Rage and helplessness; “Los desaparecidos”

June 2, 2013

Translated by un vato

Mothers and fathers have confronted the administrative disorder of morgues and cemeteries, where cadavers decompose underground in total anonymity because of the incompetence, the bureaucracy and the institutionalized negligence.
MEXICO, D.F. (Proceso).– Beatriz Mejia Diaz returned for the nth time to a Mexico City morgue to ask them to show her the records of all unidentified bodies they had kept in their vaults.
“Ma’am, you’ve already been here several times, your daughter is not in the records,” an employee told her when she asked for the files. Stubbornly, she insisted on being allowed to personally inspect every one of the files beginning on November 4, 2011, when her daughter Alejandra Viridiana Osornio Mejia disappeared, whether the files were on men, children or old people.
When she was reviewing documents dated January 27, 2012, she found her. They had kept her there as “NI” (No Identificado: unidentified) and sent her to a mass grave.
“I found my daughter’s clothing. They told me they only had her cranium, for me to go to the Medical Examiner’s Office (Semefo: Servicio Medico Forense)  at Izcalli. But over there, they had lost the file with her information. Neither could they find her clothes in the (Semefo) amphitheater. I don’t understand; how is it possible that they sent her to a mass grave when I filed so many reports and had been looking for her so long?,” says the woman outside the Attorney General’s Office building (PGR) where she had gone to yell in rage and disgust at the Attorney General, Jesus Murillo Karam, and the Secretary of the Interior, Miguel Angel Osorio Chong, for the torment she had undergone since her 21-year old daughter had been kidnapped from the Victoria’s bar/pool hall in Cuautitlan.
She yelled at them when they announced, once again, the creation of a Investigations and Search Unit for Disappeared Persons.
VISITING SEMEFOS
“From November 28, 2011, I began to visit semefos (medical examiners facilities. I went to the one in Tlalneplantla, which is the main one for the State of Mexico, then to the one in Texcoco, then to the one in Ecatepec, the one in Amecameca, and even to the one in the Federal District, in Colonia Doctores. They never let me review the files personally; the people in charge would input the characteristics into the computer and they would perform the so-called search, until I demanded that I be allowed to look for myself, and there she was. That’s what I came to tell the PGR: that how was it possible that my daughter had been buried for so long in a mass grave without anybody telling me anything,” says Beatriz Mejia, who just a few minutes ago had been yelling with pain and fury.
With her were other mothers and fathers who have confronted the administrative disorder of morgues and cemeteries, where cadavers decompose underground and in total anonymity due to the incompetence, the bureaucracy and the institutionalized negligence. At least 24,000 bodies remain buried in mass graves awaiting a decent burial, but, because of the administrative chaos, they suffer a double disappearance; the first one when they were kidnapped, the second when forensic investigators misclassified them, lost the personal belongings they had on them, entered their personal information incorrectly into the computer or sent them to a mass grave mixed up with other bodies, and many times didn’t even record their last location.
Abril Selena Caldino Rodriguez suffered the same fate. She disappeared on May 26, 2011, and was found dead a few days later in a “municipality close to Tecamac” and sent to a mass grave. Two years later, this past Mothers Day, authorities discovered that the fifteen-year-old’s cadaver had been classified as that of a 45 year old woman, and it took weeks to find it because they lost the investigation file that showed the cemetery where it was buried.
DISORDER
Instead of having a fifteenth birthday party, young Bianca Edith Barron Cedillo had a funeral ceremony, because this past April, the family identified the clothing and physical characteristics of a cadaver sent to a mass grave in May of last year, a week after it was found, when a forensic investigator classified the body as that of woman 25 to 30 years old. Because of that, when her mother asked them to look for the body of a fifteen-year old, they could find no records even though the body had been found the day after her disappearance.
Or the case of Barbie, Barbara Reyes, a 17-year old girl who disappeared on August 8, 2011, in Tlalnepantla, whose remains were found 18 months later in a mass grave after her mother did the same thing: personally review each file.
Her mother, Lourdes Muniz, had initiated a campaign to find her; she even got the authorities in the State of Mexico to assign a team to the search and to offer a reward for any information that would help find her, but it didn’t occur to the officials to compare the records from the morgues.
Another mother with the same problem suggested that she go to the Semefo where she found her: she was registered — in pencil, because there was no computer– as an 18-year old woman, whose body was found miles from where her disappearance was reported.
“I started with the Semefo at Cuautitlan Izcalli, then I went to the one at Cuautitlan,  and there I discovered there was an unclaimed body with matching age, sex and other characteristics. They told me to go to Barrientos to look at the photographs and that’s how I identified my daughter’s clothes, her blouse and her tennis shoes. I also took with me the plaster moldings of her teeth, which were also similar. Then we went to the La Loma state cemetery in Cuautitlan, where it took them three days to find her because there was total disorder: there were bodies that were mixed up, they had taken some from private graves to the mass graves, or they shouldn’t have been there. They estimated that they would find her in the first few square yards, but they ended up digging up 64 square yards, and when it got complicated, they told me they could only find the cranium,” says Lourdes, outside the PGR building, where she also demanded justice for her daughter in a loud voice.
ONLY THE BONES
“All I recovered were my daughter’s bones, no clothing or anything else. Nobody knows anything,” she says with annoyance and resignation. She addresses her daughter:
“Today, after 20 months of arduous searching, of frustration, pain and tears… my little girl, we have found you, not like we –dad, mom, sisters, family and friends — wanted… Forgive us for our ineffectiveness and for taking 19 months to find you… but other bastard bureaucrats, who didn’t do their jobs and sent you to a mass grave, obstructed us… But it didn’t matter, we finally found you and recovered you, like we promised, and soon you’ll lie beside your grandmothers, your grandfathers and uncles.”
The Barbie scandal unplugged the sewer in the State of Mexico, it was a faithful reflection of what is happening throughout the country. Because of pressure from mothers, they had to show the photographs of all the bodies. “All that process of looking at bodies wears you out, it’s devastating,” says Mrs. Guillermina Hernandez, mother of 14-year old teenager Selena Giselle Delgado, who disappeared on April 29, 2010, in Ecatepec.
“The semefos don’t have a well-built system; they put in the age that they believe the body has, without investigating. They don’t have an infrastructure, they don’t record dates. If they store clothing, they lose it, they don’t keep it with to the body,” says the woman, who has also searched cemeteries like the one in Texcoco, where she discovered that bodies classified as “Unidentified” were buried in the pathways between the graves, and grave sites that were identified only with a file number on a piece of paper wrapped in a plastic bag. She has already been to Naucalpan, Texcoco, Iztapalapa and Barrientos. And nothing…
She feels that if her daughter was disappeared by a woman dentist, who she believes is responsible, the government has disappeared her for a second time with its lack of organization, its incompetence, its negligence.
ARDUOUS TASK
That’s why she went to the PGR with other mothers who are also looking for their disappeared sons and daughters, just about the time they announced the formation of the specialized team that Osorio Chong had already announced in February, but which, as provided in the legislation, assigns only 12 agents from the Public Ministry to look for thousands of persons reported disappeared or “not found” — 27,000 from the previous administration–, and that does not yet have legal recognition, mandate, offices or a budget.
The work in the Semefo amphitheaters and in the cemeteries is arduous. Between 2006 and 2012, the PGR’s national database of genetic profiles (DNA database) received 15,618 (genetic) profiles of unknown persons who died violently, of whom only 425 were identified, according to the report that the La Jornada newspaper published on January 2nd.
In thirteen states (Baja California Sur, Sinaloa, Durango, Coahuila, San Luis Potosi, Queretaro, Colima, Guerrero,  Tabasco, Campeche, Yucatan, Quintana Roo and Oaxaca) there are no genetics [DNA] laboratories to identify cadavers. In addition, in some of them, forensic autopsies are performed in privately-owned funeral homes or in cemeteries and, in many cases, unidentified bodies are sent to mass graves with incomplete files and without comparing their fingerprints, photographic files or DNA with national databases kept by the PGR or the federal Secretariat of Public Security. Criteria for exhumations and for the handling of cadavers have not been standardized.
Milenio reporter Victor Hugo Michel disclosed in October, 2012, that municipalities reported that they had sent 24,000 unidentified bodies to mass graves during the previous six-year period. According to official figures, only 3% of murder victims who are classified as “NI” in cemeteries are subsequently identified, as in the cases of Bianca, Barbie and Viridiana.
Currently, each state has its own time limits, which range from one day to six months, in which to send an unidentified body to a mass grave.  Each municipality has its own regulations for classifying the body and determining how many bodies may be buried in a grave. Some remains are incinerated.
HUMANITARIAN INTERVENTION
The humanitarian crises caused by the disappearance of persons forced the federal government to ask the Red Cross International Committee (CICR: Comite Internacional de la Cruz Roja) for help by intervening in Mexico and, among other things, dealing with the disorganization that exists in the Semefos and in the cemeteries, which is an important obstacle in finding people.
On February 21, an agreement was signed to allow this international entity, founded in 1863, to provide advice to Mexican authorities.
Romanick Ferraro, legal counsel for the CICR delegation in Mexico, begins the interview with Proceso by stating that the committee’s principles are neutrality, impartiality and independence, and that in countries where it works bilaterally (with agreements with governments or known armed groups), they maintain confidentiality. Whatever reports it produces will not be made public if the Mexican government does not wish.
He explains that the thematic hubs of the humanitarian organization with respect to the disappearance of persons are prevention (to prevent disappearances), clearing up the person’s fate (by promoting mechanisms for establishing the truth), processing information (collection and production of clear information), forensic identification and support for all of a family’s needs, as well as encouragement so they will participate with authorities in he search. The Mexican government will decide on which of those subjects it will need guidance.
When asked what his function will be, he insists: “The content is part of the confidential dialogue, we will provide advice to the Mexican government on whatever it asks.”
BETWEEN CEMETERIES
While authorities draft new protocols that may take years to implement, Mr. Jose Serrano travels the country looking for his son, David Serrano Sandoval, a 38-year old lawyer who was kidnapped on June 16, 2012, in Lerma, State of Mexico, by a cell of the La Mano con Ojos criminal organization, which later became part of the Acapulco Independent Cartel. Although from the beginning the family had help from the Federal Police anti-kidnapping unit, the lawyer’s freedom was never obtained.
This year, the PGR’s Human Rights Section has been advising this father to verify whether his son was processed through some semefo, whether in the Federal District, the State of Mexico, or in Guerrero. On one occasion, the prosecutor Rosario Sandoval, with the SEIDO (specialized unit for investigating organized crime), mistakenly told him he had been found in Mexico City.
“Since August 15, when the negotiations with the kidnappers ended, I began to go to semefos; those in Mexico City, Cuernavaca and Toluca; to hospitals, to see if he was wounded, I went from bed to bed looking at patients. I’ve continued to to visit those places, I’ve seen bodies they’ve shown me in Lerma, Toluca, Zihuatanejo, Acapulco and Chilpancingo,” recalls Mr. Serrano.
His search has become an agony.

