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Tag: drug cartel

  • Beltran-Leyva Gang’s Second in Command Captured by Mexican Police

    The Mexican government announced the capture of Arnoldo Villa Sanchez, the second in command of Mexico’s most dangerous drug cartel, the Beltran-Leyva Gang. According to Reuters, Mexican federal police captured Villa yesterday in Mexico City. “The center of his operations was in Mexico City,” national security commissioner Alejandro Rubido explained, “with presence also in the states of Mexico, Chiapas, Guerrero, Puebla and Tlaxcala.” The commissioner added that Villa preferred high-rise hotels and other expensive areas of the city.

    The arrest may come as a shock to some city officials who have long denied any drug cartels operated within city limits. The Associated Press reported that many have now acknowledged cartels use Mexico City as a sale and transit point. Villa answered only to cartel leader Hector Beltran Leyva and acted as his head of security.

    The Beltran-Leyva Gang has become associated with grizzly drug violence in Mexico. Back in March, former head of the United States Drug Enforcement Agency Anthony Coulson told the Associated Press that he suspected the gang to be involved in a massacre along the Arizona-Mexican border. “My best guess is this is the Beltran Leyvas trying to re-establish control in Sonora,” he said adding that the area was “a key strategic point, because of such a huge uptick of trafficking into Southern California.”

    In 2009, the gang suffered a serious blow when kingpin, founder, and brother of the current leader Arturo Beltran Leyva was killed in a shootout. He was considered one of Mexico’s most wanted men, with a price tag on his head worth over two million dollars. The BBC called him “the boss of bosses”. Footage of his death was released on LiveLeak:

    His brother Hector has lead the gang since Arturo Beltran Leyva’s death. The United States Department of State has placed a reward of five million dollars for information leading to his conviction or capture.

    Beltran Leyva’s lieutenants, like the now captured Villia, were also of interest to the United States. The Department of the Treasury designated Villa a narcotics trafficker under the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act. The Mexican government had offered thirty million pesos for his arrest. It is unknown if anyone collected.

    Image via ExcélsiorTv, YouTube

  • “Knights Templar” Cartel Leader Captured In Mexico

    The extremely deadly and destructive drug war that has been raging between the Mexican government and various cartels is no secret, and it often spills across the border of the United States. While there does not appear to be an end to the conflict in sight, Mexican authorities are reporting a small victory in the form of the capture of a major cartel leader.

    Dionicio Loya Plancarte, known in crime circles as “El Tio” (the uncle), was reportedly captured by government forces. Loya Plancarte is the a leader of the Knight Templar drug cartel, a major force in Mexico’s Michoacan state. At the time of the capture he had a 30-million peso bounty on his head, so his capture marks a rare win for the government.

    Mexican interior minister Miguel Angel Osorio Chong was quick to comment on the success and how it was accomplished. He said of the government’s effort, “It is not through violence that you can stop [gang members] and detain them, but through the institutional work of the Mexican government, to restore peace to the Mexican people.”

    While this talk of peace gives a feeling of hope to the situation, many still believe that the government is losing control of territories such as Michoacan, and that they are not protecting citizens from the wave of drug-related crime in the country.

    The feelings of government inadequacy is likely related to the recent decision to join with vigilante groups in order to attempt to drive out cartel forces, groups that were formed by citizens trying to take matters into their own hands. That decision is viewed with great caution by many people within the country, but the state is standing by their new strategy.

    While the governments efforts are still a work in progress, the capture of Loya Plancarte is a definite win, and shows how Mexico is looking at their cartel problem in new ways and desperately trying to restore peace to the country.

    [Image via WorldBreakingNews]

  • Border Tunnels: A Sophisticated Way To Smuggle Drugs

    Border Tunnels: A Sophisticated Way To Smuggle Drugs

    Drug cartels have resorted to underground tunnels to avoid detection since security has become more stringent along the border.

    Since 1990, about 170 tunnels have been discovered, the majority of them have been along California and Arizona’s border with Mexico. As a result, the U.S. border patrol will soon unveil an underground wireless robot equipped with camera to search underground networks.

    The tunnels vary in terms of size and complexity, depending on who’s using them. While some can be extremely simple such as those dug by hand, others can be extremely sophisticated, including ventilation, lights, and supports for ceiling.

    Those employed to construct rudimentary tunnels are miners who use hoes, shovels, jackhammers and picks to excavate soil which is transported out of the tunnel’s opening in Mexico. They normally old-fashioned tools like a compass to do their work.

    However, cartels who want to construct sophisticated tunnels normally hire engineers as well as miners to build the tunnels. Those tunnels found near San Diego, Arizona, are good examples of sophisticated tunnels.

    U.S. border officials have estimated the cost of more sophisticated tunnels to be between $2 million and $3 million.

    Once a tunnel has been built, the smugglers use it to move guns and drugs as well as people who want to sneak into the U.S. Officials say that some traffickers are selective about what can move through their tunnels but most sophisticated tunnels are mainly used for moving drugs and guns across the U.S Border.

    Marijuana is among the drugs that are mostly moved through the tunnels because it is bulky and riskier to move above the ground. In 2011, authorities seized about 32 tons of marijuana that was being moved across a 600-yard tunnel in the southern California. The tunnel was equipped with lighting, railcars and ventilation while the floor was lined with wooden planks.

    Image via Wikipedia