1

UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY INSTITUTE FOR THE STUDY OF VIOLENT GROUPS DAILY BORDER NEWS REPORT FOR 23 NOVEMBER 2011 COMPILER, INSTITUTE FOR THE STUDY OF VIOLENT GROUPS (www.isvg.org) EDITOR, JOINT TASK FORCE NORTH (www.facebook.com/USA.JTFN) (U) This document is UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY and portions may be exempt from mandatory disclosure under FOIA. DoD 5400.7R, "DoD Freedom of Information Act Program", DoD Directive 5230.9, "Clearance of DoD Information for Public Release", and DoD Instruction 5230.29, "Security and Policy Review of DoD Information for Public Release" apply. (U) FAIR USE NOTICE. This document may contain copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making it available to recipients who have expressed an interest in receiving information to advance their understanding of threat activities in the interest of protecting the United States. We believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. (U) Use of these news items does not reflect official endorsement by Joint Task Force North or the Department of Defense. For further information on any item, please contact the JTF-North Knowledge Management (KM). Compiled By: Mr. Tom Davidson, Institute for the Study of Violent Groups Edited by: Mr. Jonathan Kaupp Approved for Release by: Dr. Rodler Morris CONTENTS: (Note: All active EXTERNAL hyperlinks have been removed) Table of Contents 1. CANADA AND NORTHERN BORDER STATES ............................................ 2

A. Calgary Border Police Discover Cocaine Shipment Hidden inside Suspicious Book (AB)2

B. Eyewitness News Special Report: Eyes along the Border (MN) ........................................ 3

2. INNER UNITED STATES ................................................................................... 5

A. Officials: Bayonne Police Station on Alleged ‘Lone Wolf’ Terrorist’s Hit List (NY/NJ) . 5

B. LA Troopers Net 300 Lbs. of Marijuana & 12 Kilos of Cocaine (LA) .............................. 6

3. MEXICO AND SOUTHERN BORDER STATES.............................................. 7

2

A. Presidential Hopeful: I Want Safer, More Equitable Mexico (MX) ................................... 7

B. Texas Couple Charged with Bribing Border Patrol Officer To Smuggle Family Member, Cocaine into States (NM).................................................................................................... 9

C. Mexican National Sentenced to 114 Months in Prison for Federal Armed Bank Robbery Conviction (NM) ............................................................................................................... 10

D. Mexican Pleads Guilty in Texas District Judge Corruption Case (TX) ............................ 10

E. 3 Police Officers Found Dead in Mexico Border City (COAH) ...................................... 11

F. Traffic at Border Bridges Continues To Drop (TX) ......................................................... 12

G. Battle for the Border: State Definition of Spillover Violence (TX) ................................. 13

H. Battle for the Border: Federal Spillover Definition (TX) ................................................. 15

I. Crime, Kidnappings Prompts Change in Mexican School (CHIH) .................................. 16

J. US Indicts Mexican Gulf Cartel Head "Commandante 900" Caught Living in US (TX) 18

K. Mexican Soldiers Find $15M Linked to Sinaloa Cartel (BC) .......................................... 19

L. Ex-Drug Cartel Member Says Mexico Gangs Laugh at U.S. Border Politics (US/MX) .. 20

M. Mexican Indigenous Community Boycotts Elections (MICH) ....................................... 21

N. Seven Bodies Found in New Mass Grave in Northern Mexico (DGO) .......................... 23

4. CARRIBEAN, CENTRAL, AND SOUTH AMERICA ....................................24

A. New Leader, Same Narco-Terrorist FARC (CO) ............................................................ 24

B. Guatemalan Police Arrest 2 Suspected Zetas Cartel Members (GT) .............................. 25

C. Babies for Sale: Looking at the Adoption Industry in Guatemala (GT) .......................... 26

5. OPINION AND ANALYSIS..............................................................................27

A. Mexico Black Market Arms Traffic Finds New Routes (MX) ........................................ 27

B. Mexican Drug War Rages As U.S. Focuses on Afghanistan (US) .................................. 30

C. Foiling 43rd Terror Plot Test for Administration’s Priorities (US) ................................. 31

D. U. S. Government May Be Primary Suppliers of Mexican Drug Cartel Guns (MX) ...... 34

E. Time for NGOs To Talk about Drugs (CO)..................................................................... 35

F. Are American Drug War Bloggers and Tweeters in Danger (US/MX)........................... 36

1. CANADA AND NORTHERN BORDER STATES

A. Calgary Police Discover Cocaine Shipment Hidden inside Suspicious Book (AB) 21 November 2011 Calgary Herald

3

It’s been a busy seven weeks for Calgary border agents who have seized almost three kilograms of cocaine and eight kilograms of an amphetamine class drug called Khat destined for Calgary, Edmonton and Brooks. Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) officers in Calgary said Monday that while the amount of cocaine seized is not huge, the sophistication of the methods used by smugglers was impressive. Earlier this month Calgary border agents became suspicious of a courier shipment from Texas destined for Edmonton that included a number of hardcover 2011 agenda books. “Why would they be shipping a year-old agenda?” said Lyle who added that agents then inspected the books and found packets of cocaine concealed within the liner of the books. Further inspection of the shipment revealed more than two kilograms of cocaine concealed within various souvenir items like picture frames, serving trays and napkin holders. The agency has also noted an increase in the amount of Khat that is being smuggled into the country. Frequently passed off as green tea by smugglers, the substance which produces a mild cocaine-like euphoria when chewed in its fresh form is banned in Canada. On October 25, Calgary agents discovered eight kilograms of Khat in a courier shipment from the United Kingdom destined to an address in Brooks. The drug has culturally been linked to east African countries like Ethiopia, Somalia and Yemen. CBSA and RCMP continue to investigate these incidents. So far this year CBSA officers in Calgary have seized more than four kilograms of cocaine and more than 226 kilograms of Khat. Source: [www.calgaryherald.com/news/Calgary+border+police+discover+cocaine+shipment+hidden+inside+suspicious+book/5744814/story.html] (Return to Contents)

B. Eyewitness News Special Report: Eyes along the Border (MN) 21 November 2011 WDIO TV More than 500 miles of Minnesota borders Canada. But have you ever thought of the security that is needed to keep the international boundary safe? The security efforts may surprise you. "We'll see a lot of local fishermen," said a U.S. Customs and Border Protection Officer. "That's the majority of activity up here."

4

These officers guard a part of the Minnesota Canadian border that's lined by water. One of four border patrol stations in Minnesota this International Falls based unit is responsible for this 143 mile stretch. Their terrain is the woods and water of the north country. "One of the big things that brought me to this job was being outside all the time," said the officer. It's quite the contrast from the Mexican border where most of these officers trained. The drug trade is tamer; fewer aliens try to cross into America illegally. But even so sometimes the same problems that plague the Border Patrol in Arizona plague the Border Patrol I-Falls. "It could be people. It could be drugs. There are a lot of things they are trying to smuggle across the border," said the officer. One of the most common places to find drug smugglers and stowaways near International Falls is on the border crossing trains. The Rainier Station checks an average seven trains a day on this Canadian National Line. "We're looking in the nooks and crannies and making sure to see if there are any items that are stashed here that aren't part of the locomotive," said a U.S. Customs and Border Protection Officer. Just like the trains coming from Mexico, the rail cars from Winnipeg are x-rayed and sometimes even here in sleepy Ranier officers will spot a stowaway. "Most of the time if we do see riders they will be in the cargo out there," said the officer. Officers said squatters hop on the warm engine room of the train, not knowing where they're going. Sometimes the officers say a person will get on in Mexico travel to Canada and not realize where they are until reach Ranier. On the road the same X-ray machines are used to check cargo trucks for drugs and stowaways. Each and every semi that passes from Canada to I-Falls is scanned. Officers look for irregularities in the X-ray images stopping any trucks that look slightly suspicious. "If I am in doubt we will park them and I will look," said another Customs and Border Protection Officer. On the water since every boat is not scanned it's a little harder to tell who is a fisherman and who is a smuggler. But officers say they know what tell-tale signs to look for.

5

"If there isn't any gear in the boat and they are claiming to be fisherman then obviously that will lead to a different line of questioning," said the first officer. But since this staff cannot be everywhere at once, oftentimes security up here is about trust. That's where OAR's or Outlying Area Reporting stations come in. They allow boaters to check into the U.S. via a video call. "This station works for people who maybe only come to fish up in the International Falls station once or twice a year," said the Port Director of the Warroad Minnesota Port of Entry. U.S. Customs and Border Protection count on these folks to check in even if no one is watching. "We are dealing with low risk individuals that call us," said the officer. "So we have to kind of take that into account what you're dealing with." For the most part officers say these low risk individuals do everything right. But one item that travelers keep trying to bring unwittingly through this part of the border is oranges. "Our agriculture mission is huge here," said the Port Director for the I-Falls Port of Entry. "It's important that we are paying attention to the food items and the cargo that's coming across that might have pests or nocuous weeds." Travelers are not allowed to bring citrus fruits into America. A little known fact to most border crossers is why citrus fruits are the most confiscated item at the I-Falls Port of Entry. "Fruit flies are a big issue right now," said an Agricultural Specialist. He inspects every piece of fruit and then destroys everything. While this border station's worries about oranges may seem minor compared to the smuggling of drugs and humans, to these officers all border protections are important in keeping Minnesotans free from danger. Source: [www.wdio.com/article/stories/S2382522.shtml?cat=10349] (Return to Contents) 2. INNER UNITED STATES

A. Officials: Bayonne Police Station on Alleged ‘Lone Wolf’ Terrorist’s Hit List (NY/NJ) 21 November 2011 CBS 2 TV The New York City Mayor said it is no surprise that a so-called “al-Qaida sympathizer” would want to target New York City because in his words it’s “so iconic.”

