After spending 31 years in jail, one of the assassins of Kiki Camarena is now free

Original article available at ZETA  Translated by El Wachito

Francisco Javier Tejeda Jaramillo, one of the accused of the murder of DEA agent Enrique "Kiki" Camarena Salazar, an active Drug Enforcement Administration officer, was released Friday morning, of October 28 from the Reclusorio Norte in Mexico City, after spending 31 years and 4 months in prison.

The assassin of the DEA agent, started his sentence on June 11 of 1985, and at the moment of his departure from prison he claimed that he was innocent and that the Mexican government "forced him" to confess his involvement in the conspiracy to murder "Kiki" Camarena, according to Milenio newspaper.

After DEA Agent Camarena Salazar was able to infiltrate the ranks of the Guadalajara Cartel, funded by Miguel Angel Felix Gallardo, alias "El Padrino", the druglord ordered his kidnapping in February of 1985 and agents of the extinct Direccion Federal de Seguridad, at his service, kidnapped Camarena and torture him until he died.

Narco-Corridos; a historical overview

Posted by Chuck B Alamda for Borderland Beat from Regeneracion & Vanguardia articles

Starting with Calderon’s war, the violence was also reflected in the lyrics.

Couples are committed to invading the dance floor. The band prepares the instruments and the lights point toward the stage. The whistling is loud so that the waiting can be over. The technicians adjust the sound equipment and from several speakers you can hear:

 “Con cuerno de chivo y bazuca en la nuca/ volando cabezas al que se atraviesa/ somos sanguinarios locos bien ondeados/ nos gusta matar/ pa’ dar levantones somos los mejores/ siempre en caravana/ toda mi plebada/ bien empecherados/ blindados y listos para ejecutar…/ soy el número 1 de clave M1/ respaldado por El Mayo y por El Chapo/ la JT siempre presente y pendiente/ pa’ su apoyo dar”.

(With an AK-47 and a bazooka on the neck/ blowing off the heads of whoever gets in front/ we’re ruthless, crazy, and high/we like to kill/ for kidnappings we’re the best/ always in a caravan/ all the homeboys/ with bullet proof vests/ armored vehicles and ready to kill, execute/ I’m the number one with radio sign M1/ backed by el Mayo and el Chapo/ The JT (Javier Torres Felix) always present and on stand by to provide his support)

Tijuana: Arturo Giovanni Herrera 'El Gross' executed in Jalisco confirmed

El Gross killed in Jalisco  from AFN Tijuana....translated and posted by "J"

One of the principal figures in the alliance of CJNG and CTNG in Tijuana may have been killed in Guadalajara, Jalisco, yesterday.  Initial reports state Herrera was getting his haircut between Calle Independencia and Sierra Madre, when two gunmen entered and executed him.  

Herrera was also said to have been killed in early statements on September 3rd. in Tijuana, when the disarticulated bodies of three men were found thrown on the ground beneath a  bridge, a narco manta waving above.  The narco manta was threatening Herrera, and his principle lieutenants and caused some confusion.  It was later recanted, and said that Herrera was hiding in interior Mexico.  

Herrera, and El JP/R4 have driven many of the killings in Tijuana, esp. in Colonia Sanchez Tadoaba, as they fight a war of attrition against other Sinaloa leaders, including Los Aquiless, and El Griego. Herrera is a former retailer, who started under Teo lieutenants, and eventually worked for Aquilles, before switching to CJNG, pledging an allegiance to El Mencho, through narcomantas and corridos.

Graphic photo on following page....

Tijuana: The war between the Ministerial Police and PEP

Excerpt taken from Gente de la Tia Juana
Translated by El Wachito
Recommended prior reading: PEP elements leave a threatening message to Ministerial Cops, Agent Galvan attempts to rescue "El Pariente" from PEP elements

Galvan, is the Ministerial agent that is currently fighting the plaza for the "right to steal confiscated drugs" against the Policia Estatal Preventiva (PEP).

Yesterday, Thursday 27 of October, an email with a "Urgent/Priotity" stamp arrived at the installations of the FBI. The e-mail was sent from Daniel de la Rosa Anaya, secretary in charge of the State Security. In order for us to understand the e-mail and before we make it public, first we have to understand the problems that Commander Galvan has with the PEP.

"El Guano": The Weakest Link of CDS

Translated by Yaqui for Borderland Beat  Riodoce Oct 24, 2012

The Military is going after Aureliano Guzman Loera, alias “El Guano”, brother of Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, who has  been at the forefront of the fight against the Beltran Leyva brothers which has been ongoing in the mountains Badiraguato.

