http://www.freerepublic.com/tag/drugcartels/ en-us Thu, 24 Dec 2009 22:22:24 GMT Focus Forum 15 http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2414701/posts DEA Acting Administrator Michele Leonhart and United States Attorney Preet Bharara announced today the arrests of three individuals for drug and terrorism charges. OUMAR ISSA, HAROUNA TOURÉ, and IDRISS ABELRAHMAN arrived in the Southern District of New York early this morning to face charges of conspiracy to commit acts of narco‑terrorism and conspiracy to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization. The charges stem from the defendants' alleged agreement to transport cocaine through West and North Africa with the intent to support three terrorist organizations ‑‑ Al Qaeda, Al Qaeda in the Islamic Magreb ("AQIM"), and the Fuerzas Armadas... US DOJ http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2414701/posts#comment Thu, 24 Dec 2009 22:22:24 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2413365/posts MEXICO CITY – Assailants on Tuesday gunned down the mother, aunt and siblings of a marine killed in a raid that took out one of Mexico's most powerful cartel leaders — sending a chilling message to troops battling the drug war: You go after us, we wipe out your families. The brazen pre-dawn slayings came just hours after the navy honored Melquisedet Angulo as a national hero at a memorial service. Associated Press http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2413365/posts#comment Tue, 22 Dec 2009 23:22:19 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2287378/posts For those interested in exploring one of the greatest internal and transnational threats to the United States, there is a new book out today by Samuel Logan, This is For the Mara Salvatrucha: Inside the MS-13, America's Most Violent Gang. The book traces the history of Brenda Paz, a young Honduran who joins MS-13 and eventually becomes the most effective police witness against the organization, before she was killed. But besides the individual story, the book shows just how powerful and ruthless the MS-13 has become. Given that it now has chapters in thousands of cities across the United States,... COUNTERTERRORISM BLOG.org http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2287378/posts#comment Tue, 7 Jul 2009 16:57:36 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2412480/posts Mexican cops train for tourist police force Three cities plan to launch effort in the spring By Sandra Dibble, UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITERSaturday, December 19, 2009 at 1:18 a.m. Earnie Grafton / Union-TribuneSan Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders congratulated a Mexican police officer at a ceremony yesterday for officers from law enforcement agencies in Tijuana, Ensenada and Rosarito Beach who participated in a training session offered by the San Diego Police Department. Earnie Grafton / Union-TribuneMexican police officers lined up for photos after a ceremony yesterday marking their completion of a training course in San Diego. The officers received instruction in a... Sign On San Diego http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2412480/posts#comment Mon, 21 Dec 2009 21:12:59 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2400610/posts 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... Stratfor Global security http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2400610/posts#comment Fri, 4 Dec 2009 23:49:36 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2374377/posts (Note: This is posted here for archival purposes.) # Note: The following text is a quote: YOU ARE HERE: Home > Reports > Consular Affairs Bulletins > Report Warden Message: Ciudad Juarez (Mexico) Drug Cartel Violence Threat CONSULAR AFFAIRS BULLETINS Americas - Mexico 28 Oct 2009 U.S. Consulate General Ciudad Juarez issued the following Warden Message on October 28: This Warden Message is being issued to inform American citizens traveling to or residing in the Mexican state of Chihuahua that the US Consulate General in Ciudad Juarez received information on October 28, 2009 that drug cartels operating in the city... OSAC.gov http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2374377/posts#comment Fri, 30 Oct 2009 10:49:49 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2368543/posts Hundreds of people have been arrested in Texas and around the country what officials say is the largest single strike at a Mexican drug cartel in the U.S WASHINGTON (October 22, 2009)—U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder calls the arrests of more than 300 people in a series of drug raids in Texas and across the country the largest single strike at a Mexican drug cartel operating here. Holder said at a news conference Thursday that the arrests over the past two days were aimed