insignificant.
Jeh Johnson does not have our backs, he has the backs of the millions of illegal aliens we are supposed to be arresting.
Read more here.
APNewsBreak: US weighs curbing deportations
Associated Press By ERICA WERNER
April 21, 2014 3:55 PM
http://news.yahoo.com/apnewsbreak-us-weighs-curbing-deportations-172055690--politics.html
WASHINGTON (AP) — Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson is weighing limiting deportations of immigrants living in the U.S. illegally who don't have serious criminal records, according to two people with knowledge of his deliberations.
The change, if adopted following an ongoing review ordered by President Barack Obama, could shield tens of thousands of immigrants now removed each year solely because they committed repeat immigration violations, such as re-entering the country illegally after having been deported, failing to comply with a deportation order or missing an immigration court date.
However, it would fall short of the sweeping changes sought by activists. They want Obama to expand a two-year-old program that grants work permits to certain immigrants brought here illegally as children to include other groups, such as the parents of any children born in the U.S.
John Sandweg, who served until February as acting director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, said he had promoted the policy change for immigrants without serious criminal records before his departure and that it was being weighed by Johnson. An immigration advocate who's discussed the review with the administration also confirmed the change was under consideration. The advocate spoke on condition of anonymity because the proceedings are confidential.
"Any report of specific considerations at this time would be premature," Clark Stevens, a spokesman for the Homeland Security Department, said Monday. Stevens said Johnson "has undergone a very rigorous and inclusive process to best inform the review," including seeking input from people within DHS as well as lawmakers of both parties, and other stakeholders.
The approach outlined by Sandweg and the immigration advocate would change the existing priority categories that now include immigrants who've re-entered the country after they have been deported previously, and those who are fugitives from immigration proceedings. Such people would be taken off the priority list.
The remaining priority categories focus on recent border-crossers and immigrants who pose a danger to national security or public safety or who've been convicted of crimes. Some of those categories might also be refined or changed, and others could be added.
"The time had come to focus ICE's efforts exclusively on public safety and national security," Sandweg said in explaining why he pushed for the change prior to his departure from the agency. He estimated that some 20,000 deported immigrants fell into the categories in question last year.
White House explains Obama's deportation polic …Play VideoWhite House explains Obama's deportation policy …
The potential changes come as Johnson proceeds with a review ordered by Obama on how to make deportation policy more humane. With comprehensive immigration legislation stalled in the GOP-led House after passing the Senate last year, Obama has come under intense election-year pressure to stem deportations, which have neared 2 million on his watch, and allow more of the 11.5 million immigrants living illegally in the U.S. to stay.
Many activists, who've staged hunger strikes on the National Mall and outside the White House, want sweeping action by Obama to give legal certainty and work permits to millions more immigrants, like he did for those who arrived illegally as children and attended school or served in the military.
It's not clear whether the administration ultimately will take such steps. Obama has said repeatedly his options are limited without action by Congress and has sought to keep the onus on House Republicans.
"The only way to truly fix it is through congressional action. We have already tried to take as many administrative steps as we could," Obama said last week at a news conference. "We're going to review it one more time to see if there's more that we can do."
For now, administration officials appear more focused, instead, on more limited, near-term steps that could still make a difference for the immigrant population, according to lawmakers and activists who've met with administration officials.
Adjusting the department's priorities for deportation is one such approach. Depending on how it's done, it could have a significant impact by providing new guidance to ICE agents on the front lines. Activists want more wholesale changes; some say ICE agents don't always follow the priorities set by the administration.
"I think that is a step in the right direction, but not enough," said Gustavo Torres, executive director of CASA de Maryland, an immigrant service organization. "We believe the president has the authority to stop deportations" of larger groups of people.
At the same time, Obama would likely face GOP wrath for taking even the smallest steps toward providing relief to people in this country illegally. Republicans already accuse Obama's administration of subverting the law through previous moves to give "prosecutorial discretion" to immigration agents.
"We're already at a point where deportations are in a state of collapse and to go further would be exactly the wrong thing to do," said Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala.
The Obama administration's deportation priorities have been controversial, with the administration contending they're meant to keep the focus on criminals. Immigration activists argue that in reality, many people with a minor criminal record or no record are swept up.
Advocates say part of the problem is that, although criminals are prioritized, people with no criminal record or a minor record can be removed if they've gotten caught up in the immigration system.
Follow Erica Werner on Twitter: https://twitter.com/ericawerner
Note: From Border Patrol Local 2544
One More Step Towards Making Our Immigration Laws Meaningless
http://www.local2544.org/one-more-step-to-making-our-immigration-laws-meaningless/
Violating our country's immigration laws is not viewed as a "crime", or at least not a "serious crime". Despite criminal statutes prohibiting such things as crashing our border without permission and living here without permission, all we hear from this Administration is the constant drumbeat of excuses and reasons why our immigration laws shouldn't be enforced. We hear that Americans should wait until illegal aliens commit a "serious crime" before they are considered for deportation. We are still waiting for any politician or bureaucrat to volunteer themselves or a family member to be the victim of a "serious crime" committed by an illegal alien who should not be in this country. We hear that illegal aliens should at least commit a series of other, less significant, crimes before being deported. We hear that we should focus on "national security" threats before considering deportation.
We have DUI laws in this country, but using the same enforcement model that the Obama Administration uses for our immigration laws, nobody should ever be held accountable for merely driving drunk. Only if and when they cause a death or serious injury to an innocent person should they be considered a "criminal" and be held accountable. Does this make any sense? Does it address the root cause, which is drinking to excess and then getting behind the wheel of a car? Will it serve to reduce DUIs? Is it a deterrent?
What you are seeing and hearing is the complete dismantling of our immigration laws and our orderly immigration system. It simply doesn't matter. If you want to come here and you don't want to do it legally, just crash the gates. Then have as many kids as you want, take advantage of everything you can get…just don't become a "national security threat" in the eyes of this Administration and you are home free. As a matter of fact, this President invites illegal aliens to State of the Union speeches. He has never, nor has any other president that we know of, invited a Border Patrol agent to a State of the Union address. But illegal aliens are held up as shining examples of what America is all about. They are simply innocent victims of a "broken" immigration system. And so, millions more will come, millions more will likely be legalized at some point, and our jobs become increasingly insignificant.
Jeh Johnson does not have our backs, he has the backs of the millions of illegal aliens we are supposed to be arresting.
Read more here.
APNewsBreak: US weighs curbing deportations
Associated Press By ERICA WERNER
April 21, 2014 3:55 PM
http://news.yahoo.com/apnewsbreak-us-weighs-curbing-deportations-172055690--politics.html
WASHINGTON (AP) — Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson is weighing limiting deportations of immigrants living in the U.S. illegally who don't have serious criminal records, according to two people with knowledge of his deliberations.
The change, if adopted following an ongoing review ordered by President Barack Obama, could shield tens of thousands of immigrants now removed each year solely because they committed repeat immigration violations, such as re-entering the country illegally after having been deported, failing to comply with a deportation order or missing an immigration court date.
However, it would fall short of the sweeping changes sought by activists. They want Obama to expand a two-year-old program that grants work permits to certain immigrants brought here illegally as children to include other groups, such as the parents of any children born in the U.S.
John Sandweg, who served until February as acting director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, said he had promoted the policy change for immigrants without serious criminal records before his departure and that it was being weighed by Johnson. An immigration advocate who's discussed the review with the administration also confirmed the change was under consideration. The advocate spoke on condition of anonymity because the proceedings are confidential.
"Any report of specific considerations at this time would be premature," Clark Stevens, a spokesman for the Homeland Security Department, said Monday. Stevens said Johnson "has undergone a very rigorous and inclusive process to best inform the review," including seeking input from people within DHS as well as lawmakers of both parties, and other stakeholders.
The approach outlined by Sandweg and the immigration advocate would change the existing priority categories that now include immigrants who've re-entered the country after they have been deported previously, and those who are fugitives from immigration proceedings. Such people would be taken off the priority list.
The remaining priority categories focus on recent border-crossers and immigrants who pose a danger to national security or public safety or who've been convicted of crimes. Some of those categories might also be refined or changed, and others could be added.
"The time had come to focus ICE's efforts exclusively on public safety and national security," Sandweg said in explaining why he pushed for the change prior to his departure from the agency. He estimated that some 20,000 deported immigrants fell into the categories in question last year.
White House explains Obama's deportation polic …Play VideoWhite House explains Obama's deportation policy …
The potential changes come as Johnson proceeds with a review ordered by Obama on how to make deportation policy more humane. With comprehensive immigration legislation stalled in the GOP-led House after passing the Senate last year, Obama has come under intense election-year pressure to stem deportations, which have neared 2 million on his watch, and allow more of the 11.5 million immigrants living illegally in the U.S. to stay.
Many activists, who've staged hunger strikes on the National Mall and outside the White House, want sweeping action by Obama to give legal certainty and work permits to millions more immigrants, like he did for those who arrived illegally as children and attended school or served in the military.
It's not clear whether the administration ultimately will take such steps. Obama has said repeatedly his options are limited without action by Congress and has sought to keep the onus on House Republicans.
"The only way to truly fix it is through congressional action. We have already tried to take as many administrative steps as we could," Obama said last week at a news conference. "We're going to review it one more time to see if there's more that we can do."
For now, administration officials appear more focused, instead, on more limited, near-term steps that could still make a difference for the immigrant population, according to lawmakers and activists who've met with administration officials.
Adjusting the department's priorities for deportation is one such approach. Depending on how it's done, it could have a significant impact by providing new guidance to ICE agents on the front lines. Activists want more wholesale changes; some say ICE agents don't always follow the priorities set by the administration.
"I think that is a step in the right direction, but not enough," said Gustavo Torres, executive director of CASA de Maryland, an immigrant service organization. "We believe the president has the authority to stop deportations" of larger groups of people.
At the same time, Obama would likely face GOP wrath for taking even the smallest steps toward providing relief to people in this country illegally. Republicans already accuse Obama's administration of subverting the law through previous moves to give "prosecutorial discretion" to immigration agents.
"We're already at a point where deportations are in a state of collapse and to go further would be exactly the wrong thing to do," said Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala.
The Obama administration's deportation priorities have been controversial, with the administration contending they're meant to keep the focus on criminals. Immigration activists argue that in reality, many people with a minor criminal record or no record are swept up.
Advocates say part of the problem is that, although criminals are prioritized, people with no criminal record or a minor record can be removed if they've gotten caught up in the immigration system.
Follow Erica Werner on Twitter: https://twitter.com/ericawerner
Saturday, April 19, 2014
AZMEX UPDATE 18-4-14
AZMEX UPDATE 18 APR 2014
Note: AZMEX UPDATES will be less regular over next few weeks.
Once we get some technical things sorted out, you will be able to access info on the archive / website.
That will also contain many updates, etc. that didn't make it to your inbox.
We can expect border activity to remain high, regardless of frequency of AZMEX UPDATES.
Thx
Note: Very seldom that news like this gets in media.
Investigation of Brown Fire centers on Mexican nationals
DEREK JORDAN | HERALD/REVIEW
derek.jordan@svherald.com
Fri, 04/18/2014 - 4:22pm
http://www.svherald.com/content/derek-jordan/2014/04/18/373507
SIERRA VISTA — The U.S. Border Patrol is working with the U.S. Forest Service to determine if there is any connection between illegal immigrants who were apprehended in the Brown Canyon area earlier this week, and the Brown Fire that erupted in that area Sunday.
The Brown Fire had burned 240 acres as of Friday afternoon and necessitated a national-level response by a Type 1 Incident Management Team. The alarm brought hundreds of personnel and nearly a dozen supporting aircraft to fight the fire.
Full text available to premium subscribers only.
Note: Following only applies to U.S citizens
Brown Canyon Temporarily Closed for Public Safety During Fire Suppression
Incident: Brown Fire Wildfire
Released: 4 days ago
Related Information
Closure Order and Map
Effective Immediately CONTACT: Heidi Schewel (520) 388-8484
Brown Canyon area temporarily closed
Public safety during fire suppression is objective
http://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/article/3834/21811/
TUCSON AZ (April 15 2014) – A portion of the Sierra Vista Ranger District Coronado National Forest will be temporarily closed in the vicinity of the Brown Fire.
During the closure the following are prohibited:
Entering or using Brown Canyon Area west and areas northwest of Ramsey Canyon as shown in Exhibit A.
Being on Forest Service Road 5736 and Brown Canyon Ranch Road Forest Service Trail 115 116 117 122 123 129 103 and trails therein as shown in Exhibit A.
The purpose of the closure is to allow for public safety from hazards associated with emergency fire suppression activity on the Brown Fire
The area will remain closed until May 1 2014 or until the order is rescinded whichever is earlier.
Any violation of these prohibitions is punishable by a fine of not more than $5 000.00 for individuals $10 000.00 for organizations and/or imprisonment for not more than six months.
For further information please contact the Sierra Vista Ranger District at (520) 378-0311.
The USDA Forest Service is an equal opportunity provider and employer.
ADOT warns of truck blockade at Arizona ports
Posted: Friday, April 18, 2014 8:58 am | Updated: 9:29 am, Fri Apr 18, 2014.
Nogales International
http://www.nogalesinternational.com/news/adot-warns-of-truck-blockade-at-arizona-ports/article_431c3890-c712-11e3-a210-0019bb2963f4.html
Mexican truckers are upset about their treatment at Arizona ports of entry and could blockade the ports if conditions don't improve, state authorities say.
Truckers in Nogales, Ariz. and Nogales, Sonora threatened to blockade Arizona's ports of entry, citing concerns over the high number of inspections and fines, as well as the high number of trucks placed "out of service" by U.S. federal safety inspectors, according to a news release issued by the Arizona Department of Transportation on Wednesday.
In addition, the truckers complained the fines and "out of service" rulings are disproportionately higher at Arizona's ports of entry than at ports in Texas and California.
The truckers reportedly gave a March 20 deadline for the blockade, but "the efforts of many officials have helped stave off that threat for now," the release said.
ADOT "doesn't take a position on the merits of these grievances," but in light of the importance of cross-border trade to Arizona's economy, the agency is urging the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration to consider these complaints and resolve the issues in order to avoid a blockade, according to the release.
"A blockade would have detrimental and long-standing repercussions for Nogales and the entire Sinaloa-Sonora-Arizona corridor as Arizona looks to enhance competitiveness with other U.S. border states," said ADOT director John Halikowski.
"The United States and Mexico are engaged in a high-level dialogue to promote competitiveness and connectivity along with fostering economic growth and productivity," he said. "But without an effective and efficient border, our two nations would not be able to reach their maximum potential. Our work on the border is critical to Arizona's and the nation's future."
Vehicular traffic at Arizona's ports of entry has risen in recent years, from 15 million cars in 2012 to 16.3 million cars in 2013. Truck traffic increased from 754,000 crossings in 2012 to 763,000 crossings in 2013. Train crossings also increased from 1,300 in 2012 to 1,730 in 2013.
