Happy New Year 2010!

The Tijuana Police Chief

Tijuana's new weapon in gang war:

Leyzaola goes after ‘filthy, shiftless’ foes
 
San Diego Union Tribune
 

Tijuana’s public safety secretary, Lt. Col. Julian Leyzaola Perez, has a five-year plan to gain control of the city.

PROFILE
Julian Leyzaola Perez
Age: 49
Born: Culiacán, Sinaloa
Military career: Lieutenant colonel with 25 years on active duty; on leave since 2000
Civilian career: Public security posts in state government in Oaxaca; head of state police academy, director of state penitentiaries, head of State Preventive Police in Baja California; top operational commander with Tijuana Police Department; currently Tijuana’s secretary of public safety
Family: Married, three children, two grandchildren

TIJUANA —They’ve gunned down his officers; left him taunting, handwritten messages at crime scenes; and more than once plotted his assassination.

Six Women are Killed Within 24 Hours

Six women were killed in a period of less than 24 hours. Among the victims was a 3-year-old who was innocent victim in an attempt on his father.

These cases added to the 33 murders of women registered in December, placing it as the most violent of the year against women and created a new record in the history of the city.

One day before the end of the New Year, 163 murders have been committed against women, according to the journalists who follow crimes statistics from official sources.

The Attorney-General for Justice in the Northern Zone of the region reported that currently the Special Prosecutor for the "Homicidios de Mujeres" "Investigation of Women's Homicides" has the cases of only 25 of the crimes, while the remainder, ie 138 cases, are being investigating by the "Special Investigation Unit of Crimes Against Life," or "Unidad Especial de Investigación de Delitos contra la Vida."

The Numbers in Tijuana

111 police and 1,794 people, executed in two years of governor Osuna Millán in office. 


PAN presidential terms in BC: 6,551 executions

By: Enrique Mendoza Hernandez

If impunity to execute people, men, women and children, continues as usual in Baja California, Osuna Millan PAN administration will go down in history as the bloodiest of the Governments National Action. In Tijuana, during the administration of Jorge Ramos 48 violent deaths were reported.

In total, during the administration of President Felipe Calderón will have 17,117 executions, of which 2,305 in Baja California have occurred which means that 13.5 of every 100 murders in Mexico, occur in this federal entity.

The numbers are clear.

In Baja California, the five administrations since Ernesto Ruffo Appel to Jose Guadalupe Osuna Millan killing drug proceeds have been growing both in number and violence and cruelty.

Misery for Juarez in 2009, But Hope for 2010

Welcome to my last post in 2009

Ciudad Juarez has become notorious to the world for the events that have left their mark, ending a year of violence that had been growing day by day by day with nothing or any nobody able to stop it.

Over two thousand people were part of the unimaginable statistics which made them the victims of violence. Children, women and men all of whom who have shed their blood on the streets of beloved Juarez.

It is said that Ciudad Juarez is considered the most dangerous city in the world. But only a few years ago it was proclaimed to be the city of opportunity, where everyone who arrived from other places was greeted with a job and with a salary higher than what they earned in their home town.

Today that seems to be over, now it is only a battle ground for the drug cartels to perpetrate violence that seems to dominate the news lately. The most affected by the mayhem are the people who every day leave their home to earn a meager living from their sweat and tears so they can put bread on the table.

How about those brave women workers who regardless of the inclement weather still go out to earn a salary so they can bring their children some warm soup to eat for the night as it has been done every night in the year of 2009.

3-Year-Old Among 10 People Killed in Juárez

3-year-old among 10 people killed in Juárez area Wednesday

El Paso Times

Ciudad Juarez, Chih - Ten people, including a 3-year-old girl, were killed in and around Juárez Wednesday, authorities there said. Five people were found shot to death inside a pickup truck with Texas license plates early Wednesday in a remote rural area near the Fabens border.

According to police, the victims -- four men and a woman -- were between 35 and 45 years old and were shot multiple times. They were found in the back of a 1974 pickup truck, and one victim's hands were bound.

The unidentified victims were found at a rough dirt track called "Vado de Cedillo", about six miles from the rural town of Porvenir, authorities said.

