Mexican president: Veracruz in control of the Zetas

[ScienceRocks]

Veracruz State police and Mexican army soldiers guard the perimeter around the site of a state prosecutors convention in the Gulf port city of Veracruz, Mexico Thursday Sept. 22, 2011. A gang known to be aligned with Mexico's most-wanted drug lord appears to be making a violent challenge to the dominant Zetas Cartel in the Gulf state of Veracruz, after they dumped 35 bodies last Sept. 20 on a busy avenue in front of horrified motorists near where the n
Veracruz in control of the Zetas | president, veracruz, city - Mexican president - Brownsville Herald'

Mexican president: Veracruz in control of the Zetas
October 14, 2011 4:34 PM
MARK STEVENSON, Associated Press

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexican President Felipe Calderon said Friday that the violence-plagued Gulf coast state of Veracruz had been left in the hands of the brutal Zetas drug cartel.

Calderon has complained in the past that previous governments allowed Mexico's cartel problems to grow and didn't do enough to stop them. But he hasn't previously suggested a state was largely turned over to traffickers.

In comments to a meeting of crime victims' groups in Mexico City, Calderon did not say specifically who he thought was responsible.

"I believe Veracruz was left in the hands of the Zetas, I don't know if it was involuntary, probably, I hope so," said Calderon, who added that "if we hadn't taken on organized crime, they would have taken over the country, I assure you."

There have been persistent accusations against former Veracruz Gov. Fidel Herrera Beltran, who left office in December 2010. While his term was relatively calm in terms of violence, adversaries accuse him of allowing the Zetas to operate freely in the state, which is lucrative route for migrant and drug traffickers.

Herrera Beltran has denied those accusations, claiming they are politically motivated.

Since mid-2011, Veracruz has been hit by dozens of murders and shootouts, including a grenade attack on a boulevard that killed one Mexican tourist. The state has been the scene of bloody turf battles between the Zetas and gunmen apparently linked to the Sinaloa cartel, and in recent weeks there have been two mass killings in which 67 bodies were found.

In recent weeks, Miguel Angel Yunes — who made an unsuccessful run for governor in 2010 elections, which he lost to the candidate from Herrera Beltran's Institutional Revolutionary Party — told local media that the former governor had "handed over the police and police command to these criminal groups, and everyone in Veracruz knows it."

In late July, masked gunmen claiming to be from a group allied with the Sinaloa cartel posted a video on the internet, in which they accused the former governor of protecting their rivals, the Zetas, and called Herrera Beltran "Zeta Number One."

In an interview with MVS radio earlier this month, Herrera Beltran "energetically rejected" the allegations, and accused Yunes of being behind the anonymous video, and attributed the accusations to "perversity, hatred, rancor."

Herrera Beltran did not immediately respond to an email request for comment.

Veracruz in control of the Zetas | president, veracruz, city - Mexican president - Brownsville Herald

 

[Lakhota]

Thank you, Bruce Lee.

 

[editec]

When government fail to serve the people, organized crime prospers.

The mexican government has been failing its people for generations.

Thanks to the USA's insane drug laws, the more enteprizing Mexicans found a black market that now provides them with enough cash to challenge their own government's control of areas in that nation.

Now seriously, who is really to blame?

 

[waltky]

Uncle Ferd says Obama oughta nuke Mexico...

Feds: Mexican Cartel Plotted Attack on U.S. to 'Send the Gringos a Message'
November 11, 2011 — The leaders of a powerful Mexican cartel, frustrated that U.S. law enforcement was interfering with their lucrative drug business, plotted a military-style attack on a U.S. or Mexican government building to "send the gringos a message," federal prosecutors allege in documents filed this week.

Leaders of the Sinaloa cartel sought dozens of American-made weapons for an attack in Mexico City on possible targets that included government buildings, an embassy or consulate or media outlet, according to documents in the case against Vicente Zambada, an alleged top lieutenant in the cartel. Zambada is in jail in Chicago awaiting trial, one of dozens of defendants charged in the city as part of a sweeping international investigation. He has pleaded not guilty to charges that he conspired to import and sell large amounts of cocaine and heroin in the United States, including Chicago. Authorities say his father, Ismael Zambada, runs the cartel along with Mexico's most wanted man, Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman. There's nothing in the documents to indicate the plot was carried out.

Vicente Zambada's lawyers claim he and other cartel leaders were granted immunity by U.S. agents — and carte blanche to smuggle cocaine over the border — in exchange for intelligence about rival cartels engaged in bloody turf wars in Mexico. Prosecutors have denied that such an agreement exists. But deals with key players in the cartel have allowed prosecutors to chip away at its operations. Pedro and Margarito Flores, twin brothers who bought and distributed drugs from the cartel in Chicago, are among those cooperating with the government. Margarito Flores has alleged that the plot to attack a government or media building was hatched during a 2008 meeting at a mountaintop compound in Mexico. Cartel leaders, upset about the recent arrest of Ismael Zambada's brother, griped that the Mexican government was allowing American law enforcement to "do whatever they want," Flores has told prosecutors.

