Wearing khaki pants and a
khaki-colored T-shirt, Ivan Velazquez Caballero “El Taliban,” shuffled his
shackled feet as he made his way into the courtroom for his hearing before U.S.
District Judge Micaela Alvarez.
Velazquez was expected to
plead guilty to a drug trafficking conspiracy or say he wanted to go to trial;
Neither happened.
The once imposing figure of
one of Mexico’s most powerful drug lords was replaced by a frail looking man.
During Thursday’s hearing, Velasquez’s tall frame showed the signs of a man who
had lost several pounds with a stubbly beard on his face. He cracked a brief
smile that was rapidly replaced by a saddened grimace when he turned to the
audience and saw his relatives.
A woman in the audience broke
into tears and choked back sobs when she locked eyes with Velasquez, who turned
back to face the court and kept his hands crossed in front of him.
Once Alvarez entered the
courtroom, Velasquez’s attorney, Douglas Mulder, asked to speak with the judge
and with Assistant U.S. Attorney Angel Moreno in private at the judge’s bench.
After the 20-minute
off-the-record conversation, Alvarez ordered the case be reset for April 7 and
dismissed Velázquez and the attorneys. The man also known as “Z-50” and “L-50”
gave one last look to his relatives before walking back to into federal custody.
Velazquez has been behind bars since Sept. 26, 2012, when Mexican marines acting on intelligence from the
U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration caught up with the drug lord in the state
of San Luis Potosi. He was extradited to Laredo just before his initial hearing
in November.
Velazquez began his criminal
career as a car thief in Nuevo Laredo and soon joined the Zetas at the age of
22 where he started off as an errand boy for Zeta boss Heriberto Lazcano, said
Jose Luis Vergara, a spokesman for the Mexican navy, following his arrest in
2012.
Eventually Velazquez worked
as a local foot soldier for the then armed wing of the Gulf Cartel with the
call sign L50, which referred to his affiliation with the Lobos or the guard
for Nuevo Laredo, a Tamaulipas law enforcement official told TheMonitor in
2012.
The Zetas started more than a
decade ago as enforcers for the Gulf Cartel, but set themselves apart by their
acts of cruelty and brazen attacks towards their rivals. In 2010, the Gulf
Cartel joined forces with the Sinaloa Cartel and the Familia Michoacana to take
out the Zetas, which had grown into its own crime syndicate that had turned
against its former bosses, Monitor archives show.
Over time Velazquez, climbed
his way to the highest echelons of the Zetas. But in late 2011, he had a
falling out with the organization’s top enforcer and eventual leader Miguel
Angel “L40 or Z40” Trevino Morales. In 2012 Velazquez took a faction of the
Zetas and joined forces with their former employer the Gulf Cartel to combat
Treviño, Mexican court records state.
From The Monitor and posted by Friendly Girl on BB forum
Am I first?
ReplyDeleteMan, why writers or whomever dont befriend these guys to pick their brains for stories is beyond me
ReplyDeleteImagine writing books about every guy they captured. That would be insane.
DeleteThey did for every italian when la cosa nostra was at its peak, why not for mexican cartels........
Delete@9:28 a.m yea there must have been a hundred written about john gotti! Never carlo gambino though he was a quiet slippery little fellow and he founded them.why not? The chapo one would be fascinating but they shouldnt profit from it! The proceeds should go to the victims of their crimes families!
Deleteits falling into place
ReplyDeleteRaton orejon snitched
ReplyDeleteJajaja, que? Ya no es el chapo el que iso snitched?
DeleteQue pasa cuando entra un nuevo gerente a una tienda? Corre a todos y mete a su gente. Lo del chapo ya estaba planeado. Entro gerente nuevo y cayeron los viejos. El animal, los cabrera, el flaco, m10, r5, fantasma, los salazar, los paredes, el rey nuñez. Usen la cabeza no anden con inventos. Ahi les encargo....
ReplyDeleteEse guey esta feo!!! No mames
ReplyDeleteEl Taliban keeps his tail between his legs :-))))
ReplyDeletebwahahahahahhahabahahahahwbwhbhaahahahahhahahahababwhhwhwh evil evil evil evil evil evil evil evil evil evil.... life in prison el pusaban... hahahahahahahahahahhahahahahahaha
ReplyDeleteCrazy to think my brother can be capable of so much evil.
