Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Stratfor Sources: U.S. Troops in Mexico as Feds Aid Cartels
New American ^ | Friday, 05 October 2012 13:00 | Alex Newman

Posted on 10/07/2012 9:43:20 AM PDT by robowombat

Friday, 05 October 2012 13:00 Stratfor Sources: U.S. Troops in Mexico as Feds Aid Cartels Written by Alex Newman

Federal authorities in the United States have been quietly supporting certain Mexican criminal empires, especially the Sinaloa drug cartel, in a bid to solidify the syndicates’ reign as dominant powerbrokers in particular territories, according to leaked e-mails from a U.S.-based Mexican diplomat to the private intelligence firm Stratfor. If cartel chiefs cooperate with authorities, “governments will allow controlled drug trades,” the diplomatic source wrote.

Other information unearthed so far in the leak, much of it coming from a variety of sources, was equally explosive. One 2011 e-mail from an individual described by Stratfor as “a US law enforcement officer with direct oversight of border investigations,” for example, indicated that American troops were already operating in Mexico under the guise of the drug war.

“U.S. special operations forces are currently in Mexico. Small-scale joint ops [operations] with Mexico’s [special forces], but they are there,” the document claimed, citing the federal law enforcement supervisor identified as US714. The allegation in the e-mail was echoed by the Mexican diplomat and served to confirm previous reports of U.S. military operations in Mexico based on other sources.

Also troubling were Stratfor documents detailing “surgical strikes” by Mexican special-operations troops — backed by U.S. taxpayer money and the Obama administration — which analysts equated with “death squads.” Essentially, then, Mexican troops have gone on a killing spree taking out certain troublesome “cells,” multiple sources, including those working for Stratfor, suggested.

Another bombshell uncovered in the leaked e-mails indicated that the U.S. federal government had deliberately allowed cartel hit men to murder people inside the United States if they agreed to offer their services to Washington. “Regarding ICE [U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement] screwing up informants: They [ICE] were handling big hit men from Juarez and letting them kill in the U.S.,” the same federal law enforcement supervisor wrote in an e-mail.

While the claim is certainly explosive and hard to understand, analysts who follow the drug war closely say it would not be the first time the U.S. government had authorized similar insanity. “Though Stratfor source US714’s revelation may seem too dark to be true, Narco News has already documented, via the multi-year House of Death investigative series, that ICE, with the approval of US prosecutors, allowed one of its informants to participate in multiple murders inside Mexico in order to make a drug case,” wrote investigative reporter Bill Conroy, one of the premier journalists covering the issue.

The latest revelations about government support for certain cartels, first reported by Narco News after WikiLeaks released hacked e-mails from Stratfor, would appear to confirm accusations made last year by a top Sinaloa operative. Jesus Vicente Zambada-Niebla, allegedly the “logistics coordinator” for the Sinaloa Cartel, claimed in federal court filings that the U.S. government had offered his criminal syndicate virtual immunity to import multi-ton quantities of drugs across the border.

“El Vicentillo” also suggested that in exchange for information on rival cartels, the U.S. government armed the Sinaloa cartel while helping the organization avoid Mexican authorities. More than a few experts have drawn a link to the Obama administration’s Fast and Furious scandal, which put thousands of U.S. weapons into the hands of Mexican cartels under the guise of targeting two “drug lords” that already worked for the FBI.

The unnamed Mexican diplomatic source, dubbed MX1 in the leaked documents, suggested that the reason U.S. authorities were willing to help certain cartels was to minimize the level of violence. In one 2010 e-mail to Stratfor Vice President of Intelligence Fred Burton, the Mexican diplomat outlines part of his government’s strategy to deal with cartels — essentially a hands-off, "look the other way” approach unless and until violence breaks out.

“[If] they [a big narco-trafficking group] bring [in] some drugs, transport some drugs, [and] they are discrete, they don’t bother anyone, [then] no one gets hurt,” wrote MX1, identified by Narco News as a U.S.-educated lawyer and Mexican diplomat stationed in the Southwest named Fernando de la Mora Salcedo. “[And the] government turns the other way.”

