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HERMOSILLO, Sonora(PH)
De un año a otro, las denuncias recibidas por el Ejército Mexicano sobre gente armada o delitos contra la salud aumentaron en el País en más del 1000%, mientras que en Sonora se registraron 32 reportes.
Nada más en el 2007 en toda la República fueron 31, y el año pasado la cifra llegó a las 5 mil 734 llamadas de auxilio de la sociedad, revelan datos de la misma dependencia obtenidos a través de la Ley de Acceso a la Información.
En el Estado en el 2007 la Secretaría de la Defensa Nacional no registró ninguna denuncia ciudadana, pero en el 2008 fueron 32; fue una de las quince entidades con bajo registro.
Los estados con mayores denuncias en el 2008 fueron Sinaloa, Baja California, Chihuahua y Jalisco, los tres primeros que rodean a Sonora.
El que más llamadas tuvo el año pasado fue Sinaloa con mil 89 y el de menos porcentaje el DF con una sola acusación.
La segunda entidad que se encuentra en la lista es Baja California con 794 denuncias.
El pasado 9 de marzo la Sedena puso a disposición de los mexicanos el teléfono 01 800 8324771, para que participen en la campaña que iniciaron el año pasado.
También las armas
Desde el 2005 a la fecha, un 150% ha aumentado el decomiso de armas por parte del Ejército Mexicano en Sonora, destaca un informe de la Sedena.
En ese año fueron 12 mil 697 armas, entre largas y cortas, contra las 31 mil 895 que se decomisaron el año pasado.
Elementos del Ejército Mexicano durante un operativo en el Municipio de San Pedro Garza García, Nuevo León. La Sedena tiene registrado el incremento del número de denuncias por gente armada.
Nota Publicada: 27/03/2009 06:24
Monday, November 21, 2011
AZMEX Anapara arsenal 16-3-09
Mexican soldiers find abandoned arsenal in Anapra
By Diana Washington Valdez / El Paso Times
Posted: 03/16/2009 05:22:33 PM MDT
Mexican soldiers seized an arsenal that could equip a small army abandoned Saturday in Anapra, an extension of northwestern Juárez, across the border from West El Paso and Sunland Park, N.M.
Joint Chihuahua Operation officials said the cache included five sports utility vehicles reported stolen, three grenades, 29 weapons of different calibers, half a dozen gun magazines, nearly 10,000 rounds of ammunition and three different types of explosive devices.
They also seized military helmets, numerous military-style uniforms, holsters, radios, cell phone chargers, flashlights, gloves, binoculars and other accessories.
In addition to these items, they also found about 109 kilograms of marijuana in the SUV's worth about $275,000 on the streets.
Officials said the soldiers came across the unlocked parked vehicles during a routine patrol. They speculate the suspect or suspects may have fled after learning the army patrol was on its way through Anapra.
Details of seized items
Vehicles seized: make, model, plates, VIN:
Isuzo Trooper, gray, 1992, Colorado license plate 671-PAY, VIN: JACDH58V4P7904523, reported stolen.
Jeep, Grand Cherokee, gray, 2001, without plates VIN:1J4GW48521C7135661, reported stolen.
Ford, Expedition, white, 2000, without plates, VIN:1FMPU16L9YLB73354, reported stolen.
Chevrolet, Tahoe, black, 2005, Texas plates Y64-YRR, VIN: 1GNEC13T85R108045, reported stolen.
Jeep, Cherokee, gray, 2004, Texas plates GDF-282, VIN: 1J8GW68J54C278340, reported stolen.
Weapons seized: type, caliber, make, model serial number:
Rifle, .22, Remington 522, SN: 3048097.
Rifle, 22-250, Remington 788, SN: 6011666.
Carbine 7.62, without make name, 1903, SN: A2442.
Shotgun,12 gauge, Winchester Defender, SN: L1850425.
Assault weapon, 7.62x39, Norinco, without model, SN: 56S-151396.
Revolver, .38 caliber, special, make and model illegible, SN: 493365.
Rifle, .17 caliber, The Marlin Fire Arms 917V, SN: 9364809.
Carbine 9 mm caliber, Ruger Sturm, SN: 470-01088.
Assault weapon, 7.62X39, Iver-Johnson's, without model, SN: AA 1597.
Rifle, 30-30, Winchester 94, SN: 3781967.
Pistol, .380, Raikal, model illegible, SN: J044928.
Revolver, .22, Ruger Single-Six, SN: 261-67268.
Assault weapon, .223, Bushmaster XM15-E25, SN: BFI406376.
Rifle, 30-30, The Marlin Firearms 30-A, SN: 26047155.
Rifle, .22, The Marline Firearms 882L, SN: 98601918.
Revolver, .22, Western Six, without model, SN: K44236.
Pistol, .25, Titan, without model, SN: ED82215.
Pistol, .22, Jennings J-22, SN: 532785.
Assault weapon, .223, PWA Commando, SN: 25731.
Shotgun, 12 gauge, Browning 50, SN: 18019.
Assault weapon, 7.62X39, Norinco MAK-90 Sporter, SN: 9497310.
Revolver, .38 Special, Smith & Wesson 10-8, SN: AYS9943.
Pistol, .380, Grendel Inc. P10, serial number missing.
Carbine, 7.62, Oviedo, without model, SN: U1703.
Assault weapon, 7.62X39, Norinco, without model, SN:10188543.
Rifle, 30-30, The Marlin Fire Arms 336, SN: 19006922.
Assault weapon, 5.56 mm, Rel Tec - PLR-16, SN: P1R02.
Assault weapon, .308, J.L.D. Entreprises Inc. PTR-91, SN: S.N. A6547.
Pistol, .25, Raven P25, SN: 368681.
Source: Chihuahua Joint Operation
AZMEX Armas de Rancho Anapra 16-3-09
Ubican y decomisan droga y arsenal en Rancho Anapra
POR: ESEQUIEL GARCIA | 16-MAR-2009 12:41
Durante este fin de semana pasado, elementos activos de Ejército mexicano pertenecientes al 55/o batallón de Infantería, decomisaron cantidades cuantiosas de armas y droga en Rancho Anapra.
