MexicoPerspective.com

A leading source for news and analysis about Mexico and the U.S.-Mexican border.

Sunday, April 22, 2012

2 journalists among 15 killed in Chihuahua bar

Two local journalists were among 15 people killed in an attack on the Chihuahua city bar El Colorado. The two were identified as Francisco Javier Moya, a radio station news director and Héctor Javier Salinas Aguirre, owner of a news website, an official said.
Others killed were: Christian Jaimes Chávez, 35; José Luis Vázquez García, 64; Jorge Alberto Aragón Serna, 47; Nemesio Arellanes; Francisco Bonilla Márquez; Miguel Ángel López; Nora Santiago; Miriam Vázquez Torres, 25 años; José Manuel Perales; Rodolfo Lagos Cardona, 72; Efrén Anaya Vázquez, 48; Julio Miramontes; and Federico Pérez Moreno, 41. The bar was sprayed with assault rifle fire.
In other crime news:
• Two kidnappers were killed and three kidnapping victims freed in Ecatepec in Mexico state.
• Six people allegedly involved in drug sales were killed in separate incidents in Monterrey.
• Four burned bodies were found in Toluca, in Mexico state.
Stories, Frontera (PDF).

Authorities identify 3 Tijuana policemen who fled from military when 3 other policemen were arrested

30 kilos of pot found in police vehicle may have come from raid on home Tuesday in which 650 kilos of marijuana were seized

Authorities identified three Tijuana police who fled from a scene where the military arrested three other Tijuana police who had marijuana in their vehicle, Frontera newspaper reported. The three police being sought are Arturo Mendoza Carrillo, Erik de Lira Godínez and Isidro Omar Beltrán Cárdenas.
Officials told Frontera that the three police arrested Friday were suspected in the disappearance of around 30 kilos of marijuana found Tuesday (April 17) during a raid of a home in the Centenario district, where four alleged drug traffickers were arrested and 650 kilos of pot were found. Story, Frontera (PDF).
Police vehicle P-0677 found abandoned (PDF).
Original story below.

Man arrested in Tijuana with $27,000 in cash, 5 grams of cocaine; he previously was detained for having $19,000 in 2007

State police detained Francisco Daniel Castro, 33, after $27,000 in cash and 5 grams of cocaine were found in his vehicle in Tijuana. Officials said Castro was detained after it was believed that he was driving suspiciously in the Infonavit La Mesa neighborhood.
Story, Frontera (PDF).

Saturday, April 21, 2012

3 Tijuana police arrested for allegedly selling marijuana from police vehicle

Three Tijuana policemen were arrested by the military Friday for allegedly selling marijuana from their police vehicle, Frontera newspaper reported. A second police vehicle fled the scene, authorities told the paper.
The military found 30 kilos of marijuana in the back of municipal vehicle P-5022 on Calle Antonio García in the Centenario district, the military told Frontera. They allegedly were involved in a $3,000 marijuana sale, the paper reported. It said police who were detained were commander Ramón Alberto Robles Vilches, 35, originally from Navolato, Sinaloa; Efraín Flores Murguía, 34, originally from Xalapa, Veracruz; and Jesús Martín Garate López, 34, originally from Mazatlán, Sinaloa. Story, Frontera (PDF)

Retired general killed in Mexico City

He had been accused, convicted and later exonerated of drug-trafficking links

Retired Gen. Mario Arturo Acosta Chaparro, who had been accused, convicted and later exonerated of links with drug traffickers, died Friday after being shot. He also had been attacked in May 2010. In 2000, Acosta Chaparro and another general who has died, Francisco Quirós Hermosillo, were accused of protecting the Juárez cartel. In 2002, they were convicted by a military court and imprisoned in Mexico City. But in 2007, a federal court ruling said there was not evidence to show he had links to organized crime and reinstated him in the military. He also had been accused in the deaths of 22 peasants during Mexico's "dirty war" in the 1970s, but was absolved for lack of evidence in 2006. In 2008, he retired from the military. Story in Frontera (PDF).
Update, April 23: Proceso reports that Acosta Chaparro provided an informal link between the Calderón administration and drug traffickers. Story (PDF).

7 arrested with 431 kilos of marijuana in Mexicali

Seven men were arrested with 431 kilos of marijuana in Mexicali. They were linked to the Sinaloa Cartel. The seven were arrested them after some of them bought cocaine on the street, police told Frontera. Some of the arrests took place at a motel. Arrested were José Manuel Félix Aispuro, 47, and Marcos Ramón Gastélum Inzunza, 49, both originally from Sinaloa; Eduardo Sáenz Arce, 41, Andrés Peralta García, 29, Ponciano Espinoza Márquez, 32, Álvaro Herrera Lugo, 42, and Bernabé Dukes Carranza, 40, all originally from Baja California. Story, Frontera (PDF).

Friday, April 20, 2012

Two slayings in Torreón bring city's death toll for year to 174

Two killings in Torreón have brought the city's violent crime death toll for the year to 174, Mexican media reported. Story in Frontera (PDF). From Tuesday: 3 killed in Torreón had 2 bodies in vehicle.

