Mexican Prisons Controlled by Prisoners - Insightcrime.org

Inmates Control 60% of Mexican Prisons: Report

Prisoners in a Mexican jail

“Inmates are in control of some 60 percent of Mexico's prisons, according to a report by the government human rights body, whose details help explain how some 130 inmates were able to escape from one facility earlier this month.

The 2011 report on Mexican prisons by the National Commission of Human Rights (CNDH) found that 60 percent of the country's corrective facilities were under the control of criminal groups, El Informador reported.”

Thoughts:

• Why do prison inmates control 60% of Mexico’s prisons?
• Does this small snapshot serve as an indicator of how much of Mexico is controlled by criminals? For example is 60%, or more, of Mexico proper under the same kind of stress whereby many known criminals, cartel and gang members run free?
• What are the drivers that contribute to such a high number strength?
• How strong is the law in Mexico, and how effective can the state contain such forms of potential widespread social instability?

Read full article here:  http://www.insightcrime.org/news-briefs/inmates-control-mexican-prisons

Written by Victoria Rossi and Hannah Stone

Tuesday, 25 September 2012

Mexican vet standoff

Citing fears of drug violence along the border, Texas-based veterinarians are balking at orders to staff a new cattle inspection facility in Mexico, near the Columbia International Bridge.

www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/article/Citing-drug-violence-veterinarians-resist-orders-3866986.php

Download the official Twitter app here

Hackers attack Mexican government sites

abcnews.go.com/m/story?id=17249122

Mexican hackers have taken over more than a dozen websites belonging to political parties and local governments and posted a message criticizing the government on the nation's Independence Day.

Download the official Twitter app here

US Targets Mexican Oil Company Linked to Drug Cartel - By Joao Peixe | Thu, 30 August 2012 23:57

If true, then this serves an example of how the Mexican Drug Cartels are
subverting the legitimate economy.

US companies and individuals have been prohibited from doing
business with Mexican oil company ADT Petroservicios and the company's US
assets have been frozen due to owner Francisco Antonio Colorado Cessa's
links to the Los Zetas drug-trafficking cartel."

Read More:
http://oilprice.com/Latest-Energy-News/World-News/US-Targets-Mexican-Oil-Com
pany-Linked-to-Drug-Cartel.html?

FBI - Two Leaders of Baltimore Drug Ring Exiled to 45 Years in Prison - Los Zetas

August 28, 2012

District of Maryland

(410) 209-4800

BALTIMORE-U.S. District Judge William D. Quarles, Jr. sentenced Wade Coats,
age 47, of Baltimore, and Jose Cavazos, age 44, of Midlothian, Texas, today
each to 45 years in prison followed by five years of supervised release for
conspiracy to distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine. Coats was also
sentenced for possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking
crime.

...

"A substantial portion of the illegal drugs distributed in Maryland are
imported from the Mexican border," said U.S. Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein.
"This case demonstrates the international ties of a local drug dealer."

According to evidence presented at the five-day jury trial, from 2005 to
February 2010, Coats and his co-defendant James Bostic, age 41, of
Baltimore, Maryland, received cocaine and marijuana from the Los Zetas
Mexican Drug Cartel, which he and other conspirators distributed. From 2005
to April 28, 2009 Cavazos would receive 20-25 kilograms of cocaine from the
cartel twice a month for delivery to Coats. Cavazos or his employees would
drive the cocaine to Baltimore.

Read More:
http://www.fbi.gov/baltimore/press-releases/2012/two-leaders-of-baltimore-dr
ug-ring-exiled-to-45-years-in-prison

Mexico extradites alleged drug cartel leader Eduardo Arellano Felix to US - The Washington Post

Mexico extradites alleged drug cartel leader Eduardo Arellano Felix to US

By Associated Press, Updated: Friday, August 31, 8:38 PM

"SAN DIEGO - Mexico extradited Eduardo Arellano-Felix to the United States
Friday, marking what one U.S. official said was the end of a 20-year
investigation into the once-mighty drug cartel headed by his older brother.

Arellano Felix, 55, arrived in the United States and will make an initial
court appearance Tuesday in San Diego on charges of narcotics trafficking,
racketeering and money laundering, said Laura Duffy, the U.S. attorney in
San Diego, who built her career on the case."

Full Article:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/mexico-extradites-alleged-drug-cartel
-leader-eduardo-arellano-felix-to-us/2012/08/31/551f8ee4-f3cd-11e1-b74c-84ed
55e0300b_story.html

Public Event: The New Mexican Government and Its Prospects 27Sep12 Washington DC

The New Mexican Government and Its Prospects
September 27, 2012
George Washington University
Washington, DC, United States
Open to the General Public

Details coming soon.

Partners: George Washington University Center for Latin American Issues,
U.S. Army War College Strategic Studies Institute

Links and Contacts

Email Point of Contact: john.d.colwell.mil@mail.mil

Please note that all colloquia require RSVP.