ReplyDeleteThats life on lifes terms aka KARMA. I bet none of his relatives were crying when the money and liqour was flowing freely trom their ill-gotten evil gains. "El que nada debe nada teme"
ReplyDeleteTo OC reader:
ReplyDeleteI was convinced Chayo was killed, there are photos of his supposed body. BUT, rumors persisted of him being alive, and Dr Mireles says he is so I am going with that opinion.
The foto you speak of where a person is identified as Chayo is so blurred it is laughable, it could be anyone, even me or the pope.
The info I post on BB is verified directly by AD, at the very top level.
They have located Chayo twice in 6 weeks at two different ranches that serve as safehouses, he escaped each time within minutes. the last time, last week the household staff said he fled less than 20 min prior. He and Tuta will be found and captured...dead or alive.
Dr Mireles told me on Tuesday, the search on the part of AD has intensified closer to "ground zero" as they "comb the area"
What does El Chango have to do with this story?
DeleteEl chango es un güey, el chayo es otro y tu eres otro...
Delete@1:57 :-) :-) :-) :-)
I'm new to this blogging site and have a few questions and hope that I don't come across an arrogant poster. Why do you post old news and not current news of one to two day old news? Do you not have enough bloggers to help? This story has been posted up and running for days on other blog sites. There is a mexican video news report with Chapo's mother that has been aired multiple times on univision, telemundo and translated on cnn; and you guys have not covered it? There are very interesting facts that she reveals......they even show how she is uo in the mountains and how hard it is to get up there. I think it would be a good article for you guys. Also why do guys let trolls into the site and not monitor these people.....it looks like another BDN in the brew. Like is said not offend you guys I know this is time you have to vest and work into your schedule but I thought I'd give you constructive criticism.
ReplyDeleteHey betty, a la chingara. Stay where youre at. The only troll I see on here is you. Ms. Mee too.
DeleteI too am fairly new to this site and as far as the trolls on here I couldn't agree more, but if they are shorthanded and do this work for free in their spare time it would be easy to see how so many trolls can get on here and disrupt things instead of letting others engage in an intelligent discourse. I have a suggestion on that point, there are many sites that let readers flag comments, or others require readers to register in order to have their comments posted or to even be able to access the comments section. I have come to like this site because I can find a lot of great articles that maybe are scattered all over the place all here in one place, maybe im just to lazy to search the net for more articles but this site makes it convenient and they do post some of the best articles on the narco-war. Keep up the good work guys!
Delete@9:24 a.m give chivis and the others a break! I greatly appreciate what they do as far as translating goes as my spanish SUCKS with a capital S! Who cares if it takes a day or two as the facts of the story aint gonna change in that length of time! Im glad they do translate.sometimes i watch videos on other blogs and all i can do is look at the pictures and hope for the best cause they are in spanish!
Deletedoes anyone recall if this Tal Ivan fought it out with mexican military, or was he captured without a single shot fired? Since all these "tough" leaders bragg about how crazy they are, then they surrender without firing a single shot and whutnot...
ReplyDeleteShe didn't fire a single shot, she just gave up and snitched out her other two comadres.
Delete9:33 z40 snitched on z50 aka el taliban, that pussy was affraid of z50, matter of fact, z40 still is affraid...fucking barrel of menudo is a pussy and a snitch, and judas...
DeleteYa se lo cargó el payaso.
ReplyDelete9:24
ReplyDeleteconstructive criticism must be constructive to apply.
this post most likely would not have been posted at all but for a slow day.
We have inside sources that allow us to post breaking news but when in Spanish we must translate. That is a challenge against time.
Your reference is funny. the interview of Chapo's mother is in Spanish. the translation of it will take hours. BUT I had a reader who wrote to me, a bit cirtical as you are but offered to help by using his Spanish skills to translate. we get many offers, some translate one or two article and then vanish.
in this case I asked him to translate the Chapo's mother interview, he agreed. I said I needed it right away, within two days. He agreed.
I am still waiting. he says "something personal came up". I think it is more like the discovery of how difficult it is to translate, even for those knowing both languages well.
