Border Patrol Agent guilty of engaging in organized criminal activity, acquitted of murder in Padre Island decapitation case.

Posted by DD from material at El Paso Proud  and Texas Tribune and Borderland Beat archives

contents of Joel Luna's big black safe

In the Rio Grande Valley of South Texas a Cameron County jury on Tuesday (today) found Border Patrol Agent Joel Luna guilty of engaging in organized criminal activity but acquitted him of the murder charge that could have put him in prison for life without the chance of parole. He is expected to be sentenced to 20 years in the state penitentiary.

His younger brother Eduardo, an alleged hitman for the Gulf Cartel, was convicted on all four counts, including capital murder. He was given a mandatory life sentence without parole. Prosecutors had already taken the death penalty off the table in the case.

Piedras Negras: Zetas Sergio Heredia (aka “Keko,” “Sobrino”) sentenced

Press release from the Department of Justice

Los Zetas Cartel Operative Sentenced to Federal Prison for Cocaine Trafficking

In San Antonio today, 44-year-old Sergio Heredia (aka “Keko,” “Sobrino”) of Piedras Negras, Mexico, was sentenced to 15 years in federal prison for trafficking hundreds of kilograms of cocaine announced United States Attorney Richard L. Durbin, Jr., Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Special Agent in Charge Joseph Arabit, Houston Division and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Special Agent in Charge Shane Folden, San Antonio Division.

In August 2015, Heredia pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine. By pleading guilty, Heredia admitted that from January 2007 to May 2015, he conspired with others to distribute more than five kilograms of cocaine in the United States.

According to evidence in this case, Heredia and others trafficked cocaine and marijuana for distribution in San Antonio, Fort Worth and elsewhere. It was done, in part, through a San Antonio-based network of drug distributors and money launderers led by 34–year-old San Antonio resident Walter Jacobo. This investigation revealed that the source of drug supply to Jacobo’s organization, as well as several other organizations involved in this scheme, was the Los Zetas Cartel. Together, they were responsible for the trafficking of more than 180,000 pounds of marijuana, hundreds of kilograms of cocaine, in excess of $18 million in U.S. currency, dozens of firearms and thousands of rounds of ammunition.

"El Chuy Raúl" Extradited and El Chapo's brother ordered transferred to Altiplano

Jesús "El Chuy Raúl" Beltrán León, a Sinaloa Cartel member accused of working as the lieutenant in charge of security and former bodyguard of Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzmán's son, has been extradited to the United States.

Beltrán León is facing charges related to drug trafficking, including money laundering, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.

  Jesus Raul El Chuy Beltran Leon Indictment Northern Illinois by Chivis Martinez on Scribd

Below is the article posted by Chivis in 201 when he was captured:

Tijuana: Two women tortured and murdered, thrown on side of the road

Tijuana: Two women tortured and murdered

I've written a lot of these posts, not as many as those writing for AFN, Zeta, Frontera, and all the others who report the daily killings, the tragedies, the death, the brutality, but likely a few dozen over the last 5 years.  

I can write about the early morning mist, or the frigid cold that clings to the region, the frost and bitter winds that must sweep through the Tijuana/Rosarito road in those morning hours.  The morbid tranquility of two bodies, silent in death, the contrast of the serenity of early morning and the bodies getting colder by the second, warm flesh, red blood, fighting a losing battle with the frigid air.

The bodies were found near Real Del Mar.  

I don't know if it's easier one way or the other, or whether I care about what's easier. I don't think I do. I want there to be meaning.  Meaning in saying two men, possibly a mother and daughter, were beaten, and executed, then tossed on the side of the road.  

I don't know where the killing and violence ends, a void of anger, sadness, regret, hopelessness, bitterness.  Two women were murdered.  Two women were tortured.  And they were found on the side of a road.  

Maybe they were in involved in the trade.  Maybe they were someone's family.  Or maybe that is all that matters.  They were someones family.  They are.  There will be a funeral.  These women were loved by someone.  They mattered to someone.  The fact that they ended on the side of the road, bearing the marks of torture does not betray their humanity.  

But, it betrays ours, if we callously dismiss them as undesirables, or if they were indeed involved in the retail drug trade.  The tendency of a society is to tune out, to clean and crop a picture for instagram, take a Snap of some inane or enviable activity, turn up the music, dismiss, demean, dispose of the images, or the visuals that come along with beaten and bruised body parts and bullets piercing flesh.  

