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UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY

INSTITUTE FOR THE STUDY OF VIOLENT GROUPS (www.isvg.org)DAILY BORDER NEWS REPORT FOR 12 DECEMBER 2011

COMPILER, INSTITUTE FOR THE STUDY OF VIOLENT GROUPS (www.isvg.org)EDITOR, JOINT TASK FORCE NORTH (www.facebook.com/USA.JTFN)

(U) This document is UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY and portions may be exempt from mandatory disclosure under FOIA. DoD 5400.7R, "DoD Freedom of Information Act Program", DoD Directive 5230.9, "Clearance of DoD Information for Public Release", and DoD Instruction 5230.29, "Security and Policy Review of DoD Information for Public Release" apply.

(U) FAIR USE NOTICE. This document may contain copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making it available to recipients who have expressed an interest in receiving information to advance their understanding of threat activities in the interest of protecting the United States. We believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.

(U) Use of these news items does not reflect official endorsement by Joint Task Force North or the Department of Defense.

For further information on any item, please contact the JTF-North KnowledgeManagement (KM).

Compiled By: Mr. Tom Davidson, Institute for the Study of Violent GroupsEdited by: Mr. Jonathan KauppApproved for Release by: Dr. Rodler Morris CONTENTS: (Note: All active EXTERNAL hyperlinks have been removed)

Table of Contents

CONTENTS..............................................................................................................................1

1. CANADA AND NORTHERN BORDER STATES...........................................2A. Border Patrol find 100 Pounds of Meth Worth $750K. (WA)............................................2B. Guilty Pleas in Seattle Homegrown Terror Plot (WA)........................................................3

2. INNER UNITED STATES..................................................................................4A. FBI Hunting for Mexican Drug Cartel’s Money Network Man, Eduardo Trevino,

Chicago’s Most Wanted (IL)..............................................................................................4

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B. Woman Caught Making Meth in Wal-Mart (OK)...............................................................5C. Ex- Okla. Drug Agent Sentenced to Almost 3 Years (OK).................................................6

3. MEXICO AND SOUTHERN BORDER STATES.............................................6A. Mexico Violence Claims Another Member of Peace Movement (MICH)..........................6B. Illegal Border Crossings Dip Sharply (TX).........................................................................8C. Mexico Seizes 226 Tons of Chemical Used in Synthetic Drugs in Pacific Port (MICH)...9D. Mexico’s Drug Wars: Mystery Surrounds How Many are Dying, and Who (BC)..........10E. Mexico Captures ‘Leader’ of Independent Cartel of Acapulco (GRO)............................11F. Juarez Cop Killer May Be a U.S. Army Soldier................................................................11G. 10 People Executed in the Comarca Lagunera (DGO/COAH).........................................12H. Officials Identify Guatemalan Killed in Struggle with Agent near Arizona-Mexico Border

(AZ)...................................................................................................................................13I. Immigrants Rescued from Poor Conditions at Avondale Drop House (AZ).....................14J. Breaking: Islamic Terrorists Plot To Attack U.S. from Mexico (US/MX)......................15K. Border Patrol Agent Secures Assaultive Individual and Seizes Dope..............................16L. Mexico Says Police in Americas Sharing More Info (MX)..............................................17M. Summary of Events............................................................................................................17

4. CARRIBEAN, CENTRAL, AND SOUTH AMERICA....................................19A. Two Dead, 14 Wounded in Bombing in Colombia (CO)..................................................19B. Peru’s Shining Path Defeated, Rebel Leader Admits (PE)................................................19C. Colombians Stage Big Anti-FARC Protests (CO).............................................................20D. Puerto Rico Fugitive Caught in Dominican Republic (DO)..............................................21E. Brazil: 50 Tons of Corn Stolen from Moving Train (BR)................................................22

5. OPINION AND ANALYSIS.............................................................................22A. “Documentales Univision” Premieres “la Ameraza Irani.” A Documentary on the

Emerging Iranian Threat to the US and Latin America on December 8. (US)................22B. Documentary on Iran Ties to Latin America (VE)............................................................24C. The Enigma and Infamy of Femicides in Mexico and Guatemala (MX/GT)....................24D. Are Zetas Operating as Police Impersonator in the United States? (TX)..........................26E. Is the United States a Narco ‘Safe Haven’ for Mexican Drug Lords? (US/MX)..............28F. Good Amigos: DEA Operation Reveals New Bonds between US and Mexico (US/MX)

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1. CANADA AND NORTHERN BORDER STATES

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A. Border Patrol find 100 Pounds of Meth Worth $750K. (WA)

7 December 2011KATU

 Border patrol agents have found about 100 pounds of methamphetamine valued at more than $750,000 in a field near the U.S.-Canada border just west of the northeast Washington port of entry at Danville.

The Spokesman-Review says the federal Customs and Border Protection agency also found $20,000 in cash with the drugs on Sunday.

Agents found the drugs and cash in three backpacks and a duffel bag.

Source: [www.katu.com/news/local/135183898]Return to Contents

B. Guilty Pleas in Seattle Homegrown Terror Plot (WA)

11 December 2011The Seattle Times

One of two men accused of conspiring to attack a military-processing station in Seattle in July pleaded guilty to three federal charges Thursday in U.S. District Court.

Federal prosecutors said a 32 year old man formerly of Los Angeles, and another man plotted to kill U.S. military recruits in a machine-gun and grenade attack on the day after Fourth of July in hopes of inspiring like-minded radical Muslims in the U.S. to carry out terrorist attacks. Their target, according to federal prosecutors, was the Military Entrance Processing Station (MEPS) on East Marginal Way South.

The suspect appearing in federal court in a khaki jail uniform, answered "Guilty, your honor" when asked how he pleaded to charges of conspiracy to kill officers of the United States, conspiracy to use weapons of mass destruction and unlawful possession of a firearm.

Under a plea agreement, federal prosecutors agreed to seek a sentencing range of 27 to 32 years on all three counts and to not pursue any other charges. His sentencing is set for April 16.The suspect could have faced life in prison if convicted of all the charges contained in a federal indictment filed in the weeks after his June 22 arrest.

Defense attorney said the suspect, who has struggled with chronic and severe mental illness, was ashamed and remorseful for his participation in the plot, which she said stemmed from a fundamental misunderstanding about Islam.

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Prosecutors declined to comment on the plea because co-defendant, a 33 year old man, is awaiting trial. The suspect and the defendant, both U.S. citizens who converted to Islam, were named in a nine-count indictment alleging they conspired to kill officers and employees of the U.S. government, conspiracy to use a weapon of mass destruction (a grenade) and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence.

Police learned of the plot through a paid informant, who secretly recorded conversations with the men, according to the indictment.

According to the FBI, the informant recorded conversations with the men in which co-defendant said he hoped the attack would inspire other young Muslims to rise up against the West.

According to court documents and law-enforcement sources, the co-defendant had initially chosen Joint Base Lewis-McChord as a target at least partly because Stryker soldiers there are being court-martialed for allegedly murdering Afghan civilians. The target was changed later to the MEPS because the base was considered to be too large and hard to penetrate.

The two men were arrested after co-defendant allegedly paid the informant for rifles and grenades that had been secretly disabled by federal agents.

The co-defendant served time for robbery in Washington. The defendant has a history of mental illness.

"This defendant tried to carry out a plot to kill American servicemen and women and other innocent citizens who happened to be at the federal facility on the day of the planned attack," U.S. Attorney said in a news release. "I applaud the FBI, Seattle Police Department and the Joint Terrorism Task Force for their work in disrupting this plot and bringing the suspect to justice."

Source: [seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2016966015_terrorplot09m]Return to Contents

2. INNER UNITED STATES

A. FBI Hunting for Mexican Drug Cartel’s Money Network Man, Eduardo Trevino, Chicago’s Most Wanted (IL)

9 December 2011 My Fox Chicago 

 Chicago FBI agents are hunting for Eduardo Trevino, who they said oversaw a money transportation network for the Los Zetas Mexican drug cartel, which had a cell based in Chicago.

