136872_DBNR 20111110

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UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY

INSTITUTE FOR THE STUDY OF VIOLENT GROUPSDAILY BORDER NEWS REPORT FOR 10 NOVEMBER 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 Knowledge Management (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 Contents1. CANADA AND NORTHERN BORDER STATES...........................................2

A. Couple Arrested in Gatineau Gun and Drug Raid Held until Friday for Bail Hearing (ON)…………………………………………………………………………………………...3

B. Cocaine-Smuggling Trucker Gets Eight Years’ Prison (BC)..............................................3C. Police Get Surprise in Erlton Drug Raid (AB)....................................................................4

2. INNER UNITED STATES..................................................................................5A. Fast and Furious 'Flawed,' US Agent's Death 'Regrettable,' Says Attorney General (DC). 5B. Three Face Cocaine-Trafficking Charges (NY)..................................................................7

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C. US Official: Drug Traffic May Return to Caribbean (FL)..................................................8D. Staten Island Man, an Alleged Marijuana Kingpin, Pleads Guilty to Conspiracy (NY).....9

3. MEXICO AND SOUTHERN BORDER STATES...........................................11A. SWAT Teams Dispatched As Gun Battle Unfolds near Escobares (TX)........................11B. Mexican Gunmen Flee into Starr County, One Wounded (TX)........................................12C. Illegal Alien in Tyler, TX Gets Prison Time for Dealing Cocaine (TX)...........................12D. Anonymous Considers Identifying Drug Cartel Supporters despite Death Threats

(VER/NL)..........................................................................................................................13E. Mexican Gov't Inaugurates Memorial to Female Victims of Violence (CHIH)...............15F. Rio Bravo Man Caught with $798,000 Dollars in Cocaine (TX)......................................17G. Gunmen Kill Cop, Wound Woman in Mexican Industrial City (NL)...............................17H. Mexican Mayor Unhurt in Attack (SIN)...........................................................................18I. Valley Seeing Rise in Kidnappings (TX)..........................................................................19J. Mexican Government Says La Familia Cartel Is Finished (MEX)...................................20K. Mexican Authorities Bust Communication Tower Used by Cartel (TAMPS)..................21L. Mothers Search for Missing Migrants in Mexico (MX)....................................................22M. Matamoros Journalist Says He Was Kidnapped by Cartel Members (SLP).....................23N. Mexico City Security: ‘Big Brother’ Is Watching (DF/MEX).........................................24O. Arellano Cartel Losing Steam (BC)..................................................................................25P. Hacker Group Backs off from Naming Mexican Drug Cartel Members (VER)...............26Q. Two Dismembered Bodies Found in Mexican Border City (CHIH).................................27

4. CARRIBEAN, CENTRAL, AND SOUTH AMERICA....................................28A. Los Zetas Draws New Smuggling Routes through Belize (BZ)........................................28B. Woman Accused of Trying To Export Cocaine from Antigua..........................................30C. International Meeting against Corruption Begins (CU)....................................................30D. Colombian Police Seize 1.5 Tons of Cocaine (CO)..........................................................31

5. OPINION AND ANALYSIS.............................................................................32A. Anti-Corruption Plan To Target Government Contracting (MX).....................................32B. Will Brazil Become Like Venezuela? (BR)......................................................................33C. Anonymous May or May Not Have another Mexican Operation (MX)...........................34

1. CANADA AND NORTHERN BORDER STATES

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A. Couple Arrested in Gatineau Gun and Drug Raid Held until Friday for Bail Hearing (ON)

8 November 2011Ottawa Citizen

Two people arrested during a major seizure of drugs and automatic weapons in Gatineau will spend at least this week in jail.

Arrested in a pre-dawn raid Saturday, the young man and woman appeared briefly in Gatineau court and have been held until their bail hearing, currently scheduled for Friday.

Shadra Fermin Morales, 19, of Gatineau, and Tarek Alk, 23, of Ottawa, are accused of possession of narcotics, possession of narcotics for the purpose of trafficking, possession of a prohibited firearm, and careless storage of a firearm.

Alk is also charged with assaulting police, threatening police, and obstructing police.

The seizure began as a routine call for a noisy domestic dispute around 0300 hours Saturday, in an apartment at 110 Rue Dollard-des-Ormeaux, near the corner of Boulevard des Allumettières and Boulevard Maisonneuve.

But police were stunned by what they found there: The weapons include:

a 9mm Uzi equipped with a silencer, a 5.56mm military assault rifle similar to an M-16, a .22calibre Beretta pistol, a .38calibre revolver, a .45calibre Springfield pistol and a 9mm Luger pistol.

Police said some of the weapons were “loaded and ready to go.”

The drugs included 7,000 oxycodone pills, 2.5 kilograms of cocaine and six grams of marijuana.

Police also found ammunition and clips, a bulletproof vest, a bill-counting machine and $48,000 in cash.

Source: [www.ottawacitizen.com/news/Couple+Gatineau+drug+raid+held+until+Friday+bail+hearing/5675192/story.html?cid=megadrop_story](Return to Contents)

B. Cocaine-Smuggling Trucker Gets Eight Years’ Prison (BC)

8 November 2011

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The Province A trucker who pleaded guilty to attempting to smuggle 65 kilograms of cocaine across the border has been sentenced to eight years in jail.

Jose Dario Trigueros Sibrian, 42, pleaded guilty to one count of importation of cocaine after the drugs were found under the bunk in the sleeper compartment of his transport truck.

At the time of his arrest, the father of two was driving back from the U.S. during a stop at the Pacific Highway border crossing.

After being taken into custody, he admitted during a police cell plant investigation that he was transporting the narcotics.

Sibrian, who had been working most of his life as a trucker, claimed that he committed the offense because of a possible threat toward one of his children by the organizers of the smuggling operation.

In sentencing Sibrian, B.C. Supreme Court Justice William Grist said he did not give much credit to the accused’s claims, saying the motive was more likely that there was a substantial payment for being a drug courier.

The Crown argued that the facts showed Sibrian had been involved in prior incidents of drug smuggling, but the judge rejected that submission.

General deterrence was the primary principle on sentencing, the judge noted.

Sibrian was also banned from possessing firearms for 10 years and ordered to provide a DNA sample.

Source: [www.theprovince.com/news/Cocaine+smuggling+trucker+gets+eight+years+prison/5676684/story.html?cid=megadrop_story](Return to Contents)

C. Police Get Surprise in Erlton Drug Raid (AB) 9 November 2011Calgary Herald

What started as a street-level drug trafficking operation turned up not only the drugs and guns investigators believed were in an Erlton home, but also a credit card manufacturing lab.

Police say tips from the public spurred a drug operation, but when the search was conducted last Thursday, they also learned that the accused was alleged to be making realistic looking credit cards.

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"This is organized criminal activity. We're seeing more of this across Canada and we're seeing more of this even within the Calgary area," said Det. Dean Nichol of the economic crimes unit.

"We're finding more and more, now that organized criminal groups are more diversified in the types of crimes they commit. Groups that may be involved in drug trafficking or weapons or other illegal activities, they're also diversifying into the area of payment card fraud, identity theft, counterfeiting and money laundering."

Police searched the property in the 2300 block of Erlton Road S.W. and found several firearms: a semi-automatic AR-15 assault rifle; a handgun; a .38cal. revolver and a loaded, sawed-off, semi-automatic shotgun. They also found $4,510 worth of crack cocaine, OxyContin pills worth $1,800 and drug paraphernalia.

But when police continued their search, they also located credit card manufacturing equipment used for laminating, heating, measuring, cutting and embossing. They also found blank cards, holograms and cards in the process of being turned into fraudulent credit cards.

Police say fake or stolen credit card information is added to the card for use and they are now investigating to see if there are any victims who had their credit card information stolen.

District 1 operations team Const. Todd Nichol, no relation, said the accused is "well known" to police.

Source: [www.calgaryherald.com/news/Police+surprise+Erlton+drug+raid/5679619/story.html](Return to Contents)

2. INNER UNITED STATES

A. Fast and Furious 'Flawed,' US Agent's Death 'Regrettable,' Says Attorney General (DC)

8 November 2011Christian Science Monitor

The “Fast and Furious” operation, which allowed guns from the US to 'walk' into hands of Mexican cartels, got the sharpest censure yet from the Attorney General on Tuesday. But he stopped short of apologizing for the death of a US border patrol agent.