 

 

 

http://www.borderlandbeat.com/2013/06/rage-and-helplessness-los-desaparecidos.html

 

 

New Juarez Cartel leader identified: “Ugly Betty”.

June 3, 2013

 

Mexico D.F. (PROCESO).- At the end of last century, after the death of Amado Carrillo, leader of the Juarez Cartel, the leadership of the criminal organization went to his brother Vicente aka “El Viceroy”. Lately the power of the organization fell and there are signs of Vicente being sick and practically in retirement. But that doesn´t matter, the criminal groups restore themselves. Nowadays a new generation of the Carrillo family has created alliances with the Beltran Leyva (former lieutenants of Amado Carrillo) and “Los Zetas”(this according to a PGR file accessed by PROCESO) in order restore Juarez in the criminal map. This is the New Juarez Cartel, led by a man nicknamed “Betty La Fea (Ugly Betty)”.

Narco Banner signed by the New Juarez Cartel

They call him “Ugly Betty” even if he´s no heroine like the Colombian soup opera character made famous in the 90´s. His name is Alberto Carrillo Fuentes, an up and coming capo and leading actor in the bloody cartel wars taking place in the states of Chihuahua, Sinaloa, Sonora, Coahuila and Durango.

According to files from the PGR accessed by PROCESO, “Ugly Betty” is the leader of the New Juarez Cartel, as the old criminal group calls itself now, this group is allied with Los Zetas and the Beltran Leyva Cartel who are fighting for their territories against the Sinaloa Cartel.

“Ugly Betty” is Amado Carrillo´s brother aka “El Señor de los Cielos”, founder and former boss of bosses in the Juarez Cartel, and of Vicente Carrillo Fuentes aka “El Viceroy”, who, according to authorities began leading the Juarez Cartel in 1997, after Amado´s death.

“There are versions” pointing to the poor health of Vicente, for this reason he is more of a “moral leader”, he doesn´t take any more decisions, nor he helps in the structural design of the New Juarez Cartel, this according to the PGR files.

To this day -according to those same files- the New Juarez Cartel leaders are: “Ugly Betty” as the top leader and Amado´s sons Julio Cesar and Juan Carrillo Leyva, younger brother of Vicente Carrillo Leyva, currently in prison.

Even though authorities still don´t know where the nickname generated, they do know that the war he wages alongside Miguel Angel Treviño aka “Z40” and Hector Beltran Leyva aka “El H” against Joaquin Guzman Loera aka “El Chapo” has taken thousands of lives.

This is part of a full article published in PROCESO magazine.

Vicente Carrillo Leyva, Amado´s son and brother of the new leaders of the Juarez Cartel.

SOURCE: PROCESO

http://www.borderlandbeat.com/2013/06/new-juarez-cartel-leader-identified.html

The war for Tijuana, a 20+ year conflict. PART 1

May 22, 2013

 

Tijuana is a complex city; it´s location makes it unique in so many ways, including organized crime. The situation in Tijuana is unlike any other city in Mexico, the murder rates are still high but people on the streets feel “safe”, drugs keep moving in all directions, but the convoys of sicarios are all but gone. The kidnapping numbers dropped drastically but still people disappear without trace, federal agents are seldom attacked by criminals and the army has returned to its headquarters.

 

The Arellano Felix Brothers.

 

Many claim they “own” the Tijuana plaza, but almost all who do so seldom set foot in Tijuana.

Whereas in other cities of Mexico people know what cartel has the true hold of things, in Tijuana many cells work without a visible head, sure the Sinaloa cartel corridos claim that Tijuana is a CDS plaza, but that´s up for debate.

To even try to understand the current cartel situation in Tijuana we got to go back a few years, in the 90´s, the all-powerful Tijuana cartel ruled the city without any obstacles, Federal government didn´t care for cartels and the local authorities had -in almost all cases- arrangements with the cartel, Sinaloa´s cartel didn´t exist as such, in fact, most Sinaloa cartel leaders were part of the Juarez cartel at the time, Mayo Zambada had people in Tijuana but they usually kept a very low profile and many of them ended up dead.

 

In fact, Mayo Zambada used to work alongside the Arellano Felix brothers without issues, according to the book “El Cartel” by journalist Jesus Blancornelas, Mayo Zambada used to live in Tijuana, he paid “piso” to CAF and used to go around the city without bodyguards, however, he started being late on his payments to CAF, arguing that he had no money and sooner than later Ramon Arellano got fed up with it. They sent a group of sicarios to kill Mayo but a discussion between the killers made them fail. Mayo got word of it and fled the city. That´s one side on the story, on Sinaloa I´m sure you´ll listen to a different one.

 

The following is a list of the most important events in this war that has been going on for more than 20 years:

 

The death of  Armando Lopez aka “El Rayo de Sinaloa”

Armando Lopez was a well-known trafficker from Sinaloa, his area of influence was the Sonora desert where he used to land Cessna planes full of cocaine. Lopez was a close friend of Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman and was sent to Tijuana to speak with Benjamin Arellano on behalf of “El Chapo”. When “El Rayo” arrived at Tijuana he went partying with his girlfriend, when both were drunk, they decided to crash the baptism party of one of Benjamin´s daughters, since they didn´t carry an invitation the guards at the door stopped them, this angered Lopez who started fighting with them, Ramon noticed this and without saying anything shot “El Rayo” in the head, after this he picked up the body and threw it in the back of a Pick-up truck, drove to the outskirts of Tijuana and dumped it. After the death of “El Rayo” a group of hit men travelled to Sinaloa and killed Lopez´s brothers and father, this was done in order to prevent possible retribution from Lopez´s family against Ramon.

 

Rigoberto Campos gets killed

 

Rigoberto Campos Salcido, cousin of the famed Manuel Salcido Uzeta aka “El Cochiloco” used to work in the plazas of Tijuana, Tecate, Mexicali and San Luis Rio Colorado without problems, when the Arellano Felix brothers grew in power they felt he was invading “their plaza”. At first he was told to stop working in Tijuana but he refused to take orders from the young brothers, the Arellano´s felt they needed to send a message and dispatched a group to Mexicali where Salcido was kidnapped, his captors took him to a ranch where they ripped his arms with a thresher. Rigoberto barely saved his life and ended up with prosthetic arms, however, he continued to visit Tijuana where his fate was sealed. In 1991 the Arellano Felix brothers got word that Salcido was betting on horse races in the outskirts of Tijuana, they knew the route he would use and set an ambush, this was the first major execution in which hundreds of bullets were fired to kill somebody in Mexico.

Grand Marquis from Rigoberto Campos after the attack.