Wave of Executions in Northern Mexico

There were at least 11 murders

Northern Mexico - Eleven people were killed in various incidents between Monday night and Tuesday morning in the Mexican states of Chihuahua and Baja California, both U.S. border states. One victim was paralytic and the other was decapitated, local officials reported.

DEA Warns of Mexican Cartel Attacks

DEA warns Mexico of possible cartel attacks

Mexico City, - The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration warned the Mexican government that this country's powerful drug cartels may launch attacks around the New Year's holiday, capital daily El Universal said Wednesday.

Citing what it said was a confidential DEA report, the newspaper said Mexican officials were told the cartels could strike both "civilian targets" and the security forces.

According to an internal report by the DEA, Mexican cartels are planning attacks on targets such as shopping malls, bridges and transit stations as the subway, and bus terminals as well as mass actions by the parties of the time, but not clear whether the criminal organizations in particular have reason to run.

The attacks, according to the DEA, can happen in the states of Mexico, Michoacan, Nuevo Leon, Chihuahua, Sinaloa, Durango, Zacatecas and even Mexico City.

El Corrido De Arturo Beltran Leyva

El Corrido De La Muerte De Arturo Beltran Leyva

Natalio Trevino
El Chacal del Valle

Corridos of Arturo Beltran Leyva are popping up in every little cantina of every little town in old Mexico.

The dude Natalio says that his new song is a corrido, but I think it's more of some type of analysis, setting a tone of most Mexican in the "know" if you will, but anyhow, see it for what is worth, but interesting to say the least. A piece from this angle was needed for a character of this type, eh?

War Brewing Between La Barbie and Family of Beltran Leyva?

It is the second message left after the death of "El Jefe de Jefes" in what could be a war between organized crime. Yesterday morning a message card was found in which it warned about the onset of action between the group that commands Edgar Valdez Villarreal, known as "La Barbie", and relatives of the late Arturo Beltran Leyva, (a) "El Jefe de Jefes".

Despite the sense of secrecy of the federal, city and state police agencies, It was learned that around 10:00 hours on Tuesday, the message was placed inside the corral known as Base Begonia (located on the street 10 de Diciembre, in the community 10 de Abril in Cuernavaca), a "narcomensaje" that said the following:

"You impress yourself Barbie, stop screwing around with your messages, son of bitches (hijos de puta) my people and I are prepared, Your bastard organization aint worth a fuck (hijos de puta su empresa vale madres) (Jefe de Jefes), we know where you are, Because you don't pay worth a shit your people are with us, we are ready to wage war mother fuckers (chingen a su madre putos) (Arriba Morelos), Don't think the same any longer."

The Aid to "El Teo" Falls in Ensenada

Luis Gilberto Sánchez Guerrero "El Gil" was a former Tijuana municipal police and was involved in crimes such as kidnapping, murder and protecting small shops where drugs were sold.

Tijuana, BC - Authorities of the State Preventive Police (PEP) arrested former municipal police officer Luis Gilberto Sánchez Guerrero "El Gil", an alleged associate of Teodoro Garcia Simental "El Teo", whom authorities identified as part of a command that had attempted to assassinate the Secretary of Local Public Safety, Julian Perez Leyzaola.

This arrest represents a serious blow to the structure of criminal gangs operating in the state, as the suspect confessed that he commanded at least ten criminal cells, said Public Safety Secretary of State, Daniel de la Rosa Anaya.

At the time of arrest he was in possession of two handguns, one known as "matapolicías" (police killer), with 58 cartridges and a bulletproof vest.

Street Vendors Shot and Killed in Juárez

El Paso Times

Ciuadad Juarex, Chih - A pair of street vendors who sold burritos and juices were fatally shot on Tuesday as the violence continued in Juárez, a Chihuahua state police spokesman said.

Mario Angel Delgado Ortega, 36, and Concepcion Ortega Vazquez, 61, were shot at about 9:30 a.m. on Avenida Lopez Mateos and Benjamin Franklin streets near the ProNaF tourist zone, officials said. Investigators counted 36 bullet casings. A motive was unknown.

The rate of shootings in the city increased after a slowdown that had two homicides each on Friday and Saturday.

