neilmac - 8-1-2005 at 12:07 PM
so, what do y'all think of this little tidbit?... Neil
Date: Mon, 01 Aug 2005 14:39:04 -0000
From: "so_of_the_bordermx" <so_of_the_bordermx@yahoo.com>
Subject: Mexican mercenaries expand base into U.S.
Mexican mercenaries expand base into U.S.
By Jerry Seper
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
August 1, 2005
A renegade band of Mexican military deserters, offering $50,000
bounties for the assassination of U.S. law-enforcement officers, has
expanded its base of operations into the United States to protect
loads of cocaine and marijuana being brought into America by Mexican
smugglers, authorities said.
The deserters, known as the "Zetas," trained in the United States
as an elite force of anti-drug commandos, but have since signed on as
mercenaries for Mexican narcotics traffickers and have recruited an
army of followers, many of whom are believed to be operating in
Texas, Arizona, California and Florida.
Working mainly for the Gulf Cartel, one of Mexico's most
dangerous drug-trafficking organizations, as many as 200 Zeta members
are thought to be involved, including former Mexican federal, state
and local police. They are suspected in more than 90 deaths of rival
gang members and others, including police officers, in the past two
years in a violent drug war to control U.S. smuggling routes.
The organization's hub, law-enforcement authorities said, is
Nuevo Laredo, a border city of 300,000 across from Laredo, Texas. It
is the most active port-of-entry along the U.S.-Mexico border, with
more than 6,000 trucks crossing daily into Texas, carrying about 40
percent of Mexico's total exports.
Authorities said the Zetas control the city despite efforts by
Mexican President Vicente Fox to restore order. He sent hundreds of
Mexican troops and federal agents to the city in March to set up
highway checkpoints and conduct raids on suspected Zeta locations.
Despite the presence of law enforcement, more than 100 killings
have occurred in the city since Jan. 1, including that of former
Police Chief Alejandro Dominguez, 52, gunned down June 8, just seven
hours after he was sworn in. The city's new chief, Omar Pimentel, 37,
escaped death during a drive-by shooting on his first day, although
one of his bodyguards was killed.
Authorities said the Zetas operate over a wide area of the U.S.-
Mexico border and are suspected in at least three drug-related
slayings in the Dallas area. They said as many as 10 Zeta members are
operating inside Texas as Gulf Cartel assassins, seeking to protect
nearly $10 million in daily drug transactions.
In March, the Justice Department said the Zetas were involved "in
multiple assaults and are believed to have hired criminal gangs" in
the Dallas area for contract killings. The department said the
organization was spreading from Texas to California and Florida and
was establishing drug-trafficking routes it was willing to
protect "at any cost."
Just last month, the department issued a new warning to law-
enforcement authorities in Arizona and California, urging them to be
on the lookout for Zeta members. An intelligence bulletin said a
search for new drug-smuggling routes in the two states by the
organization could bring new violence to the areas.
The number of assaults on U.S. Border Patrol agents along the 260
miles of U.S.-Mexico border in Arizona known as the Tucson sector has
increased dramatically this year, including a May 30 shooting near
Nogales, Ariz., in which two agents were seriously wounded during an
ambush a mile north of the border.
Their assailants were dressed in black commando-type clothing,
used high-powered weapons and hand-held radios to point out the
agents' location, and withdrew from the area using military-style
cover and concealment tactics to escape back into Mexico.
Santa Cruz County Sheriff Tony Estrada in Nogales said his
investigators found commando clothing, food, water and
other "sophisticated equipment" at the ambush site.
Since Oct. 1, the start of the fiscal year, there have been 196
assaults on Border Patrol agents in the Tucson sector, including 24
shootings. During the same period last year, 92 assaults were
reported, with five shootings. The sector is the busiest alien- and
drug-trafficking corridor in the country.
U.S. intelligence officials have described the Zetas as an
expanding gang of mercenaries with intimate knowledge of Mexican drug-
trafficking methods and routes. Strategic Forecasting Inc., a
security consulting firm that often works with the State and Defense
departments, said in a recent report the Zetas had
maintained "connections to the Mexican law-enforcement establishment"
to gain unfettered access throughout the southern border.
Many of the Zeta leaders belonged to an elite anti-drug paratroop
and intelligence battalion known as the Special Air Mobile Force
Group, who deserted in 1991 and aligned themselves with drug
traffickers.
osoflojo - 8-1-2005 at 12:29 PM
Nothing new. Los Zetas have been on the radar screen for some time and many have already been adjudicated(in various ways and jurisdictions). U S Law
Enforcement has diseminated the photos and descriptions of most that remain. While they are still a dangerous issue the emerging threat are the Maras
by virtue of their numbers and already established networks.
neilmac - 8-1-2005 at 02:58 PM
the "Maras";
They're the central american gangs? (or Colombian?).. do they have similar capabilities to the Zetas?
Neil
And on the other hand
Baja Bernie - 8-1-2005 at 03:02 PM
See my post on off-topic board--"Really makes you wonder."
osoflojo - 8-2-2005 at 12:39 PM
The Mara Salvatrucha's or M-13's are central american, predominatly Honduran and Salvadoran. What they may lack in any formal training or previous job
experiance they more than make up for in criminal savy, experiance and their proliferation.