Alfonso Duarte Mujica, General of the Third Military Region now says that the sons of “El Chapo” Guzman gave the order to ambush the military convoy, in which five soldiers died, while the military troups are now focusing their search in the area where the drug trafficker may be hiding.

In Culiacan they are also continue operating to undermine the structure of the Sinaloa Cartel. On Monday, more than 20 homes were raided in search of cells involved in the ambush. Officially, only three detainees have been reported along with the large seizure of armaments. No more information about important detainees.

Culiacan: Mexican Marines shot and killed "El Phoenix Antrax" *Graphic Content*

Original article available at RAS NOTICIAS      Translated by El Wachito

Sargento Phoenix, head of sicarios of los Antrax, was killed this morning during a firefight against Mexican Marines, in Colonia Hidalgo, according to non official reports.

Another man killed during the firefight goes by the alias of "El Cali", a member of los antrax.

Chihuahua: 7 killed 1 injured at Chihuahua City motel attack

Guest Reporter material translated from vivren ojinaga, la parada

Seven people were killed and one left injured yesterday afternoon in Chihuahua city.  The massacre transpired at the Motel “Alfer” located on a highway leading to Ciudad Juarez, this confirmed by the attorney general’s office of Chihuahua. 

The 7 killed were all males, including a 16 year old.

The names of those killed; Jaime Galaviz Rivas, Leopoldo Santillán Galaviz, Ivonne Iravin, Ambrosio Victoriano Rodelo, Francisco Javier Pérez Nuevo (16 years), Manuel Humberto León Rivera and Hugo Estrada Espinoza.

Nuevo Leon:confirmed alliance between cells of CDG and Old School Z's taking on CDN

One of the two fractured groups of Los Zetas, (a cell of) Vieja Escuela Z (old School Zs) have created an alliance with a cell of del Golfo (Gulf  or CDG) Cartel.  The purpose of creating the alliance is to combat the Trevino Zetas group known as Cartel del Noreste or CDN, in particular in Nuevo Leon, a state that includes the city of Monterrey.

This information was given to authorities after the arrest of sicario Adrián Martínez Luna, alias “El Chino” or “El Ondeado” 26 years old.  He confirms that cells of CDG and Old School Z’s entered into the alliance to take down CDN and gain control of Nuevo Leon, where CDN has successfully advanced.

The arrest was made on October 19^th, at Alamo Hotel in San Nicolás de los Garza., a municipality of Monterrey.   Martinez admitted to being a sicario boss for the late Javier Morales alias “El Shaggy”, killed on October 9^th

by Mexican Marina in Monterrey. Shaggy, a former police in Piedras Negras Coahuila, had taken over as boss of the cell just last August.

Along with the arrest of Martínez, a 22 year old prostitute was arrested named Carolina Tobar Carbajal.  Seized in the arrest were several AR-15s assault rifles. A 9mm hand gun and an AK-47 .

Authorities deny the presence of Cartel Unidos in Nuevo Leon, but confirmed their existence, saying their place of operation is in Tamaulipas.

Mexico's bloodshed keeps getting worse — homicides hit a new high for the 3rd month in a row

Posted by Chuck B Almada, Republished from a Business Insider article

Written by Christopher Woody October 21, 2016

The grisly accounting continues in Mexico, as homicides hit a new high for the year in September — the third month in a row in to lodge such a record.

Nationwide, there were 2,187 homicide victims in September, exceeding the 2,155 of August and the 2,098 recorded in July. July was the first time the number of homicide victims was over 2,000 since the government began releasing that statistic at the start of 2014.

The number of homicide cases — a data point the Mexican government has released since 1997 — were 1,974 in September, which was a high for this year and the most registered since May 2012, meaning those 1,974 cases are the most recorded in a month since current President Enrique Peña Nieto took office in December 2012.

The number of homicide victims in September was a 37% increase over the number in September 2015, 1,599, and the total number of homicides recorded in the first nine months of this year, 16,747, was a 20% increase over those in the first nine months of last year, 13,938, Mexican security analyst Alejandro Hope noted on Twitter.

"Measured by daily average, September 2016 was the month with most preliminary investigations for intentional homicide since June of 2011," Hope said. 2011 and 2012 were the tail end of a period of violence that lashed Mexico starting around 2009, a few years after then-President Felipe Calderon deployed troops throughout the country to fight drug cartels.

Murdering the wounded in hospitals: Nothing Stops El Narco Mexicano

Translated by Chuck B Almada from an El Pais article

Written by J.M. Ahrens

October 26, 2016

Sketch of Crisforo Maldonado's killer

In Mexico, organized crime does not stop at the hospital doors. Murdering the already critically wounded in front of doctors and nurses has become a common practice. That’s exactly what happened at the General Hospital of the Americas in Ecatepec, Mexico State. The facts are simple.

At night, the Cruz Roja (EMS) received a call for service: in the Estrella de Oriente neighborhood, there was a vehicle with two occupants suffering from gunshot wounds. When the ambulance arrived, one of the occupants was already deceased while the second occupant was bleeding-out and was immediately transported to the hospital. However, upon arrival, according to the preliminary investigation, an unknown person approached the patient, produced a weapon, and executed him. The unknown assailant also shot a nurse and then vanished.

Two weeks prior, the same type of incident took place at the public hospital in Cosamaloapan in Veracruz. During the morning hours, two pick-up trucks with about 10 sicarios arrived and parked in front of the hospital. Half of the sicarios took care of the security guards while the second half went to the room where Augstin Yescas Canelas who had been shot the day before. The sicarios stabbed him to death in his hospital bed.

Proposal to have "faceless" judges in Mexico for protection against organized crime

Translated by Chuck B Almada for Borderland Beat from an Actualidad RT article

Proposal to have “faceless judges” in Mexico in an attempt to protect them from el Narco

The National Commission for Human Rights has requested the analysis that was used in Italy, Colombia, and Peru to protect judges.

With the objective of protecting Judges in Mexico, the spokesperson for the National Commission for

Human Rights has recommended studying the possibility of implementing the “faceless judge” program.

The suggesting came three days after the murder of Judge Vicente Antonio Bermudez that was killed in the middle of the street in the municipality of Metepec. Judge Vicente Bermudez is the judge responsible for hearing high profile cases such as those of El Chapo, and several key figures from Los Zetas, this according to Excelsior.

The president of the National Commission for Human Rights, Luis Raul Gonzalez Perez justified the proposal by stating, “It’s a mechanism that has to be evaluated. Indeed, judges have to be provided with all types of security so that they can carryout their duties with impartiality.”

US Treasury Dept Targets Nine Tied To CJNG and LOS CUINIS

   Posted by Yaqui for Borderland Beat US Treasury Dept Oct 27, 2016                                                                                                                                                                        

 

  US Treasury Dept Sanctions Individuals Supporting Powerful Mexico - Based Drug Cartels

Action Targets Nine Individuals Tied to the Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generacion (CJNG) and the Los Cuinis Drug Trafficking Organization (DTO)

WASHINGTON—Today, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctioned nine Mexican individuals linked to the Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generacion (CJNG) and its close ally, the Los Cuinis Drug Trafficking Organization (DTO), which were initially sanctioned on April 8, 2015.   The nine individuals are designated as  Specially Designated Narcotics Traffickers (SDNTs) pursuant to the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act (Kingpin Act) for providing material assistance to the drug trafficking activities of Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes (a.k.a. “Mencho”) and his brother-in-law, Abigael Gonzalez Valencia, the respective leaders of CJNG and the Los Cuinis DTO.  As a result of today’s action, any assets these individuals may have under U.S. jurisdiction are frozen, and U.S. persons are generally prohibited from engaging in transactions with them.

Executed Federal Judge Had Cases of Top Drug Lords

Republished and Translated by Yaqui ..for Borderland Beat from Zeta Oct 19, 2016

Jose Refugio Rodriguez Nunez, Lawyer for drug trafficker Joaquin Archivaldo Guzman Loera, alias “ El Chapo”, denied that his client is involved in the murder of  the Federal Judge Antonio Vincente Bermudez Zacharias, executed around 7:30 PM Monday, Oct 17, 2016 by a shot to the neck while he was jogging near his home in Metepec, State of Mexico.

In an interview with journalist Carlos Loret de Monet, on the morning show on Televisa Network, the defender of the former leader of the Sinaloa Cartel said that versions of the story that want to tie his client  to the murder of the judge as “ pure sensationalism”.

The attorney said that he has had no contact with the federal judge, Bermudez Zacharias since the past March when  the Judge arrived at the Fifth District Court of Appeals and  Civil Judgements in the State of Mexico, and although he did not have the pleasure of knowing him in that capacity, he thought that he was an honest man.

“It is sensationalism and talk without basis, to try to establish who gave the suspension of the appeal”, he said when asked about the pending extradition to the US of “El Chapo “ Guzman, which was resolved in the Fifth Court, but it was before Judge Bermudez Zacharias had assumed his position there.

Additionally, Rodriguez Nunez qualified the murder of the federal judge as reprehensible and they were actions that “infuriate society”. He reiterated that he and his litigant had no contact with the judge and that they knew him as an honest person.