The Zetas were involved in transporting millions of dollars of cocaine and heroin from Mexico, through Laredo, Tex., and on to Chicago.

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Trevino's role in the scheme came after the narcotics were sold. He coordinated the collection of the money that was generated as a result of the sale of the narcotics and then arranged to have the money driven in trucks to Texas and then on to the bosses back in Mexico.

Early in November, the FBI and DEA rounded up a dozen members of this drug ring after they were indicted by a grand jury. Trevino was one of five members of the money transportation cell who were indicted and targeted for arrest when FBI and DEA agents went to round them up early last month, but they didn't catch him.

While Trevino and several other defendants in this case remain fugitives, agents did seize a lot of drugs and money in this investigation. During the sweep last month, agents seized $480,000 in cash, as well as two kilograms of heroin. Over the course of this investigation, which started in 2010, agents have confiscated more than $12 million cash and 250 kilos of cocaine.

Trevino is known to have occasionally traveled to the Chicago area as well as other parts of the United States. He is a Mexican national, so it's also possible he is in Mexico.

Here is what the FBI says Trevino is:

Hispanic.

Age 49

5'6", 160 pounds

Brown eyes with black, graying hair

He also goes by the name of Aldo Trevino. He is considered armed and dangerous. If you see him, call police.

Source: [www.myfoxchicago.com/dpp/news/most_wanted/chicagos-most-wanted-eduardo-trevino-zetas-drugs-20111207]Return to Contents

B. Woman Caught Making Meth in Wal-Mart (OK)

9 December 2011Fox Now St. Louis

A woman was arrested for allegedly trying to make methamphetamine inside a Tulsa, Okla., Wal-mart store. 

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A 45 year old woman took items used to make meth from the store shelves and began mixing them in the store on 81st and Lewis, police say.

She reportedly told police she was too broke to buy the chemicals. Wal-Mart security told police the woman had been in the store for several hours. When she was arrested, she had already mixed two containers of sulfuric acid, police say.

According to a published report, the chemical she mixed were so toxic it ate some of the paint off of the shelf in the store and one officer was treated for chemical burns. Police say they arrested her last month in another meth sting. She had just recently been released.

Source: [www.fox2now.com/news/kfsm-woman-caught-making-meth-in-walmart-20111209,0,5036022.story]Return to Contents

C. Ex- Okla. Drug Agent Sentenced to Almost 3 Years (OK)

7 December 2011Associated Press

A former Oklahoma drug agent has been sentenced to nearly three years in a federal prison for conspiracy to illegally buy military-style semiautomatic weapons in connection with an alleged gun-running scheme.

A 31 year old man received the 35-month sentence Wednesday. It's to be followed by a year of supervised release.

The defendant, of Oklahoma City, was an agent for the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs.

He pleaded guilty to conspiracy and illegally transferring firearms to an out-of-state resident in September 2010. He was accused of conspiring with two straw buyers to illegally buy 43 firearms, including military-style semiautomatic rifles, and transfer them to Texas, where some were smuggled into Mexico.

Court records show he paid the straw buyers to illegally purchase 34 firearms.

Source: [www.newschannel10.com/story/16214301/ex-okla-drug-agent-sentenced-to-almost-3-years]Return to Contents

3. MEXICO AND SOUTHERN BORDER STATES

A. Mexico Violence Claims Another Member of Peace Movement (MICH)

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9 December 2011World Now

Another member of a Mexican peace movement has been slain, the second such incident in less than two weeks (link in Spanish).

Trinidad de la Cruz, a peasant activist, was kidnapped Tuesday by armed attackers in the state of Michoacan, his associates said (link in Spanish). His body, with four bullet wounds and an ear sliced off, was discovered about 24 hours later, the Milenio newspaper reported (link in Spanish).  De la Cruz, 73, was abducted as he rode with about 18 other activists in a caravan sponsored by the Movement for Peace With Justice and Dignity, an anti-violence organization led by poet Javier Sicilia. Members of the group said the attackers, whom they described as paramilitary forces, stole their cellular telephones, gaining access to data on scores of activists.

"We are not only worried about this, we are alarmed and indignant," Sicilia told reporters. "People who raise their voices for justice are in terrible security conditions."

Although Mexico has seen a number of peace movements spring up in the last five years of escalating drug-war violence, Sicilia's group, which he founded following the murder of his son, seems to have gained the most traction.

On Nov. 28, another member, Nepomuceno Moreno, was shot and killed by gunmen who intercepted his car in broad daylight in his home city of Hermosillo. Moreno had come to Sicilia's movement as a distraught father searching for a son who went missing last year. Moreno had accused local police of abducting his son.

Two other members of the organization who are also activists in an ecology movement were kidnapped Tuesday and remained missing Thursday. Eva Alarcon and Marcial Bautista were reportedly forced off a bus by gunmen in the state of Guerrero, where groups trying to save forests have had repeated run-ins with logging companies, drug traffickers and the military.

And another human rights activist, Norma Andrade, who works on behalf of women murdered or missing in Ciudad Juarez, was shot and wounded on Dec. 2.Other news being reported in Mexico Thursday: Gunmen attacked an ambulance   in the chaotic border city of Ciudad Juarez, killing two paramedics and two patients; the Mexican Navy seized more than 200 tons of chemicals used to make methamphetamine and shipped here from China; three alleged hit men affiliated with the notorious Zeta drug cartel have been arrested in the slaying of 26 people whose bodies were dumped late last month in the middle of Guadalajara, Mexico's second-largest city (first two links in Spanish).

Mexican President Felipe Calderon, meanwhile, used a televised interview to defend himself against a lawsuit brought by a group of activists in the International Criminal Court. The suit

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accuses Calderon, other leaders of his government and armed forces, as well as top cartel capos, of egregious human rights abuses amid the bloody drug war.Calderon told Televisa news that the allegation that his government engaged in a policy of systematic abuse of civilians is "totally false and deplorable." He seemed to back away, however, from an earlier statement in which he threatened to prosecute his accusers for defamation.Calderon added that it was "very unfair" to compare his government and the Mexican state with Germany under Adolf Hitler or the former Yugoslavia under Slobodan Milosevic — the kinds of regimes that are more common targets of international tribunals.

Source: [latimesblogs.latimes.com/world_now/2011/12/second-mexican-peace-activist-killed-in-two-weeks]Return to Contents

B. Illegal Border Crossings Dip Sharply (TX)

9 December 2011New York Times

Campaign rhetoric to the contrary, statistics show that the number of illegal immigrants crossing the border is less of a problem now than it has been for four decades.

While presidential candidates talk about how to secure the United States-Mexico border, data show that their focus might instead be on dealing in a positive way with the millions of illegal immigrants already here. Apprehensions by the United States Border Patro l  are at their lowest level since the Nixon era, according to unofficial statistics from the agency that The Washington Post reported this month.

A sour economy, increased enforcement by the Border Patrol and skyrocketing smuggling fees are keeping more would-be crossers at home.

In 2010, the Border Patrol apprehended about 448,000 illegal immigrants on the Southwest border, roughly 93,000 fewer than in 2009. This year, apprehensions have dipped by more than 25 percent, to 327,500.

There are now 10.2 million illegal immigrant adults in the country and another 1 million illegal minors, according to data released this month by the Pew Hispanic Center. The center estimates that 35 percent of those adults have been in the country 15 years or longer, compared with 16 percent in 2000. Conversely, only 15 percent have been in the country five years or less, compared with 32 percent in 2000.

“It’s more expensive to get in, it’s more dangerous to get in and there are no jobs to be had,” said the senior demographer at the Pew Hispanic Center. “It’s not surprising that the inflows are way down.”

