America's Mexican Border Wars

[Bruce Clemens]

What are they using to look for the graves?

[Tosh Plumlee]

Ground Penetrating radar and metal detectors and informats information from a drug dealer arrested last week near Mexico City.

[Peter Lemkin]

The Juarez drug war... or the cartel border wars.

Radio interview with Mike Levine, being taped today... to air sometime Monday 4-13-09

http://wbai.org/index.php?option=com_con...&Itemid=36 for live and at WBAI archives here after http://archive.wbai.org/allshows.php and here http://www.expertwitnessradio.org/archiv...rrock.html

I'll post the time of the live show shortly.

[Tosh Plumlee]

Peter here is the link: A second part about the the US Military weapons being lost or stolden in Mexico and getting into the Cartel's gangs hands will be aired in the next few weeks or days. Also, keep you eye on CNN these next few days. Here is the link in case anyone is interested.

http://www.expertwitnessradio.org/

[Tosh Plumlee]

Some of the Intel I was told which led to the bust came from TF-7 the joint task force: This was mentioned a few days ago but confirmed today by AP and the Mexican Army.

Mexican detained with anti-aircraft machine gun

• AP – An anti air-craft machine gun, the first weapon of its kind seized in Mexico, is displayed to the media …
  

By E. EDUARDO CASTILLO, Associated Press Writer E. Eduardo Castillo, Associated Press Writer – 1 hr 35 mins ago
MEXICO CITY – Mexican authorities arrested a woman guarding an arsenal that included the first anti-aircraft machine gun seized in Mexico, police said Tuesday, as the army announced the capture of an alleged top drug cartel lieutenant.
The arsenal belonged to a group linked to the powerful Beltran-Leyva drug cartel, federal police coordinator Gen. Rodolfo Cruz said. It also included ammunition, five rifles, a grenade and part of a grenade launcher.
Mexican drug cartels, battling a fierce crackdown by soldiers and federal police, have increasingly gotten hold of higher-powered weapons, even military-grade arms such as grenades and machine guns. That has left police — particularly state and municipal forces — grossly outgunned, and many officers have quit following attacks.
Cruz said the confiscated .50-caliber, anti-aircraft machine gun can fire 800 rounds per minute and is capable of penetrating armor from more than 5,000 feet (1,500 meters). Police on a routine patrol Monday found the gun fitted atop an SUV at a house in northern Sonora state.
Authorities did not release any other details about the gun, including its make, where it was manufactured or where it was sold.
The arrested suspect, Anahi Beltran Cabrera, apparently is not related to the Beltran-Leyva clan, Cruz said.
The U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives has traced many guns seized at scenes of drug violence in Mexico to U.S. commercial sources. But determining the source of military-grade weapons such as grenades and fully automatic machine guns is more complicated.
The ATF says the grenades are mostly smuggled in through Central America, and have been traced back to the militaries of many countries, from South Korea to Spain and Israel. Some may be leftovers from the Central American civil wars.
Assailants have fired on government aircraft performing anti-drug missions in Mexico in the past, but apparently never with the caliber of weapon found Monday.
In 2006, a helicopter on a federal drug-eradication mission crashed while trying to escape ground fire, and a second helicopter was damaged by gunfire in the Pacific coast state of Guerrero.
Mexico is upgrading its northern and southern border checkpoints in an effort to detect and seize more guns and other contraband, installing equipment that will weigh and photograph each car and truck coming into the country.
President Barack Obama has promised to do more to stop gun trafficking from the United States to Mexico. He has pledged to dispatch nearly 500 more federal agents to the border, along with X-ray machines and drug-sniffing dogs.
Also Tuesday, the Mexican army announced the capture of Ruben Granados Vargas, an alleged lieutenant for the Beltran-Leyva drug cartel in the Pacific coast state of Guerrero.
Gen. Luis Arturo Oliver said soldiers caught Granados Vargas and two other suspects with four rifles and 2.6 pounds (1.2 kilograms) of opium on Monday.
Granados Vargas allegedly ran the cartel's drug planting, harvesting and trafficking operations on the coast west of the resort of Acapulco.
He is implicated in a number of kidnappings and killings in the region, including attacks as part of a turf war with an alleged Sinaloa cartel rival that left 17 people dead last year, organized crime prosecutor Marisela Morales said.
Granados Vargas' wife, sister-in-law and two sons were later killed in retaliation, according to prosecutors.