El Cochiloco, an old debt gets settled

Manuel Salcido Uzeta aka “El Cochiloco” was the last leader of the Guadalajara cartel, the same legendary cartel formed by Miguel Angel “El Padrino” Felix Gallardo, Ernesto “Don Neto” Fonseca and Rafael “El Principe” Caro Quintero, Salcido used to control Jalisco and Colima, where he received large shipments of Cocaine from Pablo Escobar in Colombia. The Tijuana cartel didn´t had any intentions of owning Guadalajara in that time, they didn´t consider “El Cochiloco” as an enemy, yet. Salcido´s mistake-like many more after him- was greed; he stole 4 tons of cocaine from a Colombian ship destined to Ensenada, Baja California. The cocaine belonged to the Cali cartel and was sent to the Arellano Felix brothers in Tijuana, only half of the original 8 tons shipment arrived at Ensenada and Ramon Arellano refused to pay the missing 4 tons to the Colombians. At the end a deal was made, if the Colombians killed Salcido, Ramon would pay the 8 tons to the Rodriguez Orejuela brothers. On October 9th, 1991, Salcido was driving his Ramcharger SUV when a group of hit men from Colombia and Tijuana ambushed him, his body received more than 70 gunshots. From then on, the Guadalajara plaza became property of the Tijuana cartel.

Manuel Salcido´s corpse.

The Christine´s shootout

According to “El Cartel” by Jesus Blancornelas, Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada was the one who betrayed the brothers, in his book, Blancornelas claims “El Mayo” invited the brothers to celebrate in the Puerto Vallarta nightclub “Christine”, Benjamin, Ramon and Francisco Javier were ready to leave the hotel room when Zambada called Benjamin and said he wouldn´t make It because he got a tip someone was trying to cross a shipment without Benjamin´s approval. Benjamin was angry and decided not to go out, however Ramon and Francisco Javier had already had plans for the night and went to the nightclub anyway. Ramon and “El Tigrillo” arrived at “Christine” with several Baja California state agents as bodyguards, Zambada didn´t show up, but someone from Sinaloa did, Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman sent group of 50 men wearing military uniforms and bulletproof vests, when the group arrived at the nightclub they identified themselves as Federal Agents, the Tijuana cartel bodyguards identified as Baja California State Agents but were shot to dead. Inside, a hit man from San Diego´s Barrio Logan by the name of David Barron noticed something wrong was about to happen and took the brothers to the bathroom. Barron killed some of the hit men from “El Chapo” and took their weapons, covering up for Ramon´s escape. Francisco Javier wasn´t so lucky and was taken by Chapo´s gunmen. Ramon and Benjamin thought “El Tigrillo” was already dead, but he wasn´t, Chapo´s men told him the war wasn´t against him, nor the family but against Ramon and left him in the outskirts of Vallarta.

Christine in Puerto Vallarta.

To kill a Cardinal

 

If we were to pinpoint one single event that changed the whole course of the Tijuana cartel´s history, it´s got to be the shootout at Guadalajara´s airport in May 24th, 1993. Seeking revenge for the “Christine” shootout, the Tijuana cartel searched for Joaquin Guzman everywhere, one of their sources told them that “El Chapo” was hiding in Guadalajara and Ramon travelled there along with a group of Barrio Logan hit men. Their search proved fruitless and they decided to go back to Tijuana, then, someone informed Ramon that “Chapo” was to take a flight and would arrive in a white Mercury Grand Marquis to the airport. Ramon quickly went there with his team and when they saw a white Grand Marquis, they started the shootout, “Chapo” wasn´t in that car, he was arriving in a green Cutlass when he heard the gunshots and run away from the scene. The passenger in the white Grand Marquis was none other than Catholic Church Cardinal Juan Jesus Posadas Ocampo. Now that´s the official story, the Catholic Church believes someone set Posadas up and that the Arellano brothers had nothing to do with it, neither Chapo, that version isn´t confirmed yet, but Benjamin Arellano blamed the Mexican Government for Posada’s murder and claimed that both “Chapo” and the Tijuana cartel were framed. Anyway, this marked the beginning of the downfall for the brothers.

Posadas Ocampo´s car.

The capture of “El Chapo” in Guatemala

The Tijuana cartel, along with Joaquin Guzman Loera and his partner Hector Luis Palma Salazar became Mexico´s number one enemies after the death of Posadas Ocampo. The Mexican Government needed to arrest ASAP at least one of them, “El Chapo” knew they were after him and decided to leave the country, before doing so, he ordered his lieutenants to continue with the shipments and to protect his family, then he fled to Central America, he was spotted in El Salvador but the Salvadoran Government said they didn´t had the resources to arrest him, Guzman knew of this and travelled to Guatemala were he paid 1 million USD to local authorities to protect him, instead of doing so, the Guatemalan Army arrested him and expelled him to Mexico. This somehow took some heat away from the Tijuana cartel leaders who at the moment were hiding in places like Russia, Spain and even in the USA.

Chapo Guzman in Federal custody, circa 1993

The Bali-Hai shootout

In December 1993, the Tijuana cartel sent their “elite” group of killers, then known as “narcojuniors” to Mexico City, their mission was to gun down Amado Carrillo Fuentes aka “El Señor de los Cielos”.  Carrillo was the leader of the Juarez cartel and boss of both Ismael Zambada and Joaquin Guzman, with “El Chapo” in jail, the brothers saw this as an opportunity to kill the man they saw as their biggest threat. Fabian Martinez aka “El Tiburon” or “9-9”, Federico Sanchez Valdez aka “G-1”, Merardo Leon Hinojosa aka “El Abulon” or “3-3” among others arrived at the Bali-Hai restaurant, they gunned down Carrillo´s bodyguards at the door and tried to kill him but were repelled by Alcides Ramon Magaña aka “El Metro” and his team of hit men, Carrillo and his family were saved, Carrillo’s wife was wounded in the shootout, at the time, the cartels didn´t mess with each other families, this escalated the war against the Tijuana cartel.

Amado Carrillo Fuentes aka “El Señor de los Cielos”

The Bomb against “El Mayo”

 

In June 1994, Ismael Zambada was to attend a birthday party in Guadalajara, Jalisco, the party was organized by known drug dealer Luis Enrique “El Kiki” Fernandez Uriarte, who was celebrating his daughter´s 15 years of life. “El Mayo” was one of the many top drug lords invited to the party and the Tijuana cartel knew that, they thought the best way to kill him would be with C4 explosives, when the men in charge of the explosives were putting them in place, one of their cell phones rang and triggered the detonator, killing them instantly and hurting members of “Los Coyonqui” and “Los Huracanes del Norte” outside the Camino Real Hotel. The official military report on the subject mentions that several Federal and State police commanders along with prominent politicians attended the party. Benjamin Arellano is considered the mastermind behind this attack.

Remains of the attacker´s car after the bomb explosion.

The capture of Hector “El Guero” Palma Hector Palma Salazar aka “El Guero” was a violent man, he started his criminal career as a sicario, then became bodyguard of the famous Miguel Angel Felix Gallardo, soon he was in charge of the cocaine route from Sinaloa to San Luis Rio Colorado, but he fell from Felix Gallardo´s grace and his wife and children were killed. Guadalupe Laija (Palma´s wife) was decapitated by a Venezuelan drug lord who also took Palma´s children and threw them alive from a bridge. All this just made the already violent Palma even worse, he became allied with “El Chapo” and ”El Mayo”, together they launched a campaign to conquer Sinaloa.

Palma Salazar´s actions were considered at the time so brutal, that even the Arellano Felix family paid for several, full center-page adds in the Excelsior newspaper complaining that both “El Chapo” and “El Guero” were the ones responsible for the violent acts in Sinaloa and accusing them of not respecting women and children in their attacks.

 

“El Guero” was a powerful foe for the Arellano Felix brothers, but luck was on their side in 1995, June 22nd to be exact. One day Palma left Ciudad Obregon on his way to the Toluca airport, at mid-air he was told that the army was waiting for him so he ordered his pilot to land in Zacatecas, the army also raided the Zacatecas airport so Palma thought about landing in Guadalajara.  On his way he was again told that the army already arrived at the Guadalajara airport so he finally decided for Tepic´s airport but as luck would have, his Learjet ran out of fuel and crashed near the Nayarit border.

 

Palma Salazar survived the accident but was badly hurt, then Federal Police commander Apolinar Pintor Aguilera saved him and took him to Zapopan were he was finally arrested after the army raided his house.

 

With both “El Chapo” and “El Guero” in jail, and “Mayo Zambada” on the run, the Arellano Felix brothers felt they had won the war in 1995.

Hector Luis Palma Salazar aka “El Guero”

The “Scorpion Operation”

On March 1st, 1996, an operation code named “Alacran” (Scorpion) was conducted in Tijuana by the Federal Police and Mexican Military, 22 homes were raided in search of Tijuana Cartel members. Many of the homes were destroyed and a minimal quantity of marijuana was seized, but no important members were arrested.

