http://www.freerepublic.com/tag/drugcartel/ en-us Thu, 22 May 2008 15:30:52 GMT Focus Forum 15 http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2019717/posts OUR OPINION: U.S. MUST SUPPORT EFFORT TO DEFEAT NARCOTICS CRIMINALS The outpouring of drug-related violence in Mexico over the last few months has made it indisputably clear that President Felipe Calderón's government is engaged in a fight to the death against the powerful criminal gangs that run the cross-border drug trade. For Mexico, the stakes are all too clear: Either it prevails or the country becomes one big sanctuary for druglords. With Mexico reaching out to the United States for help and the Bush administration eager to comply, Congress must make assistance to Mexico an urgent priority. Last week, the... Miami Herald http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2019717/posts#comment Thu, 22 May 2008 15:30:52 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2007546/posts By Lizbeth Diaz TIJUANA, Mexico (Reuters) - Seventeen Mexican drug gang members were killed near the U.S. border on Saturday, their bodies scattered along a road after one of the deadliest shootouts in Mexico's three-year narco-war. Rival factions of the Arellano Felix drug cartel in Tijuana on the Mexico-California border battled each other with rifles and machine guns in the early hours of the morning, police said. Fourteen bodies were lying in pools of blood on a road near assembly-for-export maquiladora plants on the city's eastern limits. The corpses were surrounded by hundreds of bullet casings and many of their... Reuters http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2007546/posts#comment Sun, 27 Apr 2008 04:36:42 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2003179/posts A Mexican national who was shot by two Border Patrol agents but later was charged with smuggling marijuana is expected to plead guilty to those charges today in federal court in El Paso, Texas, The Washington Times has learned. Osvaldo Aldrete Davila, whose testimony against Border Patrol Agents Ignacio "Nacho" Ramos and Jose Alonso Compean led to their conviction in March 2006, was apprehended by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) last year at the international port of entry in El Paso, after witnesses identified him in a second drug-smuggling operation. Ramos and Compean are serving 11 and 12 years, respectively.... Washington Times http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2003179/posts#comment Thu, 17 Apr 2008 23:58:43 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1995304/posts Afghanistan to Ask NATO for Bigger Army Afghan officials will go to the NATO summit in Romania Thursday with a request: pay to increase our national Army by 40 percent. A bigger Army, Afghan officials argue, will allow the US and other coalition members to scale back in the coming years. This appeal comes amid pleas from the US and Canada for other NATO members to commit more to the Afghanistan mission, which many analysts say has floundered over the past year for lack of resources and a coherent strategy. France is expected to contribute another 1,000 forces and... Previous Thread http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1995304/posts#comment Wed, 2 Apr 2008 03:13:21 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1997413/posts EL PASO, Texas - Mexican Consulate officials in El Paso, Texas, said Mexican drug cartels have been posting help-wanted ads in Juarez, Mexico, newspapers. The officials said publications including P.M., El Diario de Juarez and El Norte have been printing vague help-wanted ads that are designed to trick young people into smuggling drugs over the border into the United States, the Las Cruces (N.M.) Sun-News reported Friday. Mexican Consulate spokeswoman Socorro Cordova said the issue came to the attention of officials nine months ago when the family of a driver stopped at the U.S. border showed the ad to Mexican... UPI http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1997413/posts#comment Sun, 6 Apr 2008 01:46:45 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1997088/posts Alleged gun smuggling leader arrested in TucsonBy: The Associated Press Updated at: 04/04/2008 02:16:41 PM PHOENIX (AP) - Arizona authorities have arrested a Tucson man accused of being the leader of a gun smuggling network that supplied a Mexican drug cartel with weapons. Authorities on Thursday announced the arrest of 23-year-old Victor Manuel Varela Jr., who is accused of supplying the Juarez cartel in Palomas, Mexico with rifles and guns. Tom Mangan, a spokesman for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, says Varela’s network illegally bought the firearms in Arizona, transported them to New Mexico and then took... KOB http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1997088/posts#comment Sat, 5 Apr 2008 09:10:43 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1993786/posts Murders and kidnappings on both sides of the border have significantly increased in recent years. The violence along the U.S.