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Tuesday, May 19, 2015

Borderland Beat

Borderland Beat

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Six-year-old boy tortured and Killed. By other children.

Posted: 18 May 2015 11:36 PM PDT

Borderland Beat posted  by Think Tank on the Forum.
The original source is The Daily Mail

Killed: Christopher Raymundo Marquez , six, was tied up, choked, stoned and stabbed in the back. Five children aged 12 to 15 years old have apparently admitted to his brutal murder in Chihuahua, Mexico

A six-year-old boy has been brutally murdered by five other children during a macabre 'game of kidnap', Mexican authorities have revealed. 

Christopher Raymundo Marquez was allegedly invited to play and collect firewood from a waste ground near his home in Chihuahua by the youngsters, aged 12 to 15.

But as they reached a stream, the children told him they were going to feign a kidnap. They tied Christopher's hands and feet together, before beating him with a thorn-covered stick, it is said.

They then reportedly stoned the youngster and suffocated him with the stick pressed against his neck, killing him. After he had died, one of the children even stabbed him in the back, it is alleged.

Christopher's body was found buried face-down in a shallow grave in the northern Mexican city of Chihuahua early Saturday afternoon - two days after he went missing from his nearby home.
Police and forensics experts removed Christopher's body.
 The alleged killers, a boy aged 12, two girls aged 13 and two other boys aged 15, had covered the hand-dug hole he had been dumped in with weeds and a dead animal, authorities said.
Police detailed the horrific circumstances surrounding Christopher's killing on Saturday night as they revealed that three of the child suspects are too young to be charged and tried under local law.

State prosecutor Sergio Almaraz said the youngster had been killed during a 'game of kidnap'. He added that the minors had admitted Thursday's killing in a poor neighborhood of the state capital of Chihuahua.

The children, neighbors and friends of Christopher, had invited the boy to play and collect firewood - but had turned on him after telling him they were going to feign a kidnap beside the stream.

Mr Almaraz said: 'While they were playing, one of the 15-year-olds suggested to the others that they should kill Christopher. It wasn't planned. It was a condition of the game they played.'

Authorities discovered Christopher's body after the mother of one of the 15-year-old boys phoned police to tell them she had discovered her son had participated in the murder.

He and the other teenage boy face criminal charges but the three younger children, who are under the age of criminal responsibility in Mexico (which is set at 14), cannot be tried.

A spokesman for the local prosecution service said: 'Because they're minors and very young they have very specific rights which are stipulated by law.

'All five children will undergo psychological and sociological studies to determine their family environments.'

Christopher's mother, Tania, who reported him missing on Thursday night, said on Sunday her son's alleged killers had taken part in the search for him with their families before his body was found.

She said: 'What I want is justice. If justice isn't done, we'll make sure it's done with our own hands. I, as a mom, demand justice. How are they going to set these children free? 
Relatives of Christopher mourn at his funeral
'They haven't done these horrible things to a dog, they've done them to a child.'

Christopher's death 'at the hands of five other children' has stunned Mexico. Prosecutors have expressed concern over a killing that showed 'social decomposition' and an 'absence of values.' 


The narco-terror in Mexico reactivates extraditions of the top capos

Posted: 18 May 2015 11:04 PM PDT

Translated by Otis B Fly-Wheel for Borderland Beat from an El Pais article

[ Subject Matter: Extradition, Mexican Cartel Capos
Recommendation: No prior subject matter knowledge required]


Reporter: Luis Pablo Beauregard

The narco trafficking violence in Jalisco has obliged the Government of Enrique Peno Nieto to re-think the extraditions of the Cartel's top Capos, after having diminished the number of  arrested sent to other countries to be judged.

Arely Gomez, the Attorney General has confirmed the intention to extradite to the United States Abigael Gonzalez, the leader of Los Cuinis, one of the cells of the Cartel Jalisco Nueva Generacion. This criminal group that challenged the State at the start of May when they brought down a helicopter occasioning the death of nine soldiers.

Gonzalez was captured on 28th of February in Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco, one of the bastions of the criminal group. The authorities believe that he is the principal financial operator for the Cartel in Guadalajara, the third most important city in Mexico.