I don't do that.  You take it in, and process it.  Let it tear through you like a shot of liquor, let it singe your tongue, and burn your insides.....let it sit for awhile.     

Sources: AFN Tijuana 

"Justice? " for 22 civilians killed in Tlatlaya case

Posted by DD Republished in Part from material from Mexico News Daily

 

Scene of the Tlatlaya massacre

The ministerial police tortured the three survivors of the 2014 killings

Four former investigators with the State of México Attorney General’s office were sentenced yesterday to three years and eight months in jail and fined 100,000 pesos each (US $4,700) for torturing survivors of the Tlatlaya Massacre.

The former ministerial police officers did not contest the charges against them, which stemmed from the torture of three women arrested after a clash between soldiers and presumed criminals in San Pedro Limón, Tlatlaya, in June 2014.

The clash was initially described as an ambush by the Army, which resulted in a gun battle that left 22 civilians dead. But evidence surfaced soon after that most of the alleged criminals had been executed.

Justice dispensed so far (2 1/2 years later): 

**Eight soldiers were charged in connection with the case, but seven have since been released for lack of evidence.

** One served a year-long sentence after being convicted of disobedience.
 

**Each of the four police sentenced yesterday must also pay reparation to the victims of 13,980 pesos  (US $650) in addition to the 3 year 8 month prison  sentence and $100,000 pesos fine to the state. (They were not charged with any of the 22 murder cases, only for torturing the 3 survivors)

Three other officers were also charged but they have chosen to dispute the charges.

The torture victims in the case, now widely known as the Tlatlaya Massacre, later gave evidence that many of those killed by soldiers had been killed after they surrendered.

Has justice been served?

Quintana Ro:Former police turned cartel boss its Doña Lety vs. Zetas

Mica for Borderland Beat material from El Universal & Mexico News Daily

"Zetas,  released information alleging that the Cártel de Cancún boss had been detained by police. Cartel members, believing the information, reacted and attacked the Attorney General’s office in that city."

There are no more “gentlemen’s agreements” between authorities and criminal groups in Quintana Roo, a change that has led to increased violence as the latter fight over lucrative territory for drug dealing and extortion.

A federal report obtained by the newspaper El Universal also revealed that an independent gang, referred to as the Cártel de Cancún and integrated by several former judicial officials and members of various other criminal groups, has under its control the nightclubs, bars and hotels in the hotel zone of Cancún, in Puerto Morelos, Alfredo V. Bonfil and Isla Mujeres.

The cartel, said to be headed by former Federal Police officer Leticia Rodríguez Lara, is now attempting to move into Playa del Carmen.

Doña Lety or La 40 as the gang leader is known is believed to have controlled the drug trade in the north of Quintana Roo for at least five years, and has also succeeded in infiltrating police forces and the state Attorney General’s office.

Tamaulipas: "El Oaxaco" aka "Bravo 1" Arrested, of the Old School Zetas

Itzli for Borderland Beat

Juan Pablo Pérez García, alias "El Oaxaco" and code name "Bravo 01", of the Old School Zetas was reportedly arrested somewhere in Nuevo León, near the border of Tamaulipas, late Friday, January 20th by special forces of the Marina which utilized ground forces and helicopters in the search for his location.  Apparently authorities had been increasingly closing in on him in recent weeks, as it was reported that state and municipal police officers in Nuevo León had been arresting a number of members of the Old School Zetas, particularly in the Monterrey municipal area.  "El Oaxaco" was taken to the airport of Reynosa, Tamaulipas overnight and flown to a military base in Mexico City around 9:00 AM on Saturday.

Colima:Saturday 7 decapitated Bodies discovered in taxi, Sunday 5 more

Javier Guest reporter  for Borderland Beat  and Siskiyou_kid second report

Seven bodies were found in an abandon Taxi, in Manzanillo, Colima.  Passerby drivers called into the emergency center on Saturday at about 6AM, notifying authorities.

The stolen vehicle was abandoned on the Manzanillo Colima to Cihuatlán Jalisco Highway.

Inside the Taxi were the decapitated bodies of males and one female, accompanied by a narco message.  The contents of the message was not made public, but was signed by CJNG and reportedly the bodies were members of the Sinaloa Cartel.

