ZETA (9-23-13) By Rosario Mosso Castro and Sergio Haro Cordero
Translated by un vato for Borderland Beat
(I found this story interesting because the victims are high-ranking police officers. --un vato.)
Members of organized crime ordered (the attacks) and tried to kill them.
They were the chiefs of police organizations that dedicated themselves to combating the criminal activities of the Arellano Felix Cartel (CAF) and the Sinaloa Cartel in Baja California between 2006 and 2011.
Prosecutors who were complicit with drug traffickers decided not to investigate and allowed the failed assassins and their bosses to go unpunished.
It did not matter that the criminals tried to kill authority figures nor that they attacked the government. If the Public Ministry did decide to initiate an investigation, it was against the victims, for using weapons "excessively" to defend their lives.
Another factor that these victims had in common was that they never had support from their bosses, mayors and governors, nor the political clout to pressure ministerial authorities - state or federal-- to compel prosecutors to investigate, prosecute and imprison the criminals who attacked them when they were carrying out their duty to protect the public.
According to the versions given by the victims interviewed by ZETA, the majority of the assassins who participated in the attacks against them are already dead or in prison, but in none of the cases did they face charges for attempting to take their lives.
Gomez was investigated
On December 17, 2005, representing authorities from all levels of government, the Coordination Groups issued a bulletin assuring the public that: "These cowardly assaults will not go unpunished...". They were referring to the attack carried out the night of November 16 of that year against the commander of the State Preventive Police (PEP: Policia Estatal Preventiva), Carlos Gomez Miguel, and the murder, at 3:45 a.m. on the 17th, of two of his assigned bodyguards stationed in front of his house; Juan Hernandez Gutierrez and Jesus Noe Rosas Zuniga.
As a result of the first encounter, a criminal was killed. Gomez reacted, asked for backup, a patrol vehicle arrived, which he used to chase the failed assassins until he caught up with them. They got into a firefight and the state policeman killed the criminal.
The local Prosecutor's office reported that, because of the tattoos -- including the last name Mendoza--, everything indicated that the dead attacker had belonged to the Logan Barrio and was an "important character", given the speed with which they avenged his death.
The ministerial authorities even had the man's fingerprints from other seized weapons. But after that communication, nothing.
Gomez, the current Operations Director of the PEP, was asked whether anybody was arrested for he murders of his bodyguards and whether the attack against him was investigated: "(Jesus) Quinonez was in charge of Homicides at that time, and what he did was to initiate a criminal investigation against me because he felt I had fired my weapon excessively. They returned my weapons three months later, but the car took longer."
Jesus Quinonez Marquez was arrested by U.S. authorities in July of 2010, when he was the director of International Liaisons with the Baja California Attorney General. He was prosecuted and sentenced as a collaborating member of the Arellano Felix Cartel (CAF).
-- And the patrol vehicle in which the bodyguards were murdered? Gomez is asked.
"We didn't get it back until May of 2006, but in addition, in the inquiry, it doesn't say anywhere that one of (my) boys managed to fire his weapon".
-- Did you push the investigation?
"It was Samson against raw beginners", he concluded.
Against Diaz Lerma for millions of dollars.
Shortly after 9:00 a.m. on Tuesday, April 25, 2006, the armored SUV in which Manuel Diaz Lerma, (at left) then Secretary of Public Safety for Baja California, was traveling was attacked repeatedly by a group of gunmen for several city blocks in the Avenida Internacional, in the Hipico housing development in Mexicali.
There, three of the bodyguards were left wounded, while the Secretary -- relying on the skill of his driver-bodyguard and the armor on the official vehicle -- escaped the shower of bullets and was not hurt. Officially, it was reported that more than 658 rounds had been fired, and it came out that the gunmen were with the Arellano Felix Cartel (CAF).
Three months later, Diaz Lerma left that office. He transferred to the Mexican embassy in Switzerland as an economics advisor, where he remained for two years. He returned to Mexicali in the summer of 2008 and got back into business and political activities.
"The first thing I wanted to know was what had happened, why it had happened", Manuel Diaz Lerma explains from his office.
"Before that incident, I had been told: 'Look, as long as you're clean, you're doing your job, nobody's going to mess with you'. With me, that rule was broken, because I was doing my job, such as it was," says the lawyer, who heads up a corporate office and two businesses, an industrial dining room and a private security firm.
"I've never stolen, I never stole and nobody ever tried to bribe me", insists Diaz Lerma.
There were several theories -- based on intelligence work -- proposed regarding the attack; some were discarded as being too crazy, but he has developed a hypothesis that he is convinced [is the correct one]:
"What happened here is that somebody on the inside took money and then said he had given it to me. Since we continued to make arrests with the PEP, and we continued to hit them, well, somebody must have complained. This person who took the money said, 'well, I already made contact, I gave it to him...' It was blamed on me".
