Activists That Revealed Patrocinio, Coahuila “Extermination Camp” Find 5,000 Bone Remains in Viesca

Translated by Valor for Borderland Beat

Silvia Ortiz, spokeswoman for the group Víctimas por sus Desaparecidos en Acción (VIDA), said that last Saturday, they found more skeletal remains, molars, and gun casings on a property in the locality Estación Claudio.

Mexico City, Mexico, December 13, 2016 (SinEmbargo) – More than 5,000 human remains were found on a site in the municipality of Viesca, Coahuila, by the same organization that revealed the existence of the “extermination camp” in the common land of Patrocinio.

Silvia Ortiz, spokeswoman for the group Víctimas por sus Desaparecidos en Acción (VIDA), said that last Saturday, they found more skeletal remains, molars, and gun casings on a property in the locality Estación Claudio.

This is the fourth time that the relatives of the disappeared have searched the place this year.  And for two years now, the families of the disappeared have searched the area in search of their relatives.

The property measures around three hectares, although it was only possible to check a quadrant of about 100 square meters, an activist told the newspaper Reforma.  Patrocinio measures around 43 hectares (106 acres).

“The forensic police told us that Estación Claudio is a small Patrocinio, they found about 5,000 [remains], but it still hasn’t finished searching the area,” Ortiz told the national media outlet.

“The woman told Reforma that it is necessary to continue the searches on both sides “but not only those of the forensics, the PGJE [Prosecutor General of Justice of the State of Coahuila] was supposed to help them, but no, they are now asking for the collaboration so that they can go to Claudio and for the others to continue in Patrocinio.”

Silvia Ortiz told El Siglo de Torreón that she expects these tasks to intensify at least this week because they will be suspended for the holiday period.

Los Zetas Used Coahuila Prison To Incinerate People

Translated by Valor for Borderland Beat

The Attorney General of Coahuila is investigating up to 27 cases of disappearances that occurred inside the prison in Piedras Negras and pepetrated by members of Los Zetas, said José Ángel Herrera, office manager of the Deputy Attorney for the Search and Localization of Missing Persons.

As part of the investigations, the official said, the authorities of Coahuila obtained and exercised five arrest warrants against David Alejandro Loreto Mejorado, Francisco Javier Vélez, Santiago Peralta García, Manuel Elguezabal and Ramón Burciaga Magallanes.

It is presumed that Burciaga Magallanes was the leader of Los Zetas who allegedly ordered the kidnapping of people living in northern Coahuila, who were then assassinated and then cremated inside the prison, and then scattered in the San Rodrigo River which flows into the Rio Grande.

“The investigation remains open and will continue to carry out the steps to establish the whereabouts of more people who have been reported as missing, and in accordance with witnesses, were taken to the prison to deprive them of their lives,” said the state official in an interview with Radio Fórmula.

He added that staff from the Deputy Attorney’s Office of Missing Persons interviewed 138 inmates, and collected 42 witness statements, which warns that more people are implicated in the events, some which include those that escaped from the Piedras Negras Prison in September 201, where 132 convicts escaped.

Colombian Cartel Operatives Detained In Coahuila

Translated by Valor for Borderland Beat

A code red was activated this weekend by members of the PGJE in Saltillo after two Mercedes Benz refused to come to a stop after coming out of the residential development San Alberto.

Minutes earlier, neighbors from the residential development had reported a white Mercedes, circulating in a ‘suspicious’ way along with a car of the same make.

Security forces were placed at the entrance to stop the vehicles, but they didn’t stop, it was then that a chase began that continued along Pedro Figueroa Boulevard, the road where they were intercepted by members of the Elite Group of the Municipal Police. 

After a routine inspection, the officers found that under the license plate of Coahuila FKG-5757, there was another license place of Coahuila EJN 2779, which proceeded to the questioning of the three suspects (two men and a woman), who assured that the vehicle had been rented in Torreón.

It is presumed that the group, of Colombian origin, allegedly worked for a drug cartel of that country.  After being arrested, members of the attorney general, requested the cell phones of the detainees, and after reviewing the three devices, they found a message received minutes before 15:00 hours, notifying them that the registration number had successfully concluded.

Judging by the authorities, they also found messages with Colombian cartel leaders, which they had received indications of a drug that would be transported, as well as weapons and cash.

The detainees were initially identified as Guadalupe Hernández Espinoza, 38, who said he was from Mexico City; Felipe Emiliano Quintana Cortez, 38, of Tabasco, and Samuel López García, 43, also from Mexico City.

Another regional Zeta Leader Killed

Translated for Borderland Beat from a Proceso article by Otis B Fly-Wheel
Saltillo Coahuila

Elements of the Marina took down Luis Eduardo Monsivais Gloria, regional Boss of Los Zetas in Monclova, and three of his accomplices, informed the State Security.

"In an security action derived from investigative work, elements of the Marina took down four presumed criminals who moments earlier had initiated an attack with firearms against agents from SEMAR",  said an official communication.

The confrontation occurred when the Marines, arrived at an apartment number 2005 Calle La Salle, between avenues Las Granjas and Segunda, in the La Salle Colonia, in the City of Monclova, with the intention to capture the Capo.

After the confrontation, there were two men and two women dead, of which only one has been identified, Luis Eduardo Monsivais Gloria, who is an operator of Los Zetas in the central region of the state.

In the apartment in which the criminals were hiding, the Marina found three handguns and one rifle, 22 rounds of .50 calibre ammunition, various magazines, tactical equipment, and two vehicles without registration plates, and drugs.

The death of the Zeta regional leader in the centre of Coahuila occurred a day after the capture in San Pedro Garza Garcia, Nuevo Leon, of Daniel Menera Sierra, regional boss of said criminal group in Nuevo Leon.

The Federal Authorities documented that the detentions occurred in Nuevo Leon and in Coahuila were possible thanks to the capture of Omar Trevino Morales "El Z 42", that occurred in a residence of San Pedro Garza Garcia.

Original article in Spanish at Proceso

La Laguna ranked 4th in homicides as 4 more die

By Chris Covert
Rantburg.com

Despite  the seemingly good news a few days ago of a dramatic drop in homicides from the Coahuila Procuraduria General de Justicia del Estado (PGJE), in the first two months of 2014, according to a group in Mexico the La Laguna region registered the fourth highest murders in Mexico nationwide in 2013, according to Mexican news accounts.

According to a news dispatch posted on the online edition of El Diario de Coahuila news daily, the group El Observatorio Nacional Ciudadano de Seguridad, Justicia y Legalidad (CCI)  said that murder rates have dropped from 2012 to 2013, 35.9% in the Durango side and in La Laguna Metropolitan Area fell 42.4%.

