End of The Colombo and Bonano Families?

[mayugastank]

Italians arent the strongest simply because their are a lack of italians. Most of the structure of all the OC groups in the states have tried to mimick ( poorly ) the LCN structure. The only other group who has had goverment investigation at that level has been the Black Panter Party . The goverment and a lack of italians has crumbled the LCN. 20 years ago the most powerful group worldwide was the LCN in NYC. Literally hundreds upon hundreds of investigations has led to thousands of arrests-associates -made members. Could any group have withstood that and stil been viable? hell no. Shoot check out how the USA decimated the taliban. Without the killings and warfare the legal assault against LCN has been the same. Theyve used trickery and questionable means to finish the LCN. I mean -look at how they squeeze gambling cases to give a person 20 years in order to make them flip/

Dont discount the italians because they have paved the way for every group of every ethnicity. Their the teachers and their experience surpasses any group by hundreds of years.

[RDRIGN]

Investigative Reporter May 1, 2008 8:00 PM PDT

The overwhelming influence and power of the Mexican Drug Cartels who are the

Mexican drug trafficking organizations and criminal gangs operating in Mexico and the United States.

They have emerged in recent years as the most dangerous and politically influential drug traffickers in the western hemisphere if not the world. The Mexican cartels have existed for some time, they have become increasingly powerful with the demise of the Medellin and Cali cartels in Colombia and have now come to dominate the U.S. illicit

drug market and other criminal enterprises.

According to the National Drug Intelligence Center, Mexican cartels are “the

predominant smugglers, transporters, and wholesale distributors of cocaine, marijuana,

methamphetamine, and Mexico-produced heroin in the United States” and “are

expanding their control over the distribution of these drugs in areas controlled by

Colombian and Dominican criminal groups, and now believed to include all of the U.S.A..

In addition to drug trafficking, cartels have been tied to illegal alien, terrorist, arms smuggling and

those proceeds are subsequently laundered through seemingly legitimate local

businesses.

.

The cartels through the criminal gangs who work for them have been involved in kidnappings and

military style training camps, some reported to be along the border with the U.S.

FBI Director Robert Mueller described U.S. based-gangs as “more

organized, more violent, and more widespread than ever.” The Department of Justice

estimates there are approximately 30,000 gangs with more than 800,000 members in the

U.S. Mueller believes these violent gangs pose a growing threat to the safety and

security of Americans.

As this reporter has documented Mexican Drug cartels are ordering decapitations of cartel enemies, including federal, state and city police officers. Many of these victims were blind folded and hooded before they shoot them.

Other types of violence to murder victims were: Physical beating, torture, or body dumped on

street or lot torture involving beating, tooth removal, appendage removal, death by torture, strangulation, single shot to head and/or multiple shots to head and body.

Other tactics were same as above with head and/or face fully or partially wrapped with duct tape or other head wrappings or blind folds. Bodies often disposed of by the alternate “Pozole” method. The pozole is where they stuff the body sometime still alive into a 55 gallon barrel and pour gas, battery acid and other corrosive terrible chemicals. The theory being that they think it makes the body easer to dispose of and makes what may remain very difficult to identify later by authorities.

Many were beheaded with or without written messages on bodies or in vehicles.

The cartels’ methods of torture and killing are particularly brutal. On September 6, 2006,

masked gunmen entered a nightclub in the Michoacan, fired guns in the air and rolled

five severed human heads onto the dance floor. The gunmen left a sign among the

severed heads that read:

“The family doesn’t kill for money. It doesn’t kill women. It doesn’t kill innocent

people, only those who deserve to die. Know that this is divine justice.”

Alarming Sensitive U.S. Government Report on Mexican Violence

By using these horrible and terrifying tactics the Cartels are sending a chilling message to the Mexican President Felipe Calderon Administration by adopting methods of intimidation made notorious by Middle Eastern terrorist groups.

Dozens of people have been decapitated in Mexico so far this year, with heads stuck on fence posts, found in trash bags and heads being tossed onto a nightclub dance floor for all to see.

Dozens of U.S. citizens have been kidnapped, held hostage and killed by their captors in Mexico and many cases remain unsolved. Moreover, new cases of disappearances and kidnap-for-ransom continue to be reported yet no high level warning has been issued to protect Americans against this world class violence. Many kidnapped victims where held in deplorable jail like metal cages in so called safe houses.

U.S. intelligence officials report that human smuggling has become another

component of the drug cartels’ business. This fact is of particular import in a post 9/11

environment and at a time in history when the United States is more concerned than ever

about securing its borders.

Americans Being Kidnapped, Held and killed in Mexico

Mexican cartels have also increased their relationships with prison and street gangs in the

United States to facilitate trafficking drugs, murders and kidnappings within the United States. For example, gangs

including the Latin Kings and Mara Salvatrucha (MS13), El Paso’s Barrio Azteca gang and many others know and unknown.

Federal authorities point to the Mexican drug cartels who are ultimately responsible for border violence by having cemented ties to street and prison gangs like Barrio Azteca on the U.S. side. Azteca and other U.S. gangs retail drugs that they get from Mexican cartels and Mexican gangs. Mexican gangs run their own distribution networks in the United States, and they produce most of the methamphetamine used north of the border. They have even bypassed the Colombians several times to buy cocaine directly from producers in Bolivia, Peru and even Afghanistan. These same gangs often work as cartel surrogates or enforcers on the U.S. side of the border. Intelligence suggests Los Zetas have hired members of various gangs at different times including, El Paso gang Barrio Azteca, Mexican Mafia, Texas Syndicate, MS-13, and Hermanos Pistoleros Latinos to further their criminal endeavors.

Many members of violent street gangs are actively involved in other crimes such as rape,

robbery, and murder. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has found that

approximately half of the apprehended gang members have violent criminal histories,

with arrests and convictions for crimes such as robbery, assault, rape and murder. This

figure includes only those whose criminal histories are known. Approximately 90

percent of U.S. MS-13 members are foreign-born illegal aliens and depend upon the

Texas-Mexico border smuggling corridor to support their criminal operations. MS-13

members are involved in a variety of other types of criminal activity, including rape,

murder, and extortion.

FBI Director Robert Mueller described U.S. based-gangs as “more

organized, more violent, and more widespread than ever.” The Department of Justice

estimates there are approximately 30,000 gangs with more than 800,000 members in the

U.S.

Dangerous Mexican Cartel Gangs

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration reports that the Mexican drug syndicates

operating today along our Nation’s border are far more sophisticated and

dangerous than any of the other organized criminal groups in America’s law enforcement

history. Indeed, these powerful drug cartels, and the human smuggling networks and

gangs they leverage, have immense control over the routes into the United States and

continue to pose formidable challenges to our efforts to secure our border.

According to the late El Paso County Sheriff Leo Samaniego, drug cartels operating along the

southwestern U.S. border are a “country unto themselves” with intelligence capabilities,

weaponry and communications equipment that challenges the Border Patrol and local law

enforcement. Sheriff Samaniego advised his deputies to “back off” when they see well

armed individuals from cartels and other criminal organizations.

Many of these sophisticated networks include placing spotters with high-powered binoculars

and encrypted radios along smuggling routes to guide smugglers past Border Patrol and other

law enforcement agencies operating along the border. A Library of Congress report on

Criminal and Terrorist Activity in Mexico describes how smugglers carry on a

“technological arms race” with CBP and ICE.

Webb County, Texas Sheriff Rick Flores indicated that he is disturbed by the level of

resources the cartels and criminal organizations possess and utilize against local law

enforcement noting that the cartels utilize rocket propelled grenades…automatic assault

weapons, and “level four” body armor and Kevlar helmets similar to what the U.S.

military uses. Some local officials are taking steps to protect their officers from these

weapons. The Sheriff for Hidalgo County, Texas Sheriff has prohibited the deputies in

his department from patrolling along the banks of the Rio Grande River because of the

threat of violence from the cartels.

Along the U.S. Mexican border, drug cartels as organized criminal groups have

established a robust presence in key strategic areas from Brownsville to San Diego

it includes dozens of Ports of Entry, and has major interstate highway connections to

all parts of the country. Thereby providing the organized crime groups with access to

all of the America’s. These smuggling routes start in South America through Panama,

Honderous, Guatemala and Mexico and then extend from border to border ocean to

ocean and points north all the way to Alaska.

Federal authorities point to the Mexican drug cartels who are ultimately responsible for

border violence by having cemented these ties to street and prison gangs like Barrio Azteca

on the U.S. side. Azteca and other U.S. gangs retail drugs that they get from Mexican cartels

and Mexican gangs. Mexican gangs run their own distribution networks in the United States,

and they produce most of the methamphetamine used north of the border. They have even

bypassed the Colombians several times to buy cocaine directly from producers in Bolivia,

Peru and even Afghanistan. These same gangs often work as cartel surrogates or enforcers

on the U.S. side of the border. Intelligence suggests Los Zetas have hired members of

various gangs at different times including, El Paso gang Barrio Azteca, Mexican Mafia,

Texas Syndicate, MS-13, and Hermanos Pistoleros Latinos to further their criminal endeavors.

