Gulf Cartel Expanding Operations in Guatemala?

In Guatemala City, Guatemala .- The president of Guatemala, Alvaro Colom, said the Mexican Gulf Cartel exercises control in various regions of the country and concluded, following the killing of 17 suspected drug traffickers on Sunday, which now joins the western department Huehuetenango, on the border with Mexico.

"They want to monopolize the whole country," Colom told reporters before, while this group blamed the action on Sunday and warned that "take time" to recover the territories controlled by this organization.

"Take time to regain the territories due to the fact that if one of the attacks, Back them are violent (because) they are not children of First Communion," said the president.

Jose Amilcar Velasquez, attorney general of Guatemala, for its part reported that the Attorney General's Office (PGR) of Mexico offered support research to clarify what happened.

Velasquez said the Guatemalan prosecutor's office is investigating four theories on this, including the disputed territory between the Guatemalan and Mexican groups.

Colom did a recount of the areas of Guatemala that have strong presence of drug traffickers and warned it "wants everything."

"They want everything, but where are strengths is the north of (the department) Alta Verapaz (north), in Ixcán (department of Quiché-north), in Sayaxché (department of Peten-North) and it seems that ( department) Izabal (Caribbean), "he said.

Regarding Huehuetenango, where the massacre occurred on Sunday, the president said it was believed that drug traffickers had only presence on the one hand, but now there are indications that operate "in the entire region."

The dignitary said that the army, mobilized to the area after the events of Sunday, will remain in place "until they regain" the territory.

Said that another critical point is the region of Ixcán, because it is used for the landing of planes with drugs, so it announced efforts to strengthen surveillance in place.

He recalled that currently has no radar to detect aircraft.

(EL SOL)

Smart State Trooper Scores 60 Kilos of Meth in... New Jersey?

Route 80 New Jersey

Biggest seizure of crystal meth in the whole history of the "northeast."

Authorities said they pulled 165 pounds of crystal meth from the truck, the largest known seizure of the drug in Northeast. The drug is widely used in the western United States.

(NORTH JERSEY.COM)

But check out the details of investigation:

Joe Petrocelli was an hour into his shift Monday when federal agents notified the Passaic County Sheriff’s Department that a massive shipment of crystal meth was rumbling east on Route 80 inside a tractor-trailer.

He was told that it was his job to stop it.

When he approached the truck, he said he noticed the driver, Alberto Olguin of Texas, was dressed in shorts and a T-shirt, but claimed to have a cold and was smoking nervously, Petrocelli said. Olguin’s logbook also did not detail a logical route between Texas and Brooklyn, his supposed destination, the officer said.

And hanging from the passenger-side chair, Petrocelli said, was a pendant of Jesus Malverde, the so-called patron saint of some Mexican drug dealers from northern Mexico. The symbolism of the pendant was not lost on Petrocelli, who teaches officers nationwide about how to pull over smugglers.

Wait- did they actually tell him the license plate of the truck? If so, all this is after the truck was handed to him.

Barrio Aztecas Verdicts: Guilty!

Courtroom sketch by Nacho L. Garcia Jr. / El Paso Times)

Let's hear from the defense after the clients were mostly convicted of everything- with a couple of heavy exceptions on a murder count and a VICAR count:

After the verdict, Herrera's lawyer, Ken Del Valle, criticized the FBI's use of informant Josue "Casper" Aguirre, a member of the gang who had criminal charges dismissed and was paid a total of $75,000 by the government.
Aguirre, who has left El Paso in fear of his life, testified that at one time, the BA was collecting quotas from 47 drug sellers.
"During the course of this five-year investigation, the FBI allowed 47 dope houses to operate in El Paso so they could gather evidence about the Barrio Azteca extorting these dope houses," Del Valle said. "If each of those houses sold an ounce a day, over five years, they allowed over 5,000 pounds of drugs to be on the streets of El Paso."

(EL PASO TIMES)

That's a good point.

Michael Carona Trial: Defense Snookers Prosecution

Carona.

There is nothing I like more then a good snookering of the prosecution:

Did Debra Hoffman just secure the first "get-out-of-jail-free" card in the Mike Carona corruption trial?

Too soon to tell, but she did a nice Cheshire Cat impression Tuesday afternoon after vacating the defense table for the first time since the trial began in late October. Any why not? The moment she passed by Carona and gave him a smiling "Hey, what can I say?" look, she went from defendant to courtroom spectator.

Minutes earlier, U.S. District Judge Andrew Guilford ruled that she was entitled to a separate trial from Carona at some unspecified date.

