The American Backyard.NET: MS-13 - So What?

Gangs serve as a vector to cache, sell and distribute drugs derived from Mexican drug cartels in the US...something worth monitoring.

The American Backyard.NET: MS-13 - So What?: "MS-13 poses one of the greatest threats to stability to US neighborhoods; below are videos referring to MS-13 activities in LA, DC, Dallas a..."

Calderon Says US Desire For Corn Is the Reason for the Cartel Problem in Mexico

Comment:  Yes, the subject line was meant to be sarcastic.  The Mexican government continues to fail its people.  Some people are failing their fellow Mexicans. Calderon and Mexico are facing an insurgency and the country does not want to believe it.  The US was in denial about the insurgencies in Iraq years ago...until everyone in DC finally realized citizen Iraqis were killing US soldiers.  Corn, oil and agricultural products have NOTHING to do with the drug trade.  Mexico evidently cannot meet the needs of its people and the people are now working their own extrajudicial means to fill their needs themselves.  This is only another indicator that Mexico continues a downward path.  Further turmoil is on the horizon.  End comment.

MEXICO: AMID INCREASED CONTROL OVER REMOTE COMMUNITIES, CARTELS MOVE IN ON AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS

 By: ESISC TEAM
 Date:26-05-2011
 After oil and mining, the Mexican drug cartels are once more diversifying their business as they scope to take advantage of increased prices for corn and other agricultural products.
 Attacks on warehouses and trucks have increased and are reported on a weekly basis, especially in the north-western state of Sinaloa which produces one fifth of Mexico’s corn and is home to the country’s largest cartel. Last March, an armed commando raided a warehouse in the Sinaloan town of Los Monchis and made off with 250 tons of grain. Up until then, five similar cases have been reported in the state and police sources currently have no leads on the suspects, although they indicate that the actual number of these thefts is a lot higher. Similar incidents were also reported in the states of Michoacan, where an estimated 2,500 people have been displaced following the disintegration of the La Familia Michoacana cartel and the subsequent turf war between smaller factions.

 As the local corn plantations saw their crops devastated by the worst cold snaps in decades, the prices are soaring, making it a very valuable agricultural commodity and thus a new target for the cartels. Against this background – and that of rising international prices - corn prices increased with 75 percent in the first three months of this year.

 Given the fact that Mexico is the world’s fourth largest corn producer, this is very bad news for the country, as the perception of low stocks has already raised prices. Moreover, the cash-strapped farmers are having troubles to replant their crops after the bad weather.

 Besides the ongoing drug war, this unusual crime wave in the large agricultural exporting states is a new headache for the Mexican government, which is trying to maintain the country’s image as a top emerging market.

 Although Mexico’s national warehousing association AAGEDE has been witnessing increased thefts of agricultural products since two years, its members only just recently came forward as they are still too scared to provide more details on both the number and scale of the incidents. During a robbery in a small village in the Zacatecas state at the end of last year, an armed commando stole 900 tonnes of beans – worth an estimated $750,000 - at a local warehouse. Despite increased security measures – costs have increased with five percent – the crime wave continues to expand. Due to the fact that little questions about the origins of the products are asked, the thieves can easily sell seeds and corn shipments to intermediaries and markets in the large cities and thus in turn acquire additional revenue.

 It has to be mentioned that this is a logic consequence of the cartel’s strategy to isolate remote towns – mainly in the northern part of the country. After eliminating, bribing or kidnapping local security officials, some 900 municipalities are said to be fully controlled by the different cartels. Some of these communities are remotely located areas located nearby farmland or other areas of economic interest – mining, oil – which in turn became additional sources of revenue for the cartels. ESISC reported in previous briefings that the “Los Zetas” cartel is active in the field of oil bunkering, the Familia Michoacana in the field of (illegal) mining and given the fact that the epicentre of this new crime wave lies in the Sinaloa state, it is not unlikely that the eponymous local cartel is scoping to increase its revenues by targeting local farmers.

 However, it is not unlikely that the cartels are moving to more legal products in order to escape government prosecution, which could mean that the government’s strategy to tackle the cartels is working on a long term.