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A senior fellow at the Migration Policy Institute and a commissioner of the United States Immigration and Naturalization Service under the previous administration, said there are so many people in the country illegally because the system has long been dysfunctional.

“We are not going to deport these people,” he said. “We need to deal with the problem and provide them with a way to a legal status.”

His stance reflects the view of many of his fellow Republicans. In a poll this year, the Pew Research Center for People and the Press found that 58 percent of so-called Main Street Republicans supported a path to legalization while 39 percent opposed it. A poll by the Partnership for a New American Economy, a bipartisan group of mayors and business leaders, found that only 16 percent of likely attendees at the Iowa Republican caucuses were opposed to expanding legal immigration.

Along some parts of the Texas-Mexico border, violence is also down. Ciudad Juárez, for example, is on pace for 1,000 fewer homicides this year — a rare bit of good news in a ravaged city, a professor of anthropology at the University of Texas at El Paso, said the violence in adjacent Ciudad Juárez has subsided because the gangs used by the Juárez drug cartel are weaker and the Sinaloa cartel — which has waged a war in the city since 2008 — is distracted with tougher battles to the west. He also cited pressure on President Felipe Calderón to make the police and the military more accountable and to improve his country’s image.

“In general,” he said, “things hit bottom, and so there is an almost natural cycle of improvement. Whether this improvement will last is impossible to say.”

Source: [www.nytimes.com/2011/12/09/us/illegal-border-crossings-dip-sharply]Return to Contents

C. Mexico Seizes 226 Tons of Chemical Used in Synthetic Drugs in Pacific Port (MICH)

8 December 2011Washington Post

Mexican authorities say they have seized 226 tons (205 metric tons) of a chemical used in synthetic drugs in a Pacific coast port.

Mexico’s Navy says in a statement Thursday that the methylamine was found over several days this month in the port of Lazaro Cardenas.

It says authorities found the chemical in 11 containers shipped from China. The final destination was Puerto Quetzal in Guatemala but the ships stopped in Mexico to transfer the cargo.

Mexico has banned imports of several chemicals to thwart methamphetamine production.

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The U.S. government says Mexican traffickers are the main suppliers of synthetic drugs to the U.S.

Source: [www.washingtonpost.com/world/americas/3-alleged-members-of-gang-allied-with-zetas-cartel-arrested-in-mass-slaying-in-guadalajara/2011/12/07/g]Return to Contents

D. Mexico’s Drug Wars: Mystery Surrounds How Many are Dying, and Who (BC)

8 December 2011The Guardian

The death toll in Mexico's drug wars is a matter of intense controversy. The government released almost no official numbers until it published a database of all "deaths because of criminal rivalry" up to the end of 2010. These totaled 34,612, considerably more than the unofficial counts kept by several newspapers.

The government reneged on its promise to regularly update the database, although regional official figures are sometimes available.

One way of estimating the current total is by adding the official 2010 figure to this year's newspaper counts, making 46,000. Political scientist Eduardo Guerrero maintains his own count based on monitoring the press and factoring in estimated under-reporting to reach 47,500 by the end of October.

Some journalists and activists argue that the official criteria defining drug war deaths are too narrow and the real death toll is much higher.

The Tijuana-based magazine Zeta studied publicly available figures for all homicides. It identified classifications it said should be included to produce a figure of 50,490 until the end of July. This would suggest the current figure is approaching 60,000.

Who is dying is also in dispute. For the first three years of the offensive the government routinely claimed that 90% of those killed were linked to the cartels and most of the remainder were members of the security forces. This became increasingly difficult to sustain as evidence piled up of obviously unconnected people being killed.

From early 2010 the government switched to the claim that the vast majority of the killing was carried out by the cartels. This glosses over the issue of how many the security forces are killing. The newer focus is also a tacit admission that it is impossible to calculate the proportion of innocent victims because only a tiny fraction of all murders are properly investigated.

All calculations of the death toll ignore such phenomena as the habit of some organized criminal groups of retrieving their dead, and the practice of dissolving victims in caustic soda.

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This year's discovery of mass graves also underlined the potential scale of the horror of large numbers of people going missing. The national commission of human rights said in April that 5,000 people had been reported missing since 2006.

Source: [www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/dec/08/mexico-drug-wars-death-toll]Return to Contents

E. Mexico Captures ‘Leader’ of Independent Cartel of Acapulco (GRO)

6 December 2011In Sight

Morales was arrested, along with five others, by federal police in an operation in the Mexican city of Acapulco.

According to authorities, the men were spotted driving in convoy made up of two automobiles and a motor scooter in the port of Colonia Sabana. After a brief shootout, the police managed to detain the suspects. The vehicles, four armored vests, a pistol and two AK-47 assault rifles were also seized in the operation, along with small amounts of cocaine and marijuana.

According to authorities, the Independent Cartel is responsible for extorting scores of local businesses, and is thought to be responsible for several deaths in the Acapulco area. As In Sight Crime has reported, the group is a relatively recent arrival to the Acapulco criminal scene, and is part of a wave of smaller local gangs that have emerged after officials dismantled larger criminal structures.

The Independent Cartel is comprised mostly of former members of the drug trafficking organization run by Edgar Valdez Villarreal, alias “La Barbie,” who was arrested in September 2010 and is currently being held in a Mexico City prison.

Source: [www.insightcrime.org/component/k2/item/1937-mexico-captures-leader-of-independent-cartel-of-acapulco]Return to Contents

F. Juarez Cop Killer May Be a U.S. Army Soldier

9 December 2011Borderland Beat

The media in Cd Juarez is reporting that authorities have confirmed alleged cop killer, a man aged 20, is an active duty soldier in the U.S. Army. 

The media In Ciudad Juarez and the state of Chihuahua are reporting that one of three "sicarios" arrested Wednesday after the armed robbery of a gasoline station in this border city is an active

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duty U.S. Army soldier. 

According to authorities after their arrest the three men confessed to taking part in the murders of four Juarez police officers this year.

The men have been identified as Jesús Rubio González, age 24; the US soldier age 20; and César Benito Betancourt Griego, age 26. 

Authorities claim that he identified himself as a soldier in the U.S. Army during his arrest and that his status was confirmed by police personnel.

The three men were in a blue Honda Accord at the time of their arrest and were in possession of a 9mm handgun and ammunition and a spare magazine for an AK-47 assault type weapon, in addition to a small amount of drugs and a bottle of Buchanon's whiskey. 

The three men are alleged to have taken part in the murder of Juarez municipal police officers Joaquín Avendaño Pineda, Vidal Zatarain Valdez and Gabriel Avitia on the afternoon of September 7, 2011. The officers were intercepted by gunmen in two pickups while returning home at the end of their shift.

The three men are also alleged to have murdered municipal police officer Cordero Mireles, who was attacked and killed a day later on September 8, 2011.

At the time authorities had reported that evidence indicated the same group of gunmen were involved in both attacks. 

Source: [www.borderlandbeat.com/2011/12/juarez-copkiller-may-be-us-army-soldier]Return to Contents

G. 10 People Executed in the Comarca Lagunera (DGO/COAH)

8 December 2011Borderland Beat

Ten execution style murders were reported Wednesday afternoon in the tri-city area of northern Mexico's highland basin, the Comarca Lagunera. The three adjoining cities of Ciudad Lerdo and Gomez Palacio in Durango and Torreon in Coahuila are another front line in Mexico's drug war. 

The Sinaloa cartel and Los Zetas are stalemated in the fight for this important transshipment point for drugs heading north to the U.S. border. Torreon, a relatively affluent city, is also a thriving retail drug market.

The organized crime division of power is divided roughly along the state line, with street gangs affiliated with the Sinaloa cartel controlling activities on the Durango side and Los Zetas controlling the Coahuila side.

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The incidents Wednesday were highlighted with the discovery at approximately 4:00pm of seven bodies killed by gunfire in a VW Jetta in an industrial park in Gomez Palacio, not far from the Rio Nazas dividing line between that city and Torreon. 

