Mexican cartel Los Zetas paramilitary surrogates attacked and slaughtered an American in Phoenix Ariz. Police say the attackers were dressed in black military like combat uniforms very similar to known Mexican cartel paramilitary gangs.

Phoenix papers report that 6 Mexicans killed a Phoenix man who was found dead by police in a local neighborhood home riddled with more than 100 bullets. Google or click on: They’re known as “Los Zetas

The WorldNetDaily is reporting that some are calling a Mexican drug cartel hit performed by members of the active Mexican Army.

According to early and sketchy reports a Phoenix Police Special Assignments Units heard shots coming from a nearby neighborhood and began to drive toward the noise Sunday. Detectives said once police gained entry into the home, they found the body of Andrew Williams, 30, shot numerous times, according to Arizona Daily News.

“We have seen an increasing amount of these type of violent crimes in the past five months,” Phoenix Police Sgt. Joel Tranter said. “We want the public to realize that these types of crimes will not be tolerated in Phoenix.”

Former Rep. J.D. Hayworth, R-Ariz., said Tuesday on 550 KFYI-AM that he had acquired an internal memo identifying one of the suspects as a former member of the Mexican military, and he interviewed Mark Spencer of the Phoenix Law Enforcement Association. The men were said to be wielding AR-15 assault weapons and wearing full body armor and black assault gear similar to uniforms worn by military and police tactical teams.

Detectives were alarmed to find more than 100 rounds of ammunition in the bullet-riddled home, along with marijuana and body armor, the Arizona Daily News reported. Just as more investigators appeared on the scene, they saw a suspicious red Chevrolet Tahoe driving through the neighborhood. As the officers gave chase three men jumped from the vehicle and ran, but police run them down and arrested them. Spencer said the men were intending to try and ambush the pursuing officers but had ran out of ammunition.

Daniel Garcia-Saenz, 24, Manual Garcia-Trejom, 25, and Rodolfo Madrigal Lopez, 19, each wore tactical clothing and Kevlar helmets and other weapons were found in the vehicle.

Police believe the hit was drug-related and are looking for three more suspects in the case.

This is but another example that the violence in Mexico has and is spilling over into the states, even through many politicians and even the ambassador to Mexico have said it was not happening. Google or click on: Mexican Drug cartels terror reaches deep into the U.S.

Drug-related violence has been escalating and reportedly is shifting from Mexico to U.S. border states since Mexican President Felipe de Jesus Calderon Hinojosa ordered troops to fight the cartels.

El Universal, a Mexico City-based newspaper, reported 38 people killed in Mexican drug cartels Tuesday, the highest number reported one a single day this year.

Eighteen of the deaths took place in Ciudad Juarez, just across the border from El Paso, Texas, where 2,800 troops have been assigned to fight cartel trafficking and violence.

The newspaper reported more than 1,833 people have been killed in Mexico’s drug trade-related violence this year.

Federal court documents show that the Arrelano Felix Organization (AFO) also known as the Arrelano Felix Family is a criminal enterprise based in Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico. For more than 20 years, the AFO has shipped hundreds of tons of cocaine and marijuana to the United States; laundered hundreds of millions of dollars in drug proceeds; kidnapped, tortured, and murdered numerous persons, including informants and law enforcement personnel; and paid millions of dollars in bribes to government officials. The cartel nearly collapsed in 2002, after Ramon Arrelano Felix was killed by the police, and Brother Benjamin was taken into custody. However, the cartel has since seen resurgence in strength, power, and violence.  And, with the recruiting of U.S. Government agents and others, the cartel continues to be a major player in all organized crime in Baja California.

The remarkable thing about this case is one of the defendants as a high ranking cartel boss of Richard Padilla Cramer a former United States Government agent with ICE, little known fact that has not been brought to the attention of the public by U.S. Authorities in this case.

Duarte was close to, and worked with, Cramer a corrupt U.S. ICE official they conspired as they murdered, or caused others to be murdered, as they invested cash in global drug deals endangering the lives of U.S. and Mexican law enforcement.  Furthering the danger, Cramer sold secret U.S. Government information to Duarte and other Mexican Drug Cartel bosses and to the Mexican Government as ran huge cocaine trafficking operations. Feds reported Cramer joined the cartels full time after he retired from ICE. A former U.S. Government internal affairs agent who wants to remain anonymous told the U.S. Border Fire Report that defendant Armando Martinez-Duarte, was Cramer’s boss and has been for years.  The internal affairs agent claims that it is possible Cramer is acting covertly as a double agent.