Subsequently, between friends and contacts, with information from here and there, he put together the story's puzzle.
He recalls that he resigned in May, but the governor at the time, Eugenio Elorduy, asked him to remain until after the federal election (that President Felipe Calderon won). Then he traveled to Europe on July 21, 2006, but he remained in touch with the follow-up in the investigation of the attack.
"The individuals that turned up and the ones that are under arrest were detained for something else, they weren't looking for the actual persons who physically carried out the attack, by no means. In their interrogations, it would come out that they were involved; there were many like that. We're talking about more than eight persons who testified the same way, who are in prison, and who are being prosecuted for other crimes."
Diaz Lerma believes that the twenty gunmen who took part in the attack were working for Teodoro Garcia Simental, "El Teo", -- who later joined the Sinaloa Cartel --, who is now imprisoned in the Altiplano Maximum Security Prison, in the state of Mexico.
In January, 2007, there were a series of arrests related to the attack, about eight (individuals) were involved, among these ministerial police agents assigned to Mexicali and a deputy chief of operations with the Municipal Police. But the rest of the participants -- a dozen -- are not under arrest. Even "El Teo" (captured in January 2010) is in prison for other crimes.
.
"The truth is that I stopped asking about it at the Prosecutor's office, like any other victim... I left it in God's hands, let it be Him, I have closed that matter, independently, whatever happens, if they go free... The truth is that these days I am not following up on it (the investigation that remains open)'.
"They gave me the information when I was in Switzerland. Several of them turned up dead, and they identified them and realized they were the ones who had carried out (the attack). It's difficult to recall how many there were, but there were several. No authority has ever called me for any action in the matter", says the former state official.
He says he decided to return based on reports he got: "'Those people already know they made a mistake, that you never got any money, they already know that, they don't have anything against you any more: you can come back with no problem'. Many people told me that I didn't even have to leave, but it was a question of my own sanity."
-- And how much are we talking about?
"I never knew precisely; I know there was talk about having delivered 4 million dollars, to distribute...there was a high ranking official, and he was not from the (Public Safety) Secretariat".
Finally, Diaz Lerma thought about it; he claims that for some time he though about hiring a criminal defense lawyer to follow up on the matter, but he decided to leave it alone. Although he believes that some who participated (in the attack) are still free.
Capella: "Bastard, you're alive... why are you pushing it"
The night of November 27, 2007, right when the sun was coming up on the 28th (of November), an armed group attempted to break into the house of Alberto Capella, who was at the time Citizen Counsellor of Public Safety, and who 72 hours later would be appointed Secretary of Public Safety in Tijuana.
Men with long weapons, traveling in at least eight vehicles, tried to get inside the victim's home, which is located on one side of the building that houses the State Anti-kidnapping Unit, and to the rear of the offices of the Municipal Police.
Capella, (at left) who had received threats, heard noises. He grabbed one of the long weapons that his bodyguards would leave with him at night when they took him home, and began shooting. His neighbors called Emergency numbers for help; law enforcement forces took 35 minutes to get there. The criminals left the scene without completing their attack.
At the scene, the Attorney General's office collected cartridge cases from 11 weapons, in addition to the one used by Capella to defend himself. Five (of the) weapons had been used on November 20 that same year in the murder of Federal Highway Police officer Carlos Mario Breach Schultz, ambushed in a shower of bullets in Colonia Libertad. This evidence did not matter. The investigation was not completed; it did not even get started.
In March 8, 2009, after the capture of Angel Jacome Beltran "El Kaibil", one of his alleged accomplices who was also arrested, Ministerial (police agent) Ricardo Flores, gave a statement about the attempted homicide attack against Capella: "Ministerial agents named Domingo Herrera, Ulises Meza, as well as Municipal Police Agents whose names I do not recall, were involved. The cell that carried out the referenced attack was led by a former ministerial agent known as 'El Negro'".
He also claimed that Herrera was wounded in the homicide attempt and was treated afterwards in the Baja California Social Security hospital (ISSSTECALI) as having suffered a work-related accident.
Unofficial versions by municipal police officers also mentioned the participation of Javier Enrique Cardenas Salgado, the acting chief of Liaisons with the Municipal (police) and close friend (compadre) of drug trafficker Jorge Briseno "El Cholo". Cardenas Salgado -- arrested in November, 2008 for alleged ties with the CAF-- was the person who ordered the police to "get out of the way" to leave the criminals free passage.
"It was a very complicated time, painful, because apart from the fact that you live moments of terror and by some miracle you survive, you end up being three times a victim: the most important, when they try to kill you. The second, when you're crucified by the media for political reasons, suggesting the attack was self-inflicted (according to reports he subsequently received, this version came from the State General Secretariat of Governance) with so many people involved, somebody was bound to say something. And the third time, because there is no justice", Alberto Capella believes.