"Arizona and our federal partners have been working tirelessly to ensure that our ports of entry are modernized so that we can remain competitive with other border states," said Margie Emmermann, executive director of the Arizona-Mexico Commission.
END
6 suspected smugglers, 12 illegal immigrants arrested
Posted: Thursday, April 17, 2014 3:15 pm | Updated: 3:21 pm, Thu Apr 17, 2014.
From staff reports
http://www.yumasun.com/news/suspected-smugglers-illegal-immigrants-arrested/article_47136836-c67e-11e3-b3cf-001a4bcf6878.html
Yuma Sector Border Patrol agents arrested six suspected drug smugglers, seized 313 pounds of marijuana worth an estimated $156,500 and apprehended 12 illegal immigrants during several incidents on Wednesday.
During one incident, agents patrolling in the Cabeza Prieta National Wildlife Refuge reportedly observed a group of individuals walking through the desert carrying large backpacks. When an Air and Marine helicopter responded to the area, the six individuals reportedly dropped their backpacks and attempted to flee. Agents apprehended all of them and then backtracked their trail to the six backpacks, which allegedly contained marijuana.
The suspected smugglers and pot were transported to the Wellton Station for processing.
During several other incidents throughout southwest Yuma County on Wednesday, 12 illegal immigrants were picked up after crossing the border. Two of the illegal immigrants were Brazilian, four were Guatemalan, five were Romanian and one was from India.
According to a press release, the Yuma Sector has observed an overall increase in illegal immigration originating from countries other than Mexico recently.
END
UPDATED
Romanians, Guatemalans caught at border in Arizona
By Associated Press
Originally published: Apr 18, 2014 - 1:01 pm
http://ktar.com/22/1724581/Romanians-caught-at-border-in-Arizona
SAN LUIS, Ariz. -- Border Patrol agents caught a group of Guatemalans who illegally crossed the U.S.-Mexico border on one side of San Luis and a group of Romanians on the other.
Yuma Sector spokesman Douglas Choi said the groups separately crossed the border in southwestern Arizona on Thursday.
He said four Guatemalans got over the three-fence barrier on the east side of San Luis, probably using ladders provided by smugglers.
According to Choi, five Romanians crossed the border through the bed of the Colorado River on the west side of San Luis.
Choi said aside from Mexican nationals there's also a stream of people Central America, South America, India and Romania crossing in the Yuma Sector.
END
Human-smuggling busts yield 10 suspects and a handgun
Two Chinese nationals were discovered in the trunk of this Ford Taurus at the Interstate 19 checkpoint.
Posted: Friday, April 18, 2014 4:56 pm | Updated: 5:29 pm, Fri Apr 18, 2014.
Nogales International
http://www.nogalesinternational.com/news/human-smuggling-busts-yield-suspects-and-a-handgun/article_1ee979f4-c755-11e3-b5b8-001a4bcf887a.html
Border Patrol agents in Santa Cruz County arrested 10 people and seized a loaded firearm during a series of human-smuggling busts last week.
On April 10, agents arrested a male U.S. citizen driving a Chrysler 300 sedan in Nogales after finding two undocumented female Mexican nationals inside. In addition, they seized a loaded pistol and fully loaded magazines from the vehicle.
Early the next morning near Tubac, agents working at the Interstate 19 checkpoint discovered two Chinese nationals hiding in the trunk of a Ford Taurus with no means of escape. Two U.S. citizens in the car were arrested for alien smuggling.
Later that same morning, an adult male U.S. citizen was busted near Nogales for attempting to smuggle two undocumented immigrants in the trunk of a Chevrolet Cavalier. Again, the passengers had no means of escape from the trunk.
All of the suspects were presented for prosecution, the Border Patrol said in a news release issued Friday. The vehicles, drugs and weapons were processed for seizure.
end
Note: earlier story
Tucson-area border agents seize pot, vehicles, arrest Chinese nationals
Border Patrol agents discovered two Chinese nationals being smuggled in the trunk of a car at the I-19 checkpoint.
35 minutes ago • Arizona Daily Star
http://azstarnet.com/news/local/border/tucson-area-border-agents-seize-pot-vehicles-arrest-chinese-nationals/article_b79530ae-c745-11e3-8791-0019bb2963f4.html
Tucson Sector Border Patrol agents seized about $49,000 worth of marijuana, four vehicles and apprehended 26 illegal immigrants in recent smuggling cases.
Here are some of the incidents, according to news release from Customs and Border Protection:
On April 11, agents seized a Ford Taurus and arrested two U.S. citizens at the Interstate 19 checkpoint south of Tucson after discovering two Chinese nationals hiding in the trunk of the car.
Later in the day, agents arrested a U.S. citizen near Nogales for attempting to smuggle two illegal immigrants in the trunk of a Chevrolet Cavalier.
On April 9, an aircraft crew detected a group of illegal immigrants walking near Arivaca. Agents on the ground were sent to the area and apprehended 13 illegal immigrants.
END
END
Note: AZMEX UPDATES will be less regular over next few weeks.
Once we get some technical things sorted out, you will be able to access info on the archive / website.
That will also contain many updates, etc. that didn't make it to your inbox.
We can expect border activity to remain high, regardless of frequency of AZMEX UPDATES.
Thx
Note: Very seldom that news like this gets in media.
Investigation of Brown Fire centers on Mexican nationals
DEREK JORDAN | HERALD/REVIEW
derek.jordan@svherald.com
Fri, 04/18/2014 - 4:22pm
http://www.svherald.com/content/derek-jordan/2014/04/18/373507
SIERRA VISTA — The U.S. Border Patrol is working with the U.S. Forest Service to determine if there is any connection between illegal immigrants who were apprehended in the Brown Canyon area earlier this week, and the Brown Fire that erupted in that area Sunday.
The Brown Fire had burned 240 acres as of Friday afternoon and necessitated a national-level response by a Type 1 Incident Management Team. The alarm brought hundreds of personnel and nearly a dozen supporting aircraft to fight the fire.
Full text available to premium subscribers only.
Note: Following only applies to U.S citizens
Brown Canyon Temporarily Closed for Public Safety During Fire Suppression
Incident: Brown Fire Wildfire
Released: 4 days ago
Related Information
Closure Order and Map
Effective Immediately CONTACT: Heidi Schewel (520) 388-8484
Brown Canyon area temporarily closed
Public safety during fire suppression is objective
http://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/article/3834/21811/
TUCSON AZ (April 15 2014) – A portion of the Sierra Vista Ranger District Coronado National Forest will be temporarily closed in the vicinity of the Brown Fire.
During the closure the following are prohibited:
Entering or using Brown Canyon Area west and areas northwest of Ramsey Canyon as shown in Exhibit A.
Being on Forest Service Road 5736 and Brown Canyon Ranch Road Forest Service Trail 115 116 117 122 123 129 103 and trails therein as shown in Exhibit A.
The purpose of the closure is to allow for public safety from hazards associated with emergency fire suppression activity on the Brown Fire
The area will remain closed until May 1 2014 or until the order is rescinded whichever is earlier.
Any violation of these prohibitions is punishable by a fine of not more than $5 000.00 for individuals $10 000.00 for organizations and/or imprisonment for not more than six months.
For further information please contact the Sierra Vista Ranger District at (520) 378-0311.
The USDA Forest Service is an equal opportunity provider and employer.
ADOT warns of truck blockade at Arizona ports
Posted: Friday, April 18, 2014 8:58 am | Updated: 9:29 am, Fri Apr 18, 2014.
Nogales International
http://www.nogalesinternational.com/news/adot-warns-of-truck-blockade-at-arizona-ports/article_431c3890-c712-11e3-a210-0019bb2963f4.html
Mexican truckers are upset about their treatment at Arizona ports of entry and could blockade the ports if conditions don't improve, state authorities say.
Truckers in Nogales, Ariz. and Nogales, Sonora threatened to blockade Arizona's ports of entry, citing concerns over the high number of inspections and fines, as well as the high number of trucks placed "out of service" by U.S. federal safety inspectors, according to a news release issued by the Arizona Department of Transportation on Wednesday.
In addition, the truckers complained the fines and "out of service" rulings are disproportionately higher at Arizona's ports of entry than at ports in Texas and California.
The truckers reportedly gave a March 20 deadline for the blockade, but "the efforts of many officials have helped stave off that threat for now," the release said.
ADOT "doesn't take a position on the merits of these grievances," but in light of the importance of cross-border trade to Arizona's economy, the agency is urging the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration to consider these complaints and resolve the issues in order to avoid a blockade, according to the release.
"A blockade would have detrimental and long-standing repercussions for Nogales and the entire Sinaloa-Sonora-Arizona corridor as Arizona looks to enhance competitiveness with other U.S. border states," said ADOT director John Halikowski.
"The United States and Mexico are engaged in a high-level dialogue to promote competitiveness and connectivity along with fostering economic growth and productivity," he said. "But without an effective and efficient border, our two nations would not be able to reach their maximum potential. Our work on the border is critical to Arizona's and the nation's future."
Vehicular traffic at Arizona's ports of entry has risen in recent years, from 15 million cars in 2012 to 16.3 million cars in 2013. Truck traffic increased from 754,000 crossings in 2012 to 763,000 crossings in 2013. Train crossings also increased from 1,300 in 2012 to 1,730 in 2013.
"Arizona and our federal partners have been working tirelessly to ensure that our ports of entry are modernized so that we can remain competitive with other border states," said Margie Emmermann, executive director of the Arizona-Mexico Commission.
END
6 suspected smugglers, 12 illegal immigrants arrested
Posted: Thursday, April 17, 2014 3:15 pm | Updated: 3:21 pm, Thu Apr 17, 2014.
From staff reports
http://www.yumasun.com/news/suspected-smugglers-illegal-immigrants-arrested/article_47136836-c67e-11e3-b3cf-001a4bcf6878.html
Yuma Sector Border Patrol agents arrested six suspected drug smugglers, seized 313 pounds of marijuana worth an estimated $156,500 and apprehended 12 illegal immigrants during several incidents on Wednesday.
During one incident, agents patrolling in the Cabeza Prieta National Wildlife Refuge reportedly observed a group of individuals walking through the desert carrying large backpacks. When an Air and Marine helicopter responded to the area, the six individuals reportedly dropped their backpacks and attempted to flee. Agents apprehended all of them and then backtracked their trail to the six backpacks, which allegedly contained marijuana.
The suspected smugglers and pot were transported to the Wellton Station for processing.
During several other incidents throughout southwest Yuma County on Wednesday, 12 illegal immigrants were picked up after crossing the border. Two of the illegal immigrants were Brazilian, four were Guatemalan, five were Romanian and one was from India.
According to a press release, the Yuma Sector has observed an overall increase in illegal immigration originating from countries other than Mexico recently.
END
UPDATED
Romanians, Guatemalans caught at border in Arizona
By Associated Press
Originally published: Apr 18, 2014 - 1:01 pm
http://ktar.com/22/1724581/Romanians-caught-at-border-in-Arizona
SAN LUIS, Ariz. -- Border Patrol agents caught a group of Guatemalans who illegally crossed the U.S.-Mexico border on one side of San Luis and a group of Romanians on the other.
Yuma Sector spokesman Douglas Choi said the groups separately crossed the border in southwestern Arizona on Thursday.
He said four Guatemalans got over the three-fence barrier on the east side of San Luis, probably using ladders provided by smugglers.
According to Choi, five Romanians crossed the border through the bed of the Colorado River on the west side of San Luis.
Choi said aside from Mexican nationals there's also a stream of people Central America, South America, India and Romania crossing in the Yuma Sector.
END
Human-smuggling busts yield 10 suspects and a handgun
Two Chinese nationals were discovered in the trunk of this Ford Taurus at the Interstate 19 checkpoint.
Posted: Friday, April 18, 2014 4:56 pm | Updated: 5:29 pm, Fri Apr 18, 2014.
Nogales International
http://www.nogalesinternational.com/news/human-smuggling-busts-yield-suspects-and-a-handgun/article_1ee979f4-c755-11e3-b5b8-001a4bcf887a.html
Border Patrol agents in Santa Cruz County arrested 10 people and seized a loaded firearm during a series of human-smuggling busts last week.
On April 10, agents arrested a male U.S. citizen driving a Chrysler 300 sedan in Nogales after finding two undocumented female Mexican nationals inside. In addition, they seized a loaded pistol and fully loaded magazines from the vehicle.
Early the next morning near Tubac, agents working at the Interstate 19 checkpoint discovered two Chinese nationals hiding in the trunk of a Ford Taurus with no means of escape. Two U.S. citizens in the car were arrested for alien smuggling.
Later that same morning, an adult male U.S. citizen was busted near Nogales for attempting to smuggle two undocumented immigrants in the trunk of a Chevrolet Cavalier. Again, the passengers had no means of escape from the trunk.
All of the suspects were presented for prosecution, the Border Patrol said in a news release issued Friday. The vehicles, drugs and weapons were processed for seizure.
end
Note: earlier story
Tucson-area border agents seize pot, vehicles, arrest Chinese nationals
Border Patrol agents discovered two Chinese nationals being smuggled in the trunk of a car at the I-19 checkpoint.
35 minutes ago • Arizona Daily Star
http://azstarnet.com/news/local/border/tucson-area-border-agents-seize-pot-vehicles-arrest-chinese-nationals/article_b79530ae-c745-11e3-8791-0019bb2963f4.html
Tucson Sector Border Patrol agents seized about $49,000 worth of marijuana, four vehicles and apprehended 26 illegal immigrants in recent smuggling cases.
Here are some of the incidents, according to news release from Customs and Border Protection:
On April 11, agents seized a Ford Taurus and arrested two U.S. citizens at the Interstate 19 checkpoint south of Tucson after discovering two Chinese nationals hiding in the trunk of the car.
Later in the day, agents arrested a U.S. citizen near Nogales for attempting to smuggle two illegal immigrants in the trunk of a Chevrolet Cavalier.
On April 9, an aircraft crew detected a group of illegal immigrants walking near Arivaca. Agents on the ground were sent to the area and apprehended 13 illegal immigrants.
END
END
Thursday, April 17, 2014
AZMEX POLICY 17-4-14
AZMEX POLICY 17 APR 2014
Pinal Co. ends its jail deal with ICE
Board of Supervisors says organization hasn't been covering operational costs
Casa Grande Dispatch
Posted: Thursday, April 17, 2014 7:51 am
By Brian Wright, Maricopa Monitor
http://www.trivalleycentral.com/casa_grande_dispatch/area_news/pinal-co-ends-its-jail-deal-with-ice/article_bec9e164-c63f-11e3-9402-0019bb2963f4.html
FLORENCE — At a Pinal County Board of Supervisors meeting last week, the board voted to give the federal government one week to come to an agreement on a contract; the feds did not respond.
On Wednesday morning, County Manager Greg Stanley sent a notice of termination letter to the federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency. It gives a 100-day notice for the cancellation of the contract by Pinal County; however, it does not preclude the two sides from continuing to negotiate the matter during that time period.
A contract was signed initially between the county and ICE in August 2006. It allowed ICE to house immigrant detainees at the Pinal County Adult Detention Center. In addition to paying the county a per diem rate for each detainee, the contract was supposed to cover the cost of a massive jail expansion.