 Richard Padilla Cramer, a 26-year veteran of the U.S. anti-drug complex was arrested by DEA agents last month and is behind bars in Florida awaiting the results of a Federal Grand Jury investigation. Cramer was arrested and jailed after U.S. Government officials accused him of directing a massive cocaine shipment to Spain via the United States, and selling important information in law enforcement databases to the vicious Arrelano Felix Mexican Drug Cartel.

Cramer, as a high-ranking U.S. anti-drug official, held front-line posts both in the United States and in Mexico in the War on Drugs. Cramer, sometime later, was investing in drugs and trafficking as a full partner in Mexico’s murderous drug cartels.  According to records made available to this reporter, he led an office of two dozen agents in Arizona and others as the attaché officer for Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Guadalajara, Mexico.  Both Duarte and he, worked with the U.S. Mexican Embassy in Mexico City and U.S. Consulate offices in Guadalajara and other Mexican cities.

United States Attorney, Karen P. Hewitt, announced today that, within the last week, Jesus “Chuy” Labra-Aviles, Efrain Perez, Jorge Arrelano Felix, and Armando Martinez-Duarte pled guilty in United States District Court to charges arising from their leadership of the Arellano-Felix drug trafficking organization (AFO).

The defendants entered their guilty pleas before United States Magistrate Judge Cathy Ann Bencivengo, subject to final acceptance of the plea by United States District Court Judge Larry A. Burns, at the time of sentencing. The details of the defendants’ pleas are not known but here is what we do know:

Jesus “Chuy” Labra-Aviles: On October 15, 2009, Labra-Aviles pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute cocaine and marijuana and agreed to forfeit $1 million. Under the plea agreement, the United States will recommend 40 years of imprisonment. As part of the plea, Labra-Aviles admitted that from the 1980s to 2000, he was a senior partner in the AFO who frequently joined with Benjamin Arellano-Felix and Manuel Aguirre-Galindo to invest in and distribute large shipments of cocaine and marijuana. Labra-Aviles also admitted that he served as an organizer and leader of the AFO and that AFO members paid millions of dollars in bribes to law enforcement officers, government officials, and military officials. Sentencing for Labra- Aviles is set for January 4, 2010, 9:30 a.m., before United States District Judge Larry A. Burns.

Armando Martinez-Duarte: On October 16, 2009, Martinez-Duarte pleaded guilty to conspiring to conduct the affairs of an enterprise through a pattern of racketeering activity. As part of his plea, Martinez- Duarte admitted that from the 1990s to April 2002, he was a federal law enforcement officer in Mexico who was paid by AFO leaders to leak information about AFO investigations, intervene with other law enforcement officers on the AFO’s behalf, escort and protect AFO members and drug shipments, and help place certain individuals in ranking law enforcement positions in areas under AFO control. Sentencing for Martinez- Duarte is set for January 11, 2010, 9:30 a.m., before Judge Burns.

Efrain Perez: On October 19, 2009, Perez pleaded guilty to conducting the affairs of an enterprise through a pattern of racketeering activity and conspiring to invest illicit drug profits. Perez also agreed to forfeit $1 million. Under the plea agreement, the United States will recommend 30 years of imprisonment. Perez admitted that from the 1990s to June 2004, he and Ismael Higuera-Guerrero, the top lieutenant to the Arellano-Felix brothers, were responsible for receiving large drug shipments in Mexico and smuggling them into the United States, coordinating the distribution of drug shipments within the United States, collecting drug proceeds, and policing Tijuana for enemies, suspected informants, and uncooperative government personnel. Perez also admitted AFO members killed numerous persons in furtherance of the enterprise. Sentencing for Perez is February 8, 2010, 9:30 a.m., before Judge Burns.

