Torreon: The bodies of five people were found this morning on State Road No. 84, branch to the Cueva de Tabaco, in Matamoros, Coahuila state Attorney reported.
According to the PGJE, at 07:00 a report was received about the location of five bodies.The elements of the Investigative Police were dispatched; criminalists and the prosecution team of the PGJE arrived and initiated the investigation.
The victims were four men and one woman, aged between 25 and 35 years old. In the neck area of the back of the head, the bodies’ bore injuries that were obviously from bullet impacts.
The authorities also acknowledged locating a message written on a card, but its content was not released.
The bodies were transferred to University Hospital for performing the autopsy.
Monclova: In the early hours of Sunday, two bodies were discovered in an abandon ranch in Colonia Otilio Montaña. Both of the deceased are males, one with the estimated age of 55 the other 30-35.
Bothe men bore signs of torture before death, and both bodies were found bound at the hands and feet. Identification is unknown.
Saltillo: A charred body was found inside
an SUV in a vacant lot in Colonia Morelos. According to preliminary investigation,about 6:40 in the morningthe
State Emergency System, 066, received several calls from neighbors reporting that a truck was on fire.
The authorities did not provide any information about the identity, or sex of
the body found inside the truck.
After collecting the evidence,
the public prosecutor ordered the removal of the body and its transfer to the
Medical Service facilities, for an autopsy.
Sources: GarzaLimon-Vanguardia-Milenio Thanks to the BB reader for the heads up
Francisco Navarro Montenegro, was local and federal congressman twice and
candidate for Governor, his body was identified today by his son, as one of the
two bodies found early this morning.
The bodies of two men were located Saturday morning, at different times, in
Libramiento Óscar Flores Tapia, one of them was identified as Francisco Navarro
Montenegro, who had been both a federal and local congressman twice, candidate for
Governor, and founder of the Socialist Workers Party (PST) which later became
the party of the Cardenista front for national reconstruction (PFCRN) and
a leader of colonias.
Five days ago, there was information that Montenegro Navarro (who was 64 years
old) was missing, but his family said he was out of town, that was he was OK
and didn´t file a report of disappearance or kidnapping.
The State leader of the Social Democratic Party (PSD) Samuel Acevedo Flores,
who was his closest collaborator and political worker, is reportedly deeply saddened
by the death of the leader and friend said: "We´ve lost one of the most
important political assets of the left in Coahuila, because he was a social
activist who defended the causes of the poor".
The news spread through social networks, but it wasn´t until this Saturday
that the Attorney General of Justice of the State (PGJE) reported that a
criminal preliminary investigation had been initiated about the killing of two
men whose bodies had been found in the Óscar Flores Tapia libramiento, after an
anonymous call to the emergency system.
Investigating police, experts in criminology and an agent of the public
prosecutor were dispatched to the area and found one of the bodies at 10:30 am
at kilometer 5 + 400; the other deceased was found among the bushes 45 minutes
later, at 11:15 at km 5 + 900 of the same road.
The bodies were transferred to the forensic medical service for the necropsy of
law, in order to determine the causes of death.
At 13:00 one of the victims was identified by one of his sons as Francisco
Navarro Montenegro, said the PGJE and pointed out that the identity of the
other man is unknown because he carried no ID.
Sources close to the investigation revealed that he had been kidnapped on
Tuesday and a hefty ransome payment was demanded, however although it was paid they killed him
anyway.
The bodies were found in an industrial area close to Saltillo
BorderlandBeat.com Thank you to the reader who sent the story in!
The ongoing debate regarding immigration reform has once
again brought the topic of border security to the forefront.
In South Texas, the area that has seen a sharp increase in
drug trafficking runs from treacherous waters of the Rio Grande to the U.S.
Border Patrol checkpoints in Falfurrias and Sarita, the last law enforcement
waypoint along the roads leading from the Texas-Mexico border to inland
metropolitan areas.
In those areas, drug smugglers tied to Mexican drug cartels
work ingenious ways of moving their drugs to their destinations without
detection by law enforcement.
That activity has drawn the attention of the Texas
Department of Public Safety, which has classified gangs working with Mexican
drug cartels as the greatest threat to Texas.
Talks of violent executions and large-scale firefights in
Mexico between cartel gunmen are some of the talking points brought up during
those discussions. But what rarely gets brought up is the fact that various
members of Mexican drug cartels are not Mexican but in fact are U.S.-born
Texans.
Mexican drug cartels have been active in the U.S. for
decades. As such, they have developed deep roots with many members being second
or third generation smugglers, said Hidalgo County Sheriff Lupe Treviño.
“They have been here for a long time but they try to keep a
low profile; what has brought them to the forefront is what’s going on in
Mexico,” Treviño said referring to the crackdown on cartels by former
presidents Vicente Fox and Felipe Calderon.
Keeping a low profile or trying to minimize their role is
what some of the drug cartel members who have been caught on U.S soil have
done.
When police officers and deputy U.S. Marshals caught Benicio
“Comandante Veneno” Lopez this month, he claimed that he didn’t have a
leadership figure in the Gulf Cartel, saying he was a mid- or low-level
smuggler, said San Juan Police Chief Juan Gonzalez.
“No low-key cartel guy has bodyguards, has four or five
stash houses, carries bulk cash and knows about ton quantities of narcotics,”
Gonzalez said. “He was trying to downplay his role to try to keep a low
profile.
DIFFERENT ACTIVITIES IN DIFFERENT COUNTRIES
The activities of cartel members in the U.S are very
different than those in Mexico, however the public and the media quickly
associate the word “cartel” with the way they operate in Mexico, Treviño said.
“When people hear the word “cartel” they think of convoys of
gunmen, brutal firefights and crude executions,” Treviño said. “That
happens in Mexico, not here. If they were to try that here they would be wiped
out. The American people would not stand for that. Every law enforcement agency
and resource would be used to literally wipe them out.”
Because cartel members seek to keep a low profile and are
not tied to many of the crimes in the community, keeping track of them is a job
best left for federal agencies, which have the best resources to attack
transnational criminals, while the brunt of the Sheriff’s Office’s resources go
toward local crime, the sheriff said.
Still, in a border county, cross-border organized crime
intersects with local law enforcement.
“Robberies, theft, carjacking, assault and other crimes —
that is not something that these individuals are interested in but it affects
our communities, “Trevino said. “On the other hand, street gangs are behind the
majority of those crimes. They are the ones holding up convenience stores,
carrying out drive by shootings, carjackings and the brunt of our violent
crime. They are our most significant threat in this county.”
Gonzalez, for his part, paints a different picture from the
sheriff. He said cartel members are coming out of the shadows and becoming more
active locally.
“I honestly think we can dismantle the Gulf Cartel,”
Gonzalez said. “It’s important to accept the fact that they operate here. This
drug cartel operates with a lot of money. These guys have 20 to 30 vehicles
assigned to operatives. That concerns because they used to hide but now they
are brazen and putting are putting stash houses all over the place. It’s
important we address them and try to dismantle them.”
U.S.-BORN MEXICAN CARTEL BOSSES
Several key members of the Gulf Cartel and other Mexican
drug syndicates have ties to the Rio Grande Valley.
Bencicio Lopez, known as “Comandante Veneno,” (commander venom in English) is a Houston
native who grew up in Roma and also climbed to a leadership role in the Gulf
Cartel.
Lopez was a close confidant of Samuel “Metro 3” Flores Borrego, whose
death led to a split within the cartel.
After Flores Borrego’s death, Lopez
worked with other commanders to avenge the death of his friend and became the
leader of a cartel cell that also worked in the Ribereña area. Lopez had been
wanted by San Juan Police in connection with a 2010 failed cartel kidnapping
that resulted in the death of Roberto Hinojosa, who tried to fight off the
kidnappers as his wife and young son were in the room.....continues next page
At least 6 "narco banners" signed by "los
zetas", were found in the states of Puebla, Veracruz and Edo of México. In the banners the Zetas boast of their power in those territories and claimed responsibility of
killing the leader of "Los Rojos”, José Nava Romero. ( photo below)
In one of the Banners they talk about the selling of the
Puebla Plaza (square) by a public servant from the government of Puebla, in addition
they say the Governor Rafael Moreno Valle is well aware that the plaza was sold
to the "Beltranes."
Text:
"Moreno Vallezzzzz your
people betray us by selling the plaza to the fucking Beltranes, that's why we
killed “El Rojo” in Cholula so you can learn respect, and there will be a
zzzzzzzzz Blood Bath this Sunday".
Another:
"Governor
Moreno, Valle Plaza belongs to ZZZ and
you know this, if you betray us we will kill the fucking Beltranes to teach you
how to respect and there will be blood".
One of five criminals who were killed in a clash with
elements supporting the State Police in the town of San Juanito, had a Facebook
account, where he described himself as hitman and businessman,He also posted several photos of himself with
high powered weapons.
His name, Roberto Arturo Gandara Estrada, 27 and was second
in command of the criminal group "La Linea",led by Espino
Baltazar Fuentes, aka "The Balta", 42, also killed in the clash.
Arrested after
confrontation was Javier Dominguez Rodriguez, operations coordinator Bocoyna
Municipal Police, assigned to San Juanito, for allegedly providing
"protection" to the criminal gang.
Some of the rifles AR-15
.223 caliber, 7.62x39, and 5.56x45 HK, which were secured by police, are in the
photos on the Facebook account of Gándara Estrada. Likewise several handguns
.357 magnum, .38 special and .9 mm, and 0 tactical uniform, including bulletproof
vests. Information provided in the profile of Estrada, says he is "Dealer
in and HITMAN ", he wrote that he "studied at Eastern Hills High
School", and lives in Cuauhtemoc.
All photos were accessed from the Facebook account which has now been deactivated. Click images to enlarge.
Source La Parada - video from Texcoco's post -see Texcoco's Post here
Shootout in Fresnillo resulting so
far in 7 deaths
Fresnillo, Zac- Big mobilization
of the Secretary of the Navy and State and federal police forces reported right
now, after a bloody clash in Fresnillo between subjects allegedly linked to
organized crime, elements linked to Los Zetas and the Gulf Cartel.
Unofficial reports inform of
seven dead, five would have fallen in Puebla Street, in the historic center of
this city, and two more in La Paz street, in colonia Industrial.
People are asked to avoid going
outside at the moment, since marines and other security forces are carrying out
operations throughout the city.
Past 11 pm the State Government
issued a statement with official information about the clash.
OFFCIAL STATEMENT OF THE ZACATECAS GOVERNMENT
Around 21:00 on Thursday a clash
between antagonistic groups of organized crime in the city of Fresnillo
started, with a balance of five dead men and seize of various long weapons, grenades,
and ammunition.
The events began at the corner of
the streets of La Paz and Jalpa, at colonia Industrial, where there were the
lifeless bodies of two men.
A chase ensued among
members of the two rival groups at colonias Palomares, Las Americas, FOVISSSTE
and Lagunilla, where some of them encountered elements of the 79 battalion of
infantry and the Ministerial police, and three of the assailants were killed.
At that site, almost at the
crossroads of Reforma street in colonia Lagunilla, a pick up truck was seized,
as well as ten AK 47s, six AR 15, three grenade launches, two grenades calibre
40, 53 chargers for AK 47 and 16 for AR 15.
Elements of the 97 infantry
battalion, SEMAR, Ministerial police and State preventive police were deployed
to the area.
On Thursday, early in the
morning, a man was found executed in Valdecañas, Fresnillo
The corpse of a man, about 35
years old, with two shots in the head, was found Thursday morning in the
community of Valdecañas, at the side of the road to Saucito del Poleo.
It was about 6:30 hours when the
deputy delegate of that community was notified by some residents about the
presence of a body.
They immediately reported to the
emergency system 06 , whereby police were dispatched.
Two municipal police patrols
arrived and verified the discovery.
Agents of the State Ministerial
Police (PME) arrived, as well as forensics, who transported the corpse.
So far it´s unknown who killed
him, the body bore signs that the man had been tortured first, then transported to the site where he was executed.
Additional information from Proceso:
Five suspected hitmen killed, once members of the Gulf
cartel and Los Zetas as clashes erupted on Thursday night in different parts of
the city of Fresnillo.
Two men were killed after a prolonged chase between criminal
groups, and three others were killed when the assassins encountered elements of
the 97 infantry battalion of the army and agents of the Ministerial police who
were mobilized when citizens reported the clashes.
After the clashes, security corporations found a pick-up
truck which was abandoned in Reforma street, loaded with grenade launchers, ten
AK-47, six R-15 rifles, grenades, as well as scores of magazines and
cartridges.
The first reports were made around nine o'clock in the
evening. Neighbors of the colonia Industrial reported shootings and a chase
between several vehicles, which continued through other streets.
At one point, at Jalpa and La Paz streets there were
the bodies of killed, but the confrontation continued in the colonias of Las Américas
and Fovissste, among others.
However, at La Lagunilla the criminal suspects met the
elements of the 97 infantry battalion and the PM who had been mobilized, and
started another firefight.
Three of the alleged assassins were riddled with bullets.
In the morning it had been reported the discovery of a man executed with a
shot to the head, whose body was abandoned on a road in the community of
Valdecañas, Fresnillo municipality.
In the last two weeks there have been conflicts attributed
to the dispute of the plaza between these criminal groups.
Last week at least 12 victims were counted in different skirmishes both in the
city of Fresnillo and in several communities, such as Estación Gutierrez, where
in a clash occurred on Thursday 20th eight people died.
Sources used to write this post: LasNoticiasya-NZRZacatecas-El Circo
Los Legionarios offer 50 thousand dollars for a plaza boss
and 5 thousand for halcones or sicarios.
Los Legionarios reappeared in the main cities of Tamaulipas. In Reynosa, Nuevo
Laredo, Matamoros and Ciudad Victoria where they placed mantas offering
million-dollar rewards for information that leads to the capture the zeta leaders,
halcones and policemen who work for the criminal group.
In their mantas, los Legionarios make a call to society for the location and
destruction of Los Zetas.
For example, for the brothers Treviño Morales, Miguel Ángel (Z-40) and Omar
(Z-42) they offer a million dollars for any information to find their location.
For a plaza commander, los Legionarios offer 50 thousand dollars, halcones and
sicarios five thousand, and the same for police chiefs or former elements of
the municipal police in collusion with Los Zetas.
Similarly, they offer 5 thousand dollars for information of night clubs, bars,
and shops used to launder drug money.
"Any information from any "plaza" is valuable. In Nuevo Laredo,
in particular, you already know where to report that we are checking it... it
is about time you respect the society and especially in Nuevo Laredo",
reads one of the mantas.
Los Legionarios invited other cartels and especially Daniel Velázquez
Caballero, L-52 or El Talibancillo, brother of Iván Velázquez Caballero (above left), Z-50
or the Talibán.
In October of 2012, after the arrest of el Talibán, the territorial cells under
his command, that were once part of Los Zetas, went to form a group antizeta,
called los Legionarios, which threatens with exterminating Miguel Angel Treviño
Morales, Z-40.
CD. Victoria, Tamaulipas.-This Thursday the city was
blanketed with organized crime narcomantas, one in Calzada Tamatan, another
two blocks away from the Government Palace, and one more on the Lopez Mateos
boulevard which was taken down by state officials.
In said narcomantas,
members of the Zetas Cartel from that plaza complained about the arrival of a
plaza boss on appointed by Z40.
MANTA TEXT TRANSLATION:
To the public’s opinion
We want to manifest our /Zeta Disapproval/. A high ranking leader from Nuevo
Laredo threatens to provoke more violence.
He is Regino Gutierrez Moreno. He was sent by MIGUEL ANGEL TREVINO EL Z-40. We
want him to leave the same direction he came from. We already have a leader
here in Victoria. We know there will be retaliations. But we are /UNITED AND
PREPARED/. No fucking ??? is going to come here and claim what is rightfully
ours.
What a badass huh? Skinned and fed to him! He better go and chase his own hare
because we have this one already. To be clear he is being protected by the
SECRETARIO DE SEGURIDAD ESTATAL RAFAEL LOMELI. He hides him and even lets him
roam around freely as if he was a police officer.
We want the governor to know that this will bring more violence and we will not
let him take control of this plaza, even if he was sent by Z40. We would rather
risk our lives instead of losing it by betrayals.
Thanks to Chivis for the links: From Valley Central, an excerpt:
Authorities have confirmed that three gunmen and one soldier
are dead following a gun battle near an oil company facility in Reynosa.
It
all happened in the Colonia Petrolera next to a PEMEX facility off
Boulevard Morelos in central Reynosa around 9 a.m. Wednesday.
Reynosa residents turned to the #reynosfollow hashtag of the social media network Twitter to report the deadly firefight.
The
Tamaulipas Attorney General's Office (PGJE) later confirmed that the
deadly firefight between gunmen and Mexican soldiers lasted about an
hour and fifteen minutes.
From Sin Embargo:
En menos de 24 horas nueve personas pedieron la vida en dos balaceras distintas ocurridas en los municipios de Reynosa y San Fernando en el estado de Tamaulipas.
De acuerdo con reportes oficiales, el enfrentamiento que esta mañana se registró en Reynosa dejó cuatro muertos, tres civiles armados y un elemento del Ejército Mexicano
Photos from Twitter:
En menos de 24 horas
nueve personas pedieron la vida en dos balaceras distintas ocurridas en
los municipios de Reynosa y San Fernando en el estado de Tamaulipas.
De acuerdo con reportes oficiales, el enfrentamiento que esta mañana se
registró en Reynosa dejó cuatro muertos, tres civiles armados y un
elemento del Ejército Mexicano.
En menos de 24 horas
nueve personas pedieron la vida en dos balaceras distintas ocurridas en
los municipios de Reynosa y San Fernando en el estado de Tamaulipas.
De acuerdo con reportes oficiales, el enfrentamiento que esta mañana se
registró en Reynosa dejó cuatro muertos, tres civiles armados y un
elemento del Ejército Mexicano.
A total of 11 individuals have been killed in separate drug and gang related incidents in Tamaulipas state since Tuesday, according to Mexican news accounts.
Four unidentified individuals were killed in a gunfight with a Mexican Army detachment in Reynosa Wednesday morning, according to a news report which appeared in the online edition of Milenio news daily.
According to the report, the gunfight took place at about 0900 hrs in Ampliacion Rodriguez colony and then spread on Bulevar Acapulco to Petrolera colony near a school, and finally concluded at around 1015 hrs.
Armed suspects were traveling aboard a Chevrolet Silverado pickup truck, and had apparently fired on a Mexican Army road patrol. Army return fire killed three. One of the dead were identified as Javier Antonio Cardenas Lopez, 30, from Sinaloa state. In the pickup truck, soldiers seized three rifles, 38 weapons magazines, six grenades and estrellas metalicas or metal stars, which are used to puncture vehicle tires.
One unidentified Mexican Army fusilero was killed and another was wounded. Additionally five other unidentified civilians were wounded in the crossfire, three of them requiring medical attention.
In San Fernando municipality, a total of five armed suspects were killed in a firefight Tuesday night with a Mexican Army unit.
According to a news account posted on Milenio's website, the gunfight took place at around 2015 hrs near ejido Guadalupe Victoria and El Rancho La Isla, where armed suspects traveling aboard an H3 Hummer fired their weapons on the army patrol.
The dead ages ranged between 40 and 16, and were not identified in the news report. Five rifles, one grenade launcher, 28 weapons magazines and an undisclosed number of grenades were seized following the firefight.
San Fernando municipality is roughly halfway between Ciudad Victoria, the state capital of Tamaulipas and Matamoros, and has in the past been the scene of some of the bloodiest incidents in the drug war.
Meanwhile, two days ago the body of a Mexican journalist was found dead in Reynosa along with an unidentified female, according to a Proceso wire report which appeared on the website Yancuic.com.
The partially buried body of El Ciudadano columinist Mario Ricardo Chavez Jorge was found near ejido Santa Clara. The female companion found with him had been decapitated.
Monday, a total of 52 migrants were rescued from a safe house in Reynosa by a security group, according to Mexican news accounts.
A new report which appeared in the online edition of El Siglo de Durango news daily said that a Base de Operacones Mixtas (BOM) of Policia Federal and state police stopped two suspects, which were traveling aboard a Dodge Avenger sedan. The suspects revealed the location of the safehouse with the migrants who had been detained at the location.
The news account did not disclose the location of the safe house. Of the 52, 48 were from Guatemala and two each were from El Salvador and Mexico.
The detainees were identified as Pablo Avellaneda Torres and Luis Angel Perez Sanabria.
Chris Covert writes Mexican Drug War and national political news for Rantburg.com. He can be reached at grurkka@gmail.com
Nationwide enforcement actions target dangerous new and
emerging class of chemicals from overseas
The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and its law
enforcement partners today announced enforcement operations in 35 states
targeting the upper echelon of dangerous designer synthetic drug trafficking
organizations that have operated without regard for the law or public
safety.
These series of enforcement actions included retailers,
wholesalers, and manufacturers. In addition, these investigations have
uncovered the massive flow of drug-related proceeds back to countries in the
Middle East and elsewhere.
Since Project Synergy began in December of 2012, more than
75 arrests have been made and nearly $15 million in cash and assets have been
seized--all leading up to today’s global takedown.Today, law enforcement executed over 150
arrest warrants and nearly 375 search warrants in 35 states, 49 cities and five
countries. During the past three days prior to today, over 550 kilograms of
synthetic drugs were seized in a joint operation with Customs and Border
Protection aimed at international shipments of synthetic drugs at express
consignment facilities. Since February, over 1,000 kilograms of synthetic drugs
have been seized at express consignment facilities.
Project Synergy was coordinated by DEA’s Special Operations
Division, working with the DEA Office of Diversion Control, and included cases
led by DEA, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, U.S. Immigration and Customs
Enforcement (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), FBI, and IRS.In addition, law enforcement in Australia,
Barbados, Panama, and Canada participated, as well as countless state and local
law enforcement members.
“Shutting down businesses that traffic in these drugs and
attacking their operations worldwide is a priority for DEA and our law
enforcement partners,” said DEA Administrator Michele M. Leonhart.“These designer drugs are destructive,
dangerous, and are destroying lives. DEA has been at the forefront of the
battle against this trend and is targeting these new and emerging drugs with every
scientific, legislative, and investigative tool at our disposal.”
“CBP and DEA enjoy a close working relationship that was
further enhanced through the collaboration of the National Targeting Center and
CBP officers in the field at express consignment hubs during this operation to
target, test and detain shipments of synthetic drugs, as well as precursor
herbs used to manufacture synthetic marijuana,” said CBP David Murphy, Acting
Assistant Commissioner, Field Operations.
“The criminals behind the importation, distribution and
selling of these drugs have scant regard for human life in their reckless
pursuit of illicit profits,” said Traci Lembke, HSI Deputy Assistant Director
of Investigative Programs.“For criminal
groups seeking to profit through the sale of illegal narcotics, the message is
clear: we know how you operate; we know where you hide; and we will not stop
until we bring you to justice.”
“The harm inflicted by these designer drugs is matched only
by the profit potential for those who sell them,” said Richard Weber, Chief,
IRS-Criminal Investigation.“Today’s
enforcement actions are the culmination of a multi-year effort in which IRS-CI
worked with its domestic and global law enforcement partners to disrupt the
flow of money - the lifeblood that allows these multi-million dollar
organizations to proliferate.”
“On behalf of the Australian Government, I congratulate the
U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and U.S. Customs and Border Protection on
Project Synergy. This is a significant seizure of synthetic drugs and is a
terrific result for our respective law enforcement agencies. Australia remains
committed to sharing intelligence with its U.S. partners to combat
transnational crime across international borders. This is a win for our
collective communities,” Australia’s Acting Ambassador to the United States,
Graham Fletcher, said.
Background on designer synthetic drugs
Designer synthetic drugs are often marketed as herbal
incense, bath salts, jewelry cleaner, or plant food, and have caused
significant abuse, addiction, overdoses, and emergency room visits. Those who
have abused synthetic drugs have suffered vomiting, anxiety, agitation,
irritability, seizures, hallucinations, tachycardia, elevated blood pressure,
and loss of consciousness. They have caused significant organ damage as well as
overdose deaths.
Smokable herbal blends marketed as being “legal” and
providing a marijuana-like high have become increasingly popular, particularly
among teens and young adults, because they are easily available and, in many
cases, they are more potent and dangerous than marijuana.These products consist of plant material that
has been impregnated with dangerous psychoactive compounds that mimic THC, the
active ingredient in marijuana. Synthetic cannabinoids are sold at a variety of
retail outlets, in head shops and over the Internet.
Brands such as “Spice,” “K2,” “Blaze,” and “Red X Dawn” are
labeled as incense to mask their intended purpose. In 2012, a report by the
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) reported
11,406 emergency department visits involving a synthetic cannabinoid product
during 2010. In a 2013 report, SAMHSA reported the number of emergency
department visits in 2011 involving a synthetic cannabinoid product had
increased 2.5 times to 28,531. The American Association of Poison Control
Centers reported 5,205 calls related to human exposure of synthetic
cannabinoids.
For the past several years, there has also been a growing
use of, and interest in, synthetic cathinones (stimulants/hallucinogens) sold
under the guise of “bath salts” or “plant food.” Marketed under names such as
“Ivory Wave,” “Purple Wave,” “Vanilla Sky,” or “Bliss,” these products are
comprised of a class of dangerous substances perceived to mimic cocaine, LSD,
MDMA, and/or methamphetamine.
Users have reported impaired perception, reduced motor
control, disorientation, extreme paranoia, and violent episodes. The long-term
physical and psychological effects of use are unknown but potentially severe.
The American Association of Poison Control Centers reported 2,656 calls related
to synthetic cathinone (“bath salts”) exposures in 2012 and overdose deaths
have been reported as well.
These products have become increasingly popular,
particularly among teens and young adults and those who mistakenly believe they
can bypass the drug testing protocols of employers and government agencies to
protect public safety.
They are sold at a variety of retail outlets, in head shops,
and over the Internet. However, they have not been approved by the Food and
Drug Administration (FDA) for human consumption or for medical use, and there
is no oversight of the manufacturing process.
Controlled Substance Analogue Enforcement Act
While many of the designer drugs being marketed today that
were seized as part of Project Synergy are not specifically prohibited in the
Controlled Substances Act (CSA), the Controlled Substance Analogue Enforcement
Act of 1986 (AEA) allows many of these drugs to be treated as controlled
substances if they are proven to be chemically and/or pharmacologically similar
to a Schedule I or Schedule II controlled substance.A number of cases that are part of Project
Synergy will be prosecuted federally under this analogue provision, which is
being utilized to combat these new and emerging designer drugs.
DEA has used its emergency scheduling authority to combat
both synthetic cathinones (the so-called “bath salts” with names like Ivory
Wave, etc.) and synthetic cannabinoids (the so-called incense products like K2,
Spice, etc.), temporarily placing several of these dangerous chemicals into
Schedule I of the CSA. Congress has also acted, permanently placing 26
substances into Schedule I of the
Five members of a family were shot to death Monday night in far southern Chihuahua state, according to Mexican news accounts.
According to a new report posted on the online edition of Milenio news daily,four armed suspects staged an ambush along a dirt road at around 1930 hrs in Guadalupe y Calvo municipality in Baborigame.
The victims were identified as Adelina Carrillo Gutierrez, 61, Jesus Chaparro Loera, 63, Wenceslao Chaparro Carrillo, 36 and two unidentified children ages 11 and 7 were traveling aboard a GMC Sierra pickup truck when the shooting took place.
Several AK-47 and AR-15 spent cartridge casings were found at the scene by investigators.
Guadalupe y Calvo has seen an increase of violent security incidents in recent weeks, the last incident an apparent ambush in a remote part of Guadalupe y Calvo, which claimed the lives of four individuals. A previous incident of the kidnapping of a political candidate just a week before that shooting preceded a renewed deployment of Mexican federal security deployments including army and naval infantry troops to the region.
Miguel Osorio Chong
Meanwhile Mexico's Secretaria de Gobierno (SEGOB) or interior minister Miguel Osorio Chong, formally announced the training of the first of the news Gendarmaria Nacional, totaling 5,000 effectives, according to Mexican news accounts.
The Gendarmaria Nacional which will operate under the auspices of the Policia Federal, was the centerpiece of the new security strategy by the recently elected President Enrique Pena Nieto. The emphasis in the new strategy was to reduce drug and gang related violence which has plagued Mexico for the last several years.
According to a news report posted on the website Animal Politico, Osorio Chong in a radio interview with Joaquin Lopez Doriga, reiterated his government's commitment "in the coming years" to a "news justice model". The aim, according to several new accounts is to reduce the involvement of Mexico's military in counternarcotics operations, long an objective with Mexico's political left.
The news is a seeming reversal since mention of the Gendarmaria Nacional was omitted from the Plan Nacional de Desarrollo or National Development Plan last May, a move Mexican press claimed was a reneging of a campaign promise Pena made a year ago, despite reepated announcements since Pena's inauguration.
According to a separate news account, in the first stage of the Gendarmaria Nacional plan, a total of 8,500 soldiers and 500 naval infantry troops would be included in the new security force. It is unclear in Osorio Chong's latest announcement if that part of the plan has been followed. Osorio Chong has said in the past the the new Gendarmaria Nacional would have both police and military training, which suggests that SEGOB has been or will be moving some elements from the army and navy into the GN.
Currently, Mexico's military and federal police appear to be operating in counternarcotics operations under the command of SEGOB, the Policia Federal under its direct control. For years during the administration of Felipe Calderon Hinojosa, the Policia Federal had operated as a separate cabinet level agency. During the legislative honeymoon last December, the Policia Federal were moved as a sub-agency of SEGOB.
When the elements of the Gendarmaria Nacional are ready to be deployed, they will likely go to the worst of Mexico's trouble spots, mainly on the northern border where the most intense of the drug and gang related violence has taken place over the years.
One likely location will be southern Chihuahua state. Earlier this year Chihuahua governor Cesar Duarte Jaquez had announced that Gendarmaria Nacional troops would be deployed to the region which can now be seen as a rather premature announcement.
Chris Covert writes Mexican Drug War and national political news for Rantburg.com and Borderland Beat.com. He can be reached at grurkka@gmail.com
The Colombian newspaper El Tiempo reported that Watson was a
key agent in the arrest and extradition of drug trafficker Hipolito Martínez
Felipe González and his network, who operated out of the Gulf of Urabá near
Colombia’s northern border with Panama.
Local authorities have said the killing was a express
kidnapping.
JUNE 25 - (Washington, D.C.) --
The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration’s statement
regarding the arrest of four individuals in connection with the murder of
Special Agent Terry Watson in Bogota, Colombia:
“The Drug Enforcement Administration is grateful for the
outstanding work of the Colombian National Police, the Special Investigative
Unit and the Attorney General’s Office that led to the swift arrest of these
suspects,” said DEA Administrator Michele M. Leonhart.
“We will never forget
Special Agent Watson and his sacrifice, as well as all those who have given
their lives for the rule of law. We salute the brave and expeditious work of
Colombian law enforcement and we look forward to justice being served.”
The body of slain U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration Agent
James “Terry” Watson was returned to his Louisiana home following his stabbing
last week in Colombia during an aborted robbery attempt. He will be buried
tomorrow.
The following was the press release from the DEA at the time
of agent Watson’s murder
DEA Announces Tragic Loss of Special Agent in Colombia
JUNE 21 (WASHINGTON) - The United States
Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) today announced the tragic loss of
Special Agent James “Terry” Watson, who was murdered in what appears to have
been a robbery attempt last night in Bogota, Colombia.
At the time of his
death, Special Agent Watson was assigned to the DEA Cartagena, Colombia office
and was on temporary duty in Bogota. Colombian and U.S. authorities are
currently investigating. No further details are available at this time.
“We are all saddened by this devastating loss of a member of the DEA family,”
said DEA Administrator Michele M. Leonhart. “Terry was a brave and talented DEA
Special Agent who served our agency for 13 years. These are the worst days for
anyone in law enforcement and we grieve Terry’s loss. Our thoughts and
prayers are with Terry’s wife and family, and we will forever carry his memory
in our hearts.”
In addition to serving in Colombia, Special Agent Watson has
served in Honolulu, Hawaii and San Juan, Puerto Rico. He also served on three
deployments to Afghanistan conducting dangerous counter-narcotics missions as a
member of DEA’s FAST program. Prior to his DEA service, Special Agent
Watson worked for the U.S. Marshals Service and served in the United States
Army.
Drug cartels in Oregon: Canby explosion may have been cartel relatedCanby Police Sgt. Frank Schoenfeld walks through the sequence of events at the site of the Dec. 11, 2011, explosion that killed Ivan Velasco Rodriguez.
For more than a day, the plastic orange toolbox sat on the lawn under a cherry tree, a few paces from the sidewalk.
No one passing the Canby home took notice. Not the runners. Not the dog walkers. Not the kids riding by on bicycles.
Then curiosity drew a 31-year-old landscaper who had come to the home just after sunset to help a friend move. Ivan Velasco Rodriguez poked the toolbox with a wooden rake handle.
The pipe bomb lurking inside exploded. Metal shards flying at bullet speed fatally injured Velasco Rodriguez and slammed into surrounding homes. Pieces fell on roofs two blocks away.
Canby police and federal agents swarmed the scene that night in December 2011. Who planted the booby trap that killed Velasco Rodriguez, a married father of four? And who was the intended target?
Police made no arrests, and the crime faded from public view.
But behind the scenes, federal law enforcement sources say, investigators reached a chilling conclusion: A Mexican drug cartel most likely commissioned the bomb to kill a witness who once listed the address as his own. Their suspicions deepened when they discovered the bombing was eerily similar to twin explosions in central Washington, where rigged devices killed two men hours apart in 2008.
The findings, never before disclosed to the public, were uncovered by The Oregonian as part of a nine-month investigation into the astonishing reach of Mexican drug cartels in the Northwest.
The Oregonian has learned that Mexican cartels, including the powerful Sinaloa and the brutal Los Zetas, have infiltrated almost every corner of Oregon. At last count, authorities were aware of no fewer than 69 drug trafficking organizations selling drugs in the state, nearly all supplied by cartels.
Police have taken down drug operations cloaked as a restaurant in Bend and a grocery in Hillsboro. They've busted traffickers in Gresham, Pendleton and, in a takedown last month involving 300 officers, in Klamath County. They've intercepted shipments from Oregon traffickers as far away as Texas, Minnesota and Florida.
Cartels and their allies control nearly every ounce of heroin, methamphetamine and cocaine flowing into the region, investigators say, smuggling drugs up Interstate 5 by the ton and money back down by the millions. They dominate the marijuana market, tearing up Oregon forests for massive plantations. They exact an unfathomable toll in lives ruined and cut short by drug abuse.
Perhaps most unnerving, cartel-connected traffickers lash out in violence to control territory, settle debts or warn rivals -- not just in Mexico, but here in the Northwest. Police suspect a cartel is behind the roadside execution early last year of a trafficker near Salem.
They think cartel operatives shot two California drug dealers whose bodies were found buried in the sage northeast of Klamath Falls last fall. They also believe a cartel ordered a 2007 hit in which a trafficker and four friends were lined up on the floor of a Vancouver rental home and shot in the head.
"They will take advantage of any avenue they can to make their business succeed," said Kelvin Crenshaw, until recently the special agent in charge of the Seattle regional office of the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. "Make no bones about it. The control is from the cartels."
Yet even as traffickers live in our towns and menace our residents, their scourge has remained hidden in plain sight. Police often report homicides, drug busts and threats as isolated incidents. Until now, the region's drug enforcement officials have mostly kept a lid on connections that all point in one direction: to the cartels responsible for the rivers of bloodshed hundreds of miles away in Mexico.
"They are here," said one former cartel member, a 29-year-old Oregon man who asked that his name be kept secret to protect his safety. "They try hard to stay off the radar."
Suspected cartel violence
The Oregonian's investigation included the unprecedented cooperation of law enforcement officials at all levels, including more than 250 interviews with investigators in six states. The newspaper reviewed 50,000 pages of documents, including rarely available wiretap excerpts and files in open homicide cases. Sources also included former traffickers, defense attorneys and victims, such as the family of a Bend 21-year-old who collapsed on his front lawn as a lethal heroin dose flowed into his veins.
Law enforcement officials helped with The Oregonian's investigation because they're convinced the public needs to better understand the growing threat the region faces. Though many cartel homicides are never solved -- witnesses are threatened into silence, and killers leave few clues before sliding back across the border -- authorities say cartels' involvement in deaths and other crimes here is unmistakable.
"Oregonians," said John Deits, the assistant U.S. attorney who oversees federal drug prosecutions in Oregon, "are totally naive, totally out of touch with what is happening."
Disturbing leads
The neighborhood of the Canby bombing seems an unlikely place for a cartel hit.
Ranch houses and newer Northwest-style homes line Northeast 22nd Street, which runs east-west along the north edge of town. The scent of freshly mowed lawns hangs in the air.
The one-story white house where the bombing occurred sits on an extra-wide lot. A gravel driveway sweeps along one side, past the cherry tree, to a carport and shop in back.
At the time of the crime, a man rented the house with his wife and their 19-year-old son. Their names are being withheld to protect their safety. The renter declined to be interviewed, but lead investigator Chris Mead of the Canby Police Department gave an account. Ben Hartwig, who was visiting the neighborhood at the time of the bombing, filled in details.
The renter worked two jobs, saving enough to buy a home in Salem. The family was in the middle of moving on the evening of Dec. 10, 2011, when the renter spotted the toolbox as he pulled his pickup to the house for another load. Believing that another man's property should be left alone, he told his wife and son about the toolbox but did not call police.
The son, disobeying orders to stay away, tried to open the latch after his parents left for Salem. A string held it fast, but the box opened just enough to reveal something odd inside. The son called his parents' cellphone only to be told again to leave the box alone.
Join investigative reporter Les Zaitz, Tuesday at noon for an online reader Q & A.
The renter worked the next day, a Sunday. As he headed home, he called Velasco Rodriguez, a friend, for help gathering scrap metal at the Canby home. Velasco Rodriguez arrived with another helper, parking near the cherry tree. He asked the renter about the toolbox and was told to let it be.
The renter was in the carport loading plants into his pickup when he was rocked by a blast. He ran to the front yard. Two doors down, Hartwig was attending the annual gingerbread-house contest of his fiancee and her family when the home shook and the windows rattled. Hartwig, an Iraq War veteran and former explosives expert in the U.S. Marine Corps, froze for a second.
"It didn't really make sense -- a bomb going off in Canby," he said.
He rushed down the block to find the renter and the other helper standing over Velasco Rodriguez in stunned silence. Velasco Rodriguez lay on his back in the driveway, shrapnel wounds in his head and stomach. Hartwig, who'd received his EMT certification five months earlier, knew the wounds were probably fatal. But he, neighbors and then medics tried to save Velasco Rodriguez.
In the days that followed, local investigators and agents from the FBI and ATF combed for clues. The explosion so shredded the toolbox that plastic bits remain at the scene even now. Investigators recovered enough of the pipe bomb to reconstruct it but learned little about its origin. They dug into Velasco Rodriguez's background but quickly concluded he wasn't the target. They also found no disputes or drug activity involving the renter and his family.
Then an ATF investigator discovered that the address had been listed by a man connected to a major drug case in another state. That led federal law enforcement officials to suspect the work of a Mexican drug cartel.
A month after the Canby bombing, the ATF agent traveled to Moses Lake, Wash., to learn about the 2008 bombings. There he found startling parallels to the Canby killing.
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