 © ESISC 2011

Texas Rancher's Pictures Are Worth 1,000 Words About Death and Danger at the Border - Interviews - FoxNews.com

Texas Rancher's Pictures Are Worth 1,000 Words About Death and Danger at the Border

By On the Record
Published May 26, 2011 | FoxNews.com
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This is a rush transcript from "On the Record," May 25, 2011. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.
GRETA VAN SUSTEREN, FOX NEWS HOST: People who live on or near the United States border with Mexico are frightened. They all have stories to tell that explain their fear. You're about to meet a rancher, Dr. Michael Vickers. He lives 69 miles from the border, and he's seen a lot of crime on his ranch. We must warn you, though, some of the pictures he shows us are disturbing.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
VAN SUSTEREN: Where is your ranch in relationship to the border?
DR. MICHAEL VICKERS, TEXAS RANCH OWNER: My ranch is actually 69 miles north of Reynoso, Mexico, of the border.
VAN SUSTEREN: Now, the reason I ask is I have a rather gruesome picture. This is a skull. Where was that found, sir?
VICKERS: This is actually the skull of a woman that was murdered on my ranch. My wife came home from the grocery store one afternoon, and my dogs had drug this head up into my yard.
VAN SUSTEREN: Any idea when that was buried in your yard?
VICKERS: No idea. But we found her body the next day. She had a compound fracture of her tibia, and there's no question that she didn't walk out there with that. Somebody beat her up, probably sexually assaulted her and left her there to die.
VAN SUSTEREN: All right, now, do you have any reason to believe that this woman was from Mexico, or come across the border?
VICKERS: We have no idea. She left no identity there. Whoever did it to her probably took her identity with them.
VAN SUSTEREN: This picture right here, where -- do know where that was taken or what that's a picture of?
VICKERS: Yes, this was a picture of a dead person tied to a tree that was found just a few -- a couple of miles south of where I live. At that particular time, we had no investigator for our sheriff's department. We don't know what the motive was or what happened to him.
VAN SUSTEREN: Do you know where he's from, I mean, what country...
VICKERS: No idea.
VAN SUSTEREN: ... what nationality, anything like that?
VICKERS: No idea.
VAN SUSTEREN: Just found him in the area.
VICKERS: Yes just found him.
VAN SUSTEREN: What is that a picture of?
VICKERS: This is a picture of a ranch on fire actually caused by a vehicle that was that was smuggling 21 illegal aliens, most of them from India. They were traveling at a high rate of speed. The DPS checked them at 117 miles an hour. Border patrol were in pursuit.
The vehicle left the roadway, tore out the rancher's fence, and it was so hot, it caused -- started a ranch on fire. The vehicle actually caught on fire. And border patrol were lucky to get the seven people inside the vehicle out before it blew up. This is something that we have to deal with on a frequent and regular basis.
VAN SUSTEREN: Now, you say they're from India. But the people that you see coming across the border illegally here on your ranch and other ranches -- what countries are they from? What have you seen?
VICKERS: We see people from all over the world, Greta.
VAN SUSTEREN: Give me an example. Give me some examples.
VICKERS: I had...
VAN SUSTEREN: Tell me.
VICKERS: OK. We have Chinese, over past two years, one of the leading OTM groups...
VAN SUSTEREN: "OTM" meaning what?
VICKERS: "Other than Mexican." This is the connotation that the border patrol label people that are not from Mexico. A large percentage of them have been Chinese. Also here recently within the past year, India. India has become a big, big country for -- that's represented by a lot of these people that are coming in here illegally, a large number of Indians. And during our last border operation, Texas border operation back a month ago, a group was caught. We identified the group, saw them coming through a trail, got the border patrol in, in a timely fashion. They apprehended most of the group, and a large number of them were from India and China.
So those are just a couple, but they're coming from the Dominican Republic, every country in South America, Central America, Pakistan and other countries that the border patrol labels special interest countries.
VAN SUSTEREN: Now, the next picture I'm going to warn the viewers they may not want to look at because this one's particularly gruesome. But tell me, now that the viewers have had a chance to look away, what is this a picture of?
VICKERS: This is a dead illegal alien that was found on private property in the area that we conduct our operations.
VAN SUSTEREN: How far from the border, about?
VICKERS: This was about 70 miles from the border.
VAN SUSTEREN: About how long ago?
VICKERS: Probably about a year ago.
VAN SUSTEREN: And how do you know this an illegal -- that this person was illegally in this country?
VICKERS: Well, this is a common pathway. This is a pathway that is frequently used by illegal aliens. I don't think there was any identification on this child. This kid I think was 12 years old. And quite frankly, a lot of children are coming down in these groups, and some of them are being left behind to fend for themselves if they can't keep up with the group. And this is probably what happened with this young man right here.
VAN SUSTEREN: Tell me what these two photographs are?
VICKERS: Well...
VAN SUSTEREN: First of all, this man here -- what -- what ...
VICKERS: This guy is a drug smuggler. His picture has been taken by a special camera.
VAN SUSTEREN: How do you know he's a drug smuggler?
VICKERS: We suspect it.
VAN SUSTEREN: OK.
VICKERS: The type of backpack that he has, the fact that it' filled the way it is, and the fact that we've seen him eight different times on four different cameras since June of last year, we're pretty sure that he's a drug smuggler.
VAN SUSTEREN: Why does this photo look sort of peculiar? Almost looks like he's in snow.
VICKERS: I'm sorry?
VAN SUSTEREN: It almost looks like he's in snow, that picture. Is it a special camera or something?
VICKERS: Yes, these are some special cameras that are actually owned by the Texas Rangers. And we have them positioned on certain trails that are frequented by human smugglers and drug smugglers. And we have another picture here of the same trail with a large group of illegal aliens that are being -- trafficking in here.
VAN SUSTEREN: And I take it that now is a trail that's monitored so that people using that get arrested?
VICKERS: This trail is monitored by the governor's command center in Austin for border security. It's monitored by the border patrol. It's monitored by our Texas border volunteers. And in most cases, we try to get the people or the drug smugglers apprehended.
(END VIDEOTAPE)

