NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF FORMER BORDER PATROL OFFICERS
Visit our website: http://www.nafbpo.org
Foreign News Report

The National Association of Former Border Patrol Officers (NAFBPO) extracts and condenses the material that follows from Mexican and Central and South American on-line media sources on a daily basis. You are free to disseminate this information, but we request that you credit NAFBPO as being the provider.

Friday, 11/20/09

El Financiero (Mexico City) 11/19/09

President Calderón talks about immigration

- full article transl. – President Calderón ratified his conviction about providing a legal, orderly and humane direction to the migratory flow which takes place from Mexico to the United States, because it is “unacceptable” that 400 Mexicans should die each year while attempting to cross the border. The head of the federal Executive pointed out that, in chats with American members of congress, or with President Barack Obama himself, he has always stated that the objective is not to be a government that may improve or perfect the export of a workforce.

He stated, “Our objective is that someday the people may not have to go due to necessity, but, on the contrary, that they may be able to obtain in Mexico the working conditions and the opportunities that, simply, it has not been possible to generate here.” In Ticuitaco, the head of state led the placing of a cornerstone of the civic plaza “Doctor Jose Hernandez Moreno”, the astronaut of Mexican origin who was a member of a space mission on the  shuttle Discovery in September. In this community, where tens of men have left their families to emigrate and seek employment in the United States, Calderón-Hinojosa cited the astronaut as an example, due to the perseverance and effort he made to reach greater heights.

He said that it is the most daring people who go away, the bravest, most courageous and hardest working, and that is to the detriment of not only their family, but the economy also loses the best of its people, and politics, since leaders go away, responsible persons who would be able to lead their communities and take them to a better destiny. Felipe Calderón pointed out that migration is a reality that must be changed, but not by means of decrees or fences, but by means of the generation of work options here in Mexico.

He pointed out that Hernandez Moreno is one of the most distinguished scientists of Mexico and the United States, because of his perseverance and desire to study, and he added that one must dream very high “and not only that. But to have the will, the courage and the wherewithal to be able to fight and with everything.” (sic) He emphasized, “So, fellow countrymen, let us dream big and let us have the courage and the wherewithal to go, pursue and reach the dream of a better Michoacán and a better Mexico.”

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La Prensa Grafica (San Salvador, El Salvador) 11/18/09

Poverty in Latin America

A report by the executive secretary of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (CEPAL) shows that 14 million additional persons in Latin America will join the ranks of poverty and indigence. Prior to the start of the economic crisis which began in the last quarter of last year there were 251 million poor and indigents in the region. The number of poor will encompass 34.1 percent of the region’s total population.

But, also today, “El Universal” (Mexico City) added to this by reporting that Mexico and Venezuela will account for the majority of those going into poverty. It also stated that the poor in the region total 189 million. Following on this theme, “El Financiero” (Mexico City) today headlined that Mexico will have 37 million poor by year’s end.

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El Diario, Norte,(both Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua) 11/18/09

More bloodshed in Juarez

Two agents of the Police Intelligence Center (CIPOL) were gunned down this morning while at a gas station in Juarez. Two other agents and two gas station attendants were also shot but survived. Four hours earlier, also in Juarez, two “Ministerial” state police agents were ambushed and killed in a car-to-car gunfire assault elsewhere in town. Five other persons were assassinated in Ciudad Juarez yesterday, and a male and female couple was wounded by firearms. According to press data, November now tallies 140 homicide victims in Juarez, while the year’s total is 2,252.

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El Imparcial (Hermosillo, Sonora) 11/18/09

Heroin northbound in Sonora

Mex. federal police found a total of 4.5 kilos (9.9 lbs.) of heroin aboard northbound passenger buses that had come from Culiacan, Sinaloa, and were bound for Ciudad Obregon and for Hermosillo, Sonora. One passenger was arrested in each of the buses.

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El Porvenir (Monterrey, Nuevo Leon) 11/18/09

Police chiefs arrested

Formal orders were issued yesterday for the arrest of the former chiefs of police of the cities of Monterrey, of its satellite city of Guadalupe, and of the nearby city of Montemorelos, state of Nuevo Leon. (Monterrey is the center of a large metropolitan area.) All three ex-chiefs were found to have been collaborating with the narco-criminal group, the “Zetas.” Ten other police officers were also named in the arrest order.

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El Universal (Mexico City) 11/18/09

More marihuana

Mex. military personnel seized 2,229 kilos (4,893.8 lbs.) of weed at a highway checkpoint between Mexicali and Tijuana, Baja Calif. The drug was in 438 packages and hidden in a truck hauling a load of cereal.

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The issue of corruption continued to reverberate in the Mexican press today, and producing items such as the cartoon below. It reads : “Corruption: Let us be optimists: Mexico is more corrupt than 88 countries….. but less corrupt than 91 countries!”

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- end of report -

NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF FORMER BORDER PATROL OFFICERS
 Visit our website: http://www.nafbpo.org
Foreign News Report

The National Association of Former Border Patrol Officers (NAFBPO) extracts and condenses the material that follows from Mexican and Central and South American on-line media sources on a daily basis. You are free to disseminate this information, but we request that you credit NAFBPO as being the provider.

Thursday, 11/19/09

El Imparcial (Hermosillo, Sonora) 11/18/09

Marihuana in Nogales

Mexican military on patrol in Nogales, Sonora, found 617 kilos of marihuana and a .45 cal. pistol under a tarp on a lot. The weed, in 73 packages, was double wrapped inside dual plastic layers. The packages had powdered soap between the two outside layers to attempt to foil detection.

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El Diario (Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua) 11/18/09

Marihuana in Chihuahua

Mexican federal police seized just over eight metric tons of marihuana on the highway between Nuevo Casas Grande and Janos, in the northwestern corner of the state of Chihuahua. (This is just south of the “boot-heel” in the S.W. corner of the state of New Mexico.) Most of the load, 7 tons, 368 kilos, was hidden under a cargo of soft drinks in an 18-wheeler. The balance, 667 kilos, was found stuffed inside the tires of a second truck.

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More ho-hum from Ciudad Juarez

The following item was found in the 12^th place of this paper’s local news section column: “Another 8 executed yesterday.” [But “Norte”, another Juarez paper, reported that the year’s total in Ciudad Juarez is now 2,243.]

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Excelsior (Mexico City) 11/18/09

Marihuana in Tamaulipas

Found abandoned in the bushes near Camargo, Tamaulipas (just across the Rio Grande from Rio Grande City, TX): 46 packages of weed with a total weight of 462 kilos. Nearby: an ’08 Chrysler, also abandoned, but with “two bags with drug,” and bearing TX lic. W68-FVM.

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Just another day in Tijuana

In Tijuana, Mex. military personnel detained four subjects who had “crystal”, marihuana, chemical precursors for narcotics, 11 long barrel firearms, 6 handguns, a fragmentation grenade, 2,859 rounds of ammo, 58 clips and four vehicles.