The bodies of four men were found in the interior of the vehicle and the bodies of three women were found inside the Jetta's trunk.

One woman found in the interior of the vehicle was found alive and in critical condition. The survivor was said to be a Gomez Palacio police woman.

At 5:30pm, in the adjoining city of Ciudad Lerdo, a municipal police vehicle was attacked by gunmen. Another police woman was killed in this attack and her partner was critically injured. 

South of Torreon two "encobijados" (murder victims wrapped in blankets) were found Wednesday morning. Both male bodies exhibited signs of torture and multiple gunshot wounds. 

The killings in the Comarca occurred 24 hours before the first leg of Mexico's premier soccer league playoff championship series between the Torreon team of Santos Laguna and Los Tigres of Monterrey. The match kicked off promptly tonight at 8:30pm at Torreon's Territorio Santos Modelo stadium. 

Security by the Army, federal and state police was exceptionally heavy and no pre-game incidents were reported. 

The TSM stadium was the scene of a panic and stampede by fans this past August when a shootout between gunmen and police occurred outside the stadium during a match between Santos and Monarcas.

Source: [www.borderlandbeat.com/2011/12/10-people-executed-in-comarca-lagunera]Return to Contents

H. Officials Identify Guatemalan Killed in Struggle with Agent near Arizona-Mexico Border (AZ)

8 December 2011The Republic

Officials released the name of the illegal border-crosser from Guatemala who was fatally shot in southern Arizona after he allegedly attacked a federal agent.

The Guatemalan consulate general in Arizona on Thursday identified the man as 28-year-old Byron Neftali Sosa Orellana from Rio Hondo-Zacapa.

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Guatemala authorities say American officials told them that he was shot by an agent once in the chest Tuesday night after he became combative and got control of an agent's collapsible steel baton and attacked an agent and a police dog.

They also say the struggle began near Sells on the Tohono (toh-HO'-noh) O'odham Nation as border agents encountered a group of illegal immigrants.

The FBI and U.S. Border Patrol declined to provide details Thursday on developments in the investigation.

Source: [www.therepublic.com/view/story/12804812d25f48849ec29a4f07bc66ad/AZ--Border-Agent-Shooting]Return to Contents

I. Immigrants Rescued from Poor Conditions at Avondale Drop House (AZ)

8 December 2011My Fox Phoenix

The Department of Public Safety says a task force has uncovered a drop house in Avondale west of Phoenix where 16 people were being held by suspected human smugglers.

Some of the victims found Wednesday night had been beaten, and had cuts and bruises."We had one victim that had fractured ribs," said a DPS spokesman. "Another victim had several lacerations. These injuries we believe were caused by beatings. These people were extorted for money."

Authorities found 14 men and two women, all Mexican nationals, held in deplorable conditions. The home was boarded up and the victims' belongings were taken from them, authorities said."In our history of investigating drop houses this is probably the most severe case of abuse that we've ever seen," he said.

The drop house was discovered through a tip phoned into Avondale police, he said. Usually family members who are being extorted by smugglers will notify law enforcement.

Four men were arrested on suspicion of human smuggling, extortion, armed robbery, kidnapping and aggravated assault. They were taken to jail in downtown Phoenix.

They were identified as Ivan Rodriguez-Ruiz, Anslemo Mancinas-Labrador, Enrique Alfredo Perez and Manuel Castro-Rodriguez.

According to an immigrant detained as a material witness, Mancinas was known as Chemo, Perez was known as Pelon and Rodriguez, the 'worst of the armed guards,' was known as Perro.Police also recovered two semi-automatic guns and several pounds of marijuana from the house.

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Source: [www.myfoxphoenix.com/dpp/news/crime/immigrants-rescued-from-poor-conditions-12-7-2011Return to Contents

J. Breaking: Islamic Terrorists Plot To Attack U.S. from Mexico (US/MX)

Editorial Note: Further information concerning the Univision documentary is reported in paragraphs 5.A. and 5.B.

10 December 2011Law Enforcement Examiner

Terrorists from several Middle Eastern groups have infiltrated Latin American countries -- especially Mexico -- in order to plot and carry out attacks against the United States, according to an alarming exposé broadcast this week by the world’s largest Spanish news network.

While the news media in Latin American countries are covering this ongoing story, the U.S. media is delivering scant coverage -- or no coverage at all -- a U.S. law enforcement commander told the Law Enforcement Examiner. 

Univision, a multi-national Spanish-language TV network, this week aired a disturbing documentary titled, “La Amenaza Irani,” (Iranian Threat), The documentary uses undercover, never-before-seen video footage to illustrate how Iran’s growing political, economic and military ties to Latin America threaten U.S. security, according to a blog published by the Washington, DC-based watchdog group Judicial Watch. According to the JW blogger, Univision documentary is the result of a seven-month investigative report in which college-aged Mexicans infiltrated diplomatic circles in Mexico to obtain recordings that prove diplomats from Iran, Venezuela and Cuba planned a cybernetic attack against the White House, FBI, Pentagon and U.S. nuclear plants.

The documentary reportedly features secret video taken by extremists linked to Iran and footage from an undercover journalist who infiltrated Venezuelan military camps where terrorists trained. The news network’s investigative team also tracked the expansion of Iranian interests in the hemisphere, including money-laundering and drug-trafficking activities by terrorist groups supported by Iran, the Judicial Watch blog detailed.

A segment of the often shocking documentary is allegedly dedicated to the connection between Mexican drug cartels and the foiled plot to murder the Saudi ambassador in Washington D.C. a few months ago. One of the Iranians charged had been ordered by that country’s Special Forces to travel to Mexico to recruit members of the notorious drug cartel “Los Zetas” to carry out the plot.

The massive scheme against U.S. government information and computer systems had been in the works years earlier, the documentary reveals.

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The ties between Middle Eastern terrorists and Latin America are nothing new, though specific plots against the U.S. from the region have likely not been exposed in this manner. Since 1982 Cuba has appeared on the State Department’s list of countries that have repeatedly provided support for acts of international terrorism, which means restrictions on U.S. foreign assistance, a ban on defense exports and sales and other financial restrictions.

Earlier this year the Congressional Research Service (CRS), which examines issues for federal lawmakers, published a report on Latin American terrorist concerns to the United States. According to the Judicial Watch blog, the CRS report points out that, while Latin America has not been the focal point of the U.S. war on terrorism, the region has struggled with domestic terrorism for decades and international terrorist groups have used it as a battle ground to advance their causes.

The report specifically mentions Iran’s increasing activities in Latin America in its attempt to circumvent U.S. sanctions as well as its ties to the radical Lebanon-based Islamic group Hezbollah. In the past, both the Law Enforcement Examiner and Judicial Watch reported on several occasions that Hezbollah and other terrorist groups are active south of the border.

In fact, the CRS report quotes a separate State Department antiterrorism document that says the U.S. remains concerned that sympathizers of Hezbollah and the Sunni Muslim Palestinian group Hamas are raising money among the sizable Middle Eastern communities in the tri-border area of Argentina.

This confirms an earlier report by former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Marine General who as far back as 2007 warned the US Congress about terrorists in South America.

Source: [www.examiner.com/law-enforcement-in-national/breaking-islamic-terrorists-plot-to-attack-u-s-from-mexico]Return to Contents

K. Border Patrol Agent Secures Assaultive Individual and Seizes Dope

9 December 2011US Customs and border Patrol

A Nogales Station Border Patrol agent was conducting a traffic stop on a vehicle yesterday suspected of trafficking narcotics when the situation suddenly escalated into a potentially deadly situation.