Mexico's drug violence has claimed more than 10,650 lives since President Felipe Calderon launched a military-led offensive against trafficking cartels in December 2006.
In March, the government sent thousands more troops to the northern border to quell escalating violence. The government announced Sunday that drug-related homicides fell 26 percent across the country in the first three months of the year, compared to the same period in 2008.
Late Tuesday, Mexico's Senate authorized the navy to participate in training with the U.S. Navy on how to detect drug smugglers. The two-week exercises in Florida, which start April 20, will also include ships from Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, France and Germany.
___ Associated Press writer Mark Stevenson contributed to this report.

[Bruce Clemens]

I wonder which alleged border town U.S. gun shop the media will claim THAT came from ?!

[Tosh Plumlee]

That was not the only thing found at this place... that was only what they wanted released to the media.... there is more to this puppy than whats been released. Perhaps more details after Obama's trip to Mexico City.

"... confidental memo to JOC -J2.......

...........
I do not know how this could be checked out but... if you remember a sensitive source mentioned there were military weapons that were taken off the GAO books after the 101st and 82nd Airborne held maneuvers in Honduras back in the mid eighties. There was a GAO report on these lost weapons sometime around that time frame. There were Stinger missiles, grenade launchers, millions of rounds of various ammo, night vision goggles, helicopter parts, etc that went to Panama's Noriega and then into the Escobar, Ochoa cartel hands.

I think what was recently found in Mexico is a very small part of those missing weapons. I think we can get the numbers, although I have been told that the Mexican authorities have told ATF that the ID numbers have been filed off of that gun, but they have others which have been ID'ed......."..

Mexican Intell has also told the joint task force that they will be releasing information of another captured high profile drug Lord... the rumor is that it is "Guzman", and he will be turned over to American military at the border... we will perhaps see real soon...

I am going back to Coyote Hill today and will be out of cell phone range most of the day.... there is an Intel report that there is to be a "run" across the border going south from Columbus, I am told it is planned for today. I hope to get close up pictures and lic numbers and photos of the drivers, They are going to use another Ryder Truck reg in Arizona, I am told.

My sources have told me this information has been received from a Mexican military intelligence unit working out of Juarez, also I have received information from a sensitive source that the BP will not be in this area when the cross over is suppose to happen. (???)

If I can get more information on the other Ryder Truck which was found abandon near here yesterday or the day before, I will forward it to you... It might fit into something you have already uncovered... (we will see if this information from our sources checks out... so far there are three for four on Mexico Intel info)..... I still don't know what the motive is for feeding this info.... could be a set up to make the CIA look bad for having a UC team inside Mexico... anyway I am xxxx... however, Mexico just confirmed that they are working with a Navy SEAL team starting April 20, 09. (reference article I sent you last night) That would tie in with the US Ranger Team working Juarez and surrounding areas.... could be a joint assassination team down here tracking some of the cartel's gang members for all I know.

Anyway, just trying to get information out before the fact so as to hang it in someones ass in case I am turned on for political reasons.... I don't not trust the "Powers that Be in the DC beltway" on any of this stuff......".

