Saturday, July 31, 2010
Friday, March 6, 2009
CARTEL GANGS DECLARE WAR IN JUAREZ PRISON; 20 KILLED
MEXICO CITY, Mexico (CNN) -- A prison riot Wednesday in the troubled Mexican border town of Juarez left 20 dead and 15 wounded, an official said.
Mexican federal police patrol Monday on the streets of Ciudad Juarez, a major battleground for drug cartels.
None of the dead were police or military officials, said Enrique Torres, a spokesman for the joint operation at the Cereso Estatal de Ciudad Juarez prison.
Authorities called in 200 federal police agents and 50 army soldiers to help put down the riot; two helicopters and an airplane also were employed, he said.
Victor Valencia de los Santos, spokesman for the state government of Chihuahua, told El Universal newspaper the fighting began when rival gangs clashed at the end of conjugal visits.
El Universal identified the gangs as "Los Artistas Asesinos," or the Assassin Artists, and the Aztecas drug gang.
Police official Carlos Gonzalez told El Universal the fight was over control within the prison.
The high-security prison houses many of the nation's most dangerous drug traffickers. The uprising started at 7 a.m. local time and was quelled two hours later, El Universal said.
Don't Miss
The prison is located in a semi-desert area 17 miles (28 kilometers) south of Ciudad Juarez, which is across the border from El Paso, Texas.
Juarez is one of the major battlegrounds as drug cartels fight each other and Mexican authorities.
"The situation in Ciudad Juarez is of special concern," the U.S. State Department said in a travel warning issued February 20. "Mexican authorities report that more than 1,800 people have been killed in the city since January 2008. Additionally, this city of 1.6 million people experienced more than 17,000 car thefts and 1,650 carjackings in 2008."
Nationwide, Mexican officials report that more than 5,400 people were killed in 2008, more than double the tally for the previous year.
Mexican federal police patrol Monday on the streets of Ciudad Juarez, a major battleground for drug cartels.
None of the dead were police or military officials, said Enrique Torres, a spokesman for the joint operation at the Cereso Estatal de Ciudad Juarez prison.
Authorities called in 200 federal police agents and 50 army soldiers to help put down the riot; two helicopters and an airplane also were employed, he said.
Victor Valencia de los Santos, spokesman for the state government of Chihuahua, told El Universal newspaper the fighting began when rival gangs clashed at the end of conjugal visits.
El Universal identified the gangs as "Los Artistas Asesinos," or the Assassin Artists, and the Aztecas drug gang.
Police official Carlos Gonzalez told El Universal the fight was over control within the prison.
The high-security prison houses many of the nation's most dangerous drug traffickers. The uprising started at 7 a.m. local time and was quelled two hours later, El Universal said.
Don't Miss
The prison is located in a semi-desert area 17 miles (28 kilometers) south of Ciudad Juarez, which is across the border from El Paso, Texas.
Juarez is one of the major battlegrounds as drug cartels fight each other and Mexican authorities.
"The situation in Ciudad Juarez is of special concern," the U.S. State Department said in a travel warning issued February 20. "Mexican authorities report that more than 1,800 people have been killed in the city since January 2008. Additionally, this city of 1.6 million people experienced more than 17,000 car thefts and 1,650 carjackings in 2008."
Nationwide, Mexican officials report that more than 5,400 people were killed in 2008, more than double the tally for the previous year.
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Street Scene, Matamoros, Tamaulipas, Mexico
(click photo) photo by mxcartel-newsThis picture was taken by mxcartel-news in November, 2008. This district is a well known zone for the kidnapping for ransom of American tourists who stumble into this area at night. There is no police protection after dark on these streets. The Mexican Army withdraws to a barracks at night. Only danger walks at night.
Mxcartel-news.blogspot.com
Gulf Cartel's Zetas Strike U.S., Mexico
(click on chart)Evidence links grenade attacks in U.S., Mexico
01:59 PM CST on Thursday, February 12, 2009
By Angela Kocherga / 11 News Border Bureau
EL PASO, Texas -- Investigators with the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms tell the 11 News Border Bureau they have evidence linking grenades used in the attack on the U.S. Consulate, a Mexican television station and a bar in South Texas.
Officials examine a car related to a grenade attack on the offices of the television company Televisa in Monterrey, Mexico, Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2009.
Serial numbers recovered at the crime scene show the grenades came from the same stash.
“It is still under investigation. We don’t know exactly what the link is but yes, there is definitely association with the three attacks,” said Jim Needles, the assistant special agent in charge of the ATF’s office in Phoenix.
According to an unclassified report ATF sent to law enforcement agencies last week, the grenades are “linked to a major recovery of firearms and grenades in a Mexican warehouse with suspected ties to a drug cartel.”
We’re told that warehouse is in Monterrey, Mexico where two of the attacks happened.
ATF traced the explosives to a lot manufactured in South Korea. Investigators suspect the weapons cache belonged to the Zetas, enforcers for the Gulf Cartel.
The grenades tossed at the U.S. Consulate last October and at the Monterrey TV station in early January did not injury anyone.
In the TV station attack, masked gunmen opened fire and tossed a grenade at the station as it aired its nightly newscast, leaving behind a message warning the station about its coverage of drug gangs. The anchors asked viewers to call for help on the air.