In reality, the per diem rate of $59.64 is so low, it has cost the county millions of dollars in the years since. Also, the contract hasn't paid for one cent of the jail's expansion.
That cost — at approximately $3.5 million per year — has come out of the pockets of Pinal taxpayers.
If ICE comes to the table at any point before the 100 days is over and accepts the county's proposal for per diem rates or puts forth what the county deems an acceptable counteroffer, a deal could still be made.
But the lack of cooperation from ICE to this point makes that seem far from certain.
At last week's board meeting, Chairman Anthony Smith of Maricopa and Vice Chairman Todd House of Apache Junction expressed frustration with receiving little to no communication from ICE during the past 11 months. Smith said every week that goes by without an agreement costs the county another $55,000.
"To continue to run this clock costing the taxpayers is something that I find unacceptable," Smith said.
On Wednesday, Joe Pyritz, public information officer for the county, told the Maricopa Monitor that although the Board of Supervisors is upset with how things have gone, it isn't pulling the plug on negotiations entirely.
"They don't want to lose the contract because it (is supposed to help) pay the debt service on the jail expansion."
However, Pyritz said the board wants to show it's no pushover when it comes to negotiating the deal.
"We're not weak-kneed on this," he said. Pyritz said the county put together its own proposal on per diem rates Feb. 21 but it never heard back from the feds.
In the letter Stanley sent to ICE, he explained why the county can no longer sit around and wait for a response. "Pinal is still interested in continuing its relationship with Immigration and Customs Enforcement but cannot continue at the existing per diem rate of $59.64," he wrote. "At the current rate, Pinal County taxpayers are subsidizing federal costs for detention."
The Pinal County Sheriff's Office, which runs the jail, hired Saddlebrooke resident Nancy Discher last year to assist in contract negotiations with ICE, even though the county manager was listed as the main point of contact. In 2012, Discher ran for the District 4 Pinal County supervisor seat, but she was defeated in the Republican primary by Smith, of Maricopa.
Tim Gaffney, director of administration for the Sheriff's Office, said in an email to the Maricopa Monitor that Discher is leaving PCSO.
"Ms. Discher let our office know on April 4 she will be resigning effective April 18 for another job opportunity," he said.
END
Human trafficking bill gets nod in Arizona Senate
Associated Press
Apr 15, 2014
http://www.abc15.com/news/state/human-trafficking-bill-gets-nod-in-arizona-senate
PHOENIX - The Arizona Senate has unanimously approved a bill targeting pimps who traffic minors for sex.
House Bill 2454 was championed by the wife of U.S. Sen. John McCain and by Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer. The House passed it on Feb. 27.
The bill toughens penalties for trafficking adults and targets businesses such as massage parlors and escort services that advertise online. It requires advertisers to post their license number and have written permission of any women they depict and evidence they're not minors.
Cindy McCain says the bill would put Arizona at the forefront of the fight against human trafficking by imposing harsh penalties for pimps.
The Senate approved the bill on Tuesday. It will now go to Brewer's desk.
end
Pinal Co. ends its jail deal with ICE
Board of Supervisors says organization hasn't been covering operational costs
Casa Grande Dispatch
Posted: Thursday, April 17, 2014 7:51 am
By Brian Wright, Maricopa Monitor
http://www.trivalleycentral.com/casa_grande_dispatch/area_news/pinal-co-ends-its-jail-deal-with-ice/article_bec9e164-c63f-11e3-9402-0019bb2963f4.html
FLORENCE — At a Pinal County Board of Supervisors meeting last week, the board voted to give the federal government one week to come to an agreement on a contract; the feds did not respond.
On Wednesday morning, County Manager Greg Stanley sent a notice of termination letter to the federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency. It gives a 100-day notice for the cancellation of the contract by Pinal County; however, it does not preclude the two sides from continuing to negotiate the matter during that time period.
A contract was signed initially between the county and ICE in August 2006. It allowed ICE to house immigrant detainees at the Pinal County Adult Detention Center. In addition to paying the county a per diem rate for each detainee, the contract was supposed to cover the cost of a massive jail expansion.
In reality, the per diem rate of $59.64 is so low, it has cost the county millions of dollars in the years since. Also, the contract hasn't paid for one cent of the jail's expansion.
That cost — at approximately $3.5 million per year — has come out of the pockets of Pinal taxpayers.
If ICE comes to the table at any point before the 100 days is over and accepts the county's proposal for per diem rates or puts forth what the county deems an acceptable counteroffer, a deal could still be made.
But the lack of cooperation from ICE to this point makes that seem far from certain.
At last week's board meeting, Chairman Anthony Smith of Maricopa and Vice Chairman Todd House of Apache Junction expressed frustration with receiving little to no communication from ICE during the past 11 months. Smith said every week that goes by without an agreement costs the county another $55,000.
"To continue to run this clock costing the taxpayers is something that I find unacceptable," Smith said.
On Wednesday, Joe Pyritz, public information officer for the county, told the Maricopa Monitor that although the Board of Supervisors is upset with how things have gone, it isn't pulling the plug on negotiations entirely.
"They don't want to lose the contract because it (is supposed to help) pay the debt service on the jail expansion."
However, Pyritz said the board wants to show it's no pushover when it comes to negotiating the deal.
"We're not weak-kneed on this," he said. Pyritz said the county put together its own proposal on per diem rates Feb. 21 but it never heard back from the feds.
In the letter Stanley sent to ICE, he explained why the county can no longer sit around and wait for a response. "Pinal is still interested in continuing its relationship with Immigration and Customs Enforcement but cannot continue at the existing per diem rate of $59.64," he wrote. "At the current rate, Pinal County taxpayers are subsidizing federal costs for detention."
The Pinal County Sheriff's Office, which runs the jail, hired Saddlebrooke resident Nancy Discher last year to assist in contract negotiations with ICE, even though the county manager was listed as the main point of contact. In 2012, Discher ran for the District 4 Pinal County supervisor seat, but she was defeated in the Republican primary by Smith, of Maricopa.
Tim Gaffney, director of administration for the Sheriff's Office, said in an email to the Maricopa Monitor that Discher is leaving PCSO.
"Ms. Discher let our office know on April 4 she will be resigning effective April 18 for another job opportunity," he said.
END
Human trafficking bill gets nod in Arizona Senate
Associated Press
Apr 15, 2014
http://www.abc15.com/news/state/human-trafficking-bill-gets-nod-in-arizona-senate
PHOENIX - The Arizona Senate has unanimously approved a bill targeting pimps who traffic minors for sex.
House Bill 2454 was championed by the wife of U.S. Sen. John McCain and by Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer. The House passed it on Feb. 27.
The bill toughens penalties for trafficking adults and targets businesses such as massage parlors and escort services that advertise online. It requires advertisers to post their license number and have written permission of any women they depict and evidence they're not minors.
Cindy McCain says the bill would put Arizona at the forefront of the fight against human trafficking by imposing harsh penalties for pimps.
The Senate approved the bill on Tuesday. It will now go to Brewer's desk.
end
Tuesday, April 15, 2014
AZMEX F&F EXTRA 15-4-14
AZMEX F&F EXTRA 15 APR 2014
Note: the usual reminder: None of those behind the scheme have yet to face justice. Not for the death of Agent Terry and especially not for the deaths of many hundreds of Mexicans. AKA "Hispanics".
Documents: 'Fast and Furious' guns found their way to El Paso and Columbus, NM
Court documents shed light on firearms trafficking on the border
By Diana Washington Valdez / El Paso Times
POSTED: 04/15/2014 12:00:00 AM MDT
http://www.elpasotimes.com/news/ci_25567860/documents-fast-and-furious-guns-found-their-way
RELATED STORIES
Columbus, N.M. gun smuggling linked to Fast and Furious operation
Operation Fast and Furious criticized in report by Justice
El Paso mentioned in Operation Fast and Furious report
Operation Fast and Furious report refers dozens for possible disciplinary action
Wikileaks emails: El Paso restaurant manager part of arms-trafficking network
Fast and Furious: House files suit against Attorney General Holder over gov't records
Report: ATF gun part of plan to kill Juarez police chief Julián Leyzaola
House committee holds Attorney General Eric Holder in contempt
Obama asserts executive privilege to withhold 'Fast and Furious' documents
Border Patrol union calls for U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder's resignation
Smugglers from Arizona being monitored through the U.S. government's Operation Fast and Furious helped supply firearms to a gun-trafficking ring led by officials in Columbus, N.M., according to court documents.
Court documents also provide additional details on the extent of the Columbus conspirators' involvement with Mexican drug traffickers and La Linea enforcers of the Carrillo Fuentes drug cartel.
According to one of the court documents, Border Patrol agents looking for a stolen vehicle stopped Blas Gutierrez, a former Columbus Village trustee, and Miguel Carrillo, a gun straw purchaser, in Columbus on Jan. 14, 2010. The two men, who were later convicted in the federal case against 11 Columbus conspirators, were not arrested that day.
The Border Patrol agents who stopped Gutierrez and Carrillo reported that they had found eight firearms inside the 2004 Nissan, including three Romarm Cugir pistols, two Ruger P345 pistols and three Fabrique National de Herstal pistols.
An investigation later determined that the three Fabrique Nationale de Herstal pistols had been purchased Jan. 9, 2010 in Arizona by Jaime Avila, one of the arms-trafficking conspiracy ringleaders who was being monitored by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) as part of Operation Fast and Furious. Avila was one of the main suspects in the ATF's centerpiece case for Fast and Furious.
The court document stated that the three Romarm Cugir pistols found on Gutierrez and Carrillo that day "were bought (on) an unlisted date by another straw purchaser identified as Uriel Patino, also of Phoenix." Patino was another ATF target in Operation Fast and Furious. Patino was a co-defendant with Jaime Avila.
Operation Fast and Furious was launched by the ATF on Oct. 31, 2009. The ATF considered Manuel Fabian Celis-Acosta to be the mastermind behind arms-trafficking centered in Phoenix. The Drug Enforcement Administration was also investigating Celis-Acosta, who was suspected of drug-trafficking.
Two Fast and Furious-linked weapons were found near the body of Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry, who was fatally shot Dec. 15, 2010 in the Arizona desert while pursuing armed suspects. The agent's death prompted the ATF to shut down the operation and led to a Congressional investigation into the controversial gun-walking operation.
ATF officials said the operation was intended to uncover the top leaders of arms-trafficking groups. Under the operation, gun shops were allowed to sell firearms to straw purchasers and the ATF was to keep track of the weapons. Instead, firearms soon began turning up at homicide scenes in Mexico and later near Terry's body.
The documents that reveal additional details about the gun-walking operation and gun-trafficking in El Paso, Juárez and Southern New Mexico come from the federal case against the Columbus conspirators, including Ian Garland, owner of the former Chaparral Guns in Chaparral, N.M., and filings in the federal lawsuits involving the deaths of Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry and ICE Special Agent Jaime Zapata and the wounding of ICE Special Agent Victor Avila Jr. of El Paso.
The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents were ambushed while traveling on a highway in Mexico in 2011.
Before Terry's death, hundreds of Mexican citizens had already been killed in Mexico by firearms linked to Fast and Furious.
Garland, who sold weapons to the Columbus conspirators, was recently released from prison after serving a sentence for his role in the conspiracy. Garland alleges that he was unjustly pressured to accept a plea agreement in July 2011.
"I was singled out for punishment even though all my sales to these people were reported as required by law, and the buyers were legally able to buy the firearms," Garland said. "The ex-police chief, Angelo Vega, the ex-mayor, Eddie Espinoza, and Blas Gutierrez, the village trustee, and everyone else who bought from me, need to be interviewed. They all asked, on the record, 'Why is Ian here, he had no conspiracy with us? We only used his store, as well as others, to buy from.' The connection between Arizona's Fast and Furious is clear, crystal clear, and this is in my pre-sentencing report."
Garland said he is working to clear his name and has a website devoted to this and other information about Fast and Furious at www.fastandfuriousejusticenow.org.
"I am Australian born, a U.S. citizen, and damn proud of it," Garland said. "I am fighting because the government's lawyers held back information that could have exonerated me. Plus, I got sentenced under the wrong guidelines, which gave me a harsher penalty than even the charges warranted."
Garland said he plans to share information related to the Fast and Furious ties to El Paso and Juárez with the Mexican government.
The Columbus conspiracy reportedly involved the purchase of 200 high-powered firearms from Garland and other sources between January 2010 and March 2011. However, previously disclosed court documents, such as the multiple-defendant indictment against 11 conspirators, failed to divulge the ties between the Columbus organization and the Phoenix-based straw purchasers who were part of Operation Fast and Furious.
In Terry's wrongful death lawsuit, the plaintiffs allege that Jaime Avila was among the suspects that by December 2009 the ATF had identified as a straw purchaser for a firearms trafficking conspiracy led by Celis-Acosta.
The lawsuit also mentions that Avila had purchased two weapons from a gun dealer in Arizona on Jan. 9, 2010, which "were recovered on Jan. 14, 2010, by U.S. Border Patrol officers in Columbus, New Mexico during a search of a suspicious vehicle attempting to cross the U.S.-Mexico border."
On Jan. 16, 2010, the lawsuit alleges, Avila bought three more weapons from the Arizona gun shop, all were WASR-10 AK-47-type assault rifles; two of the rifles were found near Terry's body nearly a year later.
"Had Avila been arrested and the weapons been seized at the time of the Jan. 16, 2010 purchase, Brian Terry would not have been murdered on Dec. 15, 2010," the plaintiffs alleged.
In another document concerning Fast and Furious suspects, on Jan. 13, 2010, El Paso police reported finding 40 assault rifles at a stash house in the city. The weapons were tied to the ATF's Fast and Furious operation, and were traced back to the same Phoenix gun shop that was cooperating with the ATF's operation. Alberto Sandoval and Sean C. Steward were arrested in connection with the 40-gun cache in El Paso. According to one of the documents, the ATF had lost track of the 40 firearms.
The ATF did not respond to questions late Monday about whether Operation Fast and Furious was limited to the Arizona-Mexico border or if it was intended to cover the entire U.S. border with Mexico. Anecdotally, the scope of the operation appears to have covered more ground beyond Arizona. According to Congressional investigations, the ATF had not accounted for more than 1,000 firearms linked to its botched operation.
According to a court transcript from Steward's case, "out of the 289 weapons that (Steward) purchased, 125 were recovered. 49 in Mexico and 78 in the U.S."
"Those that were recovered in the U.S., many of those were recovered in bordertowns such as Douglas, El Paso and San Antonio," the court transcript said. "By his own statements to agents, (Steward) admitted that he had been to Juárez, Mexico, ... and while he was there had heard that ... children had been killed by (an) AK-47 rifle shooting." In other words, Steward was made aware during arms-trafficking activities of the impact that smuggled weapons were having on the Juárez community, where a war between two violent drug cartels was raging.
Celis-Acosta indicated, the court transcript said, that he had both Uriel Patino and Steward travel to El Paso to deliver firearms to drug cartel associates.