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El Siglo de Torreon (Torreon, Coahuila) 11/18/09

Another hanger

In Tlaquepaque, Jalisco – just outside Guadalajara – a taxi driver got in touch with police this morning because he saw that the lifeless body of an unidentified man was hanging by the neck from a highway overpass. The victim’s hands were also tied with the same rope.

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Ocho Columnas (Guadalajara, Jalisco) 11/18/09

African migration

The UN High Commission for Refugees reports that there’s a growing number of African migrants arriving in Latin American countries such as Mexico. According to a UNHCR official for southern Latin America, some of these persons head toward Mexico & Guatemala, while in transit to the United States, while others head to Argentina, Chile & Brazil. These migrants are mainly from Senegal, Ivory Coast and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

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El Financiero (Mexico City) 11/18/09

The economy and Mexican migrants

According to the “Situacion Migracion Mexico”, produced by the Studies Service of BBVA Bancomer [a large financial institution], Mexican workers have not been particularly affected  by the crisis in the United States in comparison with the general population, nor has there been the massive return of migrants that was being forecast early in the year. It’s calculated that of the eight million jobs lost in the U.S., 10% were those of Mexican migrants as well as those from 2^nd and 3^rd generations. Of this total, it’s estimated that 80% were those of migrants. Even though the construction, commerce and manufacturing sectors have shown important decreases since 2007 (70% of lost jobs have been in these sectors), Mexicans have been able to place themselves in areas such as tourism, transport and agriculture.

Due to the recent stability shown by the U.S. economy, the perspectives for Mexican migrants have a positive tendency for 2010, which will in turn mean an increase of between 1 and 5% for individual monetary remittances into Mexico.

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Cambio de Michoacán (Morelia, Michoacán) 11/18/09

Commentaries about the U.S. – Full transl. of portion of an op/col. by Carlos Tapia -

The Latin community marked a triumph when being able to bring about the resignation of Lou Dobbs, well known anti-immigrant announcer of the CNN chain. A coalition of Hispanic origin groups, where the National Council of La Raza stands out, promoted a campaign to insert a paid commercial against Dobbs, but it was rejected by CNN. Still, the pressure kept growing until Lou Dobbs announced his withdrawal on the air. Several of his anti-immigrant hate commentaries can be seen on YouTube. Despite the calls for moderation and the right to response, he built a campaign of lies and verbal abuses against the undocumented, particularly Mexican ones. The resignation of the commentator seemed to frame the announcement by Janet Napolitano, Secretary of Internal Security (sic) of the United States, who affirmed that Obama’s government expects that the Congress of her country will push for an integral immigration reform at the start of 2010. That is good news, but it places the responsibility on the congressmen.

Thus, President Obama frees himself from his campaign promise and prepares himself for other battles. Janet Napolitano affirmed that the reform will have three main bases: a serious and efficient control of immigration, a favorable solution for families and workers, and firmness, but with justice, in the treatment of the twelve million undocumented who are in that country. An example of a serious and efficient control for some Americans is offered by the celebrated Secure Communities Initiative, which the Immigration Service and Customs Control (ICE) [sic] of the Department of Internal Security (DHS) of the United States, which has identified more than 110 thousand criminal aliens. It’s a program in conjunction with local authorities which, since October 2008, has arrested aliens according to three levels: Level 1, homicide, rape and kidnapping (1,900 individuals already deported), and Levels 2 & 3, with more than 100 thousand convicted for robbery and serious crimes against property. Many [of them], undocumented immigrants.

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The recent report from Transparency International showed Mexico’s worsening corruption score and standing. The report has triggered a sizeable number of commentaries and also a reaction such as the cartoon below (corrupt-o-meter)

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- end of report -

NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF FORMER BORDER PATROL OFFICERS
Visit our website: http://www.nafbpo.org
Foreign News Report

The National Association of Former Border Patrol Officers (NAFBPO) extracts and condenses the material that follows from Mexican and Central and South American on-line media sources on a daily basis. You are free to disseminate this information, but we request that you credit NAFBPO as being the provider.

Wednesday, 11/18/09

El Sol de Mexico (Mexico City) 11/17/09 [Also in dozens of other papers of this chain]

Mexican senator: destroy all fences – full transl. –

PRD (pol. party) Senator Pablo Gomez Alvarez, who said he was for the destruction of fences on national borders, stated that the construction of fences to divide territorial limits represents acts of xenophobia, of superiority and of rejection to what is different. The legislator from the Distrito Federal explained that various fences have been built between countries in the course of history to avoid the risk of immigrants, illnesses, wars, and contraband, among others; nevertheless, this has demonstrated “that the physical borders are insufficient to undermine peoples, nor their desire to prosper and forge ahead.”

Pablo Gomez stated that, 20 years after the fall of the Berlin Wall, the world is still divided due to the installation of structures which separate “families, peoples and countries.” Nevertheless, he emphasized that “what causes us the most pain” is the decision of the American government to protect one third of its border with Mexico, to prevent the entrance of undocumented immigrants. Because of this, he requested the Senate of the Republic to urge the United Nations Organization, by means of its General Assembly, to approve a mandate that would require the destruction of the fences that divide countries, cities and continents, and that it prohibit their possible construction.

Lastly, he commented that the building of divisions has aggravated sentiments of xenophobia, of nationalistic superiority, of rejection to what is different; principles which sought to be extinct during the years after the World War II. Gomez Alvarez ended, “We must learn from the errors of the past century, the consequences of the Second World War, the creation of false borders, the division of countries and continents by the winners of a long and devastating war.”

http://www.oem.com.mx/elsoldemexico/notas/n1404664.htm

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El Debate (Culiacan, Sinaloa) 11/17/09

Mexico’s corruption ranking worsens

Transparency International is a civil organization which measures the levels of corruption in 180 countries around the world. Countries are assigned a numerical value from 1, that representing the highest level of corruption, up to 10, representing the least level. Last year, Mexico was in the 72^nd place among the 180 countries ranked; it has now fallen 17 places (to the 89^th) and scored a 3.3; other low scoring Latin American countries were Guatemala (3.4), Peru and Colombia (both 3.7)

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Diario Xalapa (Xalapa, Veracruz) 11/17/09

Alien smuggling

A truck loaded with children’s furniture ended up abandoned on the side of the road when it lost a wheel while northbound on the highway from Mexico City to Pachuca, state of Hidalgo. The driver fled. There were also 28 illegal aliens hidden under the truck’s false bottom. The 20 males and 8 females aiming to reach the United States were all from Guatemala and Honduras. Mexican federal police reports that 600 undocumented aliens were located in October at various control points around the country.

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El Diario (Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua) 11/17/09

Ho-hum in Juarez

This item was found buried in the seventh place of a secondary listing of local events in Juarez: “Seven assassinated yesterday.” A cursory digest of those murders then followed.

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Prensa Libre (Guatemala City, Guatemala) 11/17/09

Guatemalan deportation numbers

Guatemala’s Migration Agency reported today that 24,296 Guatemalans who were in the United States illegally have now been deported this year. The number for November reached 931. According to Guatemala’s Chancery (equiv. Dep’t. of State), there are 1.2 million Guatemalans residing in the U.S., of which 60% are here illegally.