The shooting death of a US border patrol agent last December, which shined a light on a covert government "gun-walking" project called "Fast and Furious," was regrettable but cannot be tied definitively to wrongdoing by the current administration, the Attorney General said Tuesday.

"I regret what happened to [the agent], and I can only imagine the pain that his family has to deal with," the A.G. testified, when asked by a Republican Senator from Texas whether he wanted to apologize to the agent’s family. "But it's not fair to say that the mistakes in “Fast and Furious” led directly to the death of [the agent]."

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Begun in 2009, “Fast and Furious” was an attempt to track guns purchased in the US by straw buyers into Mexico and the hands of the drug lords. The hope was that the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (AFT) would be able to build cases against cartel kingpins, instead of nabbing just low-level couriers. At the time, the US was under pressure to stanch gun-trafficking that many believed to be fueling violence gripping Mexico.

The problem is that ATF lost at least 2,000 guns before “Fast and Furious” was shut down last year. Many missing guns have since been linked to hundreds of crime scenes, dozens of civilian deaths in Mexico, and the deaths of the border patrol and an ICE agent, with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, who was killed in a roadside raid outside Mexico City in February. “Fast and Furious” guns have been linked to crime scenes where both men died, and their families are demanding answers from the administration about who knew what and when.

Meanwhile, Mexico is threatening to extradite US officials who approved the program, straining relations between the two nations.

Tuesday's hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee was the 17th congressional inquiry related to “Fast and Furious”. Two Senators who are the primary inquisitors say the Justice Department has tried to smear whistleblowers and mislead Congress as oversight committees try to pinpoint who is accountable for “Fast and Furious” mistakes.

Claiming deception, Republicans cite a 4 Feb. letter from the Attorney General’s office that stated, incorrectly, that ATF agents "used every effort" to interdict guns before they "walked" into Mexico. The Assistant Attorney General, whose office signed off on wiretaps for the operation, said last week he "regretted" not informing the A.G. sooner about the operation, though he said he was not involved in writing the 4 Feb. letter. The A.G. said Tuesday that the letter contained "inaccurate information" from sources inside the government, and that his staff used that information "in good faith."

With 34 Republican lawmakers calling for his resignation and a Republican congressman from Texas calling for a special prosecutor, the A.G. made his strongest condemnation yet of “Fast and Furious”.

"Any instance of gun-walking is simply unacceptable, and, regrettably, this tactic was used in “Fast and Furious” to combat gun violence," he said. "This operation was flawed in its concept and flawed in its execution, and we unfortunately will feel the effects for years to come as guns that were lost will continue to show up at crime scenes. This should not have happened and it must never happen again."

The A.G. also argued that the focus on the botched operation has blurred a larger issue: that "the US is losing the battle against gun trafficking," partially because Congress will not give ATF more financial resources and statutory power (i.e., new laws to restrict gun access) to combat drug traffickers.

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He also decried "gotcha games" and "overheated rhetoric" by lawmakers, insisting that “Fast and Furious” was "the flawed response to and not the cause of illegal arms going from the US into Mexico."

"Of 94,000 guns that have been recovered and traced in Mexico, 64,000 of those guns were sourced to the United States of America," the A.G. said. "The mistakes of Operation “Fast and Furious”, serious though they were, should not deter or distract us from the mission to disrupt the dangerous flow of arms across the southwest border."

House Republicans have already voted to defund a post-“Fast and Furious” directive that requires gun shops along the border to notify ATF whenever anybody buys two or more assault rifles. The A.G. says that rule is an extension of one that already applies to handguns.

….

Source: [www.csmonitor.com/USA/Justice/2011/1108/Fast-and-Furious-flawed-US-agent-s-death-regrettable-says-Eric-Holder/%28page%29/2](Return to Contents)

B. Three Face Cocaine-Trafficking Charges (NY)

8 November 2011UPI

Three men arrested in Buffalo, N.Y., on drug-trafficking charges were part of a pipeline that brought cocaine from Mexico to the city, an official said.

Authorities said they confiscated more than 34 pounds of cocaine -- the largest seizure of the drug in recent years in western New York, The Buffalo News reported.

The suspects were "very busy, very active" participants in a drug pipeline in which traffickers from Mexico were supplying kilograms of cocaine to dealers in Buffalo, said the resident agent in charge of the Buffalo office of the Drug Enforcement Administration office.

"This is one of the most significant cases we've had here in Buffalo showing that the Mexican cartels are doing business right here," he said.

A 24-year-old rental property manager who lives in Cheektowaga, N.Y., and Luis Zuniga, 28, a Mexican citizen who lives in San Juan, Texas, were charged with felony drug conspiracy and distribution. A 36-year-old man, an alleged drug courier from Farmerville, La., was accused of drug conspiracy.

Most of the cocaine had been seized by undercover agents during arranged meetings over the weekend, and the three men were arrested Sunday.

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Authorities said $250,000 cash also was seized from the motor compartment of a clothes dryer in a home occupied by one of the men.

Source: [www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2011/11/08/3-face-cocaine-trafficking-charges/UPI-12371320788831/](Return to Contents)

C. US Official: Drug Traffic May Return to Caribbean (FL)

8 November 2011Miami Herald A top U.S. State Department official said Tuesday that drug traffickers may return to old Caribbean smuggling routes as law enforcement pressure builds against them in Mexico and Central America.

The assistant secretary of state for international narcotics and law enforcement said the Caribbean routes used to ship cocaine and other drugs in the 1970s and 1980s are the most logical for traffickers. Those routes led most often to South Florida but also to other Southern U.S. states.

"I do not see it right now, but simple logic and common sense tells you that you probably are going to see it in the next two or three years," he said in an interview. "They are going to look for alternative routes."

Right now less than 3 percent of cocaine and other illegal drugs are smuggled into the U.S. through ocean routes, according to the Drug Enforcement Administration. Traffickers most commonly bring the drugs produced in Colombia, Peru, Bolivia and elsewhere north through Central America, or off its coasts, into Mexico and then over land into the U.S.

But the official said the cartels are "in the process of being chased out of Mexico" and are beginning to eye Central American countries as an alternative base of operations. And that, he said, would make the Caribbean once again a more attractive option than moving drugs through South America or up the eastern Pacific coast.

The official was in Miami this week for meetings at the U.S. Southern Command headquarters between U.S. ambassadors in Latin America and their counterparts at the State Department in Washington. Among the topics being discussed are regional security plans for both Central America and the Caribbean aimed at disrupting criminal organizations, securing borders and increasing cooperation.

Attacking drug organizations takes a comprehensive approach, said the official, who was previously ambassador to both Colombia and Venezuela.

"You cannot just do eradication, just do interdiction, just to laboratory takedowns ... You must address all aspects of the problem, and we cannot do it alone," he said.

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One emerging threat is the increasing use of submarines and semi-submersible vessels to transport large amounts of cocaine up the Central American coastline. The Coast Guard and U.S. Customs and Border Protection earlier this year detected a true submarine in the Caribbean near the Honduras-Nicaragua border that sank but had more than seven tons of cocaine aboard.

"The first ones looked like something kids would put together in the backyard. Now what we are seeing is pretty sophisticated stuff," the official said. "I don't see this yet as a crisis, because we don't see the numbers. But it is their ability to transport anything that should cause us some concern."

Source: [www.miamiherald.com/2011/11/08/2492674/us-official-drug-traffic-may-return.html](Return to Contents)

D. Staten Island Man, an Alleged Marijuana Kingpin, Pleads Guilty to Conspiracy (NY)

8 November 2011SILive.com

He was only in his 20s and lived in his parent modest Meiers Corners home, but he had all the trappings of great success — luxury cars, including a Bentley and BMW convertible, fancy jewelry and a $40,000 watch.

But the man was not a high-flying financier or Internet magnate; he traded in marijuana — more than 110 tons of it, as the kingpin of a billion-dollar international drug ring that smuggled the contraband from Canada into the U.S. through a Native American reservation on the New York state border, authorities allege.

Now, he is destined for a more modest lifestyle after pleading guilty in Brooklyn federal court to conspiracy charges. He could land behind bars for the rest of his life.

The ring operated between November 2007 and mid-2010, according to court papers filed by the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of New York.

The drugs had a conservative retail value of more than $1.7 billion dollars, said prosecutors.