On the other hand, if a smaller criminal group arrives on the scene and engages in violence, the Mexican government allows more powerful cartels to “do their thing” before taking down the new arrivals. MX1 goes on to explain that his bosses’ official strategy is to not negotiate with the cartel leaders. However, he said the U.S. government does in fact deal with them, oftentimes by sending subtle “signals” urging cartel chiefs to do something.

“I think the US sent a signal that could be construed as follows: ‘To the [Juárez] and Sinaloa cartels: Thank you for providing our market with drugs over the years. We are now concerned about your perpetration of violence, and would like to see you stop that. In this regard, please know that Sinaloa is bigger and better than [the Juárez cartel]. Also note that [Ciudad Juárez] is very important to us, as is the whole border. In this light, please talk amongst yourselves and lets all get back to business. Again, we recognize that Sinaloa is bigger and better, so either [the Juárez cartel] gets in line or we will mess you up,’” MX1 wrote in a 2010 e-mail.

In the end, the Mexican diplomat concluded that the U.S. government had put its weight behind the Sinaloa Cartel. “In sum, I have a gut feeling that the US agencies tried to send a signal telling the cartels to negotiate themselves,” he wrote. “They unilaterally declared a winner, and this is unprecedented, and deserves analysis.”

In a separate e-mail later that year, MX1 reveals even more astounding information. He claimed, among other explosive statements, that law enforcement agencies in both Mexico and the United States have been negotiating deals with the cartels and openly tolerating major drug trafficking operations while helping the big cartels eliminate smaller competitors.

“I found out that there is a group of US and Mexican LE [law enforcement] that discretely attempted, and succeeded, in brokering a deal in Tijuana.... It was this same group of guys that presented their ‘signaling strategy’ and attempted it for CDJ [Juarez],” MX1 wrote.

If the drug kingpins cooperate, business can go on. “It is not so much a message for the Mexican government as it is for the Sinaloa cartel and VCF [the Juarez Cartel] themselves. Basically, the message they want to send out is that Sinaloa is winning and that the violence is unacceptable. They want the CARTELS to negotiate with EACH OTHER. The idea is that if they can do this, violence will drop and the governments will allow controlled drug trades.” [Emphasis added.]

In other words, if the major cartel bosses cooperate with authorities on both sides of the border, governments will allow them to continue doing business shipping drugs into the United States. Incredibly, it gets worse though, with MX1 claiming that the drug trafficking organizations have already reached agreements with the U.S. federal government on protecting their criminal empires.

The Mexican government, meanwhile, was discreetly prodded by American officials into allowing certain shipments of narcotics belonging to U.S. government-favored cartels while attacking their competitors. “Unfortunately, CDJ [Juarez] is not ripe for this kind of activity, as the major routes and methods for bulk shipping into the US have already been negotiated with US authorities,” MX1 claimed, echoing allegations made by U.S. and Mexican officials, drug cartel leaders, and analysts for years.

“In this sense, the message that Sinaloa was winning was, in my view, intended to tell SEDENA [the Mexican military] to stop taking down large trucks full of dope as they made their way to the US,” MX1 wrote about his analysis of the situation. “These large shipments were Sinaloa’s, and they are OK with the Americans. The argument is that most of the violence [in Juarez] remains related to the local market, and that SEDENA should focus on smaller gangs and fringe groups that try to cross smaller quantities.”

It should be noted that the quality of Stratfor’s “intelligence” has been criticized and even ridiculed by some commentators following the massive leak of its e-mails. Others have called the company a sort of “private CIA.” However, many of the revelations uncovered in the documents so far have merely served to re-confirm what experts and analysts had suspected all along.