"El Cholo Ivan" a free man... but only for a couple of minutes

Original article posted by ZETA

Translated by El Wachito

"For a lack of evidence", a judge submitted a liberation order for Orso Ivan Gastelum Cruz, Alias "El Cholo Ivan", however, elements of the Mexican Army detained him while he was walking out of the Centro Federal de Readaptacion Social (CEFERESO) number 9, in Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua, according to journalist Carlos Loret de Mola, in his weekly column "Histories of a journalist" that is published in the national newspaper El Universal.

"El Cholo Ivan" is the man that appeared next to el Chapo with an uncover back, in the backseat of a Federal police vehicle, last January 8 from this year, both were capture in Los Mochis, Sinaloa.

The oddly beautiful and sometimes disturbing artistic talent of the nation’s drug cops

By Christopher Ingraham, reporting for the Washington Post
Original article available here

Detail of DEA "Dangerous Drugs Intelligence Unit" patch. Photo courtesy of Nathan Zubke.

The skeleton swoops into the foreground wearing a tuxedo, top hat and pink-framed glasses. Behind him, a rainbow sky fades into a field of twinkling stars. He holds a syringe in one hand, sending a celebratory squirt of its contents into the air.

It looks like the type of scene you might see on a college dorm room poster celebrating drugs and the counterculture. But in fact, it's an embroidered uniform patch made for members of the Drug Enforcement Administration's Dangerous Drugs Intelligence Unit, a group that monitors major drug trafficking organizations. And it's just one of hundreds, perhaps thousands, of colorful and sometimes bizarre patches manufactured for various DEA divisions and task forces over the years.

TIJUANA: Narcomanta and granade left for Ministerial Officers accused of stealing drugs

Original article available at ZETA
Translated by El Wachito

"This is for the dirty Ministerial rats", is the quote that begins the narcomanta that was left in the installations of the Procuraduria General de Justicia Del Estado in Tijuana by the Central Camionera.

In the narcomanta, Galvan who is the Commander in charge of the Minor Scale Drug Dealing Department, and other elements named Santoyo Nunez, Ramirez Castro, Ayala and another one who's last name is Cruz are being accused of stealing drugs.

Michoacán: Aquila Autodefensas Retake Up Arms; Government Denies It

Archive Photo

Translated by Valor for Borderland Beat

Due to recent violence and the neglect from state and federal authorities in the region, residents of the municipality of Aquila retook up arms, almost three years after the emergence of the autodefensas.

In an interview conducted by Noventa Grados Radio, the leader of the autodefensas in Aquila, Semeí Verdía Zepeda, stated that in less than a month, there have been three assassinations, two of which were tortured and burned, as well as an ambush against municipal police.

The extreme violence with which have been carried out by criminals and the lack of capacity of the municipal police to ensure the security in the municipality, have forced people to take up arms, Verdía Zepeda said.

The leader of the autodefensas said that neither the state nor the federal governments turn to take a look at the coastal region, as it is its duty to ensure the safety of the state, but also acknowledged that it is the work of the three levels of government.

Semeí Verdía said that the municipal police alone can’t handle the problem of insecurity, so that’s why the civilians will help them, because organized crime forces them to be on alert.

He also expressed the full willingness of the people to cooperate with the authority if it approaches them and asks them, but this has not happened, and instead has kept Aquila outside of security and social actions.

Michoacán Government Denies Autodefensas Retook Up Arms

At Least 12 Ambushes Against Police In Michoacán This Year: 8 Dead, 12 Wounded

By: Cecilia Sierra | Translated by Valor for Borderland Beat

Morelia, Michoacán, October 25, 2016 — There have been 12 ambushes against municipal, state, and also federal police forces so far this year in the state of Michoacán. 

In addition, the attacks on law enforcement have left eight police officers injured by gun fire.

The attacks have occurred on state highways, especially in the vicinity of remote communities of the municipalities, as has happened in the most recent events in Acahuato, Cancita and Las Yeguas, in Aguililla y Apatzingán.

There are also cases of attacks against municipal police forces from Ixtlán and Gabriel Zamora that killed two police officers; of the Director of Public Safety of Tiquicheo along the highway Mil Cumbres-Morelia; of Ziracuaretiro and San Pedro Barajas in La Huacana; where a federal highway police officer died and left another one severely injured.

In addition to these violent acts, is the ambush suffered by the mayor of Pungarabato, Ambrosio Soto Duarte, that took the life of the mayor and his driver, and also left two police officers injured along the highway San Lucas-Ciudad Altamirano.