"It is neither an exaggeration nor hyperbole to state that the defendant and his criminal enterprise generated illegal proceeds exceeding the Gross Domestic Product of a small country," contended two Assistant U.S. attorneys in court papers.

The defendant was supplied by a consortium with ties to the three most powerful organized crime groups in Canada, including the Hell’s Angels, said prosecutors. Those groups control virtually all of Montreal’s drug trade, court filings said.

The contraband was concealed in vehicles entering New York from Canada through the Akwesasne Native American reservation in upstate Franklin County.

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The defendant and his minions also smuggled the contraband in boats with sophisticated hydraulic traps for concealment purposes and in private jets, said court papers.

Prosecutors said the weekly shipments of pot were delivered to "stash houses" on Staten Island and Queens. It was then distributed by street-level dealers in the metropolitan area, including the Island, court documents stated.

The defendant, who according to Advance records, owned a cellular phone store in Tottenville as recently as 2006, also reached into California, Florida, Massachusetts and multiple locations in Canada, said court records.

A raid of the defendant’s Buchanan Avenue home last year netted about $77,000 in cash wrapped in rubber bands, drug ledgers for "hundreds" of marijuana shipments, and 16 cell phones and BlackBerries, said court records.

He allegedly used at least two of the electronic devices to send text messages regarding drug shipments and payments. Federal Drug Enforcement Administration agents also found five fake driver’s licenses.

Previously, a May 2009 raid at a defendant-controlled Staten Island stash house raked in more than 600 pounds of hydroponic marijuana and $500,000 cash, said court papers.

Afterward, he took refuge for several months in Canada, where he had been ferried across in a motor-less boat under the cover of darkness. He later went to Israel before returning to the U.S. in the fall of that year.

Once home, the defendant resumed his drug enterprise, raking in more than $6 million per week during the height of its operation, said court papers.

He ruled with an iron fist, allegedly whipping a worker with a belt at a California stash house after $100,000 in marijuana went missing.

He also turned venomous when an associate threatened to go to police.

Prosecutors said he sent this text message: "(I)f you interfere with my life and make me uncomfortable, you will leave me no choice but to do the same back to you in a much worse way."

The defendant pleaded guilty Thursday to conspiracy to import 1,000 kilograms (2,200 pounds) of marijuana or more and conspiracy to launder drug proceeds.

Source: [www.silive.com/northshore/index.ssf/2011/11/staten_island_man_an_alleged_m.html](Return to Contents)

3. MEXICO AND SOUTHERN BORDER STATES

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A. SWAT Teams Dispatched As Gun Battle Unfolds near Escobares (TX)

8 November 2011The Monitor

Gunmen crossed the Rio Grande into the United States near a firefight between the Mexican military and a group of gunmen was taking place.

Several area SWAT teams responded about 1330 hours Tuesday to a ranch near Escobares, just across the U.S.-Mexico border, where a firefight broke out south of the Rio Grande.

The shootout reportedly began shortly after noon but details were not immediately available. Residents on the U.S. side reported seeing members of the U.S. Border Patrol and Starr County Sheriff’s Office securing the area near the border.

A Border Patrol spokeswoman said agents had been tracking a suspected drug load near La Rosita and pushed it back to Mexico.

Border Patrol alerted Mexican authorities of the suspected load and then found an injured Mexican national on the U.S. side of the Rio Grande, the spokeswoman said. Emergency crews rushed the man to an area hospital. His condition remains unknown.

The man, a suspected cartel gunman, had been shot by Mexican authorities, a separate U.S. law enforcement official said.

The official confirmed a group of as many as 15 gunmen had crossed the Rio Grande, though it remained unclear whether they were Mexican soldiers or cartel gunmen.

“We don’t know who they are,” the official said. “We haven’t gotten that information yet.”

Local authorities in Hidalgo County provided backup support along the Rio Grande as Border Patrol dispatched additional agents from the McAllen area to the incident in rural Starr County.

The experience was a bit unnerving for one man, whose brother owns La Prieta Ranch in La Rosita. He was overseeing the ranch hands shortly after noon when they noticed that the roads near the property became quickly swarmed with authorities.

“Yeah, you worry when that happens,” he said. “We all went back inside the house. It looks like there was something going on over there (Mexico); we heard four or five shots from the helicopter. It looks like the (Mexican military) helicopter was shooting at the people on the ground over there.”

While he heard the shots, the man’s property soon swarmed with more than 100 law enforcement officials from various agencies.

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“We saw them take one guy in an ambulance,” he said. “He looked in bad shape.”

Source: [www.themonitor.com/news/escobares-56422-swat-teams.html](Return to Contents)

B. Mexican Gunmen Flee into Starr County, One Wounded (TX)

8 November 2011Valley Central

American officials were put on alert in Starr County after reports of gunmen involved in a gun battle on the Mexican side of the border fleeing into the United States.

Law enforcement officials were mobilized to the rural Starr County community of La Rosita early Tuesday afternoon.

Investigators told Action 4 News that paramedics rushed a Mexican national with a gunshot wound to a local hospital.

Authorities reported that the man was pulled from the waters of the Rio Grande River with a gunshot wound to his shoulder.

It's not clear who shot the man but authorities said it all started with a gun battle between the Mexican military and drug traffickers across the border.

La Rosita is located between Rio Grande City and Roma.

Past Incursions

This is not the first time that Mexican gunmen have fled a battle and crossed into rural areas of Starr County.

A gun battle forced at least eight gunmen into another area between Rio Grande City and Roma back on 6 October.

Most of the eight gunmen reportedly fled back in Mexico where they were reportedly arrested by the Mexican military.

Source: [www.valleycentral.com/news/story.aspx?id=684138#.TrqEX7I1SSo](Return to Contents)

C. Illegal Alien in Tyler, TX Gets Prison Time for Dealing Cocaine (TX)

8 November 2011KETK NBC TV

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A 47-year-old illegal alien living in Tyler, Texas, has been sentenced to federal prison for distributing cocaine in the Eastern District of Texas, announced a U.S. Attorney today.

Manuel Venegas Gomez pleaded guilty on 25 Mar. 2011, to conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine and distribution of cocaine and was sentenced to 121 months in federal prison today by a U.S. District Judge. Gomez was also ordered to forfeit $106,380 in cash and a judgment in the amount of $50,000.

According to information presented in court, up until 18 Dec. 2010, Gomez conspired with others to distribute more than 15 kilograms of cocaine throughout East Texas. Gomez and co-defendants were arrested packaging over $100,000 in cash to send to Mexico for cocaine sales. They were also in possession of two kilos of cocaine, methamphetamine and a firearm.

Source: [www.ketknbc.com/news/illegal-alien-in-tyler-gets-prison-time-for-dealing-cocaine](Return to Contents)

D. Anonymous Considers Identifying Drug Cartel Supporters despite Death Threats (VER/NL)

8 November 2011All Headline News

Some members of the computer hacker group Anonymous are saying they plan to publish the names of Mexican drug cartel affiliates despite death threats.

Others announced this week they are backing out of the plan, saying the risk of a deadly gangland reprisal is too great.

The group is trying to get people associated with the notorious Zetas drug cartel arrested or at least publicly identified because of their criminal actions.

The Zetas are reputed to be one of Mexico’s most vicious drug cartels, responsible for perhaps thousands of assassinations, bribery and intimidation of public officials and attacks on police.

Anonymous consists of social activists who join anonymously in interfering with computer networks of organizations that have sparked their outrage. They have targeted MasterCard, Visa, PayPal and the Church of Scientology.

In their effort against drug cartels, called OpCartel, they have gathered the names of Zetas gang members from official and unofficial sources throughout Mexico. They planned to publish them on publicly accessible websites.

Initially, they planned to publish the names on Nov. 5.

However, death threats from the Zetas delayed the publication to an unspecified date, if ever.

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On Nov. 4, a website claiming to be the official site of Anonymous in Latin America advised its members not to release any information on the Zetas for now.

“A message has been sent to us, that if Anonymous reveals a name related with the cartel, the family of the kidnapped Anonymous member will suffer the consequences, for every cartel name that is revealed, 10 people will be put to death,” the website said. “The collective Anonymous has decided by consensus that the information that we have available will not be revealed for the time being, now that we understand that we cannot avoid the threats that involve innocent civilians that don’t have anything to do with our actions.”

