'La Familia' North of the Border (Mexico's Narcoterror is here)

In an indictment handed down Nov. 20 ....accused 15 individuals of being involved in the trafficking of cocaine and other narcotics in the Chicago area. .... aimed at dismantling the drug trafficking network of La Familia Michoacana (LFM), a mid-sized and relatively new drug cartel based in Michoacan state in southwestern Mexico.

The U.S. investigation of LFM has revealed many details about the operation of the group in the United States and answered some important questions about the nature of Mexican drug trafficking and distribution north of the border.

.....leaders are known to distribute documents to the group’s members that include codes of conduct and pseudo-religious quotations from Nazario Moreno Gonzalez, also known as “El Mas Loco” (“the craziest one”), who appears to serve as a sort of inspirational leader of the group.

The indictment ....clearly alleges that a criminal group in Chicago was directly conspiring with the drug trafficking organization LFM to distribute shipments of cocaine. The indictment specifically links the criminal group in Chicago to LFM and labels it a “command and control group” run by someone in Michoacan.

The manager of the Chicago command and control group, .....were allegedly in regular contact with their manager in Mexico, updating him on accounting issues and relying on him to authorize which wholesale distributors the group could do business with in the United States.

According to the indictment, they were allowed to sell cocaine on consignment — an agreement that indicates a great deal of trust between the supplier and the retail distributor.

What is certain, at this point, is that there is now a precedent for Mexican DTOs to have a greater influence over their lower-level supply-chain operations in the United States. ....and prove that at least one, “La Familia,” is taking a very hands-on approach.

"n our April analysis, we identified several intelligence gaps in the interface between the Mexican-based drug traffickers (such as the Sinaloa Cartel, the Beltran-Leyva Organization [BLO] and Los Zetas) and the U.S.-based drug distributors (such as MS-13, Barrio Azteca and the Mexican Mafia). One question we were left with was: How deeply involved are the Mexican DTOs in the U.S. distribution network? While it appeared that narcotics changed hands at the border, it wasn’t clear how or even whether the relationships between gangs and drug traffickers had an effect on the distribution of narcotics within the United States. Although we suspected it, there was little evidence that showed cartel involvement in the downstream or retail distribution of narcotics in the U.S. market.

Now there is evidence."

Production in Mexico and wholesale in Chcagoland has ALWAYS been in the same family. Retail has always been mixed ... probably 40-30-30 Hispanic, White & Black. Retail is closely tied to the street gangs. But relatively speaking, the street gangs have not worked for and not controlled the big wholesale operations of Mxican drugs.

There have been several entirely separate Mexican families involved in the business. One family will be dominant for a while. Then a different family will emerge.

MORE forwarded by NAFBPO

U.S. slow sending Mexico anti-drug funds, GAO finds
2% of pledged aid given, report says; ambassador disputes figure

By WILLIAM BOOTH THE WASHINGTON POST http://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2009/dec/04/us-slow-sending-mexico-anti-drug-funds-ga-20091204/

Friday, December 4, 2009

MEXICO CITY — The United States has spent a fraction of the money pledged - just $24 million of $1.3 billion appropriated - to help Mexico in its bloody threeyear-old battle against the drug cartels that have turned parts of country into a war zone and left 15,000 dead, according to a U.S. government report issued Thursday.

The Merida Initiative, signed by President George W. Bush and Mexican leader Felipe Calderon in 2007, promises Black Hawk helicopters, night-vision goggles and drugsniffing dogs, as well as a more robust crime-fighting partnership between the United States and Mexico. So far the United States has delivered 2 percent of the equipment and support promised, according to the report by the Government Accountability Office.

This week, Calderon warned that the cartels are increasingly using drug money to bribe local politicians and attempting to manipulate elections.

Jeffrey Davidow, former U.S. ambassador to Mexico and now president of the Institute of the Americas in San Diego, said, “I don’t think the slowness in the outlay is any kind of indication of a policy failure.” Instead, he said, “it is better to take the time and get it right.”

The GAO report notes that the Merida Initiative also includes $175 million in appropriated funds for nations in Central America and the Caribbean. It found that so far $2 million has been spent there.

[snip]

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