America's Mexican Border Wars

[Bruce Clemens]

Strange juxtaposition, that second picture. The more things change, the more they stay the same.

[Tosh Plumlee]

For months now I've been posting on this Forum information before the fact.., just shouting into the wind about the border drug war... I've been inside Mexico and Juarez... rode with the army and posted what I have seen. All first hand accounts. The warehouse full of US military weapons obtained by the cartels , bodies being dug up, headless, Mexican ranches used my the gangs ect.... Went in-- side by side --with an American Task Force working with the Mexican Army... posted same.

Summation; The Border War is a thread to the United States National Security..... over six thousand dead this past year, and not from the pandemic... But who really cares? IMO Its all for entertainment. The following INTEL report underscores my point:

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EXCLUSIVE: CARTELS USE KIDS TO BREACH U.S. BORDER

Conducting interviews on this topic is the founder and president of the Minuteman Project Jim Gilchrist.

Drug cartel members are using a variety of fronts and subterfuges - from fake tamale stands to child decoys - to gather intelligence about enhanced U.S. border security and exploit weaknesses to send in people and drugs, according to a new report obtained by The Washington Times.

The findings, by the U.S. Army's Asymmetric Warfare Group, underline the growing threat to U.S. security from a porous border. Mexican drug cartels continue to probe for gaps in border defenses while fighting one another and Mexican authorities in a violent conflict that has killed more than 7,000 people in Mexico since the beginning of 2008. U.S. authorities also worry that terrorist groups could exploit vulnerabilities in border security.

According to a report earlier this month by the warfare group about the San Diego-Tijuana border area, the cartels are finding novel ways to move contraband and people into the U.S., including wedging children into gaps in the cement pylons at border barriers.

"The smuggling facilitator or families of the illegal migrants will use children to lodge them in the gaps of the cement pylons, at which point a U.S. fire department is called in to free the child," the report said. "This tactic relies on the U.S. first responders' initiative to rescue or save a human life and subsequently creates a physical gap - which generally takes two weeks to repair - to use for border breaching."

The cartels also use torches in backpacks to cut through fences and tamale stands and personal watercraft for surveillance, the report said. They ship drugs through sewers and may be planning to send them into the U.S. on the backs of men parachuting out of planes.

Cartels already have used hang gliders and other ultralight aircraft to move narcotics into the U.S. These craft can carry about 200 pounds of drugs.

The report suggested that the cartels were looking to upgrade the technique by using newer equipment, allowing them to bring in bigger loads.

"Civilian or military trained tandem jumpers could deliver a payload of 750 pounds, while the delivery aircraft would be able to avoid United States airspace," the report said. "The jumpers would be able to land successfully at desired locations using off the shelf GPS and equipment, and at locations previously inaccessible to ultra-light aircraft. This tactic also will permit multiple jumpers to converge on a location increasing payload delivery."

It is estimated that Mexican cartels earn more than $25 billion a year from narcotics trafficking in the U.S. alone, military officials said. A good portion of the money goes to purchase equipment such as semi-submersible boats, submarines and airplanes as well as to pay for spotters, hired to watch U.S. border security personnel.

Military and law enforcement officials also have gathered intelligence that suggests cartels are continuing to build tunnels along the San Diego corridor and to use "sewers and storm drains under the southwest border to smuggle personnel and cargo into the United States."

A roadside tamale stand was part of a strategy to alert middlemen and smugglers to open entry points along San Diego's border fence with Tijuana.

U.S. military intelligence personnel "observed a woman setting up a road-side tamale stand on the south side of the primary fence with the nose of her vehicle pointing towards known fence breach points," the report said. It added that the woman did not have a single customer all day in the sparsely populated area.

In addition, cartel members used taxis and legitimate businesses to smuggle people and drugs without arousing suspicion, according to the report.

The warfare group conducted the operation with Joint Task Force North, part of the Defense Department's counternarcotics and anti-terrorist operations, from Feb. 15 until March 31. U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the U.S. Coast Guard, and state and local law enforcement in the San Diego sector helped the group "observe asymmetric infiltration operations and emerging asymmetric threats" from the cartels.