Jorge Aureliano Felix: On October 21, 2009, Felix pleaded guilty to conducting the affairs of an enterprise through a pattern of racketeering activity and conspiring to invest illicit drug profits. Felix also agreed to forfeit $1 million. Under the plea agreement, the United States will recommend 30 years of imprisonment. Felix admitted that, like Perez, from the 1990s to June 2004, he ranked as a top AFO lieutenant. Sentencing for Felix is set for January 11, 2010, 9:30 a.m., before Judge Burns.

According to federal officials the guilty pleas by Labra-Aviles, Perez, Felix, and Martinez-Duarte bring to eight the number of high-ranking AFO leaders who have been convicted since 2006 in the Southern District of California of federal drug trafficking and racketeering charges.

“These four guilty pleas of top leadership figures in the Arellano-Felix Organization are the product of outstanding investigative and prosecutorial work over more than a decade. In achieving this success, we appreciate the cooperation provided by the Government of Mexico during the extradition process. But our work does not end here. The U.S. Attorney’s Office remains committed to seeking justice against all drug traffickers attempting to exploit the southwest border,” said United States Attorney Karen P. Hewitt.

“With this guilty plea today, all agencies involved in this investigation have dealt a significant blow to the leadership of the Arellano Felix Organization,” said Special Agent in Charge Ralph W. Partridge of the DEA San Diego. “This should send a message to the traffickers that with the outstanding cooperation of the Mexican government, there is no place to hide, they will be brought to justice.”

FBI Special Agent in Charge Keith Slotter commented, “Today’s guilty pleas are a result of thoughtful investigative work and cooperation between law enforcement agencies and we are pleased with the efforts of the prosecutors to see justice brought to these individuals.”

“The plea agreements announced today deal a significant blow to the Arellano-Felix organization and demonstrate law enforcement’s resolve to continue to investigate and prosecute drug trafficking organizations,” said Leslie P. DeMarco, Special Agent in Charge of IRS – Criminal Investigation’s Los Angeles Field Office. “IRS-Criminal Investigation brings in its financial expertise to narcotic investigations to disrupt and dismantle drug trafficking organizations. We specialize in following the money in these illegal operations, enabling increased criminal prosecutions and asset forfeitures.”

Case Number: 97cr2520-LAB

DEFENDANTS:

§                                                                                                                                                    Jesus “Chuy” Labra-Aviles

§                                                                                                                                                    Efrain Perez

§                                                                                                                                                    Jorge Aureliano Felix

§                                                                                                                                                    Armando Martinez-Duarte

SUMMARY OF CHARGES AND PENALTIES

§                                                                                                                                                    Conspiracy to distribute cocaine and marijuana, in violation of Title 21, United States Code, Sections 841 and 846 (punishable by at least five years and up to 40 years in prison and a $2 million fine)

§                                                                                                                                                    Conducting, and conspiring to conduct, the affairs of an enterprise through a pattern of racketeering activity, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1962 (punishable by up to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine or twice the gross profits)

§                                                                                                                                                    Conspiracy to invest illicit drug profits, in violation of Title 21, United States Code, Sections 846 and 854 (punishable by up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine).

AGENCIES

§                                                                                                                                                    Drug Enforcement Administration

§                                                                                                                                                    Federal Bureau of Investigation

§                                                                                                                                                    Internal Revenue Service, Criminal

A list of those cartels pictured in the above map:

-Tijuana Cartel…Run by the Arrelano Felix family. The cartel nearly collapsed in 2002, after Ramon Arrelano Felix was killed by the police, and brother Benjamin was taken into custody. However, the cartel has since seen a resurgence in strength and violence of late, and continues to be a major player in the smuggling of marijuana and cocaine into the U.S.

-Sinaloa Cartel…Infamous for the smuggling of cocaine from Columbia, and heroin from Southeast Asia. They also produce their own brand of heroin. U.S. law enforcement has identified Sinaloa Cartel distribution centers in Arizona, California, Texas, New York, and Chicago.

The Sinaloa Cartel uses the gangs known as MS-13 and the Mexican Mafia to distribute drugs inside the U.S.

-Gulf Cartel…Utilizes an elite paramilitary group known as the Zetas as enforcers. Many of the Zetas were actually trained at U.S. military bases, in an effort by this country to aid the Mexican government in their fight against the cartels. Upon their return to Mexico, they were recruited by the Gulf Cartel, who offered them a much higher salary than did the government.

