Leader of the Zetas Captured by Mexican Feds

Jaime Gonzalez Duran AKA "The Hummer" ALLEGED leader of the Zetas

The Zetas- the enforcement wing of the Gulf Cartel and the most murderous paramilitary force in Mexico.

The Federal Preventive Police reported that it captured in Tamaulipas Jaime Gonzalez Duran, aka The Hummer, who is alleged founder of the group of hitmen known as Los Zetas.

In a press conference being held in the hangar of the Federal Preventive Police, the interim commissioner of this organization, Rodrigo Esparza, was on hand to present to the media at Hummer who operated in Reynosa, Tamaulipas, and is linked to Heriberto Lazcano aka The Lazca, leader of the Gulf Cartel.

In a press conference the official said that this arrest will tone for the capture of other members of that group arm of the Gulf Cartel.

The Hummer is considered one of the main contributors to Heriberto Lazcano and Miguel Trevino Morales, aka the L-40, leaders of Los Zetas.

Rodrigo Esparza announced that Jaime Gonzalez Duran caused high in the Mexican Army and Air Force on Nov. 15, 1991.The deserted on February 24, 1999 and joined Arturo Guzman Tens and Heriberto Lazcano to be part of the Gulf Cartel's arm as executor.

He was recruited by Osiel Cardenas Guillen, The Kills friends, and one of his first tasks was to escort Cardenas Guillen.

It was responsible for the executions of members of other criminal organizations to be carried out by the square of Reynosa, Tamaulipas, where it currently had its operations center.

Until his arrest, controlled operations in the states of Tamaulipas, Nuevo Leon, Michoacan, Hidalgo, Veracruz, Tabasco, Quintana Roo, Mexico State and Federal District, reporting directly to Heriberto Lazcano.

The Hummer was wanted by the Attorney General of the Republic, by U.S. authorities on charges in the Court of the District of Columbia for the crimes of conspiracy, manufacturing and distribution of cocaine.

(EL UNIVERSAL ENGLISH TRANSLATION)

Barrio Azetcas Trial Sounds Awesome

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This is a racketeering case in El Paso regarding the activities of the Barrio Aztecas criminal street gang of El Paso, TX. There is actually a reporter covering this trial and writing great articles- a woman, no less. Just kidding! But seriously, it's an awesome trial:

EL PASO -- At least one El Paso member of the Barrio Azteca gang was kidnapped and killed in Juárez in recent years to pay for ripping off the drug cartel "La Linea," a witness testified during the ongoing racketeering trial for six men with ties to the gang.

Gallardo said he was ordered to pick up a man from the cartel Downtown and he then drove him to a Lower Valley home.

"When we got there, they had him tied up -- Chato Flores," he said.

The man's wrists, feet and mouth were duct-taped and he was put in a vehicle and taken to Juárez where the cartel was waiting.

(EL PASO TIMES ERICA MOLINA JOHNSON)

AP should syndicate this story. Gulp! I wonder what happened in Mexico. I guess we'll never know.

Tijuana Wednesday Murder Bodycount: 14

I like to check in with the body count in TJ every other wednesday. Today? 14:

Yesterday's decapitated victims, both men, were discovered about 6 a.m. near the Otay Mesa border crossing, their bodies inside large plastic barrels, and their heads placed on the lids. They were not identified, but a handwritten message was left: “This is what will happen to those that hang out with the filthy Arellano Félix.” It was signed la maña, a term for mafia.

(San Diego UNION TRIBUNE)

That's a pretty clear message.

Texas Syndicate Member Pleads to Being Zeta Hit Man

Texas Syndicate Gang Logo

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Webb Count
y Court House, Laredo Texas

A tactic that originated in the San Diego area(?): Mexican drug cartel's using American gang members as assassins- has spread to the Rio Grande Valley. Typically in the case of San Diego- the American gang member was used in Mexico, here it appears to be a straight up contract killing:

A man police have tied to the Texas Syndicate pleaded guilty Tuesday to murdering two people who were Zeta targets.

Juan Manuel Marquez Rodriguez pleaded guilty to the murders of Julio A. Serrano and Michael Lopez in exchange for a 20-year prison sentence.

Marquez Rodriguez, 27, and other members of the Texas Syndicate plotted in December 2006 to kidnap Serrano, a 19-year-old Sinaloa Cartel hit man, on behalf of the Zetas, the branch of the Gulf Cartel that controls most of the drug trafficking in this area, according to a criminal complaint filed by Laredo police.

Miguel "40" Treviño Morales and Ivan "El Taliban" Velasquez Caballero wanted Serrano delivered to them in Nuevo Laredo, according to the complaint.

Serrano was involved with a woman Velasquez had dated, according to a source with knowledge of the investigation.

When Marquez Rodriguez and his associates arrived at the trailer Serrano was living in on Gallagher Avenue, Serrano tried to flee and Marquez Rodriguez shot and killed him, according to the criminal complaint.

(LAREDO TIMES)

Well, it didn't have the panache of your typical Zeta "grenades from the fourth story of a downtown hotel" attack, but what can you expect. Also- who wants to bet he's co-operating and that had something to do with the recent Texas Syndicate take-down in... Texas, of course.

Crazy Marine Murder Case in Riverside, CA.

Sceloporus magister uniformis says "What the fuck?"

The allegations in this case sound like some of the war crimes prosecutions that have been happening in southern California. What, if any, is the relationship of this crime to the war in Iraq?

Four Marines have been arrested for the slaying of a Marine and his wife at their home in the Winchester neighborhood of Riverside County, the county sheriff's department announced.