6

But among the 27-year-old suspect’s alleged hit list was the Bayonne police headquarters. The intended target has many on both sides of the Hudson River scratching their heads. “Bayonne is a nice city, you’d think that they would focus on Manhattan,” the mayor said. “We keep saying, the iconic cities, the iconic locations those are places where somebody that wants to take away our freedoms are most likely to strike.” He said it goes to show every place has risks. Authorities said they caught the suspect, a Manhattan resident, red-handed constructing a homemade bomb that he was allegedly planning to use to destroy police cars, post offices, returning troops in the Big Apple and the police station in Bayonne. The suspect was arrested on Saturday. He is being held without bail. Prosecutors said the suspect, an American citizen, became a radicalized jihadist, taking his inspiration from a slain cleric and Osama bin Laden. He emigrated from the Dominican Republic as a child, spent much of his years in Manhattan and lived for five years in Schenectady with his ex-wife. It is still unclear what connection, if any, the alleged “lone wolf” terrorist has to the New Jersey city. The Public Safety Director said the Bayonne Police Department is working with the NYPD and other agencies involved in connection with the continuing investigation. “It is an unfortunate sign of the times that we must all be ever-vigilant in the fight against terrorism,” he said. Bayonne has stepped up security around government buildings. Source: [newyork.cbslocal.com/2011/11/21/officials-bayonne-police-station-on-alleged-lone-wolf-terrorists-hit-list/] (Return to Contents)

B. LA Troopers Net 300 Lbs. of Marijuana & 12 Kilos of Cocaine (LA) 21 November 2011 WAFB TV Authorities said three people were arrested when they netted over 300 lbs. of marijuana and 12 kilos of cocaine during two separate traffic stops recently. According to the Louisiana State Police, the estimated street value of the drugs is over $800,000.

7

Troopers said both stops were made on I-10 in West Baton Rouge Parish. A 50-year-old man from Hayesville, NC; a 26-year-old woman from San Antonio, TX; and Guadeloupe Iglesias, 36, of Mexico all face drug charges. Investigators reported they pulled over a 1999 Oldsmobile Aurora on Nov. 12 being driven by the NC man. They said he initially gave consent to search his car, but changed his mind and rescinded permission before the search was finished. A police dog signaled officials to the back of the car. Troopers said they opened the trunk and found over a dozen bales of marijuana. When weighed, it turned out to be 333 lbs. The drugs are worth about $333,000 on the street. Authorities then pulled over a Chevy Monte Carlo being driven by the woman on the morning of Nov. 18. State police said she gave consent to search the car and 12 kilos of cocaine with a street value of about $500,000 were found in two hidden compartments. The Mexican man was a passenger in the car. Source: [www.wafb.com/story/16092665/troopers-net-300-lbs-of-marijuana-12-kilos-of-cocaine] (Return to Contents) 3. MEXICO AND SOUTHERN BORDER STATES

A. Presidential Hopeful: I Want Safer, More Equitable Mexico (MX) 21 November 2011 Fox News (EFE) Josefina Vazquez Mota, who is vying for the presidential nomination of the conservative National Action Party, or PAN, said in an interview with EFE that Mexico has "options" for becoming a more equitable, faster-growing and safer country, thanks to the work done by President Felipe Calderon to open the way for progress. The Mexican lawmaker is in Madrid for the release on Tuesday of her book, "Nuestra oportunidad. Un Mexico para todos" (Our Opportunity. A Mexico for All). The book contains interviews with 25 international figures, including former Colombian President Cesar Gaviria, former Chilean President Michelle Bachelet and former Spanish Prime Ministers Felipe Gonzalez and Jose Maria Aznar, on their perspectives on Mexico. Vazquez Mota, an economist, businesswoman and politician, is competing for the nomination of the governing PAN for Mexico's July 2012 presidential election.

8

The PAN primary is set to be held next February, with the latest polls showing Vazquez Mota beating Santiago Creel and Ernesto Cordero for the nomination. Vazquez Mota, who could become Mexico's first female head of state, told EFE that she appreciated the opportunities given to her by the party. "I am confident that we will win," Vazquez Mota said, adding that she decided to pursue the PAN nomination because of her prior experience as social development secretary and education secretary. The politician said her previous work had given her in-depth knowledge of Mexico and its dreams, hopes, problems and challenges. Vazquez Mota said Mexico had "options" and she possessed the talent and ability to pursue them. Mexico faces three challenges, with the first being to create "a more just and equitable country, making everyone the same when it comes to opportunities," Vazquez Mota said. Faster economic growth is the second great challenge faced by the North American country, which is growing but not at the rate that it should, the politician said. "On this foundation, we must build the domestic market more, the middle classes," Vazquez Mota said. Mexico's greatest challenge, however, is achieving security and justice, Vazquez Mota said. "With the work done by Felipe Calderon, we have been building a foundation to be able to take other steps forward, such as getting at the illicit proceeds of organized crime," the Mexican politician said. Local governments, especially their police departments, must be strengthened, and legislation targeting money laundering should be put on the books that "does not leave any room for impunity and corruption," Vazquez Mota said. "We must go after the full range of illicit and illegal proceeds from organized crime," the politician said. "In Mexico, there is a desire to reconstruct the social fabric, to strengthen institutional life," Vazquez Mota said. The politician said she welcomed a national debate on drug legalization in Mexico, but she expressed reservations about taking such a step. "The legalization of drugs would mean surrender to organized crime," Vazquez Mota said.

9

This issue, however, is not limited to Mexico and requires international cooperation, especially from the United States, she said. Vazquez Mota also addressed the regional aspects of the issue, noting that if Latin America acted in a united way, there would be "more possibilities of success" in the war on drugs. Mexico and Colombia are currently sharing the "moral leadership" on this issue, the politician said. Source: [latino.foxnews.com/latino/politics/2011/11/21/presidential-hopeful-want-safer-more-equitable-mexico/] (Return to Contents)

B. Texas Couple Charged with Bribing Border Patrol Officer To Smuggle Family Member, Cocaine into States (NM)

21 November 2011 Las Cruces Sun-News A Texas couple has been jailed on charges they tried to bribe a Border Patrol agent into letting them smuggle a family member and 10 kilograms of cocaine into the country, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office. FBI agents arrested a 25-year-old woman from Elizario, Texas, and a 27-year-old man from Socorro, Texas, on Friday in Horizon City, Texas. They were booked into the Doña Ana County Detention Center shortly after. If convicted of conspiracy and bribery, the defendants could be sentenced to up to 20 years in prison and $500,000 in fines for conspiracy and bribery. On Jan. 12, 2010, the couple allegedly tried to offer $700 to $800 to the agent so they could smuggle the woman’s cousin from Mexico - possibly through Deming, according to the indictment. The woman also allegedly offered to pay $1,000 to $2,000 if she could be allowed to smuggle in a quantity of cocaine, but the agent refused the offer, according to the unsealed indictment. On Jan. 26, 2010, the couple allegedly met with a second officer at a business in El Paso, offering to pay $500 per kilogram of smuggled cocaine, according to the indictment. The woman had gone to school with both federal officials, the indictment states, while the man allegedly said he "worked with a group of drug traffickers based in Mexico." The couple made their initial appearances Monday morning in federal court in Las Cruces and will remain in custody pending detention hearings. The woman is scheduled to appear to appeal her detention at 9:30 a.m. today, while the man’s detention hearing has yet to be scheduled. The two-count indictment is the result of an investigation by the U. . Customs and Border Protection Office of Internal Affairs and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

10

Source: [www.lcsun-news.com/las_cruces-news/ci_19384183] (Return to Contents)

C. Mexican National Sentenced to 114 Months in Prison for Federal Armed Bank Robbery Conviction (NM)

21 November 2011 7th Space This morning in federal court in Albuquerque, Edwin Vismar Urena-Hernandez, 24, was sentenced to 114-months’ imprisonment for his conviction of armed bank robbery and using a gun in relation to a crime of violence. Urena-Hernandez, a Mexican national from Sinaloa, Mexico, has been in federal custody since his arrest on March 10, 2011. He will be deported after he completes his prison sentence. A United States Attorney aid that Urena-Hernandez pleaded guilty to robbing the bank located at 1422 Carlisle Boulevard NE in Albuquerque on March 10, 2011. Urena-Hernandez was charged in a criminal complaint filed on March 11, 2011 and subsequently was indicted on March 22, 2011. Urena-Hernandez pled guilty to an information (sic) charging him with armed bank robbery and using a firearm in relation to a crime of violence on June 13, 2011. According to the criminal complaint, witnesses to the March 10, 2011 bank robbery described the bank robber as a Spanish-speaking male wearing a dark mask, a dark hooded zip-up jacket and dark pants who brandished a two-tone long barreled semi-automatic handgun at the bank tellers when he demanded cash. The witnesses reported that the bank robber fled on foot after obtaining cash from the tellers. Shortly thereafter, officers of the Albuquerque Police Department (APD) observed a man, who was later identified as Urena-Hernandez, fitting the robber’s description in a Ford Escape at the intersection of Pennsylvania and Menaul Boulevards NE. When the officers removed Urena-Hernandez from the vehicle, they discovered a loaded handgun in his pants and also found other evidence of the bank robbery. Source: [7thspace.com/headlines/400346/mexican_national_sentenced_to_114_months_in_prison_for_federal_armed_bank_robbery_conviction.html] (Return to Contents)