On Sunday, five more bodies with signs of torture were found on a dirt road near the community of Punta de Agua, in Manzanillo.

CAF: Narcos extort narcos in Mexico, Victims of their own methods

Original article available at VICE
Translated by El Wachito

In less than 72 hours after the assassination of his son, Ms. Reyna Gonzales was notified: the dismembered body of a dog has been thrown next to the tombstone where his son was buried.

The dead body of the animal left a purple color and the blood fell between the trenches that form the marked letters "Efrain Alvarez Gonzalez".

Over the ribs of the dog a narcomanta was left for the family: "The whole family is next". The message was quickly fading away due to the decomposed body of the dog.

The Alvarez Gonzalez knew that the message was not for the deceased. A few hours after his assassination, the rumors were quickly spreading like gunpowder. Efrain had been assassinated by the Cartel Arellano Felix -also known as the Cartel de Tijuana-, one of the most violent cartels in the history of drug trafficking.

El Chapo: A look at ADX Florence Colorado Supermax Prison

It is the home of the Unibomber, Green River Killer, Boston Bomber, The 9/11 conspirator, Atlanta Olympics Bomber and many other of the most notorious convicts. And consensus is that it is the probable home of Joquin “El Chapo” Guzman Loera, should he be convicted.

It is the U.S. Penitentiary Administrative Maximum Facility in Florence Colorado.  Built as the “Alcatraz of the Rockies”, escape proof with the highest security in the United States.  Built to house the worse of criminals.

Mexican narcos incarecerated in ADX:

Francisco Javier Arellano Felix (AFO) The life in prison sentence for former drug cartel leader Francisco Javier Arellano Félix has been reduced to 23 1/2 years because he’s provided crucial information to the government that has led to prosecutions in the U.S. and Mexico, according to federal court records.

Juan Garcia Abrego (CDG) serving 11 consecutive life  sentences

Osiel Cardenad Guillen (CDG) serving 25 year sentence pleading guilty, release date 2025

The Concrete Cell

Cells are a 12X7 foot structure. On the wall is a concrete platform for a black and white TV, which broadcasts closed circuit programming of classes and religious programming. It also has a built in radio.

Son of El Azul arrested

Posted on Borderland Beat by Siskiyou_kid 

A son of Sinaloa drug capo "El Azul", Juan Jose Esparragoza Monzon, was reportedly arrested in Culiacan on Wednesday night. He was arrested with several other individuals in downtown Culiacan, while he was dining at a restaurant called Paseo del Angel. The detention by Federal Police specialized in narcotics was completed without firing a shot.

Esparragoza Monzon is the son of Juan Jose "El Azul" Esparragoza Moreno and Gloria Monzon Araujo, who has been sanctioned by the US Treasury Department for using a network of gas stations in Culiacan to launder proceeds that are allegedly obtained through criminal enterprise.

The 44 year-old son is reportedly married to Gloria Beltran Leyva, the sister of the leaders of the notorious Beltran Leyva Organization, who carried out a protracted battle with other Sinaloa capos, particularly Joaquim "El Chapo" Guzman Loera, following the arrest of brother Alfredo "El Mochomo" Beltran Leyva in 2008.

El Chapo: Florida Indictment and the Colombian Cifuentes Cartel connection

Chivis for Borderland Beat

How the case of El Mochomo may be a factor in the case of El Chapo...........

click on image to enlarge

There are indictments against Chapo in six federal districts.  The feds say they decided to prosecute Chapo in Brooklyn, with the assistance of Miami federal prosecutors, determining the two offices working in conjunction would bring the strongest case against Chapo.  Below is the Florida indictment. Notable is they are charging him with 5 counts and asking for a life sentence.

Coronel Barreras

There are two other co-defendants in the indictment.  One is Jorge Milton Cifuentes Villa.  He is the leader of the Colombian Cifuentes Villa drug organization.

It was the Sinaloa Cartel connection to Cifuentes Villa, that authorities were able to connect Chapo's father in law, Inés Coronel Barreras, father of Emma, as the connection or liaison between the Colombians and Chapo.  And according to the Florida indictment was one of Chapo's money launderers, funneling money into the United States.