at the U.S. operations of the La Familia cartel. Click here to find out more! Holder... kwtx TV http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2368543/posts#comment Thu, 22 Oct 2009 17:17:46 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2367889/posts EL PASO, Texas — An alleged Mexican gang leader named to the FBI's 10 Most Wanted list may have surgically altered his face and changed his finger prints to hide his identity, federal investigators said Wednesday. Eduardo "Tablas" Ravelo was added earlier this week to the wanted list that includes the likes of Osama Bin Laden and Boston crime lord James "Whitey" Bulger. "From what I've heard, it's my understanding he may have had ... plastic surgery and manipulated his finger prints," said Samantha Mikeska, the FBI's lead investigator in a 5-year-old probe of Ravelo's Barrio Azteca gang. If Ravelo... Houston Chronicle/AP http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2367889/posts#comment Wed, 21 Oct 2009 22:17:04 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2354433/posts Note: The following text is a quote: Home » Briefing Room » Justice News Deputy Attorney General David W. Ogden Speaks at Project Gunrunner Press Conference HOUSTON ~ Thursday, October 1, 2009 Good morning. I am happy to be here today with ATF Acting Director Melson and our partners in state and local law enforcement to highlight the real successes of Project Gunrunner and announce our plans to build upon those accomplishments. This administration and this Justice Department have made protecting the integrity of our Southwest Border a top priority. That means stemming the tide of illegal drugs and illegal... US DOJ.gov/dag - Speech http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2354433/posts#comment Sun, 4 Oct 2009 03:39:53 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2348683/posts Suspected drug hitmen burst into a Mexican radio station and shot dead a journalist in front of his colleagues in the latest brazen attack on the media, authorities and a Mexican newspaper said on Thursday. Gunmen shot Norberto Miranda, 44, several times in the rural town of Nuevo Casas Grandes in Chihuahua state near the U.S. border on Wednesday night. "His body was found full of bullets in the radio's offices," said a spokesman for the Chihuahua attorney general's office. The newspaper El Diario said Miranda, who was well-known locally, had recently reported on growing drug violence in the remote... Reuters Via Yahoo News http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2348683/posts#comment Sat, 26 Sep 2009 08:08:02 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2343158/posts As a high-ranking U.S. anti-drug official, Richard Padilla Cramer held front-line posts in the war on Mexico's murderous cartels. He led an office of two dozen agents in Arizona and was the attache for Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Guadalajara. While in Mexico... Cramer also served as a secret ally of drug lords.... allegedly advised traffickers on law enforcement tactics and pulled secret files to help them identify turncoats. He charged $2,000 for a Drug Enforcement Administration document that was sent to a suspect in Miami.... But the investigation revealed that he worked for "a very high-level drug lord," the... LA Times http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2343158/posts#comment Fri, 18 Sep 2009 20:39:28 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2341588/posts Ciudad Juarez, Mexico (AHN) - Gunmen attacked a rehabilitation clinic for drug addicts in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico Tuesday killing 10 people, including therapists. Authorities do not know the motive of the 10:15 p.m. attack on the Life Annex treatment center that killed two therapists and eight patients as well as wounding two more, according to Enrique Torres, a spokesman of the government security forces. Witnesses said the attackers were eight armed men, who fled after the massacre. The attack was the second directed against a drug rehabilitation clinic in two weeks. The previous attack saw 18 people executed at the... All Headline News http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2341588/posts#comment Thu, 17 Sep 2009 01:15:36 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2341349/posts CIUDAD JUAREZ, Mexico, Sept 16 (Reuters) - Suspected drug hitmen have killed 10 patients in a Mexican rehabilitation clinic, the second such attack this month in the city of Ciudad Juarez on the U.S. border, authorities said on Wednesday. Drug gangs have targeted rehab clinics in the manufacturing city across from El Paso, Texas, accusing them of protecting dealers from rival gangs. State attorney spokesman Vladimir Tuexi said the victims, nine men and one woman, were killed late on Tuesday as they finished praying