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Milenio (Mexico City) 11/17/09

Lessons from Dobbs – full transl. of op/col. by Leon Krauze, titled as shown

The departure from CNN of Lou Dobbs, the aggressive and xenophobic news commentator who until recently made good use of his air time to opine obsessively about the immigration debate, has been read a thousand ways by the Mexican press. Of course, the most natural analysis – but also the most naïve – esteemed Sir or Lady: the one that supposes that Dobbs was a victim of his prejudices. It’s true that various Latin organizations in the United States had started a harsh campaign against him. It’s also true that the voice of the Hispanic community is more and more respected and feared not only in Washington but in the sales offices of the large communications media. At least since 2008, hitting the Hispanic agenda without mercy is not good business, neither politically nor commercially. But to presume that Latin power is already such that it can determine which personality stays, or not, on the air, is to live in a naïve bubble inhabited by those who believe that a migratory reform will take place at some moment between now and 2012. The number of anti-immigrant voices in the American communications media is, and will continue to be, amazing. No Latin organization will be able to get Rush Limbaugh off the air, the king of kings of the anti-immigrant discourse. Neither will they be able to get Bill O’Reilly, another similar figure, thrown out from Fox News. To say nothing of the reserves of power from radical journalists in American community radios. The reality of the departure of Dobbs from the CNN is less interesting from the political point of view but much more provoking for those who study the current dynamics of the communication media. Lou Dobbs went from CNN because the network understood that Lou Dobbs Tonight no longer met CNN’s own principal mission: to inform before opining. For some years now, Dobbs had used his air time, which was at first informative, to impose an agenda much closer to a blatant propaganda than to the admirable sobriety of a reporter of his stature. In other words, Dobbs had ceased being a journalist and converted himself into an editorialist. He opted to turn himself into a polemic and polarizing figure closer to Limbaugh or Glenn Beck – a hysterical person who also uses his “informative” air time to opine – than to the legendary Walter Cronkite or the even more admirable Edward R. Murrow. The key to understanding Dobbs’ departure is in his farewell. Upon leaving his program, Dobbs accepted that he wanted “to contribute in a different manner and to understand the problems of our time.” Further, he acknowledged having received various suggestions “from politicians, media persons and business leaders” to “reconsider” his role in CNN. One does not need to be a genius to read between the lines: Dobbs had the courage to accept that his show no longer was about information and had become the formation of public opinion. CNN, meanwhile, announced that Dobbs’ program will be replaced by a news program run by John King, a straightforward and proven reporter who, it’s supposed, will have no ambition other than to inform. It’s a dangerous gamble from the commercial point of view (in U.S. cable television, nothing sells better than ideological opinion programs), but commendable from the journalistic viewpoint: it will always be more complicated and admirable to report than to opine.

The history of Lou Dobbs and CNN has interesting readings from and for Mexico. In our country, the programs led by journalists who have preferred to become big propagandists are more and more in vogue. The phenomenon happens especially in radio, which is by definition a much more noble medium than television. After all, there’s nothing wrong in that a journalist may opt for opinion. Who are we to criticize a colleague’s narcissism? What is an error is when that journalist has the audacity of continuing to present his own view as objective news. In that respect, several Mexican journalists ought to learn from Lou Dobbs. Better to be a repugnant xenophobe, who is assumed as such, than a journalist who hides his propaganda spirit behind a veil of purity.

http://impreso.milenio.com/node/8674586

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- end of report -

NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF FORMER BORDER PATROL OFFICERS
 Visit our website: http://www.nafbpo.org
Foreign News Report

The National Association of Former Border Patrol Officers (NAFBPO) extracts and condenses the material that follows from Mexican and Central and South American on-line media sources on a daily basis. You are free to disseminate this information, but we request that you credit NAFBPO as being the provider.

 El Financiero (Mexico city) 11/16/09

The Mexican Army delivered another blow to narcotraffic by seizing a load of over 12 tons of marihuana and four vehicles — one, a large Kenworth truck — in the town of Choix, Sinaloa.  No arrests were reported.  [Photo relates.]

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- end of report -

NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF FORMER BORDER PATROL OFFICERS
Visit our website: http://www.nafbpo.org
Foreign News Report

The National Association of Former Border Patrol Officers (NAFBPO) extracts and condenses the material that follows from Mexican and Central and South American on-line media sources on a daily basis. You are free to disseminate this information, but we request that you credit NAFBPO as being the provider.

 Saturday 11/14/09

 El Universal (Mexico City) 11/13/09

 UN idea rejected

A number of business organizations in Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua, have called for a United Nations peace force to come to their city to quell the violence of narco-traffic and other organized crime activities, but President Calderón today rejected that possibility or any other involving foreign intervention.  In his statement, Calderón said, “Clearly, it is not a case that requires it.  Mexico would not accept the presence or any foreign intervention in the country, for these are matters of internal security.”

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Another tunnel found in Baja California

An anonymous tip to Baja California state police led to the discovery of a narco-tunnel in Mexicali, the state capital bordering Calexico, California.  The five-meter tunnel under construction contained sophisticated pneumatic equipment, valued at over 75,000 dollars, for excavation and removal of soil.  Three people were arrested in connection with the construction.

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Arrests of 51 for narco-traffic in Chiapas

Federal agents carried out 17 search operations in the state of Chiapas, netting 51 arrests for narco-activities.  The operation also resulted in the seizures of drugs, ammo and vehicles.

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Good morning, Uruapan

Presumed rival gangs of thugs shot it out in Uruapan, Michoacán, early this morning, gaining the attention of the police who joined in.  The battle involved AK-47 assault rifles and at least one fragmentation grenade.  No deaths and only one injury, a police agent, resulted from the firefight.  The gangs fled, dispersing into the streets with the police in pursuit.  No arrests were reported.

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Big bucks seized

The Mexican Army in Tijuana, Baja California, seized over two million dollars stashed in a home in the Playas de Tijuana section of the city.  The discovery was made due to a citizen report.  The Army also seized five firearms.  The National Secretary of Defense qualified the seizure as “a forcible blow to the economic base of narco-traffic and organized crime.”

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More Sinaloa violence

Authorities in Culiacan, Sinaloa, discovered the incinerated bodies of four people in a taxi.  Two of the bodies were inside the auto and the other two were in the trunk.  This discovery brings the execution style murders in the state to over 1,000 so far this year.

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Novel idea from Mexico

The El Universal editorial, “Reduce it, already,” opens with the following paragraph:

Alianza Civica, one of the civil organizations with major purpose and prestige in Mexico, in the past few days launched a campaign as attractive as it is simple: reduce the budget of the political parties. Reduce it already! is the title, an idea that — perhaps like none other — can unite the great majority of citizens around the same cause.

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 Cambio de Michoacan (Morelia, Michoacan) 11/13/09

 Mexican profiling

Added to constant citizen reports against the Mexican federal police in the state of Michoacán for abuse of power and other misbehavior, now they are accused of extortion against Mexican citizens returning from travels to the US.  At the Morelia Airport, various cases have been detected in which federal agents detain arriving travelers on the pretext of inspecting them, but in reality, are seeking minor irregularities as grounds for demanding up to 1,500 pesos [$115] to prevent them from going to jail.  The agents zero in on flights arriving from Chicago, Los Angeles and San Jose to check people for any suspected infraction with which to “obtain some benefit.”