Columbus conspirators
Court documents in the Garland case stated that Ignacio Villalobos, a fugitive in the Columbus drug-trafficking conspiracy, lived in Columbus and was a low-level member of La Linea, the enforcement arm of the Carrillo Fuentes drug cartel in Juárez. The Carrillo Fuentes or Juárez drug cartel was at war with the Sinaloa drug cartel led by Joaquin "Chapo" Guzman.
Villalobos worked for Gerardo Acosta-Terrazas, who was identified as a top-tier cartel leader of Palomas, Chihuahua, and who answered to a man identified only as "Cachorro" Vazquez," son of "El Veinte" (20), the alleged main leader of La Linea before his arrest in Mexico, according to court documents.
The Garland court document also stated that Alberto Rivera, an associate of Villalobos, served as a drug recruiter and firearms smuggler for the drug-trafficking organization based in Columbus, which is across the border from Palomas.
Rivera and his son, Juan Alberto Rivera, would deposit large sums of money belonging to the drug organization, the document said. Villalobos and a cousin and her husband worked as "financial facilitators" for the drug organization by receiving large deposits of money from Billings, Montana; Fridley, Minnesota, Westminster, Colo.; Denver; and Albuquerque, into their Wells Fargo bank account. Then, they would deliver the deposits to Villalobos.
Other highlights in the Garland court document state that:
• On Feb. 22, 2011, a handgun that officials said Rivera had purchased was seized from "a kidnapping crew" in Juárez.
• Another man, whom investigators identified as Manuel Ortega and was linked to the regional drug organization, allegedly facilitated narcotics smuggling in Columbus, Deming and Palomas.
• Between January 2010 and March 2011, a high-ranking Mexican cartel member in a Mexican jail named Jesus Molinas, alias "Mantequilla," ordered Blas Gutierrez to buy firearms in the United States and smuggle them into Mexico, prompting Gutierrez to buy numerous firearms and paying other straw purchasers to buy more weapons from Chaparral Guns.
• The Columbus-based arms-traffickers rented a unit at the Colinas del Sol apartments in the 900 block of South Mesa Hills in West El Paso to store weapons that were to be smuggled into Mexico.
• On March 24, 2011, Mexican federal police seized a handgun from five alleged hit men for La Linea that Eddie Espinoza (who also was convicted in the Columbus conspiracy) had purchased from Chaparral Guns.
• While under surveillance, Blas Gutierrez, a Village of Columbus trustee, and another suspect were seen stopping at the Colinas del Sol apartment, and later delivered a backpack to an unknown person at a Mexican bus company in El Paso, whom investigators suspected smuggled weapons in the backpack across the border.
• Investigators placed a GPS tracker on Blas Gutierrez's vehicle in February 2011, and found that he had stopped at a house in Albuquerque, which law enforcement officers said was used by others to help move bulk cash from illicit activities.
Diana Washington Valdez may be reached at 546-6140.
Note: the usual reminder: None of those behind the scheme have yet to face justice. Not for the death of Agent Terry and especially not for the deaths of many hundreds of Mexicans. AKA "Hispanics".
Documents: 'Fast and Furious' guns found their way to El Paso and Columbus, NM
Court documents shed light on firearms trafficking on the border
By Diana Washington Valdez / El Paso Times
POSTED: 04/15/2014 12:00:00 AM MDT
http://www.elpasotimes.com/news/ci_25567860/documents-fast-and-furious-guns-found-their-way
RELATED STORIES
Columbus, N.M. gun smuggling linked to Fast and Furious operation
Operation Fast and Furious criticized in report by Justice
El Paso mentioned in Operation Fast and Furious report
Operation Fast and Furious report refers dozens for possible disciplinary action
Wikileaks emails: El Paso restaurant manager part of arms-trafficking network
Fast and Furious: House files suit against Attorney General Holder over gov't records
Report: ATF gun part of plan to kill Juarez police chief Julián Leyzaola
House committee holds Attorney General Eric Holder in contempt
Obama asserts executive privilege to withhold 'Fast and Furious' documents
Border Patrol union calls for U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder's resignation
Smugglers from Arizona being monitored through the U.S. government's Operation Fast and Furious helped supply firearms to a gun-trafficking ring led by officials in Columbus, N.M., according to court documents.
Court documents also provide additional details on the extent of the Columbus conspirators' involvement with Mexican drug traffickers and La Linea enforcers of the Carrillo Fuentes drug cartel.
According to one of the court documents, Border Patrol agents looking for a stolen vehicle stopped Blas Gutierrez, a former Columbus Village trustee, and Miguel Carrillo, a gun straw purchaser, in Columbus on Jan. 14, 2010. The two men, who were later convicted in the federal case against 11 Columbus conspirators, were not arrested that day.
The Border Patrol agents who stopped Gutierrez and Carrillo reported that they had found eight firearms inside the 2004 Nissan, including three Romarm Cugir pistols, two Ruger P345 pistols and three Fabrique National de Herstal pistols.
An investigation later determined that the three Fabrique Nationale de Herstal pistols had been purchased Jan. 9, 2010 in Arizona by Jaime Avila, one of the arms-trafficking conspiracy ringleaders who was being monitored by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) as part of Operation Fast and Furious. Avila was one of the main suspects in the ATF's centerpiece case for Fast and Furious.
The court document stated that the three Romarm Cugir pistols found on Gutierrez and Carrillo that day "were bought (on) an unlisted date by another straw purchaser identified as Uriel Patino, also of Phoenix." Patino was another ATF target in Operation Fast and Furious. Patino was a co-defendant with Jaime Avila.
Operation Fast and Furious was launched by the ATF on Oct. 31, 2009. The ATF considered Manuel Fabian Celis-Acosta to be the mastermind behind arms-trafficking centered in Phoenix. The Drug Enforcement Administration was also investigating Celis-Acosta, who was suspected of drug-trafficking.
Two Fast and Furious-linked weapons were found near the body of Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry, who was fatally shot Dec. 15, 2010 in the Arizona desert while pursuing armed suspects. The agent's death prompted the ATF to shut down the operation and led to a Congressional investigation into the controversial gun-walking operation.
ATF officials said the operation was intended to uncover the top leaders of arms-trafficking groups. Under the operation, gun shops were allowed to sell firearms to straw purchasers and the ATF was to keep track of the weapons. Instead, firearms soon began turning up at homicide scenes in Mexico and later near Terry's body.
The documents that reveal additional details about the gun-walking operation and gun-trafficking in El Paso, Juárez and Southern New Mexico come from the federal case against the Columbus conspirators, including Ian Garland, owner of the former Chaparral Guns in Chaparral, N.M., and filings in the federal lawsuits involving the deaths of Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry and ICE Special Agent Jaime Zapata and the wounding of ICE Special Agent Victor Avila Jr. of El Paso.
The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents were ambushed while traveling on a highway in Mexico in 2011.
Before Terry's death, hundreds of Mexican citizens had already been killed in Mexico by firearms linked to Fast and Furious.
Garland, who sold weapons to the Columbus conspirators, was recently released from prison after serving a sentence for his role in the conspiracy. Garland alleges that he was unjustly pressured to accept a plea agreement in July 2011.
"I was singled out for punishment even though all my sales to these people were reported as required by law, and the buyers were legally able to buy the firearms," Garland said. "The ex-police chief, Angelo Vega, the ex-mayor, Eddie Espinoza, and Blas Gutierrez, the village trustee, and everyone else who bought from me, need to be interviewed. They all asked, on the record, 'Why is Ian here, he had no conspiracy with us? We only used his store, as well as others, to buy from.' The connection between Arizona's Fast and Furious is clear, crystal clear, and this is in my pre-sentencing report."
Garland said he is working to clear his name and has a website devoted to this and other information about Fast and Furious at www.fastandfuriousejusticenow.org.
"I am Australian born, a U.S. citizen, and damn proud of it," Garland said. "I am fighting because the government's lawyers held back information that could have exonerated me. Plus, I got sentenced under the wrong guidelines, which gave me a harsher penalty than even the charges warranted."
Garland said he plans to share information related to the Fast and Furious ties to El Paso and Juárez with the Mexican government.
The Columbus conspiracy reportedly involved the purchase of 200 high-powered firearms from Garland and other sources between January 2010 and March 2011. However, previously disclosed court documents, such as the multiple-defendant indictment against 11 conspirators, failed to divulge the ties between the Columbus organization and the Phoenix-based straw purchasers who were part of Operation Fast and Furious.
In Terry's wrongful death lawsuit, the plaintiffs allege that Jaime Avila was among the suspects that by December 2009 the ATF had identified as a straw purchaser for a firearms trafficking conspiracy led by Celis-Acosta.
The lawsuit also mentions that Avila had purchased two weapons from a gun dealer in Arizona on Jan. 9, 2010, which "were recovered on Jan. 14, 2010, by U.S. Border Patrol officers in Columbus, New Mexico during a search of a suspicious vehicle attempting to cross the U.S.-Mexico border."
On Jan. 16, 2010, the lawsuit alleges, Avila bought three more weapons from the Arizona gun shop, all were WASR-10 AK-47-type assault rifles; two of the rifles were found near Terry's body nearly a year later.
"Had Avila been arrested and the weapons been seized at the time of the Jan. 16, 2010 purchase, Brian Terry would not have been murdered on Dec. 15, 2010," the plaintiffs alleged.
In another document concerning Fast and Furious suspects, on Jan. 13, 2010, El Paso police reported finding 40 assault rifles at a stash house in the city. The weapons were tied to the ATF's Fast and Furious operation, and were traced back to the same Phoenix gun shop that was cooperating with the ATF's operation. Alberto Sandoval and Sean C. Steward were arrested in connection with the 40-gun cache in El Paso. According to one of the documents, the ATF had lost track of the 40 firearms.
The ATF did not respond to questions late Monday about whether Operation Fast and Furious was limited to the Arizona-Mexico border or if it was intended to cover the entire U.S. border with Mexico. Anecdotally, the scope of the operation appears to have covered more ground beyond Arizona. According to Congressional investigations, the ATF had not accounted for more than 1,000 firearms linked to its botched operation.
According to a court transcript from Steward's case, "out of the 289 weapons that (Steward) purchased, 125 were recovered. 49 in Mexico and 78 in the U.S."
"Those that were recovered in the U.S., many of those were recovered in bordertowns such as Douglas, El Paso and San Antonio," the court transcript said. "By his own statements to agents, (Steward) admitted that he had been to Juárez, Mexico, ... and while he was there had heard that ... children had been killed by (an) AK-47 rifle shooting." In other words, Steward was made aware during arms-trafficking activities of the impact that smuggled weapons were having on the Juárez community, where a war between two violent drug cartels was raging.
Celis-Acosta indicated, the court transcript said, that he had both Uriel Patino and Steward travel to El Paso to deliver firearms to drug cartel associates.
Columbus conspirators
Court documents in the Garland case stated that Ignacio Villalobos, a fugitive in the Columbus drug-trafficking conspiracy, lived in Columbus and was a low-level member of La Linea, the enforcement arm of the Carrillo Fuentes drug cartel in Juárez. The Carrillo Fuentes or Juárez drug cartel was at war with the Sinaloa drug cartel led by Joaquin "Chapo" Guzman.
Villalobos worked for Gerardo Acosta-Terrazas, who was identified as a top-tier cartel leader of Palomas, Chihuahua, and who answered to a man identified only as "Cachorro" Vazquez," son of "El Veinte" (20), the alleged main leader of La Linea before his arrest in Mexico, according to court documents.
The Garland court document also stated that Alberto Rivera, an associate of Villalobos, served as a drug recruiter and firearms smuggler for the drug-trafficking organization based in Columbus, which is across the border from Palomas.
Rivera and his son, Juan Alberto Rivera, would deposit large sums of money belonging to the drug organization, the document said. Villalobos and a cousin and her husband worked as "financial facilitators" for the drug organization by receiving large deposits of money from Billings, Montana; Fridley, Minnesota, Westminster, Colo.; Denver; and Albuquerque, into their Wells Fargo bank account. Then, they would deliver the deposits to Villalobos.
Other highlights in the Garland court document state that:
• On Feb. 22, 2011, a handgun that officials said Rivera had purchased was seized from "a kidnapping crew" in Juárez.
• Another man, whom investigators identified as Manuel Ortega and was linked to the regional drug organization, allegedly facilitated narcotics smuggling in Columbus, Deming and Palomas.
• Between January 2010 and March 2011, a high-ranking Mexican cartel member in a Mexican jail named Jesus Molinas, alias "Mantequilla," ordered Blas Gutierrez to buy firearms in the United States and smuggle them into Mexico, prompting Gutierrez to buy numerous firearms and paying other straw purchasers to buy more weapons from Chaparral Guns.
• The Columbus-based arms-traffickers rented a unit at the Colinas del Sol apartments in the 900 block of South Mesa Hills in West El Paso to store weapons that were to be smuggled into Mexico.
• On March 24, 2011, Mexican federal police seized a handgun from five alleged hit men for La Linea that Eddie Espinoza (who also was convicted in the Columbus conspiracy) had purchased from Chaparral Guns.
• While under surveillance, Blas Gutierrez, a Village of Columbus trustee, and another suspect were seen stopping at the Colinas del Sol apartment, and later delivered a backpack to an unknown person at a Mexican bus company in El Paso, whom investigators suspected smuggled weapons in the backpack across the border.
• Investigators placed a GPS tracker on Blas Gutierrez's vehicle in February 2011, and found that he had stopped at a house in Albuquerque, which law enforcement officers said was used by others to help move bulk cash from illicit activities.
Diana Washington Valdez may be reached at 546-6140.
Saturday, April 12, 2014
AZMEX EXTRA 6-4-14
AZMEX EXTRA 6 APR 2014
Note: Sing along? 12 handguns, 33 long guns, 165 magazines, 22,981 rounds, and a ultralight in a sahuaro. All this in Sonora for month of March.
Department of Defense seize more than 5 tons of ' pot ' in March
Details Published on Saturday April 5, 2014 ,
Written by Editor / El Diario de Sonora
Nogales
http://www.eldiariodesonora.com.mx/nota.php?nota=29362
Perform the arrest of 27 people , as well as securing 33 long weapons.
About five tons of drugs , hundreds of thousands of rounds of ammunition and cash were seized by members of the Secretariat of National Defense ( Department of Defense ) last March, according to official reports.
According to reports from the Department of Defense , personnel of the 45 Military Zone based in the border criminal arrested in flagrante delicto to 27 individuals in different proceedings , which were made available to the appropriate authorities .
During the raids they seized a total of five tons, 735 kilos of marijuana; a kilo and 150 grams of cocaine and 14 kilos and 550 grams of methamphetamine , as well as 12 handguns, 33 rifles, 165 magazines for different weapons and 22 thousand 981 cartridges different calibers.
Also seized two grenades, 35 vehicles and one million 593 thousand 250 pesos during the proceedings and 737mil $ 940 , three buildings and even an ultralight aircraft.