What made this operation relevant was the fact that then Federal Police commander Ernesto Ibarra Santes, was the one in charge of the operation. Ibarra Santes was in fact working for “El Mayo” Zambada and Amado Carrillo Fuentes.

 

Ernesto Ibarra Santes gets killed in Mexico City

 

Ernesto Ibarra Santes had just been named Federal Deputy Attorney General for the state of Baja California in August, 1996, he promised to capture the Arellano Felix brothers, and in fact, he really planned on doing so. At the moment Ibarra Santes was seen as a good agent, but behind his “good work” in Tijuana, there was a dark story, Ibarra Santes was a friend and ally of Amado Carrillo Fuentes, according to witness testimony Ibarra Santes sold intelligence information about the Arellano Felix brothers to Amado Carrillo, he was so good at selling info on them that Amado soon made a close friendship with him.

 

It was in a reunion in Agua Prieta, Sonora, where Ibarra Santes gave Amado a yellow envelope with some wiretapped phone calls from Ramon Arellano, witness accounts claim Amado offered Ibarra all the Brazilian girls in the party but Ibarra said he didn´t had any time. Ibarra left and Amado continued talking with Mexican General Mario Arturo Acosta Chaparro, who advised Carrillo to not mess with the Arellano Felix brothers. That was the last time Carrillo and Ibarra Santes met.

One week after the reunion, Ibarra Santes travelled to Mexico City, the Arellano brothers knew of this trip and sent their best hit men to kill him. Alfredo Hodoyan Palacios aka “El Lobo”, Emilio Valdes Mainero and Fabian Martines Gonzalez aka “El Tiburon” followed Ibarra after he left Mexico City´s airport. Ibarra took two bodyguards with him and took a taxi towards his hotel. The Tijuana “Narcojuniors” caught up with him and stopped their white Cutlass in front of the taxi, Ibarra´s bodyguards did not react in time and they were all killed along with the taxi driver. Ibarra was the only one who survived the initial attack but died on his way to the hospital.

 

The same witness recalls that Amado Carrillo knew of this when he was watching the news along “El Mayo” Zambada, and some Colombian drug lords in Mexico City. Amado supposedly cried his friend´s death the whole night.

The bodyguards of Ibarra Santes had no chance.

The merger that never happened: Tijuana and Juarez

The late journalist Jesus Blancornelas narrated a series of reunions between Amado Carrillo and representatives of the Tijuana cartel, said reunions took place early in 1997.

The reunions were made following a recommendation by Mexican General Jesus Gutierrez Rebollo, the idea behind was to end all confrontations between both cartels. Amado was interested in doing so, but he had only on condition, to be handed those who shot at her wife in the Bali-Hai shootout.

 

The first reunion took place in Sonora, the Arellano Felix brothers sent Manuel Aguirre Galindo aka “El Caballo” to speak with Carrillo Fuentes. At first, negotiations initially had a good course, but then Amado told Manuel his sole condition, Manuel quickly called Ramon who simply said “NO”, he wasn´t going to hand over three of his best hit men and more importantly to him, three of his friends. Ramon then asked to speak with Amado over the cell phone but Carrillo refused. Negotiations continued anyway. Carrillo told Manuel Aguirre that he had to take a flight to Chile and he would be out of the country some time, Carrillo said he´ll call “El Caballo” when he came back, after that, “El Caballo” left on his way to Tijuana.

 

The call never came, but the Arellano´s knew Carrillo was back in Mexico. They knew he was to be admitted into a plastic surgery clinic to change his face and have a small liposuction.

Here´s where things get murky, the following is the official account of that surgery.

On July 5th, Amado Carrillo arrived at Mexico City where he was admitted in a plastic surgery clinic, the surgery lasted more than 8 hrs, everything seemed to be OK, but on the early hours of the next day he woke up with major pain, a sedative was injected to him which caused a massive heart attack.

 

Just like with almost all deaths of high ranking criminals, Amado´s death is full of conspiracy theories, some claim he really died in an accident, other´s claim he was killed either by Colombian´s or by the Tijuana cartel, some others claim Amado retired and fooled the DEA. Either way, Amado was gone and the Tijuana cartel had lost another enemy, maybe the most powerful enemy they ever faced.

Alleged corpse of Amado Carrillo.

 

TO BE CONTINUED…

 

 

 

 

http://www.borderlandbeat.com/2013/05/the-war-for-tijuana-20-year-conflict.html

 

The war for Tijuana, a 20+ year conflict. PART 2

May 31, 2013

 

The war for Tijuana is not a new war, nor has it ended. In part 1 of this article we explored the history behind the war for Tijuana, we saw how the Arellano Felix brothers became Mexico´s most powerful cartel in the 90´s, some people didn´t like the article because they thought people like “El Chapo” or “El Mayo” seemed out of league against the Tijuana Cartel, but the truth is, in those days, they didn´t have the power they have now.

Even if some people don’t like to read this, the fact is the Sinaloa cartel had little to no power in Baja California in the early 90´s, as a matter of fact, the Sinaloa cartel didn´t exist as such, they were all under Amado Carrillo´s orders, be it the Beltran Leyva´s, the Zambada´s, and even Chapo, all of them somehow answered to, or were under protection from Amado Carrillo.

Something worth mentioning, is the fact that before all this, Benjamin Arellano was a very good friend of Chapo Guzman, to the point of calling themselves “compadres”, but “El Chapo” wasn´t his only “Compadre”, according to an interview with Amado Carrillo´s mom, Carrillo was the Godfather of Benjamin´s son. She claimed she had nothing but respect for the Arellano Felix family, who promised to respect Amado´s family and their property.
The following are some of the most important facts in the war for Tijuana, some of them didn´t take place in Tijuana, but they surely had an effect on the war for the city.

THE WAR FOR JUAREZ BEGINS

It was July, 1997, the news about Amado Carrillo´s mysterious death were fresh, suddenly, the powerful Juarez Cartel was without a leader, and many tried to assume that role.

The violence in Ciudad Juarez exploded after Amado´s death, Alfonzo Corral Olaguez aka “El Patas Verdes” (Green feet- he was called this way because he loved to dress with green crocodile boots) was at the time the plaza boss for the Juarez Cartel, he wasn´t seen as a possible successor for “El Señor de los Cielos”, and so he felt relatively safe, he was just a lieutenant for the organization and shared the position with Juan Heriberto Carrillo Olivas, Amado´s nephew.

On August 3, 1997, Corral Olaguez was killed in the Max Fim restaurant. According to news reports of the era, 3 elegantly dressed men arrived on board a limousine to the restaurant; these men crossed the main door and began shooting their AK-47´s at a table. Corral Olaguez tried to save his girlfriend´s life covering her with his body, but she also received the coup de grace by the attackers.

Six people died that day, including then Cd. Juarez plaza boss, Alfonzo Corral Olaguez. This was the beginning of a bloody era for Cd. Juarez, the bloodshed spread throughout the country, with shootouts in Mexico City, Jalisco and Sonora.

Federal Authorities soon realized this wasn´t the Carrillo Fuentes style, they believed this was the dirty work of the Arellano Felix brothers. One DEA agent was quoted as saying “The cartels all work together except the Arellano Felix brothers, they don´t get along with anyone”.

The war didn´t stop in Tijuana or Juarez, it also reached Mexico City.

FBI´S TEN MOST WANTED

After Amado Carrillo´s death, the possible merger between the Tijuana and Juarez cartels disappeared, with their most powerful enemies gone, the Tijuana cartel was seen as the biggest and most dangerous criminal group in Latin America, at the time nobody was able to challenge them, “Mayo” Zambada didn´t had the power needed, “El Chapo” and “Guero” Palma were in prison, and the all-mighty Gulf Baron, Juan Garcia Abrego was captured a year before, at the time nobody knew who Osiel Cardenas was, much less the zetas.

Soon after the incursion of the Tijuana Cartel in Juarez, and fearing the violence would cross the border, the FBI named Ramon Arellano Felix one of their Ten Most Wanted fugitives. 50,000 USD were offered as reward for information leading to Ramon´s arrest. This reward was followed by an offer of up to 2 million USD from the US Department of Justice.

Even with all the press Ramon and Benjamin were receiving, the cartel´s operations continued without problems, the cocaine kept arriving at Tijuana and the cartel kept smuggling it to the US.

Meanwhile, underestimated by his rivals, ”El Chapo” Guzman became the owner of the Puente Grande Federal Prison; anything from liquor bottles, to drugs, to woman was at his disposal. He bribed all the guards he could, and threatened those few who refused to obey him. Along with his partner Hector Palma Salazar, “El Chapo” controlled the so called maximum security prison, his future escape -much blamed on the then new Fox administration- was planned during these years.