before going to bed. Reuters http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2341349/posts#comment Wed, 16 Sep 2009 20:06:18 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2334801/posts Rosalio Reta: "I liked the lifestyle... killing people" Prisoner 1447523's name is Rosalio Reta. He was born and raised in Texas. By the age of 13 he was an assassin for one of Mexico's drug cartels. Convicted of two murders (he says he killed many more), he will probably spend the rest of his life behind bars. Hanging around with his friends in Mexico (in the border areas many people frequently cross over on business and pleasure), one told him his brother worked for a cartel. "I thought it was cool. Got involved. That's how everything started. There's no way... BBC http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2334801/posts#comment Tue, 8 Sep 2009 19:41:43 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2330492/posts MEXICO CITY – The U.S. has released $214 million of an aid package to help Mexico fight drug trafficking, including funds for five helicopters for the military to be delivered by year's end, a top State Department official said Tuesday. The helicopters will be the first to be sent to Mexico under the Merida Initiative, a three-year, $1.4 billion program to train and equip law enforcement to deal with the ruthless cartels, said David Johnson, U.S. assistant secretary for international narcotics and law enforcement. He said $214 million of the package has been spent or committed. The funds have gone... AP on Yahoo http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2330492/posts#comment Wed, 2 Sep 2009 17:13:24 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2328256/posts Clinics in Violent Mexican City to Turn Away Gunshot Victims   CIUDAD JUAREZ – Private clinics in Ciudad Juarez, the scene of a bloody turf war between rival drug cartels, are refusing to treat victims of gunshot wounds due to the risk to their staff and other patients. Representatives of the clinics told authorities during a meeting that they could no longer receive this type of patients because cartel hit men have occasionally gone to hospitals to finish off a member of a rival drug mob who survived an attack. Luis Carlos Esquivel, coordinator of Mexico’s State Health Services,... The Latin American Herald Tribune http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2328256/posts#comment Mon, 31 Aug 2009 01:24:31 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2327736/posts Reporting from Mexico City - A Mexican lawyer who has represented some of the country's best-known drug suspects was stabbed to death outside his home, authorities said Saturday. Americo Delgado was ambushed Friday evening by at least three men in the city of Toluca, an hour or so outside Mexico City, police said. He was stabbed in the neck, officials said. They did not identify a possible motive. Over the years, Delgado, said to be 81, has represented a number of prominent drug figures, including Tijuana crime boss Benjamin Arellano Felix and Jesus Amezcua, one of the so-called "methamphetamine kings."... LA Times http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2327736/posts#comment Sun, 30 Aug 2009 00:36:20 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2327595/posts The Drug Enforcement Administration Friday announced that it found 14,500 marijuana plants growing in a Colorado national park, authorities say are linked to Mexican drug cartels...... they have seen an increase in outdoor marijuana operations run by Mexican drug cartels. In the most recent Colorado case, the marijuana was found in "the remote, rugged terrain" of Pike National Forest, which is about 60 miles southwest of Denver. "The persons who were involved in this criminal activity had no regard for the damage caused to the forest and environment by the waste they left behind," said Jeffrey D. Sweetin, special agent... Washington Times http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2327595/posts#comment Sat, 29 Aug 2009 19:48:59 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2323051/posts Note: The following text is a quote: Travel Alert U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE Bureau of Consular Affairs This information is current as of today, Mon Aug 24 2009 01:02:34 GMT-0700 (PDT). Mexico August 20, 2009 The Department of State has issued this Travel Alert to update security information for U.S. citizens traveling to and living in Mexico. It supersedes the Travel Alert for Mexico dated February 20, 2009, and expires on February 20, 2010. While millions of U.S. citizens safely visit Mexico each year (including tens of thousands who cross the land border every day for study, tourism or business),... U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE Bureau of Consular Affairs - Travel Alert