California's quiet bid for Recreational Marijuana legalization

by Chivis Martinez for Borderland Beat

If California legalization of pot passes, lives will be greatly changed as records are expunged   

California’s 2016 marijuana ballot initiative hasn’t generated much noise in the media, and that goes for inside California itself.  But there should be interest because the issue goes far beyond giving the legal right to citizens over the age of 21 to smoke pot recreationally.

Numbers

In 1996, California became the ground breaking state as the first state to legalize marijuana for medical purposes, pursuant to California proposition 215.   The initiative did not affect federal laws.

According to Gallup, in 1996 73% of United States citizens still opposed any legalization of marijuana, or 27% supporting legalization, when the question was asked, “Do you think marijuana should become legal?”

Today, in 2016, among U.S. voters,  the percentage of support has climbed to approximately 62% when averaging polls.

San Diego: Sinaloa trafficker Victor Emilio Cazares Gastelum sentenced to 15 years

Victor Emilio Cazares Gasteluem sentenced

It's taken almost a decade for Cazares, the elusive trafficker, who owned large homes in Culiacan, including one with a waterpark, to be humbled in front of a US District Judge.  In 2007, Cazares, along with dozens of others was indicted in Operation Inland Emperor, which targeted several large scale Sinaloa based trafficking networks.  The operation yielded 402 arrests, 45 million in cash, and ton quantities of cocaine, meth, heroin, and marijuana.  

Cazares, working with a transportation cell he organized in Mexicali, imported thousands of kilos of cocaine into the US, supplying distributors across the country.  Drug shipments were flown by private plane, semi truck, and personal vehicles.  After the indictment, he was seen in Culiacan, with a dozen bodyguards, and Mexican authorities wouldn't arrest him, as the US counterparts watched in frustration. 

Sometime later, Cazares, rumored to be in debt to Ismael Zambada for lost cocaine shipments, and suspected of cooperating with US authorities, fled Sinaloa.  His homes were maintained in his absence.  He was finally arrested in Guadalajara in 2012, having changed his appearance substantially. He was extradited this year. 

'El Chapo' Guzman's health worsening after extradition setback, lawyer says

Posted by Chuck B Almada, Republished from a Fox New Latino article
October 23, 2016

Ciudad Juarez –  Following a major legal setback in their battle to avoid notorious Mexican drug lordUnited States.

Joaquin "El Chapo" (Shorty) Guzman's extradition, his defense attorneys appear to be laying the groundwork for a possible argument that he is unfit to stand trial in the

 Guzman is in somewhat better spirits than a few months ago because his wife, Emma Coronel, visited him last week, but he is concerned about his mental health because his head hurts and he is experiencing memory loss, Silvia Delgado, his attorney in the northern border city of Ciudad Juarez, told EFE Friday. The imprisoned Sinaloa cartel chief's short-term memory is increasingly diminished, and in the prison where he is confined in Ciudad Juarez officials are only giving him one-fourth of the anxiolytic medication doctors have prescribed, Delgado said.

"He put a lot of emphasis on his health. He says he wouldn't make an attempt on his own life for the sake of his two (young) daughters, but he urged us to help him with his health," she said after visiting the prison where he has been held since May.

She said she could not say that Guzman "is confident he won't be extradited soon, but he's at ease with the work we're doing as his legal representatives," Delgado added.

Andres Granados, one of the leaders of Guzman's defense team, told EFE that his client could die as soon as December if he continues to be mistreated inside the prison.

Guerrero: Shootout Between Community Police Groups Leaves 5 Dead

By: Vania Pigeonutt | Translated by Valor for Borderland Beat

Five members of the Citizen Security and Justice System (SSyJC) of the Union of Peoples and Organizations of the State of Guerrero (UPOEG) were killed, three more were wounded and one was reported as missing after a shootout “clash” with members of the United Front for the Security and Development of the State of Guerrero (FUSDEG) in the community of Tlayolapa, Juan R Escudero.

The Attorney General of Guerrero, Xavier Olea Peláez, confirmed that “there was a confrontation between two community police groups.  My staff (belonging to the public prosecutor’s office) are already carrying out the proceedings at the location (Tlayolapa, 40 minutes away from the municipal seat of Juan R. Escudero).”

Although Olea stated that he had no confirmation about the casualties, Bruno Plácido Valerio, leader of the UPOEG, said via telephone that without giving details about the events, he confirmed that five police members of his organization died and one is missing.

In addition, there are three wounded that are receiving care in the basic hospital of Xalpatláhuac, located on the Costa Chica region of Guerrero, 30 minutes from Juan R. Escudero, where the UPOEG maintains their base of operations and where there is presence of FUSDEG in some parts of the communities.

Members of the public ministry, federal and state police, and members of the state ministerial police (PME) arrived at the scene.