Below is taken from  a BB 2013 article.  The Florida indictment follows.

Video: El Chapo is awaken and told of his extradition

El Chapo: "No tunnel will be built to his bathroom" say feds

Chivis Martinez for Borderland Beat Includes Pretrial Detention Filing and Indictment

The capo had the look of “surprise, shock and even a bit of fear” now that he was facing “American justice.”

In Brooklyn

This morning Federal prosecutors in Brooklyn New York, issued their plan in keeping the Sinaloa Cartel leader known as “El Chapo” Guzman in custody.

The feds distributed the memo (full document below) saying that measures have been made to assure there will be no prison outbreaks while Chapo is in United States custody.

Angel  Melendez, the special Homeland Security Investigation agent, said at a news conference “I can assure you no tunnel will be built to his bathroom”,   this in reference to Chapo’s tunnel escape from Mexico’s maximum security prison No. 1 known as “Altiplano”, in the state of Mexico.  Before Chapo’s escape from Altiplano, there had never been a successful escape from the prison.

Chapo’s escape tunnel was created from one mile away, and opened into his shower floor.

Melendez also spoke of seeing Chapo for the first time upon his arrival, he said he looked into Mr. Guzman eyes and saw “surprise, shock and even a bit of fear” now that he was facing “American justice.”

That is no surprise to anyone following the extradition saga of El Chapo, his surrogates speaking on his behalf, have often mentioned the fear El Chapo had of being extradited to the United States.  He was under the impression he could even receive a sentence of death.

Guerrero: Woman and 2 Year Old Found Dismembered

Photo by:

Jorge Alberto Martínez

By: Ezequiel Flores Contreras | Translated by Valor for Borderland Beat

On Thursday night, the bodies of a woman and a two year old boy were found dismembered in a ravine located east of the capital.

The finding was reported at around 8:30 pm in the neighborhood Norberto Flores Baños, considered as part of the city of Chilpancingo’s miserable belt, where criminal gangs fight for control of this strategic place in the city. 

According to the preliminary reports, it is indicated that neighbors of the place found remains of a child dismembered on the main street of the colony.

Ministerial authorities arrived at the location, which them confirmed the event and also recovered the remains of a woman also dismembered inside plastic bags.

So far, state authorities have not issued a position on the findings of the bodies of a child and a woman who were found dismembered in this spiral of violence that does not stop in the state.

Morelos: Human Remains Found In Different Parts of Cuernavaca

Translated by Valor for Borderland Beat

Cuernavaca, Morelos; January 18, 2017 – The dismembered body of a man was left in three different locations of the state capital. The remains were found on Wednesday morning.  At one of the locations, a message from the Jalisco New Generation Cartel was found.

It was around 6:00 hours when emergency personnel were alerted on the discovery of human remains inside black bags in the vicinity of the Secretary of Public Safety, located on Heroico Colegio Militar Avenue.

The location of body parts under the same conditions was also reported outside of the general hospital of Cuernavaca and a few meters from the main entrance of the Social Security Clinic #1 on Plan de Ayala Avenue.

The head, from what is now known to be a single person, was found a few steps from a police base where a message was found that threated a man that allegedly works for Los Rojos.

Children See Violence As Normal

By: Perla Miranda & Alejandra Canchola | Translated by Valor for Borderland Beat

Previously, on the streets of Mexico, children would play with spinning tops, marbles, doctor or police, they got along together and assumed roles that were constructive and functional in a peaceful society; today, given the climate in which violence prevails, they must learn to be victims or aggressors and have modified their behavior to use their creativity in actions that make them feel safe, according to specialists in the human rights of children.

Nelia Tello, a researcher at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) and a specialist in intervention models among young people, explained that children are influenced by a violent environment that internalize it as if it were something natural, “[it] doesn’t cause them any surprise, it’s the world in which they were born in and in which they develop,” she said.  She added that minors can create two sense of defense: being aggressive or tolerant to violent acts.

The first case has to do with those children who, when witnessing any kind of violence, become anxious and this feeling of uncertainty causes them fear, which in turn makes them aggressive even when no one is bothering them.

This social violence that is seen in the media, assaults and deaths, is affecting their customs of everyday life; then, they are incited to defend themselves and they become very aggressive, all the while they are waiting for others to attack them and they prepare themselves to defend,” she explained.