The “kidnapped Anonymous member” mentioned on the website referred to a computer hacker reportedly kidnapped in Veracruz by the Zetas.

Other Mexican computer hackers responded by posting an online video warning that the names, addresses and photographs of Zetas supporters would be posted on the Internet if the kidnapped Anonymous member was not released. The video warning was presented by a masked man.

On 4 Nov. another video from Mexican Anonymous members said the kidnapped computer had been released “bruised … [but] alive and well.”

Anonymous has no official leader and no headquarters. It consists of varying numbers of computer hackers who join their efforts temporarily to use the Internet for social activism.

Despite the threats, a Dallas man who described himself as a former Anonymous member said he would publish the information himself.

Since then, he has had thousands of names and identifying information of Zetas members e-mailed to him.

The 30-year-old man posted a YouTube message that shows him saying, “I’ve decided to support the operation, which I understand is controversial for a number of reasons. In this case, there are lives hanging in the balance, in that those who are identified are likely to be killed.”

He said he learned about OpCartel from Mexican Anonymous members participating in an online chat room.

“It’s Mexicans themselves who started this operation, who conceived it,” he says. “It’s not a bunch of stereotypical computer geeks sitting somewhere else in safety. These are people on the ground.”

The man said he would search through the e-mails identifying Zetas gang members with assistance from a professional journalist to ensure the information was accurate. Afterward, he would publish the information.

He shook off concerns for his own safety during an interview with CNN.

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“I should have the right and the ability as someone who is a fairly public person to work to ID criminals in a foreign country without having to worry about being murdered,” he reportedly said.

He did not say when he would publish the identifying information, only that it would be soon.

Since then, other Mexican Anonymous members have posted Internet messages saying they also plan to publish information identifying drug cartel members and their activities. None of the people who posted the messages identified themselves.

Source: [www.allheadlinenews.com/articles/90064337?Anonymous%20considers%20identifying%20drug%20cartel%20supporters%20despite%20death%20threats](Return to Contents)

E. Mexican Gov't Inaugurates Memorial to Female Victims of Violence (CHIH)

8 November 2011Fox News

The government has inaugurated a memorial to seven of the hundreds of women murdered since 1993 in Ciudad Juarez, a border city in northern Mexico, during a ceremony interrupted by victims' mothers, who demanded justice and a complete memorial.

The memorial was built on a cotton field in Juarez, located across the Rio Grande from El Paso, Texas.

The bodies of eight women who appeared to have been raped and tortured were found in 2001 in the field, but only seven of the victims have been identified.

The young women who were identified, Esmeralda Herrera Monreal, Laura Berenice Ramos Monarrez, Claudia Ivette Gonzalez, Maria de los Angeles Acosta Ramirez, Mayra Juliana Reyes Solis, Merlin Elizabeth Rodriguez Saenz and Maria Rocina Galicia, ranged in age from 15 to 19.

The Inter-American Human Rights Court found in November 2009 that the government failed to prevent and duly investigate the killings of three of the women - Herrera, Ramos and Gonzalez - in the "Campo Algodonero" (Cotton Field) case, failing to guarantee the victims' right to life, personal safety and liberty.

The court ordered the government to pay the victims' families a total of $383,000 in compensation and to hold a ceremony to apologize within a year.

The tribunal, moreover, ordered the government to build a memorial to victims of gender violence in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico's murder capital.

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Deputy Government Secretary Felipe Zamora, who represented President Felipe Calderon at the memorial's inauguration, apologized publicly for the government's failure to prevent the killings of the women.

"I came here to ask forgiveness from the families of all the victims in the name of the Mexican state," Zamora said.

"The errors and negligence in handling the cases contributed to the delays in the investigations to find those responsible for these deaths. The Mexican state is aware of the suffering of the relatives of these victims," Zamora said.

The victims' relatives, who showed up at the ceremony carrying candles, banners and photographs of dead and missing young women, interrupted the speeches by local, state and federal officials with shouts of "liars!"

The mother of Merlin Elizabeth Rodriguez, a teenager whose partially buried body was found in the cotton field, told EFE that fear of being murdered had kept her from going to the authorities to demand justice in her daughter's case.

"I never come to these kinds of events because I'm afraid that the same thing is going to happen to me as happened to the activists. This is the first time that I come with a photograph of my daughter to demand justice," the woman said.

The memorial, which cost 16 million pesos (about $1.19 million), features the seven pink crosses that were planted in the cotton field a few weeks after the young women's bodies were found.

The crosses are surrounded by floral arrangements, while the victims' names and photographs are on the walls of the memorial.

The relatives of the young women whose bodies were found in the cotton field decided to skip the event because the memorial "is unfinished" and the apology should have been made by a higher-level official, attorney Karla Micheel Salas told EFE.

Salas and her colleague, David Peña, argued the case before the Inter-American Human Rights Court in 2007.

An agreement was reached with the government in February to include the names of all the approximately 500 victims of femicide in Juarez between 1993 and 2006, Salas said.

The memorial was to include plaques bearing the victims' names and a park "to recover the historical truth of the events, since it was recognized by the court," the attorney said, adding that Monday's ceremony did not meet the standards set by the rights tribunal.

"Of the 13 resolutions from the court, the Mexican government has only complied with one of them, which is the compensation," Salas said.

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The court ordered a resumption of the investigation, the punishment of officials suspected of committing "irregularities" in handling the investigations and a probe into harassment of victims' families, the attorney said.

Source: [latino.foxnews.com/latino/politics/2011/11/08/mexican-govt-inaugurates-memorial-to-female-victims-violence/](Return to Contents)

F. Rio Bravo Man Caught with $798,000 Dollars in Cocaine (TX)

8 November 2011Valley Central

A Rio Bravo man with the same name as a famous football player is behind bars after he tried to smuggle $798,000 dollars’ worth of cocaine into the United States.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers arrested 39yearold Antonio Romo-Villanueva on federal drug charges on Saturday.

The Rio Bravo man drove up from Mexico at the Hidalgo-Reynosa International Bridge in a Dodge Eagle Talon.

Customs officers allegedly found 10 packages with about 25 pounds of cocaine hidden inside the dashboard.

Court records released Monday show that Romo-Villanueva was supposed to get paid to deliver the drugs to someone waiting for him at the Auto Zone in Hidalgo.

Romo-Villanueva told investigators that he feared he was going to get killed if he did not agree to deliver the drugs.

The Rio Bravo man appeared before a U.S. Magistrate Judge in McAllen on Monday morning.

Investigators reported that Romo-Villanueva is a Mexican national from Rio Bravo who had permission to enter the United States.

The Judge denied bond for Romo-Villanueva until a Thursday morning hearing.

Source: [www.valleycentral.com/news/story.aspx?id=684251#.Trn-QLI1SSo](Return to Contents)

G. Gunmen Kill Cop, Wound Woman in Mexican Industrial City (NL)

8 November 2011Latin American Herald Tribune

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A police officer was killed and a woman wounded when gunmen opened fire in a street outside the residence of former Nuevo Leon Public Safety Secretary Aldo Fasci in the southern section of Monterrey, an industrial city in northern Mexico, officials said Tuesday.

The state police officer “was starting his shift when he was gunned down by armed men traveling in a compact vehicle,” Nuevo Leon state Security Council spokesman Jorge Domene said.

A woman who was about to drop off her son at a nearby school in the Altavista district of Monterrey, the capital of Nuevo Leon, was hit by gunfire.

The woman was taken to a hospital and is in stable condition, Health Secretariat officials said.

The gunmen left a banner on the officer’s patrol car, Domene said, without revealing the contents of the message.

Fasci “is supposed to provide the material that was recorded by the security cameras at his house,” the state Security Council spokesman said.

The officer was assigned to provide security at Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education, known as Monterrey Tech and considered Mexico’s leading private university, Fasci told Mexican media.

Monterrey, Mexico’s most important industrial city, and its suburbs have been battered by a wave of drug-related violence since March 2010, when three rival cartels reportedly went to war with Los Zetas, considered the country’s most violent criminal organization.

Los Zetas has been battling an alliance of the Gulf, Sinaloa and La Familia drug cartels, known as the Nueva Federacion, for control of the Monterrey metropolitan area and smuggling routes into the United States.