Las autoridades dieron a conocer mediante un comunicado de prensa los artículos decomisados:
1 Camioneta, Marca Isuzu, Línea Trooper, color gris, año 1992, placas de circulación 671-PAY del Estado de Colorado, numero de serie JACDH58V4P7904523 con reporte de robo
1 Camioneta Marca Jeep, Línea Grand Cherokee, color gris, año 2001, sin placas de circulación, numero de serie 1J4GW48521C7135661 con reporte de robo
1 Camioneta Marca Ford, Línea Expedition, color blanco, año 2000, sin placas de circulación, numero de serie 1FMPU16L9YLB73354 con reporte de robo
1 Camioneta Marca Chevrolet, Línea Tahoe, color negra, año 2005 placas de circulación Y64-YRR del estado de Texas, numero de serie 1GNEC13T85R108045 con reporte de robo
1 Camioneta Marca Jeep, Línea Cherokee, color gris, año 2004, placas de circulación GDF-282 del estado de TEXAS, USA, numero de serie 1J8GW68J54C278340 con reporte de robo
1 Rifle calibre .22, marca Remington, modelo 522, matricula 3048097
1 Rifle calibre 22-250, marca Remington, modelo 788, matricula 6011666
1 Carabina calibre 7.62, sin marca, modelo 1903, matricula A2442
1 Escopeta calibre 12, marca Winchester, modelo Defender, matricula L1850425
1 Fusil calibre 7.62x39, marca Norinco, sin modelo, matricula 56S-151396
1 Revolver calibre 38 Special, marca ilegible, sin modelo, matricula 493365
1 Rifle calibre .17, marca The Marlin Fire Arms, modelo 917V, matricula 9364809
1 Carabina calibre 9 mm, marca Ruger, modelo Storm, matricula 470-01088
1 Fusil calibre 7.62X39, marca Iver-Johnson's, sin modelo, matricula AA 1597
1 Rifle calibre 30-30, marca Winchester, modelo 94, matricula 3781967
1 Pistola calibre .380, marca Raikal, modelo ilegible, matricula J044928
1 Revolver calibre .22, marca Ruger, modelo Single-Six, matricula 261-67268
1 Fusil calibre .223, marca Bushmaster, modelo XM15-E25, matricula BFI406376
1 Rifle calibre 30-30, marca The Marlin Firearms, modelo 30-A, matricula 26047155
1 Rifle calibre .22, marca The Marlin Firearms, modelo 882L, matricula 98601918
1 Revolver calibre .22, marca Western Six, sin modelo, matricula K44236
1 Pistola calibre .25, marca Titán, sin modelo, matricula ED82215
1 Pistola calibre .22, marca Jennings, modelo J-22, matricula 532785
1 Fusil calibre .223, marca PWA, modelo Commando, matricula 25731
1 Escopeta calibre 12 GA, marca Browning, modelo 50, siglas 18019
1 Fusil calibre 7.62X39, marca Norinco, modelo MAK-90 Sporter, matricula 9497310
1 Revolver calibre 38 Special, marca Smit & Wesson, modelo 10-8, matricula AYS9943
1 Pistola calibre .380, marca Grendel Inc., modelo P10, sin matricula
1 Carabina calibre 7.62, marca Oviedo, sin modelo, matricula U1703
1 Fusil calibre 7.62X39, marca Norinco, sin modelo, matricula 10188543
1 Rifle calibre 30-30, marca The Marlin Firearms, modelo 336, matricula 19006922
1 Fusil calibre 5.56 mm, marca REL-TEC, modelo PLR-16, matricula P1R02
1 Fusil calibre .308, marca J.L.D. Enterprises Inc., modelo PTR-91, matricula S.N. A6547
1 Pistola calibre .25, marca Raven, modelo P25, matricula 368681
4 cargadores de disco para calibre 7.62 x 39 mm
53 cargadores para calibre 7.62 x 39 mm
1 cargador de doble disco para calibre .223
13 cargadores para calibre.223
3 cargadores para calibre .308
24 cargadores para pistola de diferentes calibres
6 mil 29 cartuchos útiles, calibre 7.62 X 39 mm
168 cartuchos útiles, calibre 7.62 X 25 mm
449 cartuchos útiles, calibre .223
78 cartuchos útiles, calibre .308
36 cartuchos útiles, calibre 12 GA
35 cartuchos útiles, calibre .38 Special
34 cartuchos útiles, calibre .38 Super
26 cartuchos útiles, calibre 9 mm
2 mil cartuchos útiles, calibre .22
65 cartuchos útiles, calibre .17
3 granadas de fragmentación
47 metros de mecha lenta
34 explosivos tipo salchicha Tovex
4 kilos 500 gramos de agente explosivo granulado
11 paquetes de diferentes tamaños, confeccionados con plástico transparente y cinta canela, conteniendo en su interior un vegetal de color verde y seco con las características propias de la Marihuana, arrojando un peso total de 108 kilos, 660 gramos aproximadamente
19 cascos keblar tácticos color negro
1 chaleco antibalas sin placas, color negro con la leyenda en letras blancas 'Policía'
2 chalecos antibalas sin placas, color azul
7 chalecos antibalas sin placas, color negro
2 chalecos antibalas camuflajeados sin placas
1 chaleco antibalas sin placas, color verde olivo
1 chaleco antibalas sin placas color azul
1 panel balístico camuflajeado
11 uniformes tipo militar camuflajeados de selva
1 uniforme tipo militar pixelado U.S.A.
4 uniformes tipo militar color negro
1 uniforme azul y en la camisola la leyenda 'AFI'
1 camisola azul con la leyenda 'AFI'
1 chamarra negra con la leyenda 'AFI'
15 pantalones tipo militar camuflajeados de selva
3 pantalones tipo militar color negro
3 pantalones tipo cazador camuflajeados
1 pantalón tipo militar color verde olivo
17 pares de botas tipo militar color negro
11 pasamontañas
12 fajillas color verde olivo
3 fajillas color negro
12 tirantes para fornitura color negro
2 pares de guantes de color negro
1 estuche camuflageado para rifle
1 estuche para rifle de plástico color negro, con la leyenda Doskosport
5 fundas para pistola color negro
7 fundas para esposas
4 fundas para lámpara con la leyenda AUTOTEC
1 porta navajas color negro
3 porta lámparas negros
2 gorras tipo cazador
1 gorra camuflajeada tipo selva
1 cartuchera de piel color negro
1 cartuchera de tela color verde olivo
2 portacargadores negro
1 binoculares
1 brújula con funda
2 radios Motorola
9 radios Kenwood
1 teléfono satelital marca Tandy
20 baterías para radio
14 cargadores para celular
11 adaptadores con eliminador de corriente para radio
7 bases con eliminador de corriente para radio
1 cable PTT
1 cinta de sujeción para vehículos
1 cámara fotográfica instantánea
2 lámparas de mano
1 bascula (romana)
1 burbuja color roja
1 kit automotriz para analizar computadoras de vehículos
1 par de guantes de carnaza color beige
En cifras monetarias se informo que, de la droga, se hubieran obtenido: 54 mil 330 dosis de marihuana, lo que representaría un total de 2 millones 716 mil 500 pesos, siendo a 50 pesos cada dosis obtenida.
Los zetas - Logan 11-3-09 ISN
11 Mar 2009
Los Zetas: Evolution of a Criminal Organization
From the original 31 members, the Mexican organized criminal faction Los Zetas has grown into an organization in its own right, operating separate from the Gulf Cartel and just as violent, Sam Logan writes for ISN Security Watch.
By Samuel Logan for ISN Security Watch
Between the first of the year and mid-March, 2009 the Mexican criminal organization most commonly known as "Los Zetas" has been busy. Members of this group have been linked to a death threat delivered to the president of Guatemala, a grenade thrown into a bar in Pharr, Texas, the death of a high-ranking military general in Cancun, and a fair share of the organized crime-related deaths registered this year in Mexico.
Many journalists and analysts who write about Los Zetas still refer to this group as the enforcement branch of the Gulf Cartel. This was a true description when the original 31 Special Forces soldiers abandoned the Mexican military to protect a young, upcoming leader of the Gulf Cartel, Osiel Cardenas Guillen. But today, the Zetas have evolved into a separate entity with its own agenda. And it doesn't take orders from the Gulf Cartel.
The original 31 "Zetas" saw to it that at least another 10 men were trained. Members of Los Zetas, along with Cardenas, bribed, threatened and cajoled local and state police to assist with that protection detail. In most areas where the Gulf Cartel operated, local and state police formed the outer rings of a four or five ring-deep security detail for Cardenas and other top leaders of the Gulf Cartel. The Zetas remained at the inner rings, providing close protection support, and acting on the wishes of Cardenas and their leader, Arturo Guzman Decenas, known as Z1, and the man for whom Los Zetas was named.
But that was in 2003, when the Mexican Defense Department separated out Los Zetas as the most formidable death squad to have worked for organized crime in Mexican history. At that time there were perhaps some 300 members of Los Zetas: 30 or so original military deserters and the men they trained. Across the landscape of Mexican organized crime, no one could compete. These men were intelligence specialists and experts with a number of different types of weapons and operational tactics.
In many ways, these men innovated paramilitary tactics in use by organized crime today. Many agree that these men raised the bar in the Mexican criminal underworld, forcing Cardenas' rivals to find former military soldiers of their own, just so they could compete.
Until Cardenas' extradition to the US, where he has awaited trial in Houston, Texas since January, 2007, members of Los Zetas guarded the Gulf Cartel's most important sections of turf, especially Nuevo Laredo, where in 2005, many observed the initial escalation of violence that has so many worried today.
But the dominance of Los Zetas couldn't last. Over time, many of the original 31 have been killed, and a number of younger, ambitious men have filled the vacuum, forming something that resembles what Los Zetas used to be, but still very far from the professionalism and efficient style of the original Zetas.
The term Los Zetas, some argue, has been turned into a brand name - a calling card used to control businessmen and politicians deemed useful to further the advances of either the Gulf Cartel, the new Zetas Organization, or even smaller groups who have capitalized on the name brand but have very little connection to the Gulf Cartel or the Zetas Organization.
Los Zetas vs the Zetas Organization
"Most of the original Zetas are gone, but the legacy of the Zetas still lives on," Jose Wall, Senior Special Agent with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives told ISN Security Watch. He added that the current version of the Zetas carries a "more brutal mindset" and apart from military and police deserters relies on a force of regular guys who have very little training with no future and no job to speak of.
Ralph Reyes, chief of Mexico and Central America division for Global Enforcement at the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), echoed Wall's sentiments. Reyes pointed out in a recent phone call that one of the factors that has always separated the Zetas from other armed criminal groups in Mexico is their willingness to engage in firefights.