On the other hand are children who learn to tolerate violence, who are educated under a system of overprotection that don’t learn to live together and live in isolation.

That is why, according to Tello, violence has become a means in which children have to survive and for that, they create different social skills.

At 11 years old, Juan David Hernández designed a backpack that serves to protect himself from the shootings and robberies that occur every day in Matamoros, Tamaulipas, the city in which he lives in.

At a state-level science fair, he explained that his backpack has a bullet-proof vest, an alarm, a lamp, and a GPS system that connects to his parents’ phone.

New York's Indictment against El Chapo

  Video: El Chapo's arrival to Long Island

El Chapo.s-1 Filed Indictment by Simone Electra Wilson on Scribd

Airplane carrying "El Chapo" has landed on Long Island

Borderland Beat

The plane carrying Mexican drug lord Joaquin Archivaldo "El Chapo" Guzman Loera has landed at MacArthur Airport on Long Island Thursday evening just hours after it was announced he was being extradited to the United States. 

El Chapo’s attorneys say they were not notified of the extradition. “It was illegal. They didn’t even notify us,” said lawyer Andres Granados, who accused the government of extraditing his client to distract from nationwide gasoline protests. “It’s totally political.”

The Sinaloa capo will be incarcerated in the maximum-security Metropolitan Detention Center in Sunset Park, Brooklyn.

Mexico says the extradition was a goodwill gesture towards both the outgoing and incoming U.S. administration.  

Chapo on his way to New York

Within one day of the inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump, and on the last full day of Barrack Obama’s presidency, the Sinaloa Cartel leader known as “El Chapo” was extradited to the United States.

The aircraft transferring Chapo, departed at 5:31 pm (ET) from Mexico to New York. The DEA agency received custody of the capo in Ciudad Juárez, on the border with Texas.

Today the Supreme Court of Mexico rejected the last two appeals filed by the Sinaloa captain against his extradition.

The U.S. Justice Department issued a statement confirming that Guzman was en route to the United States and expressed gratitude to Mexico for its cooperation.

 “We extend our gratitude to the government of Mexico for their extensive cooperation and assistance in securing the extradition of Guzmán Loera to the United States.”

Breaking Story; Chapo extradited today

Posted by DD

The New York Times and NBC news are reporting that Mexican authorities had today extradited Drug Lord Joaquin ‘El Chapo’ Guzman  to the United States.

Several U.S. jurisdictions want to try the former leader of the Sinaloa cartel on federal drug trafficking charges, including prosecutors in San Diego, New York, El Paso, Texas, Miami and Chicago.

Guzman was recaptured in January of 2016 in the town of Los Mochis, almost six months after he used a tunnel to escape from a maximum-security Mexican prison in a brazen and elaborate jailbreak. 

This is a developing  story and we will provide more details and coverage from the Mexican press.

Reports of El Chapo claiming he is being sexually harassed

Ok folks….at first I thought this story must have been created from poor translating, but when several mainstream media sites posting the same story, and giving source credit to one of El Chapo’s attorney’s, I thought I would post it, if nothing else perhaps for a good laugh.

Joaquin Guzman Loera aka “El Chapo”, imprisoned leader of the Sinaloa cartel, has been complaining of his treatment and accommodations since “go”, and now his list of complaints supposedly includes, “sexual harassment”.

According to reports in U.S. papers, Chapo's  attorney, Sylvia Delgado says, her client insists he is being harassed by a prison guard who “squeezes” him and touches him in a manner that makes him feel “uncomfortable” and “embarrassed”.

Chapo further says,the guard constantly awakes him at night, and instead of just touching his shoulder, the guard, squeezes and gropes him.

Another Priest Murder in Mexico Raises Security Questions

Posted by DD from America Magazine and Mexico News Daily  

Joaquín Hernández Sifuentes, 36, parish priest

A Catholic priest who disappeared January 3 in Coahuila was found dead last week half buried on a vacant piece of land in the municipality of Parras de la Fuente.

Joaquín Hernández Sifuentes, 36, parish priest at the Sacred Heart of Jesus church in the community of Aurora, Saltillo.   Hernández’ death brings to 16 the number of priests killed in the last four years. At least 31 have been murdered since 2006

Hernández had intended to take a vacation starting January 3, according to church officials, but when friends and colleagues became worried after he did not answer his cell phone. According to a statement by the Saltillo diocese, a friar visited his living quarters at the parish and found that while Father Hernández was missing, his suitcase and some other personal items were still at the residence.