So would you like to translate the interview and send to me?
chivis.martinez@hushmail.com
remember we are all volunteers with real life obligations.
@10:05 chivaaa! I love You but don't let me down, don't you recognize bell bottom? can't be constructive at all, he tries to constrict, but that is not happening, never again...
Deleteatentamente:
chivis paladin
Taliban was a bad ass. A psychopathic scumbag bad ass, but a bad ass none the less.
ReplyDeleteI read an interview with some cartel middle manager guy in Texas that had gotten hijacked for a big load. He had been brought to z40 and z42 (Fredo Trevino) had a gun to the guys head threatening to kill him. Apparently Taliban came into the room with a pistol in his hand, put it to Fredo 42's head and told him, "If he dies, you die" and Fredo put down the weapon.
That story always made me a tiny bit of respect for this guys balls.
Having said all that, enjoy rotting in prison for the next 40 years Taliban..
Thats a bad ass story except do u think that if he did that z40 wld of killed this guy on the spot. But this guy had the balls to brake with the zetas so he does deserve a little credit for that.
DeleteDear Chivis and BB. I'm back in the US from Cape Town (South America.jaja.) The only way I was able get drug war news was BB. Now back home BB is the most comprehensive,honest place to get news
DeleteI am greatly appreciative for it. Loved all the Chapo news. Especially his lying ex-wife who hadn't seen him or talked to him in years. She was all saintly and pissed off.lol Now Chapo says he has no money even though they confiscated what 16 homes and a tin of cars
And,did he really admit killing between 2-3 thousand people? That sounds low. Those tunnels were awesome though. Who:d ever have guessed that? Except all the engineers he kidnapped.lmao. Does anyone know if this was a controlled take down where he'd already made a deal to be taken in but it to look like a capture. The CIA and DEA do it all the time in Mexico (Flores twins I think) and a lot of Columbians. Just wandering. Thanks again BB! Glad to be home cause it's easy to get BB. Great job. Peace. Texas Grandma.
@9:24 not very constructive at all
ReplyDeleteThis is the best english language blog on the internet on this topic. show me another blog covering the drug war in english that has better or more up-to-date articles than this one. you cant, because it doesn't exist. this site is run by a couple loosely-affiliated volunteers who do this in their spare time. it has no paid or full time employees. so if you are expecting it to run like CNN, why dont you get your ass and dedicate 8 hours a day. Until then, shut up and enjoy. Or dont enjoy. But either way, please shut up :)
ora si pinchi taliban!!!
ReplyDelete---with all due respect, i hope el taliban will testify why he ran to SAN LUIS POTOSI when z40 was looking for him in fresnillo,where he rammed his residence with heavy machinery.
---did he think enrique francisco galindo ceballos the SSP commander del estado fired before he resigned for not passing the control and confiability examinations, failing two times, who had to confess to stealing 100 000 pesos and taking bribes, and deemed unfit to serve was done with?
---now galindo ceballos is the national commissioner of the clownbian federal police of pena nieto.
---the zetas have the big boy right up there.
---the zeta from the start is in charge now, sticking it all the way to the zetas' rivals' arses.
---did el taliban think Manelich Castilla Craviotto was going to remain bought?; Carlos Slim Helu's lebanese lost tribe protege did not last long in the company of galindo ceballos at the helm of the federal SSP they were in charge of reorganizing when pena nieto kicked genaro garcia luna's greedy ass out.
--- one more win for the zetas, at the federal level.
---Carlos Slim Helu had to suck ass, the zeta associate galindo ceballos WON BIG THERE.
---maybe el taliban can talk about z3 el lazca, el mamito z40 and el taliban z50 tight friendship with galindo ceballos and his uncle, policia federal commander julio ceballos, drug and weapons trafficker, distinguished crime fighter, and fabricator of guilty parties on SLP.
---maybe el taliban will talk about the police academy of the SSP del estado de San Luis Potosi being instead the school of the future zetas del estado, its cadets and graduates failing to pass the tests of confiability too.
---but if he talks, the allies of galindo ceballos in the US may kill his ass in prison...
---and galindo ceballos may kill the rest of his family in mexico.
tough choices for el taliban...
Tell'em Chivis......woot, woot! I am veddy, veddy interested what his mother has to saw n why the mountaihs protected him so much.
