18 gunmen killed in attacks on Mexican army bases

[nmap]

So - does this represent a transition from a phase II counterinsurgency to phase III? Or is it just an example of improving the gene pool?



LINK (http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2010/04/01/general-lt-drug-war-mexico_7480676.html)

VILLAHERMOSA, Mexico -- Dozens of gunmen mounted rare and apparently coordinated attacks targeting two army garrisons in northern Mexico, touching off firefights that killed 18 attackers.

The attempts to blockade soldiers inside their bases - part of seven near-simultaneous attacks across two northern states - appeared to mark a serious escalation in Mexico's drug war, in which cartel gunmen attacked in unit-size forces armed with bulletproof vehicles, dozens of hand grenades and assault rifles.

While drug gunmen frequently shoot at soldiers on patrol, they seldom target army bases, and even more rarely attack in the force displayed during the confrontations Tuesday in the border states of Tamaulipas and Nuevo Leon - areas that have seen a surge of bloodshed in recent months.

The violence mainly involves a fight between the Gulf cartel and its former allies, the Zetas, a gang of hit men. The cartel - which has apparently formed an alliance with other cartels seeking to exterminate the Zetas - has been warning people in the region with a series of banners and e-mails that the conflict would get worse over the next two to three months.

Gunmen staged seven separate attacks on the army, including three blockades, Gen. Edgar Luis Villegas said Wednesday. He called the attacks "desperate reactions by criminal gangs to the progress being made by federal authorities" against Mexico's drug cartels.

Villegas said gunmen parked trucks and SUVs outside a military base in the border city of Reynosa trying to block troops from leaving, sparking a gunbattle with soldiers. At the same time, gunmen blocked several streets leading to a garrison in the nearby border city of Matamoros.

Another gang of armed men opened fire from several vehicles on soldiers guarding a federal highway in General Bravo, in Nuevo Leon state.

Troops fought back, killing 18 gunmen, wounding two and detaining seven more suspects. One soldier suffered slight injuries.

Soldiers also seized 54 rifles, 61 hand grenades, rocket-propelled grenades, eight homemade explosive devices and six bulletproofed vehicles used by the attackers.

Mexico's northern states are under siege from the escalating violence involving drug gangs.

The U.S. consulate in the northern city of Monterrey warned American citizens who may be traveling for Easter week about recent battles in the states of Nuevo Leon, Coahuila and Durango. The consulate said U.S. citizens traveling by road from Monterrey to Texas "should be especially vigilant."

One of the clashes between soldiers and gunmen killed two gunmen on the highway connecting Monterrey and Reynosa, which is across the border from McAllen, Texas.

Less than two hours before that shootout, Nuevo Leon Gov. Rodrigo Medina had assured citizens that authorities regained control over the state's highways.

"I've found the highways calm. We ask that if citizens have plans to go out and enjoy these vacations, they should do so," Medina said.

Also on Wednesday, authorities in the Gulf coast state of Tabasco announced that the nephew of one of Mexico's most-wanted drug gang leaders was captured together with a police chief accused of protecting a notorious cartel in a key port city.

Federal police detained Roberto Rivero Arana, who identified himself as the nephew of reputed Zetas gang leader Heriberto Lazcano, the Attorney General's Office said in a statement issued late Tuesday.

He was arrest along with Daniel Perez, the acting police chief of Ciudad del Carmen, an oil hub in neighboring Campeche state. The statement alleged Perez received 200,000 pesos ($16,000) a month for protecting the Zetas.

The arrests come as the Zetas are under pressure from a bloody turf war with their former ally, the Gulf cartel. Authorities blame that fight for contributing to a surge of violence in Mexico's northeastern border states north of Tabasco and Campeche.

Perez was acting chief pending a permanent appointment, Ciudad del Carmen Mayor Aracely Escalante said Wednesday.

"He's an agent who had been with the police force long before we took over the town government," Escalante said. "We had given him our trust."

The two men were found with 10 assault rifles, a grenade, ammunition, drugs, police uniforms and worker suits with the logo of Mexico's state oil company, Pemex, the Attorney General's Office said.

Last week, Tabasco Gov. Andres Granier warned that the arrests of several suspected Zetas over the past several months could stoke turf battles in his region. He asked the federal government to send troops.

Meanwhile, the Mexican government announced that federal police will take over the anti-crime campaign currently headed by the army in the violent border city of Ciudad Juarez.

The army deployment has come under criticism from those who say soldiers are not trained for police work, and complaints they conducted illegal searches and detentions. But perhaps more important is the fact that killings have continued apace, even with troops in the city across the border from El Paso, Texas.