"Those were such complicated times, that even a first level authority, whose name I won't mention, said these words to me: 'Bastard, since you already survived, let us concentrate on truly important things, not on things that are irrelevant, because, after all, you're alive'. And 72 hours later, I became a public official for the first time in my life. You enter a dynamic of great responsibility, a lot of stress, so many problems, that you have other priorities".
-- What were you investigated for?
"I know that one time I received a summons from the PGR, at that time asking how the hell I had an AR-15 and a G3 (rifle) in my house, and why. That is, I ended up being prosecuted. I spoke with Medina Mora and explained to him -- they were his bodyguards and they would leave (the firearms) there at night -- and they dropped the matter, but that's what they wanted to know.
"Two years later, these individuals who are under arrest come up with this information and substantiate with actual knowledge the participation of four State ministerial police agents and, presumably, eight corrupt Tijuana municipal police officers. That's basically as far as we got".
-- Former ministerial (police agent) Francisco Manzo Moran, "El Negro" or "El Billy", arrested in July, 2009, did they charge him in your case?
"As far as I know, no; I haven't appeared before any judicial authority".
-- Is there anybody under arrest because of the attempt on your life?
"Nobody, at least in my case, nobody. There are two investigation files, one with the State and another one at the PGR, and both investigations must be sleeping the sleep of the just
"What's my impression? That most of the ones who took part (in the attack) are either dead or are under arrest, because there was nothing more. And it has the same effect on you that it has on all victims, that is, you ask yourself what's going to happen if you push it -- the investigation --, more so when there is that attitude of, 'what for, since you're alive?'
"Now, people come and bring me a piece of the puzzle that I didn't have before, but they will not agree to testify because that would place them at risk. Sadly, reality is one thing and judicial truth is another, there's a great stretch between knowing something and being able to prove it. In the end, the only link I have is this statement and the ballistics from the weapons".
At the start of the investigation (on his case), Capella had a verbal confrontation, using strong language, with Jesus Nelson Rodriguez Garcia, deputy prosecutor against Organized Crime, because he was intentionally downplaying the matter.
Victims of kidnappings had on several occasions accused this official of corruption and collusion with organized crime. However, he was protected by prosecutors Antonio Martinez Luna and Rommel Moreno, until April, 2008, when General Sergio Aponte Polito, then the Military Region Commander, accused him in an open letter, with details from investigations and statements, of being a corrupt official with criminal ties. However, they neither fired him nor charged him. Nelson resigned.
According to the ballistics analysis, some of the weapons in his attack had been used in the murder of federal agent Carlos Mario Breach Schultz and in the attack against Capella. When Montero went to give his statement, Nelson Rodriguez Garcia met with him and informed him that he was didn't know anything about "his business" because he had a lot of work, and he was going to send it to the Office of Attorney General (PGR: Procuraduria General de la Republica) because there were not enough agents and they didn't want to run a risk.
A few days after the attack, as a result of a series of interviews with Rosarito municipal police officers and with the support of the Army, General Aponte, prompted by the intentional delays in the federal and state investigations, released a list of corrupt uniformed officers who had taken part in the attempted homicide of Captain Montero. Jose Luis Lugo Baez, Cesar Beltran Saldivar and Mario Alberto Herrera Sanchez; Jose Luis Lucas Rodriguez, Junior Ernesto Escobar Knight, Manuel Miguel Diaz Ayala, Carlos Peraza Vergara, Marco Antonio Arias Hernandez, Jose Luis Ballesteros Sanchez, Mario de Jesus Lizan Najera, Eduardo Bustos Rodriguez and Karlo Omar Herrera Sanchez. The police officers publicly denied (the accusation).
Some of them were arrested. In fact, Cesar Beltran Saldivar was murdered --October 3, 2008-- while he was eating in a taco joint with Angel Jacome Beltran "El Kaibil", who was arrested in March, 2009, for being a member of organized crime.
When the Army captured "El Kaibil", they allowed Eduardo Montero to interview him. "He told me he had not participated in my matter, but the person who asked for permission to do it was Cesar Beltran, through Raydel Lopez, "El Muletas", and that 'El Teo" (Eduardo Garcia Simental) had approved it".
When he asked why, Jacome answered: "Because he was beginning to break up the groups that were already on the inside --of the Police-- and he was not letting them work".
-- Of the list that was made public, were any of the police officers placed under arrest for the attack on you and for the murder of your bodyguard, Guillermo Castro Corona?
"Specifically for the attack against me, I don't know; I became aware of their participation through General Aponte, but whether they're in the investigation, I don't know. What's more, I never saw the investigation again".
-- Did they officially question Jacome Beltran about the attack against you and your bodyguards?