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 Cuarto Poder (Chiapas) 11/13/09

 Community takes law in own hands

Due to the increase in crime and the incapacity of the municipal police to combat it, a community on the north side of the city of San Cristobal de las Casas, Chiapas, has organized to arrest criminals and carry out their own form of justice.  This decision was reached in a meeting of the community’s board of directors and the residents.  Neighborhood watches were formed with four watchmen assigned to each street and avenue.  Residents will use alarms and whistles to alert others of crimes in progress or other emergencies.   A representative of the colony said that when a thief is caught in possession of the stolen articles, he will be detained by the inhabitants “to give him a strong lesson in order to educate him and then he will be turned over to the municipal police.”

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 El Diario de Juarez (Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua) 11/13/09

 US needs to join the fight against crime: Governor of Chihuahua

The governor of Chihuahua, Jose Reyes Baeza, said that before thinking about United Nations participation in the fight against crime in his state, the US should help.  He said that the problem of violence is Mexico’s responsibility, but that the US should commit to preventing arms traffic into Mexico, since it puts Mexico in danger.  

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 El Porvenir (Monterrey, Nuevo Leon) 11/13/09

 Unemployment figures greater this year in Mexico

In the third trimester of this year, 2.9 million people in Mexico are unemployed, with the rate at 6.2%.  Last year at this period, the unemployment rate was 4.2%.

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 Frontera (Tijuana, Baja California) 11/13/09

 “Crystal” seized

Two men in possession of six kilos of “crystal” [a form of methamphetamine], two 9mm pistols, 7,000 dollars and 8,000 pesos were arrested by the Mexican Army in Tijuana.  Also seized was a Ford sedan with California plates.  [No number given]. 

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 Sunday 11/15/09

 El Universal (Mexico City) 11/14/09

 Mexican Army dismantles narco-lab

Specialists and chemists certified that the amount of synthetic drugs in a clandestine laboratory dismantled by the Army in Sinaloa comes to at least 718 kilos with a market value of over 687 million pesos [$52.5 million US].   The lab was discovered near the village of Los Duarte in the ongoing Operation Culiacan-Navolato.  The end product of the lab was methamphetamine in the form of “crystal”.

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 Cambio de Michoacan (Morelia, Michoacan) 11/14/09

 Crime a good gamble in Mexico

According to a report from a publication of canalsonora.com [reliability unknown], after three years of Mexican federal combat against organized crime, 75% of those arrested for narco related offenses were later released.  From January 2007 to September 2009, there are records of 226,677 people arrested by the Department of justice (PGR). The publication notes the state of Michoacán as one of the three where the presence of the military is prevalent to combat criminal groups.  Nevertheless, only 3,153 arrests have been made and one of every two of those arrested have been absolved of crime.  In addition, the authorities pronounced judgment on only 862 people in 36 months.  The states that lead in the capture of most presumed narco criminals are Jalisco, with 43,153; Baja California, 32,895; Guanajuato, 28,003; and the Federal District, 27,366.  These three states and the Federal District represent 57.9% of the total arrests in the country.

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 Monday 11/16/09

 El Universal (Mexico City) 11/15/09

 Comment from the editorial staff

An editorial comment from El Universal states: In order to play, you have to pay.  Simple.  A group of security experts urged the government to change their anti-narcotic strategy and focus their artillery on attacking the financial structure of the cartels.  The argument is lineal: if it is with money that they buy arms, corrupt police and authorities, and seduce hundreds of youths who find, in dealing out violence, a way to survive and carry home money, then the source of financing must be dealt a blow in order to cut the head off the serpent.  Otherwise, the only thing that will increase is the number of victims.  This is what the experts say.

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Marihuana seized near Reynosa

Mexican federal agents discovered more than three tons of marihuana and some firearms in the community of Arguellas, near the border city of Reynosa, Tamaulipas.  Also seized were three vehicles.  One, a Chevrolet pickup, had Texas plates SNV-T53.

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 El Financiero (Mexico City) 11/15/09

 Mexican police statistics in brief

Mexico has 2,090 police departments within the three levels of government, federal, state and local, which total 409,536 agents, according to the federal Secretary of Security.  In all, 68.3% have a primary education, a quarter of them have completed high school and 4.5% have higher education.  Half of the departments have 20 or fewer officers, making rotation of superiors difficult and the lack of permanence of officers facilitates corruption.

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 La Jornada (Mexico City) 11/15/09

 Mexican arsenal seized in Nicaragua

Managua. During an operation of the National Police and Army, an arsenal presumably belonging to the Mexican Sinaloa cartel was seized.  The arms consisted of 53 AK [sic} rifles, 19,000 rounds of ammo, an M-79 grenade launcher, 10 M-19 grenades, 10 200-gram bags of TNT and another 10 of 400-gram dynamite.  The arms were believed to have been in transport to Mexico when intercepted.  After a brief exchange of gunfire, those transporting it fled and there were no injuries or arrests.

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 El Imparcial (Hermosillo, Sonora) 11/15/09

 Gun battles in Nogales

Two gun battles in Nogales, Sonora, left three dead this morning.  At the site of one gunfight, shells from AK-47 rifles were found along with a revolver handgun.

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Another gunfight, poorly reported

A gunfight near Ciudad Obregon, Sonora, resulted in the deaths of four people, injuries to three others and four arrested. [This was the essence of the report.  A reader comment follows.]  Between who was the gun battle?  Police and bad guys?  The other ones who died and others who were wounded? Or were the victims innocents?  Did they capture all the participants of the fight or were the four only part of the total?

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 -end of report-

NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF FORMER BORDER PATROL OFFICERS
Visit our website: http://www.nafbpo.org
Foreign News Report

The National Association of Former Border Patrol Officers (NAFBPO) extracts and condenses the material that follows from Mexican and Central and South American on-line media sources on a daily basis. You are free to disseminate this information, but we request that you credit NAFBPO as being the provider.

Friday, 11/13/09

Prensa Libre (Guatemala City, Guatemala) 11/12/09

Cops and robbers I

In Guatemala, a court has ordered the arrest of eleven members of the National Civil Police (“PNC”) suspected of involvement in the theft of a load of 119 kilos of cocaine last August. Among the eleven is Porfirio Perez, who was then the head of the “PNC”; he is already detained due to the theft of 350,000 dollars found in a vehicle in Chimaltenango. Other high and mid-level officials of the “PNC” are included in the arrest order. The truck where the cocaine was found is believed to have been carrying more than 1,000 kilos of the drug.

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Excelsior (Mexico City) 11/12/09

Cops and robbers II

A week ago, in Mexicali, Baja Calif., two federal police officials were murdered and a third one was wounded. Three armed men who carried out the attack have now been detained. All three turned out to be officers of the “Ministerial Federal Police” of Mexico.