Essentially, then, the drug war, aside from being unconstitutional, is a fraud at best. In a best-case scenario, the U.S. government is simply out of control, assuming that it has just given up and that something more sinister is not going on. On the other hand, officials on both sides of the border have said that the U.S. government’s involvement in the drug trade, especially through the CIA, runs much deeper than just looking the other way.

Tens of thousands of innocent Mexicans, meanwhile, have paid for the drug war with their lives in recent years. The Obama administration and Attorney General Eric Holder are engaged in a frantic ongoing cover-up surrounding DEA money laundering for cartels, ATF sending heavy weapons to the cartels, and much more. Whether or not the whole truth will ever come out remains unclear, but activists and victims are not giving up yet.


TOPICS: Foreign Affairs; Government; Mexico; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: banglist; borderwars; drugcartels; gunrunner; murdergate; sinaloa
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-4041-45 next last
While this is from the JBS magazine it does reproduce much from a Stratfor article which is restricted to paid Startfor customers. Unfortunately it makes sense. The rationale for this operation was always a lot more than trying to get a narative set to boost some more gun grabbing legislation. The US intel community is seriously concerned that the Zetas may become the dominant players in a shadow government controlling Mexico. The Zetas have an ideology, a crude one , but an ideology non the less. It is Mexican revanchism and aimed at establishing a radical presence of the sort the Sandanistas used to preach throughout the US Soutwest and into Central America. The rival cartels are seen as allies of necessity in controling the Zertas and the Sinaloa Cartel seems to have some sort of long standing relationship with US intel and it is in the Zeta's crosshairs both because of the conduits through north Mexico and into the US it controls and because of its 'treachery' for being the ally of the Yanquis. Interestingly the usual journalistic suspects such as Mother Jones that have repeatedly tried to link US intel to alliances with drug trafficers have been very silent about this operation.
1 posted on 10/07/2012 9:43:22 AM PDT by robowombat
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: robowombat

Tomorrow , Obama will say this is a Bush operation he just kept.


2 posted on 10/07/2012 9:49:43 AM PDT by Venturer
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Joe Brower; Travis McGee; LucyT; vette6387; MetaThought; 60Gunner; XHogPilot; FreedomPoster; ...

You might want to read this.


3 posted on 10/07/2012 9:50:57 AM PDT by MestaMachine (obama kills and none dare call it treason.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: robowombat

When the US gets into bed with one cartel, other cartels see US personel in Mexico as extensions of that cartel. THAT is why US Customs agent Zapata was murdered.

hussein has upgraded from Punahou’s “Choom Gang” to the Sinaloa Cartel and effectvely has brought allll of the rest of us along for the ride.

Our prez is a muzzie bisexual drug-dealer....


4 posted on 10/07/2012 9:53:51 AM PDT by gaijin (Er)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: robowombat

Makin money for the mob helping cartel take over Mexico


5 posted on 10/07/2012 9:54:20 AM PDT by dalebert
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: robowombat

The latest scandal for the media to ignore.


6 posted on 10/07/2012 9:57:03 AM PDT by austingirl
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

bookmark


7 posted on 10/07/2012 10:00:12 AM PDT by freds6girlies (many that are first shall be last; and the last shall be first. Mt. 19:30. R.I.P. G & J)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: robowombat

Stratfor is supposed to be a very responsible group for intelligence information. If this is true....just WOW!

Could this have been what was on Obama’s mind at the debate on Wednesday (as a compounding factor along with his utter ineptitude)?


8 posted on 10/07/2012 10:00:55 AM PDT by SumProVita (Cogito, ergo....Sum Pro Vita - Modified Descartes)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: robowombat

This map is a dew years old, so just imagine the inroads since the US started handing them weapons and protection.

9 posted on 10/07/2012 10:01:20 AM PDT by MestaMachine (obama kills and none dare call it treason.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: robowombat

When Bill Clinton was President, he got a 5% cut from the drug profits coming in over the border. He worked for the Dixie Mafia drug lords as a teenager, was involved in the Mena Airport smuggling operations as governor, and welcomed drug lords to the White House as President. Probably he helped the Muslim Albanians take over Kosovo not only to distract attention from Monicagate, but for a piece of the drug action there.