-Mexican border has increased so dramatically that the Juárez Mayor José Reyes Ferriz asked Mexican President Felipe Calderón to send more help as reported in the El Paso Journal. Only thirty federal officers had been sent at that time to Juárez despite repeated requests for more help. It's necessary and urgent to have agents from the federal preventive police to patrol the streets the way that we need to confront this situation," Reyes Ferriz said in a news conference. The Mexican... http://www.borderfirereport.net/michael-webster/u.s.-mexican-border-drug-war-kills-more-than-war-on- http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1993786/posts#comment Sat, 29 Mar 2008 23:44:27 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1992751/posts CIUDAD JUÁREZ, Mexico – The government of Mexican President Felipe Calderón on Thursday announced a military surge of more than 2,000 soldiers in this besieged border community – caught in the crossfire between two warring drug cartels. "Operation Chihuahua," named after Mexico's biggest state, nestled against New Mexico and Texas, is aimed at restoring law and order in a region that many say has grown lawless. Since Jan. 1, nearly 200 people have been killed in this city of 1.2 million. "In this fight, Chihuahua is not alone," said Mexico's interior secretary Juan Camilo Muriño, who was accompanied by the... The Dallas Morning News http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1992751/posts#comment Thu, 27 Mar 2008 22:17:15 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1990447/posts MEXICO CITY - Suspected drug cartel gunmen killed five people in an attack on a police station in central Mexico and during their subsequent escape, authorities said on Saturday. At least six masked, heavily armed men raided the police station in the town of Jerecuaro, in the state of Guanajuato, on Friday, shooting and killing two police officers and a secretary. Making their escape in sport utility vehicles, they gunned down another two police officers on a nearby highway, state authorities said. Police later found one of the gunmen dead of a gunshot wound in one of three abandoned bullet-riddled... Reuters http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1990447/posts#comment Mon, 24 Mar 2008 02:11:04 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1982344/posts Soldiers seized assault rifles, grenades, marijuana and bulletproof vests bearing police insignia after a brief shootout in the Mexican border city of Tijuana. No one was wounded in the overnight exchange of fire with three suspects hunkered down in a house in La Mesa district, army Gen. Sergio Aponte Polito told reporters Friday. Troops seized 91 assault rifles — some with butts of gold and ivory — along with 18 grenades, the bulletproof vests and more than 880 pounds of marijuana, Aponte Polito said. The three suspects, aged 25 to 33, were arrested. The bust followed weeks of bloody confrontations... AP news http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1982344/posts#comment Sat, 8 Mar 2008 06:35:36 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1967219/posts MEXICO CITY — Mexican soldiers seized nearly 10 tons of marijuana, a machine gun, scores of assault rifles and three grenades in a raid Thursday just across the border from Texas, the military said. Soldiers stopped a fleeing minivan and searched a nearby building outside the city of Miguel Aleman, across from Roma, Texas. Inside, they found the marijuana, 89 assault rifles, more than 80,000 rounds of ammunition and a host of other weapons, a Mexican Defense Department statement said. Five men, from ages 28 to 62, were arrested, according to the statement. The seizure follows weeks of bloody confrontation... Houston Chronicle/AP http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1967219/posts#comment Fri, 8 Feb 2008 18:34:59 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1967158/posts A proposal facing action by the U.S. Senate would force National Park and National Wildlife Refuge managers to allow more loaded, hidden handguns in national parks and wildlife refuges, endangering the public as well as wildlife. "This is more of the same from the gun pushers - any gun, anywhere, at any time," said Paul Helmke, President of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence. "Why are we putting hikers, campers and families at risk by introducing loaded, hidden handguns into our national parks and refuges? This proposal is a bad idea that the Senate should reject." Senator Tom Coburn... Sun Herald http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1967158/posts#comment Fri, 8 Feb 2008 17:06:24 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1960198/posts TIJUANA, Mexico – A key hitman for Mexico's Arellano Felix drug cartel was arrested on Saturday in this crime-ridden border city, in another coup for President Felipe Calderón's clampdown on traffickers. After an anonymous tip-off, soldiers stormed a house and arrested