Mexico Ramps Up Drug War

Mexico Ramps Up Drug War With a Surge on Rio Grande

By Jose de Cordoba and Joel Millman

Ciudad Juarez, Mexico — A few weeks ago, Army Captain Ramón Velásquez got his introduction to Ciudad Juárez, ground zero in Mexico's war against violent drug cartels.

A stocky man with round glasses, Capt. Velásquez led a 10-man patrol in midday traffic on one of the city's major boulevards. Suddenly, gunmen with automatic rifles opened up on a taxi stuck at a traffic light about three blocks away, killing two men and a woman.

Capt. Velásquez scrambled to the site of the killings, where the gunmen had already vanished. He and his men yelled questions at dozens of eyewitnesses: How many killers were there, what kind of car did they drive? "Not one person said a word. Not even what direction they had gone," says Capt. Velásquez, 42. "Executions here happen at any time, at any place. That terrifies the population. They don't trust anybody. And they don't talk."

Saving Mexico

To weaken the cartels, some argue the U.S. should legalize marijuana, let cocaine pass through the Caribbean and take the profit motive out of the drug trade

By David Luhnow

A man accused of involvement in a shooting of federal police officers was presented to the press at a news conference in Tijuana, Mexico, in October, holding an unloaded gun allegedly connected to the crime.

Mexico City - In the 40 years since U.S. President Richard Nixon declared a "war on drugs," the supply and use of drugs has not changed in any fundamental way. The only difference: a taxpayer bill of more than $1 trillion.

A senior Mexican official who has spent more than two decades helping fight the government's war on drugs summed up recently what he's learned from his long career: "This war is not winnable."

Just last week, Mexican Navy Special Forces swarmed a luxury apartment tower in a central city and gunned down Arturo Beltrán Leyva, a drug trafficker whose organization helped smuggle several billion dollars worth of cocaine and marijuana into the U.S. during the past decade, according to the Drug Enforcement Administration.

Mexico's Narco-Museum

The so-called Mexico narco-museum exhibits, as part of their new acquisitions, it includes clothes and jellery worn by Mexican drug traffickers, in addition to the ramps that hey have built for jumping the walls at the U.S. border with their trucks.

The Rise and Fall of Arturo Beltran

Shortly before 3 pm on Wednesday December 16 a meal was being prepared in apartment number 201, one of the five residential towers called Altitude, located in the Lomas de la Selva, in Cuernavaca, Morelos, where el capo Marcos Arturo Beltran Leyva lived.

He was in company of 5 of his most trusted men, including Edgar Valdez Villarreal, The Barbie, his leader of sicarios.

Inside the safety of his bunker of the building Elbus Beltran received constant reports of gunmen who formed part the three levels of security guarding the condominium and movements out in the streets.

According to the testimony rendered to the office of the Deputy Attorney Specialized Investigation of Organized Crime by one of the five people that had been arrested during the operation in the community Altitude and who is believed to be the cook, el capo had already been told that they had observed suspicious movements outside his apartment , but he relied on his people thinking that everything was under control as usual.

Mexico’s Narco-War Threatens U.S.

Mexico City - In the traditional Sicilian mafia, families were normally off limits. You could kill the capo; you couldn’t kill his mother or children.

Leave it to Mexico’s drug-traffickers to make the mafia look humane. On Tuesday, one faction took revenge for the death of a cartel leader in a way shocking even by narco-terror standards. Hours after the funeral of a marine who fell in the raid that left Arturo Beltran Leyva dead, some of Leyva’s allies invaded the marine’s home and gunned down his mother, brother, sister and aunt.

The message couldn’t have been more clear: Touch us, and your family may pay the price.

Ayala Will Explain His Presence at Cartel's Party

Mexican Singer Says He’ll Explain Presence at Drug Cartel Party

Monterrey, Mexico – Ramon Ayala, a famed Mexican singer and leader of the norteño band Los Bravos del Norte who is currently under investigation for alleged drug ties, said he will explain his presence at a party attended by cartel members in the central state of Morelos.

Ayala, who was being held under a form of house arrest before being released this week for health reasons, said Thursday that he will offer an explanation to the media once he has recovered.

“When he’s ready and the doctors allow it, the musician will speak to the media,” Serca Representaciones, the company that represents Ayala, said in a statement.