The live grenade tossed on a pool table in San Juan, Texas on January 31 did not detonate because the attacker failed to pull a second safety pin. Investigators tell us three off-duty police officers were among the patrons inside the bar at the time.
“The violence is here. The violence is in the U.S. We hear about the violence in Mexico. It’s not just an issue for the Mexican authorities. It’s an issue for us here in the United States,” Needles said.
Officials examine a car related to a grenade attack on the offices of the television company Televisa in Monterrey, Mexico, Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2009.
Serial numbers recovered at the crime scene show the grenades came from the same stash.
“It is still under investigation. We don’t know exactly what the link is but yes, there is definitely association with the three attacks,” said Jim Needles, the assistant special agent in charge of the ATF’s office in Phoenix.
According to an unclassified report ATF sent to law enforcement agencies last week, the grenades are “linked to a major recovery of firearms and grenades in a Mexican warehouse with suspected ties to a drug cartel.”
We’re told that warehouse is in Monterrey, Mexico where two of the attacks happened.
ATF traced the explosives to a lot manufactured in South Korea. Investigators suspect the weapons cache belonged to the Zetas, enforcers for the Gulf Cartel.
The grenades tossed at the U.S. Consulate last October and at the Monterrey TV station in early January did not injury anyone.
In the TV station attack, masked gunmen opened fire and tossed a grenade at the station as it aired its nightly newscast, leaving behind a message warning the station about its coverage of drug gangs. The anchors asked viewers to call for help on the air.
The live grenade tossed on a pool table in San Juan, Texas on January 31 did not detonate because the attacker failed to pull a second safety pin. Investigators tell us three off-duty police officers were among the patrons inside the bar at the time.
“The violence is here. The violence is in the U.S. We hear about the violence in Mexico. It’s not just an issue for the Mexican authorities. It’s an issue for us here in the United States,” Needles said.
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Drug-related violence in Mexico kills 21
© 2009 The Associated Press
Feb. 11, 2009
CIUDAD JUAREZ, Mexico — A drug gang kidnapped and killed six people along the U.S.-Mexican border region, setting off gunbattles with soldiers that left 15 others dead.
The hours-long skirmishes around the town of Ciudad Ahumada on Tuesday are part of a wave of drug violence that has engulfed parts of Mexico — and has even spilled across the border — as the army confronts savage narcotics cartels that are flush with drug money and guns from the U.S.
President Felipe Calderon says that more than 6,000 people died last year in drug-related violence, and U.S. authorities have reported a spike in killings, kidnappings and home invasions linked to the cartels — some of it in cities far from the border, such as Phoenix and Atlanta.
Tuesday's bloodshed began when gunmen kidnapped nine suspected members of a rival drug gang in Villa Ahumada and executed six of them along the PanAmerican Highway outside of the town, said Enrique Torres, spokesman for a joint military-police operation in Chihuahua state. Villa Ahumada is 80 miles (130 kilometers) south of the border city of El Paso, Texas.
Assailants later released three of the men, although their whereabouts were not immediately known, Torres said.
Soldiers later caught up with the gunmen and a series of shootouts ensued, leaving 14 alleged gunmen and one soldier dead Tuesday, Torres said. Another soldier was wounded.
© 2009 The Associated Press
Feb. 11, 2009
CIUDAD JUAREZ, Mexico — A drug gang kidnapped and killed six people along the U.S.-Mexican border region, setting off gunbattles with soldiers that left 15 others dead.
The hours-long skirmishes around the town of Ciudad Ahumada on Tuesday are part of a wave of drug violence that has engulfed parts of Mexico — and has even spilled across the border — as the army confronts savage narcotics cartels that are flush with drug money and guns from the U.S.
President Felipe Calderon says that more than 6,000 people died last year in drug-related violence, and U.S. authorities have reported a spike in killings, kidnappings and home invasions linked to the cartels — some of it in cities far from the border, such as Phoenix and Atlanta.
Tuesday's bloodshed began when gunmen kidnapped nine suspected members of a rival drug gang in Villa Ahumada and executed six of them along the PanAmerican Highway outside of the town, said Enrique Torres, spokesman for a joint military-police operation in Chihuahua state. Villa Ahumada is 80 miles (130 kilometers) south of the border city of El Paso, Texas.
Assailants later released three of the men, although their whereabouts were not immediately known, Torres said.
Soldiers later caught up with the gunmen and a series of shootouts ensued, leaving 14 alleged gunmen and one soldier dead Tuesday, Torres said. Another soldier was wounded.
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Monday, February 9, 2009
Click on Map to see in larger window
Mxcartel-news has visited and met many people in Tamaulipas (Gulf Cartel) and Jalisco (Sinaloa Cartel). These groups have the same goals and perhaps these goals can be somewhat mitigated to reduce the widespread killing taking place. I know that these groups all consist of similar personalities with similar intentions. Perhaps these similarities may be able to lead to a similar consensus among the parties. The moral question focusing on drug usage has little to do with this dynamic. The drugs will forever be moving from south to north. We first need to focus how this never ending process can proceed without the violence and deal later with the abuse of the drugs themselves.
Mxcartel-new.blogspot.com
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