Dangerous Mexican Cartel Gangs

The South Texas region alone covers approximately 625 miles of border territory – a total area

of 20,963 square miles and borders three separate Mexican States. Inside the territory are

11 Ports of Entry that include 15 international bridges. Directly across the cities of

Brownsville, McAllen, Laredo and El Paso are major Mexican cities, each with a population

between 600,000 and 1,500,000. Trains from Central America and Mexico en route to the

U.S. border with McAllen, Brownsville and El Paso host interstate highways and thoroughfares

to all points north. These trains, usually 90 to 160 cars in length, traveling from Central

America through Mexico are one mode of transportation criminal enterprises use to

enter the United States with their illegal contraband human and otherwise. Each year thousands

of illegal aliens cling to the sides and tops of the rail cars for the journey to the north.

The El Paso-Juarez corridor in west Texas also serves as the gateway for drugs destined

to major metropolitan areas in the United States. Mexican drug cartels transport

significant quantities of methamphetamine, and Mexico-produced heroin, marijuana, and

imported cocaine through the El Paso Port of Entry using major east/west and north/south

interstate highways. As stated earlier these highways provide the Mexican cartels with

transportation routes for drug distribution throughout the United States. Drug cartels also

obtain warehouses in El Paso and near by areas for stash locations and run ads in newspapers

and on the internet to recruit drivers from the local area to transport the drugs to various

destinations throughout the United States.

According to the feds the Alpine area is largely rural and sparsely populated, encompassing

the Big Bend corridor, a transshipment route for drugs entering the United States from Northeast

Mexico. The drug cartels maintain command and control elements to the north in the

Midland-Odessa area and in the border towns to the south in Presidio and Redford.

The Laredo Port of Entry is the 2nd busiest and 2nd most heavily traversed land Port of Entry on

the Southwest border excluding El Paso/Juarez ports of entry. The Laredo port handles

approximately 6,000 commercial vehicles a day. Forty percent of all Mexican exports cross

into Laredo, Texas, where Interstate 35 connects directly to Dallas, and from there throughout

the United States.

U.S. Border Patrol Chief John Montoya describes this Port of Entry as one of “the key ingress

into the United States.”

“It’s called a gateway city, not only into Mexico but into the United States as well.” The

very conditions that make the Laredo Port of Entry so attractive to legitimate commerce

also make the city ideal for the illicit drug and human smuggling trade.

Cartels waging violent turf battle over Control of these key smuggling corridors

from Nuevo Laredo, to San Diego. The neighboring cities on the Mexico side of the border,

are the most important launching point for illegal contraband entering the United States.

These twin cities all along our border with Mexico are where much of the violence and drug

cartel activity is taking place. The violence is due to the fact that the major drug cartels are

currently battling for control over this highly coveted corridors into the United States known as a

“plaza.”

The plaza proceeds through major cities with large highway systems where aliens, terrorist

and drugs can be staged prior to movement to other parts of the United States. Control of

this corridor translates into control of all illegal smuggling.

All criminal organizations that want to smuggle through these established safe passages

into the United States is required to pay a tax to the cartel that controls the plaza.

The Sinaloa cartel began to contest the Gulf Cartel’s domination of the coveted southwest

Texas corridor following the arrest of Gulf Cartel leader Osiel Cardenas in March 2003.

While in prison, Arellano Felix, head of the Tijuana cartel, and Cardenas forged an alliance

against the Sinaloa and its ally the Juarez cartel. As a result, the cartels are now largely aligned

into two blocks, some which support the Gulf Cartel and others which support the

Sinaloa Cartel. It is these two blocks that are involved in the massive and violent turf

wars which are currently being carried out in northern Mexico

To protect and expand their criminal operations, Mexican drug cartels maintain highly

developed intelligence networks on both sides of the border and have hired private armies

to carry out enforcement measures. For example, the Gulf Cartel leader Cardenas

employs a group of former elite military soldiers known as “Los Zetas.” The Zetas are

unique among drug enforcer gangs in that they operate as “a private army under the

orders of Cardenas’ Gulf Cartel, the first time a drug lord has had his own

paramilitary.” The Zetas have been instrumental in the Gulf Cartel’s domination of the

drug trade in much of Mexico and have fought to maintain the cartel’s influence in northern cities

following the arrest of Cardenas. The Zetas’ activities are not limited to defending the

Gulf Cartel’s terrain in northern Mexico. The paramilitary force is also believed to

control trafficking routes along the eastern half of the U.S.-Mexico border and perhaps others

as well.

The Zetas are believed to be a serious threat to public safety on both sides of the

U.S. Mexican border. They are well-financed and well-equipped and have demonstrated a

willingness to shoot, torture, and kill law enforcement officers, or rival cartel and gang

members on both sides of the border. Federal law enforcement officials deem the Zetas

among the most dangerous criminal enterprises in the Americas.

Reports indicate that while the Zetas were initially comprised of members of the Mexican

military’s Special Forces, they now include Federal, State, and local law enforcement

personnel as well as civilians. Moreover, according to U.S. intelligence officials, Zetas

are recruiting former Guatemalan Special Forces military personnel known as Kaibiles

and members of the notorious cross-border gangs known as Maras, including the violent

Mara Salvatruchas (MS-13).They’re known as “Los Zetas

According to Federal law enforcement officials; these hideous acts was a revenge killing

between warring gangs. Decapitations are becoming quite common in many areas in

Mexico where cartels and gangs battle for control over lucrative smuggling corridors.

Heads are publicly displayed for the purpose of intimidation.

Another brutal means of torture and death is called “guisoe.” This practice involves

putting a person into a 55 gallon drum, usually dead, but not always, and pouring various

flammable liquids over the body and lighting it on fire. A variation on this method is to

place a burning tire around the neck of an individual, burning the victim alive. The

remains are dumped on roadsides as a message to others who would consider crossing the

cartels. The ruthless methods employed by these cartels to torture and kill their

competitors are no different than the techniques used by Al Qa’ida and other terrorist

organizations. This level of brutality is particularly troubling as the cartels are executing

these vicious murders a mere stones-throw from U.S. soil.

Sometimes the violence and intimidation is captured on video. In 2005, a video was

anonymously delivered to the Dallas Morning News showing four men, handcuffed and

badly beaten in front of a backdrop of black plastic, describing to off-camera

interrogators their work as cartel assassins. The men were members of the Zetas. The

video ends when one of the Zetas is shot in the head at point blank range by an off-

camera captor. Law enforcement authorities have never found the body of the murdered

Zeta, nor the other three men, dead or alive.

U.S. law enforcement officials are struck with the resiliency and determination of these

criminals. In the words of one law enforcement official: “They [the Zetas] have the

Texas-Mexico border wired.” For example, in 2005, just six hours after being sworn in

as Nuevo Laredo’s Police Chief, Alejandro Dominguez was killed. He had announced a

crackdown on the cartels. He was shot more than 50 times. During mid-September

2006, a group of 25 individuals in Nuevo Laredo were gathered in a local hotel with visas

to travel to the U.S. for work. The Zetas mistakenly thought the workers were from a

rival cartel and kidnapped and tortured them. The workers were released when the

cartels realized their mistake. U.S. Federal law enforcement authorities said Mexican

police would not respond to the emergency calls for help that were made during the

incident.

The violence has spread to neighboring Mexican States also sharing a border

with the U.S. Nuevo Leon, once thought to be one of the safest States and home to some

of the richest families in Mexico, has seen the murders of three top law enforcement

officials who had spoken out against the drug cartels. During September 2006, two

police chiefs were killed as well as the top crime investigator. In the past two years, six

journalists covering drug trafficking along the border have also been killed.

The Zetas have now become completely entrenched along the U.S. Mexican border and

have grown to more than 1200 with hundreds more in a support network throughout

Mexico.

In an example of the Zeta’s capabilities, a shootout on September 22, 2006 in Nuevo

Laredo between the Zetas and an assassination target lasted approximately 40 minutes.

The shootout included bazookas and grenades and reportedly killed approximately five

Zetas and injured approximately five others.

In response to such aggressive efforts on the part of the Zetas to defend and control parts

of Mexico and its border with the U.S., the Sinaloa cartel established its own heavilyarmed

enforcer gang, “Los Negros.” The group operates in a similar fashion to the Zetas.

Los Negros, attempting to wrest control from the Zetas over the local police in Nuevo

Laredo are believed to be responsible for the rise in violence there. According to

Webb County Sheriff Rick Flores, the warring cartels and the increase in violence

wrought by these paramilitary enforcers have provoked a major cross-border human

exodus from Nuevo Laredo into Laredo, Texas.

Federal, State, and local law enforcement officials are witnessing a growing nexus

between the Mexican drug cartels, illegal alien smuggling rings, and U.S. based gangs.

The human smuggling networks that operate along the Southwest border cannot move

their human cargo through drug cartel controlled corridors without paying a fee.35 The

typical Mexican illegal alien now pays approximately $1,200 to $2,500. For aliens from

countries other than Mexico this price is often considerably higher, and may even be

more alluring for the cartels. Foreign nationals and terrorist are often charged an exorbitantly

higher fee ranging anywhere from $45,000 to $100.000 per person. Indeed, it is estimated

that human smuggling through Mexico into the United States each year puts billions of

dollars into criminal hands.

According to U.S. law enforcement officials, tremendous incentive exists for drug cartels

to diversify their criminal enterprises to include the human smuggling trade. Human

smuggling can be more lucrative than the illicit drug trade and the benefits far outweigh

the risks for the cartels. There are many reasons for this. Law enforcement is dealing

with a different type of commodity – drugs don’t hide themselves as humans are able.

Consequently, smugglers can transport large numbers of illegal aliens across the border at

one time and meet with some success.

Moreover, prosecutions for human smuggling are abysmally low. Typically, groups of

illegal aliens apprehended attempting to cross the border will not identify the smuggler in

the group. For those smugglers that are identified and captured, most are simply returned

to their country of origin. Thus, there is a revolving door for the smugglers. Since it is

unlikely the smuggler will be prosecuted he or she can opt for voluntary removal, face no

criminal penalties and smuggle again. As human smugglers charge anywhere from

$2,000 to $60,000 per alien and face little or no consequences if caught, human

smuggling is a far less risky business endeavor than the drug trade.

Federal law enforcement officials also report that the cartels are not only increasingly

engaged in the human smuggling business, they are also actively coordinating with

existing human smuggling rings, using diversionary tactics to protect their loads. It is

not uncommon for cartels to facilitate the crossing of fifty or more illegal aliens across

the U.S.-Mexico border to divert Border Patrol resources away from an area they plan to

transport large amounts of drugs across.

The criminal organizations are indeed extremely advanced, well-equipped, and highly

adaptable to enforcement measures marshaled against them. In January 2006, ICE

agents, along with ATF agents and Laredo Police Department officers seized an

enormous cache of weapons in Laredo, Texas. Authorities confiscated two completed

improvised explosive devices (IEDs) materials for making thirty-three more, military

style grenades, twenty-six grenade triggers, large quantities of AK-47s and AR-15 assault

rifles, 1,280 pounds of ammunition, silencers, machine gun assembly kits, 300 primers,

bulletproof vests, police scanners, sniper scopes, narcotics and cash. These seizures

clearly illustrate the level of violence along the border, especially in Nuevo Laredo,

Juarez and Tijuana area.

Many in law enforcement believe the manpower, resources, and technology utilized by U.S.

law enforcement needs to be enhanced to combat the highly organized and sophisticated cartels.

These criminal enterprises have seemingly unlimited money to purchase the most advanced

technology and weaponry available. The cartels are able to break the encryptions on both

Border Patrol and sheriffs’ deputies’ radios. Lookouts for the cartels, using military

grade equipment, are positioned at strategic points on the U.S. side of the border to

monitor movements of U.S. law enforcement. In response, the cartels then move their

cargo accordingly. The cartels use automatic assault weapons, bazookas, grenade

launchers and IEDs. In contrast, U.S. Border Patrol agents are issued .40 caliber Beretta

Not all illegal aliens are crossing into the United States to find work. Law enforcement

officials indicate that there are individuals coming across the border who are forced to

leave their home countries because of their criminal activity. These dangerous criminals

are fleeing the law in other countries and seeking refuge in the United States. For

instance, it is known that many of the operatives of cartels in Mexico actually live in the

United States. Information received by several law enforcement agencies indicates these

criminals are living in our communities and that they come to the U.S. to escape the

possibility of apprehension in Mexico.

The Violent Crimes Institute conducted a 12 month in-depth study of illegal immigrants

who committed sex crimes and murders for the time period of January 1999 through

April 2006. This study makes it clear that the U.S. faces a dangerous threat from sexual

predators that cross the U.S. borders illegally.

The Institute analyzed 1,500 cases in depth, including serial rapes, serial murders, sexual

homicides, and child molestation committed by illegal immigrants. Police reports, public

records, interviews with police, and media accounts were all included. Offenders were

located in thirty-six states, with the most of the offenders were located in States with the

highest numbers of illegal immigrants. California was ranked first, followed by Texas,

Arizona, New Jersey, New York, and Florida.

Based on an estimated illegal immigrant population of 12,000,000 and the fact that young

males make up more of this population than the general U.S. population, the Institute

concluded that sex offenders in the illegal immigrant group make up a higher percentage.

ICE reports and public records show sex offenders comprising 2% of illegals

apprehended. Based on this 2% figure, which is conservative, the Institute estimates that

there are approximately 240,000 illegal immigrant sex offenders in the United States.

The study concluded, when applied to ongoing illegal immigration at the borders, these

estimates translate to 93 sex offenders and twelve serial sexual offenders coming across

U.S. borders illegally per day. The 1,500 offenders in this study had a total of 5,999

victims. Each sex offender averaged four victims. This puts the estimate for

victimization numbers around 960,000 for the 88 months examined in this study.

The violence of illegal aliens is not confined to border communities. Residents and law

enforcement in the interior cities are also vulnerable to criminals crossing the border.

The number of aliens other than Mexican (“OTMs”) illegally crossing the border has

grown at an alarming rate over the past several years. Based on U.S. Border Patrol

statistics there were 30,147 OTMs apprehended in FY2003, 44,614 in FY2004, 165,178

in FY2005, and 108,025 in FY2006. 210,027 FY 2007. Most of them were

apprehended along the U.S Southwest border.

The sheer increase of OTMs coming across the border makes it more difficult for Border

Patrol agents to readily identify and process each, thereby increasing the chances that a

potential terrorist could slip through the system. Moreover, there is no concrete

mechanism for determining how many OTMs evade apprehensions and successfully enter

the country illegally.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) pays particular attention to OTMs

apprehended by the Border Patrol who originate from thirty-five nations designated as

“special interest” countries. According to Border Patrol Chief David Aguilar, special

interest countries have been “designated by our intelligence community as countries that

could export individuals that could bring harm to our country in the way of terrorism.”

Though the majority of overall apprehensions made by the Border Patrol occur in the

Tucson sector of Arizona, the Texas border – specifically the McAllen sector – far

outpaces the rest of the country in OTM and Special Interest Alien apprehensions. Since

September 11, 2001, DHS has reported a 501% increase in arrests along the U.S. Mexican

border of Special Interest Aliens.

The data indicates that each year hundreds of illegal aliens from countries known to

harbor terrorists or promote terrorism are routinely encountered and apprehended

attempting to enter the U.S. illegally between Ports of Entry. Just recently, U.S.

intelligence officials report that seven Iraqis were found in Brownsville, Texas in June

2006. In August 2006, an Afghani man was found swimming across the Rio Grande

River in Hidalgo, Texas;104 as recently as October 2006, seven Chinese were

apprehended in the Rio Grande Valley area of Texas.

Items have been found by law enforcement officials along the banks of the Rio Grande

River and inland that indicate possible ties to a terrorist organization or member of

military units of Mexico. A jacket with patches from countries where al Qa’ida is

known to operate was found in Jim Hogg County, Texas by the Border Patrol. The

patches on the jacket show an Arabic military badge with one depicting an airplane flying

over a building and heading towards a tower, and another showing an image of a lion’s

head with wings and a parachute emanating from the animal. The bottom of one patch

read “martyr,” “way to eternal life” or “way to immortality.”

Border Patrol Chief David Aguilar was asked by a reporter from

KGNS television station in Laredo, Texas, about the outcome of the investigation of the

jacket. Chief Aguilar responded that the patches were not from al Qa’ida but from

countries in which al Qa’ida was known to operate.

According to ICE testimony, on September 8, 2004, ICE agents arrested Neeran Zaia and

Basima Sesi. The human smuggling organization headed by Zaia specialized in

smuggling Iraqi, Jordanian, and Syrian Nationals and was responsible for the movement

of more than 200 aliens throughout the investigation. The investigation was initiated

when a confidential informant familiar with the organization reported ongoing smuggling

activities by Zaia, who had been previously convicted of alien smuggling. Investigative

efforts revealed that the aliens were smuggled from the Middle East to staging areas in

Central and South America. Once in these staging areas, the conspirators would arrange

to smuggle the aliens from these sites into the U.S. or its territories.

Members of Hezbollah, the Lebanon-based terrorist organization, have already entered into

the United States across our Southwest border. On March 1, 2005, Mahmoud Youssef

Kourani pleaded guilty to providing material support to Hezbollah. Kourani is an

illegal alien who had been smuggled across the U.S.-Mexico border after bribing a

Mexican consular official in Beirut for a visa to travel to Mexico. Kourani and a Middle

Eastern traveling partner then paid coyotes in Mexico to guide them into the United

States. Kourani established residence among the Lebanese expatriate community in

Dearborn, Michigan and began soliciting funds for Hezbollah terrorists back home in

Lebanon. He is the brother of the Hezbollah chief of military operations in southern

Lebanon.

Salim Boughader Mucharrafille, a café owner in Tijuana, Mexico,

was arrested for illegally smuggling more than two hundred Lebanese illegally into the

United States, including several believed to have terrorist ties to Hezbollah. Robert L.

Boatwright, Assistant Chief Patrol Agent of the El Paso Texas Sector,

reported, “We have apprehended people from countries that support terrorism…they

were thoroughly debriefed and there was a tremendous amount of information collected

from them.”

Statements made by high-ranking Mexican officials prior to and following the September

11, 2001 terrorist attacks indicate that one or more Islamic terrorist organizations has

sought to establish a presence in Mexico. In May 2001, former Mexican National security

adviser and ambassador to the United Nations, Adolfo Aguilar Zinser, reported, that

“Spanish and Islamic terrorist groups are using Mexico as a refuge.”

Federal Bureau of Investigation Director Robert Mueller has confirmed in testimony

“that there are individuals from countries with known al-Qa’ida connections who are

changing their Islamic surnames to Hispanic-sounding names and obtaining false

Hispanic identities, learning to speak Spanish and pretending to be Hispanic

immigrants.