Alfredo Araujo Avila, also known as Popeye, Tijuana's military chief Gen. German Redondo told reporters. “He is considered one of the most dangerous hitmen of the Arellano Felix cartel,” Gen. Redondo said. Araujo Avila had dodged arrest for a decade in Tijuana, which is just over the U.S. border from San Diego. He is wanted in the United States... San Diego Union - Tribune http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1960198/posts#comment Sun, 27 Jan 2008 04:59:28 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1938084/posts Tucson, Arizona | Published: 12.11.2007 A man found dead on the South Side Sunday morning was fatally shot by a U.S. Border Patrol agent after he and three other armed intruders burst into the agent's house, an official said Monday. Christian Gomez, 20, and Mark A. Escobar Jr., 19, along with two other intruders burst into the home of an off-duty Border Patrol agent and his family about 4:50 a.m. Sunday, according to police. Aruzona Daily Star http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1938084/posts#comment Tue, 11 Dec 2007 22:39:50 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1934505/posts MEXICO CITY - A Mexican singer was shot to death in her hospital bed, police said Monday, the fourth time in a year assailants have killed performers of a popular northern music whose lyrics often focus on drug trafficking and violence. Zayda Pena, 28, was shot in the heart Saturday in the city of Matamoros, across the border from Brownsville, Texas, while recovering from a gunshot wound to the neck received on Friday, police detective Abel Infante said. No suspects had been identified. Two people with Pena were killed in the Friday shooting. Pena headed a band known as Zayda... NY Daily News Latino http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1934505/posts#comment Tue, 4 Dec 2007 16:03:20 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1898582/posts <p>MEXICO CITY: A deadly attack on federal intelligence agents in northern Mexico was a botched kidnapping attempt orchestrated by drug traffickers with increasingly advanced counterintelligence capabilities, a state government official said Monday.</p> <p>Natividad Gonzalez, governor of the northern state of Nuevo Leon, said federal intelligence officers were tipped off that alleged members of Mexico's Gulf drug cartel "wanted to kidnap two or three agents" prior to the attack last Tuesday in the state capital of Monterrey. Two officers were killed and two more wounded in the ensuing shootout.</p> International Herald Tribune/AP http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1898582/posts#comment Tue, 18 Sep 2007 22:05:57 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1881030/posts Representative Ed Royce (R-CA) is calling on Congress to investigate the ties between Islamic terrorists and Mexican drug gangs revelaed in a report by the Drug Enforcement Agency in yesterday's Washington Times. A ranking House Republican yesterday demanded a hearing based on recent reports that Islamic terrorists embedded in the United States are teaming with Mexican drug cartels to fund terrorism networks overseas. Rep. Ed Royce, ranking Republican on the House Foreign Affairs terrorism and nonproliferation subcommittee, said the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) document — first reported yesterday by The Washington Times — highlights how vulnerable the nation is when... The American Thinker http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1881030/posts#comment Tue, 14 Aug 2007 15:59:10 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1881018/posts A former director of the Drug Enforcement Administration warned federal officials shortly after the September 11 attacks that violent drug cartels from Mexico were teaming with Muslim gangs to fund terrorist organizations overseas. Asa Hutchinson, who also has been a Homeland Security undersecretary, said that in 2001, DEA agents uncovered the link between the drug cartels and terrorist groups but too few government officials listened. "I think it's important to recognize that the link between terrorism and drug trafficking exists," said Mr. Hutchinson in a phone interview from Arkansas. "While we are fighting terrorists, we should not neglect our fight... The Washington Times http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1881018/posts#comment Tue, 14 Aug 2007 15:37:56 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1878073/posts Islamic extremists embedded in the United States — posing as Hispanic nationals — are partnering with violent Mexican drug gangs to finance terror networks in the Middle East, according to a Drug Enforcement Administration report. "Since drug traffickers and terrorists operate in a clandestine environment, both groups utilize similar methodologies to function ... all lend themselves to facilitation and are among the essential elements that may contribute to the successful conclusion of a catastrophic event by terrorists," said the confidential report, a