The statement did not indicate the seriousness of Ayala’s health problems; Mexico’s Attorney General’s Office said in announcing the singer’s release that his medical condition was life-threatening.

Too Many Guns Fuel Violence

Too many guns fuel violence, Juárez mayor José Reyes Ferriz says

El Paso Times

Juarez Mayor Jose Reyes Ferriz sits in his office this week to discuss his expectations for Juarez in the coming year and what his administration has done to quell the violence in the city. Reyes said one of the steps his administration took was to clean up a corrupt police force. Reyes also said that violence was a problem for both Mexico and the United States.

Juarez, Chih -- Most big-city mayors live in a pressure cooker, but none faces the duress of Juárez's elected leader, José Reyes Ferriz.

Runaway violence has damaged Juárez's once-thriving economy. Its neighborhoods have turned from vibrant to mournful. And its streets have been stained with the blood of 2,580 people, all of them homicide victims of 2009. In contrast, El Paso, half the size of Juárez, has had 12 homicides this year.

Reyes, 48, a man of medium height with a soft voice, stands at the forefront of the government's attempt to stop the violence and save the city.

Once a trade attorney, Reyes studied international law at the University of Notre Dame. He had been in office for two months when crime rampages became the norm in his city of 1.5 million.

Gunmen fire at Mexican eatery with US mayor inside

Associated Press

PIEDRAS NEGRAS, Mexico — Gunmen sprayed bullets at a restaurant Tuesday where the mayor of a Texas border town was eating with a Mexican state attorney general and other officials, police said. A woman leaving the building was killed.

Coahuila state Attorney General Jesus Torres and Chad Foster, mayor of Eagle Pass across the border from Piedras Negras, were unharmed, according to police officers at the scene.

Foster was dining with Mexican officials after a ceremony for Jose Manuel Maldonado, the newly elected Piedras Negras mayor who takes office in January.

Torres was rushed out of Piedras Negras and authorities stepped up security at his family's home in the city of Saltillo. Foster left on his own, said police officers, who agreed to discuss the shooting only if granted anonymity out of concern for their safety.

Cartel's Revenge Kills Marine's Mother

Drug gang revenge attack kills Mexico marine's family.

Reuters

Quintin Arauz, Mexico - Drug gang hitmen shot dead the grieving mother, brother, sister and aunt of an elite Mexican marine, Melquisedet Angulo Córdova, who died after taking part in a raid that killed a notorious drug lord, police said on Tuesday.

Gunmen burst into the family's home in Quintin Arauz in the southern state of Tabasco just before midnight on Monday, firing assault rifles. It appeared to be a revenge attack for a Mexican navy operation last week that killed Arturo Beltran Leyva, the boss of a major drug cartel.

"They broke the door down with a sledgehammer and sprayed them with bullets in the living room and bedrooms," said Saturnino Dominguez, the local deputy police commander.

No Quick Fix Seen for Drug Battle in Juárez

El Paso Times

The Juárez of old is gone.

In its place is a paralyzing and vicious 2-year-old drug war that has the 1.5 million residents in the manufacturing border town living in fear, even as city leaders pledge to never give in to the powerful cartels that are using the city's streets as a killing ground.

The axis of the problem remains the same: The Sinaloa Cartel and its leader Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán are trying to wrest control of the Juárez drug-trafficking corridor from the Juárez Cartel and its leader, Vicente Carrillo Fuentes.

Man Executed in Front of Military Check Point

A gunman boarded a bus in Ciudad Juarez and opened fire on another passanger right in front of a military check point. Earlier, two men were killed while traveling in another "rutero" in the central part of Juarez

Drug Violence Overwhelms Tijuana

TIJUANA, Mexico — This year was particularly tough for the already rough border city of Tijuana, besieged by drug violence and slammed by the economic downturn in the United States.

So far, more than 300 people have been killed in turf battles between rival drug traffickers and shootouts between gangs and federal security forces. Scores of bodies are buried in paupers' graves after not being claimed by their families.

Fear dominates life here. The violence has kept away thousands of revelers from across the U.S. border in San Diego who once flocked here to party at nightclubs along its main strip. Discos and bars that remain open often are empty, with strippers performing to bored employees.