ReplyDeleteMarch 7, 2014 at 9:24 AM
ReplyDelete"I'm new to this blogging site and have a few questions and hope that I don't come across an arrogant poster"
So arrogant ass are you gonna help?BB/Chivis were aware of the said video but seeing as it is an English speaking blog what would the point of posting it soft ass?Seeing as you know so much about blogs i,m sure your vast knowledge will come in handy on here,oh,and you wont come off as an irritating little troll.Help Chivis and translate the video and you will get your heartfelt wish,simple,,,like you.
This guy is a real king rat.He played both sides for years,obviously giving people up from both sides to be killed,a real survivor,but a complete dog.Imagine the people killed because of this guy?Also he instigated many killings when he changed sides taking Zetas from Zaca to him.Zeta became CDG...El Taliban what a joke on everyone these dogs are......No offense to dogs of the animal variety i love them.
ReplyDelete@2:12 it takes one to know one,Z50 would not put up with the z40's bullshit, and took him on, head butting him bad, if anything fucked up the zetas, it was z40's greedy judas ass, getting rid of all the ex-military zeta/gafes, and not paying the troops, stealing the company money, is not good for business, anybody with two fingers of forehead would find other associates...
DeleteTHANKS TALIBAN, you are no pendejo!!! better send it all to hell in a handbasket, well done sir, a damn good job and very well done!
The one who snitched was that son of a flea bitten bitch treviño to keep going up in the zetas organization.el taliban knew z40 was a piece of shit and became a cdg.
DeleteIF YOU LIVE IN AUSTIN TEXAS YOU CAN GO WATCH THE NEW DOCUMENTARY "THE LEGEND OF SHORTY" TONIGHT AT SXSW.
ReplyDeletehttp://schedule.sxsw.com/2014/events/event_FS15169
LOS LEGIONARIOS Y CDG CONTRA PUTO Z!
ReplyDeleteMarch 7, 2014 at 3:23 AM
ReplyDeleteNo seas mamon wey. Ni tu te crees tus pendejas. El R5 ni merece que lo compares con M1, , M10, Fantasma, y menos a los Cabreras de Durango y Salazar y los Paredes-Machados. Neta que si es un insulto. El R5 era un puto maricon que le gustaba las ninas y era un sicario pendejo que al final fue pelotado como a toda la gente inocente que se chingo y secuestro.. Usa la cabeza bien no andes con mamadas. Ahi te encargo a ti pareja.
The interview with Chapo's mother was a bit disappointing. She talked generically about her faith for most of it, and didn't say much of substance about Chapo. However, seeing the personality of Chapo's mother, whatever it is, is definitely interesting.
ReplyDeleteAnd I agree that B.B. is a top notch blog. I think it gets news to English speakers as fast or faster than any other source.
Why do narcos seem to never get life sentences? Is it really that there's no evidence to convict them of something like first degree murder? 16 year old Rosalio Reta got put away for 70 years, but it seems like most capos get 15-25.
ReplyDelete@10:15 p.m cause reta was a u.s citizen and he had the good fortune of being locked up in texas! They dont too much play with u there! Hell they executed a mexican national for killing a cop there not too long ago!
DeleteM.O.N.E.Y
Delete$$$$$$
DeleteI remember when el Taliban sent about 40 trucks/cars with their music on full blast going to matamoros and the cdg was still rebuilding it's cells and they fought for a whole night and half the day and someone thought that it was lazca who was actually in that convoy but it was el Z50 who rode with them and then retreated but the cdg put a fight to defend matamoros with halcones ambushing zetas who were roaming lost and even civilians helped to fight off the Zetas!!!
ReplyDeleteMarch 7, 2014 at 2:39 PM
ReplyDelete"I too am fairly new to this site and as far as the trolls on here I couldn't agree more"
Look at these idiots?New to a blog,but immediately start calling people trolls?
Who is coming off as a troll?Really .....
at 3:06 PM
ReplyDelete"LOS LEGIONARIOS Y CDG CONTRA PUTO Z!"
What were Los Legionarios before they appeared?Who was their ultimate boss?You postin on this story tells us no?What up,San Luis Potosi,Fresnillio,Salinas Hidalgo ye know
@ Bones
ReplyDeleteDon't say that,they'll start calling us trolls.After all it is very constructive to come to a blog and pointedly call people trolls?