"That, I don't know. What happened is that there was never uniform criteria in drafting the interrogation of the individuals arrested. The unit that was holding them got their information -- what they were interested in--, and did not allow other entities to at least be present to see what other matters could be cleared up."
-- Did they accuse Cesar Beltran of carrying out the attack?
"He was on the list, but he was never arrested because he resigned. When they publish the names, he resigns and I never see him again until his death".
-- Did you testify?
"I went and filed a complaint with General Aponte Polito. That's the only time they listened to me, in fact they did not want to accept my report; the person who was working as Liaison was in charge, then they caught him in the U.S.-- Jesus Quinonez--. He only took my report because there was a lot of pressure from the General".
-- After the lists came out, they captured the Herrera brothers on drug charges and ...
"And they are already free".
-- Set free?
"They're in Rosarito".
-- And you, why didn't you push the investigation, Captain?
"I didn't question it. Rather, I proposed that in each arrest, all the units would be invited, so that in everybody's presence they could ask about whatever they were interested in. In the Rosarito case, I was interested in knowing which police officers were involved, which authorities were involved, what was the reason they killed Pedro or Miguel, to resolve what was in my municipality, but that didn't happen".
Leyzaola: Without an open criminal investigation
The job of coordinating with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administratin (DEA) allowed Lieutenant Colonel Julian Leyzaola, Secretary of Public Safety for Tijuana, to learn about the planning of two attacks against him. One in September, 2009, and the other in October 31, 2009, both were discovered on time. In the second (plot), there were arrests, but when the individuals were prosecuted, no charges were filed against them for conspiring to kill (Leyzaola).
-- Regarding the first threat, on the car bombing conspiracy, was there an investigation?
"No; on that there was a denunciation [criminal complaint] filed with the PGR for attempted homicide and whatever else applies. That's where they got information from the DEA that they were going to blow up the "La Ocho" building -- Public Safety offices that were located on 8th Street in the Central Zone-- with a vehicle with explosives. That's when I decided to transfer the (Public) Safety Secretariat to the building in the Zona Rio. But there was no arrest; there was talk about a video, but we never arrested anybody".
-- Was there a truck with fingerprints?
"But they didn't find explosives in it, and if there's nothing there, you cannot make a case."
With respect to the failed attempt planned for November 1, 2009, and the individuals arrested-- Edgar Zuniga Nuno "El Mono" and eleven other criminals arrested--, Lt. Col. Leyzaola confirms: "They are not being prosecuted for the attack."
They were captured after a confrontation, dressed like soldiers on fake vehicles, while they were waiting for orders to go out on the street, get close to Julian Leyzaola's security detail and kill him.
"Initially, when I got the information, we learned that they were going to "clone" the the vehicles, but they were arrested for other reasons. From their statements, we knew that they were waiting to attack my vehicle. They had Barrets mounted on their cars, but the attack was not carried out. That's why, in the end, there were no charges for attempted homicide."
--But there were videos found , with a harangue that talks about their intent to murder you, and other statements; is nobody being investigated, despite all the information surrounding the criminal incident?
"Really, there, I don't know how the situation was working, all we did was we played a part in the arrest on organized crime (charges), possession of weapons for the exclusive use of the Army and, I believe, for improper use of authority and the use of armed forces uniforms. It was thought that the Public Ministry was going to charge them with attempted murder, but I don't know how the Public Ministry handled the matter of planning the attempted murder."
-- There were videos and statements. Did they ever call you to testify?
"We gave all of that to the PGR, everything was delivered to them so that they could formulate the charges, but I don't know how it all came out, and they never called me to testify".
The ministerial authorities even had the man's fingerprints from other seized weapons. But after that communication, nothing.
Gomez, the current Operations Director of the PEP, was asked whether anybody was arrested for he murders of his bodyguards and whether the attack against him was investigated: "(Jesus) Quinonez was in charge of Homicides at that time, and what he did was to initiate a criminal investigation against me because he felt I had fired my weapon excessively. They returned my weapons three months later, but the car took longer."
Jesus Quinonez Marquez was arrested by U.S. authorities in July of 2010, when he was the director of International Liaisons with the Baja California Attorney General. He was prosecuted and sentenced as a collaborating member of the Arellano Felix Cartel (CAF).
-- And the patrol vehicle in which the bodyguards were murdered? Gomez is asked.
"We didn't get it back until May of 2006, but in addition, in the inquiry, it doesn't say anywhere that one of (my) boys managed to fire his weapon".
-- Did you push the investigation?
"It was Samson against raw beginners", he concluded.
Against Diaz Lerma for millions of dollars.
There, three of the bodyguards were left wounded, while the Secretary -- relying on the skill of his driver-bodyguard and the armor on the official vehicle -- escaped the shower of bullets and was not hurt. Officially, it was reported that more than 658 rounds had been fired, and it came out that the gunmen were with the Arellano Felix Cartel (CAF).