A cellphone, tablet and computer were missing.

The circumstances of Hernández’ death are similar to those of a Michoacán priest killed last September. Alfredo López Guillén, a parish priest in Puruándiro, was murdered after a falling-out with two soldiers during a social visit in López’ home.

Feds target 'drive-through' Cochise County marijuana traffickers

Guest reporter Siskiyoukid republished from Arizona Star By Curt Prendergast 

 

Monday agents seized 3200 lbs of marijuana transported on flatbed

Federal authorities are targeting a drug-trafficking organization that reportedly smuggles 10,000 pounds of marijuana through Cochise County every month.

Two cases in U.S. District Court in Tucson shed light on a decade of brazen cross-border smuggling by the Agua Prieta, Sonora-based Toscano-Siqueiros drug-trafficking organization.

Federal prosecutors say Leonel “Tiger” Toscano and Martin “Tin Tin” Siqueiros run an organization that specializes in “drive-through” smuggling, in which convoys of trucks and SUVs loaded with thousands of pounds of marijuana drive across the border and head to Tucson or other destinations.

In drive-throughs, smugglers drive vehicles over ramps placed on top of the border fence, cut holes in the fence and drive through the breaches, or drive across areas with little or no fencing, court records show.

After crossing the border, scouts with encrypted radios alert drivers to law enforcement efforts. The drivers wear laminated cards around their necks that list code words to decipher the scouts’ messages, according to court documents.

Federal prosecutors filed drug-trafficking charges against nine men in connection with busts in November 2015 and January 2016. Prosecutors say they were drivers for the Toscano-Siqueiros organization.

 

Above agents seize narco clone vehicle designed to look like a Fish & Wildlife truck

“This drive-thru crew has been operating in the Southern Arizona area with little to no consequences for many years,” federal prosecutor Christina Vejar wrote in court documents.

Quintana Roo:Former Governor Mario Villanueva, leaves U.S.returns to Mexico prison system

Guest Reporter for Borderland Beat

The former governor of Quintana Roo, Mario Ernesto Villanueva Madrid was extradited from the U.S. returning to Mexico.  He was received by PGR (Attorney General Office) and AIC (Criminal Investigation Agency)elements at 12:30pm at the Mexico City Airport.

The prisoner had been detained at the Migrant Care Center in Louisiana since  Dec. 30 when he left the Lexington hospital prison.

The family of Villanueva Madrid reported making a  request for house arrest because of chronic health issues.  For years, Villanuenva, has Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) which had been acquired during his imprisonment in the high security prison of Altiplano, in the State from Mexico.

Cancun: 4 Killed in gun attack that may relate to Club Blue Parrot killings

#PorSiNoLoViste Atacan la #FiscalíaCancún con armas de fuego y se registran balaceras simultáneas en #Cancún https://t.co/PT1mZf8u8n pic.twitter.com/Fim3OPBd3M

— Novedades de Q.Roo (@novedadesqroo) January 17, 2017

Quintana Roo: Arriving on motorcycles, a heavily armed commando group of at least 10 gunmen, entered the offices of the Attorney General on Xcaret and Kabah Rojo Gomez avenues and opened gun fire killing Humberto Mora Ochoa, a ministerial police officer.

One of the gunmen was killed as he fled the building.

Within minutes more than 100 police arrived on the scene engaging in gunfire against the perpetrators.  The shootout lasted for about 15 minutes. Two additional gunmen were killed during this confrontation for a total of 4 killed in the clash.

Playa del Carmen: Zetas claim responsibility of Club Blue Parrot attack in narco message

Guest Reporter Javier

Yesterday the Facebook news page of the weekly “Playa News Aqui y Ahora”, was the first to report  the hanging of a manta, supposedly signed by Old School zetas taking responsibility of the Blue Parrot Club shooting, in Playa del Carmen, Quintana Roo.

We held back from publishing the story in hopes of verifying its authenticity.  Although blogs have gone with the story, few mainstream media  published it.  

El Debate, Proceso,  was the closest to mainstream that did.  There was some regional TV and radio coverage.  Questions were raised if the manta was authentic. However since readers have asked about it, here is what we know.