D. Mexican Pleads Guilty in Texas District Judge Corruption Case (TX) 21 November 2011 Latin American Herald Tribune

11

A 52 year old resident alien from Mexico residing in San Benito, Texas, pleaded guilty today before a U.S. District Judge to four counts as alleged in an indictment returned April 26, 2011 - one count of conspiracy to interfere with commerce under color of official right or extortion, two counts of extortion and one count of aiding and abetting honest services wire fraud by a judge. His guilty plea comes in the FBI’s public corruption investigation of a former 404th District Court Judge, a United States Attorney announced today. At today’s hearing, the suspect admitted to his role in a conspiracy involving the creation of a fraudulent drug money seizure document as well as a charging warrant both prepared by a former Cameron County District Attorney (DA) investigator, obtaining information on a murder case in return for a bicycle provided to him, and an attempted recovery of $800,000 in drug proceeds from a truck near Rosenberg, Texas. The recitation of evidence to the court indicated that as part of the public corruption investigation on the Judge Limas, agents learned he was also involved in criminal activity with others. …. Source: [www.laht.com/article.asp?ArticleId=446736&CategoryId=14091] (Return to Contents)

E. 3 Police Officers Found Dead in Mexico Border City (COAH) 21 November 2011 ABC (AP) Assailants kidnapped and killed three police officers in the Mexican border city of Acuna, authorities said Monday. Acuna Public Safety Department said in a statement that the three were on patrol in the same unit when gunmen kidnapped them early Monday. The officer's bodies were found an hour later in a residential area of Acuna, which is across the border from Del Rio, Texas. They had been shot and their hands were handcuffed, the police department said. Authorities say the Zetas and the Sinaloa drug cartels are fighting each other to control smuggling routes in the state of Coahuila, where Acuna is located. Last week, gunmen killed a federal prosecutor for the state of Coahuila when he was about to leave his home in the city of Torreon. A day earlier, gunmen set a fire at the office of the Torreon newspaper El Siglo and fired shots at it. No injuries were reported. Authorities in the neighboring state of Durango said soldiers dug up the remains of seven people from a pit.

12

Durango state prosecutors said troops found the remains in the town of San Juan del Rio, about 60 miles (100 kilometers) north of the state capital, the city of Durango. They gave no other details. More than 400 bodies have been found in a series of clandestine graves in Tamaulipas and Durango states since April. They are believed to be a result of turf battles between drug cartels. In Hidalgo, the home state of Zetas leader Heriberto Lazcano, state police chief Damian Canales said authorities detained eight local police officers for allegedly working for the Zetas. Canales said six of those detained were officers for the town of Actopan and two for the state capital of Pachuca. He said they were detained after the arrest of the former police chief in the town of Arenal, who authorities allege was in charge of recruiting police officers to work for the Zetas. Canales said the Pachuca city police officers told investigators the Zetas paid them about $360 a month. Also on Monday, military authorities said soldiers in the border state of Chihuahua detained two police chiefs while they were meeting with an alleged drug trafficker. Soldiers detained the police chief and a police officer for the town of Gran Morelos and the police chief for the town of Belisario Dominguez while they met with a boss for La Linea, a gang of hit men for the Juarez Cartel, the Defense Department said in a statement. It said an anonymous phone call led the troops to the meeting in the town of Belisario Dominguez. Soldiers arrested two other men and seized three handguns and four automatic rifles, the statement added. Source: [abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/human-remains-found-northern-mexico-pit-15000086#.Tsu8QPLQeSo] (Return to Contents)

F. Traffic at Border Bridges Continues To Drop (TX) 21 November 2011 KRGV TV CHANNEL 5 NEWS called around. We made a trip out to a couple border bridges. We did not see the slowdown, but it's there. Long wait times and violence down south is affecting traffic. The people who manage those bridges are now hoping for a holiday miracle It does not matter if you're moving north or south. Get ready to wait. People in line to cross through our border bridges are in it for the long haul.

13

“As you can see, there's a long line right now. That's a two- to three-hour line,” says the man who manages the bridges in Hidalgo and Mission. “The bridge system is a measure of our economy,” he says. Measuring it that way, our economic situation was better than than it is now. The man crunched the numbers for the last six months. He compared them to last year. In Hidalgo, traffic from Mexico headed north is down by more than 160,000 cars. In Mission, northbound traffic dropped by more than 30,000. “The value of them crossing quickly is very valuable to our local businesses,” he says. He says increasing violence along the U.S.-Mexico border is affecting travel. The traffic itself, hours-long wait times, also has drivers turning back before they get stuck in line. “I mean there are some people that have run out of gas here before,” he says. Eusevio Serna used to pay us a visit by car. He now crosses by foot. “We travel the same, 15 days every month,” says Serna. “It takes about 15-20 minutes to come across by foot.” Clemente Herrera-Luna ditched his truck for tennis shoes, even with a lot of shopping to do. “I'm going to spend all the money I brought,” says Herrera-Luna. He'd rather carry the bags than drive them back. The toll at Anzalduas International Bridge recently went up by 50 cents. The bridge manager says it has helped offset the drop in crossers. Hel says his holiday wish is “to get back our 20 percent that we lost.” That's easier said than done. The bridges in Mission and Hidalgo are set to expand with more northbound lanes. Mexican visitors are not hopping over to another border bridge. The numbers are down pretty much everywhere. The numbers are down in all cities except Progreso. Traffic there was up by 1,400 cars. Pharr's bridge saw the biggest drop last month, nearly 31,000 cars. Source: [www.krgv.com/news/local/story/Traffic-at-Border-Bridges-Continues-to-Drop/aRtPhSEfx02LteI8IH6gcQ.cspx] (Return to Contents)

G. Battle for the Border: State Definition of Spillover Violence (TX)

14

21 November 2011 KRGV TV Even though the federal government does not recognize spillover violence, CHANNEL 5 NEWS spoke with people at the Texas State Capitol. They believe it is happening. "I don't think it's an accurate snapshot," says a U.S. Congressman, who represents a chunk of central and southeast Texas. "It's a war raging very heavily in Mexico, but there are signs that it has come into the United States by their very presence here." He's frustrated with how the federal government defines spillover. "Well, we get the Uniform Crime Report. The FBI looks at it (and) does not factor in to cartel-on-cartel violence, extortions, murders and kidnappings. Well that's precisely what they do. So in other words, when you look at the stats, they're excluding cartel violence and cartel crimes," says the Congressman. The Texas Department of Public Safety director agrees. He's quick to point out Zeta-on-Zeta crimes do not qualify as spillover under the federal definition. He says the official state definition includes any type of crime connected to the cartels. "It's not always about a murder. It could be extortion, kidnapping, you know it certainly is about drug trafficking, human smuggling across, and preying on the illegal aliens that they're smuggling through the areas," says the public safety director. He tells CHANNEL 5 NEWS he wants Washington to step up, but he realizes redefining spillover will not change reality. "You can't define your way into border security and you can't define your way out of a problem. It is what it is... It's clearly the sovereign responsibility of the federal government to secure the border, and in not doing so, there's consequences," he says. The Texas Agriculture Commissioner shares the concern. "I think about having a war on drugs in America, and I see how that has morphed into a drug war on America. I'm ready to step up and win this fight by matching their force with a greater force," he says. The Agriculture Commissioner and Texas Lawmakers got so upset with the federal government, they hired two retired U.S. Generals to come up with their own report. ….

15

Source: [www.krgv.com/news/local/story/Battle-for-the-Border-State-Definition-of/2_89MpVQzkGTx4BOJmNO7Q.cspx] (Return to Contents)

H. Battle for the Border: Federal Spillover Definition (TX) 21 November 2011 KRGV TV The federal government says Mexico's drug war is Mexico's problem and not in the U.S. yet. The top security leaders deny the Valley is at risk. "We have more manpower and technology at the border. We are picking up more drugs that are coming from Central America and Mexico," says the U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security. Border Patrol agents seized a record amount of drugs in the last year. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement processed and deported more illegal aliens. Despite these record numbers in seizures and deportations, the Federal Bureau of Investigation crime numbers are down. The numbers are down in the Rio Grande Valley and all across the southwest border. CHANNEL 5 NEWS wanted to know why so we took a closer look. We found out federal leaders cannot say spillover violence is here because no definition of spillover exists on a federal level. The Department of Homeland Security and others use the FBI Uniform Crime Report to begin measuring spillover. The report labels violent crimes as murder, manslaughter, forcible rape, robbery and aggravated assault. It does not include the crime CHANNEL 5 NEWS has shown you. The FBI does not list kidnappings, like the ones foiled in the city of Hidalgo. The attempted kidnapping that led to a Hidalgo County sheriff's deputy being shot will not be listed either. Extortions like the one police say went on in a Mission stash house are not listed. Smuggling and the police chases they bring with them are not reported to the FBI either. None of the crimes will go into the FBI's books and will not make their way into the Uniform Crime Report. Remember the 100 law enforcement officers who responded to the riverbanks in Starr County to respond to armed drug traffickers? A man found on the U.S. banks of the Rio Grande was shot three times. This case will be listed as an illegal immigrant crossing. It will not become part of the Uniform Crime Report. Has the federal government turned a blind eye to the crimes? The enormous seizures of cartel-linked drugs do not qualify as spillover to the government no matter how many drugs stack up in a Drug Enforcement Agency warehouse.