Three months later, Diaz Lerma left that office. He transferred to the Mexican embassy in Switzerland as an economics advisor, where he remained for two years. He returned to Mexicali in the summer of 2008 and got back into business and political activities.
"The first thing I wanted to know was what had happened, why it had happened", Manuel Diaz Lerma explains from his office.
"Before that incident, I had been told: 'Look, as long as you're clean, you're doing your job, nobody's going to mess with you'. With me, that rule was broken, because I was doing my job, such as it was," says the lawyer, who heads up a corporate office and two businesses, an industrial dining room and a private security firm.
"I've never stolen, I never stole and nobody ever tried to bribe me", insists Diaz Lerma.
There were several theories -- based on intelligence work -- proposed regarding the attack; some were discarded as being too crazy, but he has developed a hypothesis that he is convinced [is the correct one]:
"What happened here is that somebody on the inside took money and then said he had given it to me. Since we continued to make arrests with the PEP, and we continued to hit them, well, somebody must have complained. This person who took the money said, 'well, I already made contact, I gave it to him...' It was blamed on me".
Subsequently, between friends and contacts, with information from here and there, he put together the story's puzzle.
He recalls that he resigned in May, but the governor at the time, Eugenio Elorduy, asked him to remain until after the federal election (that President Felipe Calderon won). Then he traveled to Europe on July 21, 2006, but he remained in touch with the follow-up in the investigation of the attack.
"The individuals that turned up and the ones that are under arrest were detained for something else, they weren't looking for the actual persons who physically carried out the attack, by no means. In their interrogations, it would come out that they were involved; there were many like that. We're talking about more than eight persons who testified the same way, who are in prison, and who are being prosecuted for other crimes."
Diaz Lerma believes that the twenty gunmen who took part in the attack were working for Teodoro Garcia Simental, "El Teo", -- who later joined the Sinaloa Cartel --, who is now imprisoned in the Altiplano Maximum Security Prison, in the state of Mexico.
In January, 2007, there were a series of arrests related to the attack, about eight (individuals) were involved, among these ministerial police agents assigned to Mexicali and a deputy chief of operations with the Municipal Police. But the rest of the participants -- a dozen -- are not under arrest. Even "El Teo" (captured in January 2010) is in prison for other crimes.
.
"The truth is that I stopped asking about it at the Prosecutor's office, like any other victim... I left it in God's hands, let it be Him, I have closed that matter, independently, whatever happens, if they go free... The truth is that these days I am not following up on it (the investigation that remains open)'.
"They gave me the information when I was in Switzerland. Several of them turned up dead, and they identified them and realized they were the ones who had carried out (the attack). It's difficult to recall how many there were, but there were several. No authority has ever called me for any action in the matter", says the former state official.
He says he decided to return based on reports he got: "'Those people already know they made a mistake, that you never got any money, they already know that, they don't have anything against you any more: you can come back with no problem'. Many people told me that I didn't even have to leave, but it was a question of my own sanity."
-- And how much are we talking about?
"I never knew precisely; I know there was talk about having delivered 4 million dollars, to distribute...there was a high ranking official, and he was not from the (Public Safety) Secretariat".
Finally, Diaz Lerma thought about it; he claims that for some time he though about hiring a criminal defense lawyer to follow up on the matter, but he decided to leave it alone. Although he believes that some who participated (in the attack) are still free.
Capella: "Bastard, you're alive... why are you pushing it"
The night of November 27, 2007, right when the sun was coming up on the 28th (of November), an armed group attempted to break into the house of Alberto Capella, who was at the time Citizen Counsellor of Public Safety, and who 72 hours later would be appointed Secretary of Public Safety in Tijuana.
Men with long weapons, traveling in at least eight vehicles, tried to get inside the victim's home, which is located on one side of the building that houses the State Anti-kidnapping Unit, and to the rear of the offices of the Municipal Police.
At the scene, the Attorney General's office collected cartridge cases from 11 weapons, in addition to the one used by Capella to defend himself. Five (of the) weapons had been used on November 20 that same year in the murder of Federal Highway Police officer Carlos Mario Breach Schultz, ambushed in a shower of bullets in Colonia Libertad. This evidence did not matter. The investigation was not completed; it did not even get started.
In March 8, 2009, after the capture of Angel Jacome Beltran "El Kaibil", one of his alleged accomplices who was also arrested, Ministerial (police agent) Ricardo Flores, gave a statement about the attempted homicide attack against Capella: "Ministerial agents named Domingo Herrera, Ulises Meza, as well as Municipal Police Agents whose names I do not recall, were involved. The cell that carried out the referenced attack was led by a former ministerial agent known as 'El Negro'".