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Norte (Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua) 11/12/09

Juarez & Chihuahua tidbits

Today’s item headlines in the paper’s “Insecurity” section:

Two state security chiefs assassinated in Chihuahua * * * * Another business locale set on fire * * * * One patrol unit crash every day; there’s now 333 this year * * * * Witnesses say a military convoy allows extortionists to escape * * * * Six murdered yesterday; three others wounded* * * * Judge orders prison for state police agents.

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El Sur (Acapulco, Guerrero) 11/12/09

Weapons in Guerrero state

Near La Union, Guerrero (up the coast from Acapulco) federal police and naval personnel seized weapons believed to belong to the “Familia Michoacána” criminal group. The items located included 19 rifles (AK47, AR15 & MAK90), a .50 cal. Barret rifle, 9 handguns, 14 fragmentation grenades, 4,606 rounds of ammo, 134 loaders, vests, belts & other gear.

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Agora (Chihuahua, Chih.) 11/12/09

Weapons in Ciudad Juarez

An anonymous report caused Mex. military to arrest Hector Retana Garcia, 39, in Juarez. Retana was driving an ’03 Suzuki with Texas lic. V20DGM. Inside the vehicle: five AK47 rifles, two AR15 rifles, a 9 mm. sub-machine gun, 38 loaders, and ammo.

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El Heraldo, (Tegucigalpa, Honduras) 11/12/09

Homicide data from Honduras

There have now been 4,214 homicides in Honduras this year, a monthly average of 421 victims and a daily one of 14. This October ended with 498 homicides. The causes are blamed on organized crime and gang membership rivalries. There have also been 92 victims of kidnapping his year. [Honduras is slightly larger than Tennessee.]

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La Hora (Guatemala City, Guatemala) 11/12/09

Homicide data from Guatemala

The president of the “Mutual Support Group” (“GAM”) of Guatemala, Mario Polanco, stated that constant changes of personnel in government agencies are the main reason why the wave of violence flailing the country is not brought to a halt. “GAM” data shows that there have been 3,286 homicides in Guatemala so far this year and that the total for the last three years is now 9,910. This year’s monthly average of homicide victims is 328. Polanco foresees that next year will be even worse.

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La Hora (Quito, Ecuador) 11/12/09

FARC reaches out to Colombian military

Leaders of FARC [the drug trafficking Colombian guerillas) have reached out to members of Colombia’s military to join them in rejecting the accord signed between Bogota and Washington, which allows the U.S. to use seven military bases in Colombia. The FARC’s message, sent via the internet, does not indicate clearly whether they wish for the military to be insubordinate or to leave the military ranks as a form of rejecting the military cooperation accord, which FARC calls “a poison dagger buried” in the country. Last October 30, Colombia and the U.S. signed a 10 year, renewable agreement which grants U.S. civilian and military personnel access to seven Colombian military installations, thus amplifying a years-long cooperation and presence. Colombia has insisted that the operations from the bases are against drug traffic and subversion, and that they will be restricted to national territory. But nations such as Venezuela have said that the U.S. forces represent a “threat” to their national security because Washington seeks to de-stabilize its government.

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Frontera (Tijuana, Baja Calif.) 11/12/09

Border walls [last paragraph of an op/col. by Oscar Genel re: anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall]

There are walls still to be torn down. Some are already built and others are still projects, but both divide, separate and place farther apart the peoples who, in that reality, suffer the weight of the stronger one, the oppression of the richer one, the arrogance of the developed one. That eyesore that is there, in plain view of all, at the reach of any hand, as a wound when it is intended and as an affront when it is reality. The walls to be torn down are many and the official desires for that to happen are quite few; they almost do not exist in the minds and programs of governments of the countries of the so-called first world. The Germans enjoyed the fall of the wall that separated them. We Mexicans will most likely not see the fall of the bricks that offend us, that affront us as a people who deserve respect and consideration from their neighbors, because we don’t have the government officials which we deserve, because there are no social leaders with such stature, because we are destined as a country to be the back yard of the house inhabited by the rich ones from the North.

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Scroll down to see the attachment, a cartoon from “El Financiero”. The goon wears a belt buckle which reads: “Organized Crime’. His victims are Lady Justice and the Winged Victory statues. The latter refers to the angel atop the well known Mexico City monument on the city center’s Paseo de la Reforma.

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NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF FORMER BORDER PATROL OFFICERS
Visit our website: http://www.nafbpo.org
Foreign News Report

The National Association of Former Border Patrol Officers (NAFBPO) extracts and condenses the material that follows from Mexican and Central and South American on-line media sources on a daily basis. You are free to disseminate this information, but we request that you credit NAFBPO as being the provider.

Thursday, 11/12/09

La Hora (Quito, Ecuador) 11/11/09

Ecuador asks U.S. for immigration reform

The issues of security, commerce and immigration between the United States and Ecuador were dealt with at the U.S. Department of State when a 25 person delegation, including Luis Gallegos, the Ecuadoran Ambassador to the U.S., met with Thomas Shannon, U.S. Undersecretary for Latin America. The Ecuadoran delegation, headed by Jorge Orbe, the Sub-Secretary for Bilateral Relations of the Ministry of Foreign Relations, Commerce and Integration, also brought out the problems which concern the two million Ecuadorans estimated to be residing in the United States. Ambassador Gallegos pointed out the “cultural, social and educational support programs” that Ecuador has developed for the migrants and asked for greater coordination with the U.S. in this area, and he indicated his “preoccupation for the stagnation in the Congress” of the U.S. of the migratory reform project.

Gallegos pointed out: “An extensive legislation concerning the problem of the migrants is necessary. There are organizations arising in this country that criminalize them, and Ecuador maintains an open philosophy in this respect, centered on support for universal citizenship, mobility and family unity.”

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El Diario de Coahuila (Saltillo, Coah.)  11/11/09

The object is not to do away with drug traffic

One of the designers of the current strategy to combat organized crime in Mexico, the ex-Attorney General Eduardo Medina-Mora, now named as Mexico’s Ambassador to Great Britain, asserted that Mexico’s objective is not to do away with narcotraffic but to recuperate peace and tranquility for the country’s inhabitants. He stated this when he appeared before Mexican senators during his ambassadorial confirmation hearings. He added that, while the violence in Mexico is “grave”, it is necessary to place it in its proper dimension and to explain the objectives and tasks which the government carries out. He pointed out: “The fundamental objective of the Mexican state is not to end narcotraffic, that is not a reachable, attainable objective for any country individually.”

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Milenio (Mexico City) 11/11/09

In search of migratory reform for the undocumented [article’s heading in “Milenio”]

-full transl.- Members of the Mexican American Coalition for Migratory reform are in Guadalajara. Their objective is to reach an integral migratory reform for the undocumented Mexicans in the United States, which affects 12 million Mexicans who represent 50 percent of the immigrants who live in the United States, said Lorena Colin, national coordinator.