That is partially why most of the original 31 Zetas are either in custody or dead. What followed in their wake is called the Zetas Organization by an intelligence officer in the US who focuses on Mexican organized crime and spoke with ISN Security Watch, but asked not to be named. The Zetas Organization, he agrees, is very powerful in its own right and beholden to none, not even the current leaders of the Gulf Cartel. Unlike Los Zetas of old, the Zetas Organization operates more like a network comprised of isolated cells that all maintain control over a certain slice of turf between the US/Mexico border from El Paso east, moving south along Mexico's eastern coast, south through Veracruz, and east through Tabasco, and into the Yucatan peninsula.
"Back in the PRI days, the rule of the game was different," Dr George Grayson, a Latin American politics professor at The College of William and Mary in Virginia, US and a senior associate at the Washington-based think tank Center for Strategic and International Studies, told ISN Security Watch. "Now the members of the Zetas are young and mean, and they don't take orders from anyone."
The men and women who form part of this network likely number in the thousands. They operate a range of illicit businesses from the regular extortion of street vendors to charging other groups for passage through their territory, to gun and drug smuggling, human smuggling, kidnapping for ransom, money laundering and the operation of a vast network of illegal businesses.
Surrounding this organization is a larger than life myth, a sort of Zeta brand name that some criminals use just to scare their targets, explains Howard Campbell, professor of anthropology at the University of Texas at El Paso.
"The Zetas have become something of a myth like Poncho Villa," Campbell said, adding, "their origins are obscure, and no one knows how many there are."
The Zetas' Intelligence Networks
Part of what made Cardenas so powerful as an organized crime boss was his ability to smooth talk people into working for him. Like everyone else in his line of work, he didn't hesitate to offer bribes, but unlike others, he was able to maintain a very well organized network of individuals who serviced him and his Zetas with a constant flow of information.
For a while, the Zetas were considered the best-informed paramilitary force in Mexico. But once Cardenas left Mexico to face justice in Houston, he took with him the connections to a large number of individuals who spoke only to him, successfully ripping out a large section of the Gulf Cartel's tightly woven intelligence network.
"Osiel's extradition broke up networks, and the Zetas now intimidate rather than bribe," Bruce Bagley, chairman of the Department of International Studies at the University of Miami told ISN Security Watch.
One of the original Zetas, Heriberto Lazcano, aka "El Lazca," and Cardenas' brother, Ezequiel Cardenas Guillen, aka "Tony Tormenta," took over control of the Gulf Cartel in January 2007, and have been able to keep the organization together until today, according to Ricardo Ravelo, a Mexican journalist who has closely followed Mexican organized crime for Mexican news weekly Proceso.
Yet they have not been able to rein in the growing network and name that grew out of the time when Los Zetas were the most feared death squad in Mexico.
The Gulf Cartel still maintains a robust intelligence network across Mexico and deep into the US, especially in Houston and Dallas, and in cities located across the southeast and well into the mid-Atlantic and northeast, but it does not compete with the networks maintained by the old guard of drug traffickers, and Cardenas' rivals like "El Chapo" Guzman who has kept his decades' old networks in play.
Today, the Gulf Cartel relies more on intelligence gathered from a broad group of less sophisticated sources, argues Grayson. "Street vendors buy from the Zetas or they are killed," Grayson explained in a recent phone call with ISN Security Watch.
"They operate a very well developed grass roots network," he added, echoing a 31 December article published by Mexican daily El Universal. Entitled, "Inside Los Zetas," the article explained how small-time shop owners, men who stand on highway overpasses, and a regularly updated list of local and state politicians and police officers all serve as look outs and informants for the Zetas Organization.
Grayson also explained that the Zetas are not as focused on high-level, federal politicians, preferring to keep close ties with local and state officials. "If they do go after a high-level politician, it's only to make sure they control him when he comes back to the state level to become governor or something similar," Grayson said.
Crossing the Border
Nevertheless, the Zetas Organization remains a formidable criminal faction, operating both in Mexico and, to an extent, inside the US. Rumors of training camps continue to circulate, and there is proof that this organization knows how to amass weaponry. In November 2008, Mexican military soldiers seized from a Gulf Cartel safe house in the Mexican border state of Tamaulipas the largest cache of weapons ever discovered in Mexican history: over 500 firearms, including .50 caliber Barrett sniper rifles, rocket and grenade launchers, assault rifles and over a half-million rounds of ammunition.
At the time of the discovery, many analysts in the US considered the cache as a bold statement of what the Gulf Cartel intends to do. Some headlines even read that the Zetas "prepared for war."
Speculation about highly trained members of Los Zetas crossing the US border to hunt down and kill civilian targets seemed to be confirmed when a group of men dressed like a Phoenix police SWAT team entered a house and killed a Jamaican drug trafficker in June 2008.
Police in Birmingham, Alabama, who responded to a multiple homicide in a suburban apartment complex in August 2008, suspected Zeta involvement in the death of a number of Mexican men, found with their throats cut. Money and drugs in the apartment were not disturbed. Police in Georgia suspected Zeta involvement when they discovered that a man had been bound and tortured in the basement of a house near Atlanta.
Yet in none of these cases have authorities publically confirmed that members of the original Zetas carried out these hits, often referred to as "account adjustments" in Mexico. While it remains unlikely that Mexican members of the Zetas Organization cross the border to maim and kill rivals, there is strong evidence that connects Mexican organized crime with a robust and widespread prison gang population in both California and Texas.
The Barrio Azteca and Texas Syndicate prison gangs are most likely the Zeta operatives inside the US. There may also be some links to the Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13), as well as other, smaller groups. Yet these groups are contractors, hired for one job, maybe two, explained the intelligence officer. But there is little to no evidence to suggest that these groups operate on some sort of retainer, or use the Zeta name to spread fear inside the US.
Back in Mexico, however, the Zeta Organization has become more and more of a headache, both for the Mexican government and for the organizations' rivals.
During a conference call on 6 March with journalists, US Senator John Cornyn said that the Gulf and the Sinaloa drug trafficking organizations - including, presumably the Zetas Organization - could together muster an army of some 100,000 guns. Compared to the 130,000 troops within Mexico's regular army, it appears that Mexican organized crime is powerful enough to topple a nation, but Campbell, speaking to the cyclic nature of Mexican organized crime warned against making such assumptions.
"There's a system of cartel infiltration in the government for its own benefit, and this system has been going on for 50 years," Campbell said.
"This short term, sensationalistic treatment [of Mexican drug trafficking organizations] is not going to ruin the US or overthrow the Mexican government."
Samuel Logan is an investigative journalist and author of This is for the Mara Salvatrucha: Inside the MS-13, America's Most Violent Gang, forthcoming from Hyperion in summer 2009. He is the Editor of Southern Pulse | Networked Intelligence, and has reported on security, energy, politics, economics, organized crime, terrorism and black markets in Latin America since 1999. He is a senior writer for ISN Security Watch.
Los Zetas: Evolution of a Criminal Organization
From the original 31 members, the Mexican organized criminal faction Los Zetas has grown into an organization in its own right, operating separate from the Gulf Cartel and just as violent, Sam Logan writes for ISN Security Watch.
By Samuel Logan for ISN Security Watch
Between the first of the year and mid-March, 2009 the Mexican criminal organization most commonly known as "Los Zetas" has been busy. Members of this group have been linked to a death threat delivered to the president of Guatemala, a grenade thrown into a bar in Pharr, Texas, the death of a high-ranking military general in Cancun, and a fair share of the organized crime-related deaths registered this year in Mexico.
Many journalists and analysts who write about Los Zetas still refer to this group as the enforcement branch of the Gulf Cartel. This was a true description when the original 31 Special Forces soldiers abandoned the Mexican military to protect a young, upcoming leader of the Gulf Cartel, Osiel Cardenas Guillen. But today, the Zetas have evolved into a separate entity with its own agenda. And it doesn't take orders from the Gulf Cartel.
The original 31 "Zetas" saw to it that at least another 10 men were trained. Members of Los Zetas, along with Cardenas, bribed, threatened and cajoled local and state police to assist with that protection detail. In most areas where the Gulf Cartel operated, local and state police formed the outer rings of a four or five ring-deep security detail for Cardenas and other top leaders of the Gulf Cartel. The Zetas remained at the inner rings, providing close protection support, and acting on the wishes of Cardenas and their leader, Arturo Guzman Decenas, known as Z1, and the man for whom Los Zetas was named.
But that was in 2003, when the Mexican Defense Department separated out Los Zetas as the most formidable death squad to have worked for organized crime in Mexican history. At that time there were perhaps some 300 members of Los Zetas: 30 or so original military deserters and the men they trained. Across the landscape of Mexican organized crime, no one could compete. These men were intelligence specialists and experts with a number of different types of weapons and operational tactics.