These examples highlight the dangerous intersection between traditional transnational

criminal activities, such as human and drug smuggling, and more ominous threats to

national security. Sheriff Sigifredo Gonzalez summed it up this way: “I dare to say that

at any given time, daytime or nighttime, one can get on a boat and traverse back and forth

between Texas and Mexico and not get caught. If smugglers can bring in tons of

marijuana and cocaine at one time and can smuggle 20 to 30 persons at one time, one can

just imagine how easy it would be to bring in 2 to 3 terrorists or their weapons of mass

destruction across the river and not be detected. Chances of apprehension are very

slim.”

Furthermore, according to senior U.S. military and intelligence officials, Venezuela is

emerging as a potential hub of terrorism in the Western Hemisphere, providing assistance

to Islamic radicals from the Middle East and other terrorists.

General James Hill, commander of U.S. Southern Command, has warned the United

States faces a growing risk from both Middle Eastern terrorists relocating to Latin

America and terror groups originating in the region. General Hill said groups such as

Hezbollah had established bases in Latin America. These groups are taking advantage of

smuggling hotspots, such as the tri-border area of Brazil, Argentina and Paraguay, and

Venezuela’s Margarita Island, to channel funds to terrorist groups around the world.

Venezuela is providing support—including identity documents—that could prove useful

to radical Islamic groups, say some U.S. officials. The Venezuelan government has

issued thousands of cedulas, the equivalent of Social Security cards, to people from

places such as Cuba, Columbia, and Middle Eastern nations that host foreign terrorist

organizations. The U.S. officials believe that the Venezuelan government is issuing the

documents to people who should not be getting them and that some of these cedulas

could be subsequently used to obtain Venezuelan passports and even American visas,

which could allow the holder to elude immigration checks and enter the United States.

Recently, several Pakistanis were apprehended at the U.S.-Mexican border with

fraudulent Venezuelan documents.

“Hugo Chavez, President of Venezuela, has been clearly talking to Iran about uranium,”

said a senior administration official quoted by the Washington Times. Chavez has made

several trips to Iran and voiced solidarity with the country’s hard-line mullahs. He has

hosted Iranian officials in Caracas, endorsed Tehran’s nuclear ambitions and expressed

support for the insurgency in Iraq. The Times reports Venezuela is also talking with

Hamas about sending representatives to Venezuela to raise money for the militant group’s

elected Palestinian government as Chavez seeks to build an anti-U.S. axis that also

includes Fidel Castro’s Cuba. “I am on the offensive,” Chavez said on the al Jazeera

television network, “because attack is the best form of defense. We are waging an

offensive battle….”

Given all that is happening in Chavez’s Venezuela, some American officials regret that

terrorism is seen chiefly as a Middle East problem and that the United States needs to

start looking to protect its southern flank. A U.S. intelligence official expressed concern

that “Counterterrorism issues are not being aggressively pursued in this hemisphere.”

Another intelligence official stated terror suspects held at Guantanamo Bay are not being

interrogated about connections to Latin America. The bottom line, when it comes to

terrorism so close to U.S. shores, says the official, “We don’t even know what we don’t

know.”

Islamic radical groups that support Hamas, Hezbollah and Islamiya Al Gamat are all

active in Mexico and other Latin American countries. These groups generate funds through

money laundering, drug trafficking, and arms deals, making millions of dollars every year

via their multiple illicit activities. These cells reach back to the Middle East and extend

to this hemisphere the sophisticated global support structure of international terrorism.

While threats to our nation from international terrorism are well known, lesser known

threats spawned by narcoterrorism reach deeply into this country.

Federal law enforcement entities estimate they apprehend approximately 10 to 30 percent

of illegal aliens crossing the border. U.S. intelligence officials along the southwest

border, on the other hand, are less optimistic. To be sure, it is unclear how many illegal

aliens of any nationality evade capture by law enforcement each year and succeed in

entering the United States illegally.

One thing, however, is known for certain – hundreds of people from countries known to

harbor terrorists or promote terrorism are caught trying to enter the United States illegally

along the land border, and the massive flow of immigrants and our porous border create

various and abundant opportunities for concealment. Given the ever-present threat posed

by al-Qa’ida and other terrorist organizations show the vulnerability of our borders – the need for immediate

action to enforce our borders could not be more apparent.

The Federal government has taken positive steps to secure its borders, but much more is

needed to combat an increasingly powerful, sophisticated, and violent criminal network

which has been successful in smuggling illegal contraband, human or otherwise, into our

country. The growth of these criminal groups, along the border, and the

potential for terrorists to exploit the vulnerabilities which they create, represents a real

threat to America’s national security.

It is imperative that immediate action be taken to enhance security along our border with Mexico.

Thousands of Mexican soldiers have been sent to the Mexican border cities and towns after many pleas from residents and local politicians. The Mexican troops arrived by troop transport C-130 Hercules aircraft, military transport vehicles, gunship helicopters, troop personal carries, pickups and Humvees with mounted .50-caliber machine guns. These Mexican army and Federal police now operating throughout the border region.



The Mexican soldiers are armed with combat American supplied M-16 fully automatic rifles. This latest action by Mexican President Calderon now places Mexican armed soldiers on the U.S. Border with Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and California.

These Mexican troop movement places more than 30,000 Mexican troops combating the Mexican cartels throughout the country. This operations, carried out by the Mexican army is expected to provoke a violent response from Mexican drug cartels, officials said.

Sources:

Laguna Journal, FBI, DEA, CBP, ICE, ATF, and various Mexican City Police Departments, El Paso County Sheriff’s Dept., National Drug Intelligence Center, U.S. Department of Defense, U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

Related articles:

Mexico cartel gang’s battle on border 15 killed

Mexican Drug cartels using terrorist beheading tactics

Mexican drug cartels and terrorist are recruiting for more fighters to train as soldiers

Border Vulnerable Few U.S. Troops Available To Protect Us.

Why not a Warning for Mexico travel or at least an up-grade to the existing alert?

Nuclear Threat From Mexico

Hundreds being rounded- up and many Arrested in Juarez Mexico

The U.S. placed Mexico under a travel alert As Thousands of Armed Mexican Troops Patrol the Streets of Juarez

U.S. Mexican border Drug War kills more than War on Terror in Afghanistan

[RDRIGN]

Italians arent the strongest simply because their are a lack of italians. Most of the structure of all the OC groups in the states have tried to mimick ( poorly ) the LCN structure. The only other group who has had goverment investigation at that level has been the Black Panter Party . The goverment and a lack of italians has crumbled the LCN. 20 years ago the most powerful group worldwide was the LCN in NYC. Literally hundreds upon hundreds of investigations has led to thousands of arrests-associates -made members. Could any group have withstood that and stil been viable? hell no. Shoot check out how the USA decimated the taliban. Without the killings and warfare the legal assault against LCN has been the same. Theyve used trickery and questionable means to finish the LCN. I mean -look at how they squeeze gambling cases to give a person 20 years in order to make them flip/

Dont discount the italians because they have paved the way for every group of every ethnicity. Their the teachers and their experience surpasses any group by hundreds of years.

The Italians didn't "paved" the way for other organized crime groups and especially the cartels. The Colombians in the 80s and 90s didn't copy the Italians, the cartels have nothing to do with the Italians. The Italians are more of a "close" organizations meaning it's more organized but once you take out the lieutenants and kingpins it weakens a lot and may endanger the organization. The Mexicans are divided into cells withing cells, sure there is a structure but it's less bonded meaning that people can turn against you at any time since it's not a "close" organization but it's a lot harder to take down. The legal assaults against all criminal organizations in the U.S has been as tough as it was for the LCN as it was for La Eme, Nuestra Familia etc. there's no excuse. The LCN is not very different than La Eme, Nuestra Familia, GDs etc....

[mayugastank]

The italians didnt pave the way for columbians? are you kidding me ? what about tranqilandia( a joint venture by all the cartels-what about LA COMMISSIONE...an idea paved by pablo escobar on the theory of the commission an italian mafia idea. what about mexican mafia using the black hand as a symbol a symbol the italians used first

[Faciulina]

They have emerged in recent years as the most dangerous and politically influential drug traffickers in the western hemisphere if not the world

it's simply not true since mexicans are not present in europe, canada and australia markets that are dominated by italian mafia, i said the italian mafia as a whole is the strongest because is present virtually everywhere, mexicans abroad are present in the states only
italian mafia in the states is still the strongest, although lack of italians, tons of indictments and whatever you want, i don't see even today any other group even close to mafia in the states, mexican cartels just supply gangs but they are not so present in the states and they are not involved in any fields except drugs
anyway mexican cartels are sure the second strongest group in the world after italian mafias, all the other combined (triads, yakuza, colombians, russians etc.) are not even close to these two today

[mayugastank]

So I mean if we are going to talk about RACES instead of organizations being the most powerful ---then Afghanistan produces the most heroin-colombia the most cocaine-russia the most cybercrime and weapons dealing-the chinese the biggest counterfeiters.


What a pile of BS. Anyone witha backyard grows heroine in Afghanistan and anyone with a small connect in beijing is able to get their hands on counterfeit louie vutton ---Which doesnt make a farmer a mafia boss nor a chinese purse slanger a member of the triads nor a gang member slanging drugs on hollywood blvd a member of the mexican mafia.

