AZMEX UPDATE 15-2-13

AZMEX UPDATE 15 FEB 2013

Note: corruption featured

Feb 15, 12:08 PM EST
Former Customs officer convicted in pot smuggling
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/A/
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TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) -- Federal prosecutors say a former Customs and
Border Protection officer faces up to 40 years in prison after being
convicted of charges that he let marijuana be smuggled across the
border.

The U.S. Attorney's Office says former Douglas resident Luis Vasquez
was convicted Thursday by a U.S. District Court jury in Tucson.

He's to be sentenced April 29 on his convictions for conspiracy and
other charges.

According to prosecutors, trial evidence showed that Vasquez allowed
over 1,200 pounds of marijuana to cross into the United States from
Mexico at the Douglas port of entry.



DEA confirms Sinaloa cartel member killed in shootout with Juárez police
By Daniel Borunda \ El Paso Times
Posted: 02/14/2013 12:31:02 AM MST
http://www.elpasotimes.com/news/ci_22586393/sinaloa-cartel-member-
killed-shootout

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration has confirmed that a man
killed in a shootout with Juárez police last month was a reputed high-
ranking member of the Sinaloa drug cartel.
Jesus Rodrigo "Huichi" Fierro Ramirez was among 24 reputed Sinaloa
cartel members indicted last year by a grand jury in U.S. District
Court in El Paso.
Fierro, who was on the list of fugitives wanted by the DEA in El
Paso, was killed in shootout with Juárez police Jan. 24. He had been
sought on racketeering, drug and weapons conspiracy and criminal
enterprise charges.

The Juárez Police Department said in a news release that police were
responding to calls about shots fired when someone fired at police
from the second floor
of a two-story home in the 1000 block on Calle Estancia Santa Fe in
Las Estancias neighborhood.
During a 30-minute gunbattle, two police officers were wounded,
several police vehicles were hit by bullets, and a fire broke out in
the home.
Police eventually rushed the middle-class home and fatally shot a man
armed with a .45-caliber handgun.

Juárez police didn't identify the man killed, but some news outlets
reported the man was a high-level cartel member. A DEA official
confirmed that the man was Fierro.
Fierro, a former Chihuahua state police officer, was "a large scale
cocaine distributor in the Garduño cell who is known for his extreme
acts of violence," the indictment stated.
The indictment alleged that Fierro belonged to a cell of the Sinaloa
cartel run by Sergio Garduño Escobedo.
Garduño, according to the indictment, is a former Chihuahua state
police commander known as "Coma."
Before the Juárez-Sinaloa cartel war, he paid the Juárez cartel a tax
on behalf of the Sinaloa cartel to move drugs through Juárez.

The indictment stated that Fierro is the half brother of Arturo
Lozano Mendez, alias "Tigre" and "Lynx," a former Juárez police
officer who is accused of being Garduño's right-hand man and
allegedly manages Garduño's drug warehouses in Juárez.
Lozano and Garduño were also among those indicted last year in the
United States.



2 men accused of stealing drugs parallels Panama Unit case
Posted: Thursday, February 14, 2013
7:02 pm
Associated Press |
http://www.themonitor.com/news/local/article_53c7d1ac-770b-11e2-
a94d-001a4bcf6878.html

MCALLEN, Texas (AP) — Two South Texas men waived their detention
hearings and remained in federal custody Thursday for allegedly using
corrupt law enforcement officers to steal drugs from other drug
traffickers.
The bond hearings for Fernando Guerra Jr. and his father, Fernando
Guerra Sr., had been scheduled for Wednesday, the U.S. Attorney's
office said.
According to court documents filed in Guerra Sr.'s case, federal
agents were told by a confidential source in August 2012 that he
heads a drug trafficking organization that was known to steal drugs
from other traffickers with the help of corrupt law enforcement
officers.
In September, a confidential informant met with Guerra Sr. to discuss
how the theft would occur. Guerra Sr. would pose as someone who would
transport the drugs.
Guerra Sr. told the confidential informant that whoever was
responsible for delivering the cocaine him at the pre-determined
location would be stopped by corrupt police officers and arrested.
"According to Guerra Sr. and Fernando Guerra Jr., the driver would be
charged with only a portion of the narcotics and the rest would be
given to Guerra Sr. and Guerra Jr. by the corrupt law enforcement
officials," according to documents filed in the case. The elder
Guerra would then sell the stolen cocaine and give the confidential
informant 30 percent of the proceeds.
Attorneys for the Guerras did not immediately return calls Thursday.
Guerra Sr., who made his initial appearance in court Feb. 8, has been
charged with conspiring to possess with the intent to distribute more
than five kilograms of cocaine. The complaint against Guerra Jr.
remained sealed Thursday, but he was named in his father's complaint
and arrested on Feb. 7.
The use of corrupt police to steal drugs parallels another case
revealed in December involving a law enforcement task force called
the Panama Unit.
In that case, four law enforcement officers — two from the Mission
Police department and two Hidalgo County Sheriff's deputies — were
arrested and charged with drug conspiracies. They are awaiting trial.
Two were sons of the city of Hidalgo's police chief and the Hidalgo
County Sheriff.
The Panama Unit was formed several years ago as a joint task force to
combat street-level drug traffic in Mission. The sheriff's office
disbanded the group in January.
Federal prosecutors would not confirm Thursday that the corrupt
officers in the Guerras' cases were members of the Panama Unit.
However Al Alvarez, a lawyer representing one of the former Mission
police officers, said federal prosecutors surprised defense attorneys
at a hearing Thursday on the Panama Unit case by saying that they
planned to issue a superceding indictment March 1. He said he did not
know what those additional charges would be.
Documents filed as part of the Panama Unit case also reference a tip
to agents in August 2012 — the same month the tip came in the
Guerras' case — about two task force members stealing drugs. That tip
eventually led to a sting that snared the four Panama Unit members
for escorting cocaine loads.