He also claimed that Herrera was wounded in the homicide attempt and was treated afterwards in the Baja California Social Security hospital (ISSSTECALI) as having suffered a work-related accident.
Unofficial versions by municipal police officers also mentioned the participation of Javier Enrique Cardenas Salgado, the acting chief of Liaisons with the Municipal (police) and close friend (compadre) of drug trafficker Jorge Briseno "El Cholo". Cardenas Salgado -- arrested in November, 2008 for alleged ties with the CAF-- was the person who ordered the police to "get out of the way" to leave the criminals free passage.
"It was a very complicated time, painful, because apart from the fact that you live moments of terror and by some miracle you survive, you end up being three times a victim: the most important, when they try to kill you. The second, when you're crucified by the media for political reasons, suggesting the attack was self-inflicted (according to reports he subsequently received, this version came from the State General Secretariat of Governance) with so many people involved, somebody was bound to say something. And the third time, because there is no justice", Alberto Capella believes.
"Those were such complicated times, that even a first level authority, whose name I won't mention, said these words to me: 'Bastard, since you already survived, let us concentrate on truly important things, not on things that are irrelevant, because, after all, you're alive'. And 72 hours later, I became a public official for the first time in my life. You enter a dynamic of great responsibility, a lot of stress, so many problems, that you have other priorities".
-- What were you investigated for?
"I know that one time I received a summons from the PGR, at that time asking how the hell I had an AR-15 and a G3 (rifle) in my house, and why. That is, I ended up being prosecuted. I spoke with Medina Mora and explained to him -- they were his bodyguards and they would leave (the firearms) there at night -- and they dropped the matter, but that's what they wanted to know.
"Two years later, these individuals who are under arrest come up with this information and substantiate with actual knowledge the participation of four State ministerial police agents and, presumably, eight corrupt Tijuana municipal police officers. That's basically as far as we got".
-- Former ministerial (police agent) Francisco Manzo Moran, "El Negro" or "El Billy", arrested in July, 2009, did they charge him in your case?
"As far as I know, no; I haven't appeared before any judicial authority".
-- Is there anybody under arrest because of the attempt on your life?
"Nobody, at least in my case, nobody. There are two investigation files, one with the State and another one at the PGR, and both investigations must be sleeping the sleep of the just
"What's my impression? That most of the ones who took part (in the attack) are either dead or are under arrest, because there was nothing more. And it has the same effect on you that it has on all victims, that is, you ask yourself what's going to happen if you push it -- the investigation --, more so when there is that attitude of, 'what for, since you're alive?'
"Now, people come and bring me a piece of the puzzle that I didn't have before, but they will not agree to testify because that would place them at risk. Sadly, reality is one thing and judicial truth is another, there's a great stretch between knowing something and being able to prove it. In the end, the only link I have is this statement and the ballistics from the weapons".
At the start of the investigation (on his case), Capella had a verbal confrontation, using strong language, with Jesus Nelson Rodriguez Garcia, deputy prosecutor against Organized Crime, because he was intentionally downplaying the matter.
Victims of kidnappings had on several occasions accused this official of corruption and collusion with organized crime. However, he was protected by prosecutors Antonio Martinez Luna and Rommel Moreno, until April, 2008, when General Sergio Aponte Polito, then the Military Region Commander, accused him in an open letter, with details from investigations and statements, of being a corrupt official with criminal ties. However, they neither fired him nor charged him. Nelson resigned.
Montero: Alleged guilty persons set free
They delivered threats from the time he took office as Secretary of Municipal Safety in Rosarito on December 1, 2008. The messages were delivered through his bodyguards, then they attacked him with guns in the Police central offices on the 18th that same month. Since he survived, another threat came a week later via a ministerial agent, who told him he needed to negotiate with the drug traffickers and that he could come to an agreement without corrupting himself.According to the ballistics analysis, some of the weapons in his attack had been used in the murder of federal agent Carlos Mario Breach Schultz and in the attack against Capella. When Montero went to give his statement, Nelson Rodriguez Garcia met with him and informed him that he was didn't know anything about "his business" because he had a lot of work, and he was going to send it to the Office of Attorney General (PGR: Procuraduria General de la Republica) because there were not enough agents and they didn't want to run a risk.
A few days after the attack, as a result of a series of interviews with Rosarito municipal police officers and with the support of the Army, General Aponte, prompted by the intentional delays in the federal and state investigations, released a list of corrupt uniformed officers who had taken part in the attempted homicide of Captain Montero. Jose Luis Lugo Baez, Cesar Beltran Saldivar and Mario Alberto Herrera Sanchez; Jose Luis Lucas Rodriguez, Junior Ernesto Escobar Knight, Manuel Miguel Diaz Ayala, Carlos Peraza Vergara, Marco Antonio Arias Hernandez, Jose Luis Ballesteros Sanchez, Mario de Jesus Lizan Najera, Eduardo Bustos Rodriguez and Karlo Omar Herrera Sanchez. The police officers publicly denied (the accusation).