The agent initiated the vehicle stop near the intersection of Western Ave. and Kitchen St. in Nogales, but instead of stopping, the vehicle accelerated. The agent followed at a safe distance and observed the sole occupant jump from the moving vehicle and run into a nearby park. The vehicle rolled into a fence and came to a stop. As the agent chased the subject on foot, the subject turned and advanced on the agent while reaching under his shirt. When the subject failed

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to comply with the agent’s verbal commands to stop and get on the ground, the agent used a service-issued electronic control device, also known as a Taser, to immediately defuse the situation. After securing the subject, the agent found a holstered knife beneath the subject’s shirt.

The subject was medically assessed by a Border Patrol emergency medical technician and declined further medical care. The subject, vehicle and approximately 243 pounds of marijuana found in the subject’s vehicle were transported to the Nogales Station for further processing. The subject is being held for federal prosecution.

The Tucson Sector Border Patrol continues to effectively patrol the border making it more and more difficult for narcotics smuggling organizations to operate in the United States. The flipside to this success has resulted in smugglers increasing the level of violence directed toward agents. Border Patrol agents are trained to deescalate threatening actions by appropriately assessing threat levels and responding accordingly. Subjects choosing to assault federal agents will face federal prosecution.

Source: [www.cbp.gov]Return to Contents

L. Mexico Says Police in Americas Sharing More Info (MX)

11 December 2011CBS News

Mexico's federal police commissioner says that information sharing between police forces in the Americas has increased by 55 percent during the past year.

Police Commissioner Facundo Rosas says the growing exchange of data is a sign of increasing police cooperation and mutual assistance in the battle against drug cartels. He did not specify what kind of information was being shared.

Police forces from 24 countries in North and South America and the Caribbean are also evaluating a proposal to establish a hemispheric police academy.

The federal police said in a statement Sunday that Rosas spoke over the weekend at the first regional conference of the Police Community of the Americas, held in Cancun.

Source: [www.cbsnews.com/8301-501715_162-57340989/mexico-says-police-in-americas-sharing-more-info/?tag=cbsnewsSectionsArea;cbsnewsSectionsArea.3]Return to Contents

M. Summary of Events

9 December 2011

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NAFBO

**Asterisk denotes death involving a police officer or a member of the military serving in that capacity. Another site is also putting out similar news, thus some items below may be from notirex.com. Not every single incident reported is included.

NOVOLATO, SINALOAAt about 8am on Tuesday, 12/6, armed men in trucks stopped in front of residents, fired several bursts of gunfire into the air, and found two wrapped bodies in the street. They then placed a bottle of beer with each, and left. the medical examiner said hey died from multiple gunshot wounds. Only one of the 2 was subsequently identified. GUADALUPE, NUEVO LEÓNThree men been arrested by the Mexican military in the execution of 3 bodyguards of the state Governor. They are also responsible for the killings of three police officers in Guadalupe (part of the Monterrey metro area), and the death of Carlos Alberto Reyes Almaguer, who served as chief of bodyguards for the mayor of San Pedro.

ZAPOPAN, JALISCOThree bodies were dumped in the span of one hour. Two of these were women, one aged 45-50, the other 25-30 years old. They were dumped together in one site, and the man elsewhere. A subsequent report gave the identity of the dead, and said the two women worked in a nearby sock factory and the man was a dog trainer. ACAPULCO, GUERREROThe federal police have arrested 6 CIDA (Acapulco cartel) members after they opened fire of the feds. They seized AK-47 rifles, a pistol, body armor and 7,383 cartridges. They were also seized communication equipment and bags of green grass with the characteristics of marijuana. The six have all been identified as engaging in extortion, kidnapping and murder. The authorities go on to say that due to consistent seizures and arrests, the cartel has been greatly weakened and is close to disappearing. VERACRUZ, VERACRUZThe bodies of two men were found near city hall. Neither has been identified. Authorities were alerted by an anonymous call. SALTILLO, COAHUILAAt about 1:30 pm on Wednesday 12/7, a group of armed men arrived at a home, and executed three young men inside. Of note is that the report of the shooting was sent via Twitter to the Attorney General’s office. OJUELOS, JALISCOA Saturday night shootout between the Mexican military and Zetas left two bad guys dead, two wounded, and two more arrested. Seized were long guns, grenades, body armor, more than two thousand cartridges of different calibers and two trucks.

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CUERNAVACA, MORELOSThe 66 year old aunt and 39 year old cousin of Ulises Martinez Gonzalez aka “El Mojo”, were assassinated Tuesday evening while walking along a street. El mojo was a leader of the Gulf Cartel (CDG), who was killed during a clash with federal authorities on June 6. Another aunt was dismembered and his wife shot 3 times, with the bodies dumped, on June 29 and November 4 respectively. The neighborhood of the shooting is considered to be territory of the Gulf cartel leaders in Morelos.

Source: [www.nafbo.org]

 

4. CARRIBEAN, CENTRAL, AND SOUTH AMERICA

A. Two Dead, 14 Wounded in Bombing in Colombia (CO)

11 December 2011Latin American Herald Tribune

At least two people were killed and 14 others wounded when a truck packed with explosives was detonated near the police station in Maicao, a town in the northern Colombian province of La Guajira, a municipal spokesman told Efe on Tuesday.

A child and an adult were killed in the bombing on Monday, the municipal spokesman said by telephone from Maicao, which is on the border with Venezuela.

The blast wounded seven police officers and seven other civilians, and destroyed a large portion of the National Police station, the municipal official said, adding that several nearby houses were also damaged.

The individuals who staged the bombing on Monday night have not been identified.Maicao is in a free zone where the 59th Front of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, operates.

Drug traffickers also have a presence in the border region.

Source: [www.laht.com/article.asp?ArticleId=449769&CategoryId=12393]Return to Contents

B. Peru’s Shining Path Defeated, Rebel Leader Admits (PE)

7 December 2011BBC news

Comrade Artemio, who heads a group in northern Peru, said they were ready to talk to the government about ending their armed rebellion.

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It is not known if other rebels would be prepared to give up their arms.

An estimated 70,000 people died in the conflict with the Shining Path, which was at the height of its powers in the 1980s and early 1990s.

Speaking to reporters from his jungle hideout, Comrade Artemio said the Shining Path had been defeated.

"I am not going to deny that," he said.

He said his group was prepared for dialogue with the authorities, but added that they would only surrender their weapons if the government were serious about wanting to end the armed conflict.

The Shining Path guerrillas launched their armed struggle in 1980 to remove what they saw as Peru's bourgeois democracy.

The rebels' avowed aim was to establish a communist government, of Maoist inspiration.

The arrest of Shining Path founder and leader Abimael Guzman, in 1992, and a fierce campaign during the government of President Alberto Fujimori all but dismantled the organization.

Remnants of the guerrilla group are still active in Peru's cocaine-producing regions, engaging in sporadic clashes with police and soldiers.

Source: [www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-16066029]Return to Contents

C. Colombians Stage Big Anti-FARC Protests (CO)

7 December 2011BBC News

Wearing white T-shirts, protesters demanded that the rebels free the hostages they have been holding, in some case for more than a decade.

The demonstrators also voiced outrage over last month's killing of four people held by the rebels.

In an apparent response, the Farc promised to free some hostages.

However, a rebel statement did not say who would be freed or when, or if there were any conditions attached to their release.

'Time to end this'

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Protest rallies were held in the capital, Bogota, as well as in Cali, Medellin and several other Colombian cities, 10 days after the killing of the hostages - all members of the security forces.

“It's not just the government calling for peace, it's all of Colombia”

Farc (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia) guerrillas shot them as troops closed in on their camp in the jungle.

One hostage managed to escape alive.

In Bogota, a big rally was staged in the cental square, Plaza Bolivar.

The demonstrators chanted "No more Farc!" and "Freedom!" They also held pictures of those who had been held in captivity by the rebels for years.

"We have tolerated the Farc enough," protester Ruben Castano was quoted as saying by Reuters."Santos, it's time to end this," he added, referring to Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos.Before the demonstrations began, President Santos said: "It's not just the government calling for peace, it's all of Colombia."