An unspecified number of soldiers will remain in Juarez to help combat drug gang violence that killed more than 2,600 people last year, and 500 more so far this year in the city of 1.3 million.

Starting Thursday, "the Mexican army will start gradually transferring responsibility for public safety to civilian authorities, to federal authorities at the beginning and gradually to state and local" forces, the Interior Department said in a news release.

The statement said 1,000 federal officers will be added to the police deployment in the city, bringing the number of federal agents to 4,500.

More than 7,000 troops had arrived in Juarez by mid-2009.

The department said the change was part of a new strategy to focus on social programs as an answer to the continuing violence.

Elsewhere, four severed human heads were found early Wednesday in Apatzingan, a town in the western state of Michoacan. Residents found the heads, with eyes still blindfolded, lined up at the foot of a monument along with a threatening message, state prosecutors said.

In Morelia, the Michoacan state capital, police reported finding the bodies of three young men who had been shot to death. The bodies had messages stuck to their chests with knives, The contents of the messages were not released.

Police in the border city of Nogales reported finding the bullet-ridden bodies of three men, including a city transport official, on a rural road along with three burned-out vehicles.

Wednesday marked the beginning of Mexico's Easter Week vacation, and police in the Pacific coast state of Guerrero reported that gunmen had held up two motorists on the highway leading to the resort of Acapulco. The gunmen stole the victims' vehicles, but they were not injured.

[JJ_BPK]

On the surface, this looks like the gene pool was cleaned up a little. This is good.

BUTT, the fact that all the wounded & dead were surprisERS, would lead this doubter to think the State is manipulating the news..

Surprise attacks, even complete failures, traditionally mean the suprisERS get the jump on the suprisEES.


At least ONE(1) surprisEE should have been wack'd..


:confused:

[Green Light]

Good point. In an attack, momentum is everything. The Zetas, from what I've read, are pretty well trained. But then, they might not have been ready for larger operations yet. Coordinated operations pose problems that a single attack does not. But, whether they are ready or not, they are getting bolder.

[nmap]

It appears that things are getting more interesting at a rapid rate.


LINK (http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/texassouthwest/stories/040210dnintmexicoattacks.1b8b36a.html)

By ALFREDO CORCHADO / The Dallas Morning News
acorchado@dallasnews.com

EL PASO – Texas law enforcement officials are bracing for a bloody weekend along the border, advising farmers to arm themselves as signs across northern Mexico point to a new escalation of violence after coordinated drug cartel attacks against the military this week.

In the northern Mexican states of Nuevo León and Tamaulipas, both bordering Texas, drug cartel gunmen used trucks and buses Tuesday to block approaches to military bases in Reynosa and Matamoros, apparently in an attempt to trap the troops inside. In all, gunmen attacked military targets in a half-dozen towns in the two states.

At least 18 suspected attackers were reported killed. One soldier was reported wounded.

The unease across Mexico has analysts and political leaders questioning the Mexican government's long-term strategy, with at least one leading expert saying the approach is flawed because some "government elements" unwittingly favor one cartel over the other.

The result has been a "feeding frenzy" of violence, said Phil Williams, an expert on global security who spoke this week at Tarleton State University in Stephenville, southwest of Fort Worth.

Across West Texas, worries abound of possible Easter weekend massacres in tiny Mexican communities butting up against Texas. In Hudspeth County, near El Paso, Chief Deputy Mike Doyal said Thursday that his "deputies are on high alert, 24-7," for any sign of "a spillover of violence."

The alerts were prompted by street banners and online messages from alleged members of the Sinaloa cartel warning residents of Mexican towns to leave by Easter Sunday or face death and burned homes.

The Sinaloa cartel is battling members of the Juárez cartel for control of distribution routes into Texas. Cartels are also known to use the banners and online messages to spread fear and intimidate residents without following through on threats.

In recent days, according to residents with relatives on the Mexican side of the border, at least six homes and businesses have been burned. Hundreds of residents reportedly have either fled to nearby Ciudad Juárez or sought refuge with relatives in Texas.

Doyal said tensions over the past few weeks have reached a "boiling point."

"The word on the street is, 'You have to leave or pay with your blood,' " Doyal said. "This is supposed to be the weekend of weekends. So, yeah, we're on high alert."

He said he has four of his 15 deputies on duty in Fort Hancock, up from the lone deputy who normally patrols the community.

Earlier in the week, the Sheriff's Department held a community meeting in which authorities advised residents, "If you're out on the fields, arm yourself," Doyal said.

Border Patrol spokesman Doug Mosier issued a statement Thursday evening urging calm "amid unsubstantiated reports of violence, threats and intimidation."