Source: [www.laht.com/article.asp?ArticleId=441288&CategoryId=14091](Return to Contents)

H. Mexican Mayor Unhurt in Attack (SIN)

8 November 2011Fox News (EFE)

The mayor of the Mexican resort city of Mazatlan and his bodyguards emerged unscathed after gunmen opened fire on their vehicles near a toll plaza on the Pacific Highway in the western state of Sinaloa, authorities said Tuesday.

Alejandro Higuera Osuna and his escorts were attacked Monday night while traveling between Mazatlan and Culiacan, the state capital, police sources told Efe.

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At least 10 heavily armed assailants hiding in the brush started shooting as the SUVs carrying the mayor and his guards passed the El Marmol toll plaza.

Sinaloa's public safety secretary, Francisco Cordova, confirmed that the attack occurred, but said authorities are not sure whether Higuera was specifically targeted.

Members of Mexico's warring drug cartels typically favor SUVs and some highway shooting incidents are due to gunmen firing on the wrong vehicle in pursuit of their enemies.

After the shooting stopped, Higuera took refuge at the toll plaza and made a call for help that was answered by more than two-dozen units from various law enforcement agencies.

Shell casings from AK-47 and AR-15 assault rifles littered the highway and the vehicle carrying the mayor's bodyguards was riddled with bullet holes.

A score of Mexican mayors have been slain since the beginning of 2010, according to statistics from the Fenamm association representing 1,500 of the country's 2,500 municipal chiefs.

The most recent victim was Ricardo Guzman Romero, mayor of La Piedad in the western state of Michoacan, who was gunned down last week while campaigning for his party's candidates in upcoming elections.

Source: [latino.foxnews.com/latino/news/2011/11/09/mexican-mayor-unhurt-in-attack/](Return to Contents)

I. Valley Seeing Rise in Kidnappings (TX)

8 November 2011KRGV TV

There has been a rise in kidnappings across the Rio Grande Valley over the last few months and especially in the last few weeks. Most of these crimes are still under investigation. Investigators say a lot of the kidnappings are criminals targeting other criminals and are usually drug related.

"Based on my experience, if you are not involved with the cartels - you're not involved in moving their products through the Valley area to maybe up north - you don't have anything to worry about," says the Hidalgo Police Chief.

He says the kidnappings here can usually be traced back to the Mexican drug war.

“The cartels have diversified. They've split. Cartel heads no longer there. There's new guys on the road. So there's probably a lot of loads that are being ripped off by some of the players they've hired. So what they are doing now is they are kidnapping people on this side to try to get info to find out where load went," explains the Police Chief.

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It's the kind of scenario under investigation by the Hidalgo County Sheriff's Office. Last week, a deputy was shot while responding to a call. It all started with a kidnapping. Multiple people were charged. The sheriff says they were part of a gang hired by the Gulf Cartel to recover a lost load of marijuana.

About two weeks ago, two men were kidnapped in Starr County. Deputies believe it was drug related. They're still investigating.

In Brownsville, three men were recently charged with aggravated kidnapping and engaging in organized crime. Police say a 17-year-old was kidnapped by his own cousin over a debt.

"This is something they've been using pretty exclusively over in Mexico,” says the police chief.

He points out kidnappings have been happening across the border for years. In Mexico, the threat affects criminals and innocent bystanders, but the police chief says he does not see innocent people here becoming targets.

"You know, if you are wealthy enough and someone has the contact. By all means, it's all about money. But you know the pattern has been to try and keep it within the cartels, because all they are doing is trying to conduct business over here," he says.

The Chief says there is always a possibility an innocent person could be in the wrong place at the wrong time. Kidnappings are just another example of how the Mexican drug war is affecting this side of the border.

Source: [www.krgv.com/news/local/story/Valley-Seeing-Rise-in-Kidnappings/TSVAgF3HMUyfT0cePQRCBA.cspx](Return to Contents)

J. Mexican Government Says La Familia Cartel Is Finished (MEX)


The Mexican government is telling media outlets the La Familia drug cartel is finished. Another top boss was arrested this weekend. A cartel expert says the once-powerful cartel is down but not out.

It has been a rough year for the La Familia gang in Mexico. The cartel operated in Michoacán with little resistance from 2006 to 2010. That changed last December when top La Familia boss Nazario Morena, “El Chayo,” was killed by the Mexican army. The cartel's infrastructure crumbled in the following months.

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The Mexican army arrested the next in command seven months later. This weekend, the highest ranking member left on the streets was arrested following a shootout in Mexico state. Three top leaders taken out in less than a year.

“Right now, it's not really clear who is the leader; there are many leaders,” says a cartel expert from UT Brownsville.

She says the string of La Familia killings and arrests weakened the cartel but it is not destroyed.

“They are still committing some kidnappings and some extortions in the state, so we really cannot talk about a real extermination of La Familia,” she says.

She disputes the government's claims that La Familia has disappeared from its home turf.

“I cannot say La Familia has ended. I would not dare to say that,” says the expert.

Shee says those claims are political ammo for President Calderon's war on drugs.

“He has to show some results,” says the expert.

She cautions anyone from thinking the former cartel power will stay down for long.

“Sometimes when they are really weakened, we see a period of silence, but they are arming and they are making alliances with some groups and they commit more extortions and kidnappings, and this gets them more resources,” she says.

She says the future of La Familia remains uncertain.

A La Familia leader broke away from the cartel in March and started the Knights Templar, a new cartel growing in power. The expert says it will be more difficult for the army to stop two groups in that state.

Source: [www.krgv.com/news/local/story/Mexican-Government-Says-La-Familia-Cartel-Is/75ypr3QjIUK9I6uv3Ttx6w.cspx](Return to Contents)

K. Mexican Authorities Bust Communication Tower Used by Cartel (TAMPS)


Technology used to transmit your voice over a cell phone or the programming to your TV is in the hands of the cartel. The Mexican government busted a narco-communications system just across the border in Reynosa.

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Pictures taken by Mexican soldiers detail the level of sophistication. They're narco-towers, communication equipment set up by the cartel and busted by the Mexican government in Reynosa.

"It's obviously been done by professionals," says a communications expert.

He and his staff at Tri-County Communications work with these kinds of towers all the time. He recognizes much of the technology in the photos.

"There's some microwaves that are obviously sending data to some distant points, and then there's some two-way antennas that would be used similar to what police would use for car to car voice traffic," he says.

The same types of microwave transmitters are fitted on TV stations.

"Obviously there's a lot of money to be made in the drug business, and I think a site built this well is an indication of the type of money that they have backing up this kind of organization," he says.

It's proof that the cartels’ pockets run deep. A total of nine antennas were busted by Mexican officials during last week's operation. Experts believe the cartel has to create its own network because the government controls much of Mexico’s infrastructure.

Source: [www.krgv.com/news/local/story/Mexican-Authorities-Bust-Communication-Tower-Used/zIFfUUYWO06Xf5YPd1eyrw.cspx](Return to Contents)

L. Mothers Search for Missing Migrants in Mexico (MX)

8 November 2011San Francisco Chronicle

Mothers of Central American migrants who went missing in Mexico are traveling the country in search of their sons and daughters.

A group of 33 mothers from Honduras, El Salvador and Nicaragua reached Mexico City on Tuesday, nine days after entering Mexico through its border with Guatemala. They have visited some of the most dangerous spots for U.S.-bound migrants in northern Mexico.

Carrying photos of their missing children around their necks, the women visited the northern town of San Fernando where the Zetas cartel massacred 72 mostly Central American migrants last year.

Groups of Central American mothers have made annual trips to Mexico since 2000 in search of their missing children. They say they have found 57 of their relatives.

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Source: [www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2011/11/08/international/i204423S05.DTL](Return to Contents)

M. Matamoros Journalist Says He Was Kidnapped by Cartel Members (SLP)


A Matamoros journalist is speaking out after he says he was kidnapped by cartel members last week.

The man works for El Bravo newspaper and covers the Brownsville area. While walking home last Wednesday night, he was taken from the streets.

Cecilio Cortez is walking his beat without some important items. He has no camera, no laptop and no cell phone. These are things he needs to file reports for a Mexican newspaper in Matamoros. He says they were taken from him after he was kidnapped on a street in Matamoros by cartel members.

"They hit me in the head and held me for about 50 minutes. They asked me if I knew some people from San Luis Potosi. They threatened me and said not to look at them when they released me," says Cortez.