Mr Santos has repeatedly stated that he is ready to start talks with the rebels if they stop attacks and abductions, and also lay down their weapons.

Mr Santos's government has recently inflicted some severe blows to the Farc, including the killing of the group's leader Alfonso Cano last month.

The Farc - Colombia's biggest and best organised rebel group - has been fighting to overthrow the government since the 1960s.

The rebels still hold 10 members of the security forces, as well as dozens of civilian captives.

Source: [www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-16063552]Return to Contents

D. Puerto Rico Fugitive Caught in Dominican Republic (DO)

10 December 2011CBS News

Federal authorities and police in the Dominican Republic have arrested one of Puerto Rico's most sought-after criminals.

Miguel ... was arrested late Friday in the Dominican capital of Santo Domingo. Puerto Rican police said Saturday he had been living there under a false identity.

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The 39-year-old faces charges including murder and drug possession and is being held on a $1.2 million bond. He is accused of running a drug trafficking network in at least five Puerto Rican cities.

He is expected to be extradited soon.

The U.S. Caribbean territory blames drug trafficking for the majority of its killings. More than 1,066 people have been killed this year on the island of 4 million people, a record number.

Source: [www.cbsnews.com/8301-501715_162-57340786/puerto-rico-fugitive-caught-in-dominican-republic/?tag=contentMain;contentBody]Return to Contents

E. Brazil: 50 Tons of Corn Stolen from Moving Train (BR)

11 December 2011CBS News

 Police in Brazil's southeastern Sao Paulo state are investigating the theft of 50 metric tons (55 U.S. tons) of corn from a moving train.

A police report says the thieves greased the train tracks, making the wheels of the 54-wagon locomotive skid and slow down before they used a tow truck with a hook to remove the corn-filled containers.

The report says the theft occurred as the train traveled through a rural area about 180 miles (300 kilometers) north of the capital. The train was headed to the southeastern port of Santos with 60 metric tons (66 U.S. tons) of corn and sugar.

The case is reminiscent of Wild West robberies, where bandits on horses stole from moving trains.

 Source:  [www.cbsnews.com/8301-501715_162-57340962/brazil-50-tons-of-corn-stolen-from-moving-train/?tag=cbsnewsSectionsArea;cbsnewsSections]Return to Contents

5. OPINION AND ANALYSIS

A. “Documentales Univision” Premieres “la Ameraza Irani.” A Documentary on the Emerging Iranian Threat to the US and Latin America on December 8. (US)

5 December 2011Univision

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Updated Article

“La Amenaza Iraní” (The Iranian Threat), Documentales Univision’s latest production, will premiere on Thursday, December 8, 2011. Debuting at 10 p.m. ET/PT (9 p.m. Central) on the Univision Network, “La Amenaza Iraní” looks at Iran’s growing political, economic and military ties in Latin America, and the threat this offensive poses to the Latin American region and the United States. The documentary, which was produced in collaboration with Univision News’ Investigative unit, reveals exclusive findings, including secret video and audio recordings that provide a rare window into an alleged Iranian-backed cyber-attack against the United States from Mexico. “La Amenaza Iraní” also features unseen video footage taken by extremists linked to Iran and an interview with an undercover journalist who infiltrated clandestine military training camps in Venezuela.

“The goal of our documentary productions is to explore and expand in depth on the stories behind pressing global matters,” said Juan Rendon, director of Documentales Univision. “‘La Amenaza Iraní’ showcases the inner workings of terrorist networks and depicts the threat posed to the United States as well as Latin America.”

In making “La Amenaza Iraní,” a team of journalists spent months tracking the silent but steady expansion of Iranian interests in the hemisphere – including money laundering and drug trafficking activities by terrorist groups supported by Iran. Univision Investiga reporter Vytenis Didziulis, who visited several countries throughout Latin America, obtained unpublished video of a failed bomb attack against New York’s JFK airport. In Mexico, producer Jorge Mota uncovered covert recordings of the alleged Iranian plan to cripple the computer systems of the White House, the FBI, the CIA and several nuclear power plants.

“Univision Investiga, the investigative team behind ‘La Amenaza Iraní,’ went through great lengths to uncover critical evidence of terrorist networks that threaten global security,” said Gerardo Reyes, director of Univision News’ Investigative unit. “The work of this team reflects Univision’s commitment to offer its audience thoroughly researched products that go beyond daily news.”

During the past seven months, Univision’s investigative unit reviewed dozens of hours of secret recordings, conducted extensive interviews with people who participated in the meetings, including a former Iranian ambassador, and examined documents ranging from hand-written notes to internal federal reports.

Narrated by award-winning Univision News co-anchor Maria Elena Salinas, “La Amenaza Iraní” will broadcast with English and Spanish subtitles via closed captions.

Source: [corporate.univision.com/2011/press/documentales-univision-premieres-la-amenaza-irani-a-documentary-on-the-emerging-iranian-threat-to-the-u-s-and-latin-america-on-december-8]Return to Contents

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B. Documentary on Iran Ties to Latin America (VE)

9 December 2011 Hispanic Business

"The Iranian Threat" ("La Amenaza Irani"), a documentary that looks at Iran's growing political, economic and military ties in Latin American, will premiere Dec. 8 on the Univision Network, according to a news release from Univision.

Narrated by Univision News co-anchor Maria Elenas Salinas, the documentary also looks at the threat Iran's ties pose to the Latin American regions and the United States.

According to the news release, "The documentary, which was produced in collaboration with Univision News' Investigative unit, reveals exclusive findings, including secret video and audio recordings that provide a rare window into an alleges Iranian-back cyber attack against the United States from Mexico."

The release said the documentary also features unseen video footage from extremists linked to Iran and an interview with an undercover journalist who infiltrated clandestine military training camps in Venezuela.

"'La Amenaza Irani' showcases the inner workings of terrorist networks," according to Juan Rendon, director of Documentales Univision, which produced the documentary, "and depicts the threat posed to the United States as well as Latin American."

The release says a team of journalists spent months tracking the expansion of Iranian interests in the hemisphere -– "including money-laundering and drug-trafficking activities by terrorist groups supported by Iran."

The release also noted that the journalist obtained unpublished videos of a failed bomb attack against New York's JFK airport and covert recordings of an alleged Iranian plan to cripple computer systems in the White House, the FBI, the CIA and several nuclear power plants.

Source: [www.hispanicbusiness.com/news/2011/12/7/documentary_on_iran_ties_to_latin.htm/www.hispanicbusiness.com/news/2011/12/7/documentary_on_iran_ties_to_latin]Return to Contents

C. The Enigma and Infamy of Femicides in Mexico and Guatemala (MX/GT)

5 December 2011Mexidata

The term "femicides" has been colloquially defined as "the systematic killing of women due to their gender."

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There is a myriad of scholarly and political opinion in defining and describing the staggering death statistics that continue to manifest this apparent ritual abuse and carnage of women in Latin America.  However, there is nothing complicated about describing many of the crime scenes in which women's bodies are recovered from alleyways and rubbish dumps, often unrecognizable due to torture and sexual mutilation.

Ciudad Juarez, Mexico has the dubious distinction of being labeled "the capital of murdered women." Perhaps this city's moniker refers to the epidemic of rapes and murders of women in the region that have gone unsolved and unpunished for years.  Does this sound rather vague and quite possibly just demonstrates a high violent crime rate like many other areas of the world?Since 2000 more than 3,800 women and young girls were murdered in Mexico, and many remain missing.  Guatemala also finds itself facing the horrors of femicide.  And while these two nations are not alone, the abductions and brutal killing of women in both have become almost routine. In Guatemala City, Guatemala, femicide has claimed the lives of nearly 2,200 women and girls since 2001. Women live in constant fear of being snatched from the streets by gangs, or forced off buses at gunpoint into empty lots.  The majority of victims of femicide have been described as virtually unrecognizable, due to torture and sexual mutilation.