Mosier said the agency has increased the number of agents on duty and is "determined to prevent violence from spilling over into the U.S."


Worries about IEDs

In Tamaulipas and Nuevo León, across the border from South Texas, the Gulf cartel is battling its former enforcers, the paramilitary group known as the Zetas.

In an alarming new development, the criminal groups are experimenting with improvised explosive devices, or IEDs, said Alex Posey, a Mexico security analyst with Austin-based Stratfor.

"The most worrisome thing about an IED is that it's not as targeted as a rifle round," Posey said. "There is a greater risk of collateral damage when IEDs are involved."

At a news conference in Mexico City, Gen. Edgar Luís Villegas called the attacks in northern Mexico "desperate acts" in reaction to "the advances made by federal authorities." Some residents and experts scoffed at the statement, saying that the situation is spiraling out of control.

A businessman in Reynosa, speaking on condition of anonymity for fear of retaliation by criminal groups, said by telephone that the military "reacts like spectators at a bullring."

"They sit around and watch while hit men kill each other, and then they come in and clean up the mess, even the blood of innocent people who just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time," the businessman said.

The U.S. Consulate office in Monterrey issued a warning Thursday for Easter weekend: "Americans planning to travel by road from Monterrey to Texas should be especially vigilant and carefully monitor local news reports."

In Chihuahua state, across from El Paso, 4,500 federal agents were expected Thursday night to take over for the military, which will remain active but in a support role.


Favoritism allegations

Meanwhile, the accusation that the government was favoring some cartels – particularly the Sinaloa cartel and its leader, Joaquín "Chapo" Guzman – gained new credence from security experts.

"The best example of this favoritism is that Chapo Guzmán is the most wanted man in Mexico and yet he's still free," said drug trafficking expert Bruce Bagley of the University of Miami, also speaking Monday at Tarleton State. He said the leader of the Sinaloa cartel has better intelligence than the government. "There's no other rational explanation."

"There's tacit favoritism, it seems, for the Sinaloa cartel," added Williams, the expert on global security from the University of Pittsburgh.

The government counters that it has detained 72,000 criminals since President Felipe Calderón took office in December 2006 and that all the major groups were well represented according to their relative strength: 27 percent of detainees belong to the Gulf-Zetas organization, 24 percent to the Sinaloa cartel, 17 percent to the Juárez cartel, 14 percent to the Beltrán Leyva organization, 13 percent to the Arellano Félix cartel, and 5 percent to other groups, including La Familia and the Valencia-Milenio cartel.

"This government has attacked indiscriminately all the criminal groups in Mexico," Calderón said last month.

His strategy of sending the military after the cartels has led to steadily rising violence and almost 19,000 deaths in a little more than three years.

The biggest challenge with the Calderón strategy, said Jorge Chabat, a security expert in Mexico City, is "growing fatigue" among residents.

"I don't know that residents will tolerate this kind of violence much longer."

[nmap]

More news from the Southern Front.

LINK (http://www.foxnews.com/us/2010/04/06/mexican-assassin-teams-target-law-enforcement/)

-------------------------
Mexican 'Assassin Teams' May Target U.S. Law Enforcement, DHS Warns

Law enforcement officers in west Texas are on guard following an alert issued by the Department of Homeland Security warning of retaliatory killings for a recent crackdown on the Barrio Azteca gang.

David Cuthbertson, special agent in charge of the FBI's El Paso division, said the paramilitary-style gang has an "open policy" to kill its rivals and may turn its sights toward local law enforcement officers.

"[They] are extremely cold-blooded and aggressive," Cuthbertson told FoxNews.com. "The killings are done really without thought and any kind of remorse."

Citing uncorroborated information, Homeland Security issued an Officer Safety Alert on March 22, advising lawmen in the El Paso sector to vary their routes to and from work and to wear body armor while on duty. The alert also suggested that officers' relatives pay closer attention to unusual activity in the area.

"The Barrio Azteca gang may issue a 'green light' authorizing the attempted murder of [law enforcement officers] in the El Paso area," the alert read. "Due to the threat, it is recommended that [law enforcement officers] take extra safety precautions."

The Barrio Azteca gang, which formed in Texas prisons in the 1980s, is a brother organization to the Aztecas gang in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, the epicenter of Mexico's violent drug war, Cuthbertson said.

He said members of the gang's "assassination teams" are thought to work for very small monthly fees. One official from the Drug Enforcement Administration has said Aztecas have been known to kill for as little as $100. Since 2006, drug violence across Mexico has claimed nearly 18,000 lives.