Despite the drop in homicides, according to the group, murder rates have risen seven percent in 2013 in all of Coahuila state when compared with 2012. 

Marco Zamarripa, director of the La Laguna Consejo Civico de las Instituciones (CCI-Laguna), was quoted in the report saying there is a large information gap in gaining crime statistics in the region.  The CCI-Laguna says on their Facebook page they are a non-government organization. 

Marco Zamarripa may have been referring to the Coahuila PGJE report last week, which has been no help as in the past that office has cooked statistics to make crime statistics appear more moderate.

La Laguna is a metropolitan area consisting of several municipalities from eastern Durango state and western Coahuila state.  Police operations even with federal support have failed in the region because of jurisdictional problems between the two states and among the several municipalities which compose La Laguna.  The three largest municipalities in the region include Torreon, Coahuila and Lerdo and Gomez Palacio, both of Durango.

Four individuals were killed in the La Laguna region since last Saturday according to Mexican news reports.

Three victims were found aboard a Ford Explorer midnight Saturday by local police in Lerdo municipality, according to a news report which appeared in El Siglo de Durango news daily.

The victims were two men and a female, one of the men of which was identified as Ricardo Marquez Rivera, 25.  They were found in ejido El Huarache on Avenida San Carlos in Benito Juárez colony. The location where the dead were found was near the Coahuila-Durango border.

Meanwhile in Gomez Palacio, Durango a bus driver was shot and later died Sunday, according to a separate news account which appeared in El Siglo de Durango.

The victim was identified as  Gregorio Lopez Mireles, 56, who was driving a bus between Gomez Palacio and Tlahualilo, near ejido  Arturo Martinez Adame.  An armed suspect shot the victim in an apparent robbery attempt.

According to data supplied by El Siglo de Durango, a total of 22 individuals have been murdered since the start of the year in the Durango side of La Laguna, including the three found in ejido El Huarache, but apparently not including the bus driver killed last Sunday.

In January, nine men died, while in February eight men and two women were reportedly killed in the region.

Chris Covert writes Mexican Drug War and national political news for Rantburg.com and Borderlandbeat.com he can be reached at grurkka@gmail.com

Mexican counter narco policies yield mixed results

Col. Lopez Gutierrez

By Chris Covert
Rantburg.com

As the Mexican border state of Coahuila claims a sharp drop in homicides fir the first two months of 2014, another state, Tamaulipas is claiming a spike in denunciations for crime, according to Mexican news accounts.

According to a news compilation presented in the online edition of El Diario do Coahuila news daily, the Coahuila state Procuraduria General de Justicia del Estado (PGJE) or state attorney general announced that a double digit drop in homicides were reported in the state for the first two months of the year, when compared with the same period in 2013.

Overall, intentional homicides (homicidios dolosos) dropped to 78 as opposed to 140 from 2013, a total of 44 percent.  Gang on gang murders have dropped by an even greater amount of 46 percent with 44 in 2014 and 81 in 2013.

In Saltillo, which is the state capital of Coahuila, gang on gang murders dropped by 86 percent, while intentional homicides dropped 63 percent, six so far in 2014 as opposed to 16 in 2013.  No numbers were given on the number of gang on gang killings.

In Torreon, gang on gang killings dropped from 54 incidents in 2013 to 23 in 2014.  A 49 percent drop in intentional homicides over have been recorded, with 69 deaths in 2013 as opposed to 35 in 2014.

While the drops in homicides are impressive it is important to note that the Coahuila PGJE has cooked criminal statistics before by reporting false statistics to the federal government then taking those results and reporting them as fact.

Even so, in Tamaulipas a senior Mexican Army command has reported an equally sharp spike in criminal incidents reported to their commands.

According to a news report which appeared in the online edition of Milenio news daily, Colonel of Infantry Jesus Gabriel Lopez Gutierrez was quoted saying that while in the first two months of 2013 daily calls reporting criminal activities to their communications node averaged thee to five calls per day, the number of calls have increased dramatically going from between eight to ten calls per day.

Col. Lopez Gutierrez is commander of the Mexican 15th Infantry Battalion which is responsible for security in southern Tamaulipas state, easily one of the most violent in Mexico.

According to the report, more calls came from the urban municipalities of Tampico, Madero and Altamira, and fewer from  the rural areas of Altamira, Gonzalez and Aldama.

Most of the calls received are calls already made to other security groups, while about a third relate to federal crimes.  The rest are either domestic reporting and reporting of traffic problems in southern Tamaulipas.  According to the report, the calls can last from 10 seconds to four minutes, depending on the amount of information received.

The Colonel reported said that the spike in calls doesn't seem to correspond with an increase in crime.  According to the report, the increase of calls reflect local citizens' demand for better security.

The Colonel also noted he was not aware of any timetable for the return of the army to the barracks, an early promise of the Enrique Pena Nieto administration from the 2012 campaign and last year.  That promise had been continually reiterated in Mexican press until the spring of 2013, when even top army commanders publicly admitted they were not to return to the barracks anytime soon.

It is interesting to note that the Mexican Army has been in charge of security in southern Tamaulipas since May, 2011, which would coincide with the discovery of the San Fernando mass murders, which took the lives of 193.

Chris Covert writes Mexican drug War and national political news for Rantburg.com and BorderlandBeat.com He can be reached at grurkka@gmail.com

Counter-Offensive: Zetas In The Northeast

After losing several urban cells to the Gulf Cartel, the new leadership of Los Zetas rushed in to fill the gaps in order to organize a counteroffensive around all of northeastern México.  They turned to hiring very young hitmen, sending them from San Luis Potosí and Tamaulipas to Nuevo León and Coahuila as reinforcements.  Nevertheless, governors Rodrigo Medina and Rubén Moreira announced that they have managed to reduce crime.

Reynosa, Tamaulipas.- Los Zetas are distributing dozens of hitmen throughout plazas all over the northeast, either to strengthen their control or to recover lost territory.  This is the case for some municipalities in the metropolitan area of Monterrey seized by the Gulf Cartel.

“In recent days they arrived in Nuevo León, coming from San Luis Potosí, around 40 trucks with armed men.  They traveled through dirt roads in order to not be detected”, a federal agent who requested anonymity reported to the magazine Proceso.

13 die in Coahuila state

By Chris Covert
Rantburg.com

A total of 13 individuals were killed or were found dead in drug and gang related violence in the northern Mexican border state of Coahuila, according to various Mexican news accounts.

Four unidentified individuals were shot to death an an armed encounter with Mexican security forces Monday night near Monclova.

According to a news report which appeared in the online edition of Milenio news daily, a group of state police agents traveling aboard a Dodge ram were fired on by a group of armed suspects who were traveling aboard a Lincoln Navigator SUV.