These murders go beyond the typical aspects of murder investigation. The "overkill and depersonalization" of these victims is generally attributed to psychopathic personalities.  However, with skilled homicide investigation methodologies utilized, consistent patterns and techniques of similar modus operandi could be attributed to serial killers. 

To the average person, and most people not skilled in death investigations, when confronted by evidence of such violent criminality, the behavior may seem an enigma, even a unique experience. In what can be described from a profiling standpoint, many of these acts of femicide can be simply described as the acts of recreational, hedonistic or lust murderers. These are individuals who hunt and kill human prey for personal enjoyment.Many police officials in Mexico and Guatemala are quick to minimize the women's murders by stating that the death rate overall in their respective nations is higher for men.  They are not wrong.  However, what they fail to acknowledge is the differences in the manner of death.A clear and different dimension exists in these ferocious attacks and murders in which many of the women were abducted, held captive for several days and subjected to humiliation, torture and the most horrific sexual violence before dying, mostly as a result of asphyxiation caused by strangulation or from being beaten. Their bodies have been found days or even years later, hidden among rubble or abandoned in deserted areas near the cities.

Although Mexican officials continue to reveal located mass graves of murdered and tortured migrant workers, kidnap victims and drug gang rivals, the victims of femicide are part of a much more prolific conundrum.  In fact, many social scientists describe this femicide enigma as a result of women being categorized as "expendable, usable, abusable, and disposable within societies of inequality, displacement, and extreme poverty."   Essentially, they have been seen to be there to service the needs of others. 

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Drug gangs have in fact found what they perceive to be an effective use of women in drug trafficking as mules and decoys.  Many are threatened and extorted to perform these criminal acts at great risk, and many have been murdered and beheaded for defiance.

Guatemalan women are facing incredible violence and impunity. Recently 2,000 women marched through the streets of Guatemala City in support of the "UN's International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women."  Too, in Guatemala City there are now "women-only buses" aimed at reducing harassment and violence against women on public transport. 

Women in Mexico and Guatemala continue to have a tough road ahead as they face highly exploitative conditions in employment.  Trafficking of women and children continues due to extreme poverty and their natural vulnerability, which reflects them as objects of manipulation. There are few arrests and rare convictions to what is described as "government impunity."These horrific crimes against women alone reflect not only a form of discrimination, but also violations of the rights to life, physical integrity, liberty, security and legal protection. This clearly places the State's obligation to investigate and dispense justice. Failure to act is no option and a criminal abuse of authority.

Source: [www.mexidata.info/id3203]Return to Contents

D. Are Zetas Operating as Police Impersonator in the United States? (TX)

Video Available

7 December 2011Police One

The news out of Houston that a group of criminals is staging armed raids on illegal gaming rooms in that city contains a very important wrinkle for our consideration — these violators are also police impersonators, and by all indications in the video these thugs have stepped things up quite considerably in their tactics — and tactical training. We’ve reported extensively here on PoliceOne in recent months on the variety of issues related to police impersonators, but today’s news presents us with an array of additional considerations to contemplate — not the least of which is the idea that HPD investigators are considering the possibility that these perpetrators are Zetas.

The experts with whom I’ve spoken on this matter don’t feel that these men in the Houston incident were, in fact, Zetas. Regardless, this is a very significant episode, whether or not it is found out that Zetas are conducting these types of operations here in the United States. At best, these offenders are ‘frequent fliers’ who have witnessed firsthand the movements and procedures of a tactical team taking down a room. At worst, well, we’re seeing a watershed event indeed.

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Lest we forget, the Zetas did not start out as an independent cartel — they began as hired guns for the OTHER cartels. Many of those who self-identified as Zetas were retired from various branches of the Mexican military — most notably the Grupo Aeromóvil de Fuerzas Especiales (GAFE) special forces soldiers who had received excellent tactical training and conducted extensive operations in which their combat experience refined their skills to very high levels of effectiveness.

Spillover in Tactics 

This afternoon I connected via phone with my friend, who has written a number of outstanding columns for PoliceOne, and has a wealth of knowledge related to the Mexican drug cartels as well as major trends and issues affecting American cops.

“We have a lot of problems in Texas in general — with gang violence and spillover crime. When you look at that kind of event — much like we had with the three-car ambush of the undercover informant the week before last in Houston — this is just indicative of the kind of criminal enterprise that we’re seeing,” he told me. “I don’t think this is actually Zetas, but what you do have is a lot of copycat activity with street gangs claiming to be Zetas because of that ‘street cred’ if you know what I mean.”

Think about that for just a moment. You have one group, pretending to be another group, pretending to be another — an American street gang, claiming to be Mexican Zetas, dressing up and presenting themselves as United States law enforcers.

“In reality, that kind of scenario as you saw we’ve seen in Mexico in the past. What you’re seeing is a lot of spillover in tactics. If you rewind a couple of weeks before this incident, you’ve got the ambush of the undercover informant, and now you have this MO where they look like cops — we see that fairly regularly in Mexico. ...No city is immune to this as we all know, but the closer you get to the border, I think you have more likelihood that you’ll have similar modus operandi coming across, bleeding across, because of the drug supply chain.”

Not Just Zetas 

While there is a very real possibility that the individuals in the video are Zetas — their tactical acumen and their location near to the Mexican border do increase such a possibility — we must also be mindful of the fact that a variety of groups have been working hard on their training.

Let’s remember that street gangs in the United States generally — and in the American-Mexican border specifically — are frequently just one (or none!) degree of separation from those Cartels proper. Even the street gangs not directly affiliated with the Cartels are dealing the drugs those Cartels have sent across the border. Furthermore, these criminal enterprises — both American gangs and Mexican Cartels — do not limit themselves to drug trafficking. They’re into extortion, kidnapping, prostitution, stolen vehicles, you name it.

“What you’re seeing here is just a spillover in tactics” from Mexico to the United States, he reiterated. “This is an emerging threat that 2012 law enforcement needs to be cognizant of —

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and on top of — not only tactically but also in terms of firepower as well. When you think about it in context, it’s not just Zetas or Zeta wannabes, you also have a tremendous number of potential US military, combat-trained soldiers that are rotating back into the Unites States.”

It’s not news that a number of individuals now known to be affiliated with criminal gangs have joined the United States military so they can be trained and sent overseas to get battlefield experience which can subsequently be brought back to the streets. We know there are “training camps” all over the country in which “Militias” of Sovereign Citizens are working on their tactics and throwing thousands of rounds downrange to sharpen their skills. And we know that through the broad availability of surplus police vehicles, look-alike and actual police uniforms and equipment, as well as unscrupulous or unwitting trainers providing bad guys with training, we have a serious problem looming ahead.

SWAT Versus SWAT 

Imagine the scene in which you have a legitimate law enforcement SWAT team called out to that incident in Houston. The TV news reporters viewing the footage would be tempted to report that sort of an event as a SWAT team versus a SWAT team.

“Due to the fact that our tactics and uniforms are known to everyone, copying us is quite easy,” said my friend and another colleague. “Anyone can buy whatever they need to look just like a police office. To make matters worse, some police academies will teach people not hired already by an agency. Change is needed with limited ability to copy uniforms. Movies and television have become reality and reality looks just like film. We gave away our secrets and until we enhance what we do, we are in trouble.”

“This makes police work on the border so much more dangerous on so many levels,” added my good friend in an email to me late in the day. “We need to find out if this is a U.S. Criminal gang. If not is it a cross border incursion by, Mexican criminals, a Cartel, or rogue Mexican authorities? If it is, this is ‘Pancho Villa-like’ — which you may remember triggered not law enforcement response, but a military one. In the meantime, local law enforcement needs to get together and work out a response and communication protocol to determine friendly from unfriendly at these scenes. Wow! Be careful out there!”