"El Cuini", his nickname, is the brother in law of Nemesio Oseguera, the leader of the Nueva Generacion. In April, the Government of the United States added these criminals to the black list of the Department of Treasury. " They will send him to the United States because in Mexico he has not been accused of any crime", explained Javier Oliva, Professor at UNAM specializing in National Security. (Otis: see link to article on his extradition application).



He said that the Gomez broke one tendency of the PRI Government, that had diminished the extradition of Capos to the United States. In the first two years of the administration of Pena Nieto 133 people were extradited, according to documents from the Secretary of External Relations obtained with a transparency petition. Only 45 of those extradited North of the border were extradited for crimes against health (drug related crimes).

When Felipe Calderon commenced his war against narco trafficking he gave account of the fact that the Government needed an ally in Washington. In November of 2009 authorities of some countries celebrated a meeting to streamline the extraditions. The agreement gave results. For the end of his mandate he had extradited 498 people, duplicating the amount sent by his predecessor, Vincente Fox.

One has seen a pendular position, said Oliva. The panista Government attended very expeditiously, requests from various countries, but the return of the PRI changed the strategy. The first Attorney General of Pena Nieto, Jesus Murillo Karam, reduced the rate. In his two years he sent 128 accused to various countries, from 198 requests for extradition.

The majority of the subjects were sent to the United States, according to documents of the Attorney Generals office obtained by a petition for transparency. 44 of those were accused of crimes against health ( narco trafficking ) in United States Courts. Only one was considered a high level capo. On the 21st of November 2013 Ivan Valezquez Caballero, knows as "El Taliban" and one of the leaders of Los Zetas was handed over to the authorities in South Texas, who accused him of 47 different criminal charges. On the first day of the trial "not guilty" was declared.

Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, the leader of the Sinaloa Cartel, is the most emblematic capture of the Government of Pena Nieto. Murillo Karam said on various occasions that Mexico prepared for his extradition, which led his defense to promote several amparo's to halt the process. However to date no extradition order has been received from the United States. His presence in the country is valuable.

"In this case its the information that the criminal has that keeps him here", affirmed Oliva, but he adds that not being sent now will not prevent his extradition at a later date. The expert in security, close to the PRI, believes that the porous prison system is also to blame. The orders of the top capos in prison, given through a vertical chain of commands and transmitted to Lawyers and family visits to the prison, continue to impact the criminal world outside.

"In the past six years then tendency to send them out of the country, accelerated internal power struggles within the groups. That is what happened with the Gulf Cartel when Osiel Cardenas was extradited". His physical presence in Mexico could have had some influence over internal divisions and fractures.

Servando Gomez, "La Tuta", media leader of the Knights Templar, was arrested in late February after living several years on the run. The United States Department of Justice regards the former school teacher in its territory as a strange honor. He is the first capo to be charged with narco terrorism. Configured in 2006 and used against the Taliban and the Guerillas of FARC.

"If a petition from the Court of New York is served it will be a milestone", says Oliva. "The criminal awaits a fork in the road. The Northern route would be historic. If he stays in Mexico it would mean for the Mexican Government, information on the State with grave problems of security like Michoacán". The Attorney General Arely Gomez will decide his fate.

Original article in Spanish at El Pais

The New Era of Cartels

Posted: 18 May 2015 12:01 PM PDT




The capture and abatement of drug cartel leaders has led to the fragmentation of groups and the emergence of criminal cells throughout the country.  U.S. authorities and the PGR identify the current leadership


By: Doris Gómora, Dennis A. García y Marcos Muédano | Translated by Valor for Borderlandbeat

With the capture and abatement of drug cartel leaders in recent years, the structures of the drug cartels in Mexico has fragmented, giving way to a new map of organized crime with the formation of criminal cells that operate in a territorial way; but with the influence that they had in the large organizations, new groups also rose up like the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) who managed to consolidate and expand their power to challenge the territories that are key to the business of the multinational drug trade.

This in-depth analysis of drug trafficking in the country is based on reports from the PGR, the United States Department of Justice and the U.S. Treasury, as well as interviews with experts.