The italians have very structured organizations in place-hundreds of years old. Mafia is an italian word. Its an italian concept. Its as much as part of italian pysche as pizza/lasagna. Mexicans dont have a history yet-in this regard. Its chaos and whoever kills whoever wins. No organization. Its too new in Mexico. What happens in the future is anyones guess. MAybe a mexican mafia exerting power like the EME control of sureno street gangs or maybe not. But with the manpower against and versus Italians in the USA-it shouldnt even be competition. Mexicans number 20 plus million not counting illegals. Italians are so assimilated its hard to tell who is italian and who is just a wannabe. Yet for the hundreds of gangs and thousands of gangmembers they havent been able to create anything like the LCN. WHY?....because the whole mafia concept is still new to mexicans. Italians have had their mafia wars -and the years to figure out what works. The outlast any otehr group by hundreds of years, obviously they are going to have the most connections.

[Faciulina]

The italians have very structured organizations in place-hundreds of years old. Mafia is an italian word. Its an italian concept.

it's more corrept to say it's a sicilian/south italian word and a sicilian/south italian concept

[mayugastank]

The italians have very structured organizations in place-hundreds of years old. Mafia is an italian word. Its an italian concept.

it's more corrept to say it's a sicilian/south italian word and a sicilian/south italian concept

Yes true. I read the LCN wouldnt allow anyone -not sicilian into the mafia till the 1970s.

[thewestside]

The only other group who has had goverment investigation at that level has been the Black Panter Party .

No comparison between the two in terms of the level of government investigation.

Yes true. I read the LCN wouldnt allow anyone -not sicilian into the mafia till the 1970s.

If you're talking about the Italian-American mob, that's certainly not true. Back in the early part of the 20th century, the lines between Siclians, Neopolitans, Calabrians, etc. were more observed in certain families. There were rivalries amongst the Italians themselves, to some extent, based on what part of Italy they were from. But those eventually disappeared for the most part as they all melded into one, more or less. You can go back and see many different mafiosi before the 1970's, including high-ranking ones, that were not Sicilian but who's ancestors were from somewhere else in Italy.

[Faciulina]

the only italian can be accepted in the mafia are sicilian, calabrians, neapolitans and apulians/lucanians, in other words south italians only

[RDRIGN]

So I mean if we are going to talk about RACES instead of organizations being the most powerful ---then Afghanistan produces the most heroin-colombia the most cocaine-russia the most cybercrime and weapons dealing-the chinese the biggest counterfeiters.


What a pile of BS. Anyone witha backyard grows heroine in Afghanistan and anyone with a small connect in beijing is able to get their hands on counterfeit louie vutton ---Which doesnt make a farmer a mafia boss nor a chinese purse slanger a member of the triads nor a gang member slanging drugs on hollywood blvd a member of the mexican mafia.

The italians have very structured organizations in place-hundreds of years old. Mafia is an italian word. Its an italian concept. Its as much as part of italian pysche as pizza/lasagna. Mexicans dont have a history yet-in this regard. Its chaos and whoever kills whoever wins. No organization. Its too new in Mexico. What happens in the future is anyones guess. MAybe a mexican mafia exerting power like the EME control of sureno street gangs or maybe not. But with the manpower against and versus Italians in the USA-it shouldnt even be competition. Mexicans number 20 plus million not counting illegals. Italians are so assimilated its hard to tell who is italian and who is just a wannabe. Yet for the hundreds of gangs and thousands of gangmembers they havent been able to create anything like the LCN. WHY?....because the whole mafia concept is still new to mexicans. Italians have had their mafia wars -and the years to figure out what works. The outlast any otehr group by hundreds of years, obviously they are going to have the most connections.

You don't really have no idea about Mexican Cartels do you?? Nope it's not a killing frenzy, the commanders and sub-commanders of that area are the ones putting the hits on their rivals, if a Cartel soldiers kills without being ordered by their superiors, the Cartel soldier would get killed. Basically no one does anything without the permission of the sub-commanders and commanders ultimately, the commanders also have rankings. For example the right hand of El Chapo, Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada's commanders range from M1-M62 or so the larger the number of the commander the lower the rank he is in the organization basically a commander is the leader of a cartel cell. In other words the Mexican cartels are divided into cells and the cell leaders aka "commanders" and sub-commanders are "made" cartel members in Italian Mafia perspective.

[RDRIGN]

The italians didnt pave the way for columbians? are you kidding me ? what about tranqilandia( a joint venture by all the cartels-what about LA COMMISSIONE...an idea paved by pablo escobar on the theory of the commission an italian mafia idea. what about mexican mafia using the black hand as a symbol a symbol the italians used first

Nope the Italians didn't "paved" the way for the Colombians at all, the Colombians paved their own drug routes for cocaine using their marijuana routes with the help of the Cuban distributors and the tranquilidad never did work very well between Colombian drug cartels. La Commission or Tranquilidad are basically pacts or rules and regulations between criminal organizations and nothing more, the Italians didn't invent the idea of pacts or treaties. I don't know why are you even saying this....

[RDRIGN]

Also La Eme doesn't have complete control of the Surenos gangs, like the Mexican Cartel Commanders have over their gunmen and their associates. There's Sureno on Sureno violence in LA all the time meaning La Eme doesn't have complete control over them, La Eme just taxes the Sureno gangs same with Nuestra Famillia with Nortenos. You don't see gunmen under the same cartel commanders killing each other for stupid reasons like the Surenos, Nortenos and most of the street gangs in the U.S.

[Faciulina]

the cartels are barely organized, the facts they always fight each other and against los zetas and against even mexican army, it means they are in total chaos
when italian mafia in the '80 caused thousands of murders in sicily almost all came from corleonesi groups that escaled the mafia ranks, and against the goverment

[mayugastank]

the cartels are barely organized, the facts they always fight each other and against los zetas and against even mexican army, it means they are in total chaos
when italian mafia in the '80 caused thousands of murders in sicily almost all came from corleonesi groups that escaled the mafia ranks, and against the goverment

So true.Its mayhem and this guy above actually believes their is a structure. Not only that -the whole WAR is under 7 years old-not only that mostof these supposed cartels are run by police or soldiers----thats not a mafia thats corruption. Their isnt hardly any real cartel in Mexico that is over 10 years old. The columbians were at war with eachother for years and it resembles the mexican cartel war. In the columbian war -it was soldiers and police versus other soldiers and police. This isnt no mafia. This is exactly the same behaviour the NYPD and LAPD showed during their corruption trials. Yet we didnt ever label them a mafia. FARC are the major contributors and distributors of cocaine in the world. This suppposed mafia has politicians who are also members of FARC -they routinely -actually more so rat out their rivals drug shipments. Say FARC has a problem with a rival they inform someone in the military police or DEA (columbian version) to go bust said rival. Money runs the industry. Soldiers kill captains-and become the next "MAFIA" boss. Replaced on a daily. These groups arent mafias guy they are what is around the entire world --corrupt people in power. If you want to see the biggest mafia hit Washington DC. Lobbyist -pay congressman thru supposed "endorsements" to lobby for legislation on a certain product or tax. Its the same the world over-these groups in Mexico -arent mafias--YET. What happens when the bloodsheds over is anyones guess. But for now their disorganized crime. Not even comparable to what the broke down LCN is now.

[Faciulina]

What happens when the bloodsheds over is anyones guess.

the mexican cartels probably will disappear in the next years, maybe some paramilitary groups will control the drugs but their power would dismantled i think, it looks like the same scenario it happened in colombia at the end of '80 and beginning of '90 with the police killing the bosses one by one...
anyway who knows? they are a real threat today
nobody will be like the italian mafia even in the future, it was an historic process lasting hundred of years and i don't think a mafia can born and survive in modern times without a secular experience

[RDRIGN]

the cartels are barely organized, the facts they always fight each other and against los zetas and against even mexican army, it means they are in total chaos
when italian mafia in the '80 caused thousands of murders in sicily almost all came from corleonesi groups that escaled the mafia ranks, and against the goverment

So true.Its mayhem and this guy above actually believes their is a structure. Not only that -the whole WAR is under 7 years old-not only that mostof these supposed cartels are run by police or soldiers----thats not a mafia thats corruption. Their isnt hardly any real cartel in Mexico that is over 10 years old. The columbians were at war with eachother for years and it resembles the mexican cartel war. In the columbian war -it was soldiers and police versus other soldiers and police. This isnt no mafia. This is exactly the same behaviour the NYPD and LAPD showed during their corruption trials. Yet we didnt ever label them a mafia. FARC are the major contributors and distributors of cocaine in the world. This suppposed mafia has politicians who are also members of FARC -they routinely -actually more so rat out their rivals drug shipments. Say FARC has a problem with a rival they inform someone in the military police or DEA (columbian version) to go bust said rival. Money runs the industry. Soldiers kill captains-and become the next "MAFIA" boss. Replaced on a daily. These groups arent mafias guy they are what is around the entire world --corrupt people in power. If you want to see the biggest mafia hit Washington DC. Lobbyist -pay congressman thru supposed "endorsements" to lobby for legislation on a certain product or tax. Its the same the world over-these groups in Mexico -arent mafias--YET. What happens when the bloodsheds over is anyones guess. But for now their disorganized crime. Not even comparable to what the broke down LCN is now.