16

Weapons and bulk cash leaving the U.S. headed to Mexico are not in the federal crime report. People like the former Judge and former state representative who were caught working with drug runners are not considered an American part of the Mexican drug war. Neither are dozens of law enforcement officers who were arrested. Cartel-related gang activity is recorded federally, but the government says it does not prove Mexico's drug war is here. This is how the DEA defines spillover, "Spillover violence entails deliberate, planned attacks by the cartels on U.S. assets, including civilian, military, or law enforcement officials, innocent U.S. citizens, or physical institutions such as government buildings, consulates, or businesses. This definition does not include trafficker-on-trafficker violence, whether perpetrated in Mexico or the U.S." It's a picture our country's leaders only see in black and white. Crime unknown by the federal government will not be counted by the federal government. That allows them to tell you there is no record of spillover and be accurate. Source: [www.krgv.com/news/local/story/Battle-for-the-Border-Federal-Spillover-Definition/-jxgmCew10yQbjV5M_8lwg.cspx] (Return to Contents)

I. Crime, Kidnappings Prompts Change in Mexican School (CHIH) 21 November 2011 KVUE TV Violent crime in some regions of Mexico has impacted even small towns once considered safe and peaceful including a quiet community founded by American Mormons. “Our lives have changed here over the past five years because of security," said the assistant principal at the school in colony. It’s nestled in a valley near Casas Grandes, Chihuahua surrounded by agricultural fields and orchards. Generations of families have sent their children to bilingual Academia Juarez which is just blocks from the gleaming white Mormon Temple. But in recent years the residents' peaceful way of life has been shattered by a rash of kidnappings “And that’s too bad,” said the assistant principal. “We’ve enjoyed a tremendous amount of freedom and security here.” American Mormons founded Colonia Juarez in 1886, after the U.S. banned polygamy and Mexico’s President invited them help settle the isolated rural region.

17

Modern day Mormons no longer practice polygamy but many have stayed to raise families there and send their children to the school. This past year, 40 students withdrew, nearly 10 percent of the student body, after their families moved away because of the kidnapping threat. Some returned to the U.S. “Oh yeah, definitely I’ve had a bunch of families that have been close to our family that have gone because of the insecurity, and it’s really sad,” said 17-year-old Victoria Jones, a junior at the school and a cheerleader. The school’s football coach considered leaving when kidnappings spiked. “I myself was just this close,” said one student. “They were kidnapping people we knew. Every day it was like hey who got kidnapped today?” To secure the campus, the school administrators are putting a guard station at the entrance, installing security cameras, and building a cafeteria to keep the students inside during lunch. “The campus will be locked down. As soon as that’s in place, we’ll have 24-hour security there,” said the assistant principal. Right now it’s an open campus and on one sunny autumn afternoon students enjoyed their lunches outside while a neighborhood dog hovered around waiting for scraps to fall on the ground. The students who gathered to pet the dog’s head say the Golden Retriever shows up every day at lunch time. Many now fear their carefree lifestyle has changed forever, even though the kidnappings have declined. “In the last year, nobody knows why it started to die off, die off. And we haven’t had a kidnapping in a while,” said a student. Nobody knows for certain why but residents speculate that one drug cartel won the turf battle for the region and broke up the kidnapping rings. Even so, families who for generations have called Colonia Juarez home fear their peaceful lifestyle is a thing of the past. “Those days are gone," said the assistant principal. “We hope they’ll come back, but they’re not here now.” Source: [www.kvue.com/news/Crime-kidnappings-impacts-Mexican-school-134290073.html] (Return to Contents)

18

J. US Indicts Mexican Gulf Cartel Head "Commandante 900" Caught Living in US (TX) 22 November 2011 Latin American Herald Tribune A federal Grand Jury sitting in Brownsville, Texas has indicted Rafael Cardenas Vela for participating in drug and money laundering conspiracies and for procuring fraudulent Visa documents, a United States Attorney announced today along with the special-agent-in-charge for Immigration and Customs Enforcement - Homeland Security Investigations (ICE-HSI) and the acting special-agent-in-charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). Cardenas Vela, 38, is the nephew of Osiel Cardenas Guillen, convicted of federal drug charges by the Southern District of Texas in 2010, and Ezequiel “Tony Tormenta” Cardenas Guillen. Information contained in the indictment, returned less than an hour ago, alleges that Cardenas Vela - aka Junior, Commandante 900 and Rolex - occupied a position as a principal leader of a criminal enterprise. The criminal enterprise, known as the Gulf Cartel, was headquartered in Matamoros, Tamaulipas, Mexico, and allegedly imports, warehouses, transports and distributes ton quantities of cocaine and marijuana from the Mexico into the United States. “ICE-HSI agents have made it a top priority to bring stability and security to this border region” said the agent. “Holding those responsible and accountable for these crimes is the first step.” Cardenas-Vela, a native of Mexico, was arrested on Oct. 20, 2011, in Port Isabel, Texas. He made his initial appearance the following day, at which time he was ordered held without bond pending further criminal proceedings. “The arrest of Rafael Cardenas Vela highlights the tremendous work our agents do throughout the Houston Division,” said the sheriff. “DEA agents, along with our law enforcement counterparts, are committed to protecting the citizens along the southwest border by ridding their neighborhoods of drugs and drug traffickers alike.” According to the indictment, Cardenas Vela, along with Jorge Eduardo Costilla Sanchez - aka El Cos - and other unindicted co-conspirators, helped manage and maintain cocaine and marijuana transportation and distribution cells established in the United States that acted as smaller operational units within the larger organization. Cells were allegedly located in various cities including but not limited to Houston, Brownsville and McAllen, Texas, as well as in northern cities throughout the United States. The Gulf Cartel, as led in part by Cardenas Vela, also collected and transported millions of dollars in United States currency which represented the proceeds from the distribution and sale of cocaine and marijuana in the United States according to allegations. Once the drug proceeds were collected at various points within the United States, the money would be transported to Mexico to further the aims of this criminal enterprise.

19

In an effort to conceal their illegal activities, this organization allegedly utilized vehicles which had hidden compartments to conceal the cocaine, marijuana and currency which was being transported. The members of the criminal enterprise encoded their written and oral drug related and conspiratorial communications to further shield themselves from law enforcement detection. The indictment also alleges that members of this criminal enterprise would use aliases and call signs during their communications to protect their identities from law enforcement agencies. In order to further the aims and goals of this criminal enterprise, the aid of law enforcement authorities was solicited to provide information and protection for the organization’s criminal activities. Specifically, Cardenas Vela directed the payments of money and/or gifts to various individuals related to law enforcement in Mexico. In addition, firearms were often utilized as a tool during the drug trafficking activities of this organization the indictment indicates. Bullet proof vehicles, automatic weapons, grenades, homemade cannons and body armor were allegedly purchased by Cardenas Vela and members of the Gulf Cartel to further their conspiracy to possess narcotics in Mexico and to import these narcotics into the United States. These weapons were allegedly used by members of the Gulf Cartel, at the direction of Cardenas Vela and other leaders, in their continuing struggle for control of the Mexican drug corridor with their rivals, Los Zetas. Body guards were routinely employed to protect various members of this organization, including but not limited to Cardenas Vela. Beginning in approximately 2000, the indictment alleges Cardenas Vela served as the “Plaza Boss” for the Gulf Cartel of San Fernando, Tamaulipas, Mexico, and became the “Plaza Boss” of the Rio Bravo area of Tamaulipas, Mexico, approximately two years ago. (A “Plaza Boss” is the leader of a geographic area for the Gulf Cartel.) After the death of his uncle, “Tony Tormenta” in November 2010, Cardenas Vela allegedly became engaged in an internal power struggle for control of the Matamoros plaza with an unindicted co-conspirator. In approximately March 2011, Cardenas Vela assumed control of the Matamoros plaza. He is charged with conspiracy to possess with intent to deliver and conspiracy to import more than five kilograms of cocaine and more than 1,000 kilograms of marijuana. For each of these two charges, he faces a mandatory minimum of 10 years up to life in prison, a fine of up to $10 million and up to five years of supervised release. Upon conviction of conspiracy to launder money, Cardenas Vela faces up to 20 years’ imprisonment, a fine of a maximum $500,000 or twice the amount of the money instruments or funds involved in the conspiracy, as well as a period of supervised release of up to five years. Also charged with procuring a fraudulent Mexican passport and United States Visa, he faces as additional 20 years, a $250,000 fine and five years of supervised release if convicted. Source: [www.laht.com/article.asp?ArticleId=446850&CategoryId=14091] (Return to Contents)

K. Mexican Soldiers Find $15M Linked to Sinaloa Cartel (BC) 22 November 2011 Fox News

20

The Mexican army has seized $15.3 million in cash believed to belong to members of the Sinaloa drug cartel. Army spokesman Gen. Ricardo Trevilla says soldiers found the money inside a car in a downtown neighborhood of the border city of Tijuana. Trevilla said Tuesday no arrests were made and did not say what led troops to the cash. Trevilla says it was the second largest cache of cash found by soldiers. The biggest was in September 2008, when troops seized $26.2 million at a house in Culiacan, capital of the Pacific coast state of Sinaloa. The country's biggest cash seizure was in March 2007, when federal police seized $207 million in Mexico City linked to a ring selling pseudoephedrine, the main ingredient in methamphetamine. Source: [www.foxnews.com/world/2011/11/22/mexican-soldiers-find-15m-linked-to-sinaloa-cartel/] (Return to Contents)

L. Ex-Drug Cartel Member Says Mexico Gangs Laugh at U.S. Border Politics (US/MX) 21 November 2011 The Examiner While the White House and some politicians disagree that Texas border counties may be in a growing “war zone,” the impact of drug cartel violence and power in Mexico could be affecting American households in more direct means than generally believed. For instance, avocados and lime costs imported into the U.S. from Mexico are subject to a drug cartel tax, or “la cota, “said a former cartel member, who talked with the Examiner, provided we did not reveal his real name. Carlos is a 28-year-old Mexican national moved to the San Antonio area to escape cartel torture, death and “before they killed the only family I have left.” “They charge those farmers and packers ‘la cota’ for each truck they send out,” Carlos explained. “And before the trucks make it to the distribution, they might get stopped three or four times for la cota.” Carlos described what happens to anyone that does not pay the tax. “They call it Mexican insurance,” he said. “They tell you they know who your wife is, or your mother, or your daughters and you better pay or we will rape and kill them.”