Some of them were arrested. In fact, Cesar Beltran Saldivar was murdered --October 3, 2008-- while he was eating in a taco joint with Angel Jacome Beltran "El Kaibil", who was arrested in March, 2009, for being a member of organized crime.
When the Army captured "El Kaibil", they allowed Eduardo Montero to interview him. "He told me he had not participated in my matter, but the person who asked for permission to do it was Cesar Beltran, through Raydel Lopez, "El Muletas", and that 'El Teo" (Eduardo Garcia Simental) had approved it".
When he asked why, Jacome answered: "Because he was beginning to break up the groups that were already on the inside --of the Police-- and he was not letting them work".
-- Of the list that was made public, were any of the police officers placed under arrest for the attack on you and for the murder of your bodyguard, Guillermo Castro Corona?
"Specifically for the attack against me, I don't know; I became aware of their participation through General Aponte, but whether they're in the investigation, I don't know. What's more, I never saw the investigation again".
-- Did they officially question Jacome Beltran about the attack against you and your bodyguards?
"That, I don't know. What happened is that there was never uniform criteria in drafting the interrogation of the individuals arrested. The unit that was holding them got their information -- what they were interested in--, and did not allow other entities to at least be present to see what other matters could be cleared up."
-- Did they accuse Cesar Beltran of carrying out the attack?
"He was on the list, but he was never arrested because he resigned. When they publish the names, he resigns and I never see him again until his death".
-- Did you testify?
"I went and filed a complaint with General Aponte Polito. That's the only time they listened to me, in fact they did not want to accept my report; the person who was working as Liaison was in charge, then they caught him in the U.S.-- Jesus Quinonez--. He only took my report because there was a lot of pressure from the General".
-- After the lists came out, they captured the Herrera brothers on drug charges and ...
"And they are already free".
-- Set free?
"They're in Rosarito".
-- And you, why didn't you push the investigation, Captain?
"I didn't question it. Rather, I proposed that in each arrest, all the units would be invited, so that in everybody's presence they could ask about whatever they were interested in. In the Rosarito case, I was interested in knowing which police officers were involved, which authorities were involved, what was the reason they killed Pedro or Miguel, to resolve what was in my municipality, but that didn't happen".
Leyzaola: Without an open criminal investigation
The job of coordinating with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administratin (DEA) allowed Lieutenant Colonel Julian Leyzaola, Secretary of Public Safety for Tijuana, to learn about the planning of two attacks against him. One in September, 2009, and the other in October 31, 2009, both were discovered on time. In the second (plot), there were arrests, but when the individuals were prosecuted, no charges were filed against them for conspiring to kill (Leyzaola).
-- Regarding the first threat, on the car bombing conspiracy, was there an investigation?
"No; on that there was a denunciation [criminal complaint] filed with the PGR for attempted homicide and whatever else applies. That's where they got information from the DEA that they were going to blow up the "La Ocho" building -- Public Safety offices that were located on 8th Street in the Central Zone-- with a vehicle with explosives. That's when I decided to transfer the (Public) Safety Secretariat to the building in the Zona Rio. But there was no arrest; there was talk about a video, but we never arrested anybody".
-- Was there a truck with fingerprints?
"But they didn't find explosives in it, and if there's nothing there, you cannot make a case."
With respect to the failed attempt planned for November 1, 2009, and the individuals arrested-- Edgar Zuniga Nuno "El Mono" and eleven other criminals arrested--, Lt. Col. Leyzaola confirms: "They are not being prosecuted for the attack."
They were captured after a confrontation, dressed like soldiers on fake vehicles, while they were waiting for orders to go out on the street, get close to Julian Leyzaola's security detail and kill him.
"Initially, when I got the information, we learned that they were going to "clone" the the vehicles, but they were arrested for other reasons. From their statements, we knew that they were waiting to attack my vehicle. They had Barrets mounted on their cars, but the attack was not carried out. That's why, in the end, there were no charges for attempted homicide."
--But there were videos found , with a harangue that talks about their intent to murder you, and other statements; is nobody being investigated, despite all the information surrounding the criminal incident?
"Really, there, I don't know how the situation was working, all we did was we played a part in the arrest on organized crime (charges), possession of weapons for the exclusive use of the Army and, I believe, for improper use of authority and the use of armed forces uniforms. It was thought that the Public Ministry was going to charge them with attempted murder, but I don't know how the Public Ministry handled the matter of planning the attempted murder."
-- There were videos and statements. Did they ever call you to testify?
"We gave all of that to the PGR, everything was delivered to them so that they could formulate the charges, but I don't know how it all came out, and they never called me to testify".