Cortez is not sure why they kidnapped him. He could not say who was involved or what cartel group they are from.

"Yes, I am lucky to be alive. They were serious about killing me. I feel very fortunate. Those kinds of things happen more and more than we know it," says Cortez.

He is worried about the things they kept.

"They have my information, my name and the name of my work. I think in Matamoros everybody knows everybody, especially the reporters. I am afraid because they have my family information and they are at risk now," says Cortez.

Cortez says he is now considering changing careers and leaving the newspaper business.

"The pay isn't very good, and I have to work two to three jobs to survive. I am hoping to change my jobs because I want something new. I want to do something, and it's due to my kidnapping," says Cortez.

Cortez does not believe the cartels will kill him for speaking out. He says they had their chance and did not do it during his kidnapping. Cortez filed a report with the Mexican state police. He's considering filing for political asylum to escape the drug war in Mexico.

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Source: [www.krgv.com/news/local/story/Matamoros-Journalist-Says-He-Was-Kidnapped-by/IAKT70XnXkumOu5TUdsAyg.cspx](Return to Contents)

N. Mexico City Security: ‘Big Brother’ Is Watching (DF/MEX)

9 November 2011SmartPlanet.com

Thirteen thousand video cameras capture this city’s every move, making Mexico City one of the most surveilled cities in the world.

Three years into a public security initiative called “Safe City,” Mexico City now boasts a network of 8,000 surveillance cameras on streets and 5,000 more in the subway. In September, police unveiled a new command and control center—the sixth and most specialized to date—to crunch the data the cameras provide and make it useful to cops in action.

All the surveillance has generated successes in safety, police say: reducing once-dismal response times, improving public security, bolstering investigations and curbing police corruption.

There is a lot to keep an eye on here.

The Mexico City metropolitan area is home to more than 20 million people, nearly a fifth of the country’s population. The city also employs the largest police force in Latin America with about 82,000 cops divided into those who patrol neighborhoods, direct traffic, protect banks and serve in special rescue and tactical teams.

The new brain center, known as “C4″ for “command, control, communications and computation,” and five other “C2″ centers, rely on specially trained dispatchers who analyze and act on a video system that handles 13,000 images per second.

Information is processed based on “analysis, statistics and intelligence,” said Fausto Lugo García, who heads up C4. Dispatchers are directed to watch certain cameras in high-risk areas at specified times; they then communicate directly with police on the street when they see suspicious activity, witness a crime taking place or field an emergency call.

High-impact crimes such as car theft, assault and armed robbery have dropped 12.5 percent in the past year, said Lugo García. Police response times have fallen to fewer than five minutes on average this year from more than 10 minutes a year ago. He attributed both improvements to the video surveillance and other programs that have transformed police operations.

One of those transformations involved scaling back the area for which each officer is responsible: Instead of 10-square-mile quadrants—a massive area when the city’s notorious traffic is taken into account—cops have been assigned areas no larger than a square mile. They carry cell phones now and share the numbers with residents and business owners.

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But police corruption remains an issue.

Mexico City police often have poor levels of education, receive just six months of training and are paid an average of 8,000 pesos per month, or about $600. The capital has dismissed some 6,500 cops for not complying with anti-corruption measures over the past three years. And paying bribes for infractions remains a common practice.

So like it or not, police say, the cameras are there to watch them, too, serving to deter officers from openly colluding with criminals or exacting bribes.

Lugo García noted that the 1,200 people who work at the command and control centers have received additional training, and all have passed the now-required “control and confidence” exams, including polygraph tests.

Alberto Islas of the Mexico City-based security consultancy Risk Evaluation questions the effectiveness of so much technology in a city where standards are lower and worries about any “Big Brother” effects, including misuse of the system.

“You can invest a lot in technology, but at the end of the day, you have to look at the human factor,” Islas said. “Mexico City has one of the best systems in the country but it’s still far from international standards.”

All told, the “Safe City” initiative—including video cameras, command and control centers and operational restructuring—has cost the city $460 million.

Source: [www.smartplanet.com/blog/global-observer/mexico-city-security-8216big-brother-is-watching/492](Return to Contents)

O. Arellano Cartel Losing Steam (BC)

8 November 2011UPI

The arrest of a key leader of Mexico's Arellano Felix cartel is a major boost for the competing Sinaloa group, an observer of Mexico's drug wars said.

The Director of the Binational Center for Human Rights said Mexico's arrest Saturday of Juan Francisco Sillas Rocha in Tijuana will make it easier to bring down cartel leader Fernando Sanchez Arellano, SanDiegoRed.com reported Tuesday.

Mexico's Attorney General's Office said Sillas is accused of committing multiple murders on orders of Sanchez Arellano and waging a violent war against a drug cell protected by the Sinaloa cartel.

The war resulted in 2,327 killings and more than 100 kidnappings in Tijuana from 2008 to 2010.

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The Center for Human Rights director said the arrest could put the Sinaloa cartel in absolute control of drug sales in Tijuana.

"The Sinaloa cartel has a business-like approach; they use violence as a last resort," he told the online Spanish news organization. "If no other group challenges it for control of the region, we'll get what we have now, an apparent peace."

Source: [www.upi.com/Top_News/World-News/2011/11/08/Arellano-cartel-losing-steam/UPI-64211320806837/](Return to Contents)

P. Hacker Group Backs off from Naming Mexican Drug Cartel Members (VER)

9 November 2011The International

Members of the prominent hacker group Anonymous have opted not to name a list of collaborators and members of the Mexican drug gang, Los Zetas, after threatening to do so in a video posted on the YouTube video-hosting service last month. This comes after the gang reportedly threatened to kill multiple members of Anonymous for every name that was published.

The video that started the confrontation contained a message to Los Zetas communicated by an artificial voice dubbed over footage of a male figure dressed in a suit and a face mask from the fictional adventure film "V for Vendetta." The statement demanded the release of an unidentified member of Anonymous from Veracruz, Mexico who, according to the narration in the film, had been kidnapped by the cartel during a global protest event called "Operation Paper Storm," which involved Anonymous supporters posting the text of radical or suppressed information in public spaces.

The voice in the recording added the following denouncement of the gang to its demand for the release of the captive: "We want the army and the navy to know we are fed up with the criminal group Zetas… One of them is charging every hard-working citizen of Veracruz who bust their rears every day to feed their families."

The vocal track in the film went on to warn that the data would be released on November 5 if they did not receive a response from the gang.

The apparent reversal is believed to be attributed to the release of the alleged kidnap victim and the fact that an established US security company Stratfor issued a statement that claimed that the Zetas were paying experts to track down the members of Anonymous in order to organize a possible retaliation to the move. The security group advised that if Anonymous continued to challenge the gang, such a stance could lead to "abduction, injury, and death" for those involved.

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Reuters reported on Saturday that a website operated by Anonymous acknowledged they had received the kidnap victim unharmed, stating, in Spanish, that "while he is bruised, he is alive and well." The article stated also that Anonymous had reported that "the person was freed with a note warning that if information were released, the cartel would make the kidnapped member’s family suffer and kill 10 people for each exposed name."

It appears that the Zetas are serious about trying to protect themselves from hackers and are willing to demonstrate it in a manner that is intended to put off any attempts to reveal information about the group. Earlier in the month, the bodies of a man and a woman were hung from an overpass in Nuevo Laredo, Mexico in what appears to be an attempt to send a message to internet activists who confront the gang. The bodies bore a transparent warning, which translates into English as "this is what will happen."

CNN quoted US government officials in August 2009, describing Los Zetas as "the most technologically advanced, sophisticated, and dangerous cartel operating in Mexico." The group is believed to be responsible for a number of incidents that lead to mass fatalities throughout Mexico, including a spate of killings in the central Mexican city of Durango earlier this year that left over 200 people dead.

Reporting on the Durango incident in May, Time magazine stated that "more than 90% of Mexico’s violent crimes go unsolved."

Source: [www.theinternational.org/articles/181-hacker-group-backs-off-from-naming-mexica](Return to Contents)

Q. Two Dismembered Bodies Found in Mexican Border City (CHIH)


The dismembered bodies of two men were found in a busy street in Ciudad Juarez, a border city in northern Mexico, and their heads inside two coolers, police said.

Body parts, including arms and legs, were left in the street, Ciudad Juarez municipal police spokesman Adrian Sanchez said.