“WANTED” ads like this were hung in the San Ysidro/Tijuana border

THE JOURNALIST

Jesus Blancornelas is a well-known name in the journalist circles in Mexico, at a time of severe censorship, his ZETA magazine was one of the few places were you could read about the narco wars.

ZETA has always covered those stories other media can´t (or simply won´t), drug trafficking, political corruption, etc.

In 1988 Hector Felix Miranda, co-founder of the ZETA magazine was gunned down by Jorge Hank Rhon´s bodyguards, this crime was never solved but ZETA keeps pointing to the Hank family.

ZETA employees always received threats, but in 1997 the threats became reality, it was November 27th, Jesus Blancornelas left his home when a group of hit men ambushed him along with his driver/bodyguard Luis Valero Elizaldi.

The hit men had been following them for days, that morning, one of them took out the air from the four tires of Blancornelas Ford Explorer, and his bodyguard took the Explorer to a tire shop and picked Blancornelas at about 9:30 AM.

Luis Valero noticed a green Pontiac and told Blancornelas they were “mañosos” (slang for mobsters), Blancornelas just told him to be cautious, a few blocks ahead, the green Pontiac caught up with them, Fabian Martinez aka “El Tiburon” began shooting his handgun at them, then David Corona Barron aka “El CH” shoot at them with an AK-47, Valero tried to escape but Corona Barron shoot him in the chest and killed him, Jesus Blancornelas received 4 gunshots in his body, one of them broke his trachea and another one punctured his lung, David Corona was supposed to give Blancornelas the final shot, but he died before he could do it, shrapnel from a bullet fired by one of his associated hit him in the eye killing him instantly.

With all the confusion, the hit men escaped leaving behind the body of one of the most famous killers in cartel history. David Corona had a fake ID with the name of Javier Ortiz Calvo. It wasn´t until the FBI got a tip, that his real identity was known.

Blancornelas survived the attack, but he never recovered his normal life, then President Ernesto Zedillo gave Blancornelas a full time guard, he commissioned 12 special forces soldiers to this task, these soldiers belonged to the elite GAFE(Same group that gave birth to Los Zetas).

According to Blancornelas, Ramon Arellano Felix denied ordering the hit on him, but nobody believed this, the hit came 3 weeks after ZETA published the names and connections of the “Narcojuniors” (Young men from the wealthiest families in Tijuana who acted as Ramon´s personal army).

This failed attempt on the journalist brought extreme heat to the Tijuana plaza, not only did they fail, but they lost their main hit man.

David Corona Barron aka “El CH” after the failed hit.

THE DEATH OF A “NARCOJUNIOR”

Fabian Martinez Gonzalez aka “El Tiburon” was a member of a highly respected family in Tijuana, those who knew him at middle school never thought he would become the cold blooded killer he was, while in School Fabian was constantly bullied.

Fabian met Ramon Arellano somewhere in the 80´s, at the time, Ramon was someone who would kill just for fun, they began a friendship and soon the group included many of Tijuana´s most respected heirs.

By the mid 80´s Fabian was selling hundreds of kilos of cocaine, he was seldom inspected in the San Ysidro border, but in 1987 his luck changed, he had just bought 200 kilos of pure cocaine with one of his contacts in Mazatlan, he tried to smuggle them to California, but by the time he reached the border, there were dozens of DEA and Customs agents awaiting for him. Many dealers have spent decades in jail for fewer drugs, but somehow Fabian´s lawyer got him an 18 month sentence, while in Jail, Fabian met the business partner of his Mazatlan´s contact, he confessed to Fabian that Manolo Tirado, aka “El Manotas” had snitched on him.

Manolo Tirado was murdered in Tijuana just a few days after the release of “El Tiburon”.

This wasn´t Fabian´s first murder, nor his last, Fabian killed a lot of people, he became one of the most proficient killers for the Arellano Felix brothers, along with his “narcojunior” friends, Fabian was responsible for countless deaths in places such as Sinaloa, Jalisco, Michoacan, Sonora, Cd. Juarez and Mexico City.

Fabian was known for his skill with an AK-47, he was so cocky about his “career” that he used to challenge the Police Agencies using their own radio frequencies, in 1992, after the murder of the Olmos brothers, Fabian and his friends kept cursing at the cops, they played songs in the radio frequency and event told them “You know who we are, you know where we are, come and get us…If you dare, we still have lots of bullets for you”.

In 1998, Fabian was sent to Zapopan, Jalisco, his mission was to murder Napoleon Flores Gaxiola, a Sinaloan who stole drugs from the Tijuana Cartel. Fabian had no trouble finding and killing Flores Gaxiola, when Fabian tried to escape he ran into the police who followed him and his partners, a shootout started and one of his partners was hurt, their gateway car broke down and Miguel Angel Galvez Castro was arrested, two other men successfully escaped on foot but “El Tiburon” didn´t share their luck, he took down a man from his vehicle, while on the run he confronted the Zapopan police, as luck would have it, his recently stolen vehicle broke down too, police agents followed him to a phone booth where he was surrounded, not wanting to life the rest of his days in prison, Martinez pointed his gun at himself and told the officers he would kill himself if they approached him, at this moment he made a final phone call, legend has it he called Benjamin Arellano letting him know what happened, after this, the police officers ran towards him and he shot himself.

Some people still believe Fabian didn´t die, his body was never recovered, his forensic records disappeared and it was proven by the PGR that his autopsy report was forged.

Fabian Martinez Gonzalez aka “El Tiburon”.

BAJA´S FIRST MASS MURDER

Fermin Castro Ramirez, a former teacher from Ensenada, Baja California, used to land airplanes arriving from Sinaloa; his job was to safeguard the shipments and then hiding them in false bottoms on cattle trucks going to Tijuana.

Fermin Castro worked alongside Oscar Quiñonez Beltran aka “El Naty” and Eduardo Basurto aka “El Guayito”. They all worked for a cell of the Arellano Felix Cartel. Sometime in 1998, Quiñonez Beltran owed 80 thousand dollars to Fermin Castro, Castro convinced “El Guayito” to give him a shipment(some say up to 800 kilos of Marijuana) from Quiñonez Beltran in exchange for 10 thousand dollars.

On September 13th, 1998, Basurto arrived at Castro´s home in Ensenada, he demanded the 10 thousand dollars Castro promised him, instead, Basurto received a few dollars to fill up his gas tank and head back to Tijuana. Fermin Castro called “El Naty” and told him he wouldn´t return the drugs until he received his money.

4 days later, at about 3 AM, several armed men arrived at Castro´s house, the compound where Castro live consisted of three homes belonging to three different families inside the same ranch.

The armed men took positions outside of the three homes, they knocked on the first home, property of Francisco Flores Altamirano, not knowing what was going on his mother opened the door and the hit men began shooting, there they shoot a 12 year old boy and left him for dead, the commando then ordered those in the house to step out to the backyard while other members broke into Esperanza Tovar´s home, Tovar´s family was taken to the backyard along with Macaria, and 8 month pregnant woman and Gerardo, his husband, all of them were thrown in the dirt and ordered to remain face down. The last home the broke into was that of Fermin Castro, he was shot in his bedroom; the armed group took his wife and 1 year old son to the backyard with the rest of the people. The interrogation began, the armed men asked for someone nicknamed “Chapo” or “Chaparro”, none of the family members could give any info so Lino Quintana ordered his men to kill them. Lino Quintana was the leader of the armed group, he was at the time one of the most feared hit men from the Arellano Felix brothers.

18 people died that day including women and children, only two people survived the attack, the 12 year old boy who was shot first, and Viviana, the oldest daughter of Fermin Castro, who remained hidden in a closet while the armed men killed her whole family.

This massacre ignored the unwritten law among cartels of respecting woman and children; no mercy was shown towards pregnant woman and small children. In an era where mass murders were unheard of, this tragedy brought even more pressure on the Tijuana Cartel, and their leaders.

“El Rodeo” crime scene, woman and kids were killed that day.

THE SPLIT OF THE JUAREZ CARTEL

The war soon reached Cd. Juarez, after Amado Carrillo´s death, the Juarez Cartel was in need of a new leader, several names were mentioned at the time, among them were those of Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada Garcia and Juan Jose “El Azul” Esparragoza Moreno, but at the end it was Vicente Carrillo Fuentes, Amado´s brother, the one who took the reins of the Juarez Cartel.

Vicente has been described as man with a lack of leadership, a very bad temper, and an extremely violent personality; someone who acts more on impulse than reasoning. This is the reason quoted by many for the defection of some of Amado´s closest allies, this included Arturo Beltran Leyva, “El Mayo”, “El Azul” and many more.

Knowing how paranoid Vicente was, none of this man felt they needed to be near him, besides, their loyalties were with Amado, not Vicente. For a time, all of this men operated by themselves, but that soon changed.