In many ways, these men innovated paramilitary tactics in use by organized crime today. Many agree that these men raised the bar in the Mexican criminal underworld, forcing Cardenas' rivals to find former military soldiers of their own, just so they could compete.
Until Cardenas' extradition to the US, where he has awaited trial in Houston, Texas since January, 2007, members of Los Zetas guarded the Gulf Cartel's most important sections of turf, especially Nuevo Laredo, where in 2005, many observed the initial escalation of violence that has so many worried today.
But the dominance of Los Zetas couldn't last. Over time, many of the original 31 have been killed, and a number of younger, ambitious men have filled the vacuum, forming something that resembles what Los Zetas used to be, but still very far from the professionalism and efficient style of the original Zetas.
The term Los Zetas, some argue, has been turned into a brand name - a calling card used to control businessmen and politicians deemed useful to further the advances of either the Gulf Cartel, the new Zetas Organization, or even smaller groups who have capitalized on the name brand but have very little connection to the Gulf Cartel or the Zetas Organization.
Los Zetas vs the Zetas Organization
"Most of the original Zetas are gone, but the legacy of the Zetas still lives on," Jose Wall, Senior Special Agent with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives told ISN Security Watch. He added that the current version of the Zetas carries a "more brutal mindset" and apart from military and police deserters relies on a force of regular guys who have very little training with no future and no job to speak of.
Ralph Reyes, chief of Mexico and Central America division for Global Enforcement at the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), echoed Wall's sentiments. Reyes pointed out in a recent phone call that one of the factors that has always separated the Zetas from other armed criminal groups in Mexico is their willingness to engage in firefights.
That is partially why most of the original 31 Zetas are either in custody or dead. What followed in their wake is called the Zetas Organization by an intelligence officer in the US who focuses on Mexican organized crime and spoke with ISN Security Watch, but asked not to be named. The Zetas Organization, he agrees, is very powerful in its own right and beholden to none, not even the current leaders of the Gulf Cartel. Unlike Los Zetas of old, the Zetas Organization operates more like a network comprised of isolated cells that all maintain control over a certain slice of turf between the US/Mexico border from El Paso east, moving south along Mexico's eastern coast, south through Veracruz, and east through Tabasco, and into the Yucatan peninsula.
"Back in the PRI days, the rule of the game was different," Dr George Grayson, a Latin American politics professor at The College of William and Mary in Virginia, US and a senior associate at the Washington-based think tank Center for Strategic and International Studies, told ISN Security Watch. "Now the members of the Zetas are young and mean, and they don't take orders from anyone."
The men and women who form part of this network likely number in the thousands. They operate a range of illicit businesses from the regular extortion of street vendors to charging other groups for passage through their territory, to gun and drug smuggling, human smuggling, kidnapping for ransom, money laundering and the operation of a vast network of illegal businesses.
Surrounding this organization is a larger than life myth, a sort of Zeta brand name that some criminals use just to scare their targets, explains Howard Campbell, professor of anthropology at the University of Texas at El Paso.
"The Zetas have become something of a myth like Poncho Villa," Campbell said, adding, "their origins are obscure, and no one knows how many there are."
The Zetas' Intelligence Networks
Part of what made Cardenas so powerful as an organized crime boss was his ability to smooth talk people into working for him. Like everyone else in his line of work, he didn't hesitate to offer bribes, but unlike others, he was able to maintain a very well organized network of individuals who serviced him and his Zetas with a constant flow of information.
For a while, the Zetas were considered the best-informed paramilitary force in Mexico. But once Cardenas left Mexico to face justice in Houston, he took with him the connections to a large number of individuals who spoke only to him, successfully ripping out a large section of the Gulf Cartel's tightly woven intelligence network.
"Osiel's extradition broke up networks, and the Zetas now intimidate rather than bribe," Bruce Bagley, chairman of the Department of International Studies at the University of Miami told ISN Security Watch.
One of the original Zetas, Heriberto Lazcano, aka "El Lazca," and Cardenas' brother, Ezequiel Cardenas Guillen, aka "Tony Tormenta," took over control of the Gulf Cartel in January 2007, and have been able to keep the organization together until today, according to Ricardo Ravelo, a Mexican journalist who has closely followed Mexican organized crime for Mexican news weekly Proceso.
Yet they have not been able to rein in the growing network and name that grew out of the time when Los Zetas were the most feared death squad in Mexico.
The Gulf Cartel still maintains a robust intelligence network across Mexico and deep into the US, especially in Houston and Dallas, and in cities located across the southeast and well into the mid-Atlantic and northeast, but it does not compete with the networks maintained by the old guard of drug traffickers, and Cardenas' rivals like "El Chapo" Guzman who has kept his decades' old networks in play.
Today, the Gulf Cartel relies more on intelligence gathered from a broad group of less sophisticated sources, argues Grayson. "Street vendors buy from the Zetas or they are killed," Grayson explained in a recent phone call with ISN Security Watch.
"They operate a very well developed grass roots network," he added, echoing a 31 December article published by Mexican daily El Universal. Entitled, "Inside Los Zetas," the article explained how small-time shop owners, men who stand on highway overpasses, and a regularly updated list of local and state politicians and police officers all serve as look outs and informants for the Zetas Organization.
Grayson also explained that the Zetas are not as focused on high-level, federal politicians, preferring to keep close ties with local and state officials. "If they do go after a high-level politician, it's only to make sure they control him when he comes back to the state level to become governor or something similar," Grayson said.
Crossing the Border
Nevertheless, the Zetas Organization remains a formidable criminal faction, operating both in Mexico and, to an extent, inside the US. Rumors of training camps continue to circulate, and there is proof that this organization knows how to amass weaponry. In November 2008, Mexican military soldiers seized from a Gulf Cartel safe house in the Mexican border state of Tamaulipas the largest cache of weapons ever discovered in Mexican history: over 500 firearms, including .50 caliber Barrett sniper rifles, rocket and grenade launchers, assault rifles and over a half-million rounds of ammunition.
At the time of the discovery, many analysts in the US considered the cache as a bold statement of what the Gulf Cartel intends to do. Some headlines even read that the Zetas "prepared for war."
Speculation about highly trained members of Los Zetas crossing the US border to hunt down and kill civilian targets seemed to be confirmed when a group of men dressed like a Phoenix police SWAT team entered a house and killed a Jamaican drug trafficker in June 2008.
Police in Birmingham, Alabama, who responded to a multiple homicide in a suburban apartment complex in August 2008, suspected Zeta involvement in the death of a number of Mexican men, found with their throats cut. Money and drugs in the apartment were not disturbed. Police in Georgia suspected Zeta involvement when they discovered that a man had been bound and tortured in the basement of a house near Atlanta.
Yet in none of these cases have authorities publically confirmed that members of the original Zetas carried out these hits, often referred to as "account adjustments" in Mexico. While it remains unlikely that Mexican members of the Zetas Organization cross the border to maim and kill rivals, there is strong evidence that connects Mexican organized crime with a robust and widespread prison gang population in both California and Texas.
The Barrio Azteca and Texas Syndicate prison gangs are most likely the Zeta operatives inside the US. There may also be some links to the Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13), as well as other, smaller groups. Yet these groups are contractors, hired for one job, maybe two, explained the intelligence officer. But there is little to no evidence to suggest that these groups operate on some sort of retainer, or use the Zeta name to spread fear inside the US.
Back in Mexico, however, the Zeta Organization has become more and more of a headache, both for the Mexican government and for the organizations' rivals.
During a conference call on 6 March with journalists, US Senator John Cornyn said that the Gulf and the Sinaloa drug trafficking organizations - including, presumably the Zetas Organization - could together muster an army of some 100,000 guns. Compared to the 130,000 troops within Mexico's regular army, it appears that Mexican organized crime is powerful enough to topple a nation, but Campbell, speaking to the cyclic nature of Mexican organized crime warned against making such assumptions.
"There's a system of cartel infiltration in the government for its own benefit, and this system has been going on for 50 years," Campbell said.
"This short term, sensationalistic treatment [of Mexican drug trafficking organizations] is not going to ruin the US or overthrow the Mexican government."
Samuel Logan is an investigative journalist and author of This is for the Mara Salvatrucha: Inside the MS-13, America's Most Violent Gang, forthcoming from Hyperion in summer 2009. He is the Editor of Southern Pulse | Networked Intelligence, and has reported on security, energy, politics, economics, organized crime, terrorism and black markets in Latin America since 1999. He is a senior writer for ISN Security Watch.