copy of which was obtained by The Washington Times. The 2005 report outlines an ongoing scheme in which... The Washington Times http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1878073/posts#comment Wed, 8 Aug 2007 13:28:06 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1871296/posts Police burn thousands of pot plants in forest preserve By Dan Ponce July 24, 2007 - Cook County Forest Preserve Police and federal agents were busy Tuesday cutting down and burning thousands of marijuana plants. The plants were found in a northwest suburban forest preserve. Investigators say they uncovered a very sophisticated pot-growing operation. Related Links Get ABC7 Newsletters Get Desktop Alerts It is a forest of marijuana plants. "These are not wild or indigenous, these were planted to be sold," said Gary Olenkiewicz, special agent DEA. The plants were spread out over 11 fields. There are between 20,000 and... abclocal http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1871296/posts#comment Wed, 25 Jul 2007 13:03:21 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1870909/posts CHICAGO -- Cook County Forest Preserve police and agents from the Drug Enforcement Administration cut down and burn all of the plants found in 11 illegally cultivated cannabis fields in Cook County forest preserves -- pot with an estimated street value of $4 million dollars. Officials announced charges against two 23-year-old Mexican immigrants in what DEA officials called an elaborate, sophisticated cultivation scheme, according to a release from forest preserve police. Bernardo Rangel and Jose Verra were arrested in connection with the scheme. Raw Video: Marijuana Burned Rangel and Verra were each charged July 11 with cultivating marijuana over 50... NBC5 http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1870909/posts#comment Tue, 24 Jul 2007 19:08:52 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1854876/posts MEXICO CITY — Mexican police rearrested a former governor Thursday as he was released from prison with the intent of extraditing him to the United States to face cocaine-trafficking charges. Mario Villanueva, 58, who governed the Yucatan Peninsula state that includes the resorts of Cancun and the Riviera Maya from 1993 until 1999, was arrested at dawn, moments after finishing a six-year sentence here for money laundering. He faces federal charges in New York of taking part in a conspiracy to smuggle as much as 200 tons of cocaine into the United States while governor of Quintana Roo state. Much... Houston Chronicle http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1854876/posts#comment Sat, 23 Jun 2007 00:28:55 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1852438/posts SANTA CATARINA, Mexico — Sex never has been safer since a motel called the Thunderclap Ranch reinforced its cinder-block rooms and started advertising them as bulletproof. For $5 an hour, guests here in the gritty outskirts of violence-plagued Monterrey needn't worry about jealous spouses — or more to the point, drug cartel hit men, who usually are better armed. Employee Lucy Regalado, 50, stands inside a room at the 'armored' Thunderclap Ranch hotel in the violent Monterrey area. Business is booming at the $5-per-hour establishment, which also will supply six-packs of beer for $4 and snacks through a porthole in... San Antonio Express-News http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1852438/posts#comment Tue, 19 Jun 2007 00:44:58 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1832650/posts GUARATINGUETA: Pope Benedict warned Latin America's ruthless drugs cartels they would face God's harsh judgement for wrecking countless lives across the region. After hearing moving stories of hardship and recovery from former cocaine and heroin addicts on the fourth day of his visit to Brazil, the Pope said drug abuse was a scourge throughout Latin America. "I therefore urge the drug dealers to reflect on the grave harm they are inflicting on countless young people and on adults from every level of society," he said in a speech to recovering addicts at the Farm of Hope (Fazenda da Esperanca)... Reuters http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1832650/posts#comment Sun, 13 May 2007 00:02:17 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1827841/posts MEXICO CITY — Five soldiers and a suspected drug cartel enforcer were killed in a shootout in the western state of Michoacan, which has been plagued by drug violence and is the target of a military-led anti-drug offensive. More than a dozen suspected Zetas — a group of Gulf cartel hitmen that includes former soldiers — opened fire on the troops late Tuesday in Caracuaro, 120 miles west of Mexico City, police spokesman Miguel Covarrubias said Wednesday. The Defense Ministry said five soldiers were killed but declined to give details or confirm media reports that at least four more were... Houston Chronicle/AP http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1827841/posts#comment Thu, 3 May 2007 16:03:12 GMT