March 7, 2014 at 2:39 PM
ReplyDeleteDo you realize that all you did was complain?There is a forum for people to register if they so wish,many blogs continue to use anonymous sections because it does bring in more comments who in turn may come back and then if they wish register.If your delicate sensibilities cannot handle everyday language and even curse words why not go to another blog?Do you think a cartel member would register for membership?Because believe it or not some definitely do post.Of course not,grow up and stop complaining...I,m sure they haven't thought of your suggestions before,why don't you just register and stop complaining?This is main-board ANONYMOUS comments,,derrr
@2:44
ReplyDeletethere is a little tool you can use on videos. It is far from perfect, but at least it is something.
many of the videos have a caption tool. click that "on" and search for English.
most folks won't translate videos.
@chivis! Thanks ill have to try that:)
DeleteWho's the top Z in charge ?after lazca got judas'd by 40 it was 40 but after 40 went down I heard it was his brother z42 but I haven't heard or seen much around about him or even any specifics on what going o n with z in general since Trevino got his due.
ReplyDelete42 is in charge and doing well. Difference is he is not flamboyant, he is more on the down low and his cartel is doing very good.
Deleteto the reader who wrote in part this:
ReplyDelete"I will be saving your email and shit I find that I think is worthwhile I will translate and send to you so you don't think I'm just talking shit without backing it up. Not all of us on here are are ignorant ass retards who are interested in the Mexican (Mexican, as in, in fucking god damn Spanish) drug war and Mexican cartels, who don't speak Spanish"
I could not post your entire comment, it was that bad. But as far as the offer for translations, thank you but I am going to pass on the offer. Somethings are just not worth trading your principals for, and the manner in which you wrote the comment is not a person I want to align with.,,,chivis
BUT TO THE MANY others that wrote and offered to translate THANK YOU!. I will be contacting you soon!!
For those of you who are just guessing on what happen between el puto 50 and z40 here's the real story ... For a while they were close friends then miguel took some of 50 people out of power when lascano died so 50 got pissed and didn't say anything and after that he started to ask for more soldiers in his territory so z40 would send people to San Luis and some how those soldiers were getting caught or killed by the hundreds .. Z40 found out that el taliban was responsible for the disappearances and send people to take him out that's when 50 ran to Sinaloa and deflected taking about 500 men with him after a couple of months z40 finally found the ranch where 50 was hiding and sent people to take him out and that's when 50 turned himself in and told Mexican officials that he wanted to be extradited to the US where he would be safe
ReplyDeleteSo what, z40 snitched also and turned himself in, and is going to be extradited and is going to snitch in this side as well. The whole thing started when Talibán found out that 40 was snitching on everyone and setting them up to be caught, that's the story behind te cellphones with gps that 40 was telling everyone to use. 40 snitched big time.
DeleteZ40 still runing things dont get mad
Delete9:37 pm. The only thing z40 is running is his big mouth snitching like crazy, when he was interviewed by DEA he started crying like a little girl. And he is going to continue snitching when they take his Z ass to the states. Now that José's wife filed for divorce, they 40 and José are going to cry and snitch together.
Delete50 didn't run to the sinaloas fool he went back to the Gulf Cartel that's why zacatecas is C.D.G. territory!
DeleteZac is not all cdg territorry word from over there is that the letra is making a come back very quitly
DeleteSo, someone offered to translate for barter, huh? That sounds cray-z.
ReplyDeletez40 is running away from la ardilla, now he'll be running away from el chapo and la barbie too; z40's sponsors don't know or talk to his ass anymore, i hope he gets sick and gets rescued like la pelirroja from monterrey, she was pretty, even after she got hanged...
ReplyDeleteI haven't heard from any of the other zetas complaining of miguel snitching the only ones that were saying that are the pussys that went crying to el chapo for help when miguel was killing their ass all over Reynosa and matamoros
ReplyDeleteHahahaha most of the the stuff said here is completely false! your Intel is way off! the comments are are more accurate than the story.
ReplyDeleteCdg wouldn't be a cartel if it wasn't for CDS helping them out
ReplyDelete