“This is going to be one of those emerging issues that nobody really likes to talk about, but the street cops in 2012 are going to have to be ready to deal with,” he concluded.

Source : [www.policeone.com/international/articles/4808296-Are-Zetas-operating-as-police-impersonators-in-the-United-States]Return to Contents

E. Is the United States a Narco ‘Safe Haven’ for Mexican Drug Lords? (US/MX)Editorial note: This is an update to a previously reported story.

6 December 2011

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HS Today

For years, if not decades, Mexican drug lords and various upper-level members of Mexico’s transnational criminal organizations (TCOs) have resided in the United States. But because the savage drug war in Mexico has become so dangerous for them, they now prefer to spend more and more time at their “vacation” homes in the relative safety of US cities and communities. Knowing that violent TCO members are living among us   is disturbing on many levels, and has begged the question of whether the United States can be equated to Pakistan as a country that allows itself to be a “safe haven” for violent criminals and narco-terrorists? In April 2006, the Department of State defined terrorist safe havens as follows: "A terrorist safe haven is an area of relative security exploited by terrorists to indoctrinate, recruit, coalesce, train, and regroup, as well as prepare and support their operations… Physical safe havens provide security for many senior terrorist leaders, allowing them to plan and to inspire acts of terrorism around the world. The presence of terrorist safe havens in a nation or region is not necessarily related to state sponsorship of terrorism. In most instances cited in this chapter, areas or communities serve as terrorist safe havens despite the government's best efforts to prevent this." Using the State Department’s own definition, one only has to replace the term “terrorist” with the term “TCO,” and a strong argument can be made that the United States fits technically can be construed to be a narco-terrorist safe haven. Even Mexican President Felipe Calderón believes the US is a safe haven for leaders of cartels based in his country. In October 2011 he told The New York Times Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzmán Loera - the capo of the Sinaloa Federation and arguably the most wanted man in the Western Hemisphere - was holed up somewhere north of the border. “The surprising thing here is that he or his wife are so comfortable in the United States” that it “leads me to ask … how many families or how many Mexican drug lords could be living more calmly on the north side of the border than on the south side?” Calderón asked. “What leads Chapo Guzmán to keep his family in the United States?” Calderón mussed. Calderón broached the subject of Guzmán’s wife because in August 2011 Emma Coronel gave birth to twin girls in a Los Angeles hospital. Calderón said reporters ought to be asking why she was never detained. There are no charges pending against Coronel; therefore, US law enforcement agents have no grounds to detain her. And, unfortunately, the same is true of many other members of Mexico’s TCOs who are residing in the United States. The fact is many TCO members and individuals working for them have dual citizenship or are legal permanent residents of America. While they may have extensive criminal records in

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Mexico, as long as they haven’t committed a crime in the United States and Mexico hasn’t sought their extradition, they can lead relatively normal lives north of the border without law enforcement interference. This isn’t to say US law enforcement agencies aren’t aware of their presence or activities; it’s just that there’s not much they can do unless these TCO members commit a crime here. It’s this situation that ultimately separates the United States from places like Pakistan when it comes to the “safe haven” definition. In April 2009, the State Department wisely updated their definition to read: “Terrorist safe havens are defined in this report as ungoverned, under-governed, or ill-governed areas of a country and non-physical areas where terrorists that constitute a threat to U.S. national security interests are able to organize, plan, raise funds, communicate, recruit, train, and operate in relative security because of inadequate governance capacity, political will, or both.” There are no areas in the US southwest that can be defined as “ungoverned, under-governed or ill-governed.” The US government is also not actively assisting TCO members living in the country or purposely ignoring their presence. In fact, US southern border region law enforcement agencies are more alert than ever to the potential threats posed by TCO members living in their jurisdictions. But that doesn’t mean the Mexican government will see it that way. President Calderón has pointed his finger at the United States and blamed the federal government for the violence in his country. He says the drug war is a direct result of Americans’ demand for illegal drugs and US guns laws that allow tens of thousands of firearms to be smuggled across the border every year. Based on his casual statements about “El Chapo” Guzmán possibly living in the US, his next salvo may be to declare the United States a “narco safe haven” and to attempt some sort of legislative (and ultimately symbolic) action to this end. Hopefully, this isn’t where Calderón is headed. He knows the US government is trying to fight this war as a partner with Mexico, despite its various policy shortcomings. The administration also knows Calderón’s approval rating has been slipping and that his political party isn’t faring well in the run-up to Mexico’s July 2012 presidential election. It’s possible Calderón may still try to play the “narco safe haven” card, but if he does, it undoubtedly will be rebuffed by the administration. In the meantime, US agencies can work harder to make America a much more difficult operating environment for TCO members by more aggressively scrutinizing suspicious financial transactions and expanding human intelligence networks to identify future drug smuggling activity. Mexico’s “narcos” don’t operate in a vacuum on either side of the border. And while their networks are extremely difficult to penetrate, it’s not impossible. US law enforcement agents just need the proper tools and support to ensure that TCO members’ lives here are made as difficult as possible - that they’re made to understand their presence north of the border isn’t welcome.

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Source : [www.hstoday.us/single-article/is-the-united-states-a-narco-safe-haven-for-mexican-drug-lords/15b5fc4009f8a09875ebdc703e9a5c0b]Return to Contents

F. Good Amigos: DEA Operation Reveals New Bonds between US and Mexico (US/MX)

5 December 2011Univision

In previous decades, news of undercover U.S. operations in Mexico aroused heated complaints from the Mexican government and heartfelt declarations about Mexico’s national sovereignty.

But nothing has been said so far by the Mexican government after The New York Times revealed on Sunday that the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) has been conducting covert operations in Mexico, helping cartels to smuggle millions of dollars into the U.S., in order to better understand where drug traffickers stash their money.

That could be because as The Times reports, Mexican agents also helped the DEA to smuggle money across the border.

“There’s going to be a lot of people in Mexico that are offended by this, find it frustrating and are angry at the U.S.,” said an expert in anti-narcotics policies at the Woodrow Wilson International Center in Washington, D.C. “But the difference this time is that the Mexican authorities appear to have been aware of this and accompanied this in many cases,” he added in an interview with Univision Noticias.

According to The Times, Mexico’s increased dependence on the U.S. for assistance in the so-called War on Drugs led the Mexican government to lift a previous ban on U.S. undercover operations in the country.

He says the undercover drug laundering operations can help agents better understand the economic networks that support drug trafficking, such as banks and shell companies, and how the traffickers get their illegal money to circulate in the market. “It’s important to seize cash in the streets, in cars and in tunnels, but when you do that you’re only dealing with low level operatives” he said.

But chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee was less optimistic about the DEA’s involvement in undercover money laundering.

“The existence of such a program again calls your leadership into question,”  he wrote to attorney General in a letter in which he requested a congressional briefing on the undercover money laundering scheme, which had the attorney general’s seal of approval according to The Times.

The Congressman is currently investigating abuses committed under Fast and Furious, a scheme through which the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms allowed weapons traffickers to

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smuggle more than 2,000 weapons from Arizona to cartels in Mexico in the hopes of finding a path to top drug traffickers.

“It is almost unfathomable to contemplate the degree to which the United States government has made itself an accomplice to the Mexican drug trade, which has thus far left more than 40,000 people dead in Mexico since 2006,” he wrote.

UPDATE: After the publication of this article, the office of the Attorney General of Mexico issued a statement on money laundering and international cooperation.

However, the statement did not address the claims made by the New York Times that the DEA and Mexican agents helped drug traffickers smuggle millions of dollars into the U.S in undercover operations.

“Bilateral cooperation takes place strictly within legal boundaries, respecting laws that regulate the activities of foreign authorities in Mexican territory” the statement, issued late on Monday, said.

“The efficient combat of money laundering, requires firm national policies and international cooperation,” read the statement.

Source: [univisionnews.tumblr.com/post/13812565355/dea-mexico-usa-guns]Return to Contents