The incident took place on Kilometer 23 of Mexico Federal Highway 57.  According to the report towards the end of the encounter the armed suspects abandoned their vehicle and continued firing on the police agents.

The incident took place as state and local police agents flooded the highways around Monclova attempting to catch suspects who earlier in the day had attempted to kill the local Monclova municipal police chief, General Victorino Resendiz Cortez Monday afternoon.

According to a separate news report which appeared in the website of El Diario de Coahuila newa dailt, in that confrontation, General  Resendiz Cortez had been investigating carjackings in the region when he was fired on.  The shooters then fled north, but were eventually found that evening.

General Resendiz Cortez was wounded in the encounter, and no indications were reported the wound was life threatening.

According to another report which also appeared in El Diario de Coahuila car thefts including carjackings are down, now averaging 10 per day as opposed to 13 per day from the same period January to August in 2013.  The decline is reportedly 22 percent year over year.

Meanwhiile four individuals were found shot to death Saturday night in two separate locations in Coahuila, according to a news report in El Diario de Coahuila.

Two of the victims were identified as Armando Padilla Gaona, 68, and Norberto Carlos Dominguez Trejo, 33.  One other victim had been identified, but the name was not disclosed.

Two victims, including Sr. Armando Padilla Gaona,  were found in the bed of a pickup truck in Ramos Arippe in Manantiales del Valle colony , while the other two were found on Bulevar Venustiano Carranza in Saltillo.

According to a news account, ransom had been paid for the release of the victims by family, but the victims were killed anyway.

Finally in Monclova, four unidentified victims were found in a grave Monday, according to a news account which appeared in Milenio.

The victims were found in Posada del Sol in a partial state of decomposition.  Reports are the victims were killed only days before the discovery of their bodies.

Chris Covert writes Mexican Drug War and national political news for Rantburg.com and BorderlandBeat.com.  He can be reached at grurkka@gmail.com

Group says Coahuila government fudged homicide stats

Coahuila state attorney general kicks the ball onto the fairway and hopes no one notices.

The Coahuila state Procuraduria General de Justicia del Estado (PGJE) or attorney general changed statistic of homicides for the first six months of 2013, effectively lowering the number by 44 total, according to Mexican news accounts.

A news report which appeared on the website of Animal Politico quoted Marco Zamarripa, director of Consejo Civico de las Instituciones saying that the state government had retroactively changed homicide totals reported to the Sistema Nacional de Seguridad Publica to show a decrease for the first half of 2013.

The news account cited three months in which numbers reported do not "correspond with reality".  For example in January the total murders reported went from 43 to 24, in February, 26 to 21 and March 31 to 25.

According to a separate report which appeared on the online edition of El Siglo De Torreon news daily, the Coahuila state, PGJE only reported incidents of murder, not the total who have actually been killed.

Chris Covert writes Mexican Drug War and national political news for Rantburg.com and BorderlandBeat.com He can be reached at grurkka@gmail.com

Mexican Policia Federal seize 1.4 tons of pot

By Chris Covert
Rantburg.com

Mexican Policia Federal units seized 1.4 metric tons of marijuana in two seizures in northern Mexico according to Mexican news accounts.

According to a news report which appeared in the online edition of Milenio, a Policia Federal regional security division unit was operating a checkpoint on the Mexican Highway 40D in Coahuila state between Saltillo, Coahuila and Monterrey, Nuevo Leon when a truck was stopped and searched.  Inside the van police found 84 packages of marijuana in a hidden compartment totalling 1,344 kilograms.

The truck had originated from Torreon, Coahuila.  The driver, identified in the news account as José Luis Aranda Contreras, 49, was detained at the scene.

Meanwhile in Sonora state, a Policia Federal unit, part of a regional security division operating a checkpoint on Sonora State highway 37, between Carborca and Puerto Peñasco, inspected a Ford Ranger pickup truck with three individuals aboard finding marijuana hidden in the tires.

According to the news report which appeared on the website of El Sol de Mexico news daily, the drugs were arranged in a metal container in a circular pattern.  The total amount seized was 68 kilograms.

Raul Gonzalez Santos, 31, and Aleyda Ibarra Acedo, 30, were detained at the scene, while an unidentified minor was also in the truck was presented to the public ministry.

Chris Covert writes Mexican Drug War and national political news for Rantburg.com and BorderlandBeat.com He can be reached at grurkka@gmail.com

Newly named La Laguna security operation to begin

By Chris Covert
Rantburg.com

Government officials from Durango and Coahuila states are expected to meet Wednesday to map out a new security operation in the La Laguna region of Mexico, according to Mexican news accounts.

According to a news account posted on the website of El Siglo de Durango news daily, Durango state Fiscalia del Estado (FGE) or attorney general Sonia Yadira de la Garza was quoted as saying the new operation would encompass municipalities of both Coahuila and Durango.

Fiscalia Yadira de la Garza

La Laguna is the name of a region in north central Mexico which includes part of eastern Durango and western Coahuila states.

The name of the new security operation will be changed to Operativo Laguna.

According to the article, Fiscalia Yadira de la Garza said the Durango state Secretaria de Seguridad Publica del Estado (SSPE) or public safety ministry,  would have single control over the operation.  Currently with the absence of 158 municipal police agents, who were detained two weeks ago in an investigation of corruption, Mexican security forces are currently supplying much of the manpower for patrolling the Durango side of La Laguna.  At last report, the Mexican Army was answering 066 emergency telephone calls in the region and was coordinating security patrols.

Mexican Naval Infantry and Policia Federal Preventativa forces have been in the region for at least two weeks, since the mass detentions of Ciudad Lerdo and Gomez Palacio municipal police agents.  Durango state has assigned police cadet volunteers to help fill out the police rosters.  It is known from news accounts that security forces from all three levels of government patrol in mixed patrols on the Durango side of La Laguna.

The area itself has suffered a large increase of violence since the old Laguna Seguro was cancelled by then Secretaria de Gobernacion (SEGOB) or interior minister Alejandro Poire.  The following spike in violence,according to a claim last week by Durango governor Jorge Herrera Caldera, has been reduced to a lower level in the past two weeks.

But problems in the region persist.

According to a tweet posted by Durango journalist Ruben Cardenas Tuesday night, the residence of Gomez Palacio mayor Rocio Rebollo was attacked Tuesday night, presumably by small arms fire.   No one was reported hurt in that attack.

In another example, an official in Gomez Palacio was reportedly found dead last Saturday.  Víctor Habib Nieto, 58, was found dead on Bulevar Ejercito Mexicano in Chapala colony.