AZMEX VEN drug exports 6-3-09
Spanish seize huge cocaine haul
Five Venezuelan crew members were arrested when the ship was held
A Venezuelan fishing boat has been seized near the Canary Islands with five tonnes of cocaine on board, Spanish customs officials have said.
The drug shipment is thought to have a street value of 250m euros (£221m). Five Venezuelan crew members were held.
Officials boarded the Dona Fortuna about 780 nautical miles (1,444 km) north-east of the islands on Thursday.
Spanish police also impounded a speedboat on the country's north coast on suspicion it was involved.
Drugs report
The high-speed boat, which was loaded with gasoline, was intercepted near a village on the sparsely-populated coast of Galicia, a favoured entry point for cocaine smugglers bringing the drug into Europe.
Customs officials believed the boat was about to rendezvous with the Dona Fortuna.
The seizure came as the US released a report warning that drug trafficking posed a significant threat to US national security.
It said as many as 6,000 people had died in drug violence last year - and that more than 1,000 had already died in 2009.
It also said the amount of cocaine trafficked by Venezuelan cartels had jumped fivefold between 2002 and 2007.
Five Venezuelan crew members were arrested when the ship was held
A Venezuelan fishing boat has been seized near the Canary Islands with five tonnes of cocaine on board, Spanish customs officials have said.
The drug shipment is thought to have a street value of 250m euros (£221m). Five Venezuelan crew members were held.
Officials boarded the Dona Fortuna about 780 nautical miles (1,444 km) north-east of the islands on Thursday.
Spanish police also impounded a speedboat on the country's north coast on suspicion it was involved.
Drugs report
The high-speed boat, which was loaded with gasoline, was intercepted near a village on the sparsely-populated coast of Galicia, a favoured entry point for cocaine smugglers bringing the drug into Europe.
Customs officials believed the boat was about to rendezvous with the Dona Fortuna.
The seizure came as the US released a report warning that drug trafficking posed a significant threat to US national security.
It said as many as 6,000 people had died in drug violence last year - and that more than 1,000 had already died in 2009.
It also said the amount of cocaine trafficked by Venezuelan cartels had jumped fivefold between 2002 and 2007.
AZMEX US Aid 1-3-09
US marshals give $10K in goods to help Mexican cops
By Brady McCombs
ARIZONA DAILY STAR
Tucson, Arizona | Published: 03.01.2009
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The U.S. Marshals Service on Wednesday handed over $10,000 worth of new police equipment to Mexican police.
The marshals in Arizona obtained the equipment — which included bulletproof vests, boots, handcuffs, uniforms, flashlights, gear bags and gloves — through a U.S. State Department grant program that sets aside money to help agencies that work along the border, said Luis Noriega, the Mexico investigative liaison for the U.S. Marshals Service in Arizona.
The recipients of the donation, the Sonoran investigative police (known in Mexico as Policia Estatal Investigadora, or PEI) and Mexico's Immigration Institute (known in Mexico as Instituto Nacional de Migración, or INM), work closely with the Marshals to find fugitives in Mexico.
The grant application came in part due to the escalating drug-cartel fueled violence that Mexican police are battling but also due to their cooperation over the years, Noriega said.
"This is our way to say thank you," Noriega said.
The donation was delivered Wednesday at the Evo A. DeConcini Courthouse in Tucson.
The equipment will allow officers, especially those making checks on buses and trains, to work more efficiently, said Alejandro Salas Dominguez, an official with Mexico's Immigration Institute in Sonora.
"They are of excellent quality," Salas said in Spanish.
Both immigration and the Sonoran investigative police will give the equipment to officers working close to the U.S-Mexico border. For the investigative police, that means the officers investigating the drug-cartel- related killings will be the beneficiary, said Manuel Angel Barrios Macario, the director of the Sonoran investigative police.
"It is a really big help," Barrios said in Spanish.
Contact reporter Brady McCombs at 573-4213 or bmccombs@azstarne
By Brady McCombs
ARIZONA DAILY STAR
Tucson, Arizona | Published: 03.01.2009
advertisement
The U.S. Marshals Service on Wednesday handed over $10,000 worth of new police equipment to Mexican police.
The marshals in Arizona obtained the equipment — which included bulletproof vests, boots, handcuffs, uniforms, flashlights, gear bags and gloves — through a U.S. State Department grant program that sets aside money to help agencies that work along the border, said Luis Noriega, the Mexico investigative liaison for the U.S. Marshals Service in Arizona.
The recipients of the donation, the Sonoran investigative police (known in Mexico as Policia Estatal Investigadora, or PEI) and Mexico's Immigration Institute (known in Mexico as Instituto Nacional de Migración, or INM), work closely with the Marshals to find fugitives in Mexico.
The grant application came in part due to the escalating drug-cartel fueled violence that Mexican police are battling but also due to their cooperation over the years, Noriega said.
"This is our way to say thank you," Noriega said.
The donation was delivered Wednesday at the Evo A. DeConcini Courthouse in Tucson.
The equipment will allow officers, especially those making checks on buses and trains, to work more efficiently, said Alejandro Salas Dominguez, an official with Mexico's Immigration Institute in Sonora.
"They are of excellent quality," Salas said in Spanish.
Both immigration and the Sonoran investigative police will give the equipment to officers working close to the U.S-Mexico border. For the investigative police, that means the officers investigating the drug-cartel- related killings will be the beneficiary, said Manuel Angel Barrios Macario, the director of the Sonoran investigative police.
"It is a really big help," Barrios said in Spanish.
Contact reporter Brady McCombs at 573-4213 or bmccombs@azstarne
AZMEX El Paso Haven 1-3-09
El Paso is safer haven for Juarenses fleeing killings
By Diana Washington Valdez / El Paso Times
Posted: 03/01/2009 12:00:00 AM MST
More on the violence in Juárez
EL PASO -- Being shot at in two attacks meant for others in less than a year persuaded an American executive to quit his Juárez maquiladora job.
Other incidents targeting fellow workers further compounded the terrifying experiences: bodies left outside the company, an attempted carjacking and two robberies at gunpoint.
"The first time I was caught in crossfire was on Gomez Morin, a major thoroughfare in Juárez. I heard gunshots, saw a car with bullet holes and people running, and I just kept on driving," said the former executive who asked not to be identified for safety reasons. "Things only got worse after that. There were military everywhere. Another time, we couldn't get back home because protesters had blocked the international bridges. It got to the point where it just wasn't worth it anymore. I decided my family and my life were more important than any material possessions."
The brutal violence in Juárez has altered life for many people on both sides of the border as chaos reigns in the city of 1.3 million.
For example, Sterling Bassett learned recently that several families from Mexico had moved into his upscale neighborhood "and brought their bodyguards."
Several vehicles in the neighborhood have Chihuahua state plates.
Bassett said he called police after watching a man inside a truck parked across
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his home for about six months. "I called the police after our property manager told me about the bodyguards," he said. "If he was guarding someone who felt they needed protection, I was concerned someone might come here to shoot up the place."
The police talked to the man in the truck; soon after, he left.
Police spokesman Javier Sambrano said the man told police officers that he was working for someone at the complex and was not armed.
"It was not clear if he was a bodyguard. He said he did errands and was a driver for someone," Sambrano said.
To avoid problems, Sambrano said, anyone who hires a bodyguard should notify the police. If someone plans to use armed bodyguards, those bodyguards must comply with gun-permit and licensing laws.
In past two years, as violence reached unprecedented levels in Mexico, thousands of Mexican citizens have fled their country for El Paso and even Canada.
"It started in May of 2008 when we started getting people from Juárez who wanted asylum because of the violence," said Ray Rojas, executive director of Las Americas Immigration Advocacy Center in El Paso. "They've been coming ever since at a rate of about 15 per week. We deal with refugee and asylum cases from other countries, such as China and Somalia, but we've never seen anything like this for Mexico."
Rojas said 300 Juárez families cleaned out an El Paso charity of furniture. "I've heard 3,000 families from Mexico may have come to El Paso," he said.
But receiving asylum in the United States is difficult. Petitions can take more than a year to process, and immigration courts do not grant asylum easily.
Generally, petitioners must prove they are persecuted by a government because of their religion or political beliefs, or because they belong to certain social class. They also have to prove that they are not safe in any other part of their homeland.
Las Americas has three formal Mexico asylum cases in progress; the rest are undergoing review.
Between Oct. 1 and Dec. 31, the U.S. Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services had 523 pending asylum cases filed by Mexican citizens; 19 others were granted, and one was denied.
"There have been no recent trends evidenced by the number of applications from Mexico," said Maria Elena Garcia-Upson, regional spokeswoman for the Citizenship and Immigration Services in Dallas. She added that the statistics did not show the reasons for the asylum requests.