Effective military forces also found and destroyed seven clandestine airstrips located in northern Sonora .
According to the statement , both detainees and the subject matter insured were already made available by the federal authorities .
For complaints of illegal activities anonymously the Department of Defense provides the telephone numbers (631) 313-0316 and (631) 352-1252 , and email 45zm@mail.sedena.com.mx .
END
Note: 2 pistols , five rifles, 22 magazines, 566 cartridges and two Tahoes on a dirt track, just south of Douglas, AZ
Posted April 5, 2014 , 3:12 a.m.
During a raid in Agua Prieta the Army seizes a arsenal
Inside, was the rifle type "AK 47 " plus magazines and bullets.
Also two vehicles reported as stolen , cartridges and magazines
drafting
Agua Prieta , Son. - Nuevo Dia
http://www.nuevodia.com.mx/local/aseguran-armas-el-ejercito/
An array consisting of five assault rifles , two pistols and 500 rounds of ammunition , were seized in the town of Agua Prieta , by agents of the State Public Security Police ( PESP ) and staff of the Department of National Defence.
In a statement reported that the firearms were in two trucks reported as stolen , confiscated by agents belonging to the Joint Operations ( BOM - Operaciones Mixtas), abandoned in the colony of New Sonora.
Yesterday , around 8:00 pm , which on a dirt tracks in the vicinity of the colony of New Sonora, they saw two Chevrolet Tahoe vehicles that were apparently in a state of neglect , to inspect realized that inside were several firearms.
During the operation recovered 5 rifles of.223 caliber 7.62x39mm also two handguns 9mm and .40 was achieved. They also seized 22 metallic magazines , 2 drum magazines, and 566 cartridges of various calibers.
Subsequent to verifying the data of the vehicles they realized that they had been stolen .
One of these, online Tahoe, 2012 model was reported as stolen in El Paso, Texas , while the truck of the same make , black color, model 2002 had been reported stolen in Baja California.
Because of this , the BOM operation that integrates PESP and the Mexican Army made vehicle seizures , also of arms and cartridges, which were turned over to the appropriate authority.
END
Note: Sing along? 12 handguns, 33 long guns, 165 magazines, 22,981 rounds, and a ultralight in a sahuaro. All this in Sonora for month of March.
Department of Defense seize more than 5 tons of ' pot ' in March
Details Published on Saturday April 5, 2014 ,
Written by Editor / El Diario de Sonora
Nogales
http://www.eldiariodesonora.com.mx/nota.php?nota=29362
Perform the arrest of 27 people , as well as securing 33 long weapons.
About five tons of drugs , hundreds of thousands of rounds of ammunition and cash were seized by members of the Secretariat of National Defense ( Department of Defense ) last March, according to official reports.
According to reports from the Department of Defense , personnel of the 45 Military Zone based in the border criminal arrested in flagrante delicto to 27 individuals in different proceedings , which were made available to the appropriate authorities .
During the raids they seized a total of five tons, 735 kilos of marijuana; a kilo and 150 grams of cocaine and 14 kilos and 550 grams of methamphetamine , as well as 12 handguns, 33 rifles, 165 magazines for different weapons and 22 thousand 981 cartridges different calibers.
Also seized two grenades, 35 vehicles and one million 593 thousand 250 pesos during the proceedings and 737mil $ 940 , three buildings and even an ultralight aircraft.
Effective military forces also found and destroyed seven clandestine airstrips located in northern Sonora .
According to the statement , both detainees and the subject matter insured were already made available by the federal authorities .
For complaints of illegal activities anonymously the Department of Defense provides the telephone numbers (631) 313-0316 and (631) 352-1252 , and email 45zm@mail.sedena.com.mx .
END
Note: 2 pistols , five rifles, 22 magazines, 566 cartridges and two Tahoes on a dirt track, just south of Douglas, AZ
Posted April 5, 2014 , 3:12 a.m.
During a raid in Agua Prieta the Army seizes a arsenal
Inside, was the rifle type "AK 47 " plus magazines and bullets.
Also two vehicles reported as stolen , cartridges and magazines
drafting
Agua Prieta , Son. - Nuevo Dia
http://www.nuevodia.com.mx/local/aseguran-armas-el-ejercito/
An array consisting of five assault rifles , two pistols and 500 rounds of ammunition , were seized in the town of Agua Prieta , by agents of the State Public Security Police ( PESP ) and staff of the Department of National Defence.
In a statement reported that the firearms were in two trucks reported as stolen , confiscated by agents belonging to the Joint Operations ( BOM - Operaciones Mixtas), abandoned in the colony of New Sonora.
Yesterday , around 8:00 pm , which on a dirt tracks in the vicinity of the colony of New Sonora, they saw two Chevrolet Tahoe vehicles that were apparently in a state of neglect , to inspect realized that inside were several firearms.
During the operation recovered 5 rifles of.223 caliber 7.62x39mm also two handguns 9mm and .40 was achieved. They also seized 22 metallic magazines , 2 drum magazines, and 566 cartridges of various calibers.
Subsequent to verifying the data of the vehicles they realized that they had been stolen .
One of these, online Tahoe, 2012 model was reported as stolen in El Paso, Texas , while the truck of the same make , black color, model 2002 had been reported stolen in Baja California.
Because of this , the BOM operation that integrates PESP and the Mexican Army made vehicle seizures , also of arms and cartridges, which were turned over to the appropriate authority.
END
AZMEX CONSPIRACY SPECIAL 27-3-14
AZMEX CONSPIRACY SPECIAL 27 MAR 2014
Note: Interesting story from Excelsior, one of Mexico's main newspapers. This will go on for a long time. Long read, mostly computer english
Chapo - Zambada confirm appointment , the meeting was in Culiacan
Ministerial statements Bodyguard Guzman, Carlos Manuel Ramirez Hoo , El Condor , agree with advance by Excelsior : the two top leaders of the Pacific cartel met three months ago to define the future of both the criminal group and
27/03/2014 10:57 Editor
1/6
THE MEETING . The statement made " private secretary " Joaquin Guzman Loera says it met three months ago with Ismael El Mayo Zambada on a ranch near Culiacan , since both lords maintained a business relationship besides being compadres.
June 1
http://www.excelsior.com.mx/nacional/2014/03/27/950812
MEXICO CITY , March 27 - . Ministerial statement Hoo Carlos Manuel Ramirez, one of the two " private secretaries " Joaquin El Chapo Guzman Loera, confirms the
meeting his boss held three months ago with Ismael El Mayo Zambada . At the meeting, the number two in the Pacific cartel would have suggested Guzman Loera retire and make way for new generations before " start a civil war within our organization. Or we give them control or they will take it on their own . "
Documents held by Excelsior Hoo said Ramirez, Guzman Loera escort who shared his last moments released, revealed that 90 days El Chapo Guzman and El Mayo Zambada held a meeting where they talked Front stronger.
The statement Hoo Ramirez , also known as The Condor, match analysis Roberto Saviano, Italian journalist and writer , who on March 10 said in an interview with Excelsior that "the hand of Ismael El Mayo Zambada is behind the falling Joaquin El Chapo Guzman . "
Saviano went further to establish a hypothesis that makes sense today . From his perspective : "O El Mayo gave El Chapo or not protected him more."
According to the AP / PGR / SEIDO / UEIDCS investigation , the " secretary " El Chapo and escort revealed that the meeting between the two main leaders of the Pacific cartel took place at the ranch The Huinacatle located in Eldorado , municipality of Culiacán , Sinaloa, where Guzman Loera spent the last three years.
According Hoo Ramírez , El Mayo and El Chapo are not only members of the Pacific cartel , but are bound by cronyism .
In his ministerial statement, dated February 23 last , ie , a day after the world's most wanted drug trafficker was arrested in Miramar apartment tower , the city of Mazatlan, Ramirez gave Hoo is revealing . He said that " El Mayo Zambada he took advantage of the meeting with Guzman Loera to talk to one of the nearby El Chapo men : The Black Bravo , another ex-military , and who just received them in Mazatlan after intense persecution that federal forces undertook days ago in Culiacán against the leader of the Sinaloa cartel .
The mysterious man 1.80 meters tall.
In this plot does not go unnoticed involving a mysterious man of about 1.80 meters tall .
According to information from the sailors who participated in the capture of Joaquin Guzman Loera, on 22 February at the port of Mazatlan , Sinaloa, when circulated in an official vehicle along Avenida del Mar , precisely because the building known as Tower Miramar , " we did the high hands a person male , about 1.80 meters, of slim build , wearing blue jeans and a blue polo shirt ."
Upon stopping the vehicle, the ocean traveling as passenger asked him what he wanted .
The 1.80m mystery man , again according to the information of the seafarers to the ministerial authorities replied that minutes before had entered the condo tower " an armed person who was walking inside " .
Marine told that the man was afraid " so we asked for help desperately ."
According to the investigation PGR/SEIDO/UEIDCS/077/2014 of Attorney Specialized Investigation of Organized Crime ( SEIDO ) , seafarers and arrested Guzmán Loera Hoo Ramirez, one of their " private secretaries " (the other being William Rivera, the Chaneque ) , decided to do an inspection because they had information from assurances that occurred days ago in the city of Culiacan , there, in the Avenida del Mar, number 608, between River Street and University Avenue Elota , the Port of Mazatlan.
They sensed that Joaquin Guzman Loera could be there.
Marine , follow their story, " proceeded to enter the Miramar Tower in order to rule out any threat to the residents of the condominium ."
They walked three floors without meeting anyone , but in the fourth they came face to face with Carlos Manuel Ramirez Hoo , who have targeted them with a rifle before running into the 401 department , where he eventually threw the gun and surrendered.
Once disarmed and subjected said working for Joaquin Guzman Loera , who moments later went to another room and was arrested .
El Chapo felt safe : Saviano
In an interview granted to Roberto Saviano Excelsior in New York, the Italian journalist and writer reported that he had access to a conversation that would have sustained Joaquin El Chapo Guzman Loera and Ismael El Mayo Zambada .
It would be a conversation in which the two main leaders of the cartel Pacific spoke as always, in the face, but unusually hard way .
The warning to El Chapo left no room for doubt. At least not for the author of Gomorrah and Zero , Zero , Zero, his latest book .
In testimony collected by Saviano, El Mayo Zambada asked El Chapo Guzman Loera away , what he would do, to make way for new generations.
" If we do not, if we do not give them control , they will take it at your own risk."
And more . He would have said: " If you go there will be a civil war within our organization."
Saviano , who has plunged into the underworld of Mexican drug cartels for his links with mafia organizations of the Camorra and the ' Ndrangheta Italian , said that "in the case of El Chapo me much struck his arrest. I was unable to decipher it all. Was he betrayed? Is delivered ? " He asked .
" El Mayo 's statement , which was heard a few months ago , let me great doubts . Why did that statement , why let someone else hear it ?
" Practically said, ' Either you go or there will be a civil war within our group .'"
With the information obtained during its investigations , Saviano said " El Mayo took responsibility for the capture of El Chapo .
"I do not know if he sold it, but what is a fact that did not protect him more . He left to his fate. "
Nor understood that after leaving unscathed in Culiacan, a fierce hunting by members of the Mexican Navy and the services of U.S. intelligence , that his heels , who were the only eight minutes to catch , El Chapo has chosen to take a break to visit his wife and two twin daughters in any apartment building , facing the sea.
"I find it very strange that El Chapo Guzman committed an imprudence as he committed. I get the impression that he felt safe . A boss, a boss , a boss as El Chapo , only feels safe when given assurances about their safety. "
- Did you catch or left handed ? Asked the envoy Excelsior.
- At first I thought it would have been caught , I knew it was the only way to stay alive, but I find it really strange. I'm sure I lived similar situations ( to Culiacan and even Mazatlan ) and he always got his way . Why not this time ?
Saviano believes firmly that if Shorty had delivered risked being extradited , which would have ended his days in a U.S. prison .
Yes , I would have had no choice , but to capitulate .
Provide the most valuable of their spoils : the ability to send .
His power.
Power.
three hypotheses
Since described by captured seafarers until then the world's most wanted drug trafficker , what counted in the ministerial statement Hoo Ramirez guard and " secretary " El Chapo Guzman, and the thesis of journalist and writer Italian Roberto Saviano, can be reached at least three hypotheses about the mysterious man at 06:40 hours on 22 February last arrested an official unit of the Navy of Mexico and led to the capture of the leader of the Sinaloa cartel :
a) The man was a neighbor of Miramar Tower, which , be frightened by a gunman in the building, decided to go for help and ran into a diligent and effective elements of the Navy of Mexico .
b ) Man of 1:80 meters tall, of slim build , was an undercover Mexican government or the U.S. government agent.
c ) The man, who was wearing jeans, a blue polo shirt , was sent from Ismael El Mayo Zambada , who allegedly delivered to his friend in a risky reckoning.
From the testimony , the informative part Mexican marine who took charge of the capture of Joaquin Guzman Loera details of the mysterious man 1.80 tall are unknown.
It is not known if requested or demanded the reward of five million dollars and 30 million dollars to the governments of the United States and Mexico who offered to give information leading to the capture of the then world's most wanted drug trafficker .
The movements of El Mayo
Hoo Ramirez stated in its ministerial statement , which occurred on 23 February, a day after his arrest , El Mayo Zambada that "moves the side of El Salado and the Alamo, near Culiacán, though close to the mountains, and planes have to move . " He revealed that one of the pilots Zambada is known as El Niño or El Gordo. And 20 , who was arrested two days before El Chapo Guzman, in Culiacan, Sinaloa , was with The Ramon , a member of the security team Zambada .
Not only that, the escort and " private secretary " El Chapo said that due to the arrest of his boss "is possible for a confrontation between the Black and Damaso Lopez Bravo , The Bachelor is raised, for among them are accused of having" as " El Chapo .
But this intrigue, ahead Hoo Ramirez, " Ismael El Mayo Zambada will whoever is appointed to resolve things ."
The Condor El Mayo Zambada described as " big , light brown , black mustache and black painted hair , brown eyes . Use Levi's pants and polo shirts . Use only cap hat . "
Forbes admits that catapulted Guzman
Forbes admitted yesterday that helped forge the "black legend " of drug trafficker Joaquin El Chapo Guzman, by including him in his famous list of the richest men in the world .
The VP Americas Forbes , Edward de Valle II , said that once the decision would generate criticism was evaluated , but the cluster of participating businesses and their huge profits from Guzman to take into account.
Being part of the group of men with the largest fortunes in the world , along with entrepreneurs, investors and executives of prominent legal business " increased " the famous drug trafficker , " but that was not the intention ," he argued .
Drug trafficker scored significant gains in front of a group of organized crime, identified as one of the biggest suppliers of cocaine to the United States .
With a fortune estimated at over a billion dollars for the magazine business , he joined the Forbes annual list of the most powerful in the world from 2009 to 2012 .
De Valle II considered that in the end, this type of public exposure became a " double edged sword " because also focused attention on the leader of organized crime and financial transactions difficult .
Most care provided " complicated " life Guzman and " Business " from his group of transnational organized crime and somehow " pressed " in order to capture the bonnet, he said.