According to a news account from El Contexto de Durango news daily, Habib Nieto, and his wife, Rafaela Araluce, 58, and his 24 year old son were kidnapped last Friday night.  Habib Nieto was a department head of Gomez Palacio's traffic police corporation, Secretaria de Proteccion y Vialidad.

A separate news account posted on the website of El Siglo de Durango said that Habib Nieto has been dismembered.

Also, according to a separate news brief published on the website of El Siglo de Durango, an unidentified pregnant female in her 20s was found shot to death and dumped near ejido Huitron Jimenez in Gomez Palacio municipality.

Chris Covert writes Mexican Drug War and national political news  for Rantburg.com.

Gangs rob at least five buses in Durango

By Chris Covert
Rantburg.com

At least five buses have been robbed at gunpoint near a northeast Durango municipality near La Laguna since last Sunday, according to Mexican enws accounts.

A news report which appeared last Monday on the website of El Mexicano news daily said that a group of athletes from Universidad Autonoma de Ciudad Juarez (UACJ) were stopped by armed suspects in Cuencame de Ceniceros municipality, and stripped of cell phones and cash.

Cuencame de Ceniceros is on Mexico Federal Highway 40 40 kilometers south west of La Laguna.  In the Sunday attack, one of the bus drivers were reported hurt. Armed suspects riding aboard a truck forced the three buses carrying the students to stop.

A news report which appeared on Yancuic news website by Richard Ibarra, said that the attacks began last Tuesday which do not line up with the El Mexicano account, which said one attack took place on Sunday

In the Yancuic account, the office of the Durango Fiscalia General del Estado (FGE) or state attorney general said one of the attacks took place near the village of Chocolate early Tuesday morning.

When Mexican federal security forces arrived at the Chocolate location, they found five vehicles, an abandoned truck, passengers and a driver.  The Yancuic account also said another two public buses were robbed as well. 

Additionally, a truck was attacked with small arms in Gomez Palacio Thursday, but no one was reported hurt in that attack.

Meanwhile in Torreon, Coahuila four more dead were found bringing the total murdered in Torreon to 42.

According to several news reports posted on the website of El Diario de Coahuila news daily, three individuals were found shot to death near the intersection of Calle Joaquin Moreno and Avenida Juarez in Torreon.  The dead were identified as Jesus Humberto Martinez Escarcega, 25, Alexis, 17, and Claudia Berenice Guzman Reyes, 30.

In other news, in perhaps the most stark statement to date of the security situation, the Durango FGE was forced to admit that security operations ion the Durango side of La Laguna are no longer under the control of her office.

A press report brief which appeared on the website of El Siglo de Torreon news daily reported the remarks of Lt. Adelaido Flores Diaz, director of Torreon Direccion de Seguridad Publica Municipal, as saying Seguro Laguna was now in operation. 

Seguro Laguna was the name of the now cancelled security program which operated in the region between October 2011 and November 30th 2012.  The then Secretaria de Gobernacion (SEGOB) or interior minister Alejandro Poire cancelled the operation when violent crime fell in the area.

The decision to cancel Seguro Laguna left Durango governor Jorge Herrera Caldera practically screaming in the press for federal security assistance.  The only federal response since last December was to close Centro de Readaptcion Social Numero 2 in Gomez Palacio, before a decision was made to reintroduce federal security forces, such as army, naval infantry and Policia Federal units to the region.  The decision to close the CERESO, made by new SEGOB Miguel Osorio Chong, has complicated state security efforts, now that detainees must be taken to the Durango state capital 150 kilometers away.

In a brief statement to the press Durango FGE Sonia Yadira Garza Fragoso said that Seguro Laguna was no longer in operation and that the Mexican Army now solely controls security operations in the region.

Chris Covert writes Mexican Drug War and national political news for Rantburg.com

Durango governor claims La Laguna violent crime down 40 percent

By Chris Covert
Rantburg.com

Less than 10 days after most of their police force were eliminated, the municipalities of the Durango side of La Laguna are beginning to restart their security programs, even as political concerns about security in Durango and Coahuila states are being aired, according to Mexican news accounts.

A news report posted on the website of El Siglo de Durango news daily said that 40 police trainees from Durango state and four police agents from the Durango state Direccion Municipal de Seguridad Publica have volunteered to go to La Laguna to begin assisting in security operations.

The 40 volunteers represent more than half the class of 75 students from the Durango city based Academia de Policia, said Comision de Seguridad Publica, Lidia Hernandez.

Concerns about security in La Laguna from Durango state legislators have increased in recent days, enough so that a meeting has been scheduled with Durango state Fiscalia General del Estado (FGE) or state attorney general Sonia Yadira De la Garza Rosso Antonio Fragoso and the state Chamber of Deputies Comision de Seguridad Publica del Congreso del Estado to address those concerns.

Gob. Herrera Caldera

For his part Durango governor Jorge Herrera Caldera was quoted in another El Siglo de Durango news report posted Wednesday that the levels of violence which increased by 40 percent in December, 2012, have fallen back to pre December levels, this even with a near total lack of police protection in Ciudad Lerdo.

Governor Herrera said that the reduction of crime rates have taken place in the last ten days with the assistance of federal and state security forces in the area.

Meanwhile in Torreon, Coahuila a business group, Consejo Lagunero de la Iniciativa Privada (CLIP), has criticized Governor Herrera that Mexican Army forces from the 10th Military Zone are covering only the five municipalities of La Laguna, requested that the governor accept patrols from the VI Military Region, which patrol responsibilities include the 12 other municipalities comprising the Coahuila side of La Laguna.

According to a news report posted on the website of yancuic.com news website, the group's leader, Eduardo Castañeda, said the request would place all of La Laguna under a single military command.

In previous iterations of security programs in La Laguna the VI Military Region was assigned command of all security operations in the region before the security program, dubbed Seguro Laguna, was cancelled November 30th, 2012.

Castañeda charged that Governor Herrera has prevented army units from the 10 Military Zone from expanding its patrol area of responsibility to include municipalities on the Coahuila side of the area.

Castañeda also said it was impractical to deal with an army command hundred of miles away, in this case the III Military Region in the port city of Mazatlan in Sinaloa, when the VI Military Region, based in Torreon,  just across the border, could assume patrol duties in the region.

Coahuila PAN state senator Guillermo Anaya Llamas criticized Castañeda's concern about the desirability of a single security command in La Laguna, and he charged that Castañeda was not interested in the problem of insecurity in La Laguna.  He  also characterized the security problem in la Laguna as "complicated".

According to the translation, Anaya Llamas was quoted as saying, "We see that the president does not have the slightest interest to solve the problem of insecurity in La Laguna."

Meanwhile the Durango Vice Fiscalia based in Ciudad Lerdo reported that a firefight between a combined security patrol  and armed suspects  took place on a road between Ciudad Lerdo and Tlahualilo Saturday afternoon, killed one armed suspect and forced a second suspect to surrender.

