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Sunday, May 24, 2015

Borderland Beat

Borderland Beat

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Tijuana cops torture and charge innocent man, murdered cop case update.

Posted: 24 May 2015 04:10 AM PDT

Borderland Beat

(Tijuano´s note: This is an update on the case of the Tijuana Municipal Agent executed a few days ago, the same day the Agent was executed, the Tijuana Police "caught the killer", what happened next with the alleged "killer" is explained in the following article)

Hugo Alfonso Hernandez Flores, accused of the execution of Tijuana Municipal Agent Juan Gualberto Jauregui Ruvalcaba was set free this Saturday´s night, after the Seventh Penal Judge, Rodolfo Lara Pedrin ruled his innocence was proven.

According to Tijuana´s Municipal Safety Agency statements, in the evening of Wednesday May 23rd, Alvarez Flores was walking down the street when Municipal Agents noticed he dropped a bag containing 15 envelopes with of crystal meth. 

"In the preventive interview with the suspect he recognized by himself he had killed someone earlier that day and took the officers to the crime scene and later to the place where he had hidden the weapon used in the crime", this is what was issued as a public statement by the Municipal Agency.


However, Attorney Gabriel Gonzalez Celestino, who took charge of the young man´s case, said the arrest took place at around 8:00 AM that same day-two hours after the murder- in the home of the girlfriend of Hernandez Flores.

"Wednesday morning I was sleeping in my girlfriend´s house. Some officers arrive and take me and then tell me I had committed a crime where I had killed an officer, and I told them I had nothing to do with it. They start hitting and punching me, they handcuff me and throw me from the second floor from a height of about 2-3 meters". This was said by Hugo Alfonso Hernandez Flores in a telephone interview provided minutes after his release.

According to his lawyer, the local agents began arresting young men in the Mariano Matamoros neighborhood, where the murder had taken place, in order to find the killer.

"Unfortunately, based on his physical aspect, they arrest another young man and he led them to the detainee(Hernandez Flores), this is the lawyers answer when asked about the agent´s motives to look for Hernandez Flores. First, the officers arrived at the detainee´s mother´s house, then, when they failed finding him there, they drove to his girlfriends house with a picture of him on their hands.

This is how Hernandez was shown to the press by Tijuana´s Police.
According to Hernandez Flores, he has worked in construction since he was 10 years old, and currently works as a construction worker near the "5y10" area in Tijuana. He denied being involved in selling or using drugs.

"They punch me, they put the bag on me, they torture me and get me in the patrol car. They use their teaser on me(electrical discharges) and take me to the crime scene. From there they took me to the Villa Fontana Police precinct, where they put me the bag and torture again, they used their teaser in my belly and they hit my body. They were 5 or 6 officers. They told me I had to blame myself of killing the officer, they told me ´or else we will take you to prison´".

Attorney Gonzalez Celestino also explained the officer´s wife is under custody in the Tijuana Penitentiary along a man identifier as "her lover".

He continued: "The cop´s wife confessed she ordered his murder, she told her lover she would collect three different insurance policies, each worth one million pesos(about 80 thousand USD each). The Judge ruled the officer´s wife told him her lover had sent someone to kill her husband, so there were no elements to charge Hernandez Flores with the homicide.

The Seventh Penal Judge signed the young man´s freedom at 1:27 PM and he was set free from Tijuana´s penitentiary minutes after 9 PM. Now a free man, Hernandez Flores will file a criminal complaint against the agents who arrested him for the crimes of abusing authority, false statements, illegal liberty deprivation, major injuries and coalition of public officials against him.

In doing so his lawyer seeks "For the Public Ministry to arrest the police agents and the municipal judge who ruled the young man had committed the crime and took him to the Public Ministry Agency". According to the lawyer, officers Pablo Quiroz Hernandez and Julio Cesar Oliva Rangel, who used patrol car number 4613, signed the report against his client.

The Municipal Judge who ordered for Hernandez Flores to be transferred for custody under the Public Ministry is Martin Armenta, even thou the young mentiones he was never taken to any Municipal Judge in the three hours he remained under Municipal Police custody.

Hernandez Flores said he didn´t knew the murdered officer or ever being in his home. "If I din´t do it(blame himself), it was going to get ugly for me" The young man said regarding the threats he received by the officers.

After three days in prison and being designated as officer´s Jauregui killer by both mayor Jorge Astiazaran(PRI) himself and the Municipal Public Safety Agency, Hugo Alfonzo Hernandez Flores will "take some time to calm myself down and quit doing stuff, going out to the streets. I´ll be with my family".

Criminal Investigation 316/2015, created after officer Jauregui´s murder is still under development.

The video above shows the moment local police officers get Hernandez Flores out of a patrol truck and deliver him to the Police Precint where, according to Hernandez was tortured with punches and electical discharges.

SOURCE: ZETA Tijuana AFN Tijuana

Brothers of El Mono from CAF arrested...Again.