“The dismembered parts were found in the middle of the avenue and a few meters away, next to a church, the heads were found inside two coolers. The criminals left a message from a criminal organization on top of them,” Sanchez told EFE.

The victims have not been identified and authorities have not determined the motive for the killings.


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4. CARRIBEAN, CENTRAL, AND SOUTH AMERICA

A. Los Zetas Draws New Smuggling Routes through Belize (BZ)

7 November 2011Dialogo

In the coastal town of Punta Gorda, a white, twin-engine airplane — larger than the planes usually used for domestic flights in Belize — landed right in the middle of Southern Highway.

Authorities discovered a nearby truck with about 500 gallons of jet fuel. The plane had stopped in Belize to refuel, but since its wings were slightly damaged upon landing, the Beechcraft Super King Air was not able to take off and the crew abandoned it, police said. The crew left behind a cargo of 2,600 kilograms of Colombian cocaine. Local police said it was the biggest drug bust in Belize’s history.

That was back in November. Since then, things have only gotten worse for Belize, which once enjoyed fame as the world’s top diving spot. Homicide rates are skyrocketing, and Los Zetas is making Belize its smuggling route of choice, police said.

“The open waterways pose many challenges for Belize’s small population and meager resources,” said Police and Public Safety Minister Dough Singh.

With barely 330,000 people inhabiting a country larger than El Salvador, Belize has a chronic need for aerial support and radio detection equipment, he said. “The result is that large amounts of drugs may be traversing Belize en route to the United States.”

The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), in a recent study on murder rates, noted that “Mexico’s struggle has attracted a lot of attention, with much less falling on an area far more threatened: Central America. As maritime interdiction has increased and Mexico itself has become far more contested, a growing share of cocaine headed northward is passing through northern Central America, including El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala and Belize.”

Last year, the country reported a homicide rate of 41.7 per 100,000 inhabitants, according to the UNODC study. Singh said police and the Belize Defense Force are planning to establish a Joint Operation Center and an Intelligence Fusion Center to better coordinate their activities and the flow of intelligence. Another initiative consists of opening forward operating bases near the country’s border with Mexico.Uninhabited Geoff’s Caye, a favorite of scuba divers and snorkelers, is one of about 450 islands and keys off the coast of Belize often used as dropoff points by drug traffickers. [Larry Luxner]

Uninhabited Geoff’s Caye, a favorite of scuba divers and snorkelers, is one of about 450 islands and keys off the coast of Belize often used as dropoff points by drug traffickers. [Larry Luxner]

“We recognize that we face a regional challenge,” Singh said. “As such, we must engage with our regional partners in finding a regional solution.”

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Los Zetas operates in Belize

Recent drug and weapons seizures near Belize’s northern border with Mexico show that Los Zetas and other Mexican and Colombian drug-trafficking organizations are drawing new smuggling routes through the sparsely populated nation.

In November 2010, Guatemalan drug lord Otoneil Turcios Marroquín, with alleged links to Los Zetas, was captured in Belize and turned over to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency. He had been sought by the United States since 2003 for allegedly smuggling 1,600 kilos of cocaine, which were subsequently distributed on the streets of New York.

After Los Zetas perpetrated a massacre in a farmhouse in Petén, Guatemala, earlier this year, Guatemalan authorities reported that a four-wheel-drive vehicle with Belize license plates had been used by its members and found in the ranch. Police said the diplomatic vehicle had been stolen from a Guatemalan driver assigned to an outpost of the Organization of American States along Guatemala’s border with Belize.

Stories of drug-toting tourists are not uncommon in Belize. More than a few backpackers have been found with packs of cannabis in their pants pockets. “Many have been arrested for openly smoking marijuana on the keys such as San Pedro and Caye Caulker,” said Belize News 5 analyst José Sánchez. “They think it’s OK.”

The biggest concern, of course, is for the larger amounts of hard drugs that are passing by undetected. Belize has 450 keys, most of them uninhabited.

Belize, a hub for meth

Belize not only has seen increases in cocaine trafficking, but also in marijuana and in precursor chemicals en route to Mexico as well. In 2010, Belize seized 97 metric tons of marijuana, in comparison to the 291 kilos confiscated the year before.

Noteworthy, said Sánchez, are the recurring attempts to introduce loads of pseudoephedrine in the country. “It was relatively unknown until 2008,” he said. From that point on, port authorities regularly found shipments coming from China and other Asian countries via Germany, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and Spain.

In Belize, it is illegal to import any medicine that contains pseudoephedrine, which can be chemically combined with other substances to produce methamphetamine or crystal meth.Souvenir shops crowd the main street of San Pedro, a tourist attraction where foreigners are routinely arrested for possession of marijuana and other illegal drugs. [Larry Luxner]

Souvenir shops crowd the main street of San Pedro, a tourist attraction where foreigners are routinely arrested for possession of marijuana and other illegal drugs. [Larry Luxner]

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Several loads of pseudoephedrine have disappeared from the port in Belize City. All attempts to hold somebody accountable for the theft have failed, said Sánchez. In early October, three Customs officers were acquitted of two counts of forgery in relation to the disappearance of a container of pseudoephedrine tablets in September 2008.

The Comptroller of Customs also has been under attack for cracking down on drug trafficking. In March 2009, a live grenade was thrown onto the third-floor balcony of the home of Gregory Gibson, who had earlier received several death threats.

“It is widely speculated that because the Customs Department was determined to halt pseudoephedrine shipments, neighboring cartels hired local thugs to throw a grenade at the Comptroller of Customs as a warning,” Sánchez said.

The influx of illicit substances has meant an increase in the country’s crime rate. “Murder is at an all-time high,” said Singh. “Drug activities have certainly contributed to this increase.”

The UNODC report corroborates Singh’s statement, noting that “the murder rates in Honduras, Guatemala, El Salvador, and Belize are three to five times higher than in Mexico, and both the economy and the state are far less robust and resilient.”

Source: [www.dialogo-americas.com/en_GB/articles/rmisa/features/regional_news/2011/11/07/aa-belize-los-zetas](Return to Contents)

B. Woman Accused of Trying To Export Cocaine from Antigua

9 November 2011Caribarena.com

A 36-year-old resident of Queens, New York was allegedly caught with seven pounds of cocaine strapped to her body at the VC Bird International Airport on Saturday.

Officers from the Narcotics Department were on duty at the airport when Lisa Natasha Nichols allegedly attempted to export the Class “A” drug at about 1:30 pm.

She is facing charges of possession of cocaine; possession with intent to transfer; attempting to export cocaine; and drug trafficking.

The Guyanese-born woman was said to en route to Canada.

Source: [www.caribarena.com/antigua/news/police/98871-woman-accused-of-trying-to-export-cocaine.html](Return to Contents)

C. International Meeting against Corruption Begins (CU)

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9 November 2011Prensa Latina

The 5th International Meeting on Society and its Challenges in the face of Corruption will begin Wednesday, with more than 350 representatives from some 20 countries from the Americas, Africa and Europe.

The forum, sponsored by the Attorney General's Office of the Republic of Cuba, will be held until November 11 at the International Convention Center of the capital.

The organizers recently confirmed the presence of delegates from Venezuela, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Mexico, Panama, Nicaragua, Colombia, Ecuador, Argentina, Brazil and experts from the International Monetary Fund.

The event will also be attended by experts from Russia, Spain, Mozambique and Guinea Bissau, said Miguel Angel Garcia, chief attorney of International Relations and Cooperation of the Attorney General's Office.

According to Garcia, this meeting will be the largest of its kind ever held, and it represents another example of the actions being taken by Cuba to improve its social model.

The program will include six special presentations, 13 keynote lectures, two thematic workshops, 10 presentations and a panel discussion.

The outstanding issues to be discussed will be the State, Society and Law in the fight against corruption; the roles of the Interior Ministry and the Judicial System in facing these problems, and the internal control system.

Source: [www.plenglish.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=448524&Itemid=1](Return to Contents)

D. Colombian Police Seize 1.5 Tons of Cocaine (CO)


Colombian police announced Tuesday the discovery and seizure of more than 1.5 tons of cocaine at a clandestine drug lab in a rural area of the southern province of Meta.

The cocaine was found in a joint operation by the police drug squad and the air force.

The laboratory, consisting of four wooden structures near the town of Acacias, had the capacity to produce two tons a month, police said in a statement.