According to a news item posted on the website of El Contexto de Durango news daily, the patrol comprising Mexican Army, Polica Estatal Acreditable (PEA) and Direccion Estatal de Investigacion (DEI) units was passing near ejido Santa Cruz de Luján when the patrol was fired on.  Security elements dismounted their vehicles in response and then returned fire killing one.

The dead suspect was identified as Manuel Arturo Meraz Gaytan, 23.  Lucio Gonzalez Villa, 36 was detained at the scene.  One .45 caliber pistol was seized and several packages of marijuana divided for retail sale were also secured.

The unit continued on its way to ejido Jauja where it came upon a vehicle with two unidentified dead men inside.  Both men had been shot to death.

The report notes that combined patrols such as the one which fought the two armed suspects are now standard in La Laguna.

Chris Covert writes Mexican Drug War and national political news for Rantburg.com

Durango side of La Laguna receives federal and state security reinforcements

By Chris Covert
Rantburg.com

The arrival of Mexican naval infantry units as well as Durango state police units in The Durango side of La Laguna region have taken place since Friday, according to Mexican news accounts.

Since last Thursday, when a large part of the municipal police forces of Ciudad Lerdo and Gomez Palacio were detained and sent to the Durango state capital to face investigation -- and in some cases charges -- rumors  have abounded on Twitter that Mexican naval infantry units had been dispatched to the region to beef up security.

Last Thursday Mexican Army units, probably from the 10th Military Zone, arrived on the Durango side of La Laguna to disarm local police.  Under normal circumstances such an action would be routine as the Mexican Army is charged with enforcement of the Mexican national Firearms and Explosives Act. It appears to be standard operating procedure for Mexican military zone commanders to disarm police units en mass for weapons checks. 

Instead, the local police had apparently been disarmed in anticipation of the mass detention of 158 police agents including two municipal police chiefs from Ciudad Lerdo and Gomez Palacio, Durango.

According to a report posted on the Animal Politico website the action left the Durango side of La Laguna with no active local police.  Since Friday's mass detentions only 30 police agents have been released.

According to a news report posted on the website of El Diario de Coahuila news daily, fresh reinforcements have arrived since Friday including Durango state ministerial police and Direccion Estatal de Investigacion (DEI) police agents to help with security in the La Laguna region.

The news report said that checkpoints have been erected in the Durango side of La Laguna and that both levels of security Durango state and federal units which include Mexican Army, naval infantry and Policia Federal are all involved in security operations in La Laguna.

All the renewed security activity being coordinated by the Vice Fiscalia the Mexican equivalent of a district attorney, although the Animal Politico report said the Emergency Telephone number 066 in La Laguna is being answered by the army.  The report also characterized the Vice Fiscalia as being paralyzed by the severe increase of crime especially in armed robberies.  The report also claimed the Vice Fiscalia offices are without support staff to carry on their work.

The closing of Centro de Readaptacion Social (CERESO) Number 2 in Gomez Palacio by the Mexican interior ministry last month has presented new challenges now that detainees must be transported to the state capital to face trial and charges.

In the previous iteration of the Seguro Laguna security operation, a Mexican Army commander had the task of coordinating security operations among the three levels of government, but news reports seem to point to a paralyzed legal staff forced to coordinated security in the Durango side of the region.

Last Saturday night, Durango journalist Ruben Cardenas tweeted that the Torreon and Coahuila side of La Laguna had been shut down and that night life on the Coahuila side had all but ended because of security concerns.

A day later several reports of gunfights, presumably between criminal gangs that operate in the area have been reported.

According to a news article posted on the website of El Siglo de Torreon news daily, gunfire was reported in several colonies in Torreon municipality including ejido Ana and Torreon Jardin and Jacarandas colonies.  A Sunday tweet by Ruben Cardenas also reported gunfire in "various zones", as he put it, in Ciudad Lerdo in Durango including on Bulevar Miguel Aleman.

Cardenas also reported on Twitter Saturday that several dead were reported in Anna colony as well as the village of Oribe Peralta in Torreon municipality.

In most of the news report, the idea being put forth is that the Durango side has been enjoying reinforced security, albeit with a civilian staff barely able to handle their new task, but the Coahuila side has been all but abandoned.  Little activity by the Coahuila state government has emerged even as gunfights and deaths have been reported on the Coahuila side of La Laguna.

Chris Covert writes Mexican Drug War and national political news for Rantburg.com

158 cops detained in La Laguna

By Chris Covert
Rantburg.com

A total of 158 police agents from two eastern Durango cities have been detained by Durango state authorities for their alleged connection with organized crime, according to Mexican news accounts.

Fiscalia Garza Fragosa

In an news article posted on the website of Animal Politico, Durango Fiscalia General del Estado (FGE), Sonia de la Garza Fragoso was quoted in an interview featured on Radio Formula Friday that 110 police agents from Gomez Palacio and 48 from Ciudad Lerdo were placed on at least six buses and taken to the state capital to face confidence tests and possible criminal charges.

According to a news report on La Silla Rota news daily Friday, a total of six arrest warrants were issued including two for two police chiefs.  The two police chiefs with arrest warrants were identified as Gomez Palacio Secretaria de Seguridad Publica (SSP) or police chief Victor Hugo Cordero and Ciudad Lerdo SSP Andres Balderas Perez.
In the account of the radio interview Fiscalia Garza Fragoso said that the detainees were suspected of having ties of Los Zetas and Pacifico cartel.  Some of the police agents were also suspected of kidnapping and of being lookouts for organized crime.

Garza Fragoso was also quoted as saying while some of the detainees were facing warrants from a Durango state judge, some would likely be released, if no connection with organized crime could be found.

Ciudad Lerdo and Gomez Palacio form the Durango part of La Laguna, which includes Torreon in western Coahuila and several municipalities from both states total.

Late Friday El Siglo de Torreon news daily reported a gunfight between a Policia Federal road patrol and armed suspects in Moderna colony in Torreon in Coahuila near the intersection of bulevars Ramos Arizpe and Constitucion, which left one Policia Federal agent wounded.  The operation to counter armed suspects in the area included the use of a helicopter.  The report also said that Mexican Army and other federal security forces were present in the Durango side, presumably meaning naval infantry units, or possibly Policia Federal units.

La Laguna had had a security operation in place dubbed Seguro Laguna which began in October of 2011.  The operation was ended by then interior minister Alejando Poire last November 30th, who declared the operation a success.  Violence had been in decline just prior to the operation's cessation.

However, renewed concerns over the lack of federal security in the area sent Durango state officials including Durango governor Jorge Herrera Caldera scrambling seeking more security fro the federal government.