Meanwhile, the city continues to swell with the unemployed. About 10,000 people have been laid off from factories that manufacture U.S. goods for export and that are suffering from the global financial crisis.

Tijuana also receives a large portion of Mexican deportees from the United States. Many arrive with no money to get back to their native towns in the interior of Mexico and wind up begging on the streets.

New Toys for Christmas

The SSPM Demonstrated new equipment for the aid in fighting crime.

Cadets of the Public Safety Department this morning held a demonstration of their new weapons that were purchased for the agency.

The War Next Door

CBS

Drug-cartel fueled violence has turned into a war in Mexico, with thousands of deaths and the government battling well-armed gangs whose military-quality weapons come mostly from U.S. dealers.

CNN's Anderson Cooper reports.

The Comical Nicknames of Mexican Drug Cartels

If in Chile there is the gang with a comical monicker "Los Cara de Pelota", and criminals like the "Tila", or the "Cizarro," in Mexico, where narco mafiosos are to be feared, this could be further from the truth.

Edgar Valdez Villarreal is probably the biggest murderer of a bloody drug cartel in this country of Mexico. His nickname "Barbie". It turns out that Valdez was born in the U.S. and has blond hair and clear eyes.

"Mando Conejo"  alias of Armando Orozco.

Like the "Barbie" in the world of cartels, there are other more common names like "Mono" or "Gordo" and other more cryptic like "Mando Conejo." That is the alias that the authorities still do not know what it means, Armando Santiago Orozco, captured in January in Oaxaca.

Drug Cartel Chief is Dead, But Now What?

Mexico officials herald the killing of Arturo Beltran Leyva of Sinaloa as a coup. Still, the violence could grow.

Los Angeles Times

Reporting from Mexico City - He was one of Mexico's most notorious drug traffickers, embroiled in fights to the death with rival gangsters and the Mexican military. His crude signature -- proclaiming him the "boss of bosses" -- showed up regularly next to the headless bodies of his foes.

So when Arturo Beltran Leyva fell dead Wednesday night during a frenzied gunfight with Mexican naval commandos, authorities declared a major blow struck against one of Mexico's meanest smuggling groups.

"This action represents an important achievement for the people and government of Mexico and a heavy blow against one of the most dangerous criminal organizations in Mexico," President Felipe Calderon said Thursday from Copenhagen, where he was attending an international climate conference.

U.S. Sanctions Drug Lords

U.S. sanctions drug lords, to give Mexico more aid.

Reuters

Washington - The United States blacklisted on Tuesday two Mexicans and one Colombian accused of working for the powerful Sinaloa drug cartel and said it will give Mexico some $527 million in anti-drug aid next year.

The United States is the main market for Mexican drug gangs who dominate narcotics smuggling and whose turf war has provoked horrific violence including beheadings and brazen shootouts, worrying investors and Washington.

The U.S. Treasury Department said in a statement it had labeled Mexican nationals Agustin Reyes Garza and Hector Contreras Novoa as "specially designated narcotics traffickers" due to their support of the Sinaloa Cartel's activities.

Military and Police were Protecting "El Barbas"

The protection system of el capo of the Beltran Leyva cartel included informants within the military, ministerial and municipal police forces and sicarios with the key calssifications like Zafiros and Halcones who moved in vehicles or taxis throughout the city.

CUERNAVACA, Mor.— Mexico's Navy located and dismantled at least four rings of security that protected Arturo Beltran Leyva, El Barbas, who was eventually gun down in an operation that was implemented for his capture last Wednesday.

The protection system of el capo of the Beltran Leyva cartel included informants within the military, ministerial and municipal police forces and sicarios designated under the key names of Zafiros and Halcones who moved around in vehicles or taxis throughout the city.

His inner circle of security escorts was composed of the most hardened sicaros who always guarded him and who were killed during the clash in Punta Vista Hermosa Altitude a community in Cuernavaca, Morelos.

All this information is according to the official files of the PGR/SIEDO/UEIDCS/166/2009 of the Deputy Attorney General Specialized Investigation of Organized Crime (SIEDO).