Treasury Announces Sanctions of Mexican Drug Lords
Treasury, Justice, and State Coordinate Efforts to Combat Drug Trafficking

WASHINGTON – As part of an ongoing effort to apply financial measures against narcotics traffickers worldwide, the U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) today designated four drug cartel leaders as Specially Designated Narcotics Traffickers pursuant to the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act (Kingpin Act). The four individuals designated today are leaders of the Gulf Cartel and Los Zetas, groups that are responsible for much of the violence taking place in Mexico today.

"Following on the heels of the President's naming of Los Zetas as a drug kingpin organization in April, we are today targeting sanctions against four drug lords who are senior leaders in Los Zetas and the Gulf Cartel," said OFAC Director Adam J. Szubin. "We remain committed to using all tools at our disposal to assist President Calderon in his courageous efforts against Mexico's deadly narcotics cartels."

OFAC designated the following two individuals, who are leaders of the Gulf Cartel:

* Jorge Eduardo Costilla Sanchez (alias "El Coss")
* Ezequiel Cardenas Guillen (alias "Tony Tormenta")

The following two individuals were also designated and are leaders of Los Zetas:

* Heriberto Lazcano Lazcano (alias "Lazca")
* Miguel Angel Trevino Morales (alias "Cuarenta")

Today's action is the latest in a series of coordinated efforts by the U.S. government to neutralize and dismantle Mexico's violent drug cartels. The Department of Justice, in coordination with the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), has today announced new drug trafficking charges against Miguel Angel Trevino Morales. In June 2009, the Department of Justice charged 19 of the drug cartels' top lieutenants, including Jorge Costilla Sanchez, Ezequiel Cardenas Guillen, Heriberto Lazcano Lazcano, and Miguel Trevino Morales with drug trafficking-related crimes. Today, the State Department announced rewards of up to $5 million each, for information leading to the capture or conviction of 10 Gulf Cartel and Los Zetas leader, including Ezequiel Cardenas Guillen, Heriberto Lazcano Lazcano and Miguel Trevino Morales. The State Department is also offering a $5 million reward for Jorge Costilla Sanchez. In 2008, Jorge Costilla Sanchez, Ezequiel Cardenas Guillen, Heriberto Lazcano Lazcano, and Miguel Trevino Morales were previously charged with drug trafficking crimes in the District of Colombia. Jorge Costilla Sanchez and Ezequiel Cardenas Guillen are also subjects of drug trafficking charges in the Southern District of Texas. The Mexican Attorney General's Office also announced rewards of up to $2.4 million dollars (30,000,000 pesos), per individual, for information leading to their capture.

In 2007, the Gulf Cartel was identified as a significant foreign narcotics trafficker pursuant to the Kingpin Act. The Gulf Cartel is responsible for the smuggling and distribution of significant amounts of cocaine and marijuana to the United States. Jorge Eduardo Costilla Sanchez and Ezequiel Cardenas Guillen direct the Gulf Cartel's trafficking and sale of narcotics and ensure the flow of illicit proceeds earned from the drug trade back to the Gulf Cartel's coffers. Ezequiel Cardenas Guillen is the brother of Osiel Cardenas Guillen, who was identified as a significant foreign narcotics trafficker in 2001. Osiel Cardenas Guillen was extradited from Mexico to the United States in January 2007.

Los Zetas were identified under the Kingpin Act in 2009. Heriberto Lazcano Lazcano and Miguel Angel Trevino Morales, as leaders of Los Zetas, control drug smuggling operations and battle rival cartels trying to expand into Gulf Cartel/Zeta territory. Historically, Los Zetas are considered to be the armed-wing of the Gulf Cartel, but they often operate independently.

Treasury's OFAC is responsible for an ongoing effort under the Kingpin Act to apply financial measures against significant foreign narcotics traffickers worldwide. Since June 2000, more than 475 businesses and individuals associated with 82 drug kingpins have been designated by OFAC. Designation action freezes any assets the designees may have under U.S. jurisdiction and prohibits U.S. persons from conducting transactions or dealings in the property interests of the designated individuals and entities

Penalties for violations of the Kingpin Act range from civil penalties of up to 1.075 million per violation to more severe criminal penalties. Criminal penalties for corporate officers may include up to 30 years in prison and fines of up to $5 million. Criminal fines for corporations may reach $10 million. Other individuals face up to ten years in prison for criminal violation of the Kingpin Act and fines pursuant to Title 18 of the United States Code.
http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=w ... Rw&cad=rja

History

The Gulf Cartel was founded by Juan Nepomuceno Guerra back in the 1970s. Nepomuceno Guerra was a notorious Mexican bootlegger who smuggled whiskey into the United States in the 1930s along the Gulf of Mexico. In the 1970s, he became politically active and began smuggling more contraband into the United States, including marijuana and heroin produced in Mexico. His nephew, Juan Garcia Abrego was born in a ranch called "La Puerta" in Matamoros, Tamaulipas. He began slowly taking over day-to-day operations of what was now being called the Gulf Cartel. García Abrego expanded the business to include the more lucrative cocaine trade throughout the 1980s and 1990s, all with the assistance of the political connections that his uncle had fostered. Juan García Abrego became so powerful that he was placed on the FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitives in 1995. He was the first drug trafficker to ever be placed on that list. García Abrego was captured in 1996 and extradited to the United States. According to Janet Reno, the US Attorney General at the time, Mexican and U.S. officials agreed on the fact that he was an American citizen, born in La Paloma, Texas— although a birth record in the Matamoros Registrar's Office also exists. He is currently serving eleven life terms in a maximum security federal prison in Colorado, U.S.

Following Abrego's 1996 arrest by Mexican authorities and subsequent deportation to the United States, he was replaced by Oscar Malherbe De León, until his arrest a short time later, causing several cartel lieutenants to fight for the leadership. The next in line was Salvador "El Chava" Gómez, however, his leadership was short lived when a lieutenant and friend, Osiel Cárdenas Guillen, assassinated him in 1996. After the coup, Cárdenas became the undisputed leader of the Gulf Cartel.

In 1999, Cárdenas learned that a Gulf Cartel informant was being transported through Matamoros, Tamaulipas, by the FBI and DEA. Cárdenas and his men surrounded the vehicle on a public street and demanded the informant to be released to him. The FBI and DEA agents refused to turn over their informant, but after a tense standoff, they were released. As for Cárdenas, the damage had been done by taking on the U.S. government. The United States placed enormous pressure on the Mexican government to apprehend Cárdenas. Cárdenas was arrested during a gun battle in Matamoros in March 2003. Cárdenas was sent to the Penal de Altiplano(formerly known as "La Palma"), the federal high security prison in Almoloya de Juárez, Estado de México. It is suspected that Cárdenas still ran the Gulf Cartel from his prison cell.

Since the arrest of Cárdenas Guillen, his two partners-Antonio Ezequiel Cardenas Guillen and Jorge Eduardo Costilla Sánchez- took control of the cartel, with the militant wing-Los Zetas-taking a leadership role; the two groups worked together for a few years, but Los Zetas no longer taking orders from Gulf Cartel.

While in prison, the head of the Tijuana Cartel, Arelleno Felix and Gulf Cartel leader Osiel Cardenas, forged an alliance against the Sinaloa Cartel and Juarez Cartel. Since the extradition of Cárdenas Guillen to the U.S., Los Zetas gradually took more control from the Gulf cartel and have made an alliance with the Beltran Leyva Cartel.

n September 17, 2008, United States Attorney General Michael Mukasey announced that 175 alleged Gulf cartel members were arrested in a crackdown on the cartel in the U.S. and in Italy.

In February 2010, Los Zetas engaged in a violent turf war against is former employer/partner, the Gulf Cartel, in the border city of Reynosa, Tamaulipas, rendering some border towns into "ghost towns".

[mayugastank]

Guy there is a significant amount of people in those cartels that are police officers/soldiers/lietenants. A percentage of those photos of LAS ZETAS/ has guys with uniforms on! Another percent are actually wearing police stripes! Another percent have military style haircuts leading me to believe-they are either soldiers or their previous occupation were as soldiers and the photos were taken at their ID process for the mexican military. Its not a mafia its corruption. Take for example-the Irish Republican Army whom at one point were international arms smugglers...would you label them a cartel or mafia? I mean they did kill people. The closest things to an actual mafia -mexicanos have are the prison gangs based on loose examples of LCN. These (nuestra familia-EME-Ts-HmPs) actually resemble what might be considered an OC crime group. Many times they were work hand in hand with the cartels. They were a group of police officers in Los Angelos who did bank robberys/drug shipping/drug trafficking/extortion/murder-they called themselves CRASH-sported tattoos and considered themselves a mafia. They abused the power the populace put on them. Just like teh corrupt mexicans who use police protection to frame their rivals. The list you provided was made by an agency seeking to create a mafia like chart. It gives meaning to a bunch of cops works together. Notice how many of the guys in the photos have uniforms on?...

[mayugastank]

THE HEAD OF THE ZETAS ---A CORRUPT NO GOOD COP PRETENDING TO BE A MAFIOSO.