21

“They pay the cartels what they want, like a toll road,” Carlos observed. “We charged about 600 or 700 pesos for each truck about five years ago, but I don’t know any more what it is. It’s a common thing.” “Americans think the drug gangs just make their money from the drugs, but they make money off of your food and imports that come from Mexico too,” claimed Carlos. “Sometimes those terminals in Mexico and even here in Texas wait for the trucks to get there, but if the drug gangs don’t get paid, those trucks will not get there,” Carlos observed. “You ask any of them (distributors or terminals) and they will tell you this is more common than people think.” Carlos said the distribution companies have attempted to change their routes to prevent stolen equipment and kidnapping, “but halcones (or mules, a Mexican term for lookouts) are always watching.” “They even use GPS (and other tracking technology) to know where the trucks are all the time,” Carlos elaborated. “Hell, they have hundreds of halcones here in Texas watching (Highways 181, 37, 35, 90, and 16 at the truck stops and gas stations coming into San Antonio all the time so they know where their drug shipments are and can tell them if the police or immigration is nearby.” “Business on the border is booming," a Democrat Congressman recently said about the reports that the Texas border is becoming a war zone. "False, baseless attacks like this harm our public image and weaken our economy by spreading misinformation that might discourage companies from doing business along the border." Carlos thinks “those gangs are laughing at the Americans because you don’t think there is a war on you.” “They recruit your kids in the schools, they take over your ranches, they even make your food costs go up,” Carlos said seriously. “They are buying up your policemen, your businesses, and laugh that you let it happen.” Source: [www.examiner.com/headlines-in-san-antonio/ex-drug-cartel-member-says-mexico-gangs-laugh-at-u-s-border-politics] (Return to Contents)

M. Mexican Indigenous Community Boycotts Elections (MICH) 22 November 2011 Upside Down World Residents of Cherán march in defense of their new electoral process. Photo by Nicolas TaviraIt is Sunday morning in the main square of the indigenous town of Cherán, Mexico where the ringing

22

of church bells clash with music from the youth community radio station. Election day has come to the Mexican state of Michoacán, but here in Cherán nobody is voting. For the last three years this community of around 11,000 people has been caught up in Mexican President Felipe Calderón’s war on drugs. As gangs of illegal loggers backed by the local drug cartel and aided by local politicians encroached further onto the community’s land, with them came threats, abduction and murder. Since April, the town has been sealed off in a bid to protect its future. Local and federal authorities are not welcome, politicians even less so. Barricades at the entrance to the town are manned 24-hours a day and members of the community keep vigil around fires in the street. With local government no longer in charge, the town is now run by commissions, covering all aspects of town life from security to education, made up of around 60 local residents. What is missing, and what the people of Cherán now want, is to elect their own town representatives in line with indigenous tradition. Mr. Ramírez, one of those running the Commission for Security, explains that elected residents will now do the work once done by politicians, but with one major difference, they will not represent any political party. Protesters holding a sign “Our dreams do not fit into your urns.” Photo by Nicolas Tavira.In boycotting the regional elections, the people of Cherán are making a statement against local politics. Sitting at his desk surround by papers, Father Antonio Mora, one of the town’s priests, knows only too well the trouble traditional politics can bring. He moved to the community three years ago and found the town deeply divided along political lines. He explains that as political divisions worsened, organized crime took advantage of the split to drive a further wedge between members of the community. Santiago Tapia, one of the members of the Commission of Coordination, which oversees the organization of the commissions, agrees pointing out that local politicians are often affiliated with organized crime. “Not having political parties here is a way of protecting ourselves,” he states simply. In the past he explains, only two people were elected to run the town. Having so few people in charge meant not only were they vulnerable to threats from local criminal gangs, but they were also more likely to be corrupted. The town will now elect 12 people to oversee the running of Cherán. Tapia believes that by putting power into the hands of many greatly reduces the risk of corruption. “Our new system is a way of ensuring that organized crime does not find a way into the village,” he states. The voting process for electing representatives began over a month ago. Forty-seven-year-old Teresa Leko Flores is preparing lunch around one of the town’s 200 street fires. She explains how her and the other members of her group took ten days to decide whom to nominate. “When we were keeping watch at night we spoke about who would be the best candidates,” she says. “When the names were decided we put forward the list to the neighborhood assembly and then as a neighborhood we elected the four representatives from our part of town.”

23

According to those now overseeing the running of the town, Cherán’s new electoral process, in which people take time to discuss and nominate people together, is far more democratic and transparent than the traditional way of voting anonymously for only one candidate. Juan Navarrete, another member of the Commission of Coordination, speaks with conviction about the way his ancestors used to organize. “It was a much more open process,” he states. “If the Mexican government would use this model we wouldn’t have the problems of corruption and delinquency that exist in the country today.” …. Source: [upsidedownworld.org/main/mexico-archives-79/3314-mexican-indigenous-community-boycotts-elections-] (Return to Contents)

N. Seven Bodies Found in New Mass Grave in Northern Mexico (DGO) 22 November 2011 Channel 6 News Mexican security forces have discovered seven bodies in another mass grave in the northern region of the country, officials said on Tuesday. After two days of exploration and digging, Mexican Army personnel found the mass grave on Monday with seven bodies in an advanced state of decomposition in the Leona Vicario community in the municipality of San Juan del Rio in Durango state, some 80 kilometers (49 miles) north of the state's capital. Search operations for the mass grave had begun on Saturday. Durango's Attorney General's Office said operations at the site would continue on Tuesday to determine whether there are more bodies in the area. In April, investigations after the arrest of several criminals led to the discoveries of thirteen mass graves, nine of them in Durango. In total, authorities reported having found at least 280 bodies, nearly all of them victims from the bloody drug war. Earlier this year, authorities also unearthed 183 bodies from mass graves in San Fernando municipality, which is located in the state of Tamaulipas. The victims, some of them migrants from Guatemala, were believed to be people who had refused to enlist within the rank of the 'Los Zetas' drug cartel. Arrest warrants were later issued for 73 people who were allegedly involved in the killings. And in July, a mass grave containing at least 12 bodies was discovered in the municipality of Benito Juarez, which is located within the metropolitan area of Monterrey in Nuevo Leon state, after two pedestrians saw two decomposed bodies inside two plastic bags on the road. One year earlier, the Mexican army found a mass grave with 51 bodies in the same municipality after it received an anonymous report.

24

Source: [channel6newsonline.com/2011/11/seven-bodies-found-in-new-mass-grave-in-northern-mexico/] (Return to Contents) 4. CARRIBEAN, CENTRAL, AND SOUTH AMERICA

A. New Leader, Same Narco-Terrorist FARC (CO) 21 November 2011 The Heritage Foundation When the infamous Alfonso Cano, leader of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), was killed recently during an assault by government forces, the longstanding guerilla group faced a pivotal moment: It could have fractured under the lack of leadership, or it could have continued with its violent mission. It chose the latter. Despite Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos’s words of warning, “I want to tell the FARC, this is the time for them to demobilize, this is the time for them to lay down their arms.… The alternative, as we’ve said many times before, is either the prison or the grave,” FARC announced shortly after Cano’s death that Timoleon Jimenez would take over the vacant leadership position. Commonly referred to by his nickname Timochenko, the new FARC leader is wanted in Colombia “for kidnapping, murder, rebellion and terrorism” and in the U.S. for drug trafficking. Colombian officials hold out little hope of reaching a peaceful end of FARC’s narco-insurgency with Timochenko in charge. A FARC spokesman stated that with Timochenko’s appointment, “the continuity of the Strategic Plan for the taking of power by the people is guaranteed,” suggesting that the violence is far from over. In fact, although Cano’s death was expected to deal a harsh blow to the group, only 23 FARC members have deserted since their leader’s demise, according to Colombian Defense Minister Juan Carlos Pinzón. The glimmer of hope that Colombians and their allies around the world might have once seen in Cano’s death has now been for the moment turned aside. Just weeks before Cano’s death, FARC launched an attack on Colombian troops that killed 10 soldiers, making it the second attack within three days to take 10 lives. This escalation of violence has caused “the worst loss suffered by Colombian security forces in more than a year,” according to the Associated Press. FARC continues to assassinate Colombian indigenous leaders it does not like. With the military strategist Timochenko in command, it is unlikely that FARC will abandon its bloody tactics. In the recent battle over congressional approval of the Colombia Free Trade Agreement, much was heard—especially on the liberal Democratic side and among intellectuals and the media—about violence against trade unionists in Colombia.

25

But where was the concern about the Colombian state, citizen security, and the need to end a futile and discredited armed revolutionary struggle? Where is the courage of leaders in the Americas to stand up and say it is time to end FARC’s campaigns of terror and destruction? Source: [blog.heritage.org/2011/11/21/new-leader-same-narco-terrorist-farc/] (Return to Contents)

B. Guatemalan Police Arrest 2 Suspected Zetas Cartel Members (GT) 21 November 2011 Latin American Herald Tribune Two Guatemalans suspected of belonging to Mexico’s Los Zetas drug cartel were arrested by the National Civilian Police, or PNC, in a city in northeastern Guatemala, Attorney General Claudia Paz y Paz said Monday. Alejandro Chacon Cerna and Rodrigo Orellana Recinos were arrested Sunday night in the city of Estancuela, which is in Zacapa province, during a special police operation. The two men are suspected of belonging to “a support and logistics structure of the Los Zetas criminal group,” which operates in northwestern Guatemala, the attorney general said. The suspects supplied Los Zetas, considered Mexico’s most violent drug cartel, with arms, vehicles and houses, and they helped launder money for the criminal organization, officials said. The arrests opened the way for the dismantling of the eighth Los Zetas cell in Guatemala, where 77 people linked to the cartel have been detained in the past two years, Interior Minister Carlos Menocal said. “The capture of these leaders comes after an exhaustive operation by intelligence and investigative teams targeting the Los Zetas criminal organization in Peten, Alta Verapaz, Baja Verapaz, Huehuetenango, Quetzaltenango, Jalapa, Jutiapa and in Zacapa, where the eighth cell has now been dismantled,” Menocal said. The arrests were made “without a single shot being fired” by officers from the PNC’s Special Criminal Investigations Division, or DEIC, and prosecutors, the interior minister said. Heriberto Lazcano Lazcano, known as “El Lazca,” deserted from the Mexican army in 1999 and formed Los Zetas with three other soldiers, all members of an elite special operations unit, becoming the armed wing of the Gulf cartel. After several years on the payroll of the Gulf cartel, Los Zetas went into the drug business on their own account and now control several lucrative territories. The cartel has been blamed for several massacres in recent years.

26

Source: [www.laht.com/article.asp?ArticleId=446707&CategoryId=23558] (Return to Contents)

C. Babies for Sale: Looking at the Adoption Industry in Guatemala (GT) 21 November 2011 The Crime Report Last year, American families adopted more than 11,000 children from abroad. More than half came from either China or Ethiopia; but as recently as 2007, the country that sent the most children to the U.S. was the Central American nation of Guatemala. Between 1999 and 2010, more than 26,000 Guatemalan children were adopted by U.S. parents. Today, however, an advisory on the State Department’s website warns: “The United States is not currently processing adoptions from Cambodia or Guatemala.” What happened? The answer─which involves cross-border corruption, kidnapping and finally a crackdown─is revealed in Finding Fernanda: Two Mothers, One Child and a Cross-Border Search for the Truth. The author began looking into Guatemalan adoptions when she was a fellow at the Stabile Center for Investigative Reporting at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism. After emailing a woman who had posted about problems with an adoption on a listserv, the author found herself thrown into an opaque world of child-trafficking, unscrupulous attorneys and American parents left in the dark about the circumstances that brought their new sons and daughters to their homes. The Crime Report spoke with the author from her home in Mexico. The Crime Report: You describe corruption at every turn in the adoption industry in Guatemala, from fake DNA test results and forged paperwork to bribery and outright kidnapping. Were you surprised to learn the scope of the illegality? Author: I do not know if I can say I was surprised because before I got into this investigation I read Francisco Goldman’s classic Guatemalan book, The Art of Political Murder. The book lays out corruption in the judicial system and corruption within the Guatemalan government, so it was really instrumental in my thinking about how Guatemala works, as opposed to a place like the United States. I went into this investigation with a base level of understanding around general corruption. It’s not just adoptions. In Guatemala you can bribe anyone for anything. You can arrange a hit, a murder, for practically the price of a Happy Meal. So when I started learning about everything that happens in adoptions, I think the bigger surprise was that American adoptive parents were so misinformed and had so little access to true information. Who would be telling them what was really going on? There was no incentive for anyone to do that in most cases.

27

TCR: If people are willing to throw $20,000 or $30,000 at an industry like that, can anything really be done to make it more legitimate? Author: That’s the big question. In the Guatemalan adoption industry there were so many intermediaries. American money would initially be handed off to an adoption agency [in the U.S.] that was accredited by a state licensing agency, but after that...they did not know [where it went]... And that’s the crux of the problem: there’s no oversight in countries that haven’t signed the Hague Convention treaty. TCR: Tell me about the Hague Convention. Author: The Hague Convention on Intercountry Adoption sets up guidelines for countries that send children and that receive children. The Hague suggests we need to track money in adoptions, people need to be accountable for who they work with, and there needs to be very strict record keeping. And that’s all good and wonderful, but it does have a major failing, which is that adoption agencies that don’t pass Hague accreditation here in the U.S. are still allowed to operate; they just cannot operate in Hague signatory countries. It’s a pretty glaring hole. TCR: What role did American adoption agencies play in perpetuating corruption in the system of Guatemalan adoptions? …. Source: [www.thecrimereport.org/archive/2011-11-babies-for-sale-looking-at-the-adoption-industry-in] (Return to Contents) 5. OPINION AND ANALYSIS

A. Mexico Black Market Arms Traffic Finds New Routes (MX) 21 November 2011 InSight Crime Because the recent spike in drug-related violence in Mexico has coincided with the 2004 expiration of the U.S. assault weapons ban, and because a significant portion of the weapons used in Mexican crimes have been traced to U.S. vendors, Mexican officials often accuse liberal U.S. gun laws of being a major obstacle to a safer Mexico. Indeed, President Felipe Calderon made precisely this point during a speech to U.S. Congress in 2010. U.S. officials have not denied that the problem exists. As InSight Crime noted, the President lamented his government’s inability to make headway against the flow of arms traffic, calling the task “impossible” earlier this month. One Los Angeles official recently termed the southward arms flow between his city and Tijuana an “ammo pipeline.”

28

The anger over the “Fast and Furious” scandal, in which U.S. federal agents allowed weapons to cross the Mexican border in order to track their flow towards criminal groups, has furthered the image of a U.S. government careless about the impact the country's arms may have on Mexico. Several of the guns purchased under Fast and Furious were later used in crimes, including the murder of a U.S. Border Patrol official last December. However, the legacy of the Central American civil wars between the 1960s and 1980s, which flooded the region with small arms, has also contributed to the availability of lethal weapons in Mexico. There are several recent examples of soldiers looting official arms caches and reselling them on the black market in nations like El Salvador. The following is a partial translation by InSight Crime of a recent report from Contralinea on the challenges of the illegal arms trade: With just one click on an Internet search engine, Francisco Sanchez has multiple options for the object of his interest: a Pietro Beretta 9 millimeter piece, offered at 10,500 pesos [roughly $775]. Sanchez wants to buy a semi-automatic weapon, which are only for use by the army, without requesting permission from the Secretariat of National Defense (Sedena), the only agency in Mexico that hands out licenses to carry arms. In short, he will acquire an illegal weapon. To buy it he does not need to go to a rough neighborhood, to a market like El Salado in Iztapalapa, or to a neighborhood like San Felipe de Jesus, in the Gustavo A. Madero·barrio (the largest in Latin America), two important areas for the black market for weapons. Nor does he have a contact with a friend of a friend of a police officer or soldier. To acquire a gun it’s enough to sit down in front of a computer and, from the intimacy of your home, office, or any location, do a quick search to complete the transaction. Small arms are sold on hundreds of internet pages, with the deal agreed upon in chats, prices haggled over in computer messages or over cell phones. Since 2005, the Attorney General’s office (PGR, for its initials in Spanish) recognized that·organized crime groups could acquire weaponry over the Internet. But today it’s not just the criminals, but also civilians like Sanchez, who, overwhelmed by the growing insecurity and criminality gripping the country, see owning guns as a way to defend their life, their property, and their family. [...] Even if citizens are purchasing weapons for self-defense, the problem is that by buying them on the black market they feed the cycle of illegality, and increase the profits of the industry of death, says Edgardo Buscaglia, a UN adviser on issues of security and organized crime. International organizations estimate that some 20 million illegal weapons circulate in Mexican territory, in addition to the 5.5 million authorized by Sedena; that is, for every legal gun there are

29

at least four illegal ones. The black market for guns in the country is increasingly open, "almost unchecked," in the words of the secretary general of the Organization of American States, Jose Miguel Insulza. It has penetrated an ever-growing number of structures in society, not only in the criminal realm. [...] For two decades, [Mexico's] southern border has been a port of entry for the weapons that feed the country's black market. There are 956 miles of border between Mexico and Guatemala, where it is enough to arrive to cities like Ciudad Hidalgo, Ciudad Cuauhtemoc, or in border towns like Corozal, Talisman or Carmen Xhan, cross the checkpoints and walk around Tecun Uman, La Mesilla, Peten, El Carmen and Gracias a Dios to be offered weapons. Salesmen in shacks, adobe huts, or in the middle of the street offer the old M-16s and Galils that the Central American civil wars left behind; or more modern weapons, like the M72 and AT4 (anti-tank rockets), RPG-7 rocket-launchers, or 37-millimeter MGL grenade-launchers, with tracers and armor-piercing capacity, sold by catalogue, and a one-week wait before delivery. The weapons arrive mostly from the United States, through air or maritime routes to Guatemala for distribution in Mexico, Central America, or South America. The advantage that this market offers is that purchases can be made without any middlemen, and that crossing is much easier than on the northern border. Weapons acquired in Guatemala to supply the black market in Mexico are transported using the “hormiga” method, among the belongings of those who cross the border between the two countries -- identified as one of the most porous in the world. Or, if they are large shipments, they are transported along the Suchiate River, or in secret compartments in vehicles that cross the border, or in collusion with immigration and customs officials. [...] The Mexican government identifies four principal routes through which U.S. arms enter. The Pacific route, whose entry point is Tijuana, and passes though Mexicali, San Luis Rio Colorado, Nogales, Hermosillo, Culiacan, Tepic, Guadalajara, Lazaro Cardenas, Morelia, Chilpancingo y Oaxaca. The central route, which passes through Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua, Durango, Guadalajara, and Morelia. Through the Gulf route, they come via Ciudad Acuña, Piedras Negras, Nuevo Laredo, Miguel Aleman, Reynosa, Matamoros, before moving on to Ciudad Victoria, Veracruz, and Tabasco or Oaxaca. And the southern route, in the border towns of Balancan, Ciudad Cuauhtemoc, Tapachula and Ciudad Hidalgo, and moving on to Tuxtla Gutiérrez, and from there to Veracruz and Oaxaca. …. Source: [insightcrime.org/insight-latest-news/item/1871-mexico-black-market-arms-traffic-finds-new-routes]

30

(Return to Contents)