PGR Detains Suspects in the Sinaloa Military Ambush

Translated by Yaqui for Borderland Beat  From  Zeta Oct 21, 2016

The Attorney General's Office (PGR) presented details of the investigation that continues after the ambush of a military convoy early on Sept.30 in Culiacan, Sinaloa and say that they have already detained several members of the criminal group that is responsible.

Gustavo Romulo Salas Chavez, head of the Deputy Attorney Specialized Investigation Of Organized Crime (SEIDO) reported that research during the investigation has helped identify the masterminds and perpetrators of the aggression and the motive behind it.

However, Salas Chavez has not confirmed that the Sinaloa Cartel is the group responsible as the military authorities have signaled in the past weeks.

The head of SEIDO said that a group of gunmen attacked the Army convoy to achieve the rescue of "El Kevin" alias "El 2000", who is known as an alleged member of the Sinaloa Cartel.

How one drug cartel banked its cash in New York City

Posted by DD Republished from ABC News

 By Tom Hays, Associated Press
 

In this August 2013 surveillance photo provided by the Drug Enforcement Administration, Francisco Salgado and his sister Alejandra walk on New York’s Third Avenue in midtown Manhattan where authorities say they made multiple cash deposits at banks within a few blocks of each other as part of a Mexican cartel money-laundering scheme. Authorities say the pair entered seven different banks making cash deposits of just under $10,000, all from piles of drug money they were carrying in designer purses and shopping bags. (DEA via AP) Less

In the photos, Alejandra Salgado and her little brother Francisco look like ordinary tourists strolling the streets of midtown Manhattan. He carries a shopping bag. She wears a white dress, a necklace and a leather tote slung over one shoulder.

But the outings were hardly innocent.

Over two hours, federal agents snapped pictures as the pair visited seven banks, stopping at each one to make cash deposits of just under $10,000 — all from piles of drug money stashed in their bags.

Prosecutors say the flurry of modest deposits was one of the many schemes hatched by Mexican crime cartels trying to bring billions of dollars in drug proceeds back from the United States without attracting scrutiny from banking regulators.

In six days "El Mono " sold 2100 kg of coke in Europe and sent Zetas 75M USD

Translated  by Yaqui for Borderland Beat  translated  From Zeta Oct 21, 2016

 By Carlos Alvarez

Juan Manuel Munoz Luevano, alias "El Mono", alleged European link of Los Zetas, kept documents at his home in Madrid, Spain that revealed he had transferred 2100 of kilos of cocaine and $75 million dollars, in an operation that lasted only six days between February 11 and 17, 2012.

The Spanish daily newspaper, El Pais, reported that on two computers which were seized at the home of "El Mono" contained several Excel folders detailing $59 million dollar cash deliveries packed in travel bags, suitcases, and even cardboard boxes, which were shipped to the heads of the cartel organization at various hotels in Mexico City.

According to the accounts, to which the Spanish newspaper had exclusive rights to, the time period referred to was between 2012 and 2013, detailing the entry of cocaine into Europe, the price paid per kilo, between 32,000 and 34,000 Euros, its conversion to US Dollars and the gradual delivery of money collected by Los Zetas in Mexico.

Iguala Massacre: After 2 years, police chief captured...in Iguala

"Javier" Guest Reporter

CNS México, (National Security Agency) announced the arrest of former police chief of Iguala.  Felipe Flores was the police chief at the time of the Iguala Massacre in September 2014 that resulted in the killing of 6 people at the scene of the massacre and the kidnapping of 43 students 

The massacre gained global attention and outrage.  The students have never been found nor their remains.

The former police chief is charged with kidnapping and collusion with organized crime.

The arrest was conducted by the federal police and the agency CISEN, as he exited the Iguala home of his wife.  He was known to be a frequent visitor at the home, yet it took two years for the capture.

Tijuana: PEP stash house raid reveals arsenal and 122 kilos of crystal

PEP raid stash house 

In the latest in a series operations by the PEP (State Preventative Police) 122 kilos of crystal and an arsenal of weapons were found in a stash house, in Colonia La Cienega, La Mesa.  This comes just days after the PEP recovered 16.5 kilos of cocaine in an arrest, a crystal laborotio, and another 16 kilos of crystal in the last 24 hours.

In addition elements of the Army, and the PEP were involved in finding a narco tunnel, near the Tijuana airport on Thursday.  The PEP has been at the forefront of most of the latest hits to criminal groups in Tijuana, mostly involving CJNG.  Their tactics, outside activities, and motivations have been questioned.  