This is the time when the Sinaloa Cartel began to form as such, Carrillo´s former lieutenants formed their own groups, took some of the connections they had and began their operations in the Pacific. This is the time when “El Mayo” felt he could go back to Baja California and fight for the plaza.

Vicente Carrillo Fuentes aka “El Viceroy”.

THOSE WHO OWE NOTHING, FEAR NOTHING

Several high profile murders took place in Tijuana at the end of 1999 and the beginning of 2000, including those of: Jose Contreras Subias, former right hand man of Rafael Caro Quintero; Dr. Sergio Guillermo Perez, believed to be associated with the Arellano Felix brothers; Joaquin Baez Lugo, an Attorney who worked for the Tijuana Cartel; Former Judge Rodolfo Gallardo Hernandez, along with his wife and son; Victor Manuel Dominguez Verdugo; Jesus Araiza Sanchez aka “El Flaco”, a known drug smuggler; Police agent Pedro Vazquez and many more.

At the time it was a known fact that a hit squad from outside the city was conducting the murders, the man in charge of this hit squad was none other than Vicente Zambada Niebla aka “El Vicentillo”.  Zambada Niebla, then 24, was sent by his father, Ismael Zambada Garcia to fight for the Tijuana plaza, his mission was to “heat up” the plaza, knowing the brothers were far from the city, “El Mayo” saw this as an opportunity to take it from their hands. The idea was to kill as many high profile targets as possible, it didn´t matter if the victims weren´t related to the Tijuana Cartel, they just wanted to bring the attention of the Federal authorities to Tijuana.

Alfredo De la Torre Marquez was the Police Chief in Tijuana, he had been appointed by then City Mayor Francisco Vega de la Madrid(now running for Governor), at the time it was known that the Tijuana Cartel tried to bribe De la Torre, however, the Police Chief didn´t accept those bribes. The Arellano´s weren´t pleased with him, but as long as he didn´t mess with them, they wouldn´t mess with him (at the time, the local police had no jurisdiction over drug crimes).

In February 2000, Alfredo De la Torre was murdered, the group under Vicente Zambada known as “El Comando de la Muerte”(Death´s commando) ambushed him, they had infiltrated the Tijuana Police and knew Alfredo had no bodyguards on Sundays, more than 100 bullets were fired at his Suburban, of those, about 50 hit him, there was no way he could had survived the attack.

One week after the murder of De la Torre, Baja California´s Attorney General announced to the media the capture of six members of the “Death´s Commando”, years later it was known that people from the Tijuana Cartel captured them and handed them to local authorities.

Alfredo De la Torre´s Suburban.

THE END FOR “DON CHUY”

Three days after the capture of Zambada´s hit men, another capture took Tijuana by surprise, but this time it was a much bigger fish, on March 11th, 2000, a group of Special Forces surrounded Tijuana´s famous Lazaro Cardenas Federal High School, they had received an anonymous call with information about the location of Jesus Labra Aviles aka “Don Chuy”, that day, Labra Aviles arrived at the High School to see his son´s football game, he felt safe, knowing that his people had captured the Zambada team just three days before, he felt so safe that he only had two bodyguards with him.

It was about 2:30 PM, it was the game´s halftime when the bodyguards left Labra Aviles alone in the stands, they went to the bathroom and that was the chance the Special Forces were looking for, they didn´t care for the bodyguards, they just wanted to capture the man who was considered the “brain” of the Tijuana Cartel, as soon as the bodyguards left, the soldiers ran towards Labra, “Don Chuy” tried to escape, but he was no match to the youth and speed of the Special Forces soldiers who quickly caught up with him. Labra quickly surrendered and knelt and raised his arms asking not to be shot.

When the bodyguards saw this, they simply threw their weapons and fled the scene; nothing was heard from them again.

“Don Chuy” was a key element in the Tijuana Cartel, he was the one who introduced the Arellano Felix brothers to the large scale drug business, he was the one who inherited the “plaza” to them, and he was the one in charge of most of the cartel´s profits. Labra had connections in every aspect of the social life in Tijuana.

Many people mark this capture as the beginning of the fall for the Tijuana Cartel, Labra´s arrest took place 13 years ago, and since then, the US Government has claimed the Tijuana Cartel is history.

Jesus Labra Aviles at the moment of his capture.

THE CAPTURE OF EL MAYEL

The capture of “Don Chuy” was a major hit to the Tijuana Cartel, but it wasn´t the only hit they received in 2000, two months after Labra´s arrest, another group of Mexican Special Forces arrested Ismael Higuera Guerrero aka “El Mayel”, quite possible the most proficient cocaine “lander” in Mexico´s cartel history, this man was in charge of landing planes arriving from Colombia and taking the tons of cocaine to the United States, by the time of his capture he was considered by some newspapers as the new boss of the Tijuana Cartel, he had connections with the Rodriguez Orejuela brothers, with the Londoño family in Colombia and with the FARC, he was seen as a highly respected partner in Colombia. The famous narco-corrido CLAVE PRIVADA was written for him by Los Tucanes de Tijuana.

There are two stories on Higuera´s capture, one claims the Mexican Army noticed two beautiful ladies arriving from Colombia with fake papers at the Mexico City airport who took another flight to Tijuana, they commissioned another group to follow them to their destination, the ladies arrived at Tijuana´s airport and quickly boarded a brand new Suburban on their way to Ensenada, Baja California. In Ensenada they arrived at a luxurious house near the beach, the soldiers noticed armed men and took pictures of them, a day later they received confirmation on the identities of some of these men; one of special interest to them was Ismael Higuera Guerrero. Knowing the firepower of Higuera´s bodyguards, they waited till the early morning of the next day, then stormed the house and caught “El Mayel” naked with one of the Colombian ladies, his 15 year old son was also naked in another room with the other lady. It is said that they were so high in cocaine that “Mayel” tried shooting at them but hit nothing but air.

The other version claims the army personnel received an anonymous call, much like the one in Labra´s capture, claiming there were armed men in a beach house in Ensenada, the soldiers arrived at the house where Higuera´s bodyguards began shooting at them, this version claims the army personnel had no idea who they had just captured.

Either way, when his identity was confirmed, Ismael Higuera was quickly taken to Mexico City, they feared a full scale attack on them trying to save him, this was a man believed to be responsible for about three thousand murders, they knew he controlled tens, maybe hundreds of hit men and thought keeping him in Baja was too risky. Years later “El Mayel” would be extradited, while in jail he became christian, when he faced Judge Larry Burns in San Diego he just said “In the name of Christ, I ask to be forgiven for my sins”, he is serving a 40 year sentence in the ADX Supermax.

Ismael Higuera Guerrero aka “El Mayel”.

THE RETURN OF EL CHAPO

What can be said about Joaquin Guzman that hasn´t been said before? Joaquin Guzman Loera was a powerful drug lord at the moment of his capture in Guatemala, most people believed his power vanished when he was admitted in the Puente Grande “Maximum Security” Prison. For years “El Chapo” dedicated himself to create a corruption network inside Puente Grande like no drug lord had ever created in Mexico.

This corruption network wasn´t the sole work of Joaquin Guzman, there´s no way he could have corrupted so many people by himself, while in jail he received constant help from his crew in Sinaloa and from his then friends and allies, the Beltran Leyva brothers and Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada.

Mexican media, especially left wing media have for years claimed “El Chapo” escaped with help from then Mexican President Vicente Fox (PAN), there no proof about this, many conspiracy theories involve Fox receiving 20 million dollars for Guzman´s freedom, but again, no proof exists of that.

What is known is the fact that during the term of President Ernesto Zedillo (PRI), Joaquin Guzman gained full control of the so-called Maximum Security Puente Grande Prison; Parties, alcohol, drugs and woman were at Guzman´s disposal 24/7.

He was known for throwing big parties in Christmas and New Year, for helping the families of those inmates who had no money, but he also was known for having any woman he wanted inside the prison, it didn´t matter if they wanted to be with him or not.

Guzman had a powerful ally inside Puente Grande who would, years later, become another drug lord sought by the US Government: Damaso Lopez Nuñez aka “El Licenciado”, Lopez Nuñez took the role of Puente Grande´s Security Chief in 2000, before that he was at some time State Police Commander in Sinaloa.

One of the first theories about Guzman´s escape dealt with the fact that he could be extradited at any moment, Human Rights groups got word of his constant abuse towards prison personnel, his extravagant parties and the full control he had in Puente Grande. The Federal Government also began an investigation on Guzman´s power inside prison.

Just days before Guzman´s escape, the Federal Government ordered the prison director to increase security around Joaquin Guzman, Hector Luis Palma aka “El Guero” and Arturo Matinez aka “El Texas”, the order was given, but the prison personnel did nothing about it.