Feds in Bikes to Join the Operation

Ciudad Juarez, Chih - The Juarez municipal authorities unveiled the new group of the federal police officers that have joined to patrol the streets as part of Operation Joint Chihuahua (occh), who will give immediate response to emergency calls of violent incidents.

About 20 motorcycle officers from the federal police agency will provide support to the Mexican Army, Cipol (state police) and municipal police forces, said Mayor José Reyes Ferriz.

He explained that earlier this week he met with authorities from the Federal Public Security Secretariat (SSPF) to talk about increasing their roles of the Immediate Response Center (CERI) and to respond to complaints generated by the Crime Stoppers program.

"This increase of officers will allow us to better patrol Juarez and it assures police presence in high traffic areas, for a quick response by traffic police who will be supported by the Municipal Police," he said.

Fighting Police Corrution in Tijuana

Attending funerals is a growing part of Tijuana police chief Julian Leyzaola's job.

Tijuana, BC - CBS News correspondent Bill Whitaker reports that 28 officers have been killed so far this year -- double last year's toll -- in an escalating war against rich, ruthless drug cartels.

"When an officer dies, you feel the weight of the death," Leyzaola said. For Leyzaola, there's an extra burden -- cartel killers threaten to murder five officers a week until he leaves office.

"To even consider that would make me an accomplice of the cartels," he said. "I will never resign."

This wasn't what he expected when we met him a year ago. New on the job, the former army Lt. Colonel was gunning for the drug gangsters.

How Deep is Police Corruption?

Can Mexican Drug Cartels be Stopped?

Alberto Diaz-Cayeros, the director of the US/Mexico Center at UCSD, talks with CBS News' Bill Whitaker about whether corruption is so rampant Mexico that the drug war cannot be curtailed.

Family Drives Through Cross Fire

Ciudad Juarez, Chih - This guy along with his wife riding in the front passanger seat of his van and his 2 year baby girl in the back seat drove right through the cross fire of a gunfight. His vehicle was riddled with bullets. By the mercy of God none of the three were hurt, we have seen too many kids killed in the cross fire of the sicarios.

See the tear in the back of his jacket? That is from a bullet grazing his back. When you go for a ride in the streets in Juarez, you best understand that you have entered a combat zone.

President Calderon Using Elite Naval Forces

As has been reported here extensively, two hundred sailors raided an upscale apartment complex and killed one of Mexico's top kingpins in a two-hour gun battle Wednesday, one of the biggest victories yet in Mexican President Felipe Calderon's drug war.

President Felipe Calderon, who is attending the climate summit in Copenhagen, reportedly called the Beltran Leyva death "a resounding blow against one of the most dangerous criminal organizations in Mexico, and on the continent.” The government had offered a $2-million reward for information leading to his capture.

Faced with ever-worsening drug cartel violence, President Felipe Calderon is turning to elite navy troops to help reignite his floundering army-led drug war. Analysts say the navy's special training and small size make it more effective and less at risk of leaking operational information on important raids than the army or police.

Photos of Dead Capo are "Infamous"

I was really surprised when I saw the photograph of the body of Arturo Beltran Leyva covered in bloody soaked Mexican peso bills. I thought to myself, I just hope they processed the crime scene before some idiot decided to disturb evidence by moving Beltran Leyva's personal possessions for purely media display.

It appears that the contents of what he was carrying with him was removed from his clothes and placed on him to present to the media who were allowed inside the crime scene before the body was removed.

The government of Mexico announced an investigation into the photographs of the body which they classified as offensive.

The interior minister, Fernando Gomez Mont, said late Friday during an interview with Televisa that the photographs "are infamous and pernicious" and contrary to the communication policy of the federal administration.

Drug Cartels' Sway on U.S. Politics Rises

Infiltrated: Drug cartels' sway on U.S. politics rises, expert says.

Mayor Mauricio Fernandez knew his nemesis was dead before the authorities apparently did. Drug cartels have bought politicians in Mexico, is the U.S. next?

El Paso Times

EL PASO -- Mexican drug cartels are helping elect and influence politicians in U.S. communities to advance their criminal activities, an expert on international gangs alleged.

Richard Valdemar, a retired California law enforcement officer, said authorities in California gathered intelligence showing that the cartels are corrupting American politicians to gain a foothold in the Southwestern United States.