The report, "Asymmetric Observations Along the U.S.-Mexican Border," was tasked with identifying enemy vulnerabilities and to mitigate terrorist threats as cartel violence escalates. The operation "will provide insight relevant to U.S. Army operations worldwide," the report added.

"We're going to have to pay very, very close attention to Mexico and certainly for this administration," a U.S. Defense Department official told The Times on the condition that he not be named because of the sensitive nature of the issue. Mexico "clearly understands their problem. They, like us, are trying to figure out ways to solve it."

The official added that the U.S. and Mexico are cooperating closely to deal with the situation.

Source: washingtontimes.com
Link: http://washingtontimes.com/news/2009/may..._position1

[Jan Klimkowski]

For months now I've been posting on this Forum information before the fact.., just shouting into the wind about the border drug war... I've been inside Mexico and Juarez... rode with the army and posted what I have seen. All first hand accounts. The warehouse full of US military weapons obtained by the cartels , bodies being dug up, headless, Mexican ranches used my the gangs ect.... Went in-- side by side --with an American Task Force working with the Mexican Army... posted same.

Summation; The Border War is a thread to the United States National Security..... over six thousand dead this past year, and not from the pandemic... But who really cares? IMO Its all for entertainment.

Tosh - who do you think is really running the cartels?

You of all people know that the real profits are not going to illiterate, tequila-swilling, brothers with bad moustaches - unless the Bush crime family suddenly decide to start sporting hirsute upper lips.

[Tosh Plumlee]

Jan; To some degree this INTEL field report from Mexican Intel should be considered in reference to your question.
It would be wise to cross check the money flow from this cartel into "cut-out", companies here in the United States and then follow the money into the political assets of some of our elected officials. In doing that, I feel you will find your answer:

Summation:

Mexican INTEL Classified Report obtained by U.S. Military; ANBPENT- Task Force N-7, Ft Bliss, Texas. El Paso, Texas

"... MEXICO: POLITICS AND NARCO-CORRUPTION IN MICHOACAN

Summary
Mexican organized crime group La Familia was planning to interfere in the country's upcoming July 5 national legislative elections, according to a May 29 news report that cites sources in Mexican military intelligence and the federal attorney general's office (PGR). This case shows the deeply rooted nature of public corruption in Mexico, and the reach of the country's criminal organizations.

Analysis


The Mexican organized crime group La Familia had planned to interfere in the country's upcoming July 5 national legislative elections, Mexican media reported May 29, citing sources in Mexican military intelligence and the federal attorney general's office (PGR). La Familia's plan reportedly included financing candidates, coercing voters, and transporting voters to polling places in some of the largest cities in the state of Michoacan, including the state capital, Morelia, as well as Uruapan, Lazaro Cardenas, Patzcuaro, Apatzingan, and Zitacuaro.

The revelation comes just a few days after a joint operation between PGR and Mexican military forces that resulted in the arrest of more than 30 mayors, judges, and other public officials in Michoacan on charges of corruption and links to La Familia. In those cases -- the largest single roundup of public officials during the last few years of the country's cartel war -- the government charges that La Familia members have used their connections with corrupt public officials to secure a safe operating environment for drug trafficking, retail drug distribution, extortion, kidnapping, and other criminal activities.


That a criminal organization such as La Familia had a large number of Mexican public officials on its payroll is not surprising. Even so, this incident illuminates the deeply rooted and widespread nature of organized crime-related official corruption in Mexico.

The extent of organized crime in Mexico ensures that there is no shortage of corrupt officials countrywide. While President Felipe Calderon has pursued a number of anti-corruption initiatives over the last few years targeting such officials, the decision to launch this most recent operation in Michoacan certainly appears like a politically motivated attempt to remind voters ahead of the July 5 legislative elections that Calderon's National Action Party (PAN) remains tough on crime and corruption. So far, the plan seems to have worked: Although the Michoacan state governor and his left-wing opposition Democratic Revolutionary Party (PRD) initially expressed outrage that the arrests took place without the governor's prior knowledge, the PRD leadership eventually backtracked. It clarified that the PRD does support the country's national counternarcotics strategy.