Alfredo Cuellar, professor at Fresno State University, asserted that the reform will be brought about “but the question is, when? Every second that goes by, the Mexican brothers suffer history’s most terrible hounding and harassment.” The group’s members said that the abuses and the discrimination toward those who lack documents are part of everyday life. “People live in terror. They are the so called modern slaves. They drive in fear while taking their children to school; they go to work; from there they return home and they don’t leave until the following day. They stay at home for fear that it might be the immigration police who knocks at the door,” commented Raul Murillo.

They said that even though President Barack Obama promised, while campaigning, to work on the issue during the first year of his mandate, they have not seen support from him and they pointed out that deportations have increased 47 percent since he became president. Murillo said that even though the round-ups of several years ago are no longer carried out, there is a search for citizens (sic) and they find them in their own homes. But he mentioned that 80 percent of those who return to Mexico were found while other citizens [We believe the speaker quoted here is using the term “citizens” to refer to fellow Mexicans] were being sought. What obligates Mexicans to leave the country is lack of opportunities, they said. Mario Hernandez said: “I urge the federal, state and municipal government to promote employment in Mexico: the long term solution to the migratory problem is to create jobs.”

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La Prensa Grafica (San Salvador, El Salvador) 11/11/09

Monetary remittances decrease

El Salvador’s Central Bank reported that individual monetary remittances from the U.S. to El Salvador reached 2.866 billion dollars from January to October of this year, a ten percent drop from the yearly average. Last year, the total of these remittances to El Salvador reached 3.788 billion dollars. These funds are considered the main prop of that country’s economy.

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Cambio de Michoacan (Morelia, Michoacan) 11/11/09

Drug use rising in Mexico

The number of drug addicts in Mexico has increased 57% since 2002. Marihuana, cocaine and meth-type stimulants have had the highest increase in usage. In Michoacan, cocaine is the drug most often used.

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Correo (Guanajuato, Gto.)  11/11/09

Official: violence increasing in Guanajuato

Mexico’s Dep’t. of Justice representative in the state of Guanajuato warned that the violence perpetrated by criminal groups there is on the increase, and noted that this year there have been 140 executions there. He added that the violence is on an “ascending spiral” because the criminal groups want to settle themselves in the state, but so far officialdom has not permitted it.

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Critica (Hermosillo, Sonora) 11/11/09

Cops and robbers

In Navojoa, state of Sonora, state police investigators managed to arrest four thugs who had been robbing a series of commercial establishments in that city. It turns out that three of them are ex-Navojoa police officers; two of the three had just been let go, one in October and the other in November of this year. The thugs were using an SUV stolen in Tucson, AZ; the radios they had been using had also been stolen from the local police.

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La Jornada (Mexico City) 11/11/09

More cops and robbers

In Juchitepec, state of Mexico, an undetermined number of state security police were wounded when they rescued five alleged kidnappers from a crowd of townspeople who intended to lynch and burn the thugs. The five had kidnapped a local businessman and were asking for a ransom of 500,000 pesos. After the police rescued the five, the mob threw stones and Molotov cocktails at the police facility as a form of protest. Later, it turned out that at least two of the five kidnappers who were about to be hung are also members of the federal security police.  

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Ciudad Juarez: help wanted

Business organizations in Ciudad Juarez have asked for U.N. peace-keeping forces to bring to a halt the increasing violence which affects that city. The head of the Juarez “maquila” [trans-border assembly plants] association requested “the intervention of blue helmets to control the high index of criminality.” She added that the lack of effectiveness by officials at the three levels of government has caused local businesses to ask the U.N. for help. The head of the local chamber of commerce included in his request not only military police from the U.N. but also from the United States. Juarez, with 1.5 million residents, has a homicide rate of 150 per 100,000 inhabitants, one of the world’s most violent.

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El Porvenir (Monterrey, Nuevo Leon) 11/11/09

City transit police sacked

The city of Monterrey today let go 267 members of its traffic department for failure to meet required standards, corruption and failure to pass anti-doping tests. Of the total number, 224 were field enforcement and control agents; the rest were in administrative duties. The mayor also announced a zero tolerance policy from now on.

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El Financiero (Mexico City) 11/11/09

Marihuana haul in the Gulf of Baja

Mexican military and naval personnel seized 1,630 kilos (3,586 lbs.) of marihuana after a couple of suspect boats were seen heading north by Tiburon Island, Sonora, in the Gulf of Baja Calif. The weed smugglers managed to escape.

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NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF FORMER BORDER PATROL OFFICERS
Visit our website: http://www.nafbpo.org
Foreign News Report

The National Association of Former Border Patrol Officers (NAFBPO) extracts and condenses the material that follows from Mexican and Central and South American on-line media sources on a daily basis. You are free to disseminate this information, but we request that you credit NAFBPO as being the provider.

Wednesday, 11/11/09

Prensa Libre (Guatemala City, Guatemala)

Guatemalan strategy re U.S. immigration reform

Haroldo Rodas, Guatemala’s Minister of Foreign Relations, [Sec. of State] yesterday revealed the strategy that the country will utilize in the U.S. so that an eventual migratory reform in the country [the U.S.] might include 11 points which would make it “integral” for fellow citizens, especially for Guatemalans. It deals with a proposal reached in consensus with the networks of Guatemalan migrants in the U.S., which El Salvador joined to give it greater impulse. At a press conference, Rodas revealed that the U.S. Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, is aware of Guatemala’s proposal because he sent her a letter last August containing the 11 issues regarding better treatment of migrants. Among other aspects, it seeks to make the migrants’ special protection mechanisms stronger, more flexible and humane, especially when the return to their country of origin may result in high risk, such as with the Temporary Protection Status program. [ A program granting temporary, renewable, legal status to citizens of certain countries due to political upheavals, including civil war, in their countries of origin, which results in high personal insecurity as a result of that political instability.] Rodas added that with the addition of more countries there would be better possibilities of advancing [the issue]. Besides El Salvador, it is expected that Mexico, Belize and the Dominican Republic will join Guatemala’s initiative, although the country is already lobbying.

Benjamin Monterroso, of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), and coordinator of the Guatemalan Work Team for Migratory Reform, expressed optimism about the interest shown by senators and congressmen, such as Luis Gutierrez. Those present agreed that, added to President Barack Obama’s campaign offer to implement that reform, and the naming of Janet Napolitano, Secretary of Homeland Security, to be in charge of following up on the matter, it makes this a “good moment.”

The Chancellor stated that 1.5 million Guatemalans are to be found in the United States and that 60 percent – some 800 thousand – could benefit from the reform. Monterroso explained that if the migratory problem is not resolved before the end of May 2010, it will take three to five years to bring it up again, and he underscored the “279 Votes” campaign, the necessary number to approve the new law, that is to say, 218 congressmen, 60 senators and one president.

Eddy Garrido, of the National Council for Assistance to the Guatemalan Migrant (“Conamigua”), stated that the leaders of the organizations will themselves be the lobbyists who will promote these points in the American Congress.