Eduardo "Tablas" Ravelo, the reputed boss of Barrio Azteca members living in Juarez, remains on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted List, and the FBI is offering a reward of up to $100,000 for information leading to his arrest. He and other Barrio Azteca gang members serve as hitmen for the Vicente Carrillo Fuentes drug trafficking organization -- also known as the Juarez cartel -- and are responsible for several killings, according to the FBI.

The DHS warning came just days after hundreds of Barrio Azteca gang members were interviewed by officials from the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and FBI following the murders of three people linked to the U.S. Consulate in Ciudad Juarez on March 13. More than 200 officers from at least 18 agencies participated in "Operation Knockdown," which resulted in at least 26 felony arrests of alleged Azteca members.

The Barrio Aztecas are believed to be aligned with the Juarez cartel against the Sinaloa drug cartel for control of the billion-dollar drug-trafficking routes through the El Paso-Ciudad Juarez corridor. Since 2008, the Aztecas have been rivals of the Artistic Assassins, or "Double A's," who serve as contract killers for the Sinaloa cartel, Cuthbertson said.

"They're very organized," he said. "They have a code they go by and certainly a communication network inside and outside of the prison system."

Cuthbertson said Barrio Azteca gang members have been found in central Texas towns like Odessa and Midland, as well as in southern Mexico.

Ricardo Valles de la Rosa, an Azteca sergeant, said last week in a purported confession that his gang was hunting for the vehicle of a Texas jail guard who was killed in one of two SUVs attacked in the March 13 shootings that killed El Paso jail officer Arthur Redelfs, his wife Lesley Enriquez, who worked as an employee of the U.S. consulate in Ciudad Juarez, and Jorge Alberto Salcido, the husband of another consulate worker.

Valles de la Rosa, according to his statement, was instructed by Azteca brass to target Redelfs due to alleged harsh treatment of Azteca members in jail. Valles de la Rosa was ordered last week to be held for trial on weapons charges for allegedly carrying a 9mm pistol when he was arrested.

Ron Martin, president of the El Paso Municipal Police Officers' Association, said that while he takes any threat to the law enforcement community seriously, he won't change his habits.

"It's not the first time a gang has put a hit out on El Paso police officers," Martin said. "Our guys are very highly trained, so they're pretty well prepared for just about anything. For them to come out and attack a law enforcement officer in the United States would be detrimental to their business."

Martin called the March 13 killings "unacceptable" and said he felt the killings were no less shocking because they occurred in Mexico, just across the border, rather than in El Paso or elsewhere in Texas.

"It doesn't matter if it actually happens across an imaginary dotted line, you're killing people for money," he said. "It's unacceptable."

Asked if he had changed his daily routines since the DHS alert, Martin said: "It's not like we're doing anything different because a bunch of murderers -- I call 'em terrorists -- are threatening us. Personally, I don't do anything differently than I did before. We're not changing the way we do our job because of them."

[Green Light]

Citing uncorroborated information, Homeland Security issued an Officer Safety Alert on March 22, advising lawmen in the El Paso sector to vary their routes to and from work and to wear body armor while on duty. The alert also suggested that officers' relatives pay closer attention to unusual activity in the area.

Must be a Texas State Department alert. I don't think DHS sends out officer safety messages. I may be wrong, but I've never seen them at work - we get all the CBP stuff.:munchin

[LarryW]

Note from the Houston Examiner.

http://www.examiner.com/x-24030-Texas-Nationalist-Examiner~y2010m3d16-Perry-puts-Texas-law-enforcement-Guard-on-alert?cid=channel-rss-Politics