While La Familia is undeniably a powerful player in Michoacan state -- and maintains a considerable presence in the neighboring states of Jalisco, Guerrero, and Mexico -- STRATFOR does not see the group as significant national or international criminal power. Nonetheless, this case appears to shows that even smaller organized crime groups have not only the intent but the ability to corrupt public officials at the federal level. Considering La Familia is just one of many criminal groups in Mexico, it is not a stretch to assume that other groups -- such as the much larger Sinaloa and Gulf cartels, the Beltran Leyva organization and Los Zetas -- are pursuing even more robust plans to make the country's national elections work in their favor.

Indeed, this case provides a reminder of the deep-seated nature of corruption in Mexico: Two and half years after Calderon took office and began cracking down on drug trafficking organizations and corruption, the problems are nowhere near going away. And this case shows that corruption goes far beyond just the police, instead touched all kinds of government officials. Ultimately, fully resolving the problem will involve a long-term effort to address more fundamental issues, including the country's political culture. ...".

Also, If your really interested you might want to hear the interview found on the Meria Heller Show;
(not sure if this link will work.., please advise:

http://www.meria.net/wp-content/uploads/...050609.mp3

[Tosh Plumlee]

Mexico president says future of democracy at stake


<<MEX_SOLDIERS_ACAPULCO_25Jun09.JPG>>

Reuters – Mexican soldiers patrol a street in the Mexican beach resort of Acapulco June 10, 2009. Eighteen people were killed in a shootout between drug gangs and soldiers on June 7 and the gun battle was a further blow to Mexico's tourism industry, already reeling from cancellations by foreigners scared away by the swine flu epidemic.

By MARK STEVENSON, Associated Press Writer Mark Stevenson, Associated Press Writer – Thu Jun 25, 12:01 am ET
MEXICO CITY – President Felipe Calderon said Wednesday the future of Mexican democracy is at stake in the government's fight against official corruption and organized crime, and he criticized politicians who he said want to return to the era when gangs were tolerated.

Calderon also called for making legislators more accountable to the public, including reducing the number of Congress members while allowing them to serve more than one term and face voters' judgment in re-election bids.

Speaking at a conference on security, the president gave a scathing appraisal on how far corruption has reached into Mexican government circles ahead of the July 5 midterm elections.

"What is at stake today is not just the result of an election, but rather the future of democracy, of representative institutions," he said. "For years ... crime was allowed to grow expand and penetrate. Perhaps people thought it was a manageable thing."

Calderon said the country, which has seen more than 10,800 deaths in organized crime violence since he took office in December 2006, "is at a historical crossroads."

"To turn one's head, to act as if you don't see the crime in front of you, as some politicians want to do, is no option for Mexico," he said.

He painted a grim picture of the security situation in some of the most violent parts of the country, noting that crime gangs and drug cartels are carrying out "an interminable recruitment of young people without hope, family, opportunities, future, beliefs or convictions.

"They turn up dead in some morgue and nobody claims their bodies, as happens with more than 30 percent of the bodies in the most violent cities, like Ciudad Juarez," across the border from El Paso, Texas.

In Ciudad Juarez, authorities said Wednesday that gunmen in a passing car killed an American teenager and his Mexican cousin as they stood at a corner. Officials didn't release any information about a possible motive, and no arrests were made.

The victims were identified by a relative as Raymundo Perez, 15, a student at El Dorado High School in Socorro, Texas, southeast of El Paso, and his cousin Alan Perez, 18, of Ciudad Juarez. Raymundo Perez lived in Socorro with his grandmother and aunt but spent vacation in Ciudad Juarez, where his parents live.

Earlier in the day, unidentified assailants in Ciudad Juarez tossed gasoline bombs into a billiard hall and a money exchange office. In 2008, more than 30 businesses were burned in the city, where threats of arson are often used by extortionists linked to drug gangs.

In the Pacific coast state of Guerrero, investigators on Wednesday found the bodies of two local police officers who had been shot to death, the state's public safety department said in a statement. It said the officers were kidnapped earlier Wednesday a block away from city hall in the town of La Union.

Calderon repeated calls he made earlier in his political career as a congressman for reducing the number of federal legislators, now 500 seats in the Congress and 128 in the Senate. He didn't offer any specific numbers, but argues that having fewer lawmakers would make it easier to hold them accountable for how well they work.