The Zetas have proven to be ruthless fighters in the cartel´s ongoing war with the Sinaloa Cartel.

The Gulf Cartel boasts of relationships with corrupt officials and is based in Matamoros, Tamaulipas, they also have major operations in the city of Nuevo Laredo and account for the increased violence now being seen there.

-Beltran-Leyva Cartel…Based in Sinaloa, it is a family business with the five Beltran-Leyva brothers: Marcos Arturo, Mario Alberto, Carlos, Alfredo and Héctor. The brothers traffic in cocaine, heroin, and marijuana.

The cartel’s other criminal enterprises include human smuggling, kidnapping, money laundering, and arms trafficking. Beltran-Leyva is in direct competition with the Sinaloa Cartel, a rivalry which has turned the Mexican state of Sinaloa into a war zone.

-La Familia Cartel…Based in the Mexican state of Michoacan formed in 2006, as a splinter group of the Gulf Cartel. The group’s leader Nazario Moreno Gonzalez sees himself as an evangelical figure, and always carries a Bible with him.

In a strange mix of religion and drug trafficking, Gonzalez forbids his employees to use drugs or alcohol. The cartel enjoys an incredibly violent reputation, and actually describes their use of mutilations and beheadings of rival cartel members as “divine justice.”

The La Familia Cartel has become very powerful, very quickly through the use of bribes of both local and national politicians. In addition to drug trafficking, the organization extorts so-called protection money from local businesses.

-Juarez Cartel…Perhaps, the wealthiest of the cartels. According to the U.S. State Department, the Juarez Cartel “controls one of the primary transportation routes for billions of dollars worth of drug shipments entering the United States from Mexico annually.”

The Juarez Cartel has been publicly posting hit lists containing the names of Juarez police officers. Many of those officers have been murdered, and still more have fled the city.

Kidnappings, torture, and shootouts have become a way of life in violence-plagued Juarez. That Mexican city which shares a border with El Paso, TX, has already seen an astounding 3,000 murders since January 2008.

Mexican Drug Cartel orders hit on U.S. soil

By Michael Webster: Syndicated Investigative Reporter. 

EL PASO — A Mexican Drug Cartel member arrested by El Paso police last Monday is accused of hiring a U.S. Army soldier and two juveniles another man to kill Jose Daniel Gonzalez Galeana a Mexican drug cartel lieutenant who was cooperating with U.S. authorities was himself a government informant.

According to court documents Ruben Rodriguez Dorado hired Pfc. Michael Jackson Apodaca, 18, and Christopher Duran, 17, and a un-named 16 year old El Paso juvenile, to assassinate El Paso resident and  U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement  informant Jose Daniel Gonzalez Galeana. The three were arrested Monday and the 16 year old was arrested Wednesday and charged with capital murder in the May 15 slaying of Gonzalez, who was shot eight times outside his upper scale El Paso home with in ear shot of El Paso Police Chief Greg Allen’s  own home .

The chief said he was working in his back yard when he heard multiple gun shoots.  Investigators said Aguayo, also a ranking cartel official in Mexico, ordered and paid for the hit.

Rodriguez, like Gonzalez, was an informant working with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement service, El Paso Police Chief Greg Allen said.

Apodaca adlegedly was the trigger man and is based at Fort Bliss in El Paso where he is a member of the 11th Air Defense Artillery Brigade and performs the duties of a Patriot launcher crew member.

The U.S. Border Fire Report (USBFR) has learned that a warrant has been issued for a fourth man, 33-year-old Jesus Aguayo Salas, on a capital murder charge. The U.S. Border Fire Report has been told by authorities that Salas is believed in Mexico.

Gonzalez was living in El Paso on a visa given to him by ICE, Allen said. He is believed to be the first ranking cartel member killed in the U.S. Anyone with information on Aguayo Salas’ whereabouts is asked to call police at (915) 832-4400 or 911.

Allen had said many times in the past he believed that the violence in Mexico would not spill over into his city. After the hit the police chief was surprised that the feds had not informed his department that the federal government had not only an active Mexican Drug Cartel member smuggling drugs and operating in the El Paso area but that Gonzalez was a high ranking Mexican Drug Cartel supervisor.

Gonzalez was in fact an informant for ICE, Allen said Tuesday. He started working for the agency sometime after fleeing Mexico and trying to cut ties with the cartel in 2008, though investigators believe he resumed his duties as a supervisor for smuggling operations after being confronted by cartel officials.

A high level government law enforcement officer said that the main reason that the local police were not informed of the highly sensitive operation was the El Paso Police Department is known to leak like a sift.

USBFR has been told by Mexican authorities that they were aware of the Gonzalez situation and where briefed by U.S. authorities. Those same authorties indicated that they were surprised to learn that chief  Allen was not kept in the loop.

Apodaca, Duran and Rodriguez were each being held on $1 million bond. Bond on the 16 year has not been set to date and may not be because he is a juvenile. It is believed that El Paso prominent criminal trail lawyer Joseph (Sib) Abraham has been contacted by at least one of the defendants. Attorney  Russell M. Aboud has been retained to represent defendant Rodriguez a known Mexican Drug Cartel member. An attempt to contact both lawyers for comment when unanswered by press time.

El Paso Police told reporters that Apodaca, who is stationed at Fort Bliss, told them he was paid $10,000 cash to kill Gonzalez. Police also said that Duran said he drove the getaway car.

Allen said Apodaca and Duran were paid “quite a robust amount of money . . . under $10,000, or in that area.”

Court records show that the Juarez Mexican Drug Cartel wanted Gonzalez killed because they believed he was a government informant or had changed his allegiance to a rival cartel, and had provided information to authorities that led to the arrest of a more senior cartel member known as “El Tigre”.

Gonzalez’s associates first became suspicious of him after cartel lieutenant Pedro “El Tigre” Aranas Sanchez was arrested in 2008 and a cartel storage facility was raided by Mexican authorities, El Paso police Lt. Alfred Lowe said.

When contacted, ICE spokeswoman Leticia Zamarripa declined to comment on the case.

But recently told A/P as a matter of policy, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) does not confirm or deny identification of confidential sources of information,” she said.

According to an arrest affidavit obtained by USBFR, Rodriguez Dorado provided a statement to police confessing that he planned and organized the murder of Gonzalez Galeana. Rodriguez Dorado allegedly hired three people to commit the murder.

Documents state that two of the murder suspects identified Apodaca as the shooter, and Duran admitted that he drove the getaway vehicle after Jackson Apodaca allegedly shot the victim.

Rodriguez Dorado allegedly admitted he was a mid-level member of the cartel “La Compania” and that he was ordered by the cartel to find Gonzalez Galeana after a Mexican newspaper reported Gonzalez Galeana was an informant.

He tracked down Gonzalez Galeana through license plates and allegedly paid the cell phone bill for the victim in order to try to obtain his address, according to the affidavit.

Just before the murder, Rodriguez Dorado and the other suspects allegedly met at the home of one of the victim’s family members. The defendant also allegedly called a tactical supply store just hours before the murder. The store sells the same brand of ammunition found at the murder scene.

The affidavit states Gonzalez Galeana visited his family member’s residence before the murder. Rodriguez Dorado and the other suspects allegedly followed Gonzalez Galeana to his East El Paso home, where the shooting took place about 10:20 p.m.

Immediately after the shooting, the suspects allegedly scattered then met in another location. Police were able to track down Rodriguez Dorado through a witness and cell phone records.

El Paso police said they are not considering the murder as spillover violence because the hit was not over turf. They said this kind of violence would have happened anywhere. It is drug-cartel related, but “it is strictly drug business as usual.”

Rodriguez Dorado is a U.S. permanent resident and the two teenage suspects are U.S. citizens, police said.

Apodaca’s grandfather told the news media that he doesn’t believe one word of what the authorities are saying about his grandson.

“He is incapable of that…he is incapable,” Dave Jackson said

The 16-year-old boy was arrested Wednesday by El Paso Police and accused of being part of the hired assassin hit squad that killed Jose Daniel Gonzalez Galeana a mid level member of the Juárez drug cartel in May outside his plush El Paso home.

The boy’s arrest was the fourth in the death of Gonzalez-Galeana.

The boy, whose name was not released because he is a juvenile, was charged with capital murder. 

“He was part of a surveillance team that followed (Gonzalez-Galeana) to the East Side for the purpose of him being killed, and (the boy) was paid for his participation,” police spokesman Officer Chris Mears told reporters.

Mears said he could not reveal whether the boy was arrested at a home or a school because that information might lead to his identification. Only the Socorro school district is now in session.

By Michael Webster: Syndicated Investigative Reporter. Oct 22, 2009 at 5:00 PM PDT

Federal court documents show that the Arrelano Felix Organization (AFO) also known as the Arrelano Felix Family is a criminal enterprise based in Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico. For more than 20 years, the AFO has shipped hundreds of tons of cocaine and marijuana to the United States; laundered hundreds of millions of dollars in drug proceeds; kidnapped, tortured, and murdered numerous persons, including informants and law enforcement personnel; and paid millions of dollars in bribes to government officials. The cartel nearly collapsed in 2002, after Ramon Arrelano Felix was killed by the police, and Brother Benjamin was taken into custody. However, the cartel has since seen resurgence in strength, power, and violence.  And, with the recruiting of U.S. Government agents and others, the cartel continues to be a major player in all organized crime in Baja California.

The remarkable thing about this case is one of the defendants is a high ranking current or former United States Government agent with ICE, little known fact that has not been brought to the attention of the public by U.S. Authorities. One high ranking Mexican official pointed out that they (the U.S. Government) may not realize it themselves.
Duarte was close to, and worked with, another corrupt U.S. ICE official Richard Padilla Cramer. ICE officials conspired as they murdered, or caused others to be murdered, as they invested cash in global drug deals endangering the lives of U.S. and Mexican law enforcement.  Furthering the danger, they sold secret U.S. Government information to Mexican Drug Cartels (MDC’s) and to the Mexican Government and ran huge cocaine trafficking operations. Feds reported Cramer joined the cartels full time after he retired from ICE. A former U.S. Government internal affairs agent who wants to remain anonymous told the U.S. Border Fire Report that defendant Armando Martinez-Duarte, was Cramer’s boss at ICE, may still be an employee of ICE and has been for years.  The internal affairs agent claims that it is possible Duarte is acting covertly as a double agent.

Richard Padilla Cramer, a 26-year veteran of the U.S. anti-drug complex was arrested by DEA agents last month and is behind bars in Florida awaiting the results of a Federal Grand Jury investigation. Cramer was arrested and jailed after U.S. Government officials accused him of directing a massive cocaine shipment to Spain via the United States, and selling important information in law enforcement databases to a vicious Mexican Drug Cartel.
Cramer, as a high-ranking U.S. anti-drug official, held front-line posts both in the United States and in Mexico in the War on Drugs. Cramer, sometime later, was investing in drugs and trafficking as a full partner in Mexico’s murderous drug cartels.  According to records made available to this reporter, he led an office of two dozen agents in Arizona and others as the attaché officer for Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Guadalajara, Mexico.  Both Duarte and he, worked with the U.S. Mexican Embassy in Mexico City and U.S. Consulate offices in Guadalajara and other Mexican cities.

United States Attorney, Karen P. Hewitt, announced today that, within the last week, Jesus “Chuy” Labra-Aviles, Efrain Perez, Jorge Arrelano Felix, and Armando Martinez-Duarte pled guilty in United States District Court to charges arising from their leadership of the Arellano-Felix drug trafficking organization (AFO).
The defendants entered their guilty pleas before United States Magistrate Judge Cathy Ann Bencivengo, subject to final acceptance of the plea by United States District Court Judge Larry A. Burns, at the time of sentencing. The details of the defendants’ pleas are not known but here is what we do know:

Jesus “Chuy” Labra-Aviles: On October 15, 2009, Labra-Aviles pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute cocaine and marijuana and agreed to forfeit $1 million. Under the plea agreement, the United States will recommend 40 years of imprisonment. As part of the plea, Labra-Aviles admitted that from the 1980s to 2000, he was a senior partner in the AFO who frequently joined with Benjamin Arellano-Felix and Manuel Aguirre-Galindo to invest in and distribute large shipments of cocaine and marijuana. Labra-Aviles also admitted that he served as an organizer and leader of the AFO and that AFO members paid millions of dollars in bribes to law enforcement officers, government officials, and military officials. Sentencing for Labra- Aviles is set for January 4, 2010, 9:30 a.m., before United States District Judge Larry A. Burns.

Armando Martinez-Duarte: On October 16, 2009, Martinez-Duarte pleaded guilty to conspiring to conduct the affairs of an enterprise through a pattern of racketeering activity. As part of his plea, Martinez- Duarte admitted that from the 1990s to April 2002, he was a federal law enforcement officer in Mexico who was paid by AFO leaders to leak information about AFO investigations, intervene with other law enforcement officers on the AFO’s behalf, escort and protect AFO members and drug shipments, and help place certain individuals in ranking law enforcement positions in areas under AFO control. Sentencing for Martinez- Duarte is set for January 11, 2010, 9:30 a.m., before Judge Burns.

Efrain Perez: On October 19, 2009, Perez pleaded guilty to conducting the affairs of an enterprise through a pattern of racketeering activity and conspiring to invest illicit drug profits. Perez also agreed to forfeit $1 million. Under the plea agreement, the United States will recommend 30 years of imprisonment. Perez admitted that from the 1990s to June 2004, he and Ismael Higuera-Guerrero, the top lieutenant to the Arellano-Felix brothers, were responsible for receiving large drug shipments in Mexico and smuggling them into the United States, coordinating the distribution of drug shipments within the United States, collecting drug proceeds, and policing Tijuana for enemies, suspected informants, and uncooperative government personnel. Perez also admitted AFO members killed numerous persons in furtherance of the enterprise. Sentencing for Perez is February 8, 2010, 9:30 a.m., before Judge Burns.

Jorge Aureliano Felix: On October 21, 2009, Felix pleaded guilty to conducting the affairs of an enterprise through a pattern of racketeering activity and conspiring to invest illicit drug profits. Felix also agreed to forfeit $1 million. Under the plea agreement, the United States will recommend 30 years of imprisonment. Felix admitted that, like Perez, from the 1990s to June 2004, he ranked as a top AFO lieutenant. Sentencing for Felix is set for January 11, 2010, 9:30 a.m., before Judge Burns.

According to federal officials the guilty pleas by Labra-Aviles, Perez, Felix, and Martinez-Duarte bring to eight the number of high-ranking AFO leaders who have been convicted since 2006 in the Southern District of California of federal drug trafficking and racketeering charges.
“These four guilty pleas of top leadership figures in the Arellano-Felix Organization are the product of outstanding investigative and prosecutorial work over more than a decade. In achieving this success, we appreciate the cooperation provided by the Government of Mexico during the extradition process. But our work does not end here. The U.S. Attorney’s Office remains committed to seeking justice against all drug traffickers attempting to exploit the southwest border,” said United States Attorney Karen P. Hewitt.

“With this guilty plea today, all agencies involved in this investigation have dealt a significant blow to the leadership of the Arellano Felix Organization,” said Special Agent in Charge Ralph W. Partridge of the DEA San Diego. “This should send a message to the traffickers that with the outstanding cooperation of the Mexican government, there is no place to hide, they will be brought to justice.”

FBI Special Agent in Charge Keith Slotter commented, “Today’s guilty pleas are a result of thoughtful investigative work and cooperation between law enforcement agencies and we are pleased with the efforts of the prosecutors to see justice brought to these individuals.”