Posted: 24 May 2015 02:38 AM PDT

Borderland Beat


Two brothers and a employee of the late Luis Manuel Toscano Rodriguez aka El Mono were arrested in the early hours of this past Friday in Zona Norte, Tijuana while in possession of weapons and drugs. The arrest was done by members of the Mexican Army and agents of the State Preventive Police.

The brothers were identified as Manuel Rafael and Roberto Carlos Toscano Rodriguez known as "Los Cuates"(The twins), they were arrested along Daniel Eduardo Tapia Lopez who according to available information is currently in the most wanted list; they were in possession of guns, assault rifles, ammo and drugs.

"Los Cuates", members of the Arellano Felix Cartel (CAF), were in charge of retail drug sales in Zona Norte, and apparently they are involved in the recent violence hitting the city.

The detainees were carrying bulletproof vests, two AR-15 rifles, a Russian built AK-47 and another gun known as "Baby Block"(Tijuano: I guess they meant Baby Glock), they also had marijuana and crystal meth with them.


According to the State Public Safety Agency (SSPE), "Los Cuates" are brothers of El Mono, however unofficial reports claim they are instead cousins of the former criminal leader of Zona Norte.

Roberto Carlos was previously arrested on July 14th, 2014 when he was driving a Honda Accord without license plates in the Lomas Virreyes neighborhood while in possession of several weapons.


El Mono and his alleged bodyguard Esaul Sahagun Pelayo(Tijuano: At least according to official reports, but He is believed to be their contact with the Arellano Felix clan instead), died on April 9th after being attacked at a taco stand outside of the Tijuana State Court.

(Tijuano´s note: Even thou I still believe both twins still were somehow connected to the remnants of the Tijuana Cartel, there are/were rumours floating around of "the cousins of El Mono" betraying him and "giving him" to El Aquiles crew, just like it was mentioned on AFN´s story which you can read by clicking HERE. This of course could just be a false rumour spread by their rivals to create internal conflicts but it was worth mentioning)


SOURCES AFN Tijuana ZETA Tijuana

Part one: "The Miracle of Juárez", Sinaloa vs Juárez Cartel

Posted: 23 May 2015 02:29 PM PDT

Lucio R. Borderland Beat-Posted by Texan24 republished from Animal Politico


A red jeep dodged the heavy morning traffic, speeding as much as possible down Technological Avenue, the major thoroughfare in the golden zone of Ciudad Juarez, where  the US consulate is located, as well as shopping centers and the city's most exclusive residences.

A Chevrolet Cavalier sedan was in pursuit of  the Jeep.  On board were two gunmen with powerful automatic weapons. After half a kilometer, the jeep crashed into a metal fence near a federal court in Ciudad Juarez. 

Dead in the front seats were Gilberto López Mendoza and Omar Antonio Ochoa, 39 and 37, respectively, both drug traffickers.

 Venezuelan stripper 23, Gabriela Figueroa, lay dead on the rear floor of the car, where she apparently tried to hide. The murderers were sharpshooters. Only 11 bullets were necessary to kill the three victims from a moving car.

It was the morning of October 23, 2014, and Juarez was horrified.

Just two weeks later, not far from the crime scene, the Governor of Chihuahua, Cesar Duarte, gave his approval for a meeting of officials and civic leaders from 15 Mexican cities. These officials, like others before, visited the border city to learn how peace was achieved, in a place that at one time was the world's capital of crime, where drug-related violence killed 11 thousand people in just four years. 

Governor Duarte said he was proud that other cities would replicate the experience of Juarez, whose focus was to clean up corruption in the police force. 

Duarte insisted that all the police forces of their city are now  free of corruption.

"We face the challenge," he told the audience. "There must be a few who think they can get away with it, but with good intelligence work, we will stop them."

The miracle of Juarez?

Between 2008 and 2012, a war between the Juarez and Sinaloa cartels, resulted in massive bloodshed in the streets of the city.

The recruitment of members of the police forces as combatants in the criminal battle,  aggravated the situation. 

In 2010, the homicide rate reached 300 per month. At that time, a rare coalition was created to save the city:

Leaders of civil organizations and businessmen, a senior police chief to be hired from the city of Tijuana, five billion dollars that the Federal Government invested and protected witnesses working for the US Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA, its acronym in English), together they quashed criminal violence in Juarez and cleaned the municipal police and state police.

Mexico claimed victory

But the enticement of the billion dollar drug trade is back and presents a new reality that could truncate the optimism expressed by the Governor Duarte and others have declared that peace has come to this city.


In the past year, the Juarez cartel appears to have defeated the Sinaloa group, and is being restructured with new criminal leaders who seek to restore corrupt connections by the local police a state  intelligence officer confirmed.

The bone of contention are the routes of drug trafficking located throughout the farm belt of the Juarez Valley "Valle de Juarez" parallel to the Rio Grande area.

After the terrorist attacks in New York September 11, 2001, the U.S. mandated stringent changes in border entries and beefed up federal forces along the south border. Trafficking through the Juarez-El Paso border came to a standstill.