Governor Herrera Caldera

At the time Federal security forces had been shifted from the south such as in La Laguna to the north to deal with the fallout from a mass prison escape in Piedras Negras, leaving other parts of Coahuila with a reduced level of security.  Since December 1st, violence had slowly been on the upswing in the area.

SEGOB Osorio Chong

Last week Twitter reports said that Mexican naval infantry units were in the area patrolling in the Durango side of La Laguna, while Policia Federal units were observed in the Coahuila side.  All of this renewed federal activity has come without any formal declaration by Mexico's new interior minister Miguel Osorio Chong, who is now under a newly implemented requirement to release information on new and ongoing security operations.

According to a new items posted on the website of La Silla Rota news daily Friday evening, Mexican Army units had moved into the Durango side in order to disarm police.  The Mexican army is normally charged with enforcement of Mexico's gun and munitions control law, the Firearms and Explosives Act which allows military Zone commanders to routinely disarm police to check weapons for illegal use or possession.  Last week traffic police were disarmed among other police elements, so presumably, the disarmament was in anticipation of Friday's detentions.

Fiscalia de la Garza Fragoso was quoted in the La Silla Rota article as saying Mexican Army units have already started routine patrol duties in the area.

Chris Covert writes Mexican Drug War and national political news for Rantburg.com

Police Commander Executed in Saltillo

Borderland Beat

Saltillo. - The commander of the South Delegation of the Municipal Police, César García Guevara, was killed in the line of duty in the early hours of Friday after being shot by a group of armed men in the neighborhood of Buenos Aires.

It was reported that at 0:38 hours, while on patrol duty in his official car, a Chevrolet Captiva  no.11208, the chief was attacked and killed by unknown gunmen at the intersection of Division and Rios in the southern sector of the city. 

As a result of the shooting, the commanding officer lost control of the police vehicle and impacted over the back of a parked Ford Model 79 truck.

 The officer was shot in the head and the body with various firearm projectiles in what  appeared to the naked eye to be the same that instantly took his life.

The Chief of Police of Saltillo, Yáñez Clemente Carrillo confirmed to Radio Zócalo the assassination of Caesar Eleazar Garcia Guevara commander, 39 years old, who early Friday was riddled with 12 shots from a high caliber weapon.

It was reported earliest at 12:38, when a witness at the scene took the dead commander's radio and used it to notify the base of his death. Immediately police moved to the scene at Division  and Rios Streets in neighborhood Buenos Aires where Garcia Guevara  was found dead aboard his Chevrolet Captiva patrol car.  The officer was hit by shots from persons in a gray Dodge car.  According to the witness, the shooters fired first into the back of the commander's vehicle, which swerved to the right of driver, and hit a parked truck and he was dead instantly," said the official.

Yanez Carrillo called the fallen Commander as an honest cop, courageous, with a very great future vocation with law enforcement. He had 13 years of service within the corporation. The fallen commander is survived by his parents, his wife and two small children.

Press Chief Confirms the criminal act against the municipal police 
Press Chief Confirms the criminal attack against the municipal police 

In the morning broadcast of Radio Zócalo Saltillo, the CP Francisco Juaristi contacted the press chief of the municipal police, Patricia Moreno, confirming the fact and location where the commander of the South Delegation, Cesar Garcia Guevara, was killed.
Moreno explained that around 1:00  on División del Norte, in the neighborhood of  Buenos Aires,  a police car on a routine neighborhood patrol was violently attacked. Garcia Guevara was traveling alone and died alone aboard his patrol vehicle.

For now, they haven't ascertained the identity or number of armed individuals who assaulted the officer. As of yet they have no details on the size of the bullets that took the life of the commander, except according to the authorities of the fourth group of Homicide Attorney General of the State, they found shell casings of high caliber at the scene. The investigations are proceeding.


Patricia Moreno said that Cesar Garcia Guevara had risen through the ranks of the police to become a commander of  the Southern Command Delegation, indicating he was the one who had previously personally informed families of slain officers on duty to fact that their funerals would have to be held privately for security reasons as well as for the tranquility of the bereaved.


They have had at least Five Chiefs of Police killed in Saltillo
The Chief of Police in Saltillo Yáñez Clemente Carrillo recounted fallen cops along the years and said there has been more than five, including Commander Marcial Barron, Captain Ignacio Meza, the official Reyna Barajas Munguia, Elisa Ugalde Maribel Torres and the latter, Commander Eleazar Cesar Garcia Guevara.

The prosecutor of Common Law, Rafael Martinez de la Rosa, verified the violent crime and ordered the the removal of the body and arranged transportation to the Medical Examiner for the autopsy.

Source: Zocolo,

 Lavoz

One week after end of Laguna Segura, SEDENA reinforces La Laguna

By Chris Covert
Rantburg.com

One week following the end of the security operation known as Laguna Segura and in the wake of several criminal incidents, elements of the Mexican Army and Durango state police are scheduled to arrive in La Laguna, perhaps within hours to reinforce security operations in the area, according to Mexican news accounts.

According to a news item posted on the website of El Sol de Durango news daily, three unidentified youths were found shot once in the head on the road between Nuevo Gomez Palacio and the village of La Borrega in Durango state late Tuesday afternoon.  All three of the victims were under 16 years old.

In a separate incident, three men was killed when armed suspects attacked a business in Gomez Palacio Thursday, according to a news item posted on the website of EL Diario de Coahuila news daily.

The assault took place at Gruas ABSA on Bulevar Ejercito Mexicano, where armed suspects also set four cranes afire wounding two others.  The dead were identified as Oscar Sanchez Martinez, 23 , who died at the scene and, Pablo Sanchez Ruvalcaba, 56, and Nestor Joaquin Landeros, who died while receiving medical attention.  Wounded in the fire were Samuel Mendoza Hernandez, 39, Torreon, Coahuila, and Homero Garcia Meza, 21, Gomez Palacio.

Only two months ago then Mexican interior minister Alejandro Poire Romero arrived in Saltillo, the capital of Coahuila state, to make a review of security conditions in La Laguna, later making the determination that since violence had been reduced, the Laguna Segura operation could come to an end.

La Laguna is an area in eastern Coahuila and western Durango states which includes 10 municipalities of both states as well as the cities of Torreon, Coahuila and Gomez Palacio, Durango.  Its location is on the northern most contiguous east west highway that connects the east and west coasts of Mexico, Mexico Federal Highway 40.

Alejando Poire Romero

For his part, Coahuila governor Ruben Moreira Valdes, his hands have been full in dealing with the breakdown in security in the Piedra Negras region of northern Coahuila state, where 131 inmates at a Centro de Readaptacion Social (CERESO) escaped, creating a massive security headache, with a severe uptick in violent incidents in the wake of the mass prison escape.