Previous investigations showed that the Carrillo Fuentes, Arellano Felix and Sinaloan drug cartels targeted Southern California cities including South Gate, Hawaiian Gardens and Bell Gardens.

"Their efforts to influence and control these communities began in the 1980s, but investigators did not detect the trend until the 1990s," said Valdemar, who retired from the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department after 33 years in 2004. He was also on a multi-agency investigative task force for 12 years.

The Mexico's Narco Culture

Mexicos narco culture sings praises of drug violence.

On Tuesday, joggers discovered the decapitated boides of three men near a bullfighting ring in Tijuana, yet more casualties of Mexicos rampant drug violence.

While many Mexicans would be revolted by the grisly murders, there is also a popular subculture that celebrates this sort of violence.

Worldfocus correspondent John Larson, producer Bryan Myers and field producers Megan Thompson and Ivette Feliciano report on narco culture.

The Death of Jefe de Jefes

The aftermath of the shoot out in Arturo Beltran Leyva's luxury apartment with the Mexican Navy that destroyed the palace where "boss of bosses" lived.

Did El Chapo and the Zetas Win Total Rein?

Arturo Beltrán Leyva, a former ally of Joaquín El Chapo Guzmán Loera and Ismael El Mayo Zambada, formed his cartel right after the capture of his brother Alfred the Mochomo Beltran Leyva in Culiacán in January 2008. In the world of organized crime, he lead one of the most violent groups of sicarios, led by Edgar Valdez Villarreal, "La Barbie."

Arturo Beltran Leyva, who is best described by all his nicknames: "La Muerte," "El Barbas," "El jefe de jefes" or "El botas blancas" made the lists of the most wanted drug traffickers in the world for his power and influence stretching from Columbia to the United States.

During his criminal career he bought the same officials that were supposed to apprehend him and executed those who stood in the way of his operations.

Death of Capo Stirs New Fears

Mexican drug kingpin's slaying stirs new fears.

The Arizona Republic

MEXICO CITY - Mexico braced itself Thursday for revenge killings and a possible drug-turf war along the Arizona-Sonora border, a day after Mexican marines stormed an apartment complex and killed one of the country's most-wanted drug kingpins.

The death of Arturo Beltrán Leyva is seen as a major victory for the Mexican government, which has been fighting an increasingly bloody war against drug cartels since December 2006. But his death could also create a leadership struggle and reignite a battle for control of valuable drug routes in northwestern Mexico, experts said.

"This is a spectacular strike for the government, no doubt about it," said Gerardo López Cervantes, an expert on drug cartels at the Autonomous University of Sinaloa. "But when they kill one chief, two or three new ones always spring up."

Who will Fill the Void of the Beltrán Leyva Cártel?

Even after the death of Arturo Beltran Leyva, "El Barbas," his criminal organization has lieutenants and four operational heads that still direct operations, according to the information that federal authorities gave.

The Sinaloan capo had two right arms of leaders of sicarios: Sergio Villarreal Barragán, "El Grande" and Edgar Valdez Villarreal, "La Barbie."

Known for his nearly 6 feet 5 inches in height, "El Grande" has served in the last year as operator of "El Barbas" in Mexico City and Morelos.

His primarily responsibility has been pursuing and eliminating rivals cartel members, creating terror to control towns, and Beltran Leyva decided to take it him in the organization when after in 2006 he was able to control within a few months the region of La Laguna.

Mexico Holds Singer Ramon Ayala

Mexico holds singer Ramon Ayala for investigation.

The Associated Press

MEXICO CITY — Mexican prosecutors are requesting that Texas-based norteno singer Ramon Ayala be held pending investigation after he was detained at a drug cartel's Christmas party.

Attorney General Arturo Chavez announced Thursday that a judge is considering the request and that any possible charges would be determined by the investigation.

Ayala, a Mexican accordionist who lives in Hidalgo, has been detained in federal police headquarters in Mexico City since the Dec. 11 military raid at a mansion outside the mountain town of Tepoztlan where three gunmen were killed and 11 others suspected members of the Beltran Leyva cartel were detained.