When Guzman asked what leaders were going to do about the problem, Ismael Zambada allegedly responded, "It will be good to send the gringos a message. Whatever we do, we have to do it in someone else's territory," according to a 63-page proffer filed Thursday in which prosecutors summarize their evidence against Vicente Zambada and the cartel. During the conversation, the documents say, Guzman suggests they target a Mexican or American government building in Mexico City. Vicente Zambada then turns to Margarito Flores and tells him to find a U.S. soldier returning from overseas to give him 20-30 "big powerful weapons," specifying that they be American-made. During a later recorded phone conversation, prosecutors say, Vicente Zambada reiterates with Flores that the cartel will buy the weapons.

Prosecutors also laid out in the proffer how the cartel has smuggled tons of cocaine and kilograms of heroin into the United States over land, sea and air over the years. Members of the cartel have allegedly evaded arrest by means including the bribing of public officials and law enforcement and carrying out brazen acts of violence — including killing officers who wouldn't accept bribes. The elusive billionaire Guzman escaped from a Mexican prison in a laundry truck in 2001.

Source

 

[Samson]

When government fail to serve the people, organized crime prospers.

The mexican government has been failing its people for generations.

Thanks to the USA's insane drug laws, the more enteprizing Mexicans found a black market that now provides them with enough cash to challenge their own government's control of areas in that nation.

Now seriously, who is really to blame?

Obviously since the Mexican Government has been failing its people for generations, then the US government must be to blame.



I also blame the US government for Canada's cold weather.

And, as we all know, the US government has caused tsunamis and earthquakes in Japan.

 

[Vengeance]

Uncensored news from the front -

El Blog del Narco (Official) | Mundonarco.com

 

[Samson]

Uncensored news from the front -

El Blog del Narco (Official) | Mundonarco.com

So....the big news is that two people were arrented?

Tijuana • Elements of the Mexican Army seized 500 thousand cartridges of various calibers, which were transported in a passenger bus and arrested two people connected with the facts

 

[Vengeance]

Uncensored news from the front -

El Blog del Narco (Official) | Mundonarco.com

So....the big news is that two people were arrented?

Tijuana • Elements of the Mexican Army seized 500 thousand cartridges of various calibers, which were transported in a passenger bus and arrested two people connected with the facts

It's a running blog, divided by region- For example, to follow what's been happening in Vera Cruz, select SURESTE then click on Vera Cruz.

This is not my first choice but Blog del Narcos server is apparently being messed with according to them.

 

[waltky]

Mexican Navy takes over Veracruz police...

Veracruz police disbanded: many in Mexico won't notice
December 22, 2011 : The Mexican city's 1,100-member police force has just been fired, with the Navy put in charge of civilian security. Many in Veracruz won't miss the cops, whom they distrust.

Veracruz state has just announced it is disbanding the entire police force in the port city of Veracruz and is putting the Mexican Navy in charge of day-to-day police operations. The move, says state spokeswoman Gina Dominguez, is part of an ongoing state and federal effort to clean up corrupt institutions. The lay-offs include 800 officers and 300 administrative staff. In Mexico's bloody fight against organized crime, this is not the first time that local police forces have been replaced by the armed forces or federal police. Local authorities are often outgunned by traffickers, or worse, moonlighting for them.

Imagine an entire police force in a major US city being fired. A sense of chaos would ensue. But in Mexico, most will just shrug. Police here are widely distrusted, seen as part of the problem, not the solution. Instead of seeking their help in time of need, many run as far away as possible. I was recently in Veracruz, writing a narrative of how one family's life is affected by drug violence. I asked the family: if something were to happen to you, a relative's kidnapping for example, would you call the police? They looked at me like I was joking: of course they wouldn’t.

What would they do then? They might reach out to the Navy, if they could. But probably they would rely on their network of friends and family, seeking justice among themselves, trying to keep authorities out of the situation as much as possible. “Why would I call the police? They are not going to resolve anything, and they probably will make the situation worse,” Carolina Gomez, the protagonist of the piece, told me. "They won't solve the case, and then they will end up with all of my data, my name, my address, my telephone number."

worry about cops, too

 

[tinydancer]

When government fail to serve the people, organized crime prospers.

The mexican government has been failing its people for generations.

Thanks to the USA's insane drug laws, the more enteprizing Mexicans found a black market that now provides them with enough cash to challenge their own government's control of areas in that nation.

Now seriously, who is really to blame?

Obviously since the Mexican Government has been failing its people for generations, then the US government must be to blame.



I also blame the US government for Canada's cold weather.

And, as we all know, the US government has caused tsunamis and earthquakes in Japan.

Awww have mercy. We gave you Bob and Doug and the Stanley Cup.



On the other hand we gave you Celine Dion and Justin Bieber.

Okey dokey you can really hate us. Now I understand.

It's hard. It's really really hard to try to explain away them.

 

[waltky]

There'll be more violence and killing until one faction becomes the dominant one...

Rumored Zetas split: Would this bring more violence or peace for Mexico?
July 26, 2012 - A weakening of the Zetas in the northeast may discourage the drug gang's forays into other parts of Mexico, but internal strife often leads to more murders, writes InSight Crime.

Reports of a split between the two leaders of Mexico’s notorious Zetas drug gang suggest that a violent power struggle may be brewing in the group's northeastern home turf, a conflict which could shake the established order in the country's criminal underworld. According to a new report from Proceso, the partnership of the Zetas' two main leaders – Heriberto Lazcano, alias “Z-3”, and Miguel Angel Treviño Morales, alias “Z-40” – has come under strain, and the two appear to be headed for an open confrontation.

In recent months, a series of public banners (known as “mantas”) and videos uploaded to the internet have made reference to the two Zeta leaders’ capacity for betrayal. One manta, which appeared both in Monterrey and Zacatecas on June 1, placed a photo of Lazcano amid several former Zeta leaders who have been killed or arrested over the past several years, implying that Mr. Lazcano arranged their downfalls so as to secure control of the group. However, the manta also alleges that Mr. Treviño was involved in the betrayals and asks, “Are we better off with Lazca or Z-40?”, which suggests that the authors were either disgruntled lower-level Zetas or a rival group passing themselves off as such. A series of videos was posted online over the following days which referred to Treviño as the “New Judas” and accused him of using federal troops to have his fellow Zetas commanders picked off one by one.

The Proceso report points to Treviño as the more powerful of the two leaders today, with Lazcano evidently spending much of his time in recent years in foreign countries, among them Germany and Costa Rica. But the tangle of accusations and apparent betrayals, which are far more numerous than those outlined above, suggests a breakdown in organizational structure that goes beyond the two principal leaders. As InSight Crime has noted in the past, this hypothesis is supported by the numerous incidents of disobedience in the ranks of the Zetas.

Proceso describes the 49 dead bodies left in along a highway in Nuevo Leon in May as another example of this phenomenon. According to the magazine, the local boss charged with carrying out the crime disobeyed Treviño in not tossing the bodies in a nearby town plaza, because of his worries about the backlash of such a provocation. Instead, he dumped the bodies along a comparatively remote stretch of highway, where they were subsequently discovered by authorities. Treviño’s relative strength doesn’t assure that he’ll emerge victorious or (even less likely) strengthened by the internal strife. Indeed, the reports of internal decay make it likely that whatever the result of the recent tensions, the victorious capo will be heading a weaker organization.

MORE

 

[waltky]

47 more skulls discovered in mass graves...

Mexico drug war investigators unearth 47 more skulls in mass graves
Mon Mar 20, 2017 | Investigators unearthed the skulls of 47 more suspected victims of Mexico's drug war in Veracruz state, just days after uncovering 250 skulls at a separate mass grave used by drug cartels, the state's attorney general said on Sunday.

Veracruz, on Mexico's Gulf coast, has long been a stomping ground for criminal gangs, who fight over lucrative drug and migrant smuggling routes. Giving details on the latest grisly find, Jorge Winckler said the skulls and remains of multiple body parts were unearthed from eight unmarked graves, clustered in a 120 sq meter area, about 10 kilometers (6 miles) from the town of Alvarado. So far, Winckler said, investigators had positively identified one three-person family, missing since September 2016, and the remains of two other men. "The work continues," Winckler told a news conference, vowing to track down the perpetrators.

A police cordon marks the perimeter of the site of unmarked graves where a forensic team and judicial authorities are working in after human skulls were found, in Alvarado, in Veracruz state, Mexico​

Just days earlier, investigators recovered more than 250 skulls from another unmarked grave 60 kilometers (37 miles)further north in the Gulf state of Veracruz. That burial site was uncovered by relatives of missing family members, impatient with officials' apathetic response, who launched their own search for missing family members. The relatives' groups have exposed the government's slow progress in attending to rights abuses and victims. The former governor of Veracruz, Javier Duarte, who belonged to the country's ruling party, is a fugitive, fleeing organized crime charges.

Relatives and friends of slain journalist Ricardo Monlui attend his funeral mass at a church in Cordoba, in the Mexican state of Veracruz, Mexico​

Separately, on Sunday the Veracruz attorney general's office said it was investigating the murder of a journalist, Ricardo Monlui, who was shot dead in the town of Yanga. Veracruz is the most dangerous state in Mexico for journalists. The Committee to Protect Journalists said in 2016 that at least six reporters had been killed for their work since 2010, when Duarte took office, adding it was investigating nine other cases.

Mexico drug war investigators unearth 47 more skulls in mass graves