Governor Moreira Valdes also suffered the loss of his nephew, Eduardo Moreira who was working for Coahuila state in Ciudad Acuna, and who was killed allegedly on orders of Heriberto Lazcano Lazcano, leader of Los Zetas, who himself was killed in an exchange of gunfire with a naval infantry unit in northern Coahuila state.

Jorge Herrera Caldera

Durango Governor Jorge Herrera Caldera has been publicly less than enthusiastic at the news, protesting the security operation should continue.

Laguna Segura was initiated  November, 2011, as a comprehensive joint program controlled by the Mexican Army, including the 10th Military Zone and later the IX Military Region, which intended to address jurisdictional problems  especially in pursuits against organized crime groups which pass through the area.  The program was also intended to clean state police and assist 10 municipalities in and around La Laguna in cleaning their police corporations, as well as provide a choke point for drug cartels' movement of product and shooters north.

At one point Laguna Segura claimed as many as 4,000 federal operatives in the area.

According to a news item posted on the website of El Siglo de Durango news daily, Durango state Secretaria de Seguridad Publica del Estado (SSPE), Antonio Rosso Holguin, announced that Durango Policia Acrediable units and units of the Mexican Army would move into the area and would be coordinated this time by Durango state.

Antonio Rosso Holguin

SSPE Rosso Holguin also said that Policia Federal (PF) units could return to the area, but not yet, as hotels housing PF units were already full. Some PF quarters were attacked by armed suspects last month.  He also indicated that Torreon may not be protected by units with the 10th Military Zone, which is based in Durango.

So far, no announcement has been released by the Mexican  Secretaria de Defensa Nacional  (SEDENA) the  controlling agency for the Mexican Army relating to the new security arrangements. 

Mexican news accounts indicate that the state security structure in Coahuila is currently focussed on the Piedras Negras area, where shootings and shootouts have become commonplace.

Chris Covert writes Mexican Drug War and national political news for Rantburg.com

Is Piedras the Next Juarez?

Chivis Martinez Borderland Beat

 

6 Dead 1 survivor critical and two children taken in latest incident
Texas sheriff says the border town is the new Juarez.

Piedras Negras; Four bodies were discovered in a taxi, while the other two died in a second incident and  found in a house in the Colonia Acoros.
 

Santos Vasquez Estrada the delegate of the Attorney General of Northern Coahuila reported that at 4:30 am the Taxi was located on the old road to Zaragoza, about a mile from the urban are. Onboard  were 4 males and 2 females with gun shots.

In the back seat of the taxi were found two women with gun shots while the taxi driver and front passenger also had gun shot wounds.

He said the taxi driver was identified as Fabian Martinez Ibarra 35 years while the other companions were unidentified.

In the second incident,  two people died in the Colony Acoros from stab wounds, the authority identified Josefina Puneda Tamez, 49, and Oscar Pineda Oziel Gobea 19,  a third was stabbed but survived. Gobea Ignacio Vazquez, husband of the deceased, who is in critical condition.

It was reported that two children ages 3 and 5 years  were kidnapped but later found wandering the streets in a nearby colonia .  The home that came under attack was at Tule Street # 1306 of Acoros Cologne.

Piedras Negras has become a hot spot in the Mexican drugwar.  The Mexican city shares a border with  Eagle Pass Texas.  Logistically sitting in a prime location  at the POE into Texas in Northeastern Coahuila  and connects with many major highways running through the south, west, east of Mexico feeding into Piedras and into the US.  

Zetas and government forces have intensified presence, complicated by the apparent growing presence of the SInaloa Cartel.

Last week both Federal Police and the Coahuila GATES agency sent additional convoys of troops to the area, focusing in Piedras Negras.

 

The Zetas Cartel have enjoyed a comfortable presense and control of the state of Coahuila since they split from the Golfo Cartel in 2010.  Golfos, also known as CDG, can take "credit" for the creation of the violent Zetas as they recruited the group as an enforcer wing of CDG together the two groups called themselves "La Compañía".

Until the split, La Compañía controlled the state of Coahuila.  After the split Zetas gained control of the majority of the state.  Seemingly, with collusion from Saltillo, the media and municipalities. 

It is surreal to live in a Coahuila city where everyone knows who the Zs are, where they live, where safe houses are, easy to spot halcones, and just about anyone can take a visitor to places such as staging lots filled with stolen boats, and vehicles of all types, mostly with Texas license plates.  But, few speak of it, paralyzed by fear.  That is changing, slowly but steadily people are beginning to speak of it with friends.  But the openess of narco activity exists and has changed little.

It seems the new governor does not want to be completely married to the Zs, or perhaps wants an open marriage of sorts.  and that sparked the struggle that was inevitable when a party refuses to play ball within Zetas rules.

Ruben Moriera, is the current governor,  Ruben is the brother of Humberto Moreira, former governor who resigned to make a successful run for the chairmanship of the PRI party. Only to resign in disgrace when improprieties were made public of missing Coahuila funds

Much is spoken about Humberto's governorship and agreements he made with the Zetas.  Violence was abound but few spoke about the many “disappeared” or dead, including the Coahuila press of which the Moreira’s have a large investment in newspaper and radio outlets.  Zetas have the last say of what narco news regional newspapers run.  For the killings reported, many times more go unreported.  The fact of the matter is that Coahuila has never maintained an official count of drug deaths or disappearances.

Because of the lack of media coverage and official counts, estimation is the method used to tally deaths and kidnappings.  The government of Mexico has concluded that Coahuila may have the most "missing" persons, a reasonable person would insist surely it is one of the top 3 or 4 states that have high numbers of kidnapped persons never to be seen again. If one looks at the Coahuila map it reflects a large land mass, but it has a small  population rendering large masses of land that are vacant undeveloped and many prime locations to dump bodies. (see maps on page two)

In Acuña, in one violent week while Humberto was governor, terror gripped the city, as kidnappings and killings erupted in a narco rampage.  Buildings and homes burned to the ground-fire fighters were warned not to attempt to extinguish the fires, or pay with their lives-the chief of police was killed left with a narco message in the parking lot of a large candy warehouse, torched and destroyed.

Though citizens witnessed the violence around the city, not a word of the violence was reported  on the radio, television or Coahuila newspapers.  For three days, no reporting then finally a report of the chief, but little else.  Fast forward to October 2012, the night of Lalo Moreira's murder, Lalo is Humberto's son.  Hours after the murder four men were killed and thrown into the Bravo, on the Acuña side of the river. 