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Besides 1,534 kilos (3,378 pounds) of finished cocaine, the police found three tons of chemicals used in production of the drug, the statement said, adding that the latest operation brings to 1,059 the number of drug labs found and destroyed this year.


5. OPINION AND ANALYSIS

A. Anti-Corruption Plan To Target Government Contracting (MX)

8 November 2011International Law Office

The World Economic Forum has estimated that the cost of corruption in Mexico is between 7% and 9% of its gross domestic product. As part of the fight against corruption, and within the scope of the 2007 to 2012 National Development Plan, in March 2011 President Felipe Calderon filed a decree proposal on the Federal Anti-corruption in Government Contracting Law, and also a decree proposal which will amend and expand various provisions of the Federal Law of Administrative Accountability of Public Officials. Both proposals are being analyzed and debated in Congress.

These initiatives are a consequence of a real demand for a transparent legal framework for the large infrastructure projects being developed in the telecommunications and energy industries, including oil and gas. They are also a consequence of international conventions executed by Mexico, including:

the Inter-American Convention Against Corruption, ratified by the Senate on June 2 1997;

the Convention on Combating Bribery of Foreign Public Officials in International Business Transactions, ratified by the Senate on May 27 1999; and

the UN Convention Against Corruption, ratified by the Senate on April 29 2004.

The new initiatives draw on the principles established in these international conventions and are also influenced by foreign legislation such as the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and, more recently, the UK Bribery Act.

The Federal Anti-corruption in Government Contracting Law establishes the liability and penalties applicable to individuals and legal entities, whether national or foreign, and in whatever capacity they may act - as shareholders, partners, legal representatives, clients or agents, advisers, subcontractors, employees or others. Such liability arises from participation in irregular conduct during direct or indirect participation in federal government contracting - including preliminary acts, bidding processes and any other act or proceeding deriving therefrom - or in international commercial transactions.

In terms of government contracting, the legislative proposal highlights the following points:

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Irregular conduct that is subject to penalties includes:

offering or paying money to a government officer in order for him or her to carry out (or omit to carry out) an action related to his or her function,

carrying out acts to obtain an improper benefit or advantage in federal government contracting processes;

participating in public bids despite being prevented from doing so by law or by an administrative resolution; or

in any other way evading the rules or requirements of federal government contracting.

Individuals may be fined from 1,000 to 50,000 times the general minimum wage in Mexico City (approximately $5,000 to $250,000) or between 30% and 35% of the amount of the government contract. For legal entities, the fines range from 10,000 to 2 million times the general minimum wage in Mexico City (approximately $50,000 to $10 million) or between 30% and 35% of the government contract. In additional, individuals and legal entities may be debarred from federal government contracting processes for between three months and eight years.

The provisions of the Federal Law of Administrative Accountability of Public Officials are amended and expanded to establish:

protective measures for individuals who denounce and provide information about breaches of duty by government officials, and the ability to file anonymous reports;

greater means of discovery for federal government controllers and the heads of the relevant auditing and complaints and responsibilities functions;

an increase in penalties for administrative offences, including the suspension of public officials for up to 20 years and their removal from office in the case of serious offences;

the means to encourage officials to provide anti-corruption information, including a substantial reduction in administrative penalties in recognition of their collaboration;

improved supervision of government officials' personal wealth; and the right to reward citizens who denounce acts of corruption.

This legislation could become a powerful tool for strengthening the anti-corruption framework. It creates effective financial deterrents and places significant responsibility on the public as a key instrument in identifying corrupt procurement practices at federal level.

Source: [www.internationallawoffice.com/newsletters/detail.aspx?g=00e4e443-7b87-49e4-a6f8-82182f52565b](Return to Contents)

B. Will Brazil Become Like Venezuela? (BR)

8 November 2011CNN

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While Brazil ascends economically, Mexico appears mired with slow economic growth, high unemployment and escalating drug violence. Yet, in terms of politics, it is in Mexico that democracy is likely to consolidate, while Brazil is at somewhat greater risk from increased corruption and authoritarianism.

Brazil, the B in BRIC, has become one of the world’s economic powerhouses. Yet, much of this new-found wealth comes from a burgeoning natural resource sector. What is more, this wealth is increasingly concentrated in the semi-public Petrobras Corporation. Improved extraction techniques for subsalt oil and gas suggest a likely three-fold increase in production by 2020. If combined with an increase in world oil prices, then this would free Dilma Rousseff’s Workers Party, which heads the government, of the need to be conciliatory when confronted with mass protest. Brazilians should be wary of their country becoming the next Venezuela.

In contrast, democracy looks safe in Mexico even through its economy has been hit by a recession induced by its close ties to the U.S. In 2009, GDP fell by 6.1% and unemployment reached 6.4%. Things have subsequently improved, but the Mexican economy appears lackluster. Drug-related violence continues with over 15,000 drug related deaths last year. Yet this violent confrontation is a sign that the government is determined to tackle the political and economic influence of drug gangs and minimize this black-market portion of its economy. Against its tough economic background and dwindling oil revenues, politics is becoming more competitive.

Source: [globalpublicsquare.blogs.cnn.com/2011/11/08/will-brazil-become-venezuela/](Return to Contents)

C. Anonymous May or May Not Have another Mexican Operation (MX)

8 November 2011The Atlantic Wire

After canceling and resurrecting Operation Cartel (twice), Anonymous now says they're redirecting their efforts towards corruption in the Mexican government. They're calling it, appropriately, Operation Corrupción. Does this news make you feel skeptical about the hactivists, like maybe they've cried wolf one too many times? It makes us feel that way, too.

Anonymous announced Operation Corrupción with a very graphic video and scolding call-to-arms at Anonymous Iberoamerica, the "official blog" for the Spanish-speaking faction of the hacker collective. (Official blog gets scare quotes because Anonymous tends to avoid making anything official — websites, leaders, spokespeople and otherwise.) The threats laid out in the call-to-arms are incredibly vague. It reads (emphasis theirs):

Therefore, we appeal to all the world's Anons, the entire global hacker community, to set aside our differences, and to ruthlessly attack all government agencies in Mexico: their web presence, their email, their servers. To bring to light all the hidden information that demonstrates that Mexico is corrupt.

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We officially declare war against corruption in Mexico.

In talking to multiple sources with ties to Anonymous, we found that #OpCorrupción sounds an awful lot like #OpCartel. One Anonymous member using the Twitter handle ESanonymous, told The Atlantic Wire, that the collective plans to release 25,000 "interesting" emails out of a cache of 180,000 stolen during a hack on the Mexican government as part of #OpCorrupción.

As we reported last week, #OpCartel planned to release the same number of emails but angled the attack at the Zetas cartel, rather than the government. Anonymous called off that attack after it said the Zetas released a member of Anonymous it was keeping hostage and warned that for every cartel collaborator publicly identified by Anonymous, the cartel would kill ten civilians, starting with the hostage's family. Anonymous told us last Friday that following the threat they declared a truce with the Zetas and would not be releasing the emails after all.

The details of Operation Cartel, Anonymous's would-be attack on the Zetas drug lords, were sketchy since it started making headlines in early October. Much of the news on Operation Cartel came through the megaphone of the fast-talking "face" of Anonymous, who denies ever having any official role in the collective. (We've quoted him in our own coverage, though we have been admittedly skeptical about the details of his story.) On Friday afternoon, a blogger at Gawker accused him of latching on to the Operation Cartel and using the press attention to promote an upcoming book about his experience working with Anonymous, for which he received a six-figure advance from Amazon's publishing wing. Chen writes, "The whole Operation Cartel business was probably bullshit — a lot of sound and fury signifying people's lurid obsession with the boogeymen of Anonymous and the drug cartels."

The “face” of Anonymous bristled at the criticism. "It's absolutely egregious what he did," he told The Atlantic Wire. "There's no real reason why this should be something involving the book." He points out that #OpCartel was well underway before he got involved last week — indeed, the first video about the operation was posted on October 6 — and adds that he parted ways with the Spanish-speaking branch of Anonymous after #OpCartel ended in order to pursue his own projects. (At the moment, he is most focused on bringing down a district attorney in Asheville, North Carolina, whohas flatly denied all of his allegations.)

….

Source: [www.theatlanticwire.com/technology/2011/11/anonymous-may-or-may-not-have-another-mexican-operation/44710/](Return to Contents)

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