B. Mexican Drug War Rages As U.S. Focuses on Afghanistan (US) 21 November 2011 The Washington Examiner While America's national security officials have been focused on Afghanistan and Iraq for the past decade, violence has exploded in Mexico, and the U.S. has failed to develop an effective strategy for helping stabilize that country, officials say. "It's the elephant in the room that nobody is talking about," said one senior U.S. official, who asked not to be named. "Our neighbor to the south is being ripped apart at the seams. We need a strategy with Mexico that is sustainable. A national security vacuum has formed that endangers our homeland." President Felipe Calderon's policy to use the Mexican military to wage war against the drug czars has led to violent deaths for nearly 50,000 people in the past five years -- including police, soldiers, cartel members and innocent victims. Beheadings, mutilations and assassinations of senior Mexican officials have destabilized Mexico, according to U.S. officials who work on the southern border. The drug routes created by the cartels -- tunnels, porous border terrain and waterway passages -- pose serious national security risks to the U.S., officials said. The attention given to Mexico during the this and the previous administrations has been dwarfed by Iraq and Afghanistan as well as uprisings in the Middle-East. But Mexico appears to be entering a critical moment. Calderon's presidency comes to an end next year. Former Mexico City Mayor Manuel Lopez Obrador, a leftist who narrowly lost his last bid for presidency under the Democratic Revolutionary Party, announced last week that he will run for office again. One of Obrador's campaign promises is to re-evaluate Calderon's drug war. But Calderon remains committed to his approach, and claims it is working. He is pushing the Mexican congress to approve initiatives that will rebuild the nation's local police forces, which have been mired in corruption. Whoever wins next year's election will be confronted with the drug cartel crisis and may be forced to come up with a new approach, American experts said. "We need to have a continued sense of urgency in regards to Mexico," said a senior policy analyst focusing on Mexico and Latin America for the Heritage Foundation, a Washington think tank.

31

The analyst, who worked with the State Department from 1980 until 2007, said, "You need a stronger and more stable environment in Mexico. It has lacked media attention because frankly, it's not a priority. We are not focused on the Western Hemisphere and the threats that lie there. We've pretty much ignored Latin America, Central America, and the major security crisis in Mexico." The U.S. has delivered more than $1.6 billion dollars in assistance to Mexico since 2007. American military trainers have been working with Mexican Marines. And a number of American security contractors and CIA operators have been sent to Mexico this year to aid the struggling Mexican government with the crisis, U.S. officials said. "It's going to take a concerted effort to ensure our neighbor and friend does not lose its footing on the drug war," the US official said. "It's critical for our own national security to aide them." For decades the cartels operated with impunity, establishing routes to move narcotics and contraband across the U.S. border. Organized drug gangs set up sea routes to Africa, to give them a base for moving their shipments to Europe. American intelligence officials worry that the Mexican cartels will establish common cause with terrorist groups like Al Qaeda, al Shabab, Hamas and Hezbollah, funding them in return for protection of drug routes. "This is not just about drugs," said a U.S. military official, who spoke on condition of anonymity. "It's the drug corridor system which makes it a national security threat for us. These routes enable not only drug trafficking but human trafficking. If 90 percent of what the cartels try to get in makes it through, we'd have to be kidding ourselves to think that others aren't using these same routes to threaten our country." The analyst said during the upcoming U.S. presidential campaign Mexico's crisis could emerge as a critical issue. "We are going to need to ask ourselves some serious questions, like, what if Mexico goes into a tail-spin?" he said. "We have to prepare more robustly for contingencies. As of now, Mexico is not a failed state (but there is) the need for constant vigilance." Source: [washingtonexaminer.com/news/world/2011/11/mexican-drug-war-rages-us-focuses-afghanistan] (Return to Contents)

C. Foiling 43rd Terror Plot Test for Administration’s Priorities (US) 20 November 2011 The Heritage Foundation Editorial Comment: This is further analysis of a previously-reported story

32

On November 20, the mayor of New York City announced the arrest of a suspect. The man, a naturalized U.S. citizen from the Dominican Republic, was charged with a number of offenses in connection with a terrorist bomb plot. Allegedly, Pimentel drew inspiration from al-Qaeda to attack postal facilities, police stations, and U.S. military personnel returning from Iraq and Afghanistan. This arrest marks at least the 43rd Islamist-related plot aimed at attacking the U.S. homeland since 9/11. This thwarted attack is another wake-up call that the Administration must exercise more urgency in plugging the shortfalls in U.S. counterterrorism operations. Pipe Bomb Terror Arrested on November 19, the 27-year-old suspect (also known as Muhummad Yusuf) had reportedly been under surveillance since 2009. His arrest was prompted by evidence that he had begun assembling pipe bombs that he planned to use for launching a string of attacks throughout New York. According to statements at the press conference, the suspect was motivated to conduct these attacks by reading al-Qaeda material on the Internet, including bomb-making instructions. “He was a reader of al Qaeda’s slick online magazine Inspire—and inspire him it did,” the Manhattan District Attorney stated. Officials believe that the suspect was acting as a “lone wolf” plotting the attacks without the aid of accomplices. Terror Trends Similar to the suspects in most of the publicly known plots aimed at the U.S. since 9/11, the suspect was arrested before he could undertake alleged acts of terrorism. Of the thwarted post-9/11 plots, only three were not stopped in the preparation stage. Overwhelmingly, most terrorist targets have been in the area in and around New York City. Washington has also been frequently targeted. Extremist materials on the Internet apparently contributed to the suspect’s alleged efforts to embrace violent extremism. This is not unusual. As America has become a “harder target” for transnational terrorists groups, they have increasingly relied on the Internet for promulgating propaganda, fundraising, recruiting, and planning and conducting operations. Foiled Islamist-related terrorist plots aimed at the U.S. homeland have increasingly been undertaken by individuals or small groups within the U.S. with limited or no direct material support from transnational terrorist organizations. The frequency of attempted attacks has also increased. Approximately one-third of the publicly known thwarted plots have occurred in the past two-and-a-half years. Lessons Learned

33

The arrest of this suspect reminds that lone-wolf operations can be effectively detected and disrupted by law enforcement. As with other terrorist conspiracies, lone wolves typically undertake suspicious activity that legitimately warrants attention and investigation from law enforcement authorities. Maintaining robust, legitimate counterterrorism tools is the best means to continue to thwart plots similar to the one recently disrupted in New York City. This thwarted attack is a reminder that a real threat remains. The Administration should act with a greater sense of urgency to address the shortfalls in the U.S. counterterrorism enterprise that still remain. The Administration should:

• Fully implement a strategy to counter violent extremism. The Administration recently published a strategy for enhancing a national effort to combat violent extremism. However, the Administration did not fully develop a plan for implementing the strategy.

• Maintain essential counterterrorism tools. Support for important investigative tools such as the PATRIOT Act is essential to maintaining the security of the U.S. and combating terrorist threats. Key provisions within the act, such as the roving surveillance authority and business records provision, have proven essential in thwarting terror plots yet require reauthorization every year. In order to ensure that law enforcement and intelligence authorities have the essential counterterrorism tools they need, Congress should seek permanent authorization of the three sunsetting provisions within the act.

• Clarify the domestic counterterrorism framework. Cooperative efforts among local law enforcement, the ATF, and the FBI were essential in thwarting this plot before the American public was ever in danger. To aid future efforts, the U.S. should properly apportion roles and responsibilities among federal, state, and local governments based on their resources (e.g., money, people, and experience). In order to clarify the domestic counterterrorism framework, the President should issue an executive order establishing a national domestic counterterrorism and intelligence framework that clearly articulates how intelligence operations at all levels should function to combat terrorism while keeping citizens safe and free.

• Examine information-sharing gaps. Efforts to increase information sharing between the U.S. and its allies while improving interagency communications among the Departments of State, Justice, and Homeland Security and intelligence agencies are vital to protecting the U.S. from the continued threat of terrorism. Increased efforts at information sharing would amplify efficiency and timeliness in the counterterrorism field. Yet all too often, information sharing does not make for truly crosscutting communication but rather simply entails state and local law enforcement sending information up to the federal government. This gap in information sharing should not be allowed to continue.

Greater Efforts Needed

34

While the attack was stopped, trends suggest that this attack will not be the last. Thwarting the next terrorist attack requires a dedication by both Congress and the Administration to ensure that law enforcement and intelligence have the resources they need. Source: [www.heritage.org/research/reports/2011/11/foiling-43rd-terror-plot-test-for-administrations-priorities] (Return to Contents)

D. U. S. Government May Be Primary Suppliers of Mexican Drug Cartel Guns (MX) 21 November 2011 Big Government With Operation Fast and Furious headlining the news, there is no doubt civilian arms have been trafficked into Mexico. However, many of the arms used by Mexican cartels are NOT supplied by civilian gun outlets in the United States. Based upon the statistics I have compiled, our State and Defense Departments may be the premier suppliers of weaponry to Mexican drug cartels — not the US civilian. From 2003-2009, over 150,000 Mexican soldiers deserted from their ranks. Drug cartels became so confident in their recruitment of military personnel that they posted help wanted ads for hit men, traffickers, and guards. When these soldiers desert, their US-supplied weapons (grenades, sniper rifles, assault weapons, etc.) often accompany them over to the cartels. In 2008 and 2009, 13,792 and 20,530 small arms were exported to Mexico from the US. Over 92% of these arms were civilian legal semi-automatic or non-automatic firearms, a number eerily similar to the debunked 90% number echoed by the ATF. A 2008 State Department memo to then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi shows a $1,000,000 shipment of select fire M4A2 assault rifles to the Mexican Federal Police Force, (AKA Federales) one of the most corrupt Mexican government agencies. The most recent numbers from 2010 show the Directorate of Defense Trade Controls (DDTC) — the State Department agency responsible for overseeing the exportation of military goods — authorized the transfer of 2.5 million units of small arms, weapon optics, silencers, and related components. In that same year, over 11 million units of ammunition and 127,000 units of explosive ordnance were cleared for exportation to Mexico. This amounted to $25 million worth of small arms, ammunition, and explosives shipped to Mexico authorized by our State Department. In recent months, allegations have surfaced that the State Department’s US Direct Commercial Sales Program and DDTC may have directly shipped arms to the Zetas, the Gulf Cartel’s hit squad. The Zetas were at one time trained and supplied with American weaponry by our own 7th Special Forces Group in the early 1990s. These claims against the State Department arose even after the DDTC recognized the Americas Region in 2009 as having the highest rate of unfavorable traces for their Blue Lantern Program. The Blue Lantern Program involves traces performed by the DDTC to ensure exported military weaponry does not end up with an unauthorized nation or organization. For the Americas, 80% of traces where unauthorized end