One victim was not dead ,and despite being handcuffed, he managed to drift to the Del Rio side of the river where Border Patrol watching the events unfold, rescued the man  and took him to the hospital.  Upon his release he was kept in GEO for deportation processing.  The name he gave was "Jesus Piña".  A strange thing is Jesus is a dead ringer for Victor Sifueñtes- the police supervisor wanted for Lalo's murder- and when parties connected to the "Jesus" case were shown  Victor's photo they made a positive ID as he being the man in the river calling himself "Jesus Piña.. 

Victor had disappeared directly after "finding" Lalo's corpse and was on the run for weeks.  "Jesus" was deported, then  Victor was apprehended in the Coahuila city of Monclova..  When he was picked up Victor's face still bore the injuries and scabbing consistent with Jesus' injuries sustained from  his late night encounter in the Bravo, just hours after Lalo's killing.

None of this was reported in Mexican news. However, the story of the 4 bodies dumped in the Bravo was in the Del Rio Herald, stating the bodies were dumped on the Acuna side.  Four bodies and not a word written about it in Coahuila nor Mexico.  It is evident that Coahuila is no better off with Rueben Moreira.  Corruption is still very much alive and thriving in Coahuila. 

Ruben made the decision to send forces and fortify  the border town of Piedras Negras. Zs did not take kindly to that action, and successfully executed a mass prison escape from the Piedras Prison of 131 inmates.  When most inmates stayed close to and in the area it was obvious they were freed to defend Zeta ground. 

About and hour west of Piedras lies the border town of Acuña, adjacent to Del Rio Texas.  It was in this relatively peaceful city that all hell broke loose, pitting governor on governor, brothers on brother, split a powerful family, killed a nephew in retribution for the GATES killing of the nephew of Miguel Treviño aka Z40 leader of the Zetas.


Humberto left stands next to his brother Ruben



Lalo Moreira

In early October  in a conflict with GATES 4 gunmen were killed in Piedras Negras. One of the dead gunmen was the nephew of Miguel Trevino, his name; Alejandro Treviño Chavez.  This incensed Z40 who ordered a hit on one of the Moreira family members.

Banners began appearing in the region almost immediately.  This was confirmed by Carlos  younger brother Ruben and Humberto.  The banners warned "Family for Family" and were signed Z40. Jose Eduardo Moreira was the most vulnerable.  He was the son of Humberto and known as "Lalo".  Lalo lived in Acuña with his wife and infant son, he was 25 years old.

His dead body was found in his truck 24 hours after Z40s nephew was killed in Piedras.

The absence of Ruben at Lalo's funeral  brought to light the severity of the estrangement of the once close brothers.  Followed by accusations by the young widow holding the governor culpable in the death of her husband. 

Stating that Ruben knew of the warnings and did nothing to protect Lalo,  even though he knew he was defenseless as one month prior Lalo's armor truck and state police body guards were taken from him with the governors order for the municipal police to fill the roll of body guards.  Ironic, as it was the police chief, and supervisor on duty that were two of the 6 men suspected of Lalo's murder, the chief has already confessed to the killing.

If the relationship between the two governors ever had a chance in hell of mending after that, the fate was sealed when Ruben said it was El Lazca, the other premier leader of the Zetas at the time of Lalo's death, as the one who ordered the Lalo's murder.  Convenient, since Lazcano is now deceased.  Ruben announced the "case closed".

No one believed the governor's announcement and the action incensed the Humberto Moreira family further.  This time Lalo's younger brother took to Twitter to accuse his uncle Ruben of being a liar.

Blame the dead guy-an often use tactic to close cases

In the weeks that followed, police and army presence increased in Acuña and Piedras, Zetas retreated from Acuña seemingly to concentrate on Piedras.  Meanwhile as this heavy deployment in to the area by federal and state forces with the intent to fight off the Zetas and maintain peace, rumors of CDS presense growing both in Acuña and Piedras.  The rumors have been persistent.

-click on read more below for page 2-

Did Kidnapped Torreon Teen Have Lazcas Baby?

Chivis Martinez Borderland Beat 

 

 

 

I began this post to soley feature the article in Valley Central about a kidnapped teen possibly being Lazca girlfriend and the mother of his baby.  Sergio Chapa did a good job with the video which includes an interview of the girls mother.  The mother does not think it is her daughter, and I agree the facial features are different. 

 

Not only that, I am saying, as I did when I first laid eyes on it, that it is not Lazca.  Way off.  His death photos confirmed my conclusion, features are not a match, even the ears, hairline and his weight is considerably less than his death photos and the photos from the Squirrels wedding.  I post them here including a side by side of the photos. 

 

Secondly the bottom video is the full length video of footage identified by Valley Central as of Lazcas death, they  based their report on one from BDN who ran the video as Zetas in PN then changed it to Lazca.  The video was from the 7th and posted the 8th in the morning.  BB Forum posted it on the 8th early.  It was posted by Tierra, then Zocalo or visa versa.  You can see that it is a Piedras Negras video, not Lazca. 

 

Below is the Valley Central story.

 

Just clearing out the trash and keeping the facts straight.

 

In the middle is the person identified as Lazca
 

Valley Central (sergio chapa):

 

Her teenage daughter Stephanie, or “Fanny” as their family called her, was kidnapped from the streets of Torreon Coahuila back in 2004.

Kidnappers claiming to be with the Zetas drug cartel demanded a ransom but then the calls stopped.

Fanny was 16 years old at the time she was kidnapped but eight years have passed.

But a twist to case following the death of Zetas supreme leader Heriberto Lazcano-Lazcano this weekend.

Blogs and Mexican media outlets all reported that authorities found a photo in Lazcano-Lazcano’s possession that could be Fanny.

The slain drug lord is seen in the photo with a young woman that many on-line are saying is Ortiz's missing daughter.

Ortiz is skeptical that the girl in the photo is her daughter based on physical traits.

“I can’t say that’s my daughter,” Ortiz said in an interview in Spanish via Skype. “Even less because that photo is just too blurry.”

Ortiz said the family’s search once brought them to Pharr here in the Rio Grande Valley back in 2007.

A prosecutor told the family that Fanny was living in the Valley and had even given birth to Lazcano-Lazcanos's baby on the American side of the border.

The family worked with the U.S. Marshals and identified five possible matches based on records of newborn babies.

Two were eliminated as possibilities but three of the females could never be verified.

“Of those three girls, we couldn’t verify them,” Ortiz said in Spanish. “We really don’t know if one of them could have been her.”

Ortiz said the family is clinging to hope that their daughter is still alive.

And if Fanny is living in the Valley, they hope someone can come forward with information.

“We’re many eyes, many eyes and if you see her, I beg you, implore you to help me,” Ortiz said in Spanish via Skype.

Thank for the heads up BB reader
Shout out to Havana for the side by side trio screen shot