With the arrests of Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán, leader of the Sinaloa Cartel; Servando Gómez "La Tuta", leader of Los Caballeros Templarios; Vicente Carrillo Fuentes "El Viceroy", leader of the Juárez Cartel; Miguel and Omar Treviño Morales, leaders of Los Zetas; and the abatement of Nazario Moreno "El Chayo", who commanded La Familia Michoacana; as well as Ignacio Nacho Coronel and Arturo Beltrán Leyva "El Barbas", a struggle for the territories worsened with the criminal cells who were operating as their armed wings.

The blows in recent years to drug cartels faded away the image of the great drug lords.  Around 15 leaders whose names dominated the scene in the last decade, including dynasties, are now a thing of the past.  New leaders emerged, though most only regional or underpowered, with fragmented crime cell organizations that defend a territory.  Of the nine cartels operating in the country today, only the Sinaloa, with their old bosses, and the CJNG, maintain hegemony.

The most recent report from the PGR indicates that there are nine cartels operating in Mexico: Sinaloa, Jalisco New Generation, Los Zetas, Gulf, Tijuana, Beltrán Leyva, Juárez, Familia Michoacana and Los Caballeros Templarios.


The department found 45 criminal cells who besides working in drug trafficking, are also in the robbing of petroleum, kidnapping, extortion, and human trafficking.

The old rules imposed by the drug groups from the 1970's have changed, to make way for the new generation of bosses who, unlike their predecessors, display their operating power even in social networks, where they also threaten their rivals and make their executions public as well as boasting about their luxuries life.

Their powers to corrupt, their ability to infiltrate police forces, their alliances with people in politics and business have not changed.  They are the lifeline of their safety net.  Their code, "plata o plomo" (silver or lead) also persists.

On the "atomization" of the big cartels, Gerardo Rodríguez, an expert on national security and terrorism, explains that when these criminal cells form, they have greater control over the territories since they know firsthand how the economic flow moves.  They can also display their criminal activity better and their local protection networks.

"In the case of Mexico, the Bacrim model (emerging criminal groups) of Colombia, where small groups evolved to other profitable illicit businesses such as extorting economic sectors, merchandise theft, human trafficking, and kidnappings,  is being copied," detailed the member of the Collective of Security Analysis with Democracy (Casede).

The criminal cells, he adds, have territorial control, block by block, from the cities where they operate.

Rodríguez says that the government's strategy in fighting organized crime is good, however, may fail if the criminal structures, which are structured in the form of a pyramid, are not completely destroyed.  "After capturing the big bosses, they have to do the same with other leaders and attack their financial assets."

Javier Oliva, an expert on national security and an academic of UNAM, believes that "the fragmentation was very predictable; there was already experience in other cases where when they captured leaders of a criminal organization, it tended to divide, which has led to a dispute over turfs.  This atomizes the fight against organized crime when having less visible leaders and can result in an increased perception of criminalization".

Source: El Universal

Part 2: Mexican Cartel, Canadian Drug Pipeline

Posted: 18 May 2015 08:09 AM PDT

Lucio R Borderland Beat Thank you to  Canadiana, Republished from National Post
Reza Amin and his trainer Desiree Ellis

Part Two

Blackberry messages reveal how drugs easily pass through Vancouver's port

It's not that hard, according to encrypted messages intercepted by police that detailed an exchange between one Vancouver man and the Ontario-based leader of a major international drug ring three years ago.

Mohamed Reza Amin Torabi told gang boss Nick Nero he had a contact person within the port who could control the movement of containers full of South American cocaine.

All he needed was the name of the company shipping the container to Canada and the actual container number, Amin Torabi explained.

"Hi bro. I am with my buddy. He is ready any time. All the ship come from south come to port here. I need transporter name and container number when U ready," Amin Torabi, nicknamed 'Big Guy,' said in a May 2012 BlackBerry message.

A Vancouver Sun investigation has found at least 27 Hells Angels, associates, criminals and other gangsters work on the Port Metro Vancouver docks. And The Sun has obtained government and police documents that show an un-addressed organized crime problem on the waterfront dating back more than 20 years.

Details of the encrypted communications between Amin Torabi, Nero and others in their criminal organization illustrate the key role of the ports in the movement of drugs. The Sun obtained the transcripts from court documents filed for kingpin Nero's sentencing hearing in Toronto last fall. He was handed a 22-year prison term in October 2014.

