Tijuana: 'El Mono' betrayed by his own

Tijuana: 'El Mono' betrayed from within

After yesterdays daytime execution of Luis Manuel Toscano, 'El Mono', 4 men have been arrested in connection with the killing. Early investigation lines indicate they were from the same Zona Norte retail drug distribution cell as 'El Mono', it is unclear if they were tienderos themselves, or in upper tier positions.

'El Mono' appeared to have fallen out of favor in the last few years, a series of arrests, and upheaval in the power in Tijuana, left him apparently without many friends. The 4 arrested were detained after a brief chase in a Toyota Corolla, carrying two firearms.

Their names: Jose Manuel Gutierrez Carranza, 33, Raul Rosas Vega, 38, Salvador Pineda Beltran, 18, and Israel Cornejo Gonzalez, 33. All 4 have criminal histories for drug crimes, and are belived to be part of Mono's Zona Norte cell.

Comments and rumors indicate Mono was displaced and kidnapping and maintaining small tienditas to keep afloat, and had largely been useless and irrelevant as a boss of the Zona Norte, on behalf of CAF or anyone else. It is worth nothing his death comes roughly a month after a body with an icepick through the abdomen, displayed a message stating 'Zona Norte is Cartel Arellano'.

Mono's own people could have taken him out for a number of reasons, contracted to do it, with promises of succeeding him, personal or business disputes, it remains unclear for now. It is likely the detainees will make statements regarding the killing, and on whose behalf they were working.

Also, unknown whether this relates to a 'cleanse' as promised in both the banner in Zona Norte, on March 7th, or the recent ones in Otay, and elsewhere, alluding to a 'New Tijuana Cartel', in allegiance with Cartel Jalisco Nueva Generacion. The banners directed threats against Sinaloa and their allies, Mono could have been killed for switching sides, or because he wouldn't, or even his own people had enough of his ways.

Sources: AFN Tijuana

Detained in El Paso Texas, 900 gang members with links to drug cartels

Translated by Otis B Fly-Wheel for Borderland Beat from a Proceso Article

United States Authorities announced today the arrests of more than 900 gang members from 239 distinctive groups, the majority having links to Mexican drug Cartels, during an operation that lasted six weeks and was carried out in distinct American Cities.

The major part of the detentions were conducted in this city during an operation called Project Wildfire, which led to the detentions of 976 dangerous gang members of groups such as the Surenos, Nortenos, Bloods, Crips, among other gangs that have links to Mexican narco's.

661 individuals were apprehended in this frontier City, meanwhile the rest were located in Puerto Rico, Lubbock, Texas, Detroit, Chicago and California, according to the Office of Investigations of Internal Security (HIS) in a press conference.

In addition the detentions, the United States Authorities seized 82 firearms, 5.2 kilos of Methamphetamines, 7.8 kilos of Marijuana, 5.6 kilos of Cocaine, 1.5 kilos of Heroin, five vehicles and $379,399.00 the proceeds of sale of illegal substances.

"These bands of criminals inflict violence and fear in our communities and without the attention of the Police Agencies, these groups will spread like a cancer". said the Director Sarah R Saldana.

The operation ran from 23rd of February to 31st of March, with the collaboration of 251 Agents of the three levels of United States Government.

"Our Agencies work with colleagues of other Police Agencies in the country to achieve the removal of gang activities wherever they take place," added Saldana.

The Department informed that the majority of the individuals detained are United States Citizens, while another 199 are nationals of 18 countries of South America, Central America, Asia, Africa, Europe and the Carribean. Of the detained, 150 are women.

Actually the Mexican drug Cartels operate in the United States through gang relations with gangs that were arrested as described in the statement.

According to a report of the Department of Public Security,they initiated their plans this year, seven of the eight major drug trafficking cartels operate inside the United States, moving drugs and people to their Neighbouring country, transporting money, arms and stolen vehicles to Mexico. These Cartels include the Cartel del Golfo, Los Zetas, the Juarez Cartel, the Sinaloa Cartel, the Knights Templar, La Familia Michoacana and the Beltran Leyva Organization.

Of these, the Cartel del Golfo, Los Zetas, the Sinaloa Cartel and Juarez Cartel are the ones with the major presence and influence in all of United States.

The defined groups that operate in El Paso are linked to the Juarez Cartel and the Sinaloa Cartel, linked to the gangs, Barrio Azteca, Latin Kings and the Brotherhood of Latin Pistoleros, according to the report. Links to the Sinaloa Cartel are Los Surenos, Tango Blast and Latin Kings operate as front line.

Without doubt the gang relations of the Sinaloa Cartel in all of the United States include these other 13: Brown Pride, Border Brothers, East Side Bloods, East Side Locos, East Side Torrance, Eme, Hollywood, Maryvale Gangster Crips, Midvale Park Blood Gang, MS-13, United Blood Nation, Varrio Locos 13 and Vista Home Boys

These gangs operate through California, Texas, Arizona to Washington and the frontier of the United States with Canada.

Original article in Spanish at Proceso

Armed robbers steal $8.5 million in gold from Mexican

Borderland Beat posted by DD with material from National Post

DD: While many of the individuals that we see in the news reports of their arrest appear to be stupid, as business entities the cartels in general are far from being stupid.

When FBI agents asked 1930's gangster Willie Sutton why he robbed banks, he replied "Because that is where the money is".

While cartels have been stealing iron ore (or entire mines) and oil and gas from pipelines for a long time stealing gold from a gold mining company is much easier and more profitable. It takes a hell of a lot of big trucks and tankers to haul enough iron ore or oil to add up to $8,500,000, which is what this latest heist from a Canadian gold mining company yielded. Willie Sutton didn't rob homes or gas stations or church collection plates, he robbed banks "because there is where the money is" - meaning a lot of it and concentrated in one small place.

If you asked the thieves in this case why they robbed the gold mining company, they might have looked at you as if you were crazy for asking and answered the same as Willie Sutton did "its where the money is".

The gold was in the form of gold bearing concentrate weighing about 900 (approx. 2000 lbs) kilograms that contained about 7000 ounces of gold.and could be transported in a pickup.

.

McEwen Mining Inc. says the theft occurred Tuesday at it's refinery at the El Gallo 1 mine in Western Sinaloa state. While McEwen is insured, its policy won’t be enough to cover the entire expected loss.
“The crime is being vigorously investigated by the Mexican authorities,” the company’s statement read.

No one was injured and mining operations were not affected, McEwan Mining said. But the statement did not provide any more details about the robbery.

The Toronto-based company has operations in Mexico, Nevada and Argentina.

As we have reported on Borderland Beat, this isn’t the first violent incident affecting Canadian mining companies in Mexico this year. Last month, four Goldcorp Inc. workers in the troubled Guerrero state went missing in an apparent kidnapping, while contractors and an employee of Torex Gold Resources in the same region were kidnapped in February.

Karma

There are many people that live in the areas that are being mined (and that is a good part of central and southern Mexico) are probably laughing at the loss of the 8 1/2 million dollars by the Gold Mining Company. They feel like the government and the mining companies have stolen the land the land they are mining.


In Mexico, underground mineral deposits are considered property of the federal government, and their authority to grant mining concessions supersedes, in theory, the rights of those who possess private and communal property on the surface. For decades the residents of the areas that are being mined have fought the government opposing the mining concessions on their land. A provision in the constitution complicates the issue of the government issuing concessions to whoever and where ever they want.

The constitution recognizes Indigenous peoples descended from populations which inhabited the country before the formation of the state. As such, their law is above the State. Though the Indigenous population has been the best organized opposition to mining concessions, other residents have joined their protests against mining because they claim it pollutes their water supply and degrades the surface in such a way that it will never be usable.

The locals are almost never consulted prior to the issuance of a concession. The mining companies are sometimes so confident they could get a concession from the government that they don't even bother to do it. The rights of the locals, mostly poor and uneducated have been ignored for long they don't bother consulting with them or carry out a environmental impact study. They just show up and start mining.

But crazy things do happen. Sometimes the good guys (the people) win a battle. As reported in Mex Files
story :

If you pick it up, put it back…

Ejido El Bajio, in Caborca, Sonora, was robbed!


For several years, the ejido has “hosted” (in the sense of being the source of sustenance for a parasite) a Minera Penmont operation which somehow “neglected” to ever get permission to mine.

The ejidarios sued in Agrarian courts in 2010, and — in a partial victory — won their suit in June 2014, which only called for the restoration of damages between the commencement of the suit and the court ruling.

However, the court (Tribunal Unitario Agrario, Distrito 28) issued an injunction (amparo) on restitution, under the argument that the company needed to assess the mine, and recover their own equipment. Although the injunction was lifted on December, to date, the company has yet to publish the ruling … mostly because of the likely impact on its stock prices.

And, apparently, is still mining.

And, the Ejido El Bajio is waiting for not just land reclamation… the company owes them nine tons of gold and four tons of silver… though the Ejido will probably take a check made out for $350,000,000 (US)… as long as its good..

Public shootouts return to Tijuana

Borderland Beat

Last night a shootout took place in Tijuana when a group of criminals tried to "pick up" a young man whose name hasn't been revealed but has been identified as a 25 year old business owner who has previously been target of attacks against his life.

One of the attackers dies in the shootout and 3 more where arrested by the Municipal Police. This shootout happens days after several banners were left in the city allegedly by CJNG and CTNG in which they complain of the rampant kidnappings and warn of attacks against "La Gente del Tomate y sus aliados"(The people from El Tomate and their allies, Tijuano´s note: My guess is they mean Sinaloans as La Gente del Tomate and not a former Teo lieutenant nicknamed El Tomate who was a low rank member).

According to Miguel Angel Guerrero Castro, member of the State´s Attorney General Office (PGJE), the young man had just arrived from Mexico City and had been victim of previous attacks: "He knew they wanted to kill him". He denied this was a failed kidnapping and called this a "Direct attack".

The names of those arrested are: Marcos Diaz Arreola, Daniel Perez Eugenio and Carlos Ray Flores, all of them with previous criminal records and one of them is wanted in the US for homicide.

The shootout took place last night at about 11:00PM local time when the 25 year old victim, apparently the owner of several junkyards and a barber shop in Tijuana travelled with his bodyguards in the upper class neighborhood of Lomas de Aguacaliente. The criminals caught up with him and began the attack against him and his bodyguards, according to ZETA one of them was armed and was able to shoot back apparently killing one of the attackers, the others tried to escape in a taxicab but were arrested by the local police, 3 AR-15 rifles and 2 handguns were seized. The attackers were using bulletproof vest too.

The crashed vehicle of the attackers was left were another AR-15 was seized along the dead body of one of them.

SOURCES: AFNTijuana ZETA Tijuana El-Mexicano.com.mx

"El Mini Lic" registers complaint about Judge who denied him Amparo against arrest.

Translated for Borderland Beat from a Zetatijuana article by Otis B Fly-Wheel

Damaso Lopez Serrano "El Mini Licenciado"

Zeta Redaction

The presumed narco trafficker Damaso Lopez Serrano "El Mini Licenciado", godson of the imprisoned leader of the Sinaloa Cartel, Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, promoted a complaint appeal against the order which partially rejected a request for protection from a possible arrest warrant.

Legal defenders of the subject, who together with his father Damaso Lopez Nunez "El Licenciado", the head of a criminal organisation that operates in Baja California Sur and in El Dorado, Sinaloa, complained of the initial decision of the Second District Judge in the State of Sinaloa, issued last March the 5th.

On this same date, the submissions of "El Mini Lic" was admitted and the Amparo 169/2015 claiming acts of District Judges in matter of Federal Criminal Proceedings in the Federal District Attorneys office and other Authorities.





Said acts are: The arrest warrant, wiretaps, location, and execution of such orders, as well as various omissions on the part of the responsible authorities.

The Judge of the Second District of Culiacan, Luis Fernando Zuniga Padilla, admitted the demand for some of the referred actions, but others were discarded for the well known inadmissibility of those being security measures.

Dissatisfied with the ruling, Lopez Serrano, through his lawyer Maria Dolores Gamez Llamas asserted their leave to appeal the ruling, the appeal is already admitted to the Collegiate Criminal Court of the Twelfth Circuit, under the complaint appeal file number 40/2015.

While this happens in the Courts of Culiacan, Authorities in La Paz and Los Cabos detect the presence of, and the criminal activity of Las Fuerzas Especiales de Damaso (FED) in those territories.

Original article in Spanish at Zetatijuana

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Ex Operator of Osiel Cardenas detained

Translated for Borderland Beat from a Proceso article by Otis B Fly-Wheel

Veronica Espinoso
San Luis Potosi

Alfredo Martinez Aguilar, "Commandante 58"

The Prosecutor General of the State advised of the detention of Alfredo Martinez Aguilar, "Commandante 58", who is identified as an ex operator of Osiel Cardenas Guillen the former leader of the Cartel del Golfo.

The presumed narco trafficker was captured in the State of Tamaulipas, where he functioned as the leader of the Cartel del Golfo in Huasteca and the regions north of there.

According to the PGJE, Martinez Aguilar is involved in various kidnappings and killings, as well as extortion of businessmen and entrepreneurs in the Huasteca zone.

The cases to which he is linked include the kidnapping and murder of the son of a businessman from Ciudad Valles, which occurred some months ago, the kidnapping of a political leader in the same city , and collection of piso.



Martinez Aguillar operates in practically all of the towns in this region according to the Prosecutor.

Some years back, during the period when Osiel Cardenas Guillen was leader of the Cartel del Golfo, before the recruitment of the Zetas into the company, "Commandante 58" was one of the colaborators of Juan Carlos de la Cruz Reyna "El JC", lieutenant of Cardenas Guillen and ex Boss of Plaza for Matamoros for the Cartel del Golfo. On March of 2012 he was captured.

Osiel Cardenas taken into custody

"El JC" was sentenced to 11 years in prison, by U.S. Justice in October of 2012 for trying to bribe and official of that country for one million dollars, in exchange for being deported to Mexico to be delivered to people who he trusted.

During the time when he was a Lieutenant of Cardenas Guillen and Boss of Plaza in Matamoros, "El JC", was accompanied by Alfredo Martinez Aguilar on his trips to other regions of the country.

El JC

"El Commandante 58", was responsible for Safe Houses and accommodation where his boss stayed.

Original article in Spanish at Proceso