It’s not surprising that Obama is doing the same, presumably in cahoots with the Chicago Mafia drug dealers.

It is a bit surprising if our own special forces are directly involved down there, as opposed to working through Mexicans.


10 posted on 10/07/2012 10:05:52 AM PDT by Cicero (Marcus Tullius)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: dalebert

This is the reason for the fed crackdown on medical marijuana facilities in the US. Illegal drugs are so much more profitable.


11 posted on 10/07/2012 10:07:22 AM PDT by MestaMachine (obama kills and none dare call it treason.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 5 | View Replies]

To: robowombat
Essentially, then, the drug war, aside from being unconstitutional, is a fraud at best. In a best-case scenario, the U.S. government is simply out of control, assuming that it has just given up and that something more sinister is not going on. On the other hand, officials on both sides of the border have said that the U.S. government’s involvement in the drug trade, especially through the CIA, runs much deeper than just looking the other way.

This paragraph deserves special attention.

12 posted on 10/07/2012 10:12:00 AM PDT by Sarajevo (Don't think for a minute that this excuse for a President has America's best interest in mind.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: robowombat

Interesting. Without a doubt there is co-infiltration in the cartels and the Mexican & US enforcers. Is this a whole ‘nother level, who knows. Stratfor puts out some unbelievable stuff but for some reason this is not.


13 posted on 10/07/2012 10:18:54 AM PDT by Clinging Bitterly (I will not comply.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Cicero

Makes a person wonder where the Obama campaign got its 132 million (?) in September, when most normal people are scraping just to put food on their tables...


14 posted on 10/07/2012 10:20:17 AM PDT by butterdezillion
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 10 | View Replies]

To: Cicero

While I have no doubts that O and Clinton are deeply involved, it would not surprise me if a majority of the major elected players in both parties have been involved for decades, and well as the higher ups in every key administrative department of either stripe. Dark times.


15 posted on 10/07/2012 10:20:23 AM PDT by dagogo redux (A whiff of primitive spirits in the air, harbingers of an impending descent into the feral.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 10 | View Replies]

To: dalebert
Makin money for the mob helping cartel take over Mexico

Yessir! "Workin' for the Yankee dollah.."

16 posted on 10/07/2012 10:24:16 AM PDT by Ole Okie
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 5 | View Replies]

To: Sarajevo

We need a modern day Eugene Hasenfus to blow the lid off of this crap.


17 posted on 10/07/2012 10:30:29 AM PDT by Delta 21 (Oh Crap !! Did I say that out loud ??!??)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 12 | View Replies]

To: Sarajevo

By maintaining a constant and steady flow of illegal drugs into the USA, our government is controlling the crime rates. When the flow is interrupted, the price of drugs jolts up and down causing the addicts to commit more robberies and muggings in an attempt to feed their addiction.

This also causes over usage which is hard on the ER staffs at the local hospitals. When a hard addict who is used to taking a hit every eight hours misses a couple of them, they tend to inject themselves with unsafe amounts which causes them to behave erratically. So we see more 911 calls, etc.

No, I am not suggesting that we legalize drugs.


18 posted on 10/07/2012 10:32:00 AM PDT by B4Ranch (Stand Up and Be Counted ... Or Line Up and Be Numbered ...)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 12 | View Replies]

To: robowombat
Did no one learn anything from Clancy's novel, "Clear and Present Danger"?
19 posted on 10/07/2012 10:34:59 AM PDT by LegendHasIt
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Cicero

Remember when we allowed the opium crops to flourish in Afghanistan? Our heroin addicts need a steady supply or else violent crime rates shoot through the ceiling. That’s when everybody gets upset.


20 posted on 10/07/2012 10:36:05 AM PDT by B4Ranch (Stand Up and Be Counted ... Or Line Up and Be Numbered ...)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 10 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-4041-45 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson