The Injustice of a Broken Down System

The sicarios had already been detained, again and set free, again.

Jesús Bustos Rentería and Luis Alberto Camacho Ramos

At least two of the suspected assassins that were "presented" to the media Wednesday by the Coordinated Operation Chihuahua (OCCH) as participants in the massacre of Villas de Salvárcar, both had been arrested previously a couple of times and had been "presented" as hitmen in multiple executions since June 2009.

However, they managed to regain their freedom and were again involved in various criminal incidents until they were arrested again in early March this year.

One of them had experienced an attack that injured him, while his brother was also injured and his sister-in-law, who was pregnant at the time, was killed.

Military present Heriberto Martinez, left, Jose Alfredo Soto, a.k.a. 'El 7,' center, and Jesus Bustos to the press in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, Wednesday, March 17, 2010. According to the army, the men are alleged members of the drug gang 'La Linea' and suspects in the January massacre of 16 people in Ciudad Juarez, many of them teenagers.

Bustos Jesus Renteria and Luis Alberto Camacho Ramos, were identified this week by Mexican authorities as being involved in the murder of 15 people on January 30, 2010. The victims of that massacre were mainly students and neighbors of the community of Villas de Salvárcar.

Both of these suspects were arrested on June 27, 2009 in the community of Galeana. At that time, officers and military of the task force OCCH accused them of being members of the street gang "Los Aztecas" and being in possession of firearms. Newspaper archives indicate that the men were arrested along with Jorge Raúl Márquez Ramírez.

The operation that resulted in their arrest occurred at about 1430 hours in the street Cuicuilco by military personnel from the 4th Military Police Battalion. At that time the soldiers observed the occupants in a black Dodge Caravan acting very suspicious.

Suspect Luis ALberto Camacho Ramos, a.k.a. 'El Shoker,' stands as he is presented to the press in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, Wednesday, March 17, 2010.

The soldiers conducted a check of the occupants where they located a .45mm with a magazine loaded with nine rounds, a 9mm submachine gun with a magazine loaded with 27 rounds and a .357 Magnum revolver loaded with six rounds.

The suspects, weapons and vehicle were turned over to the federal public prosecutor on duty, assigned to the state Attorney General's Office (PGR).

Unofficial data indicated that the three subjects were hired killers (sicarios) and that they were "working" when they were apprehended.

However the individuals were set free hours later when the attorney of the Seventh Federal Public Ministry Agency (MPF), Jose Ibarra Limon, issued their bail.

This same District Attorney was executed on July 28, 2009 hours after Luis Alberto Camacho Ramos was also attack that resulted in his injury.

According to newspaper archives both attacks occurred at a distance of less than 500 meters, but at different times.

The federal DA was gunned down right outside his home in the community of Emiliano Zapata, while the second attack on Camacho Ramos took place on Tecnológico Avenue near the corner of De La Raza Street while he was inside a vehicle. Inside the vehicle were Ramiro Camacho Ramos, 34 years old, his girlfriend Carolina Rincón Mundo, 22, who died from her injuries and was 18 weeks pregnant, and Luis Alberto.

Inside the vehicle was the dead body of the mother who had visible signs of violence caused by gunfire to the chest, left shoulder and right thigh.

A soldier escorts a suspect as he is presented to the media at the 20th Cavalry Regiment in Ciudad Juarez March 17, 2010.

The second arrest

Then on October 7, 2009 the OCCH presented four alleged sicarios, some of whom had been deported from the United States after serving time in jails, but they decided to remain in Ciudad Juárez to work for criminal organizations.

Although they were arrested for possession of drugs and firearms, they were also blamed for 25 homicides, but they were only charged with the federal crimes (excludes the homicides) in a district court.

Among those present to the media were Luis Alberto Camacho Ramos, known as "El Flaco", Jorge Raúl Márquez Ramírez, 33 and known as “El Chico” or “El Popeye,” who was also the other person arrested on the same charges in June of 2009 and was also released.

They were also in company of Jose Alonso García Rentería 31 years.

Through a statement from the staff of OCCH at approximately 1300 hours on October 6, 2009 military forces were conducting a patrol on Rio De Janeiro Street in the community Industrial.

There they observed a tan Ford Explorer with three male persons on board.

Upon noticing the military presence, the subjects became nervous and at one point one of them tried to walk away from the vehicle but was ordered to stop.

The military then conducted a routine check of the people and vehicle using the molecular detector GT-200.