Lazcano enlisted in the Mexican Army at age 17 and was later incorporated to the Grupo Aeromóvil de Fuerzas Especiales (GAFES), an elite Special Forces group dedicated to fight the war against drug cartels in Mexico. Eventually, drug lord Osiel Cárdenas from the Gulf Cartel, bribed and recruited Lazcano and other 30 Special Forces soldiers as his gunmen or mercenaries, giving rise to Los Zetas gang. Heriberto Lazcano was placed as third in command (Z-3), and after the death of Arturo Guzmán Decena (Z-1) and Rogelio González Pizaña (Z-2), he became the commander.[3] Lazcano's lieutenant is Miguel Treviño Morales.

In February 2010, Lazcano engaged in a violent turf war against his former employer/partner, the Gulf Cartel, in the border city of Reynosa, Tamaulipas,[4][5][6] rendering some border towns to "ghost towns".[7]

[edit] Bounty
Lazcano is wanted by the federal authorities of both the United States and Mexico on multiple murders and drug trafficking charges.[8][9] A $5 million bounty is offered in the U.S.[2][10] and $2 million bounty is offered in Mexico.[11]

[edit] See also

[mayugastank]

zeta 1


You actually respect someone like this and label him organized crime? Hes a no good pig/ a turncoat to the people -who busted his rivals drug shipments/ had people frame his enemies/bribed judges to indict members of the gulfo and routinely provided information to the US DEA. Hes a sorry no good rat -who used his badge to get involved along with the rest of the mexican military into the drug trade. The exact same thing happened in Colombia. The exact same thing is happening in Albania-Afghanistan-Nicaragua-Russia. Goverment types take a bribe/then take out the person who gave them the bribes business. The supposed RUSSIAN mafia-is ex-kgb. The supposed Nicaraguan drug traffickers are sanidinistas( a goverement party) These guys arent mafia. They are parasites. If I was a cop and began dealing drugs/getting my competitors arrested/using goverement contacts to frame and murder my rivals---while claiming to be an outlaw---Id be despicable. Its why no one gives a shit about mexicos drug war. Everyone knows it isnt OC-except you. The taliban is OC. The islamic Jihad is OC. Do they have anything criminal about them? I mean these guys are COPS! These guys are soldiers-politicians. Tehy screw eachother over in a second---they snitch on eachother without thinking. Well then lets label the entire corrupt world of politics a mafia. North Korea -mafia.

There everything any criminal hates. Corrupt/easily bought/lying deceitful/cowards who would sure as hell snitch before EVER doing a stretch. I mean they do it now.

[mayugastank]

Los Zetas is a criminal organization in Mexico dedicated mostly to international illegal drug trade and other organized crime activities. This drug cartel was founded by a group of Mexican Army Special Forces deserters and is now integrated by corrupt ex-federal, state, and local police officers, as well as ex-Kaibiles from Guatemala.
This group of highly trained gunmen was first hired as a private mercenary army for Mexico's Gulf Cartel. Since the arrest of the Gulf Cartel's leader, Osiel Cárdenas Guillen, as well as other events, the two entities became a combined trafficking force, with the Zetas taking a more active leadership role in drug trafficking.[2][3][4][5] Since February 2010 Los Zetas have gone independent and became enemies of its former employer/partner, the Gulf Cartel.

Los Zetas are led by Heriberto "El Lazca" Lazcano and are considered by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) as probably being the most violent paramilitary enforcement group in Mexico.[6][7] Los Zetas have expanded their operations to Italy with the 'Ndrangheta.[8]



The supposed cartel run by pigs/army deserters/rats/snitches/.....who gives a shit ? if anyone cared that cops were killing eachother over !

[RDRIGN]

THE HEAD OF THE ZETAS ---A CORRUPT NO GOOD COP PRETENDING TO BE A MAFIOSO.

Lazcano enlisted in the Mexican Army at age 17 and was later incorporated to the Grupo Aeromóvil de Fuerzas Especiales (GAFES), an elite Special Forces group dedicated to fight the war against drug cartels in Mexico. Eventually, drug lord Osiel Cárdenas from the Gulf Cartel, bribed and recruited Lazcano and other 30 Special Forces soldiers as his gunmen or mercenaries, giving rise to Los Zetas gang. Heriberto Lazcano was placed as third in command (Z-3), and after the death of Arturo Guzmán Decena (Z-1) and Rogelio González Pizaña (Z-2), he became the commander.[3] Lazcano's lieutenant is Miguel Treviño Morales.

In February 2010, Lazcano engaged in a violent turf war against his former employer/partner, the Gulf Cartel, in the border city of Reynosa, Tamaulipas,[4][5][6] rendering some border towns to "ghost towns".[7]

[edit] Bounty
Lazcano is wanted by the federal authorities of both the United States and Mexico on multiple murders and drug trafficking charges.[8][9] A $5 million bounty is offered in the U.S.[2][10] and $2 million bounty is offered in Mexico.[11]

[edit] See also

The original 32 Zetas are ex-GAFES and they were the personal bodyguards and assassins of Osiel Cardenas but since Osiel Cardenas was extradited to the U.S in 2007, they relied less on the Gulf Cartel and became more independent. Every since Los Zetas and Los Rojos(a cell from the Gulf Cartel) kicked Los Cachos(a cell from the Sinaloa Cartel) butt in Nuevo Laredo they grew very fast. Several months ago the Gulf Cartel killed Concord 3(the 3rd in Los Zetas) and since then they became enemies, Los Zetas aren't a hitmen group anymore they grew very fast. If you didn't know that the original 32 Zetas were ex-GAFES than you have no clue in Mexican Cartels and narco culture is more of a paramilitary culture than mafioso culture. I live in Laredo, Texas in the border and I witnessed how Los Zetas and Los Rojos were killing off the Los Cacho's people but I'm from Moterrey and witnessed how the city changed every since Los Zetas and Gulf Cartel started fighting, I have personal experience and I used to rob cars for the Gulf Cartel/Zetas.

[mayugastank]

PARAMILITARY=corrupt politicians and soldiers/the anti-thesis of what a mafia is! Its exactly like columbia.Its dirty -grimy-and full of snitches. These guys live by no rules and its why they are killing women/telling on eachother and killing their own. They dont have a clue what a crime group is. Its like the taliban/IRA/FARC/PLO...all affiliated with the goverment.How could you even label them Organized Crime? They are cops/pigs/senators. They represent everything a true crime organization is against...corruption in goverment and suppressing the free will of people. They prey on crime groups by snitching on them or sending cops to kill them. This isnt no mafia. Theyll end up like the columbians. You said the Russians were the most powerful crime group. What group would that be? The KGB-or the red army? I mean it isnt hard to be a top dawg if your in the very police force that busts your competitors. So essentially your argument says ....an army or police force is an organized crime group. What about the LAPD....do they get credit? or because their American Criminals they dont? The mexican cartels are just as bad. RATS-WEAK ASSES-DISORGANIZED. It takes the goverment of the USA to come up with a chart to give them order. I read that everytime a cartel member gets exported to the USA -he quickly cooperates and tells on his friends. WHY? because he was a rat( cop) to begin with. If from the gate he was interested in money /well then were is the loyalty to organization? oh yeah ! their isnt any. And they dont even try to pretend their is. Its like its always been in 3rd world countries. The politicians -cops-armies-run and enforce the very laws they break. They make sure the people dont get involved in smuggling-because that would take their cash flow away. How is that a mafia? The LCN was started in direct opposition to corrupt goverment. Streetgangs/prison gangs/ were as well. These guys/? why would anyone in Mexico admire them? Give me a badge and teh power of the goverment and I solo can run Los Angelos. Ill bust bust and frame every mexican mafia/crip/blood or independent drug dealer /steal his shit and lock him up. Then Ill rob the people I was sworn to protect and they'll have no one to call...since I am the very PIG they should be calling to protect them. Its the same the world over and its always been -I have a real problem with people labeling any old bunch of crooked cops and politicians a mafia.

[RDRIGN]

zeta 1


You actually respect someone like this and label him organized crime? Hes a no good pig/ a turncoat to the people -who busted his rivals drug shipments/ had people frame his enemies/bribed judges to indict members of the gulfo and routinely provided information to the US DEA. Hes a sorry no good rat -who used his badge to get involved along with the rest of the mexican military into the drug trade. The exact same thing happened in Colombia. The exact same thing is happening in Albania-Afghanistan-Nicaragua-Russia. Goverment types take a bribe/then take out the person who gave them the bribes business. The supposed RUSSIAN mafia-is ex-kgb. The supposed Nicaraguan drug traffickers are sanidinistas( a goverement party) These guys arent mafia. They are parasites. If I was a cop and began dealing drugs/getting my competitors arrested/using goverement contacts to frame and murder my rivals---while claiming to be an outlaw---Id be despicable. Its why no one gives a shit about mexicos drug war. Everyone knows it isnt OC-except you. The taliban is OC. The islamic Jihad is OC. Do they have anything criminal about them? I mean these guys are COPS! These guys are soldiers-politicians. Tehy screw eachother over in a second---they snitch on eachother without thinking. Well then lets label the entire corrupt world of politics a mafia. North Korea -mafia.

There everything any criminal hates. Corrupt/easily bought/lying deceitful/cowards who would sure as hell snitch before EVER doing a stretch. I mean they do it now.

I don't respect no one you're putting words in my mouth, I'm just stating that Gulf Cartel, Sinaloa Cartel, La Familia, Beltran Leyva group, and AFO don't have politicians as their leader or lieutenants, the original 32 Zetas were ex-GAFES meaning they are not soldiers anymore, sure every Cartel have federal police and especially state/local police helping or protecting them but the police aren't the ones pulling the strings. You make it sound like every leader in every cartel is a politician wish isn't true, here is a little background about the cartels in Mexico. Name me one Cartel leader/lieutenant/even commander that is a politician......ex-soldiers aren't politicians.