This latest seizure comes after a citizen complaint, (which is how many of these alleged seizures begin), the complaint detailed a man moving packages out of a vehicle, and into a store.  Elements of SEDENA and the PEP arrested one person at the scene, and seized 42 plastic bags containing 122 kilos of crystal, as well as boxes containing more crystal and marijuana.  

A Short History of Mexican Drug Cartels

Posted by Chuck B Almada, Republished from a San Diego Union-Tribune article
Written by Kristina Davis October 21, 2016

A gun decorated with gold belonging to Mexican drug lord of the Gulf Cartel, Osiel Cardenas Guillen, is displayed in the Drugs Museum at the headquarters of the Ministry of Defense in Mexico City.

 Contraband has been flowing across the Mexico border into the U.S. for the past century, beginning with alcohol during Prohibition and moving onto drugs, namely marijuana and later cocaine.

The birth of Mexico’s major cartel can be traced to Miguel Ã?ngel Félix Gallardo, nicknamed “The Godfather,” who in the 1980s became the country’s liaison with Colombian cocaine trafficker Pablo Escobar of the infamous Medellín cartel.

Gallardo went increasingly underground after the arrest of his cartel’s co-founder, Rafael Caro Quintero, for the murder of U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration Agent Enrique Camarena in 1985, and the drug lord later held a summit among Mexico’s larger drug traffickers. The meeting divided up Mexico into “plazas” — or regions — to be controlled by various drug-trafficking organizations.

The agreement solidified major players in the trade, including the Sinaloa Federation and the Arellano Félix brothers of Tijuana.

CJNG rules Guanajuato **WITH VIDEO***

Translated by Chuck B Almada Borderland Beat from a Union Guanajuato article

                                      

El Cartel Jalisco Nueva Generacion (CJNG) is the only criminal organization operating within the state of Guanajuato

This is according to information contained in a PGR (Attorney General’s Office) report which was Veracruz.

 made available through a freedom of information act request. The PGR reported that Guanajuato is one of 8 states in which CJNG has a presence. According to PGR, the criminal organization headed by Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes AKA El Mencho has a presence in Jalisco, Colima, Michoacan, Guanjuato, Nayarit, Guerrero, Moreles, and

Chapo's Extradition Appeal Denied

Posted by Chuck B Almada, Republished from a BBC article

October 20, 2016

A Mexican judge has rejected an appeal by drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman against his extradition to the US.

The foreign ministry approved the extradition in May but Guzman's lawyers have been fighting the decision in a district court. They say they will now take the case to a higher court.

The head of the Sinaloa Drug Cartel was recaptured in January after escaping for a second time from a maximum security prison. Mexico has said it expects to extradite Guzman to the US by February.

He faces multiple charges in the US, including drug trafficking and murder.

In a statement, the Mexican attorney general's office said the federal judge had "decided to reject the protection" sought by Guzman.

Andres Granados, one of Guzman's lawyers, said he would seek a Supreme Court hearing and might take the case to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights.

Ministerial Police attempted to rescue owner and workers of one of the biggest meth labs discovered in Tijuana

Original article available at ZETA   Translated by El Wachito

During Tuesday afternoon of October 18 in the area of La Mesa de Tijuana, Federal Ministerial Police and elements of the Preventive State Police (PEP) pointed their firearms at each other after an argument that led to hand to hand combat. 

PEP officers accused the Ministerial officers of attempting to rescue 3 criminals who were in their possession. Meanwhile, Ministerial officers accused PEP of trying to extort criminals by stealing from them, and lying about being Ministerial officers.

Criminals detained during the operation

In front a house located in 12850 of the Las Ferias avenue of the Colonia Lomas de Agua Caliente, the State police had laying on the ground 3 criminals, identified as Arturo Felix, Rigoberto Mendoza and Jonathan Flores. They were found in possession of meth and the house in front was identified as a possible laboratory of drugs.

Tijuana: Zona Norte the principal point of sale of drugs

Original article available at PSN
Translated by El Wachito

La Zona Norte, is not only a spot where bars profit from prostitution and the consumption of alcohol. The coordinator of the Subprocuraduria de Investigaciones Especiales of the PGJE, Miguel Angel Guerrero Castro revealed that la Zona Norte is the principal point of the sale of drugs in the city and this generates conflict between members of the Sinaloa Cartel, Arellano Felix, Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generacion, and drug traffickers that consider themselves independent in the sale and distribution of heroine and meth.

The problem has grown to such magnitude, that in the middle of the fight for the control of the plaza the murder rate has increased.

"Its all because of the local drug dealing, that the cartels have started a small scale war for the control and distribution of drugs and that's what we are currently investigating", stated Guerrero Castro.