During the search the military found 33 rectangular shaped packages wrapped in brown tape containing marijuana and weighing approximately 15,520 kilograms.

They also found three loaded handguns, two were 9mm and the other was a .380.

The suspects told the authorities that they were members of the gang called “Los Aztecas” or “Los Carnales.” They said that they had been incarcerated in different jails in the United States for committing various crimes and were deported to Mexico after serving their sentences.

Soldiers present Luis Alberto Camacho Ramos to the press in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, Wednesday, March 17, 2010.

The criminal history of Camacho Ramos shows that he was first incarcerated in the U.S. prison system on February 24, 2003 and was released on July 12, 2006, according to the Federal Bureau of Prisons.

He was charged in the Southern District of Texas for having re-entered the country illegally after being deported for committing an aggravated felony.

He was incarcerated in La Tuna, a prison located in the town of Anthony, which is considered low security. Once there, the subjects were contacted by leaders of "Los Aztecas" and were recruited to commit illicit activities in Ciudad Juarez.

Renteria Garcia committed two murders of members of the gang called "Los Mexicles" and was known to sell drugs regularly in the Juarez Downtown area.

Marquez Ramirez said he killed 10 members of the two gangs called “Los Mexicles” and “Artistas Asesinos,” as well as selling drugs in the Juarez downtown area.

Meanwhile, Ramos Camacho said he participated in 12 murders of members of the “Los Mexicles” and “Artistas Asesinos” and also sold drugs.

Among the details of the murders they said that some people were executed by hanging while other they injected with a heroin overdose in an attempt to confuse authorities. The military also found some "black tar" used to make meth.

All three that were arrested, along with the black tar, vehicle and weapons were turned over to the Federal Public Ministry.

Soldiers present Jose Alfredo Soto, a.k.a. 'El 7,' to the press in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, Wednesday, March 17, 2010.

... And the third

By February 26, 2010 Camacho Ramos and Bustos Rentería were back on the streets.

Both were arrested, Camacho Ramos for the third time, this time they were accused of killing two people and attempting to kill the soldiers who had arrested them.

According to the indictment filed against the two suspects, this time they were in company of two other men; Jorge Román García and Lorenzo Antonio Martínez Puente. The suspects had fired at the occupants of a 1994 Ford Escort, which ultimately collided with a pole. The sicarios then immediately got out of their vehicle and finish off their intended victims. The attack took place at 1840 hours in Zacatecas Street and Panamerican Avenue. The victims were identified as Luis Eugenio Calzada Durán and José Antonio Roche González.

The sicarios who were in a Liberty Jeep were seen by by a convoy of military forces. This prompted a chase in which the sicarios repeatedly fired at the military who in turn fired back.

The soldiers managed to shoot out the rear tires of the jeep, but the sicarios continued to flee up the streets in the community of Colinas de Juárez. There, two of the sicarios fled on foot and the other dropped to the ground.

The person that was captured there was Roman Garcia, who allegedly provided information that led to the arrest of the others involved.

Camacho Ramos y de Bustos Rentería were eventually arrested in a home in the community of Corregidora while another suspect, Martinez Puente was later located in an abandoned building in the community of Chaveña.

And this leads us to this date of March 5, 2010 were the four were charged with a double murder.

Bustos Renteria was indicted on March 10, 2010 for the murder of another man, whose identity was not yet known and who was allegedly killed on July 12, 2009. In his statement before a public prosecutor, Bustos Renteria said he was paid a thousand pesos (one hundred dollars) a week to serve as a sicario and was a "soldier" of the gang "Los Aztecas." He said that he received the orders from a man he known as "El Carnal Mayelo" or "Mayito" to kill that man.

He said that the day of the incident he met with his boss at a pre-arranged locaion where he was provided him with a .22 caliber handgun and was given his instructions. He said he procceeded to the home of the victim in the community of Anahuac where he shot the victim three times in the chest right outside his house. He then returned to meet with his boss and give him the gun back.

Soldiers escort a suspect, reflected on a door, before he is presented to the media at the 20th Cavalry Regiment in Ciudad Juarez March 17, 2010.

On Wednesday March 17, 2010 Camacho Ramos and Bustos Rentería were presented to the media in the usual manner the authorities always do, except this time it was for the fourth time and this time it was for the massacre of the students in Villas de Salvárcar.

CNN coverage of the arrests:
Four more arrested in Juarez house party massacre

Categories: barrio azteca, ciudad juarez, juarez student massacre, sicarios, video