The official report claims Joaquin Guzman escaped in a laundry kart, helped by Javier Camberos aka “El Chito”. The investigation by PGR claims Camberos was able to take Guzman inside a laundry kart through the multiple security doors without anyone noticing, when he reached the parking lot, Guzman jumped inside the trunk of a vehicle driven by Camberos and took off. Camberos claims he drove for some time and then Chapo got out of the trunk, then they drove towards Zapotlanejo but “El Chapo” told him he was thirsty, Camberos stopped to buy Guzman a drink, but when he returned to the car, Guzman was gone, at least that´s what Camberos said.

Conspiracy theories aside, Joaquin Guzman´s escape proved to be a one of the key factors, if not THE key factor in the following years of the narco wars, his escape would have an impact not only in Sinaloa or Tijuana, but in all Mexico.

El Chapo was back and he wanted to regain what he felt was his…and much more.

Alleged picture of “El Chapo” years after his escape from prison.

TO BE CONTINUED…

UPDATE

People wrote claiming I stole the info, others(rightfully) believed credit should be given to the sources for this article, I foolishly thought that since this info was of public domain in Tijuana, and since I didn´t translate anyone else´s article on the war for Tijuana, no credit was due(I know, that was stupid of me). So here´s a list of sources I have used to learn all the above information.(I wasn´t able to locate links for all the stories since some of them I knew from friends or from TV).

El Pais

PROCESO

US DOJ

http://www.borderlandbeat.com/2013/05/the-war-for-tijuana-20-year-conflict_31.html

Man from Reynosa, Tamaulipas, Mexico arrested after being caught with Methamphetamines at the Hidalgo-Reynosa International Bridge

 May 31, 2013

 

Officers with U.S. Customs and border protection seized almost 6 lbs. of methamphetamine and arrested a man from Reynosa, Tamaulipas, Mexico.

The seizure and arrest occurred Thursday morning at the Hidalgo-Reynosa International Bridge after CBP-OFO officers encountered a 22-year-old male mexican citizen as a passenger in a mexican based taxicab arriving from Reynosa.

Four packages of alleged methamphetamine, which weighed approximately 5.73 lbs. were found.

The estimated street value of a $86,000.

 

 

 

http://www.foxrio2.com/81890/reynosa-man-arrested-after-being-caught-with-methamphetamines/

 

“Tony Tormenta” evaded the FBI and DEA

May 31, 2013

A decade before he became one of the three leaders of the powerful Gulf Cartel in Mexico, Antonio Ezequiel Cardenas Guillen slipped away from U.S. investigators in Houston, according to an FBI file released through an open records request.

From the shootout that killed Tony Tormenta

By the late 2000s, Cardenas, whose brother Osiel preceded him as the cartel’s leader and started the Zetas gang, was a member of a triumvirate that ran the cartel, according to an indictment filed in a Washington, D.C., federal court.
In November 2011, Antonio Cardenas, known as “Tony Tormenta” was killed in a shootout with Mexican marines in the border city of Matamoros.
In 1998, FBI agents acting on a tip raided Cardenas’s home in Houston, according to the recently released records. They saw Cardenas leave the house, but, citing lack of resources, chose to execute a search warrant on the residence rather than follow him. The search yielded “cash, numerous vehicles, cocaine, marijuana, firearms and one 1996 Sea Doo Bombardier with expired Florida registration …”
According to the reports in the FBI files, investigators didn’t know much about Cardenas or the organization with which he was working. Agents circulated information about him and his vehicle, but by then he had escaped. In a memo filed in December 1999, an FBI agent said Harris County prosecutors had indicted Cardenas on drug charges and wrote that the bureau would be closing its file.
Only a month earlier, the Cardenas name began to ring out along the Texas-Mexico border when Osiel and his henchmen forced a pair of U.S. agents off the road in Matamoros and threatened to kill them. The agents talked their way out and rescued the informant who had been showing them around the Gulf Cartel stronghold.
Osiel Cardenas was eventually arrested in Mexico in 2004 and extradited to the U.S. in 2007. In 2010, he was sentenced to 25 years in prison.
He was most famous for hiring as his personal muscle the band of former Mexican special forces soldiers who would become the Zetas.
After Cardenas’s extradition, leadership of the cartel fell to a committee of Tony Tormenta, Eduardo “El Coss” Costilla Sanchez, a capo under Osiel Cardenas, and Zetas leader Heriberto Lazcano, who was killed last year.
Sources: http://www.vanguardia.com.mx/tonytormentaevadioalfbiyladea-1752374.html
http://blog.mysanantonio.com/beyondtheborder/2013/05/texas-investigators-missed-cartel-boss-in-1998/

http://www.borderlandbeat.com/2013/05/tony-tormenta-evaded-fbi-and-dea.html

Slain Drug Cartel Lawyer Was U.S. Informant

May 31, 2013

Juan Guerrero Chapa, 43, was gunned down at about 7 p.m. May 22 at the Southlake Town Square by a masked man who jumped out of the back seat of a white sport utility vehicle, police said. Chapa had worked for the Department of Homeland Security Investigations, secretly providing inside information on cartel operations to American investigators.

The Mexican drug cartel attorney who was slain execution-style in Southlake last week had been a confidential informant for the U.S. government, law enforcement sources told NBC 5.
Juan Guerrero Chapa, 43, had worked for the Department of Homeland Security Investigations, secretly providing inside information on cartel operations to American investigators.
HSI is part of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Guerrero was gunned down at about 7 p.m. May 22 at the Southlake Town Square by a masked man who jumped out of the back seat of a white sport utility vehicle, police said. It was the first homicide in the upscale suburb since 1999.
The attorney had worked for top leaders of the Gulf Cartel, including former top boss Osiel Cardenas, who is now in prison in the United States.

It was unclear if his role as an informant may have leaked to the cartel, providing a motive for his killing. At least two U.S. trials of high-ranking Gulf Cartel members have concluded in recent weeks.
Guerrero, a Mexican citizen, his wife and three teenage children had been living in Southlake for two years, police said.
They had been living in the U.S. legally, according to ICE spokesman Carl Rusnock. High-level informants from Mexico or other countries are sometimes allowed to live in the United States as long as they are cooperating.
Rusnock had no comment when asked about Guerrero’s role as an informant. He referred questions to Southlake police.
Southlake police spokeswoman Kim Leach also declined comment.
Along with the FBI and the Drug Enforcement Administration, HSI investigates drug crimes.
With 6,700 special agents, HSI is the second-largest federal law enforcement agency. Only the FBI is bigger.

 

 

 

http://www.borderlandbeat.com/2013/05/slain-drug-cartel-lawyer-was-us.html

 

 

The Warriors Jalisco Cartel New Generation

May 31, 2013

The New Generation Jalisco Cartel (CJNG) transmits this communication to the society of Guerrero and Michoacán so you all know the purpose of this war is against the filthy Knights Templar. As in the previous statements several people have asked why this war, this warfare is not against society, so dont be alarmed, this war is against those individuals. Many people are tired of so many injustices committed by these rats that engaged in kidnapping and extortion.

Tuta, , , you say in your speech that the group of rats you command like el chayo, el kiki Plancarte; they are not narco traffickers, but also they are not a cartel and that they are not part of organized crime and that’s clear, because a narco trafficker does not engaged in stealing land or charge fees to all the people who work, yet you charge the aguacateros(Avacado dealers) a peso for every kilo of the mouth that packs it, who transports it, the taxi drivers, bus drivers, entrepreneurs, grocery stores, and even the lemon dealers you charge them a quota.
Dont you see the consequences, they have killed innocent people to take their land, their gardens and livestock. people are tired of so many of these injustices, except they dont speak up because of fear, but we, who are originally from Guerrero and Michoacán, we are witnesses of these anomalies made by you the Knights Templar.
We warriors of Jalisco New Generation cartel are fighting for this cause not to govern but we do it for Michoacán and Guerrero and to put an end by killing all these evils so we have peace and tranquility in these states. We then regain our homes, our land and our livestock; we avenge our families.
To all the innocent people who have been unjustly killed and robbed, we are the a proud cartel, The New Generation Jalisco Cartel. We dont dedicate our time to kidnapping or extorting, this why you Mr. President Enrique Peña Nieto and the governor of Guerrero, Aguirre Agel Rivero, with all due respect, we ask to let us do our job, to end with these scourges and after we finish with these evils and finish our work, you can then act according to law against us because we are drug dealers and belong to a cartel but we do not accept nor will we tolerate these injustices by the Knights Templar.
To all those who work with the Knights Templar prepare yourselves for the consequences, we know that the local police chief of the union of Guerrero Jaime Suástegui receives a monthly payroll of 120 thousand pesos for you and your officers by the Knights Templar. All municipal police in Michoacán receives a payroll according to El Aria. So I ask Marine Captain Ivan Garcia Alvarez to let us work because we know who works with the Knights Templar. We also ask the lieutenants; Seiana Espinosa Cortes, Fernando Alvarado Betancourt and sergeant of the 2nd infantry of Guerrero, Oliver Vargas not to intervene and let us to continue the work in cleaning Guerrero and Michoacán for the good of society and our families. We are going in with everything, going for you ‘pear makers in Zihuatanejo and Ixtapa plan for you Chano Riola, for Beto Bravo aka the hawk, for the boss of the plaza in Zihuatanejo Juan Magaña, Adrián Reyes cárdenas alias el tigre
Also for you Canelo, El Cachete, El Arcángel, El Vico, El Mando, El Wigan, Felipe and Edgar Gutierrez  aka ‘the golden boy.’ And those who are in charge of  Petatlán, for El Alfa and La Comadre who are boss of El Gavilan. You arent going to just fight with El Puma anymore but also with us bastards.
The New Generation Jalisco Cartel,  you’re now going to know what a war is and we ask the public prosecutor of Zihuatanejo and Petatlán to simply do your job and dont tangle with the Knights Templar because we agree with the ideals of Señor Lucio Cabañas Barrientos that many years ago he fought for the injustices of Guerrero and that is why we ask our comrades who are in San luis la loma, Coahuayutla, Etatlán, La Union, Feliciano, La Salada, Coyuquilla, Petacalco and Las tama. All the villages dont lower your guard and hit em with everything you got because the victory is ours.
Knights Templar dont worry about looking for us because we will find you, we are ready,  The Warriors Jalisco Cartel New Generation.