In Baja California state, not only did organize crime infiltrate the police agencies of the state, they owned them during the last decade. Even the cops who worked for the police corporations of Baja attempted to murder/murdered their fellow cops in the name of CAF and CDS. The conviction of homicide investigator Jesus Quinones as a collaborator of CAF said it all. Who in their right minds would want to become a director off public security of any municipality of Baja where the prosecutors, federal included, won't even lift a finger to prosecute, a lot of suspects in custody, the attempted murders of these high profile cops. I believe the keys of the asylum were handed over to the inmates. With cops and authorities like these who needs criminals.
ReplyDeletethis is a very good and to the point report capella days are numberes he di break promises thats what you keep hearing an the manta know people see that it was bull and some one outside baja had something to do with it naming names ad know asking fo this investigation to be open people pls you know who it is its another bitch move since he cant remove la familia and lost control of his cells he snitches on them heres a clue CHUPA I MEAN CHAPO!!!!!!
ReplyDeletethats justice in Mexico
ReplyDeleteChapo ur done how in the hell u want to remove the family that's been ther since day one kick rocks...u can't even remove beltran from sinaloa get the fuk out of here
ReplyDeletewhat Baja needs ....
ReplyDeleteis the Stranger from "High Plains Drifter".
HAHAHA!!!
residente de tijuana yes we know you hate el chapo you hate cds we know you wish you were with caf.
ReplyDeleteStandard in México no justice
ReplyDeleteno peace to the people WHO say revolt
is not needed in México you clearly
never been to México.
you would no One likes the crooks
in gobernó.
lol residente de tijuana we all no your full of cagada so just stop it with your nonsense we all know all the arellanos have sinaloa blood so pretty much sinaloa runs tijuana acknowledge that please
ReplyDeleteLmao mexicans have spanish blood does that mean spain runs mexico? Idiot get ur facts straight
DeleteSpain ran Argentina oil for a while,kick backs here and there,until them ignorant gauchos nationalized their oil back again,them fucking gachupines ARE trying to reposess hispanoamerica,the big rat moreira went there to escape the Indians, as did the lopez portillos,the devil never sleeps!Spain even partakes in the drug trafficking,then uses their money and that stolen by Hispanic corrupt governments to "invest"in stealing some other enterprises. Who bought Chicago parking meters?Spain,now they are sticking it to the people like the international gangsters they are,al Capone would be amazed...
DeleteJajaaja residente chinga a su puta perra madre! No manches putito!!
ReplyDeleteanonymous you guys ar fck moron read understand and comprehend im not a chapo im just stating facks chapo is a rat it been noted even by dea agents and you dont live in tijuana i do and 2008 and 2010 i do not want any residents going through this again ad chapo trying to heat up the plaza by trying to take over will cause that hes already lost control of his cells and little by little hes loosing controll of mexicali you fck idiots you guys are a joke no wonder you enter as anonymous and yes i know caf members but im not one or want to be one i started writing and got intrigue with caf when i had and incident with el gallo can you comprehend closet boys and found out that everything ive read in the papers and news was bullshit el caf is stronger than ever and have full controll of the city thats why theres only been a manta put up since never and now word is it was someone not fom tijuana its someone trying to heat it up YOU FCK MORON !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteif the news are bullshit why caf tried to kill many times Jesús blancornelas, you tell me that mr. know it all
DeleteLa gallina de tijuana pisa a la res de tijuana,y juntas como la yunta son las mamases de los cuacopollos...
DeleteCOMO LES DIJE ANONIMAS QUE ABRIERON EL HOSICO COMO ANONIMAS LA MANTA ES FALSA Y NOMAS FUE PARA CALENTAR LA PLAZA WHOS INTREST IS IT TO SNITCH IF THE CANT CONTROL THERE OWN CELLS AND REMOVE THE MAIN CARTEL OF TIJUANA EL CAF its all over the news
ReplyDeleteVery interesting article Vato
ReplyDeleteResidente de tijuana like we all said learn how to spell and go back to school please :)
ReplyDeleteLol go home all the cds lieutenants and jefes are still running the show where's all your jefes tijuana dead or prison they couldent out last old ass saggy chapo Guzman for a reason because he shits all over the place like a seagull
ReplyDeleteChapo is taller than z40,even if both wear their chrystal slippers...
DeleteHank runs TJ and CAF are his boys ... its as solid as EVER!
ReplyDeletewhy is Hank still around?
ReplyDeleteTijuana sige siendo mio RAMON DEL INFIERNO!!!
ReplyDeleteI read one comment that made sense, these cartals are the worst businessman I have ever seen.They need to watch the Godfather, they didn't kill women, children, and old people, they wanted to do business.
ReplyDeleteur friend cr