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La Hora (Quito, Ecuador), La Razon (La Paz, Bolivia)  11/10/09

Press group condemns violence

At the closing assembly of the Inter-American Press Society (“SIP”) there was a unanimous vote of condemnation against governments and criminal organizations because of attacks against press media and journalists. The meeting took place in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and that country, plus Bolivia, Cuba, Ecuador, Honduras, Nicaragua and Venezuela were named as places where the government was the main responsible party for restrictions on the freedom of expression by the press through control of information. “SIP” also condemned the murders this year of 3 journalists in Honduras, 8 in Mexico, 2 in Guatemala and one in El Salvador. “La Razon” added that the “SIP” demanded that Evo Morales, President of Bolivia, “abstain from insults and verbal aggressions” against journalists and communications media.

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Tiempo (Tegucigalpa, Honduras)  11/10/09

Another cocaine load

An abandoned truck which had entered at Las Manos, eastern Honduras, from Nicaragua, was found to have a hidden compartment where 685 kilos of cocaine had been hidden. The load of drugs was covered with a shipment of flour and oats. Police believe part of the cocaine had already been unloaded before they arrived at the scene. There were no arrests.

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La Prensa Grafica (San Salvador, El Salvador)  11/10/09

El Salvador military as police

Salvadorans approved and welcomed the assignment of 2,500 military to assist in combating crime and violence in that country. There have been 54 homicides there between the 1^st and 5^th of November. Today began with the finding of two more murder victims.

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El Debate (Culiacan, Sinaloa)  11/10/09

Hanging: a new trend?

The body of a tortured, shot, semi-nude man was found Tuesday morning in Culiacan, Sinaloa state. He had been hung from a highway overpass and his hands had been tied behind him. Firemen called to the scene had the task of removing and bringing down the body.

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La Cronica de Hoy (Mexico City)  11/10/09

Police purge

The mayor of Tlanepantla [in the “Distrito Federal” some dozen miles north of Mexico City] announced that 220 policemen had been let go for “acts of corruption, consumption of drugs, and even taking part in robberies and various crimes.” Members of the Tlanepantla police force are being subjected to drug detection, background and personality exams to detect criminal activity. Another 108 members of that police force were let go last February for the same reasons.

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Norte (Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua)  11/10/09

Keeping score in Juarez

There was the following phrase at the end of an article recounting the events surrounding the latest homicides in Juarez: “According to journalistic records and official figures of the state authorities, these assassinations yesterday bring up to 2,190 the number of victims of homicide this year.”

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NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF FORMER BORDER PATROL OFFICERS
 Visit our website: http://www.nafbpo.org
Foreign News Report

The National Association of Former Border Patrol Officers (NAFBPO) extracts and condenses the material that follows from Mexican and Central and South American on-line media sources on a daily basis. You are free to disseminate this information, but we request that you credit NAFBPO as being the provider.

El Universal (Mexico City) 11/9/09

 Narco landing strip discovered

Honduran authorities discovered a clandestine landing strip in the western part of the country apparently for the use of the Mexican Sinaloa drug cartel.  The dirt runway is 900 meters, believed to be long enough to accommodate nearly any aircraft.  The strip is new and apparently had not yet been used.

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Partial summary of day’s violence

- The commander of the municipal police of Moroleon, Guanajuato, was killed in an attack and two other police officers were wounded.  The three were patrolling in a vehicle when they received fire from an armed group.

 - In Celaya, Guanajuato, the body of a woman was found.  She showed signs of torture and had a message fastened to her body.

 - In Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua, violence claimed 10 lives in various bars and other businesses. 

 - Two youths were killed in street violence in Durango, state of Durango.

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 El Financiero (Mexico City) 11/9/09

 Mexican legalization program

The Mexican immigration department (INM) in the southern border state of Chiapas has received over 400 applications for “normalization” of immigration status from foreigners in the country.  This is a result of a government program called “Normalization of Central Americans” who live in Chiapas.  The INM issued a statement that it is necessary for Central Americans who enter Mexico and rely on employment, have Mexican children or marry Mexicans to go to an INM office in the state.  The procedure is free and they won’t be detained during the process.

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Drug destruction in Peru

The National Police of Peru (PNP) today incinerated 10 tons of illegal drugs seized in operations in diverse areas of the country.  So far this year, the PNP has destroyed 21,000 kilos of drugs.  The Vice-minister of Interior pointed out that the combat against narcotraffic is not limited only to seizures and destruction of drugs, but also directed at the dismantling of criminal organizations.

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 Cambio de Michoacan (Morelia, Michoacan) 11/9/09

 Job openings

The designation of new police chiefs in some Michoacan cities still remain an unfulfilled duty for the new mayors of cities in which the former mayors were arrested last May for presumed links to organized crime.  While no time limits are imposed on such designations by a new mayor, the delay has left nine cities without police leadership, leaving the state and federal authorities to do the job.

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 El Debate (Sinaloa) 11/9/09

 Youth, 15, murdered

Six people entered a home in Culiacan, Sinaloa, this morning and shot to death a youth of 15 years.  He received multiple gunshots.

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 La Jornada (Mexico City) 11/9/09

 Caught in crossfire

A passenger bus in Torreon, Coahuila, was caught in the middle of a gunfight between two narco gangs.  Stray bullets killed a seven-year-old boy, and wounded two female passengers.  One of the females, 17, lost a leg.  One of the gunmen was also killed.

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 -end of report-

NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF FORMER BORDER PATROL OFFICERS
Visit our website: http://www.nafbpo.org
Foreign News Report

The National Association of Former Border Patrol Officers (NAFBPO) extracts and condenses the material that follows from Mexican and Central and South American on-line media sources on a daily basis. You are free to disseminate this information, but we request that you credit NAFBPO as being the provider.

Saturday 11/7/09

 El Universal (Mexico City) 11/6/09

 Arrests made in General’s assassination

State authorities in Garcia, Nuevo Leon, arrested 10 people in connection with the murders of the newly appointed Chief of Police, Brigadier General Juan Esparza, and four of his bodyguards [Friday's M3 Report].  The General and his escorts were ambushed and gunned down by a contingent of some 30 hit men from Los Zetas, the armed branch of the Gulf drug cartel.  Among those arrested were municipal and transit police and an active political member of the leftist PRD party.  The politician, Norberto Jaime Trevino, had been an unsuccessful candidate for mayor of the city of Garcia where the murders took place.  Trevino had been involved in illegal activities for which he was personally admonished by the present mayor of Garcia.  Supposedly, the attack orchestrated by Trevino for vengeance, was only meant to frighten the General. 

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Controversial issue

[An editorial titled "Do we kill criminals?"  Ref: M3 Report 11/3/09]

A great deal of commotion has surrounded the mayor of San Pedro [Nuevo Leon] after announcing, first, that he would “create cleaning crews” against criminals and then revealing that a presumed narco trafficker was executed in DF [Federal District] before the authorities in the capital had confirmed the discovery.  Death squadrons in Mexico?  Serious, but there had already been indications for some time.  The problem that faces us now is that the people don’t seem to react, indignant, when an authority promotes this discretional use of brute force.