Mindful of what her sudden disappearance might mean to jurors waiting to be summoned back to the courtroom, Guilford asked both teams of attorneys, "How should we orchestrate the farewell to Ms. Hoffman?"

Hoffman's attorney, Sylvia Guillen-Torres, suggested that he tell them charges had been dropped. Carona defense attorney Jeffrey Rawitch said, "A small cocktail party?" The two government attorneys weren't nearly as jocular.

(LA TIMES)

A small cocktail party? That is a quip!

Food Trend: Iberian Ham/Jamon Iberico

Iberian Ham/Jamon Iberico Ronda, Spain.

Amazingly, Iberian Ham was just approved for sale in the United States in July 2008. Now they're allowing it but subject to rigorous rules and regulations etc blah blah blah. Sounds like a business opportunity to me!

Commenter Explains Tijuana Drug Cartel Violence

A commenter left this message after my last Tijuana violence post. I thought it was pretty sensible, so I'm reposting it:

Actually it IS and it is NOT inter-Arellano.

Everything started 4/26/08, The current's "AFO" or "CAF" leader, "El Ingeniero" (nephew to the Arellano Felix Brothers who started it all)sent a large convoy of gunmen to "finish" the growing rampage that one of the Arellano-Felix cartel's Lieutenants (leader for an individual cell) who's nickname is "TEO" "El TRES" "Tres Letras"
identified as Teodoro Garcia Simental had going for months kidnapping and killing at his own will, in other words "EL TEO" became a loose cannon and was growing bigger than the "CAF" itself, or at least was becoming a threat to "CAF".
That night was one of the worst ever in Tijuana, there were over a dozen people killed on the shootout between "Teo's" people and the CAF gunmen.
Neither "TEO" nor any of his major gunmen were killed, they were not present in the shooting.

It is unclear to me wich side had a bigger death toll but both sides were hit hard.
"EL Ingeniero" then made a big mistake:

He forgave TEO and ordered him to leave town, then forgave all of TEO's people and re-adopted them.

3 months ago, TEO came back, (from Sinaloa) only he didnt come alone...
It is said that he brought back people from the Sinaloa cartel with him, with the promise to deliver the city to them after finishing off the Arellano Felix Cartel.
Obviously, his old people went back to him, they never betrayed him.
The late massive acts of Violence in Tijuana are a result of this war for the City, apparently TEO's current plan in action is to kill anyone that has anything to do with the Arellano's from street drug dealers to people involved in their money laundering, anything and everything that smells, tastes, looks, like CAF.
The beheadings and mutilations are an attempt to create fear in those who work for the CAF and that way take over the operations in the city.

Only thing is that CAF has over a decade in the city and they are not leaving without a fight...
<,br>
Personally, I think this is going to take a long time and hundreds more lives before we know who stays and who dies....

Cause of Drug Violence in Tijuana Not Inter Arrellano Felix Related

Baja California has suffered a rising wave of homicides, which officials blame on a struggle between rival cells of the Arellano-Felix drug cartel.

(CBS 8 SAN DIEGO)

No: it clearly involves cartels like Sinaloa and the Gulf Cartel- Decapitation is a Zeta trademark, and Sinaloa Cartel will use it, too.

Decapitation details:

The bodies of nine decapitated men were found in a vacant lot in Tijuana Sunday, part of a wave of violence that claimed at least 23 lives over the weekend in this border city plagued by warring traffickers, authorities said.

The heads were discovered in plastic bags near the bodies in a poor neighborhood of Tijuana, across from San Diego, Baja California state police said in a statement. Three police identification cards were also found at the site.

Yikes. Were they police men, then? Decapitation strikes fear into the hearts of others.

Side Effects May include "Sleep crime"

There is a new drug being developed that mimics melatonin. It's called "tasimelteon." People are like "wah wah more studies need to be done." I say: just make it available to everyone right away! I'm sure there are no terrible side effects to this medication at all.

The body's sleep-wake cycle is controlled by melatonin, which is produced by the pineal gland in response to patterns of light and darkness. Higher concentrations of melatonin in the blood are associated with greater sleepiness.

Some research has shown that administering melatonin can adjust sleep cycles in travelers and workers, but the results have been mixed.

Because melatonin can't be patented, drug companies have been interested in developing melatonin mimics, such as tasimelteon, which can be patented.

That's How They Do in Oakland, CA.

Oakland, California.

He should submit his resume to a prison gang, I'm sure they would be into him. That is not a joke, just a statement of fact. Alot of people would find this story "depressing" but to me it's just "home."

OAKLAND — Leon Wiley laughed as an Alameda County Superior Court Judge today ordered the 30-year old to spend the rest of his life in prison.
The former member of the notorious "Nut Case Gang" chuckled some more when family members of one of the three people he either killed or ordered to be killed talked about their loved ones.

