Mexico Hits Drug Gangs With Full Fury of War Mexico Hits Drug Gangs With Full Fury of

[Gunny]

By JAMES C. McKINLEY Jr.
Published: January 22, 2008

RÍO BRAVO, Mexico — These days, it is easy to form the impression that a war is going on in Mexico. Thousands of elite troops in battle gear stream toward border towns and snake through the streets in jeeps with .50-caliber machine guns mounted on top while fighter jets from the Mexican Navy fly reconnaissance missions overhead.

Gun battles between federal forces and drug-cartel members carrying rocket-propelled-grenade launchers have taken place over the past two weeks in border towns like Río Bravo and Tijuana, with deadly results.

Yet what is happening is less a war than a sustained federal intervention in states where for decades corrupt municipal police officers and drug gangs have worked together in relative peace, officials say. The federal forces are not only hunting cartel leaders, but also going after their crews of gunslingers, like Gulf Cartel guards known as the Zetas, who terrorize the towns they control.

The onslaught has broken up a longstanding system in which the local police looked the other way for a bribe and cartel leaders went about their business.

more ... http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/22/w...df&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss&oref=slogin

Nice of them to show up to the fight 25 years late.

 

[ScreamingEagle]

They caught one of the bigger fish. Golly gee, I wonder if the Federales will use *torture* on this scum El Mochomo if he doesn't spill his guts?

January 23, 2008

MEXICO CITY – An elite army unit on Monday arrested a top operative for the Sinaloa cartel whose alleged duties included moving drugs and buying off officials in the Texas border state of Chihuahua, officials said.

Special forces soldiers captured Alfredo Beltrán Leyva in the Sinaloa capital, Culiacán, along with three of his bodyguards, several weapons and $900,000 in U.S. currency, the Defense Ministry and the attorney general's office said in a joint statement. Mr. Beltran Leyva was then brought to Mexico City.

Mr. Beltrán Leyva, whose nickname "El Mochomo" refers to a desert ant, is a purported key operator for the cartel run by his cousin, Joaquín Guzmán Loera, known as "El Chapo" Guzman.

"This is one of the people who function as the right hand of Chapo Guzman," said Javier Ibarrola, who writes on military and drug issues for the magazine Milenio. "This is important."

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcon...-mexico_22int.ART.State.Edition1.37719d7.html

 

[glockmail]

Nice of them to show up to the fight 25 years late.

Tey must have got some new toys they want to show off. Some king pin will buy them off and the fight will be over until another 25.

 

[ScreamingEagle]

Tey must have got some new toys they want to show off. Some king pin will buy them off and the fight will be over until another 25.

Calderon promised reform. Looks like his word is good so far.

 

[glockmail]

Calderon promised reform. Looks like his word is good so far.

Wouldn't that be nice. I wish him luck but with corrupton at every level the only way to fix it is mass firings of government workers, from the top down.

 

[ScreamingEagle]

Wouldn't that be nice. I wish him luck but with corrupton at every level the only way to fix it is mass firings of government workers, from the top down.

True. Corruption has been the way of life in Mexico...things will not change overnight. However, he's been making some headway against the drug cartels. The fact that he sent in the military feds is significant.

 

[glockmail]

True. Corruption has been the way of life in Mexico...things will not change overnight. However, he's been making some headway against the drug cartels. The fact that he sent in the military feds is significant.

He needs to send them into about 2/3 of the government buildings.

I've been to Mexico once, so its not fair for me to say, but my impression was that the street cops were crooked as hell. So I can only imagine what the desk sitters are doing.

 

[Toro]

Calderon promised reform. Looks like his word is good so far.

Calderon's the man.

 

[Doug]

Mexico has been slowly growing a middle class which can make money without corruption, and which therefore has no stake in continuing a corrupt system. In fact, since they are the victims of it, both directly and indirectly, they have a stake in ending it. When this class becomes large and powerful enough, the situation will begin to change.

The Left always blames Third World problems on capitalism. But the reality is, Third World problems come from not enough capitalism. When large numbers of people are making money from the free market, they have a stake in enforcing the rules of fair play which allows that market to flourish. (Corruption involves directly, or potentially, violating the 'rules of fair play' which are what the capitalist market is based on.)

If Mexico can become a decent, normal country -- just Canadians who speak Spanish and believe in God -- it will change everything, especially the immigration problem. We may even have to clean our own toilets and gut our own chickens.

 

[Lookout]

Nice of them to show up to the fight 25 years late.

Sounds like someone forgot to make a payment!

 

[waltky]

Beltran-Leyva's son arrested in Jalisco state...

Mexican drug cartel leader's son arrested in western state
Dec 10,`16 -- Mexican police arrested the son of a drug cartel leader who was extradited to the United States, authorities said Saturday.

Federal security forces said in a statement that the man was arrested Friday in the western state of Jalisco along with four others on suspicion of drug trafficking, kidnapping and murder. His full name is not given, but a police official confirmed Saturday that it was Alfredo Beltran Guzman. The official was not authorized to discuss the case publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.

Beltran Guzman's father is Alfredo Beltran Leyva, a former leader of the Beltran Leyva cartel who in February pleaded guilty to drug trafficking charges in Washington. The Beltran Leyva cartel began as an arm of Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman's Sinaloa cartel. Beltran Guzman is also related to the Sinaloa cartel leader who is fighting extradition to the U.S. The Beltran Leyva operation split from the Sinaloa cartel following Alfredo Beltran Leyva's arrest in 2008.

Beltran Guzman was arrested Friday without a shot being fired in Zapopan, Jalisco. Rifles, a grenade and drugs were also seized. The statement said Beltran Guzman was connected with the kidnapping in August of several people, including at least one of Joaquin Guzman's sons in Puerto Vallarta. It also suggested he was behind attacks in Guzman's hometown, including on his mother's compound.

At some point, pursued by authorities and Guzman's people, Beltran Guzman moved his base of operations from Culiacan, Sinaloa to Guadalajara, Jalisco, the statement said. There he formed a relationship with other criminal groups, presumably the Jalisco New Generation cartel.

News from The Associated Press

 

[badger2]

Bumpin' for the Line.