 There lacks a national survey to confirm this, but the comments of citizens already give us an indication of support.  A horrifying coincidence considering the discussion about the death penalty.  In 2008, 75% of the people approved of it, even knowing that in this country, the corruption and the inefficiency of the judicial system does not permit knowing if all those detained and convicted are in reality guilty.  Already one political party has taken advantage of this issue to win votes and got them.  Would the same tactic benefit the “avengers” like the mayor of San Pedro?  It would be a dreadful precedent.

 The citizens must understand that opposing death squadrons is not hypocrisy.  It is knowing history and human behavior.  A mercenary contracted by governments or business groups to eliminate criminals will sooner or later become part of a band of kidnappers or murderers.  This has already happened with elite Mexican military; from such came Los Zetas.  In Colombia the businessmen created paramilitary groups that the country now cannot get rid of.  The civil population, that cannot pay “civilian guards.” are the ones who will always end up in the crossfire.

 Impunity should never be a pretext to justify the irrational use of force.

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 Lapolaka (Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua) 11/6/09

 An afternoon in Cd. Juarez

[Translation of short article titled "Cartels in total war."]

Cd. Juarez — The city became a street disaster this Friday evening because of crime.  A series of gunfights caused police responses, cars in pursuit and continuous congestion of streets.  At [one] intersection, a taxi was blasted by an armed group.  In the interior of the vehicle resting on a center divider were the dead driver and two unidentified passengers.  In [another neighborhood] a motorcyclist was chased and shot with rifles.  The body of the victim remained lifeless under the wheels of a bus.  On [another street in another neighborhood] a Stratus automobile occupied by hit-men collided with a bus causing the bus to turn over.  While the killers ran through the streets with their assault rifles on their shoulders, paramedics attended the 15 injured passengers who were riding on the bus.

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Huge opium gum seizure

The Mexican military near the town of Guadalupe y Calvo, Chihuahua, [near the southern border of the state] made one of the largest seizures of opium gum in history.  The operation netted 203 kilos of gum in nine plastic containers with an estimated value of nearly seven million dollars.  The gum can be converted into morphine, heroin and/or codeine

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 Sunday 11/8/09

 El Universal (Mexico City) 11/7/09

 Tough day for Mexican police: a collection of today’s stories

- Agents of the organized crime division of the Mexican federal department of justice (SIEDO) arrested 12 Guerrero state police investigators for apparent connections with narco criminals.  The state agents were summoned to an anti-narcotics office to presumably carry out an operation.  On arrival, they were disarmed and arrested on federal warrants by SIEDO agents assisted by military units.

 - State police in La Union, Guerrero, responding to a report of the discovery of a body, were ambushed by a group of hit men.  The attack wounded five of the officers and killed another.

 - A federal police commander and an agent were gunned down in Mexicali, Baja California, when they arrived at a residence suspected of narco activity.  The attack also wounded another federal agent accompanying them.

 - In another incident, a municipal police captain in Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua, was assassinated while driving his personal car.

 - The mutilated body of a presumed policeman was discovered in the town of Soledad de Doblado, Veracruz, an area where federal forces killed the leader of a group of Los Zetas last Tuesday.  The body, with clothing that appeared to be a police uniform, had a message on the chest signed by Los Zetas, the armed branch of the Gulf drug cartel.

 - While eight people were murdered in Sinaloa state during the past day, another victim of a shooting that occurred August 29 died in the hospital from the injuries she suffered in an attack that targeted and killed her husband, a municipal police agent. 

 - And in Tijuana, Baja California, authorities have learned that organized crime planned to assassinate the Secretary of Public Security because of the actions he has taken against them.  Although he has not received death threats, federal authorities have information that an attack was planned.  This has put the authorities on alert.  The mayor said, in effect, that the top police official is threatened because he is actually doing his job.  Those who are not performing their duties have nothing to fear.

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 El Financiero (Mexico City) 11/7/09

 Mexico and US working together as never before: Napolitano

In an interview with the Spanish daily El Pais, US Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano said that the US and Mexico have, at this time, the best cooperation in working jointly against narcotraffic.  ”We work very closely with President Calderon and his government and there cannot be more agreement in that there is enormous interest by the US in defeating the cartels,” she said.  ”For us, it is a matter of national security in that these organizations should introduce drugs in hundreds of communities,” she emphasized.  Referring to the topic of migration, she said President Barack Obama wants to move ahead with that in 2010.  She anticipates changes will be presented to Congress in the first half of next year.  She said that there is a better system for finding those who have crossed the border illegally and for identifying the businesses that give them employment.  There is a growing public awareness that there must be change.  She also affirmed that there is a majority who see the illegals, in most part, as future US citizens.

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 Frontera (Tijuana, Baja California) 11/7/09

 Intriguing story fragment

A citizen report led Mexican Army troops to discover a tunnel in Tijuana, which in turn, led to the discovery of a storehouse with 125 kilos of marihuana, 23 vehicles and the arrest of six people.  The tunnel was discovered under a house that was under construction in Colonia 70-76 and is 10 meters deep, 1.85 meters high,1.10 meters wide and 1.22 meters long. [sic]  The storehouse was located in Colonia 20 de Noviembre.  [This is essentially all the information in the story.  The problem, aside from the dimensions of the tunnel, is that the two colonias are not near one another and no explanation was given how the tunnel and storehouse are connected.  However there was a good photo.  Attached.] 

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 Monday 11/9/09

 Frontera (Tijuana, Baja California) 11/8/09

 Update on yesterday’s tunnel story

The number of arrests in the tunnel caper reported yesterday increased from six to eight.  Those arrested are presumed to be the ones constructing the tunnel.  Also, the length of the tunnel was increased from 1.22 to 122 meters.  Other than referring to it as a “narcotunnel,” the story left all other questions unanswered.

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 El Universal (Mexico City) 11/8/09

 Violence against news reporters

Eight journalists were assassinated within the past six months in Mexico and 53 between 2000 and 2009, advised the International Press Society (SIP).  The SIP pointed out that attacks against the news media increase in an atmosphere of impunity.  ”Mexican journalism faces a constant threat, considering the cases of assassinations and attacks,” according to a report presented to the assembly.  There are areas where news reporters suffer difficulties in carrying out their work due to the growth of organized crime and the battle the government has brought against the criminals.  The assembly report also complained that the present legislature “doesn’t have the same political will as the former one,” criticizing its elimination of a Special Commission for monitoring attacks on journalists and communications media.

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 El Financiero (Mexico City) 11/8/09

 Arms traffic controlled by subsidiaries, not drug cartels: PGR

The large criminal drug trafficking organizations do not control the arms traffic but rather, their distribution networks contact buyers in the US and they bring the arms into Mexico, according to a study by the Mexican Department of Justice (PGR).  The smuggling operation is carried out in a series of small shipments (“ant trails”) and not big ones all at once, the PGR analysis indicates.  ”Up to now, no criminal organization, foreign or national, has been detected exclusively trafficking in arms,” said the report.  The report also pointed out that Los Zetas, the armed branch of the Gulf drug cartel, has obtained most of their armament from Mexico’s present federal administration.  The official investigation assures that “in the US, there are no clandestine groups that sell arms, but along the length of the border with Mexico there are more than 12,000 sales establishments.”

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 -end of report-