Become a capo pleads guilty
The Mexican Tomas Arevalo Renteria , an alleged member of the drug trafficker Joaquin El Chapo Guzman , pleaded guilty yesterday to distribute large quantities of cocaine and heroin in the Chicago area for the Pacific cartel .
The Office of the Federal Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois reported that Arévalo Renteria pleaded guilty to one count of possession of cocaine and heroin with intent to distribute .
The defendant, 45, admitted before Judge Ruben Castillo of the Federal Court for the Northern District of Illinois , which from 2005 to 2008 distributed more than 150 kilograms of cocaine and 30 heroin in Chicago and elsewhere in the United USA .
The statement came under the scheme known as "blind confession" without establishing any plea agreement with prosecutors , so could face a sentence of 10 years to life.
Arévalo Renteria chose to plead guilty to two weeks after his partner and co-defendant Alfredo Vasquez Hernandez , retracted his own admission of guilt.
Deputies ask thoroughly investigate
Ministerial statements Hoo Carlos Manuel Ramirez, " private secretary " El Chapo Guzman, should urge the federal executive to go to fund research , warned Rep. Sergio Chavez Davalos , a member of the Committee on Public Safety in San Lazaro .
" The federal government should be with the intelligence , because if those enemies , as he states that had the same enemies Joaquin Guzman in northern Sonora and Sinaloa , as these groups can be organized to advance their business " , he said.
The Jalisco lawmaker urged the federal government to further research to avoid " opening Pandora's box " , ie , the eventual emergence of new criminal gangs .
" It should come the ' staircase effect ' , we must be operating three or four cartels that exist all over the country, but there are also smaller regional cartels that there must be acting in the investigation authority to stop and disable those little cartels that do not return again another monsters in our country, " he said.
Similarly, said the member of the Safety Committee in the Chamber of Deputies, the federal government must draw on all their systems and intelligence mechanisms to prevent further clashes between organized crime groups , which may also affect the tranquility the physical integrity of citizens.
"That it should be the government to keep out those notes and be operating efficiently so that there will be no fighting has been handled in some other posters in some other parts of the country ," he said .
end
Confirman cita Chapo-Zambada; el encuentro fue en Culiacán
Las declaraciones ministeriales del escolta de Guzmán, Carlos Manuel Hoo Ramírez, El Cóndor, coinciden con lo adelantado por Excélsior: que los dos jefes máximos del cártel del Pacífico se reunieron hace tres meses para definir el futuro de ambos y del grupo criminal
COMPARTIR 27/03/2014 10:57 Redacción
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LA REUNIÓN. La declaración que hizo "el secretario particular" de Joaquín Guzmán Loera señala que éste se reunió hace tres meses con Ismael El Mayo Zambada en un rancho cercano a Culiacán, ya que ambos capos mantienen una relación de negocios además de ser compadres.
1 de 6
http://www.excelsior.com.mx/nacional/2014/03/27/950812
CIUDAD DE MÉXICO, 27 de marzo.- La declaración ministerial de Carlos Manuel Hoo Ramírez, uno de los dos "secretarios particulares" de Joaquín El Chapo Guzmán Loera, confirma la
reunión que su jefe mantuvo hace tres meses con Ismael El Mayo Zambada. En el encuentro, el número dos del cártel del Pacífico le habría sugerido a Guzmán Loera retirarse y dar paso a las nuevas generaciones antes que "inicie una guerra civil dentro de nuestra organización. O les cedemos el control o ellos lo tomarán por su cuenta".
Documentos en poder de Excélsior señalan que Hoo Ramírez, el escolta con quien Guzmán Loera compartió sus últimos momentos en libertad, reveló que hace 90 días El Chapo Guzmán y El Mayo Zambada sostuvieron una reunión en la que se hablaron de frente, fuerte.
La declaración de Hoo Ramírez, también conocido como El Cóndor, coincide con el análisis de Roberto Saviano, el periodista y escritor italiano, quien el pasado 10 de marzo dijo en entrevista con Excélsior que "la mano de Ismael El Mayo Zambada está detrás de la caída de Joaquín El Chapo Guzmán".
Saviano fue incluso más allá al establecer una hipótesis que hoy cobra sentido. Desde su óptica: "O El Mayo entregó a El Chapo o no lo protegió más".
De acuerdo con la averiguación AP/PGR/SEIDO/UEIDCS, el "secretario" y escolta de El Chapo reveló que la reunión entre los dos principales líderes del cártel del Pacífico tuvo lugar en el rancho El Huinacatle, ubicado en Eldorado, municipio de Culiacán, Sinaloa, donde Guzmán Loera vivió los últimos tres años.
Según Hoo Ramírez, El Mayo y El Chapo no sólo son miembros del cártel del Pacífico, sino que están unidos por el compadrazgo.
En su declaración ministerial, fechada el 23 de febrero pasado, es decir, un día después de que el narcotraficante más buscado del mundo fue detenido en la torre de departamentos Miramar, de la ciudad de Mazatlán, Hoo Ramírez dio un dato revelador. Aseguró que "El Mayo Zambada aprovechaba las reuniones con Guzmán Loera para conversar con uno de los hombres cercanos a El Chapo: El Negro Bravo, otro exmilitar, y quien precisamente los recibió en Mazatlán tras la intensa persecución que las fuerzas federales emprendieron días antes en Culiacán contra el líder del cártel de Sinaloa.
El misterioso hombre de 1.80
En esta trama no pasa inadvertida la participación de un misterioso hombre de aproximadamente 1.80 metros de estatura.
Según el parte informativo de los marinos que participaron en la captura de Joaquín Guzmán Loera, el pasado 22 de febrero en el puerto de Mazatlán, Sinaloa, cuando circulaban en un vehículo oficial por la Avenida del Mar, precisamente por el edificio conocido como Torre Miramar, "nos hizo el alto con las manos una persona del sexo masculino, de aproximadamente 1.80 metros, de complexión delgada, quien vestía pantalón de mezclilla y una playera azul tipo polo".
Al detener el vehículo, el marino que viajaba como copiloto le preguntó qué se le ofrecía.
El misterioso hombre de 1.80, siempre según el parte informativo de los marinos ante las autoridades ministeriales, le respondió que minutos antes había ingresado a la torre de condominios "una persona armada y que estaba paseando en su interior".
Los marinos contaron que el hombre se encontraba asustado "por lo que nos pedía ayuda desesperadamente".
Según la indagatoria PGR/SEIDO/UEIDCS/077/2014 de la Subprocuraduría Especializada en Investigación de Delincuencia Organizada (SEIDO), los marinos que detuvieron a Guzmán Loera y a Hoo Ramírez, uno de sus "secretarios particulares" (el otro es Guillermo Rivera, El Chaneque), decidieron hacer una inspección debido a que tenían información obtenida de los aseguramientos que días antes ocurrieron en la ciudad de Culiacán, ahí, en la Avenida del Mar, número 608, entre las calles Río Elota y avenida Universidad, del Puerto de Mazatlán.
Presintieron que Joaquín Guzmán Loera podría estar ahí.
Los marinos, siguen su relato, "procedimos a ingresar a la Torre Miramar con el fin de descartar cualquier amenaza a los vecinos del condómino".
Recorrieron tres pisos sin encontrar a nadie, pero en el cuarto se toparon de frente con Carlos Manuel Hoo Ramírez, quien les habría apuntado con un arma larga antes de correr hacia el interior del departamento 401, donde finalmente arrojó el arma y se rindió.
Una vez desarmado y sometido les dijo que trabajaba para Joaquín Guzmán Loera, quien instantes después salió de otra habitación y fue detenido.
El Chapo se sentía seguro: Saviano
En la entrevista que Roberto Saviano concedió a Excélsior en Nueva York, el periodista y escritor italiano relató que tuvo acceso a una conversación que habrían sostenido Joaquín El Chapo Guzmán Loera e Ismael El Mayo Zambada.
Se trataría de una conversación en la que los dos principales líderes del cártel del Pacífico se hablaron como siempre, a la cara, pero de manera inusualmente dura.
La advertencia para El Chapo no dejó lugar a dudas. Al menos no para el autor de Gomorra y de Cero,Cero,Cero, su más reciente libro.
En el testimonio recogido por Saviano, El Mayo Zambada le pidió a El Chapo Guzmán Loera apartarse, lo que él mismo haría, para dejar paso a las nuevas generaciones.
"Si no lo hacemos, si no les cedemos el control, ellos lo tomarán por su cuenta y riesgo".
Y más. Le habría dicho: "Si no te vas habrá una guerra civil dentro de nuestra organización".
Saviano, quien se ha sumergido al bajo mundo de los cárteles de la droga mexicanos por sus vínculos con las organizaciones mafiosas de La Camorra y la 'Ndrangheta italianas, dijo que "en el caso de El Chapo me impactó mucho su arresto. No he podido descifrarlo del todo. ¿Fue traicionado? ¿Se entregó?", se preguntó.
"La declaración de El Mayo, de la que estuve enterado unos meses antes, me deja grandes dudas. ¿Por qué hizo esa declaración, por qué permitió que alguien más la escuchara?
"Prácticamente le dijo: 'O te vas o habrá una guerra civil dentro de nuestro grupo'".
Con los elementos reunidos durante sus investigaciones, Saviano sostuvo que "El Mayo tuvo responsabilidad en la captura de El Chapo.
"No sé si lo vendió, pero lo que es un hecho es que no lo protegió más. Lo dejó a su suerte".
Tampoco entendió que después de salir indemne en Culiacán, de una cacería feroz por parte de efectivos de la Marina mexicana y de los servicios de inteligencia estadunidense, que le pisaban los talones y que estuvieron a escasos ocho minutos de atraparlo, El Chapo haya optado por tomarse un respiro para visitar a su esposa y sus dos gemelitas en un edificio cualquiera de departamentos, frente al mar.
"Me resulta muy extraño que El Chapo Guzmán cometiera una imprudencia como la que cometió. Me da la impresión que se sentía seguro. Un jefe, un capo, un boss como El Chapo, sólo se siente seguro cuando le dan garantías sobre su seguridad".
—¿Lo entregaron o se dejó atrapar? —preguntó el enviado de Excélsior.
—Al principio pensé que se habría dejado atrapar, que sabía que era la única forma de mantenerse con vida, pero de verdad que me resulta extraño. Estoy seguro que vivió situaciones similares (a las de Culiacán e incluso a la de Mazatlán) y que siempre se salió con la suya. ¿Por qué esta vez no?
Saviano cree con firmeza que si El Chapo se hubiera entregado se arriesgaba a ser extraditado, que habría acabado sus días en alguna prisión de Estados Unidos.
Sí, que habría tenido, sin remedio, que capitular.
Entregar lo más valioso de su botín: la capacidad de mandar.
Su poder.
El poder.
Tres hipótesis
A partir de lo descrito por los marinos que capturaron al hasta entonces el narcotraficante más buscado del mundo, de lo contado en la declaración ministerial por Hoo Ramírez, el escolta y "secretario" de El Chapo Guzmán, y de la tesis del periodista y escritor italiano Roberto Saviano, puede llegarse a al menos tres hipótesis sobre el misterioso hombre que a las 06:40 horas del 22 de febrero pasado detuvo a una unidad oficial de la Marina Armada de México y condujo a la captura del líder del cártel de Sinaloa:
a) El hombre era un vecino de la Torre Miramar, que, asustado por encontrarse a un sujeto armado en el edificio, decidió salir en busca de ayuda y se topó con unos diligentes y eficaces elementos de la Marina Armada de México.
b) El hombre de 1:80 metros de estatura, de complexión delgada, era un agente encubierto del gobierno mexicano o del gobierno estadunidense.
c) El hombre, quien vestía pantalón de mezclilla, con una camisa azul tipo polo, era un enviado de Ismael El Mayo Zambada, quien habría entregado a su compadre en un riesgoso ajuste de cuentas.
A partir del testimonio, del parte informativo que rindieron los marinos mexicanos responsables de la captura de Joaquín Guzmán Loera no se conocen más detalles del misterioso hombre de 1.80 de altura.
Tampoco se sabe si solicitó o reclamó la recompensa de cinco millones de dólares y los 30 millones de pesos que los gobiernos de Estados Unidos y México ofrecían a quien diera información que llevara a la captura del hasta entonces narcotraficante más buscado del mundo.
Los movimientos de El Mayo
Hoo Ramírez señala en su declaración ministerial, ocurrida el 23 de febrero pasado, un día después de su captura, que El Mayo Zambada "se mueve del lado de El Salado y El Álamo, en las cercanías de Culiacán, aunque cerca de la sierra, y tiene avionetas para trasladarse". Reveló que uno de los pilotos de Zambada es conocido como El Niño o El Gordo. Y que El 20, quien fue detenido dos días antes que El Chapo Guzmán, en Culiacán, Sinaloa, era junto con El Ramoncito, miembro del equipo de seguridad de Zambada.
No sólo eso, el escolta y "secretario particular" de El Chapo dijo que derivado de la detención de su jefe "es posible que se suscite un enfrentamiento entre El Negro Bravo y Dámaso López, El Licenciado, pues entre ellos se acusarán de haber "puesto" a El Chapo.
Pero en esta intriga, adelanta Hoo Ramírez, "será Ismael El Mayo Zambada quien se encargue de resolver las cosas".
El Cóndor describe a El Mayo Zambada como "gordo, moreno claro, bigote negro y pelo negro pintados, ojos negros. Usa pantalones Levi's y playeras tipo polo. Usa sombrero más que gorra".
Forbes admite que catapultó a Guzmán
La revista Forbes admitió ayer que contribuyó a forjar la "leyenda negra" del narcotraficante Joaquín El Chapo Guzmán, por haberlo incluido en su famosa lista de los hombres más ricos del mundo.
El vicepresidente de Forbes Américas, Edward de Valle II, dijo que en su momento se evaluó la decisión por las críticas que generaría, pero el cúmulo de negocios en que participaba Guzmán y sus enormes ganancias orillaron a tomarlo en cuenta.
Formar parte del grupo de hombres con las mayores fortunas del mundo, junto a empresarios, inversionistas y prominentes ejecutivos de negocios lícitos "aumentó" la fama del narcotraficante, "pero esa no fue la intención", justificó.
El narcotraficante obtuvo importantes ganancias al frente de un grupo del crimen organizado, identificado como uno de los mayores proveedores de cocaína a EU.
Con una fortuna calculada en más de mil millones de dólares por la revista especializada en negocios, integró el listado anual de Forbes de los más poderosos del mundo de 2009 a 2012.
De Valle II consideró que al final, este tipo de exposición pública se convirtió en un "arma de doble filo", pues también concentró la atención en el cabecilla del crimen organizado y dificultó sus transacciones financieras.
La mayor atención recibida "complicó" la vida a Guzmán y los "negocios" de su grupo del crimen organizado transnacional y de alguna manera "presionó" el objetivo de la captura del capo, afirmó.