A manta was hanged in Playa del Carmen in 4 locations,  Playa News took photos of the narco message before it was taken down.  The photo above is the image the news source took and published.

"Phillip” is presumably BPM Festival co-founder Phillip Pulitano.  On the Playa News facebook page they also suggest  “Fayo Z” is  Quintana Roo Zeta leader Rafael del Ángel Velez Morales, pictured below during his 2010 arrest.

This is how the drugs move in Quintana Roo

Posted by DD republished from La Sila Rota
And a special thanks to BB reader Tu Fren for sending us  the link to the story. 

CANCÚN, Quintana Roo (La Silla Rota) .- "The Los Pelones drug was better than the Zetas , it was purer, more cocaine, it was cheaper," says Adrian "N", remembering and comparing the two Types of crack that he consumed for more than five years in different picaderos of Cancun , Quintana Roo .

 Adrian, went from being an exemplary father, present at the morning meetings of his children's school, a good neighbor and worker, to a man who left his family.

For him to get drugs in Cancun was never a problem, just take any unit of the "Andrés Quintana Roo" Taxi Drivers' Union, and ask the driver to take you to an area where they sell crack. Another way is to go to a strip bar in the center of the city and ask prostitutes to help you get a dose, go and consume it at an economic motel in the area known as "The Cruise." The other is to go directly to an arena (an abandoned area where people who consume "stone", cocaine and other substances) meet.

The simplest, quickest and most economical way to do this was, for him, the latter. The place was "Plaza Kabah", an abandoned facility in the 93rd Region of Cancun, located on Kabah Avenue and Francisco I. Madero.

Mother and 13 year old daughter victims in another murder that no one can explain.

Posted by DD Republished from Mexico News Daily

 Just days after a college professor, her husband and their teenage son were buried in the state capital of Chilpancingo, apparently victims of an organized crime killing, a market vendor and her teenage daughter were killed in their home in the neighboring municipality of Tixtla.
 

crime scene Tixtla

The woman and her daughter, identified only as Gudelia, 52, and Kenia, 13, were at their home early last Thursday evening when a group of armed men pulled up in several trucks, entered the house and shot them.

After remaining in the home for some 40 minutes the shooters poured gasoline over the bodies and in the home, torching it before leaving.

 
Since then, Gudelia’s neighbors have been wondering: where were the municipal or state police, or the military, or the community police force active in that town?

It took an hour for municipal police and Civil Protection officials to show up, yet their headquarters are located only 300 meters away from the scene of the crime.

“Gudelia was widely known in Tixtla for her food. Lots of people ate at her stand,” a neighbor told the newspaper El Universal.

He said friends and neighbors are worried.

“Never has anything like this happened; the people are very angry about what was done to the girl . . . they overdid it with her,” he said.

Chilpancingo Guerrero: Six human heads left atop vehicle

Police discovered six human heads left on top of a vehicle abandoned in the central region of Chilpancingo Guerrero. 

The discovering was made Monday, after police responded to a citizen’s call made to the emergency line, notifying authorities of human heads in black plastic being seen by the residents on Nicolas Bravo Street in colonia Progreso.

In addition to the heads, police discovered six dismembered bodies within the vehicle, which had Guerrero license plates.

A message was left with the grisly discovery, but authorities have not made its contents public.

Playa del Carmen: Details still cloudy in Blue Parrot shooting

Alejandra Villanueva Ibarra, Denver Colorado,  trampled to death

Reports from the ground and in the media are insisting the shooting was cartel related.  Authorities say it is the work of a lone gunman.  Details are slow to be forthcoming. Including the number of dead, between 5 and 8, and the number injured, between 12 and 18.

Injured American Heather Parham 

College student Alejandra Villanueva Ibarra, 18 from Denver, was trampled to death in the chaos following the outbreak of gunfire.

“She was talking about how she was having so much fun and can’t wait to come back home and tell us everything about her vacation,” her brother told the DailyMail of their phone conversation just a couple hours before his sister's death.

Alejandra was in Mexico taking a break from working hard in college, as well as looking after two younger siblings when she was tragically killed.

Festival organizer Kirk Wilson, (below) who is originally from Canada, is believed to have been killed along with three security guards, according to local reports.