Rojas said, "We are recommending for people to hold out here until the violence subsides. Some of them have families in the United States and the financial means to wait."
According to an article this month in Toronto's Globe and Mail newspaper, 9,000 people from Mexico are seeking refuge in Canada because of the violence.
Hector Padilla, a professor at the Autonomous University of Ciudad Juárez, said most of the victims killed over the past two years have been people from low socio economic backgrounds. Exceptions include police commanders, a federal administrator, journalists and lawyers.
Gustavo De la Rosa Hickerson, an official with the Chihuahua State Commission for Human Rights, said he knows of a judge from Chihuahua state who had to seek refuge in El Paso after he received death threats in Mexico.
Officials said another judge, Flor Mireya Aguilar Casas, a former assistant prosecutor in Juárez, was kidnapped Wednesday and freed the next day after judicial officers paid an undisclosed ransom.
Diana Washington Valdez may be reached at dvaldez@elpasotimes.com; 546-6140.
By Diana Washington Valdez / El Paso Times
Posted: 03/01/2009 12:00:00 AM MST
More on the violence in Juárez
EL PASO -- Being shot at in two attacks meant for others in less than a year persuaded an American executive to quit his Juárez maquiladora job.
Other incidents targeting fellow workers further compounded the terrifying experiences: bodies left outside the company, an attempted carjacking and two robberies at gunpoint.
"The first time I was caught in crossfire was on Gomez Morin, a major thoroughfare in Juárez. I heard gunshots, saw a car with bullet holes and people running, and I just kept on driving," said the former executive who asked not to be identified for safety reasons. "Things only got worse after that. There were military everywhere. Another time, we couldn't get back home because protesters had blocked the international bridges. It got to the point where it just wasn't worth it anymore. I decided my family and my life were more important than any material possessions."
The brutal violence in Juárez has altered life for many people on both sides of the border as chaos reigns in the city of 1.3 million.
For example, Sterling Bassett learned recently that several families from Mexico had moved into his upscale neighborhood "and brought their bodyguards."
Several vehicles in the neighborhood have Chihuahua state plates.
Bassett said he called police after watching a man inside a truck parked across
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his home for about six months. "I called the police after our property manager told me about the bodyguards," he said. "If he was guarding someone who felt they needed protection, I was concerned someone might come here to shoot up the place."
The police talked to the man in the truck; soon after, he left.
Police spokesman Javier Sambrano said the man told police officers that he was working for someone at the complex and was not armed.
"It was not clear if he was a bodyguard. He said he did errands and was a driver for someone," Sambrano said.
To avoid problems, Sambrano said, anyone who hires a bodyguard should notify the police. If someone plans to use armed bodyguards, those bodyguards must comply with gun-permit and licensing laws.
In past two years, as violence reached unprecedented levels in Mexico, thousands of Mexican citizens have fled their country for El Paso and even Canada.
"It started in May of 2008 when we started getting people from Juárez who wanted asylum because of the violence," said Ray Rojas, executive director of Las Americas Immigration Advocacy Center in El Paso. "They've been coming ever since at a rate of about 15 per week. We deal with refugee and asylum cases from other countries, such as China and Somalia, but we've never seen anything like this for Mexico."
Rojas said 300 Juárez families cleaned out an El Paso charity of furniture. "I've heard 3,000 families from Mexico may have come to El Paso," he said.
But receiving asylum in the United States is difficult. Petitions can take more than a year to process, and immigration courts do not grant asylum easily.
Generally, petitioners must prove they are persecuted by a government because of their religion or political beliefs, or because they belong to certain social class. They also have to prove that they are not safe in any other part of their homeland.
Las Americas has three formal Mexico asylum cases in progress; the rest are undergoing review.
Between Oct. 1 and Dec. 31, the U.S. Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services had 523 pending asylum cases filed by Mexican citizens; 19 others were granted, and one was denied.
"There have been no recent trends evidenced by the number of applications from Mexico," said Maria Elena Garcia-Upson, regional spokeswoman for the Citizenship and Immigration Services in Dallas. She added that the statistics did not show the reasons for the asylum requests.
Rojas said, "We are recommending for people to hold out here until the violence subsides. Some of them have families in the United States and the financial means to wait."
According to an article this month in Toronto's Globe and Mail newspaper, 9,000 people from Mexico are seeking refuge in Canada because of the violence.
Hector Padilla, a professor at the Autonomous University of Ciudad Juárez, said most of the victims killed over the past two years have been people from low socio economic backgrounds. Exceptions include police commanders, a federal administrator, journalists and lawyers.
Gustavo De la Rosa Hickerson, an official with the Chihuahua State Commission for Human Rights, said he knows of a judge from Chihuahua state who had to seek refuge in El Paso after he received death threats in Mexico.
Officials said another judge, Flor Mireya Aguilar Casas, a former assistant prosecutor in Juárez, was kidnapped Wednesday and freed the next day after judicial officers paid an undisclosed ransom.
Diana Washington Valdez may be reached at dvaldez@elpasotimes.com; 546-6140.
AZMEX Cd. Mexico, DF buyback 1-3-09
Aumenta canje de armas en la capital
Personal de la Secretaría de la Defensa Nacional y autoridades del Distrito Federal han recolectado 631 armas de fuego.
2009-03-01•M.P.
El titular de la SSP capitalina. Foto: Octavio Hoyos
Personal de la Secretaría de la Defensa Nacional y autoridades del Distrito Federal han recolectado 631 armas de fuego —incluidas cinco granadas— como parte del programa de canje por despensas o dinero en efectivo, lo que representa 71.2 por ciento del total recabado el año pasado.
Por estas piezas se ha pagado 2 millones 30 mil 400 pesos y otorgado 564 despensas.
Las autoridades reiteraron su compromiso de que el canje se realice de forma voluntaria y sin iniciar alguna indagatoria sobre el origen del arma o la persona que la entregue.
Entre el armamento recibido esta semana destaca un mortero lanzagranadas, un rifle con mira telescópica, una ametralladora Uzzi y un rifle AK-47. Por las piezas de alto poder los ciudadanos reciben hasta 7 mil 400 pesos.
La SSP del Distrito Federal informó que en 2008 se recibieron 885 armas e indicó que el proyecto Vive sin Armas, Canje por Dinero 2009 ha tenido una alta participación ciudadana.
De las 252 armas recolectadas el viernes pasado, 215 son cortas, 30 largas, dos de municiones, cinco granadas y 386 cartuchos útiles de distintos calibres. Por éstas se entregaron 787 mil 900 pesos y 232 despensas.
En total, la SSP capitalina ha recibido en esta primera fase 631 piezas: 512 cortas, 94 largas, dos de municiones, ocho donaciones, 15 granadas y mil 766 cartuchos útiles de diferentes calibres.
Los puntos de recepción fueron la glorieta del Metro Insurgentes y la explanada de la delegación Cuauhtémoc. Este año se instalarán módulos itinerantes en las delegaciones políticas y otros sitios que serán anunciados previamente.
Además del efectivo y las despensas, las autoridades entregarán también computadoras.
México/Ignacio Alzag
Personal de la Secretaría de la Defensa Nacional y autoridades del Distrito Federal han recolectado 631 armas de fuego.
2009-03-01•M.P.
El titular de la SSP capitalina. Foto: Octavio Hoyos
Personal de la Secretaría de la Defensa Nacional y autoridades del Distrito Federal han recolectado 631 armas de fuego —incluidas cinco granadas— como parte del programa de canje por despensas o dinero en efectivo, lo que representa 71.2 por ciento del total recabado el año pasado.
Por estas piezas se ha pagado 2 millones 30 mil 400 pesos y otorgado 564 despensas.
Las autoridades reiteraron su compromiso de que el canje se realice de forma voluntaria y sin iniciar alguna indagatoria sobre el origen del arma o la persona que la entregue.
Entre el armamento recibido esta semana destaca un mortero lanzagranadas, un rifle con mira telescópica, una ametralladora Uzzi y un rifle AK-47. Por las piezas de alto poder los ciudadanos reciben hasta 7 mil 400 pesos.
La SSP del Distrito Federal informó que en 2008 se recibieron 885 armas e indicó que el proyecto Vive sin Armas, Canje por Dinero 2009 ha tenido una alta participación ciudadana.
De las 252 armas recolectadas el viernes pasado, 215 son cortas, 30 largas, dos de municiones, cinco granadas y 386 cartuchos útiles de distintos calibres. Por éstas se entregaron 787 mil 900 pesos y 232 despensas.