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/on-air/on-the-record/print/transcript/texas-rancher039s-pictures-are-worth-1000-words-about-death-and-danger-border#ixzz1NSBGeOZW

Societal Warfare South of the Border?

 

Societal Warfare South of the Border?

via SWJ Blog on 5/22/11

Extreme Barbarism, a Death Cult, and Holy Warriors in Mexico:
Societal Warfare South of the Border?


by Dr. Robert J. Bunker and John P. Sullivan

Download the Full Article: Societal Warfare South of the Border?

This short essay is about impression—gut feelings combined with a certain amount of analytical skill—about recent trends taking place in Mexico concerning the ongoing criminal insurgencies being waged by the various warring cartels, gangs, and mercenary organizations that have metastasized though out that nation (and in many other regions as well). The authors spent over eight hours sequestered together about a month ago on a five-hundred mile 'there and back again road trip' to attend a training conference as instructors for the Kern County Chiefs of Police. Our talks centered on Mexican Drug Cartels, 3rd Generation Gangs, 3rd Phase Cartels, Criminal Insurgency Theory, and a host of related topics most folks just don't normally discuss in polite company. In the car, and at the conference, we were bombarded by Sullivan's never ending twitter and social networking news feeds—in Spanish and English—linked to the criminal violence in Mexico. If Dante had been our contemporary, we fear, he could just have easily taken a stroll through some of the cities and towns of Mexico using those news feeds and substituting the imagery for the circles of hell he described in his early 14th century work the Divine Comedy.

The hours of conversation about the conflicts in Mexico, bolstered by the news feeds and even the Q&A from the training time provided to the Kern Chiefs, provided us both with much to reflect upon. Additionally, both authors are currently co-writing three essays for a follow-on project to the earlier Narcos Over the Border (Routledge) book, the work that zenpundit.com found as "…one of the more disturbing academic works recently published in the national security field, not excluding even those monographs dealing with Islamist terrorism and Pakistan," concerning Mexico's immense problems. If this were not enough, as part of our ongoing collaboration, the authors have been trying to determine what to make of Hazen's June 2010 International Review of the Red Cross paper "Understanding gangs as armed groups." Her conclusions just don't correlate with the empirical evidence stemming from the cartel and gang related incidents regularly occurring in Mexico. That work suggests to us that American street gang researchers, whose work Hazen utilized as the basis of her analysis, are totally insulated from the reality of the conflicts in Mexico—just as are many members of the American public and their elected officials. For good or for bad, we are not so well insulated, having tracked what has been taking place in that country for some years now. The ongoing review (for the purposes of identifying cartel tattoos, cult icons, and instances of ritual killing) of the images of the tortured and broken bodies—some no longer recognizable as once ever being human beings— continually haunts us both.