Jalisco: 6 found alive with hands amputated in a "settling of accounts"

Guest Reporter "Javier"

Seven suspected robbers were left with their hands amputated, in Tlaquepaque, a town in the western Mexican state of Jalisco.

According to Eduardo Palacios, commander of the Tlaquepaque Police, victims were kidnapped the day prior. The victims were discovered Monday evening outside an event hall in Tlaquepaque, which is on the southern outskirts of Guadalajara. He says they range in age from 24 to 44 and include six men and one woman.

One of the attacked was found dead next to a cartulina ((cardboard message) with a handwritten message containing the message "This happened to us for  pick-pocketing," as well as other warnings.

The message was signed by “Grupo Elite Anti-Ratas.”

The other six, including a woman, were found without hands and injuries to the wrists that were most likely made with machetes.

Besides amputation wounds, which were covered with plastic, victims had the word "rat" painted on various parts of their bodies.

Two suspects are in custody for the crime.

On the next page are very graphic photo and videos, the second page has no further text .............

Giant meth chemical supplier: Zhenli Ye Gon extradited from U.S. transferred to Altiplano

Guest Reporter Siskiyou_kid for Borderland Beat Material from South China post, EL Universal, Sinembargo

A Chinese-Mexican businessman accused of drug trafficking, whose house infamously contained a mountain of cash weighing 2 tons, was handed over by US authorities to Mexican authorities as he has exhausted his legal options, ending a years-long extradition battle, his lawyer told Reuters.

Zhenli Ye Gon’s July 2007 arrest in the United States and the seizure of USD $205 million in cash at his Mexico City home several months earlier, played a role in high-profile money laundering investigations by US authorities at the British banking giant HSBC and the Las Vegas Sands Corp. casino company. The discovery of the money, almost entirely consisting of US$100 bills, along with a few pesos and Hong Kong dollars, was hailed as the biggest cash seizure in drug enforcement history.

US prosecutors charged Ye Gon, the former owner of the now defunct Mexican pharmaceutical wholesaler Unimed Pharm Chem, with importing chemicals that cartels allegedly used to produce the illegal drug methamphetamine. Ye Gon’s attorney, Gregory Smith, says his client was a legitimate businessman.

The case collapsed in 2009 after key witnesses recanted or refused to testify, according to court records. Since then, Ye Gon has been imprisoned in a Virginia jail, held on the basis of an extradition request from Mexico, where he faces charges of drug trafficking and money laundering.

Doctor Mireles Might Soon Leave Prison

Translated by Chuck B Almada for Borderland Beat from a Proceso article October 17, 2016
Written by Francisco Castellanos

#Liberen a Mireles #LiberenaMireles

Judge grants appeal on Doctor Mireles' case due to an omission in the revision of evidence.

Morelia, Michoacan- The defense of the ex leader of the Autodefensas, Jose Manuel Mireles Valderde, through attorney, Ignacio Mendoza Jimenez confirmed that an appeal (amparo) had been granted so that the federal justice could again revise the evidence in the case. According to documents, the defense accuses the Second Tribunal Unitario of the 11^th circuit of negligence when analyzing the evidence presented during a motion to dismiss hearing.  

"The solicited constitutional protection should be granted to the complainant, to the effect that the responsible declare void the requested resolution and issue another in which there is an analysis of the evidence” This order was issued by the First Unitarian Tribunal of the 11^th circuit during the ruling for the indirect appeal hearing 32/2016-III, which consists of legal size sheets.

Judge who handled El Chapo’s cartel case is assassinated

Anonymous Guest Reporter material from the Sun and aristegui news

A judge who has investigated some of Mexico’s biggest drug gangs — including El Chapo’s feared Sinaloa Cartel — was assassinated on Monday.

Shocking footage shows Vicente Antonio Bermudez Zacarias being shot in the head while he was out jogging in Metepec, 30 miles west of Mexico City.

The mystery gunman runs behind him before shooting him in the back of the head at point-blank range. Bermudez, 37, lies dying in the street as the gunman flees. According to local reports, he was rushed to a hospital, where he later died.

President Enrique Peña Nieto condemned the murder and ordered the attorney general’s office to take over the investigation.

Culiacan: Survivor of the military ambush speaks to the cameras

Original article available at ZETA
Translated by El Wachito

"If only our citizens demonstrated the courage that my man had..." Mexican Marine ambushed in Culiacan speaks *Video*

Last night, journalist Denise Maerker transmitted through Televisa an interview with a Mexican Marine by the name of "Roberto", a survivor of an attack against a military convoy, which occurred during a Friday morning last September 30 in Culiacan, Sinaloa, were 5 soldiers were killed and 10 more heavily injured.