Alleged kidnapping-assassination gang from Monterrey area apparently used crime proceeds for luxury trip to Cancún

Another Monterrey group linked to 21 slayings also arrested; of 13 members, 8 were minors

An alleged kidnapper and 10 alleged accomplices were presented to the media Thursday after their arrests at the Monterrey Airport upon their return from a vacation trip to Cancún. Authorities linked the group to 21 killings, including four policemen, and five kidnappings. The leader was identified as Oziel Azael "El Gordo" Salas Hernández, 25. Other alleged members were: José Roberto "Tito" Crispín Alvarado, 26; Hugo César "El Chango" Cruz Celestino, 24; José Carlos Zavala Rodríguez, 24; Édgar Leobardo Ruiz González, 18; Israel "El Hermano" Reyes Pequeño, 32; Salvador Antonio "El Gato" Rojas Varela, 19; Ismael "El Pelón" Zavala Rodríguez, 33; Jorge Alberto "El Mono" Martínez Rodríguez, 30; Víctor Eduardo "El Cocol" Reyna Guerrero, 28; Álan, also known as "El Pispi," 15. Story in Frontera (PDF).
The day before, a group of 13 tied to 21 killings in the greater Monterrey area was presented to the media. They reported receiving a biweekly pay of 4,800 to 11,500 pesos, or $365 to $875. Those arrested were identified as Andrés " El Tripas" Ortiz Morales, 18, the alleged leader; Jesús "El Aktor" Jiménez Luévano, 24; Alexis Salvador "Alexis" Tovar Alvarado, 19; Érick Eduardo "El Boricua" Pérez de la Torre, 19; Omar "Cerón" de Luis Méndez, 25; Carlos Miguel "El Chihuas" Ballesteros Amaro, 32. Minors among those arrested were identified as Morgan Jesús, aka "Texas"; Juan Carlos, aka "Pavalín," 16; Karen Yanneth, "La China", 16; Marco Antonio, "El Wachillo," 17; Esmeralda Samahid, aka "Esme," 16; Liliana, aka "Ema", 17; and Yaresy Lisset, aka "La Chabela," no age given. Story in Frontera (PDF).

Bus traveling on Acapulco-Zihuatanejo highway stopped, passengers robbed

A bus traveling on the Acapulco-Zihuatanejo highway in Guerrero state stopped because logs had been placed on the road and then was robbed by an armed group around 3 a.m. Thursday. Among the victims was a Chilean tourist; reports said she now had no money to finish her travels.

Wednesday, April 18, 2012

14 bodies found in plastic bags in vehicle in Nuevo Laredo

Fourteen bodies were found in plastic bags in a vehicle on a busy street in Nuevo Laredo, Mexican media reported. Story, El Mexicano (PDF). Jump. Story, Frontera (PDF). It said the bodies were found in front of City Hall.

Tuesday, April 17, 2012

Businessman whose complaint led to arrest of 10 federal police found dead in his Juárez home after being shot, burned

Businessman Eligio Ibarra Amador, whose complaint led to arrest of 10 federal agents for kidnapping and extortion in September, was killed in Ciudad Juárez over the weekend, Mexican media reported. MVS Radio said his body was found in his home and that he had been shot, doused with gasoline and burned.
An El Mexicano editorial said Ibarra was 62 and was to have formally ratified his complaint against the agents on Tuesday (today). The editorial (PDF).
Meanwhile, renowned cattleman Lauro Ezequiel Ortega
Chávez was pursued and shot to death at an intersection in southern Chihuahua city. Chihuahua city is the capital of Chihuahua state, of which Ciudad is a part. Stories in Frontera (PDF).

3 men killed in Torreón had 2 bodies in their vehicle

The military killed three men in a confrontation in Torreón and then found two bodies in the vehicle the three men had been riding in, media reported. Story in Frontera (PDF).

Monday, April 16, 2012

5 killed in dance hall in Monterrey; 10 alleged Jalisco Cartel New Generation members arrested in Veracruz; 3 bodies found in Colima and 2 in Morelos

A dance hall owner and four others were killed at the hall in Monterrey early Sunday morning, and the vocalist of the band that was playing was shot in the back, Mexican media reported. Javier López, vocalist of Los Reyes del Vallenato, was hospitalized after being wounded in the Dorado Saloon. One of those killed was a woman.
In Veracruz, 10 alleged members of the Jalisco Cartel New Generation, including three of its leaders, were captured by the military. Among those detained were
Marco Antonio Reyes Leal, "El Canelo", 29; Jorge
Luis Feria Hernández, 23; Noé Humberto Hernández Pérez, "La Polla" or "La Piña", 28; Claribel Casas Durán; Adriana Reyes Leal; Noemí de la O. Rodríguez; Martha Crisol Martínez Portillo; José Francisco Torres López, 27; José Manuel Sánchez Sánchez, "Cunita"; and Levi Vergara Yépez.
Meanwhile, three bodies were found in Veracruz and two in Morelos.
Stories in Frontera (PDF).