Our impression is that what is now taking place in Mexico has for some time gone way beyond secular and criminal (economic) activities as defined by traditional organized crime studies. In fact, the intensity of change may indeed be increasing. Not only have de facto political elements come to the fore—i.e., when a cartel takes over an entire city or town, they have no choice but to take over political functions formerly administered by the local government— but social (narcocultura) and religious/spiritual (narcocultos) characteristics are now making themselves more pronounced. What we are likely witnessing is Mexican society starting to not only unravel but to go to war with itself. The bonds and relationships that hold that society together are fraying, unraveling, and, in some instances, the polarity is reversing itself with trust being replaced by mistrust and suspicion. Traditional Mexican values and competing criminal value systems are engaged in a brutal contest over the 'hearts, minds, and souls' of its citizens in a street-by-street, block-by-block, and city-by-city war over the future social and political organization of Mexico. Environmental modification is taking place in some urban centers and rural outposts as deviant norms replace traditional ones and the younger generation fully accepts a criminal value system as their baseline of behavior because they have known no other. The continuing incidents of ever increasing barbarism—some would call this a manifestation of evil even if secularly motivated—and the growing popularity of a death cult are but two examples of this clash of values. Additionally, the early rise of what appears to be cartel holy warriors may now also be taking place. While extreme barbarism, death cults, and possibly now holy warriors found in the Mexican cartel wars are still somewhat the exception rather than the rule, each of these trends is extremely alarming, and will be touched upon in turn.

Download the Full Article: Societal Warfare South of the Border?

Dr. Robert J. Bunker and John P. Sullivan are frequent contributors to Small Wars Journal.

Infiltration Techniques US/MX Border - Mexican Dru...

The American Backyard.NET: Infiltration Techniques US/MX Border - Mexican Dru...: "Comment: The excerpts from the below piece highlight the issue of infiltration techniques used by the cartels; the use of surveillance to ..."

Cartel Infighting - How To Do It

IITrends - Incidents, Issues and Trends: Witnessing an Israeli undercover operation: "Comment: 'Pseudo Gangs' were used back in the 1950s by the Brits in Kenya while operating against the Mau Mau...attached is what appears to..."

Mexico town barricades itself against cartel-backed loggers in rare challenge to drug gangs

Comment: Right now there appears to be a mini trend occurring...hopefully this is the case. The Iraq conflict changed against the terrorists, not because of the surge, but because the population realized they would stay subservient to the devil; the same occurred in some parts of Afghanistan (not sustained unfortunately). Regardless, the people are going to win this war, NOT the government. End Comment.

Cheers, SWOT HUNTER

Feed: Borderland Beat
Posted on: Wednesday, May 18, 2011 2:47 AM
Author: Gari
Subject: Mexico town barricades itself against cartel-backed loggers in rare challenge to drug gangs