Police estimated that Nero was smuggling 400 kilograms of cocaine a week into Canada, worth about $1.9 billion a year.

Amin Torabi, now 51, had earlier pleaded guilty to conspiracy to import cocaine and received a seven-year prison term.


The documents don't say how the two criminal associates began working together.


But The Sun has learned both men were active in bodybuilding competitions across Canada.

Amin Torabi, who was born in Tehran, was crowned Mr. Canada in 2000, as well as in the mid-'90s. At the time, he boasted about having upper arms that were 22 inches in diameter and thighs that were 33 inches around. Nero placed seventh in the 2003 Canadian Bodybuilding Federation finals and once owned a gym in Niagara Falls.


Niagara Regional Police uncovered Nero's massive drug smuggling ring, which led to arrests in three provinces in November 2012.

Staff Sgt. Shawn Clarkson said the smugglers established "various routes of transportation as well as smuggling into various ports of entry into Canada."

"This criminal organization coordinated with a resourceful Mexican drug cartel to provide a high quality and constant supply of cocaine," Clarkson told The Sun.

In the intercepted messages, Nero told another player in the drug ring that the cost to get the shipment through the Port of Vancouver was "25 per cent" of the value of the load.

"All we need is container #. Peru is direct to Vancouver," Nero said in an email. "My 'off' says he will take it off no problem." 'Off' is slang for a port connection who can off-load drugs.

Amin Torabi told Nero he didn't want to say too much on the BlackBerry, but would fly to Toronto to meet him and make the arrangements. Police watched the two men as they met others in the criminal organization at a downtown Toronto steak house.

"All Good Amigo"


Nero later received a message from one of his Mexican cartel suppliers saying their "amigo" had a big machine that could be used to hide "50, 100 and 200 or more pieces" believed to be a reference to kilograms of cocaine that could then be shipped through the port.

"We can start next week," Nero replied. "All good amigo."

Nero was then told the cocaine could be shipped as liquid or in pieces inside the containers.

"I think pieces are better. Less work. We cash out faster. Also I don't want issues with shares. Units are units. Every one gets what they pay for."

Nero used several modes of transportation for the massive amounts of cocaine — including shipping containers to both the ports of Vancouver and Montreal.

He also had a private jet and flew cocaine into the U.S. and Canada. And much of the drug ring's product was trucked across the border.

On May 10, 2012 Nero sent a message to Amin Torabi: "Hi bro. How are things with the port — are we ready?"

Amin Torabi responded: "Yes bro. We are ready. Please let me know where U sending from. Let me know. I am going see my guy today. It will be great work, bro."

A week later, Nero contacted former Vancouver resident Robby Alkhalil, who also faces charges in connection with the Ontario drug ring.

Nero asked Alkhalil, whose nickname is TNT in the encrypted messages, if he wants in on a shipment from Argentina arriving at the port of Vancouver later in May.

Alkhalil replied "OK."

Amin Torabi's inside contact at the Port of Vancouver is not identified in the court documents obtained by The Sun.

Rabih Alkhalil
But in other conversations, Nero said that he works with both the "Patch and Irish" — references to the Hells Angels and the West End gang in Montreal, which has influence in that city's port. Nero also had an earlier conviction in Ontario for selling cocaine to Hells Angels.

Nero messaged another associate on his encrypted BlackBerry, asking him to pass along to the suppliers that "my partners in Mtl are strong too. They have the ports."

Both Nero and Alkhalil also face first-degree murder charges in the June 2012 execution of Johnnie Raposo in Toronto's Little Italy.

And Alkhalil, who was extradited from Greece in February, is charged with murder in the targeted shooting of gangster Sandip Duhre in Vancouver's Wall Centre in January 2012.

Another stop on Alkhalil's Canadian courthouse tour is Montreal where he faces more drug importation and trafficking charges.

One of his co-accused in that case is full-patch Hells Angel Larry Amero, of Surrey's West Point chapter. Despite being in jail since November 2012 awaiting trial, Amero has maintained his membership in Metro Vancouver-based Local 502 of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union.


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