Socio del capo se declara culpable
El mexicano Tomás Arévalo Rentería, presunto socio del narcotraficante Joaquín El Chapo Guzmán, se declaró culpable ayer de distribuir grandes cantidades de cocaína y heroína en el área de Chicago para el cártel del Pacífico.
La Oficina del procurador federal para el Distrito Norte de Illinois informó que Arévalo Rentería se declaró culpable de un cargo de posesión de cocaína y heroína con intención de distribución.
El acusado, de 45 años, admitió ante el juez Rubén Castillo, de la Corte Federal del Distrito Norte de Illinois, que de 2005 a 2008 distribuyó más de 150 kilogramos de cocaína y 30 de heroína en el área de Chicago y otras partes de Estados Unidos.
La declaración ocurrió bajo el esquema conocido como "confesión ciega", sin establecer ningún acuerdo de sentencia con la fiscalía, por lo que podría enfrentar una pena de 10 años y hasta cadena perpetua.
Arévalo Rentería optó por declararse culpable dos semanas después de que su socio y coacusado Alfredo Vásquez Hernández, se retractara de hacer su propia admisión de culpa.
Diputados piden indagar a fondo
Las declaraciones ministeriales de Carlos Manuel Hoo Ramírez, "secretario particular" de El Chapo Guzmán, deben impulsar al Ejecutivo federal a ir al fondo de las investigaciones, advirtió el diputado Sergio Chávez Dávalos, integrante de la Comisión de Seguridad Pública en San Lázaro.
"El gobierno federal debe estar con la información de inteligencia, porque si esos enemigos, como él declara que tenía enemigos el mismo Joaquín Guzmán en la zona norte de Sonora y Sinaloa, pues esos grupos se pueden estar organizando para poder avanzar en sus negocios", señaló.
El legislador por Jalisco exhortó al gobierno federal para profundizar en las investigaciones para evitar la "apertura de la caja de Pandora", es decir, el eventual surgimiento de nuevas bandas delincuenciales.
"Debe venir el 'efecto escalera', deben estar operando sabemos los tres o cuatro cárteles que hay en todo el país, pero si hay también pequeños cárteles regionales que ahí debe de estar actuando la autoridad en la investigación para poder detener y desactivar esos pequeños cárteles que no se vuelva a hacer otra vez otro monstruos en nuestro país", sostuvo.
De igual manera, dijo el integrante de la Comisión de Seguridad en la Cámara de Diputados, el gobierno federal debe echar mano de todos sus sistemas y mecanismos de inteligencia para evitar nuevos enfrentamientos entre grupos de la delincuencia organizada, que puedan afectar además de la tranquilidad, la integridad física de la ciudadanía.
"Ahí debe de estar el gobierno para evitar que salgan esas notas y estar operando con eficiencia para que no vaya a haber enfrentamientos como se ha manejado en algunos otros carteles en algunas otras partes del país", concluyó.
fin
Note: Interesting story from Excelsior, one of Mexico's main newspapers. This will go on for a long time. Long read, mostly computer english
Chapo - Zambada confirm appointment , the meeting was in Culiacan
Ministerial statements Bodyguard Guzman, Carlos Manuel Ramirez Hoo , El Condor , agree with advance by Excelsior : the two top leaders of the Pacific cartel met three months ago to define the future of both the criminal group and
27/03/2014 10:57 Editor
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THE MEETING . The statement made " private secretary " Joaquin Guzman Loera says it met three months ago with Ismael El Mayo Zambada on a ranch near Culiacan , since both lords maintained a business relationship besides being compadres.
June 1
http://www.excelsior.com.mx/nacional/2014/03/27/950812
MEXICO CITY , March 27 - . Ministerial statement Hoo Carlos Manuel Ramirez, one of the two " private secretaries " Joaquin El Chapo Guzman Loera, confirms the
meeting his boss held three months ago with Ismael El Mayo Zambada . At the meeting, the number two in the Pacific cartel would have suggested Guzman Loera retire and make way for new generations before " start a civil war within our organization. Or we give them control or they will take it on their own . "
Documents held by Excelsior Hoo said Ramirez, Guzman Loera escort who shared his last moments released, revealed that 90 days El Chapo Guzman and El Mayo Zambada held a meeting where they talked Front stronger.
The statement Hoo Ramirez , also known as The Condor, match analysis Roberto Saviano, Italian journalist and writer , who on March 10 said in an interview with Excelsior that "the hand of Ismael El Mayo Zambada is behind the falling Joaquin El Chapo Guzman . "
Saviano went further to establish a hypothesis that makes sense today . From his perspective : "O El Mayo gave El Chapo or not protected him more."
According to the AP / PGR / SEIDO / UEIDCS investigation , the " secretary " El Chapo and escort revealed that the meeting between the two main leaders of the Pacific cartel took place at the ranch The Huinacatle located in Eldorado , municipality of Culiacán , Sinaloa, where Guzman Loera spent the last three years.
According Hoo Ramírez , El Mayo and El Chapo are not only members of the Pacific cartel , but are bound by cronyism .
In his ministerial statement, dated February 23 last , ie , a day after the world's most wanted drug trafficker was arrested in Miramar apartment tower , the city of Mazatlan, Ramirez gave Hoo is revealing . He said that " El Mayo Zambada he took advantage of the meeting with Guzman Loera to talk to one of the nearby El Chapo men : The Black Bravo , another ex-military , and who just received them in Mazatlan after intense persecution that federal forces undertook days ago in Culiacán against the leader of the Sinaloa cartel .
The mysterious man 1.80 meters tall.
In this plot does not go unnoticed involving a mysterious man of about 1.80 meters tall .
According to information from the sailors who participated in the capture of Joaquin Guzman Loera, on 22 February at the port of Mazatlan , Sinaloa, when circulated in an official vehicle along Avenida del Mar , precisely because the building known as Tower Miramar , " we did the high hands a person male , about 1.80 meters, of slim build , wearing blue jeans and a blue polo shirt ."
Upon stopping the vehicle, the ocean traveling as passenger asked him what he wanted .
The 1.80m mystery man , again according to the information of the seafarers to the ministerial authorities replied that minutes before had entered the condo tower " an armed person who was walking inside " .
Marine told that the man was afraid " so we asked for help desperately ."
According to the investigation PGR/SEIDO/UEIDCS/077/2014 of Attorney Specialized Investigation of Organized Crime ( SEIDO ) , seafarers and arrested Guzmán Loera Hoo Ramirez, one of their " private secretaries " (the other being William Rivera, the Chaneque ) , decided to do an inspection because they had information from assurances that occurred days ago in the city of Culiacan , there, in the Avenida del Mar, number 608, between River Street and University Avenue Elota , the Port of Mazatlan.
They sensed that Joaquin Guzman Loera could be there.
Marine , follow their story, " proceeded to enter the Miramar Tower in order to rule out any threat to the residents of the condominium ."
They walked three floors without meeting anyone , but in the fourth they came face to face with Carlos Manuel Ramirez Hoo , who have targeted them with a rifle before running into the 401 department , where he eventually threw the gun and surrendered.
Once disarmed and subjected said working for Joaquin Guzman Loera , who moments later went to another room and was arrested .
El Chapo felt safe : Saviano
In an interview granted to Roberto Saviano Excelsior in New York, the Italian journalist and writer reported that he had access to a conversation that would have sustained Joaquin El Chapo Guzman Loera and Ismael El Mayo Zambada .
It would be a conversation in which the two main leaders of the cartel Pacific spoke as always, in the face, but unusually hard way .
The warning to El Chapo left no room for doubt. At least not for the author of Gomorrah and Zero , Zero , Zero, his latest book .
In testimony collected by Saviano, El Mayo Zambada asked El Chapo Guzman Loera away , what he would do, to make way for new generations.
" If we do not, if we do not give them control , they will take it at your own risk."
And more . He would have said: " If you go there will be a civil war within our organization."
Saviano , who has plunged into the underworld of Mexican drug cartels for his links with mafia organizations of the Camorra and the ' Ndrangheta Italian , said that "in the case of El Chapo me much struck his arrest. I was unable to decipher it all. Was he betrayed? Is delivered ? " He asked .
" El Mayo 's statement , which was heard a few months ago , let me great doubts . Why did that statement , why let someone else hear it ?
" Practically said, ' Either you go or there will be a civil war within our group .'"
With the information obtained during its investigations , Saviano said " El Mayo took responsibility for the capture of El Chapo .
"I do not know if he sold it, but what is a fact that did not protect him more . He left to his fate. "
Nor understood that after leaving unscathed in Culiacan, a fierce hunting by members of the Mexican Navy and the services of U.S. intelligence , that his heels , who were the only eight minutes to catch , El Chapo has chosen to take a break to visit his wife and two twin daughters in any apartment building , facing the sea.
"I find it very strange that El Chapo Guzman committed an imprudence as he committed. I get the impression that he felt safe . A boss, a boss , a boss as El Chapo , only feels safe when given assurances about their safety. "
- Did you catch or left handed ? Asked the envoy Excelsior.
- At first I thought it would have been caught , I knew it was the only way to stay alive, but I find it really strange. I'm sure I lived similar situations ( to Culiacan and even Mazatlan ) and he always got his way . Why not this time ?
Saviano believes firmly that if Shorty had delivered risked being extradited , which would have ended his days in a U.S. prison .
Yes , I would have had no choice , but to capitulate .
Provide the most valuable of their spoils : the ability to send .
His power.
Power.
three hypotheses
Since described by captured seafarers until then the world's most wanted drug trafficker , what counted in the ministerial statement Hoo Ramirez guard and " secretary " El Chapo Guzman, and the thesis of journalist and writer Italian Roberto Saviano, can be reached at least three hypotheses about the mysterious man at 06:40 hours on 22 February last arrested an official unit of the Navy of Mexico and led to the capture of the leader of the Sinaloa cartel :
a) The man was a neighbor of Miramar Tower, which , be frightened by a gunman in the building, decided to go for help and ran into a diligent and effective elements of the Navy of Mexico .
b ) Man of 1:80 meters tall, of slim build , was an undercover Mexican government or the U.S. government agent.
c ) The man, who was wearing jeans, a blue polo shirt , was sent from Ismael El Mayo Zambada , who allegedly delivered to his friend in a risky reckoning.
From the testimony , the informative part Mexican marine who took charge of the capture of Joaquin Guzman Loera details of the mysterious man 1.80 tall are unknown.
It is not known if requested or demanded the reward of five million dollars and 30 million dollars to the governments of the United States and Mexico who offered to give information leading to the capture of the then world's most wanted drug trafficker .
The movements of El Mayo
Hoo Ramirez stated in its ministerial statement , which occurred on 23 February, a day after his arrest , El Mayo Zambada that "moves the side of El Salado and the Alamo, near Culiacán, though close to the mountains, and planes have to move . " He revealed that one of the pilots Zambada is known as El Niño or El Gordo. And 20 , who was arrested two days before El Chapo Guzman, in Culiacan, Sinaloa , was with The Ramon , a member of the security team Zambada .
Not only that, the escort and " private secretary " El Chapo said that due to the arrest of his boss "is possible for a confrontation between the Black and Damaso Lopez Bravo , The Bachelor is raised, for among them are accused of having" as " El Chapo .
But this intrigue, ahead Hoo Ramirez, " Ismael El Mayo Zambada will whoever is appointed to resolve things ."
The Condor El Mayo Zambada described as " big , light brown , black mustache and black painted hair , brown eyes . Use Levi's pants and polo shirts . Use only cap hat . "
Forbes admits that catapulted Guzman
Forbes admitted yesterday that helped forge the "black legend " of drug trafficker Joaquin El Chapo Guzman, by including him in his famous list of the richest men in the world .
The VP Americas Forbes , Edward de Valle II , said that once the decision would generate criticism was evaluated , but the cluster of participating businesses and their huge profits from Guzman to take into account.
Being part of the group of men with the largest fortunes in the world , along with entrepreneurs, investors and executives of prominent legal business " increased " the famous drug trafficker , " but that was not the intention ," he argued .
Drug trafficker scored significant gains in front of a group of organized crime, identified as one of the biggest suppliers of cocaine to the United States .
With a fortune estimated at over a billion dollars for the magazine business , he joined the Forbes annual list of the most powerful in the world from 2009 to 2012 .
De Valle II considered that in the end, this type of public exposure became a " double edged sword " because also focused attention on the leader of organized crime and financial transactions difficult .
Most care provided " complicated " life Guzman and " Business " from his group of transnational organized crime and somehow " pressed " in order to capture the bonnet, he said.
Become a capo pleads guilty
The Mexican Tomas Arevalo Renteria , an alleged member of the drug trafficker Joaquin El Chapo Guzman , pleaded guilty yesterday to distribute large quantities of cocaine and heroin in the Chicago area for the Pacific cartel .
The Office of the Federal Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois reported that Arévalo Renteria pleaded guilty to one count of possession of cocaine and heroin with intent to distribute .
The defendant, 45, admitted before Judge Ruben Castillo of the Federal Court for the Northern District of Illinois , which from 2005 to 2008 distributed more than 150 kilograms of cocaine and 30 heroin in Chicago and elsewhere in the United USA .
The statement came under the scheme known as "blind confession" without establishing any plea agreement with prosecutors , so could face a sentence of 10 years to life.
Arévalo Renteria chose to plead guilty to two weeks after his partner and co-defendant Alfredo Vasquez Hernandez , retracted his own admission of guilt.
Deputies ask thoroughly investigate
Ministerial statements Hoo Carlos Manuel Ramirez, " private secretary " El Chapo Guzman, should urge the federal executive to go to fund research , warned Rep. Sergio Chavez Davalos , a member of the Committee on Public Safety in San Lazaro .
" The federal government should be with the intelligence , because if those enemies , as he states that had the same enemies Joaquin Guzman in northern Sonora and Sinaloa , as these groups can be organized to advance their business " , he said.
The Jalisco lawmaker urged the federal government to further research to avoid " opening Pandora's box " , ie , the eventual emergence of new criminal gangs .
" It should come the ' staircase effect ' , we must be operating three or four cartels that exist all over the country, but there are also smaller regional cartels that there must be acting in the investigation authority to stop and disable those little cartels that do not return again another monsters in our country, " he said.
Similarly, said the member of the Safety Committee in the Chamber of Deputies, the federal government must draw on all their systems and intelligence mechanisms to prevent further clashes between organized crime groups , which may also affect the tranquility the physical integrity of citizens.
"That it should be the government to keep out those notes and be operating efficiently so that there will be no fighting has been handled in some other posters in some other parts of the country ," he said .
end
Confirman cita Chapo-Zambada; el encuentro fue en Culiacán
Las declaraciones ministeriales del escolta de Guzmán, Carlos Manuel Hoo Ramírez, El Cóndor, coinciden con lo adelantado por Excélsior: que los dos jefes máximos del cártel del Pacífico se reunieron hace tres meses para definir el futuro de ambos y del grupo criminal
COMPARTIR 27/03/2014 10:57 Redacción
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LA REUNIÓN. La declaración que hizo "el secretario particular" de Joaquín Guzmán Loera señala que éste se reunió hace tres meses con Ismael El Mayo Zambada en un rancho cercano a Culiacán, ya que ambos capos mantienen una relación de negocios además de ser compadres.