Arturo Beltrán Leyva's Death in Media

In pictures the death of Arturo Beltrán Leyva, "El Jefe de Jefes."



Video: Arturo Beltran Leyva is killed in Cuernavaca

The capo barricaded himself in his apartment and died along with six of his sicarios in a battle with the Navy

Sicarios are "Presented" to the Media

Mexico City .- The Navy of Mexico presented to the media through a press conference as is usually customary when they apprehend sicarios the three people arrested last night, in the city of Cuernavaca, after a confrontation in which the leader of the Beltran Leyva cartel, Arturo Marcos Beltran Leyva, was killed.

The Navy reported that as the result of confromntation between the naval authorities and members of the criminal organization, one element of Marine Corps special forces was killed and was idenrified as Melquisedet Angulo Cordova.

Death of Capo Could Spark Bloodshed

Mexican kingpin’s death could spark bloodshed.
Arturo Beltran Leyva's slaying leaves a power vacuum in crime syndicate.

Associated Press

Apparent body of drugpin Arturo Beltran Leyva.

CUERNAVACA, Mexico - Mexican troops acting on information from U.S. officials took out drug kingpin Arturo Beltran Leyva in an assault that provided a rare victory for President Felipe Calderon but left a power vacuum that could lead to more violence.

In a carefully executed attack, heavily armed Mexican marines quietly evacuated an upscale apartment complex in Cuernavaca Wednesday before some 200 troops stormed the building and demanded the surrender of Beltran Leyva, one of the world's most brutal drug lords.

Gunmen fired on the marines who then launched an attack that lasted nearly two hours.

Nicknamed the "boss of bosses," Beltran Leyva is the biggest drug lord to be taken down in Calderon's drug war, which is ending its bloodiest year yet. His absence is expected to shake up Mexico's narcotics trafficking networks eager to take over his billion-dollar business, as well as set off an internal struggle within his gang, said Mexico's Attorney General Arturo Chavez.

Six Lawmen Beheaded in Durango

The severed heads of six state police investigators were found on a public plaza Wednesday in the northern Mexican state of Durango.

The heads were found in the township of Cuencame a day after the officers were reported kidnapped, state prosecutors' spokesman Ruben Lopez said.

There was no information on a possible motive for the slayings, but beheadings are a hallmark of Mexico's brutal drug gang violence. Durango, a mountainous, largely rural state, is a major battleground for drug trafficking territory.

In Tijuana, meanwhile, the bodies of three young men were found in one neighborhood. A fourth body was found outside a hospital and a fifth -- whose hands and feet were bound -- was found dumped near a gas station.

The Sound of Gunfire Silences Ramon Ayala

"Who is it?" Asked the gunmen guarding the door of the residence.

"We came to the party," said one of the newcomers.

As they opened the door the group that was dancing to norteña music asked, " are we expecting anyone else?"

"No, no, we got everybody!" Shouted someone from inside.

With those words, a shooting broke out against the visitors, who were actually members of the Navy of Mexico in civilian clothes.

The Jefe de Jefes Falls

The Mexican Navy Confirms that the capo "el Jefe de jefes" was killed in a fire fight this afternoon with military of the Mexican Navy in a condo complex named, "Altitude." Four of his bodyguards were also killed.

Cuernavaca, Morelia - Arturo Beltran Leyva capo of the Beltran cartel and one of the reputed Beltran Leyva brothers operating in northern Mexico was killed yesterday in Cuernavaca in a clash with naval soldiers (equivalent to U.S. Marines).

The Mexican government had listed Arturo Beltran Leyva as one of its 24 most-wanted drug lords and had offered a $2.1 million reward for his capture.

He was one of 10 suspected cartel leaders named in a U.S. federal indictment in August on drug trafficking and conspiracy charges. In a press statement at the time Justice Department said Beltran Leyva was "among the most powerful drug traffickers in Mexico."

According to navy sources, the capo "El Jefe de Jefes" fell along with four of his bodyguards, after a firefight that originated inside the housing complex, "Altitudes."

According to early versions from the Secretary of the Navy, four gunmen were killed and one of the gang members killed himself as he was being arrested. His brother, known as Mario Alberto Leyva or Hector Leyva and also a top capo leader of the cartel was also killed.