 

 

http://www.borderlandbeat.com/2013/05/the-warriors-jalisco-cartel-new.html

 

 

 

 

Prosecutor Drops Bombshell Revelations About Alleged Ex-Hezbollah Commander Recently Arrested in Texas

May. 29, 2013

 

Counterterrorism officials on Wednesday revealed stunning details about 44-year-old Wissam Allouche, an alleged former Hezbollah commander who was arrested in Texas after being indicted on charges of not disclosing his affiliation with terrorist groups.

In this November 12, 2010 file photo, Hezbollah fighters parade during the inauguration of a new cemetery for their fighters who died in fighting against Israel

During Allouche’s bail hearing in San Antonio Wednesday, the prosecution said the FBI recovered documents they claim he fabricated to falsely show he had security clearances. It was also alleged that Allouche tried to “hook up” with women at Fort Sam Houston to possibly to gain access to sensitive material, MySanAntonio.com reports.

And that’s not all.

As previously reported by TheBlaze, Allouche was arrested last week for failing to disclose his membership in the Amal militia and Hezbollah in Lebanon in the 1980s and lying about issues concerning his marriage to a U.S. citizen. He is also charged with failing to disclose his ties to the terror groups when he applied for a Defense Department position that required security clearance.

If you haven’t heard of Allouche or his alleged plot to gain security clearance at the Defense Department, you’re not alone. A Google news search on the frightening story yielded very few results as of Wednesday night.

The FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force has reportedly been investigating Allouche for more than three years, even going as far as using an undercover agent to secretly record conversations with him.

The FBI reportedly raided his then-home in Universal City in 2011 and found documents he allegedly fabricated to show proof of security clearances, membership in U.S. special forces and Defense Department intelligence units.

It was also revealed that Allouche had at least three aliases, one of which meant “god of death.” Investigators claim the suspected Hezbollah member was known for “acting crazy or acting dangerously.”

“He admitted on tape that he was a member of Amal and that he was a commander of Hezbollah,” prosecutor Mark Roomberg reportedly told the judge during the bail hearing on Wednesday. U.S. Magistrate Judge Henry Bemporad agreed to keep Allouche in jail pending a trial.

Roomberg also said the suspect admitted to “sodomizing and murdering an Israeli POW.”

Jeff Cram, an Army criminal investigations agent and member of the FBI task force, testified that an investigation uncovered more details about Allouche’s ties to terror groups.

The investigator told the judge that the suspect was spotted by at least two people at Fort Sam Houston dressed in a U.S. military uniform bearing insignias from special forces.

Additionally, Cram said that the task force obtained eight photos from a source that show Allouche wielding assault rifles or rocket propelled grenades during his time with Amal and Hezbollah.

More from the report:

[Allouche] is not charged specifically with espionage or terrorist activity. Hezbollah, conceived by Muslim clericks, was formed in the 1980s in the wake of the Israeli occupation of Lebanon, and has been considered a terrorist group by the U.S. since 1997, according to testimony and news reports. Some reports said Hezbollah was formed by members of the Amal movement, and other reports say Hezbollah gets support from Iran and Syria.

[…]

Allouche entered a not guilty plea to the charges, and his lawyer, Cynthia Orr, challenged the government’s characterization of her client.

Much of “the evidence comes from his disgruntled ex-wife and his disgruntled ex-father-in-law,” Orr told the judge.

According to the defense, Allouche has been living in the U.S. since 2002 and once owned a gas station. Prior to 2009, he reportedly worked for L3, a company that provides linguistic services to the U.S. military overseas. The suspect spent several months in Iraq.

He later went through a bitter divorce with his wife, a member of the U.S. Army, in 2009. The two met in Germany in 1999.

Orr pointed out that the Department of Homeland Security found “no derogatory information” about her client’s character and he was granted citizenship. However, the department apparently asked the Joint Terrorism Task Force to look into Allouche.

Allouche faces up to 10 years in prison if convicted of lying on his naturalization forms and five years in prison if convicted of lying on security clearance forms.

—

Editor’s note: The San Antonio Express-News’ (MySanAntonio.com) report on Allouche’s bail hearing was revised at some point Thursday night, removing several pieces of information. Information regarding the prosecutor’s claim that the suspect admitted to “sodomizing and murdering an Israeli POW” and that he was once a commander in Hezbollah has seemingly been scrubbed from the report. Additionally, references to photos of Allouche while a member of Hezbollah and/or Amal were apparently removed.

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2013/05/29/god-of-death-bombshell-revelations-about-alleged-hezbollah-commander-arrested-in-texas/

Mayhem in Monterrey: 7 die

May 29, 2013
A total of six individuals were killed in drug or gang related violence in and around Monterrey, Nuevo Leon since last Saturday, according to Mexican news reports.

According to a news account posted on the website of Milenio news daily, four members of a criminal cell were killed by Nuevo Leon state police agents Wednesday.
Several days ago, Mexican security authorities detained an undisclosed number of women in Marin municipality, who told police of the existence of a number of areas in and around Marin which were used by a local criminal gang as training areas.
A search was undertaken in the area, so when a group of Agencia Estatal de Investigaciones (AEI) agents went into an area with a number of abandoned residences on Nuevo Leon Highway 5, they came under small arms from an armed group which was holed up inside one of the residences.
Police returned fire initiating a firefight which lasted several minutes.  Agents then found four armed suspects who died in the confrontations.
Among the dead was an man identified only as El Chino Marino, who was said in news reports to be a local leader of a gang affiliated with Los Zetas.
Three AEI agents were hit with shrapnel in the firefight but were not wounded seriously.
In the aftermath police secured one vehicle, four rifles, an undisclosed number of pistols, ammunition and drugs.
A separate Milenio report said that two of the four dead were identified as Cristopher Martinez Nava, 17, and Jesus Alberto Sandoval Rocha, 21.
Three other individuals were killed in three separate incidents, including two women.

• Three days ago, a failed home invasion robbery led to the death of one unidentified armed suspect in northern Monterrey.  According to a news report posted on the online edition of Milenio, at around midnight, two suspects forced their way into a residence located near the intersection of calles Castillejo and Militronche in Barrio Chapultepec Norte. colony, but were met instead with an unidentified AEI agent with a 9mm semiautomatic pistol.  One of the suspects managed to flee while the other was struck by gunfire and died at the scene.  Apparently, the armed suspects entered the residence to extort the owner of an internet cafe, not realizing oneof the owners was a Nuevo Leon AEI agent.
• An unidentified woman was found buried secretly at a cemetery in Anahuac municipality in far northern Nuevo Leon state Wednesday.  According to a news report posed on the website of Milenio, municipal police agents found the grave, which has only recently been dug at the site.  The victim had been beaten to death.  The news report did not speculate as to the victim’s age, only that she was described as young.
• In San Nicolas de los Garza municipality, another young woman was found shot to death.  Myriam Alejandra Lara Padilla, 24, was found in Pedregal de Santo Domingo  colony struck by gunfire six times Wednesday.  The report said she has been shot by armed suspects from aboard a vehicle.

Separately, a man was detained by AEI agents in Monterrey Wednesday and 59 kilograms of marijuana were seized.
The arrest took place on Avenida Lincoln in Fidel Velazquez colony where Hector José Ortega Perez, 63, was stopped as he was driving a Silverado pickup truck.  The drugs had been hidden beneath a cargo of fruit.   Ortega Perez was allegedly involved in the distribution of marijuana since eight months ago, according to the news account.

 

 

 

 

http://www.borderlandbeat.com/2013/05/mayhem-in-monterrey-7-die.html