[Faciulina]

being involved in illegal activities, mostly drugs and not having political targets the cartels could be called organized crime (although not real mafia) in a certain extense, the los zetas i think have political targets so they are just paramilitary groups like the farc in colombia they are not organized crime.
the mafia, mostly in italy, has politicians inside its ranks.

[thewestside]

The Mexican cartels, like the Colombian cartels before them, are very much organized crime. And while narcotics will always be their bread and butter, the Mexicans have expanded into a variety of other activities including human trafficking, arms trafficking, extortion, money laundering, etc. The Zetas started out as hired gunmen for the Gulf Cartel but have since become a full-fledged cartel themselves. And like both the Italians and Colombians before them, the Mexicans have political and police connections. Regarding the Italians, most of their political contacts have not been made Mafia members.

[mayugastank]

Mexican -Colombian caretls organized crime? are we speaking about a certain cartel? or just a race of people per se. Lets just stop teh discussion and name every living breathing country in the 3rd world organized crime. Sandinistas -dam Daniel Noriega would be the mafia boss! C-O-R-R-U-P-T-I-O-N........its everywhere on earth people in goverment ( parasites) use their power to commit the very acts they are "supposed" to enforce. What structure pray me do these corrupt PIGS have? I mean the zetas are PIGS -they took an oath to the people of Mexico to uphold the laws of the country defend it from its enemies and to do it dilegently and faithfully. But when the $$MONEY$$ got good -well that oath didnt sound so sacred anymore. its at the very reason WHY mexican cartel members and colombians more so then any mafia RAT out their accomplices. They were rats to begin with/they were pigs/cops/dirty govenors...paid to look the other way. Till it gets "REAL" ...then lets resort back to playing the rules. This supposed cartel is actually nothing more then a renegade ARMY unit. They are parasites who tried to play gangster to get the dollars. Tehy didnt start out as criminals. They arent robbing from the rich to give to the poor. The were the rich who stole from the poor. This isnt no mafia-these arent guys who fought against a corrupt baseless goverment. This is the goverment. PIGS the whole lot of them. Give me a badge and gun the power of the state and Ill be the biggest "MAFIOSO" in a few months!//.Its the same the world over-people in power taking advantage of their position to do harm and steal from those they are sworn to protect. Lets not label them a mafia. Its an injustice to real gangsters.

[mayugastank]

The state and the justice system

As a military institution, the State is concerned with the allegiance of its subjects as disloyalty is a risk to its national security. Thus arises the law of treason. Criminal acts in general, breaking the peace and treason make up the whole of criminal law enforced by the State as distinguished from the law enforced by private individuals. State justice has taken the place of clan, feudal, merchant and ecclesiastical justice due to its strength, skill and simplicity.



Goverment and its allegiants( people who oath to protect thus goverment its rules and people are called SOLDIERS ( one having pay). In this case paid to protect the rules made by the people to enforce order and uphold law---a very noble idea. Yet the idea goes out the window when the pay is larger. Definition: a shaky person one without firm grounding. Soldiers are paid to protect the political process of voting-laws-constitution ideas on freedom/goverment interference and justice. Being protectors of policys SOLDIERS are in other words part of the political process. Without soldiers to enforce the laws of the people-you have a law with no backing or strength. The dropping of a sacred oath for a sum of money should tell you how well these gangsters would fare under questioning. You do realize that they until taking a pay raise were the very people hunting criminals -locking them up and protecting the laws of society? I read a story where a group of American soldiers stole thousands of artifacts and money from the Iraqi people and US goverment ...but never did I ever see cheerleading them on as revolutionarys or robin hoods or gangsterz. They were known from the start as what they were GREEDY -FREAKING -PARASITES who used the trust of the people to rob them.

[thewestside]

The FBI defines organized crime as any group having some manner of a formalized structure and whose primary objective is to obtain money through illegal activities. Such groups maintain their position through the use of actual or threatened violence, corrupt public officials, graft, or extortion, and generally have a significant impact on the people in their locales, region, or the country as a whole.

Criminal organizations in Colombia, such as the Medellin, Cali, and Norte del Valle Cartels; or in Mexico, such as the Sinaloa, Gulf, and Juarez Cartels, have fit or currently fit the above definition. They have also engaged in the FBI's list of racketeering offenses that are often a part of organized crime, including bribery, money laundering, obstruction of justice, murder for hire, drug trafficking, alien smuggling, etc.
http://www.fbi.gov/hq/cid/orgcrime/glossary.htm

[mayugastank]

The FBI defines organized crime as any group having some manner of a formalized structure and whose primary objective is to obtain money through illegal activities. Such groups maintain their position through the use of actual or threatened violence, corrupt public officials, graft, or extortion, and generally have a significant impact on the people in their locales, region, or the country as a whole.

REALLY? so FARC and the TALIBAN and the IRA and the KGB and the SANDINISTAS.....and the ......on and on and on ALL according to the FBI are OC?-oh! I see a cop -like gallardo-arellano is considered OC although the chap used his ex-military and police contacts to smuggle drugs. How you or anyone considers a majority of these groups "mafia" is beyond me. Instead of corrupting public officials to maintain their position ---they are in most cases corrupt public officials. The Sinaloa cartel has said that the ZETAS they are fighting are police. Which I agree with wholeheartedly. The sinoloa cartel has said that the police routinely bust them -and instead of questioning their members they kill them. So according to the Sinaloa cartel-( whom I tend to believe) the are fighting the poice and goverment. Tell me how does a corrupt Army unit or police squad come to be considered OC?


The label OC is not to be confused with 'mafia" of which these groups mostly have no similarities with. The world over and the history of the world has had people in goverment "PARASITES" abuse their power and the people they are supposed to protect. Its pretty much WHY the mafia was formed. Its pretty much why many gangs were formed. These are the very rats the real criminals are fighting against. To label them PARAMILITARY or CORRUPT COPS is way more dead on then to label them "MAFIA".

[mnjmc]

Some times I think your pathetic self cannot get more delusional. Then you prove me wrong. Mafias do not fight against corrupt governments, mafias/oc groups take advantage of corruption in governments. Why would any OC crime group fight something that benefits them. Mafias/OC crime groups need government corruption to function.

And when you talk about FARC, Taliban, and IRA you fail to mention that their primary objective is to a political/social one. IRA wants an independent Ireland, the Taliban want an Islamic run Afghananistan, and the FARC want a communist form of government in Colombia. The Mexican and Colombian drug cartels don't have a political aim, they are all about money and don't pretend to be about anything else, that's what makes them organized crime.

And I wouldn't speak to much about parasites because if you really think objectively, the traditional Mafia is the very definition of word parasite. When the Italians first started in the US they preyed on their fellow Italians. They extorted the hell out of them for years. Or what about 18st shooting that baby to death by accident when that guy that sold tamales refused to be tax. When the Italian Mafia started out they were too weak and did not have the money bribe important people in government, so they just extorted and robbed their own people. Same thing EME has the street gangs they are in control of do. It was only when the Mafia was making more money and getting more organized that they could take full advantage of the corruption in government. They used governmant corruption, but they never fought it.

Plus the strongest cartel in Mexico is the Sinaloa Cartel, and both it's leaders, Chapo Guzman and Mayo Zambada, never had a government job of any kind. So you can in no way shape or form compare the Sinaloa Cartel to the FARC, TALIBAN, or IRA.

[mayugastank]

Sometimes I believe mexicans like you lack an identity SO much they resort to romanticizing a corrupt -cop run organization like a majority of the cartels. The zetas thru and thru are an extension of the goverment---funded and trained . What pray me-do soldiers of a goverement come to resemble a mafia? MY ASS! Just like the hyped and overblown Russian mafia-full of senators/politicians and ex army and security forces . The mexican cartel is NO DIFFERENT. How do soldiers whom deserted their posts come to be labeled MAFIA? Or how does a man like Miguel Felix Gallardo -an ex member of the Federal Police ( USAs version of the US Marshalls) come to represent a folk hero? So in these very countrys the main line of thought is that corruption has kept most of latin America in their 3rd world status. Yet despite this---a man like Felix-Gallardo somehow comes to represent an outlaw mexican revolutionary.....whom more then likely throughout his career as a PIG ---busted/arrested and used his badge for the very corruption that has kept MExico where its at. Or did this supposed GANGSTER look the other way while a police officer and never bust anyone? The Zetas are in teh simplest terms a TREASONOUS-RENEGADE ARMY UNIT. Nothing more. They have used Las Maras and others for their dirty work simply because NO ONE has ever accused these guys of being smart enough to know that they are canon fodder. The sinoaloa cartel has said thru intermediaries that they arent part and parcel to the corrupt goverement--and that they are fighting this very goverment machine who routinely TRYS to use their power to make sure the only people doing illegal deeds are thus said GOVERMENT. I said taht above--but like always your dumbass comes in here fuming that I would dare question YOUR fantasy or a mexican-narco-romantic gangster. Whom in reality is nothing more then one of a long line and long storied corrupt politician or political spoke who used his badge-his authority given to him by his people-his connections to actually take out any competitors who might resemble a REAL gangster.