AUSTIN – Following the recent escalation of murders in northern Mexico and the increasing threat of violence crossing over into neighboring border communities in Texas -- including a military intrusion by armed Mexican forces last week -- Texas Gov. Rick Perry on Wednesday ordered the activation of the first phase of the state’s spillover violence contingency plan, including units of the Texas National Guard.
The state’s plan will not be released to the public for operational security purposes, a news release from the Governor's office said.
“With the growing threat of violence in Mexico spilling over the border, we have taken important measures to increase the law enforcement presence along the Texas border and have placed additional resources on standby to combat any potential situation,” Gov. Perry said in a news release. “It is imperative that the federal government immediately provide additional resources to prevent spillover violence, but with the safety of Texans on the line, we can’t afford to wait.”
At the governor’s direction, the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS), in coordination with local and federal law enforcement along the Texas-Mexico border, has implemented critical elements of the state’s spillover violence contingency plan.
These steps include increased surveillance of border activity by state and local law enforcement, the Texas Border Security Operations Center, and the Joint Operational and Intelligence Centers to ensure the timely sharing of intelligence information; increased ground, air and maritime patrol presence; and increased intensity of day and night DPS helicopter patrol operations along the Rio Grande River, as well as National Guard helicopters to support aviation missions.
Additional resources ready for rapid deployment have been placed on standby, including DPS SWAT Teams and Trooper Strike Teams, as well as Ranger Recon Teams prepared to reposition based on threat.
“Texas has a unique cultural and economic relationship with Mexico, and we are committed to a common interest of shutting down these criminal enterprises,” Gov. Perry said. “We will continue to closely monitor this situation, and take any necessary action to ensure the safety of our citizens and to protect continued legitimate cross-border trade and travel.”
Since January 2008, a reported 4,700 homicides have been committed across the border from El Paso in Ciudad Juarez, making it one of the most violent cities in the world.
A porous border places Texas and the nation at risk from international terrorists, organized crime cartels and transnational gangs. Until the federal government fulfills its responsibility of securing our border, Texas will continue filling in the gaps by putting more boots on the ground, providing increased law enforcement resources and leveraging technology along the border.
Gov. Perry has a standing request with the federal government for 1,000 Title 32 National Guardsmen to support civilian law enforcement efforts to enhance border security in Texas, as well as a more recent request for predator drones to be based in and operate over the Texas-Mexico border to provide essential information to law enforcement on the ground.

"And the hits just keep on coming."

[incarcerated]

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5iwbte-Ll2Wq2W6RU7Pa6T8eo_kgQD9FCG3CG1

Shootings kill 16 people in Mexican border city

By OLIVIA TORRES (AP) – 2 hours ago
CIUDAD JUAREZ, Mexico — Gunmen stormed into a bar, dragged out eight people and killed them in the parking lot, the first of several shootings in this violent border city Wednesday that left 16 dead, including a man in a wheelchair.

In one incident, a car chase and shootout killed three people in front of an elementary school, creating a panic among students, teachers and parents.

Battles between rival drug gangs have made Ciudad Juarez, across the border from El Paso, Texas, one of the world's deadliest cities. More than 800 people have been killed this year in the city of 1.3 million people.

Armed men burst into the Aristos bar in the middle of the night, said Arturo Sandoval, a spokesman for the Chihuahua state attorney general's office. Eight people were forced out into the parking lot and shot to death.

The victims had not been identified, but Sandoval said at least one appeared to be a teenage boy.

The shootout in front of the Benito Juarez elementary school erupted hours later. Sandoval said a woman and two men were found dead inside a car.

Gunmen in a car chased down another vehicle and opened fire in front of the school around noon, said a teacher who asked not to be quoted by name out of fear for his safety.

The teacher said a pregnant teacher and three students suffered panic attacks and were taken to a hospital. Classes were canceled for the rest of the day, and parents rushed to pick up their children.

Gunmen opened fire on another car elsewhere in the city, killing four young men inside, Sandoval said. Separately, a gang of armed men killed a man sitting in a wheelchair on the sidewalk, he said.

Police had no information on the identities of any of the gunmen.

The army, meanwhile, reported that it freed 16 hostages Tuesday at a house in Sabinas Hidalgo, a town near the northern city of Monterrey. One of the hostages was a 1-year-old child.

Troops acting on an anonymous tip arrived at the house in helicopters, a statement said. Gunmen opened fire and soldiers fired back from the air. Two people were found dead inside the house but it was unclear if they were captors or hostages.

Soldiers also seized two tons of marijuana, nine guns and a grenade launcher. It was unclear why the 16 people were being held hostage.

It was the second time in two days that soldiers freed hostages in the northern state of Nuevo Leon. On Monday, troops killed three suspected kidnappers and freed seven of their captives during a raid on a ranch. Two rotting bodies were found in a truck near the ranch.

Meanwhile, four inmates were killed early Tuesday when an armed gang stormed a prison in the northern town of Altamira, the Tamaulipas state government said in a statement.

It was unclear who killed the two men and two women.

A local police report said the gang attacked as 11 inmates were being transferred to the prison, but authorities did not confirm reports that the raid was an attempt to free prisoners or that a gunfight broke out with security forces.

Gang raids on prisons are common in Tamaulipas, a state bordering Texas where a bloody battle has broken out between the Gulf cartel and its former ally, the Zetas gang of hit men.

In the Pacific coast state of Guerrero on Wednesday, gunmen killed the mayor of the small town of Zapotitlan Tablas while he was in the state capital of Chilpancingo.

Mayor Jose Santiago Agustino gained notoriety in 2009, when he complained that a government hospital built in his region more than a decade earlier had never opened. The region is also plagued by violent crime and drug trafficking.