[Tosh Plumlee]

Just in Hot off the wire:

By DEVLIN BARRETT
Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) - Mexican drug cartels are spreading south into
Central America, U.S. drug enforcement officials said Wednesday, as
the Obama administration put new pressure on drug kingpins ahead of
the president's trip to Mexico City.
Drug Enforcement Administration officials said there are growing
signs the stepped-up law enforcement efforts on the U.S.-Mexico
border are driving the cartels south toward Central America.
"We're looking at what happens south of Mexico as well, because
that's just as important as what's happening on our border," said
DEA Chief of Operations Thomas Harrigan. "With more and more
success the Mexican government has, literally they're pushing these
cartels further south and potentially it could be a problem in
Central America."
Harrigan said it's possible the extra law enforcement efforts
could "push the cartels into Central America."
It's already happening, said Anthony Placido, the DEA's chief of
intelligence.
There have been significant seizures of cartel weaponry in
Guatemala, and shootouts among Mexican cartels with operations in
Central American countries. The cartels "definitely have" moved
south, said Placido.
"We've seen running gun battles in places like Guatemala and
Honduras between rival Mexican cartels," he said.
Last month in an appearance before Congress, U.S. State
Department official David Johnson said that Central American
officials "have identified gangs, drug trafficking, and
trafficking of arms as the most pressing security concerns in that
region."
The acting head of the DEA, Michele Leonhart, told reporters
that more efforts along the U.S.-Mexico border alone will not be
enough to dismantle the cartels.
"A seizure on the border is not going to break the backs of the
cartels. What breaks the backs of the cartels are the partnerships
with the U.S. and Mexican counterparts in country, in Mexico," she
said.
Separately, the White House on Wednesday announced that three
Mexican organizations had been added to a list of suspected
international drug kingpins: the Sinaloa cartel, Los Zetas, and La
Familia Michoacana.
The move came a day before President Barack Obama travels to
Mexico.
The three Mexican groups were added to the U.S. government's
blacklist of drug syndicates, aimed at financially cutting off
significant foreign narcotics traffickers, their organizations and
operatives worldwide.
The list was created by the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin
Designation Act but is known commonly as the Drug Kingpin Act.
Those on the list are denied access to the U.S. financial system
and all trade and transactions involving U.S. companies and
individuals.
La Familia Michoacana, also known simply as La Familia, moves
massive amounts of cocaine from Colombian drug dealers, according
to U.S. officials.
Los Zetas was formed by ex-military men who became hitmen for
the other cartels.
The Sinaloa cartel, often referred to as the Mexican Federation,
began in the 1970's, and now controls most of the seaports along
the Pacific coat of Mexico, officials say.
The president has already promised to dispatch nearly 500 more
federal agents to the U.S.-Mexico border, along with X-ray machines
and drug-sniffing dogs.
Also Wednesday, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano is
expected to announce she has chosen a former federal prosecutor to
the new post of "border czar" to oversee efforts to end cartel
violence along the U.S.-Mexico border and slow the tide of people
crossing illegally into the United States.
Napolitano is expected to name Alan Bersin to the post at an
announcement in El Paso, Texas.
-----

[Tosh Plumlee]

American Mainstream Media will not report what is really going on down here across the border... They want you to think the gangs and cartels have moved south into Central America. The border war here in Juarez is still going on and people are still being kidnapped tortured and murdered everyday by the Los Zetas. Its not all the Mexican army or Police but impostors in some cases and a few turns working both ends of the game for money.

Inside Juarez report: April 15,09

Norte of Juarezreports this morning that, after being kidnapped from his home on Thursday, apparently by elements of the armed forces, the body of Ed uardo Gonzalez Ramirez, 40, was found beaten to death at 1:10 a.m. on Friday at the intersection of Damian Carmona and Rodolfo Fierro, in the colonia Jose Marti. He died of a severe injury to the pelvis. Witnesses reported two official military vehicles appeared at the victim's home between 2:00 and 3:00 p.m., military personnel entered the home without a warrant and began beating the victim, who screamed at his mother not to let them carry him away. Mr. Gonzalez was then taken by the men. Mr. Gonzalez was a mechanic. Maria del Refugio Ramirez, the victim's mother told Norte, "If my son did something wrong, that's what authorities are for, to judge what happened, but not to have soldiers torture them, kill them, and throw the body away."

The victim's family is expected to turn the case over to the Chihuahua State Commission on Human Rights for investigation. Diario de Juarez reports that in a separate incident Mr. Julio Escamilla Torres, an electrician, was treated for several fractured ribs and a severe injury to his leg at the General Hospital. Family members assert that persons dressed as soldiers stopped his vehicle at the corner of Zihuatanejo and Privada de Cobre and, finding him in possession of various screwdrivers, which they took to be possible weapons, began beating him with rifle butts.

Diario de Juarez, covering this story, quotes a spokesman who asserts that "in relation to the presumed participat ion of the armed forces in acts which ended the life of Eduardo Gonzalez Ramirez...and resulted in an injury to a person by the name of Julio Escamilla, the Command of the Joint Chihuahua Operation denies that military personnel, acting as such within the scope of this Operation, participated in any way in the foregoing acts."

Meanwhile, in the case of Javier Eduardo Rosales Rosales, 21, (Reported here below) a spokesperson for the State Justice Department's North Zone said an investigation was underway to determine whether military personnel were involved in the kidnapping that resulted in his death. Rosales was a radiologist at the Los Angeles Hospital. He and another man, Sergio Fernandez, were kidnapped by men in uniform on Tuesday April 7. According to Fernandez, after two days of being tortured, the two were left alone in the early morning hours on Thursday, April 9. They left the scene but Mr. Rosales died of his injuries shortly thereafter. Mr. Fernandez left the scene to look for help and made it home by himself. The body was discovered on Friday.

On Sunday night two more men were murdered in Cd. Juarez. One body was found at 9:18 p.m. on the corner of Costa Rica and Ninos Heroes. He appeared to be between 35 and 40 years old and had gunshot wounds in his back. Another man was found dead at 9:20 on Sunday on the corner of Anahuac and 2 de abril, with gunshot wounds to the head. Five spent209mm. cartridges were found near the body.

[Tosh Plumlee]

note from Plumlee in reference to article:

As the article points out, this is a real Narco terrorist war down here along the United States and the Mexican border. It has been creeping north from Colombia for the last twenty five years.

Various agencies of the US government and our elected officials have been warned repeatedly-- throughout many years-- and, by a host of government undercover operatives and federal officials, that this narco terroist war would soon imbed itsel within our country. But those warnings fell on deaf ears... and now the drug war has crossed our borders and settled in our cities. It can be found in our politics, in our corporations, and in our banking systems. And our elected officials or still blind and dumb to this escalating threat to our National Security.

The following CNN article, from a very good friend who is also fighting in the real drug war, is posted here for anyone who might be interested in the real story concerning the border war in Mexico soon to be played out in our American cities:

article follows:

"... There are no welcome signs on the approach to Camargo.
It's a hardscrabble Mexican border town and home turf for "Los Zetas," a gang of hitmen and corrupt former special forces cops on the bankroll of the Gulf Cartel.
Local journalists explained if we went there we'd be getting "tangled up in the hooves of the horse." They said Zeta gunmen recently smashed one reporter's fingers with a hammer as a warning to the media to stay away.
The plaza was deserted -- for a few minutes at least. Then the throb of engines broke the Sunday morning peace. Scores of pickup trucks with heavily tinted windows began circling. Occasionally a window would crack open. We were clearly being watched.
A black SUV pulled up alongside the soda stand. One of the occupants stepped out. First I saw the ostrich skin cowboy boots, then the highly polished 9 mm pistol strapped to his side. It was loaded with a longer-than-usual ammunition clip, custom-made to pack extra bullets. It was a brazen flouting of Mexican law to carry a gun that way.
No words. Not even a stare. But his message seemed unequivocal. Our visit to Camargo lasted just 20 minutes. Taking the strong hint, we immediately left town.
Much as we wanted to explore the underbelly of the drug war raging in Mexico, it was clear the capos, or bosses, and their hired guns were in no mood to talk. Their business thrives best in the shadows. Our best chance of getting some insight was to track down a cast of peripheral characters who live in the gray areas, somewhere between the extremes of right and wrong.
The hospitality was little better in nearby Miguel Aleman. Customers, even an argumentative drunk, fell silent as we ordered a beer in a dingy cantina. A couple of tired-looking prostitutes retreated to a far corner. They may have been down on their luck but they knew talking to outsiders wasn't worth the cost. Here the Zetas are well-known for enforcing their law of silence at gunpoint.
Along this stretch of the border Los Zetas are kings. From here their bloody reach stretches far across Mexico and deep into Central America. They run immigrant smuggling, drug trafficking, prostitution rackets, video piracy and local politics.
In the glitzy industrial city of Monterrey, we met a marijuana dealer smoking his own merchandise in the bathroom of a dance club.
The man, whom we can't name for his safety, explained how he had been recruited at gunpoint two years earlier by the Zetas to be what they call a "landowner" (terrateniente in Spanish) -- in charge of cocaine distribution in a handful of neighborhoods.
He said Zeta gunmen bundled him into a truck and with assault rifles aimed at his head they gave him three options -- pay them $100,000, begin working for them or die.
Over the next few days, he said, the same gunmen scared off or killed rival drug dealers, leaving him in charge of what he said was a $4,000-a-day business.
It all ended, he said, when Mexican soldiers kicked down his door. He was never detained but his cover was blown. Local Zeta commanders thanked him for not ratting on them by giving him permission to retire from the business.
But recently he's gone into business for himself selling $2 bags of pot. He realizes working independently of the Zetas may be fatal.
"Maybe I'm stupid or something, but I don't know how to do anything else. If they catch me it's simple, they'll kill me. It's just not allowed to work freelance," he said.
An old friend of mine in Monterrey knew the marijuana peddler well and vouched for his story. He never made good on his promise to give us a recorded account. He went on a 24-hour drug binge. When we caught up with him again he was smoking crack, sweating profusely and paranoid his former paymasters would exact revenge.
Mexico's tit-for-tat vendettas look like uncontrolled chaos.
Mob assassins are no longer content with efficient execution-style killings. Sinaloa cartel hitmen regularly place pig masks on the faces of their Juarez cartel victims. And in a grim seasonal touch, killers in Juarez decapitated a cop and placed a Father Christmas hat on his severed head.
But in a sidewalk cafe in Guadalajara, "Jose" explains there is a clearly defined set of narco-rules that must be followed. A small-time Latin American cocaine trafficker I've known for years introduced me to Jose.
Jose is old school. He tells me he's been in the cocaine trade since the early 1980s almost since it began, has worked internationally and done a stretch in prison
"From the outside it might look like the cartels are just going around killing people. But on the inside there's a code of conduct, rules. You might not want to kill somebody but you have to because it's all about respect," he said. "This cannot work if there's no respect. Above all, the capos use logic to solve the problems."
Jose added that he believed groups of corrupt officials and law enforcement officers were using the militarization of the border region not as a means to crush the drug cartels but as a way of forcing them to pay a bigger slice of the drug profits as bribes.
"The authorities and the cartels use the rule of 10. By that I mean for every 10 kilos of cocaine we move, we have to give three to the authorities and keep seven for ourselves," he explained. "When times are bad the authorities may arrest somebody or grab an entire consignment and that's a way for forcing up their percentage take."
Jose's assertion might seem like feverish conspiracy theory if it weren't for the growing list of Mexican officials, ranging from local cops and foot soldiers to generals and men at the highest levels of law enforcement, who've been busted for allegedly profiting from the drug trade.
In November, Mexico's former drug czar was detained on suspicion that he may have accepted $450,000 a month in bribes from drug traffickers. He had been in charge of the attorney general's office that specializes in combating organized crime.
Tomorrow, Penhaul looks at the gang's dead triggermen and the lives they left behind. ..." (end)

Good work my friend... we need more like you and your associates, on the front line of this "Drug War".