35

users were identified involved small arms. Data specifically for Mexico was unavailable from the State Department. From 2008 to 2009, when the current President entered office, Defense Department expenditures to Mexico have increased from $12 million to $34,000,000 and State Department expenditures increased from $7.2 million to $356 million. While 2010 data is currently unavailable, it appears our foreign aid to Mexico has continued to increase for 2011. These statistics imply the State and Defense Departments may very well be the top suppliers of small arms to Mexico’s drug cartels and not civilians. Only the information obtained from ATF Firearms Traces will tell. However, those records are not public. After the DOJ and the White House knowingly pursued attempts at new gun control legislation, we are left to ask the question; is this just another case of government stupidity or is this something more premeditated? Source: [biggovernment.com/tstilson/2011/11/21/u-s-government-may-be-primary-suppliers-of-mexican-drug-cartel-guns/] (Return to Contents)

E. Time for NGOs To Talk about Drugs (CO) 22 November 2011 The Guardian With the astonishing admission of the Colombian president that the war on drugs is not working, the time is right for the international development community to add its voice This time last year, just back from Colombia and with the tragic consequences of the war on drugs fresh in my mind, I argued that international development NGOs needed to get serious about drugs as a development issue. Things have moved on since then. Back then it was Mexican president Felipe Calderón who was tentatively suggesting a debate on global drug prohibition, as his country was ravaged by gang violence. Now it is Colombian president Juan Manuel Santos who, in an extraordinary interview with the Observer, has called for efforts to "take away the violent profit that comes with drug trafficking ... If that means legalizing, and the world thinks that's the solution, I will welcome it. I'm not against it." It is hard to overstate the significance of this statement, by the president of a country that seldom, if ever, challenges US policy, and which has invested billions of dollars and hundreds of lives in the war against the drug traffickers. Senior Colombian and Mexican politicians have for years been saying in private that the war on drugs is a disaster but have felt unable to say it in public. (While the war started as an attempt to protect society from the harm done by drugs, all it did was helping create powerful drug conglomerates that became strong enough to challenge the power of whole nation states.) That appears to have changed. The balance of interests looks to be shifting. Now is the time for international development and human rights organizations to add their considerable weight to the discussion. NGOs like Oxfam and Christian Aid might not feel

36

competent to talk about the effects of current drugs policies at a domestic level (although comparing the reduction in smoking in the last few years with the continued high levels of drug consumption might give lawmakers pause for thought about the merits of state regulation and control), but they do not need to. The point is to bring the effects of the war on drugs home to the consuming nations that insist on its continuance; to Count the Costs, the title of a campaign led by Transform, the drugs policy organization, with a focus on data rather than ideology. The World Development Movement, a few years ahead of most UK development NGOs as usual, has already started engaging in the debate. Others should follow. The subject needs to move from the realms of taboo to part of normal discourse and policy analysis. That it has not been for the last few decades is something of a scandal. While it may have been arguable up to now that the impact of the war on drugs only affected a handful of countries, i.e. Colombia, Mexico, Afghanistan and Pakistan (never a good argument as the power of organized crime, once established, has a global reach), the displacement of the trade to west Africa means everyone should wake up to the threat. What will Mali look like in 10 years’ time if organized crime takes over? Could the economic progress in Ghana be halted if it comes under the same kind of attack by criminal gangs that have so battered the Caribbean and Central America? Guinea-Bissau is already described by some as a narco-state. On the other hand, action now would make it much harder for the drugs gangs to take over. This campaign to end prohibition is a race against time to save West Africa from a fate worse than Mexico. Clearly an end to prohibition will not end the problems created by the war on drugs at a stroke, nor the problems created by drugs themselves. The gangs that are now so powerful in Colombia, Mexico and elsewhere engage in many types of crime including people trafficking and kidnapping. But one of their largest sources of income would be decimated, as prices fall in a regulated market. Insiders are more hopeful than ever that an end to global prohibition is possible within a decade. Both the U.S. President and David Cameron, the leaders of two of the most important drug-consuming nations in the world, are on the record in their opposition to the war on drugs before they were elected. If they followed through on their promise of a rethink they could go down in history as the leaders that began one of the most important global policy shifts of our time. Source: [www.guardian.co.uk/global-development/poverty-matters/2011/nov/22/ngos-should-talk-about-drugs?newsfeed=true] (Return to Contents)

F. Are American Drug War Bloggers and Tweeters in Danger (US/MX) 22 November 2011 Homeland Security Today

37

Citizens of Nuevo Laredo, Mexico were stunned to see two beheaded and disemboweled corpses hanging from a highway overpass in early September. It was not because they’d never been exposed to this level of brutality by Mexican transnational criminal organizations (TCOs), but rather it was because of the message that was left with the bodies signed by Los Zetas. The note implied the two unidentified males were savagely killed for using social media against them. Later that month, the beheaded body of Elizabeth Macias, an employee of a Mexican news organization, was found in the same location. And on November 10, Mexican police found a fourth body in a wealthy Nuevo Laredo neighborhood with a note that read: “This happened to me for not understanding that I shouldn't report on the social networks.” While US media have reported these incidents and the impact they have had on social media users in Mexico, few have examined how drug war bloggers and tweeters in the United States feel about this new TCO tactic. As it turns out, their level of concern varies. [Editor's note: Three years ago US counterdrug intelligence officials disclosed that they were aware of what they called "vague threats" made by at least one TCO against American-based journalists in general covering the Mexican drug war] The director of the Arizona-based blog Border Narcotics writes and tweets to inform people about the drug war as well as what both the US and Mexican government are doing about the violence. He says some TCO members follow him on Twitter, as well as on Facebook. While he has not received any threats directly, his site has, and he says he’s always concerned because “anything can happen.” The blog owner of another drug war site that's based in Texas, Neglected War, which aims to raise awareness about the drug war and drug addiction, thinks Twitter is an extremely useful tool. “It gives information the moment it happens,” he said, noting “it also helps when authorities and media don't want to report the events.” While this blogger has never been threatened, he’s still moderately concerned. “I think a tweeter/blogger goes into really dangerous territory when they become specific,” he warned. But other bloggers do not feel as threatened. Borderland Beat is one of the more well-known drug war blogs that derives its content from a variety of contributors in both the United States and Mexico. One Texas-based contributor likes that the blog helps put a face on the personal traumas being suffered by the Mexican people as a result of the violence. Like many others, he feels Twitter is indispensable for obtaining real-time information from within Mexico and along the border as events unfold. He’s also never been threatened and feels the personal risk due to his work is very low. However, he goes to great lengths to disguise his true identity. A college student in Arkansas has a blog called Inform US Citizens that covers a variety of immigration issues. It’s meant to educate the American public about these issues so they can

38

make informed decisions about immigration. However, he also tweets about a variety of drug war issues. “Having lived in Laredo, Texas, I am very aware with how dangerous and violent the cartels can be, but I have no concerns,” he said, explaining that his blog is a secondary source of information and feels primary sources (journalists and tweeters) are the ones more likely to be in the line of fire. I myself have a blog called Mexico’s Drug War and have had people claiming to be relatively high-ranking members of a TCO who (politely) comment regularly on the site. I’ve never directly been threatened, but I take great pains not to reveal my exact location in the St. Louis area—just in case. Like the Arkansas student, I feel that because I do not reveal anything that has not already been made public that my work in no way results in arrests or lost drug profits. The challenge with analyzing the sorts of threats that have been made by Los Zetas toward social media users is trying to determine just who the victims were and if they actually did what Los Zetas accused them of, and just how Los Zetas identifies them. Macias did not make any effort to hide her identity because of her job in the news business, but the majority of Mexico-based drug war bloggers and tweeters hide their identities. They believe they’re anonymous when they post information detrimental to TCO operations. While some experts believe TCOs have increased their cybercrime capabilities, it’s unclear whether they have the expertise to crack through the layers of Twitter or Facebook security to identify—and track down—a user. Fortunately, it appears US-based bloggers and tweeters on the drug war in Mexico are not currently in the TCOs’ crosshairs. And it’s not clear if those based in Mexico are actually targets or if unknown individuals are being murdered to be used as propaganda tools by Los Zetas. Whatever the truth, the messages that have been left with the beheaded bodies are having an impact; many bloggers have shut down their sites, and many Twitter users in Mexico have been silenced. While social media users in the United States who broadcast messages about the drug war for the benefit of Americans and other observers who long for up-to-the-minute information should be able to conduct business as usual, it does not necessarily mean Los Zetas or another TCO will not eventually turn their attention northward. Or, that US-based bloggers and tweeters should not take at least a minimum of safety precautions—just in case! Source: [www.hstoday.us/briefings/correspondents-watch/single-article/are-american-drug-war-bloggers-and-tweeters-in-danger/5f359742cd547d97d835e7556e28aae6.html] (Return to Contents)