En total, la SSP capitalina ha recibido en esta primera fase 631 piezas: 512 cortas, 94 largas, dos de municiones, ocho donaciones, 15 granadas y mil 766 cartuchos útiles de diferentes calibres.
Los puntos de recepción fueron la glorieta del Metro Insurgentes y la explanada de la delegación Cuauhtémoc. Este año se instalarán módulos itinerantes en las delegaciones políticas y otros sitios que serán anunciados previamente.
Además del efectivo y las despensas, las autoridades entregarán también computadoras.
México/Ignacio Alzag
AZMEX 27-2-09
From: Nogales International Nogales, Arizona
Illegal migrant fatally shot Tuesday near Arivaca area
By JB Miller
Published Friday, February 27, 2009 9:09 AM MST
A man who crossed the U.S.-Mexico border illegally was shot dead near Arivaca on Feb. 24.�
The man’s brother said he and his brother were traveling with a group of 10 other illegal migrants on Tuesday when sometime between 7 and 8 p.m. they heard gunshots.�
“The group scattered, but not before the reporting person saw his brother receive a gunshot wound to the chest and arm,” said Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Lt. Raoul Rodriguez. He said that the man left his brother to seek medical attention.�
“BORSTAR,” a Border Patrol search and rescue team was sent to look for the victim and Border Patrol air support also responded. At approximately 1:30 a.m. aerial reconnaissance located a “possible body” southeast of Arivaca Road. �
Rodriguez said the Sheriff’s Office Criminal Investigation Division was waiting to be taken to the location to process the crime scene. The Arizona Department of Public Safety was to provide a helicopter to take them. Rodriguez added that the homicide was the second one this year and the first shooting of 2009. �
Border Patrol spokesperson Rob Daniels said he was waiting for information about the incident. When asked whether there were any special operations being conducted to deal with the spike of robberies, rape and other incidents of violence that have been occurring along the border in recent months, Daniels said he couldn’t say for sure.
From: El Diario de Sonora Nogales, Sonora
Ejecutan a “burrero” sinaloense
27 February, 2009 05:00 Gerardo R. Valenzuela
Tamaño de la fuente:
Nogales, Arizona
( Translation; A presumed "donkey" ( the guys who carry backpacks full of drugs ) from Sinaloa was killed north of Nogales, AZ, he was shot in the chest and one arm. It is beleived that he and the others in his group, including a brother, were attacked by hijackers after the shipment of marijuana. In addition to his body the BP found a firearm and several packets of marijuana. )
Un presunto “burrero” originario de Choix, Sinaloa, de 27 años de edad, fue asesinado al norte de Nogales, Arizona, al recibir un par de disparos tanto en el pecho como en uno de sus brazos, luego de que junto a sus compañeros, entre ellos uno de sus hermanos, fueron asaltados por un grupo de “bajadores”.
El homicidio se registró la noche del martes, pero fue hasta la madrugada del miércoles, cerca de la 1:30 de la mañana, cuando las autoridades policiacas lograron dar con el cuerpo del hoy occiso, luego de implementar un fuerte operativo de seguridad.
El sheriff Marco Antonio Estrada informó que cerca de las diez de la noche del martes, agentes de la Patrulla Fronteriza se contactaron con los oficiales del Sheriffato del Condado de Santa Cruz, para informarles que acaban de detener a tres indocumentados, uno de los cuales presentaba varias manchas de sangre en su ropa.
El individuo le reveló a los agente que su hermano había sido baleado en una zona cercana al lugar de su detención, conocida como Bartolo Mountain, ubicada a unas doce millas al oeste de la Carretera Interestatal 19, y a unas nueve millas al norte de la frontera, en las inmediaciones de Arivaca, Arizona.
Los agentes del Sheriffato utilizaron un helicóptero del Departamento de Seguridad Pública del Estado de Arizona (DPS por sus siglas en inglés), para sobrevolar la zona, luego de que los agentes de la Patrulla Fronteriza lograron dar con el paradero de la víctima, pero además encontraron un arma de fuego y cinco paquetes de marihuana abandonados, los cuales presuntamente eran los que transportaban los presuntos “burreros”.
La División de Investigaciones del Sheriffato del Condado de Santa Cruz se encargó de interrogar al hermano de la víctima, como a sus dos acompañantes para obtener mayor información sobre este fatal incidente.
Illegal migrant fatally shot Tuesday near Arivaca area
By JB Miller
Published Friday, February 27, 2009 9:09 AM MST
A man who crossed the U.S.-Mexico border illegally was shot dead near Arivaca on Feb. 24.�
The man’s brother said he and his brother were traveling with a group of 10 other illegal migrants on Tuesday when sometime between 7 and 8 p.m. they heard gunshots.�
“The group scattered, but not before the reporting person saw his brother receive a gunshot wound to the chest and arm,” said Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Lt. Raoul Rodriguez. He said that the man left his brother to seek medical attention.�
“BORSTAR,” a Border Patrol search and rescue team was sent to look for the victim and Border Patrol air support also responded. At approximately 1:30 a.m. aerial reconnaissance located a “possible body” southeast of Arivaca Road. �
Rodriguez said the Sheriff’s Office Criminal Investigation Division was waiting to be taken to the location to process the crime scene. The Arizona Department of Public Safety was to provide a helicopter to take them. Rodriguez added that the homicide was the second one this year and the first shooting of 2009. �
Border Patrol spokesperson Rob Daniels said he was waiting for information about the incident. When asked whether there were any special operations being conducted to deal with the spike of robberies, rape and other incidents of violence that have been occurring along the border in recent months, Daniels said he couldn’t say for sure.
From: El Diario de Sonora Nogales, Sonora
Ejecutan a “burrero” sinaloense
27 February, 2009 05:00 Gerardo R. Valenzuela
Tamaño de la fuente:
Nogales, Arizona
( Translation; A presumed "donkey" ( the guys who carry backpacks full of drugs ) from Sinaloa was killed north of Nogales, AZ, he was shot in the chest and one arm. It is beleived that he and the others in his group, including a brother, were attacked by hijackers after the shipment of marijuana. In addition to his body the BP found a firearm and several packets of marijuana. )
Un presunto “burrero” originario de Choix, Sinaloa, de 27 años de edad, fue asesinado al norte de Nogales, Arizona, al recibir un par de disparos tanto en el pecho como en uno de sus brazos, luego de que junto a sus compañeros, entre ellos uno de sus hermanos, fueron asaltados por un grupo de “bajadores”.
El homicidio se registró la noche del martes, pero fue hasta la madrugada del miércoles, cerca de la 1:30 de la mañana, cuando las autoridades policiacas lograron dar con el cuerpo del hoy occiso, luego de implementar un fuerte operativo de seguridad.
El sheriff Marco Antonio Estrada informó que cerca de las diez de la noche del martes, agentes de la Patrulla Fronteriza se contactaron con los oficiales del Sheriffato del Condado de Santa Cruz, para informarles que acaban de detener a tres indocumentados, uno de los cuales presentaba varias manchas de sangre en su ropa.
El individuo le reveló a los agente que su hermano había sido baleado en una zona cercana al lugar de su detención, conocida como Bartolo Mountain, ubicada a unas doce millas al oeste de la Carretera Interestatal 19, y a unas nueve millas al norte de la frontera, en las inmediaciones de Arivaca, Arizona.
Los agentes del Sheriffato utilizaron un helicóptero del Departamento de Seguridad Pública del Estado de Arizona (DPS por sus siglas en inglés), para sobrevolar la zona, luego de que los agentes de la Patrulla Fronteriza lograron dar con el paradero de la víctima, pero además encontraron un arma de fuego y cinco paquetes de marihuana abandonados, los cuales presuntamente eran los que transportaban los presuntos “burreros”.
La División de Investigaciones del Sheriffato del Condado de Santa Cruz se encargó de interrogar al hermano de la víctima, como a sus dos acompañantes para obtener mayor información sobre este fatal incidente.
AZMEX MATASPOLICIAS 23-2-09
AZMEX MATASPOLICIAS 23 FEB 2009
Note: would suspect it was .50 cal it would be rifles, not pistols. Also "mata policias" usually refers to PDW's or pistols in 5.7x28 mm, for which the effective ammunition is only available to governments.
Narcos increase arms purchases cop killers
February 23, 2009 04:51 The Universal / The Journal of Sonora
According to Newell, the Gulf cartel and the Pacific (Sinalos) are the leading consumers of weapons.
U.S. warn of possible attacks against Mexican officials due to increased sales of firearms capable of penatrating armored vehicles
City of Mexico.
