A Mexican law enforcement official who worked with U.S. authorities was charged with sharing confidential information with drug traffickers and
arranging the arrests of his drug boss' rivals, according to a far-reaching indictment against a gang that ferries drugs along California's border
with Mexico.
Jesus Quinones, the international liaison for the Baja California state attorney general's office, was among 43 defendants named in the federal
racketeering complaint that alleges murder, kidnapping and other crimes. They are accused of working for Fernando Sanchez Arellano, who is widely
considered the most-wanted drug kingpin in Tijuana, Mexico.
This nightmare is surreal. A freakin Fellini movie.....A Dali painting.noproblemo2 - 7-23-2010 at 04:41 PM
Geez, the list just keeps on going.........BMG - 7-23-2010 at 04:43 PM
Until the insane profits gained from the illegal drug trade are eliminated, the cartels will be able to reach deep into both the Mexican and U.S.
governments and law enforcement agencies. Money = power.BajaGringo - 7-23-2010 at 04:50 PM
Quote:
Originally posted by DENNIS
This nightmare is surreal. A freakin Fellini movie.....A Dali painting.
Hey! I like Dali's work...
DENNIS - 7-23-2010 at 04:52 PM
Quote:
Originally posted by BajaGringo
Quote:
Originally posted by DENNIS
This nightmare is surreal. A freakin Fellini movie.....A Dali painting.
Hey! I like Dali's work...
He once ate his own feces because it promised to be a "surreal" experience.
How do you like him now? BajaGringo - 7-23-2010 at 04:55 PM
Federal authorities announced a wide-ranging criminal case Friday against top leaders of a Tijuana-based drug cartel that ran much of its operations
from the San Diego area, allegedly ordering murders, kidnappings and torture of rival traffickers in Mexico.
The racketeering conspiracy case charges 43 cartel lieutenants, enforcers and drug traffickers, among them half a dozen current or former Mexican law
enforcement officers, including a top official in the Baja California attorney general's office who allegedly passed along information obtained from
U.S. law enforcement to cartel leaders.
The organized crime group, an offshoot of the Arellano Felix drug cartel, moved some operations to San Diego in recent years, seeking a safe haven
from gang wars and law enforcement crackdowns south of the border, said Laura Duffy, the U.S. attorney in San Diego.
The case marks the latest example of organized crime groups in Tijuana trying to take advantage of the cross-border environment to hamper
investigations and hide from rivals and police. The allegations also are a stark illustration of how deeply the cartels have infiltrated Mexican law
enforcement in Baja California.
U.S. prosecutors allege that cartel members in Mexico kidnapped and killed several people, then tried to shift responsibility in some of the cases to
rival gangs through corrupt Mexican law enforcement. In California, U.S. authorities employing undercover agents and heavy surveillance were able to
prevent most violent attacks, including six attempted murders and an attempted kidnapping, Duffy said.
Thirty-one of the 43 defendants are in custody, authorities said. Four were arrested in Mexico by authorities there, and 27 in cities around San Diego
County, from Imperial Beach to upscale Poway.
The 20-month investigation was run by the multiagency San Diego Cross Border Violence Task Force, which took advantage of tools often unavailable to
those investigating Mexican drug cartels, such as telephone wiretaps, cameras and informants.
"The presence of foreign-based drug-trafficking organization members and associates in San Diego will not be tolerated," said Duffy, a veteran federal
prosecutor who recently was named U.S. attorney in San Diego.
Organized crime groups in the past have shifted some operations north of the border, most notably in the mid-1990s, when some leaders of the
once-powerful Arellano Felix drug cartel moved to the San Diego area. Such moves allow cartel associates to escape threats in Mexico, but leave them
vulnerable to U.S. authorities.
The organization targeted in Friday's crackdown is allegedly led by Fernando Sanchez Arellano. A nephew of the founders of the Arellano Felix drug
cartel, he was not among those charged.
According to the criminal complaint filed in San Diego federal court, those associated with the group employed the kind of vicious tactics commonly
seen in recent years in Tijuana.
Suspects allegedly placed the defaced headstone from the gravesite of two murder victims in the victims' family courtyard in Tijuana. They sought to
videotape a beheading of a rival trafficker so it could be posted on the Internet, according to the complaint.
Six current or former Mexican law enforcement officials are among those charged. They allegedly ran assassination hit squads, blocked homicide
investigations and provided a photographic roster of Baja California state police officers so they also could be targeted for assassination or
corruption.
Perhaps most troubling of all, officials said, was the arrest of Jesus Quinones Marques, director of the international liaison office for the Baja
California attorney general's office. He was detained Thursday after a traffic stop in San Diego. It was a potential setback for U.S. law enforcement
agencies that work closely with counterparts in Mexico to hunt down U.S. fugitives and build cases against powerful drug-trafficking organizations.
Authorities said some information shared by U.S. liaison officers with Quinones was compromised, but that nobody's safety was put at risk. Quinones,
who also cultivated relationships with local reporters, allegedly tried to plant stories in Mexican media outlets that placed the blame for killings
on a rival gang run by Teodoro Garcia Simental, nicknamed El Teo, who was battling Sanchez Arellano for control of key drug-trafficking routes through
Tijuana.
Quinones seemed like a cooperative and professional liaison officer, according to U.S. liaison officers, but some said they are never surprised when
their counterparts turn out to be corrupt. Liaison officers usually limit conversations related to sensitive investigations.
"At meetings, we don't share critical information," said Jesse Navarro, public affairs officer for the San Diego County district attorney's office.
"We have to be cautious."bacquito - 7-23-2010 at 08:34 PM
Disturbing!woody with a view - 7-23-2010 at 08:36 PM
they should hang these types from a bridge, without his head.CaboRon - 7-24-2010 at 07:36 AM
Rotten To the Core ....wessongroup - 7-24-2010 at 07:42 AM
Used to work for Government.... standing orders... never accept anything from anyone.... period..
But, then I never had someone work me, through my family to get the call they wanted... its just something, most don't have to deal with in the
States...
I'm truly amazed that they have people that are willing to be employed in any "service" provided by Government in Mexico.. at the Federal, State or
local level
As those folks are the ones that "bump" heads with the "bad guys"...
Would seem to be a very difficult situation to overcome.. if the bad guys come after your entire family... that another level to deal with... and
where would you send your family for protection.. the United States?