By Alexandra Olson,Gustavo Ruiz, The Associated Press CHERAN, Mexico — Masked and wielding rifles, the men of this mountain town stand guard at blockades of tires and sandbags to stop illegal loggers backed by drug traffickers. Their defiance isn't just about defending their way of life; it's one of the first major challenges to the reign of terror unleashed by Mexico's drug cartels. The indigenous Purepecha people of this town surrounded by mountains of pine forests and neat farmland took security into their own hands last month after loggers, who residents say are backed by cartel henchmen and local police, killed two residents and wounded several others. "There is no fear here," said one young man, defiantly peering out between a red handkerchief pulled up to his dark eyes and a camouflage baseball cap riding low over his brow. "Here we are fighting a David-and-Goliath battle because we are standing up to organized crime, which is no small adversary." Nearly all residents in the town of 16,000 in the southwestern state of Michoacan spoke to reporters on condition of anonymity because of safety concerns. Such revolts have occurred frequently in indigenous communities in Mexico where locals have demanded more autonomy, accusing the government of neglect and corruption. Since the Zapatista rebellion of the 1990s, many towns in Chiapas remain near-autonomous entities with their own security rules. The Cheran rebellion is one of the few examples of a town standing up to drug cartels since President Felipe Calderon launched his crackdown on organized crime in late 2006, sparking a national wave of violence that has killed at least 35,000 people. Most Mexicans are too frightened to openly fight back against gangs that have terrorized the country with beheadings and massacres. Some towns in northern Mexico have emptied as cartels move in. The rebellion in Cheran caught the attention of the federal government, which deployed troops and federal police last week to patrol the outskirts of the town. Illegal loggers have for years cut down thousands of acres (hectares) of trees that the Purepecha depend on for log cabins, traditional medicine and resin collection. Less than two years ago, the loggers started showing up with caravans of armed men that the townspeople believe belong to La Familia, a drug cartel based in Michoacan. "La Familia has the heaviest presence in the zone. Everything indicates that it's them because they have the biggest presence, but we can't say for sure," said David Pena, a lawyer who has been representing the community in negotiations for protection with the federal government. Disputes over communal woods — between those who want to log indiscriminately and those who subsist on forest products — has long been a source of conflict in southwestern Mexico. The federal government has stepped up efforts against deforestation, conducting raids and shutting down illegal sawmills. But rogue loggers have become more violent as they align themselves with drug cartels, said Rupert Knox, a Mexico researcher at London-based Amnesty International, which has investigated the crisis in Cheran. Illegal logging has gone hand-in-glove with criminal gangs. They have moved into that sphere and controlled it with extreme brutality and corruption of local officials," Knox said. The animosity came to a head in Cheran when residents captured five illegal loggers on April 15 as their truck attempted to smuggle out illegally harvested wood. Two hours later, a convoy of armed men rumbled into the town to free the detained loggers, accompanied by local police, according to Pena and Amnesty International. One Cheran man was shot in the head and remains in a coma. But the townspeople, through force of numbers, managed to drive out the gunmen. In apparent reprisal, loggers shot and killed two Cheran men and wounded four others who were patrolling the woods on April 27. Angry Cheran residents stormed the local police headquarters, seizing 18 guns. They swiftly barricaded the town, piling sandbags and tires beneath plastic tents at several checkpoints along the main road. Young men with rifles keep track of residents venturing out and question anyone trying to get in. "We want peace and security," reads a banner hanging over a pile of logs at one blockade. Classes have been suspended at the town's more than 20 schools, which draws students from neighboring communities because both Spanish and the Purepecha language are taught. Instead, young boys hang out at the barricades, covering their faces with handkerchiefs and pretending to patrol with plastic toy guns. "Everything is paralyzed out of fear that this gang might attack the children," said a soft-spoken man wearing a white bandanna and a black wool cap at a checkpoint. The municipal police dissolved itself. Mayor Roberto Bautista Chapina reported the guns stolen but has otherwise stayed out of the dispute, trying not to inflame tensions. He said the Cheran men attacked the police chief and grabbed his gun. Community leaders and Interior Department representatives met Tuesday in the state capital of Morelia and agreed on a long-term security plan, Pena said. The government promised to set up two bases outside the town for army troops and federal and state police, who will patrol the hills and forests and meet weekly with Cheran leaders. Residents will be allowed to keep protecting the town on their own. The illegal logging has affected 80 percent of Cheran's 44,500 acres (18,000 hectares) of forest, Pena said. In some places, that means patches of trees have been cut down; in others, whole woods have disappeared. Already, Cheran had struggled to maintain its way of life. More than 40 percent of its residents have immigrated to the United States over the years, according to the government. Remittances have replaced farming and resin sales as Cheran's main source of income. Still, customs are fiercely guarded. Many people live in log cabins topped by red-tiled roofs. The women maintain the traditional dress of a wrapped cotton skirt and brightly colored satin blouse. Cheran's men say the barricades won't come down until they overcome this latest threat to their traditions. "This fight is not for a month or a year. It's for life," said the soft-spoken man in the white bandanna. "We don't believe there will be a quick solution." He hopes other communities will be inspired to fight back against organized crime. "We think it's difficult but not impossible," he said. "If they can start with Cheran, cutting down the forests, they will continue with other communities. And if the communities don't organize, in the end, they will destroy everything that for us is life."

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