And, as Wiley was led out of the courtroom after a stern talking-to by Judge Joseph Hurley, he made sure to look both the judge and then family members in the eyes as he shouted his allegiance to the gang that terrorized Oakland in 2003.

"I don't give a fuck," Wiley shouted as he was surrounded by court bailiffs. "I'm not scared of none of that shit. I don't care, I got no where to go. I'm Gotti, I'm Tweezy. Nut Cases."

(CONTRA COSTA TIMES)

Don't Take Drugs Into Prison

"your honor, mr. perrine was merely checking the storm drains on his roof, then checking a sealing problem with his basement window. The sealing problem required him to extend his body through the basement window, however, this was independent of the officers who were pulling on his legs to drag him back inside. He merely thought they were old acquaintances from the district attorney's office playing a prank on him. Submit.

t's not unusual for a lawyer to have to meet a criminal client in a prison.
It's another thing to bump into your client because you're living in the same jail.

So it is for D. Scott Perrine, now housed at the Curran-Fromhold Correctional Facility in the Northeast. It's the same prison housing Perrine's client Pete Hopkins, 20, one of three men whose beating by Philadelphia police on May 5 was captured on an infamous video by a Fox29 news helicopter.

Independent of the Hopkins case, Perrine, 31, got himself arrested Oct. 24, 2007, while visiting a client at Curran-Fromhold. When prison officers searched Perrine's briefcase, authorities say, they found a small vial of cocaine. According to court records, Perrine said that another client's mother had given it to him and that he forgot it was in his briefcase.

Last Tuesday, Perrine did the one thing you never do to a judge: He failed to appear for a hearing on the criminal charges he faces.

Common Pleas Court Judge Joan Brown issued a bench warrant for his arrest. On Friday, officers apprehended Perrine after a wild scene at his Center City house in which the former assistant district attorney allegedly tried to escape via the roof and then through a basement window.

(PHILLY.COM)

Somali Pirates + American Cruise Ship = Solid Gold!!!

I'm getting ambitious.

RELATED CONTENT: SOMALI PIRATES, YARGH!
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Somali Pirate Kidnap Terror: "They Slaughtered Live Goats in Front of Us!!!"(CAT DIRT SEZ)
Cruise off the Somalian Coast? World's Worst Vaca!(CAT DIRT SEZ)


Hey did you hear the Somali Pirates tried, and failed, to hijack an American owned cruise ship going from Rome to Singapore? I'm like, whoah. They pull that off and it will be a big deal. What with all the Americans likely to be on board. And their hostage taking. (Silently cross Rome to Singapore Cruise off "Bucket List."

The Nautica, with 656 passengers and 399 crew, was in waters patrolled by a multinational task force.

The ship was on a 32-day cruise from Rome to Singapore when it was attacked at 0930 local time (0630) on Sunday in the Gulf of Aden.

(BBC NEWS)

Great Summary of the Larry Langford Criminal Case

OK, maybe I drove the city to bankruptcy.

I love the Feds going after the black mayor of Birmingham for public corruption.

Like all public corruption investigations, it's difficult for most adults to understand what is going on in this case, which is why visual aids are so important.

Alabama.com has this great timeline:

(ALABAMA.COM LANGFORD TIMELINE)

It's "PDF", FYI.

Australians Arrest Mexican Nationals in Huge Coke Bust

Melbourne, Australia

I wonder which drug trafficking entity is behind this shipment? Oh- a blind item.

Two of the three Mexican nationals charged over a cocaine bust earlier this month have been remanded in custody.

Police allege the pair were part of an international network that tried to import more than 64 kilograms of cocaine worth $16 million from Mexico concealed in concrete cylinders.

The cocaine was initially detected by customs officers in the United States as it travelled to Melbourne via Hong Kong.

The 210 kilogram cyclinders were copied and exchanged by police as part of a controlled delivery operation.

(ABC)

Federal Judge Unimpressed by Central Charge in Defense Lawyer Money Laundering Case

Ben Kuhne is being unfairly prosecuted by the Bush United States Attorney's Office

While we're on the subject of shenanigans by Bush White House United States Attorney's Office prosecutions, what about the prosecution of criminal defense attorney Ben Kuhne for money laundering? Here's what the District Judge has to say last week:

U.S. District Judge Marcia Cooke said she found the government's central charge against Miami attorney Ben Kuehne ''disturbing'' in a key pretrial hearing.