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http://www.excelsior.com.mx/nacional/2014/03/27/950812
CIUDAD DE MÉXICO, 27 de marzo.- La declaración ministerial de Carlos Manuel Hoo Ramírez, uno de los dos "secretarios particulares" de Joaquín El Chapo Guzmán Loera, confirma la
reunión que su jefe mantuvo hace tres meses con Ismael El Mayo Zambada. En el encuentro, el número dos del cártel del Pacífico le habría sugerido a Guzmán Loera retirarse y dar paso a las nuevas generaciones antes que "inicie una guerra civil dentro de nuestra organización. O les cedemos el control o ellos lo tomarán por su cuenta".
Documentos en poder de Excélsior señalan que Hoo Ramírez, el escolta con quien Guzmán Loera compartió sus últimos momentos en libertad, reveló que hace 90 días El Chapo Guzmán y El Mayo Zambada sostuvieron una reunión en la que se hablaron de frente, fuerte.
La declaración de Hoo Ramírez, también conocido como El Cóndor, coincide con el análisis de Roberto Saviano, el periodista y escritor italiano, quien el pasado 10 de marzo dijo en entrevista con Excélsior que "la mano de Ismael El Mayo Zambada está detrás de la caída de Joaquín El Chapo Guzmán".
Saviano fue incluso más allá al establecer una hipótesis que hoy cobra sentido. Desde su óptica: "O El Mayo entregó a El Chapo o no lo protegió más".
De acuerdo con la averiguación AP/PGR/SEIDO/UEIDCS, el "secretario" y escolta de El Chapo reveló que la reunión entre los dos principales líderes del cártel del Pacífico tuvo lugar en el rancho El Huinacatle, ubicado en Eldorado, municipio de Culiacán, Sinaloa, donde Guzmán Loera vivió los últimos tres años.
Según Hoo Ramírez, El Mayo y El Chapo no sólo son miembros del cártel del Pacífico, sino que están unidos por el compadrazgo.
En su declaración ministerial, fechada el 23 de febrero pasado, es decir, un día después de que el narcotraficante más buscado del mundo fue detenido en la torre de departamentos Miramar, de la ciudad de Mazatlán, Hoo Ramírez dio un dato revelador. Aseguró que "El Mayo Zambada aprovechaba las reuniones con Guzmán Loera para conversar con uno de los hombres cercanos a El Chapo: El Negro Bravo, otro exmilitar, y quien precisamente los recibió en Mazatlán tras la intensa persecución que las fuerzas federales emprendieron días antes en Culiacán contra el líder del cártel de Sinaloa.
El misterioso hombre de 1.80
En esta trama no pasa inadvertida la participación de un misterioso hombre de aproximadamente 1.80 metros de estatura.
Según el parte informativo de los marinos que participaron en la captura de Joaquín Guzmán Loera, el pasado 22 de febrero en el puerto de Mazatlán, Sinaloa, cuando circulaban en un vehículo oficial por la Avenida del Mar, precisamente por el edificio conocido como Torre Miramar, "nos hizo el alto con las manos una persona del sexo masculino, de aproximadamente 1.80 metros, de complexión delgada, quien vestía pantalón de mezclilla y una playera azul tipo polo".
Al detener el vehículo, el marino que viajaba como copiloto le preguntó qué se le ofrecía.
El misterioso hombre de 1.80, siempre según el parte informativo de los marinos ante las autoridades ministeriales, le respondió que minutos antes había ingresado a la torre de condominios "una persona armada y que estaba paseando en su interior".
Los marinos contaron que el hombre se encontraba asustado "por lo que nos pedía ayuda desesperadamente".
Según la indagatoria PGR/SEIDO/UEIDCS/077/2014 de la Subprocuraduría Especializada en Investigación de Delincuencia Organizada (SEIDO), los marinos que detuvieron a Guzmán Loera y a Hoo Ramírez, uno de sus "secretarios particulares" (el otro es Guillermo Rivera, El Chaneque), decidieron hacer una inspección debido a que tenían información obtenida de los aseguramientos que días antes ocurrieron en la ciudad de Culiacán, ahí, en la Avenida del Mar, número 608, entre las calles Río Elota y avenida Universidad, del Puerto de Mazatlán.
Presintieron que Joaquín Guzmán Loera podría estar ahí.
Los marinos, siguen su relato, "procedimos a ingresar a la Torre Miramar con el fin de descartar cualquier amenaza a los vecinos del condómino".
Recorrieron tres pisos sin encontrar a nadie, pero en el cuarto se toparon de frente con Carlos Manuel Hoo Ramírez, quien les habría apuntado con un arma larga antes de correr hacia el interior del departamento 401, donde finalmente arrojó el arma y se rindió.
Una vez desarmado y sometido les dijo que trabajaba para Joaquín Guzmán Loera, quien instantes después salió de otra habitación y fue detenido.
El Chapo se sentía seguro: Saviano
En la entrevista que Roberto Saviano concedió a Excélsior en Nueva York, el periodista y escritor italiano relató que tuvo acceso a una conversación que habrían sostenido Joaquín El Chapo Guzmán Loera e Ismael El Mayo Zambada.
Se trataría de una conversación en la que los dos principales líderes del cártel del Pacífico se hablaron como siempre, a la cara, pero de manera inusualmente dura.
La advertencia para El Chapo no dejó lugar a dudas. Al menos no para el autor de Gomorra y de Cero,Cero,Cero, su más reciente libro.
En el testimonio recogido por Saviano, El Mayo Zambada le pidió a El Chapo Guzmán Loera apartarse, lo que él mismo haría, para dejar paso a las nuevas generaciones.
"Si no lo hacemos, si no les cedemos el control, ellos lo tomarán por su cuenta y riesgo".
Y más. Le habría dicho: "Si no te vas habrá una guerra civil dentro de nuestra organización".
Saviano, quien se ha sumergido al bajo mundo de los cárteles de la droga mexicanos por sus vínculos con las organizaciones mafiosas de La Camorra y la 'Ndrangheta italianas, dijo que "en el caso de El Chapo me impactó mucho su arresto. No he podido descifrarlo del todo. ¿Fue traicionado? ¿Se entregó?", se preguntó.
"La declaración de El Mayo, de la que estuve enterado unos meses antes, me deja grandes dudas. ¿Por qué hizo esa declaración, por qué permitió que alguien más la escuchara?
"Prácticamente le dijo: 'O te vas o habrá una guerra civil dentro de nuestro grupo'".
Con los elementos reunidos durante sus investigaciones, Saviano sostuvo que "El Mayo tuvo responsabilidad en la captura de El Chapo.
"No sé si lo vendió, pero lo que es un hecho es que no lo protegió más. Lo dejó a su suerte".
Tampoco entendió que después de salir indemne en Culiacán, de una cacería feroz por parte de efectivos de la Marina mexicana y de los servicios de inteligencia estadunidense, que le pisaban los talones y que estuvieron a escasos ocho minutos de atraparlo, El Chapo haya optado por tomarse un respiro para visitar a su esposa y sus dos gemelitas en un edificio cualquiera de departamentos, frente al mar.
"Me resulta muy extraño que El Chapo Guzmán cometiera una imprudencia como la que cometió. Me da la impresión que se sentía seguro. Un jefe, un capo, un boss como El Chapo, sólo se siente seguro cuando le dan garantías sobre su seguridad".
—¿Lo entregaron o se dejó atrapar? —preguntó el enviado de Excélsior.
—Al principio pensé que se habría dejado atrapar, que sabía que era la única forma de mantenerse con vida, pero de verdad que me resulta extraño. Estoy seguro que vivió situaciones similares (a las de Culiacán e incluso a la de Mazatlán) y que siempre se salió con la suya. ¿Por qué esta vez no?
Saviano cree con firmeza que si El Chapo se hubiera entregado se arriesgaba a ser extraditado, que habría acabado sus días en alguna prisión de Estados Unidos.
Sí, que habría tenido, sin remedio, que capitular.
Entregar lo más valioso de su botín: la capacidad de mandar.
Su poder.
El poder.
Tres hipótesis
A partir de lo descrito por los marinos que capturaron al hasta entonces el narcotraficante más buscado del mundo, de lo contado en la declaración ministerial por Hoo Ramírez, el escolta y "secretario" de El Chapo Guzmán, y de la tesis del periodista y escritor italiano Roberto Saviano, puede llegarse a al menos tres hipótesis sobre el misterioso hombre que a las 06:40 horas del 22 de febrero pasado detuvo a una unidad oficial de la Marina Armada de México y condujo a la captura del líder del cártel de Sinaloa:
a) El hombre era un vecino de la Torre Miramar, que, asustado por encontrarse a un sujeto armado en el edificio, decidió salir en busca de ayuda y se topó con unos diligentes y eficaces elementos de la Marina Armada de México.
b) El hombre de 1:80 metros de estatura, de complexión delgada, era un agente encubierto del gobierno mexicano o del gobierno estadunidense.
c) El hombre, quien vestía pantalón de mezclilla, con una camisa azul tipo polo, era un enviado de Ismael El Mayo Zambada, quien habría entregado a su compadre en un riesgoso ajuste de cuentas.
A partir del testimonio, del parte informativo que rindieron los marinos mexicanos responsables de la captura de Joaquín Guzmán Loera no se conocen más detalles del misterioso hombre de 1.80 de altura.
Tampoco se sabe si solicitó o reclamó la recompensa de cinco millones de dólares y los 30 millones de pesos que los gobiernos de Estados Unidos y México ofrecían a quien diera información que llevara a la captura del hasta entonces narcotraficante más buscado del mundo.
Los movimientos de El Mayo
Hoo Ramírez señala en su declaración ministerial, ocurrida el 23 de febrero pasado, un día después de su captura, que El Mayo Zambada "se mueve del lado de El Salado y El Álamo, en las cercanías de Culiacán, aunque cerca de la sierra, y tiene avionetas para trasladarse". Reveló que uno de los pilotos de Zambada es conocido como El Niño o El Gordo. Y que El 20, quien fue detenido dos días antes que El Chapo Guzmán, en Culiacán, Sinaloa, era junto con El Ramoncito, miembro del equipo de seguridad de Zambada.
No sólo eso, el escolta y "secretario particular" de El Chapo dijo que derivado de la detención de su jefe "es posible que se suscite un enfrentamiento entre El Negro Bravo y Dámaso López, El Licenciado, pues entre ellos se acusarán de haber "puesto" a El Chapo.
Pero en esta intriga, adelanta Hoo Ramírez, "será Ismael El Mayo Zambada quien se encargue de resolver las cosas".
El Cóndor describe a El Mayo Zambada como "gordo, moreno claro, bigote negro y pelo negro pintados, ojos negros. Usa pantalones Levi's y playeras tipo polo. Usa sombrero más que gorra".
Forbes admite que catapultó a Guzmán
La revista Forbes admitió ayer que contribuyó a forjar la "leyenda negra" del narcotraficante Joaquín El Chapo Guzmán, por haberlo incluido en su famosa lista de los hombres más ricos del mundo.
El vicepresidente de Forbes Américas, Edward de Valle II, dijo que en su momento se evaluó la decisión por las críticas que generaría, pero el cúmulo de negocios en que participaba Guzmán y sus enormes ganancias orillaron a tomarlo en cuenta.
Formar parte del grupo de hombres con las mayores fortunas del mundo, junto a empresarios, inversionistas y prominentes ejecutivos de negocios lícitos "aumentó" la fama del narcotraficante, "pero esa no fue la intención", justificó.
El narcotraficante obtuvo importantes ganancias al frente de un grupo del crimen organizado, identificado como uno de los mayores proveedores de cocaína a EU.
Con una fortuna calculada en más de mil millones de dólares por la revista especializada en negocios, integró el listado anual de Forbes de los más poderosos del mundo de 2009 a 2012.
De Valle II consideró que al final, este tipo de exposición pública se convirtió en un "arma de doble filo", pues también concentró la atención en el cabecilla del crimen organizado y dificultó sus transacciones financieras.
La mayor atención recibida "complicó" la vida a Guzmán y los "negocios" de su grupo del crimen organizado transnacional y de alguna manera "presionó" el objetivo de la captura del capo, afirmó.
Socio del capo se declara culpable
El mexicano Tomás Arévalo Rentería, presunto socio del narcotraficante Joaquín El Chapo Guzmán, se declaró culpable ayer de distribuir grandes cantidades de cocaína y heroína en el área de Chicago para el cártel del Pacífico.
La Oficina del procurador federal para el Distrito Norte de Illinois informó que Arévalo Rentería se declaró culpable de un cargo de posesión de cocaína y heroína con intención de distribución.
El acusado, de 45 años, admitió ante el juez Rubén Castillo, de la Corte Federal del Distrito Norte de Illinois, que de 2005 a 2008 distribuyó más de 150 kilogramos de cocaína y 30 de heroína en el área de Chicago y otras partes de Estados Unidos.
La declaración ocurrió bajo el esquema conocido como "confesión ciega", sin establecer ningún acuerdo de sentencia con la fiscalía, por lo que podría enfrentar una pena de 10 años y hasta cadena perpetua.
Arévalo Rentería optó por declararse culpable dos semanas después de que su socio y coacusado Alfredo Vásquez Hernández, se retractara de hacer su propia admisión de culpa.
Diputados piden indagar a fondo
Las declaraciones ministeriales de Carlos Manuel Hoo Ramírez, "secretario particular" de El Chapo Guzmán, deben impulsar al Ejecutivo federal a ir al fondo de las investigaciones, advirtió el diputado Sergio Chávez Dávalos, integrante de la Comisión de Seguridad Pública en San Lázaro.
"El gobierno federal debe estar con la información de inteligencia, porque si esos enemigos, como él declara que tenía enemigos el mismo Joaquín Guzmán en la zona norte de Sonora y Sinaloa, pues esos grupos se pueden estar organizando para poder avanzar en sus negocios", señaló.
El legislador por Jalisco exhortó al gobierno federal para profundizar en las investigaciones para evitar la "apertura de la caja de Pandora", es decir, el eventual surgimiento de nuevas bandas delincuenciales.
"Debe venir el 'efecto escalera', deben estar operando sabemos los tres o cuatro cárteles que hay en todo el país, pero si hay también pequeños cárteles regionales que ahí debe de estar actuando la autoridad en la investigación para poder detener y desactivar esos pequeños cárteles que no se vuelva a hacer otra vez otro monstruos en nuestro país", sostuvo.
De igual manera, dijo el integrante de la Comisión de Seguridad en la Cámara de Diputados, el gobierno federal debe echar mano de todos sus sistemas y mecanismos de inteligencia para evitar nuevos enfrentamientos entre grupos de la delincuencia organizada, que puedan afectar además de la tranquilidad, la integridad física de la ciudadanía.
"Ahí debe de estar el gobierno para evitar que salgan esas notas y estar operando con eficiencia para que no vaya a haber enfrentamientos como se ha manejado en algunos otros carteles en algunas otras partes del país", concluyó.
fin
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