The four have confessed in the killing of Sgt. Jan Pietrzak, 24, and his wife, Quianna Jenkins Pietrzak, 26, authorities said. The motive allegedly was robbery.

Pvt. Kesuan Sykes, 21, is being held in a Riverside jail. Lance Cpl. Tyrone Miller, 20; Pvt. Kevin Darnell Cox, 20, and Pvt. Emrys John, 18, are being held in the brig at Camp Pendleton. Two of the four served in the same unit as Pietrzak.

Pietrzak and his wife were found shot to death in their home Oct. 15. The two had been bound and gagged. Sykes is also charged with a sex crime in the attack. A fire was set in the home, allegedly to destroy evidence.

All four suspects will face murder charges with special circumstances, which can bring the death penalty, the sheriff's department said.

(LOS ANGELES TIMES)

I mean, they're only allegations but holy shit. That is some incendiary stuff: robbery, murder, arson and rape?

Request to Exradite Eduardo Arellano Felix Suprisingly Denied

Oh hai I'm the Mexican court system:

After his arrest the federal police filled the provisional arrest warrant for extradition to the U.S. government promoted and that the alleged kingpin sought to curb an amparo(?).

Despite the refusal of amparo, Eduardo Arellano Felix may not be transferred immediately to the U.S. because their defense filed a petition for review in a court Collegiate.

(EL UNIVERSAL)

If I was a Mexican drug lord I would embrace the Mexican justice system. Your chances of escaping are like, 50%. Plus, no death penalty. Plus, thirty year MAXIMUM sentence for ANYTHING. I'm not a big death penalty fan but thirty years maximum? You have GOT to be kidding.

Also "amparo" means:

Amparo literally means amparar or "to shelter" or "to protect". The name stems from the nature and intent of the writ a judicial procedure for the protection of certain constitutional rights. The Writ of Amparo [ recurso de amparo or juicio de amparo] originated from the Mexican legal system and has no exact equivalence in common law. Amparo however is not totally alien to Philippine jurisprudence because it essentially encompasses elements of several

legal actions of the common law tradition: writ of habeas corpus, injunction, error, mandamus, and certiorar

(NATIONAL UNION OF PEOPLES' LAWYERS)

Dayton: 18 Arrested for Trafficking Prescription Drugs

Dayton, Ohio.


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God bless our domestic drug trafficking organizations. They look pretty quaint placed next to the smuggling hundred of kilos/millions of dollars Mexican drug cartels, but I have a very soft spot in my heart for them- in fact- they should be a weapon in our fight against international organized crime:

A Dayton, Ohio, doctor and 17 other people have been rounded up in what police describe as a $5 million prescription drug ring that dipped into northern Warren County and reached all the way to Florida.

Arrests in the 11-month investigation included Sievers' office manager, Sherry Marshall, and her husband, Kenneth - described as the office "bouncer." The couple is accused of profiting from the elaborate scheme and keeping patient files at their Dayton home, said John Burke, commander of the Warren County Drug Task Force.

Seven of those arrested are considered distributors who recruited more than 200 bogus patients and addicts to take the prescriptions to be filled at pharmacies in exchange for keeping some of the drugs to use or sell, Burke said.

Some of the drugs also made it to Florida, where two former Warren County men - Paul Price, a convicted killer, and Granville Turner - were arrested and accused of running a similar scheme in Broward County, Fla. They also are accused of funneling OxyContin back to Southwest Ohio for sale.

(CINCINNATI ENQUIRER)

Let me tell you something: Using your medical license to push heroin to drug addicts is not "elaborate," even compared to street level crack sales. In fact, it's easier.

Hyperbole aside: Aren't they cute? It was a $5 million dollar ring! Aw- adorable. Did wittle doctah sell to suburban housewives?

Nogales Police Chief Slain

Nogales, Mexico

Who killed him? Sinaloa Cartel?

Gunmen killed a state police chief in the Mexican border city of Nogales.

Sonora police director Juan Manuel Pavon Felix was riddled with bullets as he entered a hotel Sunday night with his bodyguard and other officers, according to a statement from the state investigative police office.

The statement said Pavon had just finished directing police operations in the city.

(MIAMI HERALD)

Gulf Cartel Honcho Arrested in Reynosa Mexico

Reynosa, Mexico.

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You know, the Mexican dailies do a pretty good job keeping up with the latest news on the Mexican fight against the drug cartels. Note how they got him on a highway- transportation is the most vulnerable part of any large scale enterprise. That's why I think that anti-drug law enforcement should focus on a "free way" strategy and basically ignore the suppression of supply or diminishing of demand.

Facts:
1. People are going to make drugs.
2. People are going to use drugs.
3. Drugs need to be moved from the producer to the consumer, money need to be moved from the consumers to the producers.
4. It is impossible for criminals to 'secure' the international passage of drugs- they need to be 'hidden.'

You don't need to put anyone in jail if you just take the drugs and the money. For example, Colombia produced 535 tons of cocaine- that is 535,000 kilograms. That all has to be transported to either the United States or Europe. If you stop the movement, everything else goes away. What can drug traffickers do? We also need to take advantage of the fact that Mexico is a much more functional state then ANY of the cocaine growing countries- Colombia? Bolivia? Please. Just flush our aid money down the toilet.

Antonio Coronado Galarza, 'The Yellow', alleged leader of the Gulf cartel in the city of Reynosa, Tamaulipas, was arrested yesterday.

The arrest took place in the vicinity of the National highway to Reynosa, Monterrey, where federal troops stopped the vehicle Ford Lobo, black, model 2009, without plates movement, which was led by Antonio Coronado Galarza, who also he was nicknamed 'El Tigre'.

(EL UNIVERSAL ENGLISH TRANSLATION)