http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2323051/posts#comment Mon, 24 Aug 2009 08:05:47 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2321870/posts Note: The following text is a quote: Ten Alleged Mexican Drug Cartel Leaders Among 43 Defendants Indicted in Brooklyn and Chicago as Part of Coordinated Strike Against Mexican Drug Trafficking Organizations WASHINGTON – Forty-three defendants in the United States and Mexico, including 10 alleged Mexican drug cartel leaders, have been charged in 12 indictments unsealed yesterday and today in U.S. federal courts in Brooklyn and Chicago, the Department of Justice, U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) announced. The alleged leaders and other high-ranking members of several of Mexico’s most powerful drug cartels are charged... US DOJ.gov/opa - Press Release http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2321870/posts#comment Sat, 22 Aug 2009 09:04:40 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2321087/posts MEXICO CITY (AP) - Mexico enacted a controversial law on Thursday decriminalizing possession of small amounts of marijuana, cocaine, heroin and other drugs while encouraging government-financed treatment for drug dependency free of charge. The law sets out maximum "personal use" amounts for drugs, also including LSD and methamphetamine. People detained with those quantities will no longer face criminal prosecution; the law goes into effect on Friday. NYT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2321087/posts#comment Fri, 21 Aug 2009 09:53:19 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2317955/posts But 'gardeners' escape; pot-grow cooking fire blamed for S. Calif. wildfire From KTVZ.COM news sources Days after tribal police and federal agents seized 1,630 marijuana plants worth an estimated $5 million from a remote area of the Warm Springs Indian Reservation, authorities in California said Sunday a more than 85,000-acre wildfire in Santa Barbara County had been traced to a cooking fire at an illegal marijuana grow. Friday's Warm Springs raid marked the fourth time in just over two years that police have busted a major pot grow on the reservation, tied to Mexican drug gangs. The total seized -... KTVZ http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2317955/posts#comment Mon, 17 Aug 2009 16:15:33 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2317334/posts Date: August 15, 2009 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE FIRE INVESTIGATORS DETERMINE CAUSE OF LA BREA FIRE GOLETA, CA... A week-long investigation by U.S. Forest Service Special Agents, Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Narcotics Unit and Fire Investigators has revealed the cause of the La Brea Fire. Investigators revealed that the La Brea Fire was started by a cooking fire in a marijuana drug trafficking operation. The Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Narcotics Unit has confirmed that the camp at the origin of the fire was an illegal marijuana operation believed to be run by a Mexican National Drug Organization. The Narcotics Unit has... Incident Information System http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2317334/posts#comment Sun, 16 Aug 2009 17:11:24 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2315486/posts CIUDAD JUAREZ, Mexico — Gunmen attacked a vehicle carrying a prison director in the northern Mexico state of Chihuahua, killing three bodyguards and wounding two more seriously, authorities said Wednesday. Prison director Gerardo Hernandez was unharmed in the attack late Tuesday, but has been replaced in the post for his own safety, Chihuahua state Public Safety Secretary Victor Valencia said. He started the job in June. Valencia said the two surviving guards are in serious condition at local hospitals. The attack occurred in the state capital, also known as Chihuahua. In the border city of Nuevo Laredo, city police found... Houston Chronicle/AP http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2315486/posts#comment Thu, 13 Aug 2009 23:21:38 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2314520/posts Expanding Corruption in the United States Another disturbing result of the northward expansion of the cartels is that corruption has seeped across the border into the United States. This is to be expected, given the money involved and the way the United States has for years mismanaged the border. For example, Rey Guerra, sheriff of Starr County, Texas, pled guilty in 2009 to charges that he exchanged information to drug traffickers for money and gifts. And on a federal level a U.S. customs memo of June 29, 1990, obtained by Narco News and published in 2004, tells of corruption that... Family Security Matters http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2314520/posts#comment Wed, 12 Aug 2009 22:09:24 GMT