He also said letting legislators run for re-election would make them accountable to their constituents. In the current system, politicians from president to congressmen to town officials can serve in a specific post for only a single term, generally three or six years.

Hours after Calderon warned about corruption, federal agents and soldiers arrested at least 50 local and state police officers in the central state of Hidalgo, an area control by the Zetas, a gang of hit men tied to the Gulf cartel. ...". xxxxxx
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AND our main focus is the middle east and the oil and Taiban, which by the way according to Intell reports is already inside Mexico working their plan to infiltrate across the US Mexico border and set up "sleeper cells" for assassinations conducted inside the United States. They have been crossing over for a few years now... back and forth with a plan. But the American people are not supose to know this... could cause panic... it has been said.
[/COLOR]

[Peter Lemkin]

While American Politicians act as if ignoring this, they must know about it...and to some extent it suits them....though I don't know why. It seems to me that criminals are running things on both sides of the border, although it is more run by gangs/cartels with guns and goons South of and by Corporations using economic theft North. Of course the drug-trade South is helped-out by those who stand to benefit financially North, and they even somehow get them weapons mis-directed from military stocks. It is a very ugly scene down there for the average person. Not great in el Norte either..... Are the elites looking for such chaos in the South that the Army of the North is asked to come in and help - thus occupying Mexico? We took the other half by force long ago, perhaps this half we take more by stealth.

[David Guyatt]

I also wonder if the havoc and unlawfulness suits the US.

The only thing that comes to mind is NAFTA, the trade agreement between US, Canada and Mexico which only expanded to include Mexico in 1994 (from the previous US-Canada arrangement).

[Tosh Plumlee]

US-Border-Troops, AP; Guard to seek volunteers for border: (xxxx source Task Force 7N
June 30 09:

"... WASHINGTON (AP) - The Obama administration is developing plans
to seek up to 1,500 National Guard volunteers to step up the
military's counter-drug efforts along the Mexican border, senior
administration officials said Monday.
The plan is a stopgap measure being worked out between the
Defense Department and the Homeland Security Department, and comes
despite Pentagon concerns about committing more troops to the
border - a move some officials worry will be seen as militarizing
the region.
Senior administration officials said the Guard program will last
no longer than a year and would build on an existing counter-drug
operation. They said the program, which would largely be federally
funded, would draw on National Guard volunteers from the four
border states. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity
because the details have not been finalized.
Officials said the program would mainly seek out guard members
for surveillance, intelligence analysis and aviation support. Guard
units would also supply ground troops who could assist at border
crossings and with land and air transportation.
A senior White House official said Monday that President Barack
Obama is concerned about the situation at the border and wants to
work with Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Homeland Security
Secretary Janet Napolitano on the question of additional resources.
The official said Obama appreciates the level of discussion
between the two agencies, and since the issue is still being
debated, he has not yet made any decisions. The official spoke on
condition of anonymity to discuss internal policy debate.
Earlier this spring Obama promised his Mexican counterpart,
Felipe Calderon, that the United States would help with the
escalating drug war, which has killed as many as 11,000 people
since December 2006.
Attorney General Eric Holder and Napolitano announced a 2009
counternarcotics strategy several weeks ago, saying the U.S. would
devote more resources to fighting the Mexican drug cartels,
including the cash and weapons that flow across the border from the
U.S. into Mexico.
But officials say Gates has expressed concern that tapping the
military for border control posts is a slippery slope and must not
be overused.
Paul Stockton, assistant secretary of defense for homeland
defense, said Monday that options for the new program have been
drafted, but the plan still must be reviewed and acted on by key
cabinet members as well as the president.
"We have been working very closely to build a set of options
that would have the Department of Defense in a very limited way,
for a limited period of time, serve in direct support for CBP,"
said Stockton, referring to Customs and Border Protection.
The administration does not want to announce or begin the effort
until after the Mexican elections this week, officials said.
Rand Beers, undersecretary for national protection at the
Homeland Security Department, declined to say how long the program
would last, only that it would not be lengthy.
Beers said the additional Guard members would stay as long as
needed for the border patrol agents to be trained and given "some
period of time" on the border to gain experience on the job.
The administration has proposed spending $250 million on the
program, but the precise cost will not be known until the details
are worked out, he said.
Officials came to the decision that it is simply not enough for
the United States to provide funding in support of the Mexican
government's counter-drug efforts, said Beers.
The Guard's volunteer mission, Beers and Stockton both stressed,
would not involve law enforcement activities.
The current National Guard counter-drug operation along the
border, which has been in effect for many years, involves about 575
Guard members, who applied for the job through their state program
coordinator.
The additional volunteers, officials said, would largely be
drawn from the more than 50,000 Army and Air National Guard members
in Arizona, California, New Mexico and Texas. There are no plans to
seek Guard members from other states, although that has not been
ruled out.
There is already federal funding in place to hire more than
1,500 border patrol agents.
A previous program - Operation Jump Start - used National Guard
troops to help bolster border patrols for three years. Over that
time, the federal government added border patrol agents, but the
escalating drug war has stretched those forces as they try to
increase surveillance of possible cash and arms traffic.
--- ...".