The Juarez cartel created makeshift traffic routes on the outskirts of the city, and the Juarez Valley became critical. During the battle for the city, several parallel struggles took place in the territorial strip. 

Eventually in 2010, the Sinaloa cartel took control of these multi-paths, allegedly with the support of military forces. 

This is the territory that the Juarez cartel has regained, according to intelligence reports. 
"Chuyin", leader of La Linea with family 
The murder last October in the Golden Zone was the beginning of a wave of violence related to control of the drug routes. Since then, Juarez has seen a series of murders and shootings that show how La Linea -the armed wing of the Juarez cartel- has returned to the streets of the city.


Ochoa, one of the victims found in the red Jeep, operated a chain of strip nightclubs, including the "El Museo Bar" where the Venezuelan stripper worked. The business ensured strong police protection.


Apparently, he was linked to the Sinaloa cartel, and his murder was ordered by Jesus Salas Aguayo - 
aka "the Chuyin" - the new leader of La Linea, to send a warning/message to the police working with the Sinaloa cartel.

Aguayo Salas was arrested in late April 2015, but that does not mean that the takeover of territory by the Juarez cartel is over. 

Four of his followers were on point to take the lead.
 
Vicente Carrillo Fuentes 
Case study

For Mexico, Juarez may be a case study, not a complete victory. The apparent resurgence of La Linea can mean that recent murders is a return to business as usual, although the cartel boss Vicente Carrillo Fuentes-alias "Viceroy" - was arrested by police Federal last October. 

According to various sources, Carrillo, despite remain the designated leader of the cartel, was away from the daily operations of the criminal group.

Juarez observers have long contended that big part of the problem, is that the authorities concentrated its target when ending violence,  rather than disbanding drug trafficking organizations.

"The intention of the current government is to protect public safety and control crime, but does not put an end to drug trafficking," said Tony Payan, director of the Mexican Center at the James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy at University Rice. 

The analyst Eduardo Guerrero says the factor of success in the fight against organized crime is dynamic. "We can dismantle them for a while, but if you do not keep your eye on the situation, things can revert and then we are talking about a failure. For example, a corrupt police force can re-emerge."Guerrero said.

The Juarez cartel has deep roots in the city, and it was anticipated that the heads of the organization
would attempt a retake of power. Meanwhile, the arrest of Sinaloa leader Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman last year, left his men in the Juarez Valley, tentative, without good direction.

Other leaders of the Sinaloa cartel, as Ismael Zambada Garcia, alias "El Mayo Zambada" sent new troops known as "Emes" for the letter M of Mayo, to fight La Linea.  

But if the Juarez cartel has regained some territories it is thanks to key lieutenants within the territory of Juarez who worked for Sinaloa but have switched allegiances and joined La Linea, intelligence sources say. 

Similarly, although the alliance between La Linea and the Mexican gang known as Barrio Azteca gang fractured, there are reports that La Linea is working with members of other U.S. gangs.

The Aztecs still control parts of the city and street crime in several working class neighborhoods where they recruit young people at risk.

Two other gangs that were at one time partner of Sinaloa, Los AA's and  los Mexicles, still have some influence in local neighborhoods but do not work for the cartels.

Three years have passed since the violence subsided and the homicide rate dropped from 300 to 30 per month. 

In fact, in March and April 2015, the number of homicides in the city was at the lowest point since 2005. But analysts say the situation may change because the judicial system was too lax with some of the criminals.

Between 2010 and 2012, US authorities sent leaders of La Linea and Barrio Azteca to prison for life.

In Mexico, the murderers of 11 youngsters and four adults in the neighborhood of Salvacar also received long sentences. But many other gang members received short sentences. Some are free, or soon will be.
Reyes Gamboa
One is Saulo Reyes Gamboa, who according to the DEA, until 2007 was the man who handled the money for the Juarez cartel.  (the former police chief received only 8 years in U.S. Federal Prison)

Head of the municipal police between 2004 and 2007, Reyes Gamboa ended up in jail in 2008, when he tried to bribe a US customs officer to assist him in smuggling truckloads of marijuana through the international bridges of El Paso . 

Gamboa recently emerged from a minimum security prison after serving seven years in prison.

Total cooperation

Bribing the police is not sufficient for a criminal group thrive. But when the criminal group hires a police chief that increases the chances of striking  gold. 

Between 2007 and 2011 in Ciudad Juarez, the ministerial police-the research arm of the state Attorney worked under the orders of Jose Antonio Acosta Hernandez, alias "El Diego" a former commander of police operations, who became chief of operations for the Juarez cartel.
 
El Diego
Since its inception in the 90s, the Juarez cartel used successful bribery of police chiefs to operate freely. But when El Diego climbed to the pinnacle of the cartel, he created an inseparable and crucial alliance between the cartel and police units.

These police units operated in some cases, fully for the criminal group. Diego and his men protected local and international drug transport networks in Juarez, one of the most important transshipment points on the border of US and Mexico. 

It was a key moment in which the supremacy of the Juarez cartel. 

end of part one

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