Border-crosser dies in western S.C. County
Posted: Friday, February 15, 2013 8:01 am | Updated: 10:20 am, Fri
Feb 15, 2013.
By JB Miller For the Nogales International | 0 comments
http://www.nogalesinternational.com/news/border-crosser-dies-in-
western-s-c-county/article_998f26d4-7780-11e2-a8b4-0019bb2963f4.html

The dead body of a Mexican man was recovered this week by sheriff's
deputies near California Gulch in western Santa Cruz County.
On Tuesday, Santa Cruz County dispatch received a call from the U.S.
Border Patrol regarding a dead body near milepost 13 on State Route
289, between Peña Blanca Lake and Arivaca.

Gerardo Lopez Leon, 41, of Terrenate, Tlaxcala, Mexico had reportedly
been traveling with a larger group of undocumented migrants who had
crossed the U.S.-Mexico border last Saturday. He reportedly became
separated from the larger group, along with several other people.
"If you look at the terrain and the weather – it was pretty nasty,"
said Sheriff Antonio Estrada.
Border Patrol agents located the man's body at approximately 3:30
p.m. on Tuesday. They also encountered the man's two nephews and a
niece, who had stayed behind to care for him.
Estrada said the family members told investigators that their uncle
had pre-existing health conditions and been feeling ill for a couple
of days. "There was no sign of any foul play or trauma," Estrada said.
According to Sheriff's Office records, it was the third set of human
remains found so far this year in Santa Cruz County.
This story has been revised to reflect the following correction:
Citing initial reports from the Sheriff's Office, an article in the
Feb. 15 edition, "Border-crosser dies in western S.C. County,"
incorrectly reported the age of the man whose body was found near
California Gulch. A follow-up report from the sheriff's office
identified the man as Gerardo Lopez Leon, 41, of Terrenate, Tlaxcala,
Mexico.



Canjean 388 armas y 250 cartuchos en delegación Miguel Hidalgo
La SSPDF precisó que durante los días que se aplicó el desarme
voluntario, en total erogó 508 mil 350 pesos ($40kUSD) y
proporcionó 253 despensas
Notimex
15/02/2013 22:31
http://www.excelsior.com.mx/comunidad/2013/02/15/884554

RELACIONADAS
Recibe SSPDF más de 350 armas en cinco días por desarme voluntario
Miguel Hidalgo será la cuarta delegación con programa de desarme
CIUDAD DE MÉXICO, 15 de febrero.- Durante la aplicación del programa
"Por tu familia desarme voluntario", en la delegación Miguel Hidalgo
del 5 al 15 de febrero se recopilaron 388 armas y cuatro mil 250
cartuchos de diferentes calibres.

La Secretaría de Seguridad Pública del Distrito Federal (SSPDF)
informó que en la última jornada, en el punto de canje que se
estableció en el patio de la parroquia de San Miguel Arcángel, se
entregaron nueve armas cortas, tres largas y dos granadas.

A cambio de estas 14 armas personal de la dependencia entregó 23 mil
900 pesos y 12 despensas, mientras que autoridades de la demarcación
otorgaron siete bicicletas y la Secretaría de Desarrollo Social
capitalina cinco computadoras portátiles.

En un comunicado, la SSPDF precisó que durante los días que se aplicó
en esa demarcación el programa "Por tu familia", de desarme
voluntario, en total erogó 508 mil 350 pesos y proporcionó 253
despensas.

La dependencia reconoció la conducta de las personas que decidieron
canjear las armas que poseían en su hogar, ya que con ello evitan
accidentes por su falta de pericia al manejarlas o su utilización en
actos delictivos.