The money-laundering conspiracy charge gave her pause, she said, because it implied any defense lawyer could be prosecuted for accepting tainted fees -- despite a Congressional exemption sparing attorneys from criminal prosecution in these situations. And that, in turn, could undermine a client's right to a defense lawyer, she said.

''If I follow your analysis, we should do away with the notion of private defense counsel,'' Cooke told a federal prosecutor last week in the controversial Kuehne case.

(MIAMI HERALD)

They should try focusing on the drug dealers.

BLACK Mayor of Birmingham Alabama Indicted by Feds

Larry Langford photo

I don't know a single fact or accusation in this case, but the Northern District of Alabama United States Attorney's Office needs to be emptied by the incoming Obama administration. Also, the Middle District of Alabama United States Attorney's office: the people who prosecuted Don Siegelman, they need to go, also.

Is it not amazing that the only people accused of public corruption by the Federal Government in Alabama are Democrats? This and the Siegelman case are classic examples of George Bush politicizing the United States Attorney's office.

A 101-count federal indictment unsealed today charges Birmingham Mayor Larry Langford, Montgomery investment banker William Blount, Blount Parrish and Co. and longtime Langford friend Al LaPierre with a series of crimes in connection with Jefferson County bond transactions and swap agreements.

The indictment charges the three men and Blount Parrish and Co. with conspiracy, bribery, fraud, money laundering, and filing false tax returns in connection with a long-running bribery scheme.

(ALABAMA.COM)

Mexican Drug Cartel Violence Unabated

What happened in Mexico this weekend? Well how about ten decapitated corpses found in Tijuana + "A dozen hitmen on Friday opened fire at people dining together at a restaurant in Ciudad Juarez, across from El Paso, Texas, instantly killing seven of them and fatally wounding another, police said" (Yahoo!)

Oh- and there was an argument-inspired shoot-out among drug traffickers that ended up with 17 people dead (LA CRONICA):

A total of 17 people were killed in a border town with Mexico as a result of a clash between armed men who the police claimed were drug traffickers.

''In the place had a truck registered in Tamaulipas and died inside a rifle with a grenade launcher and an M'', said on Monday the spokesman of Police Donald Gonzalez.

The police version indicates that the incident began on the afternoon of Sunday, when suspected drug traffickers Guatemalans and Mexicans drank in the town of Santa Ana Huista, located 180 kilometers northwest of the capital. The police said that the fight started by disagreement over a bet on a horse race.

Yawn. Just another weekend on the United States/Mexican border.

Captured Mumbai Terrorist Reveals Training

This guy can not be having a good time right now. Consider that the CONGO asked Indian peace keepers to leave because of cruelty related issues. So, imagine:

Kamal has revealed to his interrogators that most of the volunteers spoke his native Punjabi and that all of them were given false names and were discouraged from interacting with each other beyond what was barely necessary.

During the months of training they were taught the use of explosives and close quarter combat. It was ingrained upon every man that ammunition would be in short supply and therefore every bullet should count.

The terrorists were also taught marine commando techniques such as beach landings at another camp at the Mangla Dam, located on the border between Pakistan-administered Kashmir and India's Punjab province.

Kamal revealed that once their training was complete, his team of four travelled to the garrison town of Rawalpindi, where they were joined by another six terrorists, who had been trained at other camps close by.

It was in Rawalpindi that the 10-man team were briefed in detail with digitised images of their prospective targets – the Taj Mahal and Oberoi Hotels, the Jewish Centre and the Victoria Terminus railway station. Each member of the team memorised street names and routes to each location. Kamal told his interrogators that most of the targeting information came from a reconnaissance team which had selected the targets earlier in the year.

It was during this crucial phase, as the cargo ship headed into the Arabian Sea, that the terrorists appeared to almost lose their nerve. The Indian navy, Kamal revealed, were very active, boarding foreign vessels and searching their holds. The terrorists thought their plan might be compromised so on the night of 15th/16th November, the teams used their inflatable speed boats to hijack a local fishing boat, the Kuber.

Kamal also admitted to his interrogators that three of the Kuber's four crew were immediately murdered, while the ship's captain was ordered to sail for the Indian coast. When the Kuber was within five miles of the coast, the terrorists slit the captain's throat and transferred back into their inflatable speed boats and headed for the lights of Bombay.


After the battle, one member of India's National Security Guard, who led one of the assault groups against the terrorists occupying the Taj Mahal hotel, said they were the "best fighters" he had ever encountered.

He said: "They were obviously trained by professionals in urban guerrilla fighting. They used their environment and situation brilliantly, leading us (the NSG) on a dangerous chase through various tiers of the hotel which they obviously knew well. Their fire discipline too was excellent and they used their ammunition judiciously, mostly to draw us out.

(London Telegraph)