The U.S. official William D. Newell warned of possible attacks by organized crime against senior officials in Mexico due to increased sales of firearms capable of passing armored vehicles.
According to the director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Snuff, Firearms and Explosives (ATF, for its acronym in English) in Phoenix, Arizona, has grown markedly marketing 50 caliber pistols, known as "cop killer".
In conference at U.S. Embassy in Mexico, said that since the start of the Gunrunner project in April 2005, the number of arrests for arms trafficking has increased 450 percent.
He explained that in 2008 the agency in charge of investigations carried out 202 investigations that resulted in the arrest of 300 individuals involved in that crime.
Between October 2008 and 17 Feb. 230 inquiries were initiated which resulted in the seizure of more than 400 weapons and thousands of cartridges intended to be sold illegally in Mexico.
According to the official in Arizona, unusual increase in the sale of 50 caliber pistols, so it is likely to initiate attacks on organized crime leaders of criminal groups or senior officials.
The weapons mentioned has enough power to pass some light armor vehicles and bulletproof vests that are used in these areas, he added.
Of all firearms investigations initiated by the ATF, half were at the request of the Attorney General's Office (PGR), which requested the tracking of weapons confiscated in Mexico, explained the head of the ATF in Phoenix.
He said the main points of entry of arms from the American Union towards Mexico are Matamoros, Nuevo Laredo and Reynosa, Tamaulipas, Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua, Nogales, Naco and Agua Prieta, Sonora, and Tijuana, Baja California.
According to Newell, the Gulf cartel and the Pacific are the leading consumers of weapons.
Narcos aumentan compra de armas matapolicías
23 February, 2009 04:51 El Universal/El Diario de Sonora
Tamaño de la fuente:
Según Newell, los cárteles del Golfo y del Pacífico son los principales demandantes de armamento.
Alertan en Estados Unidos sobre posibles ataques contra altos funcionarios mexicanos debido al incremento en la venta de armas de fuego capaces de traspasar los vehículos blindados
Ciudad de México.
El funcionario estadunidense William D. Newell alertó sobre posibles ataques del crimen organizado en México contra altos funcionarios debido al incremento en la venta de armas de fuego capaces de traspasar los vehículos blindados.
De acuerdo con el director de la Agencia de Alcohol, Tabaco, Armas de Fuego y Explosivos (ATF, por sus siglas en inglés) , en Phoenix, Arizona, ha crecido notoriamente la comercialización de pistolas calibre 50, conocidas como "matapolicías".
En conferencia en la Embajada de Estados Unidos en México, refirió que desde la entrada en vigor del proyecto Gunrunner, en abril de 2005, el número de arrestos por tráfico de armas se incrementó 450 por ciento.
Detalló que durante 2008 el organismo a su cargo llevó a cabo 202 investigaciones que derivaron en la detención de 300 sujetos implicados en ese delito.
Entre octubre de 2008 y el 17 de febrero pasado se iniciaron 230 indagatorias que dieron como resultado el decomiso de más de 400 armas y miles de cartuchos que pretendían comercializarse ilegalmente en México, describió.
De acuerdo con el funcionario de Arizona, es inusual el aumento en la venta de pistolas calibre 50, por lo que es probable que el crimen organizado emprenda ataques contra los líderes de los grupos delictivos o funcionarios de alto rango.
El armamento referido tiene la potencia suficiente para traspasar algunos blindajes ligeros de vehículos, así como los chalecos antibalas que se utilizan en esas esferas, añadió.
Del total de investigaciones sobre armas de fuego iniciadas por la ATF, la mitad fueron a petición de la Procuraduría General de la República (PGR) , que solicitó el rastreo de artefactos decomisados en territorio mexicano, expuso el titular de la ATF en Phoenix.
Indicó que los principales puntos de entrada de armas desde la Unión Americana hacia México son Matamoros, Nuevo Laredo y Reynosa, Tamaulipas; Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua; Nogales, Naco y Agua Prieta, Sonora, así como Tijuana, Baja California.
Según Newell, los cárteles del Golfo y del Pacífico son los principales demandantes de armamento.
Note: would suspect it was .50 cal it would be rifles, not pistols. Also "mata policias" usually refers to PDW's or pistols in 5.7x28 mm, for which the effective ammunition is only available to governments.
Narcos increase arms purchases cop killers
February 23, 2009 04:51 The Universal / The Journal of Sonora
According to Newell, the Gulf cartel and the Pacific (Sinalos) are the leading consumers of weapons.
U.S. warn of possible attacks against Mexican officials due to increased sales of firearms capable of penatrating armored vehicles
City of Mexico.
The U.S. official William D. Newell warned of possible attacks by organized crime against senior officials in Mexico due to increased sales of firearms capable of passing armored vehicles.
According to the director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Snuff, Firearms and Explosives (ATF, for its acronym in English) in Phoenix, Arizona, has grown markedly marketing 50 caliber pistols, known as "cop killer".
In conference at U.S. Embassy in Mexico, said that since the start of the Gunrunner project in April 2005, the number of arrests for arms trafficking has increased 450 percent.
He explained that in 2008 the agency in charge of investigations carried out 202 investigations that resulted in the arrest of 300 individuals involved in that crime.
Between October 2008 and 17 Feb. 230 inquiries were initiated which resulted in the seizure of more than 400 weapons and thousands of cartridges intended to be sold illegally in Mexico.
According to the official in Arizona, unusual increase in the sale of 50 caliber pistols, so it is likely to initiate attacks on organized crime leaders of criminal groups or senior officials.
The weapons mentioned has enough power to pass some light armor vehicles and bulletproof vests that are used in these areas, he added.
Of all firearms investigations initiated by the ATF, half were at the request of the Attorney General's Office (PGR), which requested the tracking of weapons confiscated in Mexico, explained the head of the ATF in Phoenix.
He said the main points of entry of arms from the American Union towards Mexico are Matamoros, Nuevo Laredo and Reynosa, Tamaulipas, Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua, Nogales, Naco and Agua Prieta, Sonora, and Tijuana, Baja California.
According to Newell, the Gulf cartel and the Pacific are the leading consumers of weapons.
Narcos aumentan compra de armas matapolicías
23 February, 2009 04:51 El Universal/El Diario de Sonora
Tamaño de la fuente:
Según Newell, los cárteles del Golfo y del Pacífico son los principales demandantes de armamento.
Alertan en Estados Unidos sobre posibles ataques contra altos funcionarios mexicanos debido al incremento en la venta de armas de fuego capaces de traspasar los vehículos blindados
Ciudad de México.
El funcionario estadunidense William D. Newell alertó sobre posibles ataques del crimen organizado en México contra altos funcionarios debido al incremento en la venta de armas de fuego capaces de traspasar los vehículos blindados.
De acuerdo con el director de la Agencia de Alcohol, Tabaco, Armas de Fuego y Explosivos (ATF, por sus siglas en inglés) , en Phoenix, Arizona, ha crecido notoriamente la comercialización de pistolas calibre 50, conocidas como "matapolicías".
En conferencia en la Embajada de Estados Unidos en México, refirió que desde la entrada en vigor del proyecto Gunrunner, en abril de 2005, el número de arrestos por tráfico de armas se incrementó 450 por ciento.
Detalló que durante 2008 el organismo a su cargo llevó a cabo 202 investigaciones que derivaron en la detención de 300 sujetos implicados en ese delito.
Entre octubre de 2008 y el 17 de febrero pasado se iniciaron 230 indagatorias que dieron como resultado el decomiso de más de 400 armas y miles de cartuchos que pretendían comercializarse ilegalmente en México, describió.
De acuerdo con el funcionario de Arizona, es inusual el aumento en la venta de pistolas calibre 50, por lo que es probable que el crimen organizado emprenda ataques contra los líderes de los grupos delictivos o funcionarios de alto rango.
El armamento referido tiene la potencia suficiente para traspasar algunos blindajes ligeros de vehículos, así como los chalecos antibalas que se utilizan en esas esferas, añadió.
Del total de investigaciones sobre armas de fuego iniciadas por la ATF, la mitad fueron a petición de la Procuraduría General de la República (PGR) , que solicitó el rastreo de artefactos decomisados en territorio mexicano, expuso el titular de la ATF en Phoenix.
Indicó que los principales puntos de entrada de armas desde la Unión Americana hacia México son Matamoros, Nuevo Laredo y Reynosa, Tamaulipas; Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua; Nogales, Naco y Agua Prieta, Sonora, así como Tijuana, Baja California.
Según Newell, los cárteles del Golfo y del Pacífico son los principales demandantes de armamento.
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