[Magda Hassan]

Are you going Tosh? Are any of these boots yours?

It seems if there were not so many National Guard in Iraq that they could be more easily used here.

[Tosh Plumlee]

We are there now: The following news release from Mexico, of which mainstream media refused to cover, clearly shows the Mexican Border War is going "Hot".


17 persons were killed in Juarez on WED. In one incident alone 4 young men ages 18 to 25 yrs old were shot and killed while travelling in a red Ford (see photo below)




La intensa jornada sangrienta en Ciudad Juárez arrojó doce ejecuciones durante la tarde-noche, entre estas la de cuatro personas en un sólo evento en colonia López Mateso(foto I), y la de una de quinta víctima a escasa distancia del lugar, en la Guadalajara Izquierda (foto II).
Otras siete muertes se registraron en el poblado de Caseta, tres; una en colonias Gómez Morín y Pradera Dorada, respectivamente, y, dos, en la Aztecas.
Los cuatro hombres de entre 18 y 25 años de edad, identificadfos como Oscar Payán, de 23 años, y los otros tres sólo con los nombres de "Horacio, Francisco y Jesús", ocurrió en calles Fracisco Pimentel y Ajusco minutos después de las 21:00 horas.
El grupo fue rafaguedado en el interior de un auto Ford, al parecer de la línea Focus, color rojo; las balas de cuerno de chivo penetraron por los cristales de las cuatro ventanas laterales y el cristal trasero; una de las víctimas logro bajar del auto pero sólo avanzó unos diez metros y cayó tiroteado. Del carro literalmente manaba un hilo ancho de sangre.
Unos veinte minutos antes, muy cerca de la escena, en colonia Guadalajara Izquierda, un hombre llamado Raúl Medrano, de entre 30 y 35 años fue balaceado fuera de su vivienda en calle Islas Célebes.
Luego, a las 22:30 horas, otro hombre, Víctor Jesús Muñoz Arreola, de 45 años aproximdamente. fue asesinado de siete disparos, uno en la frente, en calles Rafael Preciado Hernández y Miguel Estrada, atras de "Tetos Car", en colonia Manuel Gómez Morín (Foto III). Media hora después del crimen, el cuerpo permanecía tirado amedia calle sin que llegaran las autoriades ministeriales.
Por la tarde, a las 17:40 horas, se reportaba el asesinato de tres hombres en calles del poblado de Caseta, con disparos de armas largas; el triple asesinato fue cometidfo por gatilleros que interceptaron el vehículo en el que viajaban las víctimas aún no identificadas
Una hora despues, minutos antes de las 19:00 horas,, un hombre, identificado extraoficialemnte como José David Chávez, de 25 años, fue asesinado en la calle Rancho Aguja, del fraccionamiento Pradera Dorada, cuando conducía una camioneta Pick Up, acompañado de una mujer
Hacia slas 22:40 horas, la frecuencia policiaca reportaba otras dos ejecuciones en calkes de la colonia Aztecas. Las presunyas víctimas eran nombrados sólo como "Luis Armando" y 'Orlando", quienes, según esos datos preliminares, serían hermanos.
Con estas muertes, la cifra de ejecuciones ascendio a 17 tan sólo durante este miércoles.