“The plea agreements announced today deal a significant blow to the Arellano-Felix organization and demonstrate law enforcement’s resolve to continue to investigate and prosecute drug trafficking organizations,” said Leslie P. DeMarco, Special Agent in Charge of IRS – Criminal Investigation’s Los Angeles Field Office. “IRS-Criminal Investigation brings in its financial expertise to narcotic investigations to disrupt and dismantle drug trafficking organizations. We specialize in following the money in these illegal operations, enabling increased criminal prosecutions and asset forfeitures.”
Case Number: 97cr2520-LAB
DEFENDANTS:
? Jesus “Chuy” Labra-Aviles
? Efrain Perez
? Jorge Aureliano Felix
? Armando Martinez-Duarte
SUMMARY OF CHARGES AND PENALTIES
? Conspiracy to distribute cocaine and marijuana, in violation of Title 21, United States Code, Sections 841 and 846 (punishable by at least five years and up to 40 years in prison and a $2 million fine)
? Conducting, and conspiring to conduct, the affairs of an enterprise through a pattern of racketeering activity, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1962 (punishable by up to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine or twice the gross profits)
? Conspiracy to invest illicit drug profits, in violation of Title 21, United States Code, Sections 846 and 854 (punishable by up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine).
AGENCIES
? Drug Enforcement Administration
? Federal Bureau of Investigation
? Internal Revenue Service, Criminal

A list of those cartels pictured in the above map: To view the Map go to: www.usborderfirereport.com

-Tijuana Cartel…Run by the Arrelano Felix family. The cartel nearly collapsed in 2002, after Ramon Arrelano Felix was killed by the police, and brother Benjamin was taken into custody. However, the cartel has since seen a resurgence in strength and violence of late, and continues to be a major player in the smuggling of marijuana and cocaine into the U.S.

-Sinaloa Cartel…Infamous for the smuggling of cocaine from Columbia, and heroin from Southeast Asia. They also produce their own brand of heroin. U.S. law enforcement has identified Sinaloa Cartel distribution centers in Arizona, California, Texas, New York, and Chicago.

The Sinaloa Cartel uses the gangs known as MS-13 and the Mexican Mafia to distribute drugs inside the U.S.

-Gulf Cartel…Utilizes an elite paramilitary group known as the Zetas as enforcers. Many of the Zetas were actually trained at U.S. military bases, in an effort by this country to aid the Mexican government in their fight against the cartels. Upon their return to Mexico, they were recruited by the Gulf Cartel, who offered them a much higher salary than did the government.

The Zetas have proven to be ruthless fighters in the cartel´s ongoing war with the Sinaloa Cartel.

The Gulf Cartel boasts of relationships with corrupt officials and is based in Matamoros, Tamaulipas, they also have major operations in the city of Nuevo Laredo and account for the increased violence now being seen there.
-Beltran-Leyva Cartel…Based in Sinaloa, it is a family business with the five Beltran-Leyva brothers: Marcos Arturo, Mario Alberto, Carlos, Alfredo and Héctor. The brothers traffic in cocaine, heroin, and marijuana.
The cartel’s other criminal enterprises include human smuggling, kidnapping, money laundering, and arms trafficking. Beltran-Leyva is in direct competition with the Sinaloa Cartel, a rivalry which has turned the Mexican state of Sinaloa into a war zone.
-La Familia Cartel…Based in the Mexican state of Michoacan formed in 2006, as a splinter group of the Gulf Cartel. The group’s leader Nazario Moreno Gonzalez sees himself as an evangelical figure, and always carries a Bible with him.
In a strange mix of religion and drug trafficking, Gonzalez forbids his employees to use drugs or alcohol. The cartel enjoys an incredibly violent reputation, and actually describes their use of mutilations and beheadings of rival cartel members as “divine justice.”
The La Familia Cartel has become very powerful, very quickly through the use of bribes of both local and national politicians. In addition to drug trafficking, the organization extorts so-called protection money from local businesses.

-Juarez Cartel…Perhaps, the wealthiest of the cartels. According to the U.S. State Department, the Juarez Cartel “controls one of the primary transportation routes for billions of dollars worth of drug shipments entering the United States from Mexico annually.”

The Juarez Cartel has been publicly posting hit lists containing the names of Juarez police officers. Many of those officers have been murdered, and still more have fled the city.

Kidnappings, torture, and shootouts have become a way of life in violence-plagued Juarez. That Mexican city which shares a border with El Paso, TX, has already seen an astounding 3,000 murders since January 2008.

 Drug trafficking and terror has become a way of life in Mexico. U.S. Mexican border cities from Brownsville Texas to San Diego California continue to be most affected by cartel-related violence; other U.S. cities are also being targeted with drug trafficking violence and related terror. Mexican drug cartel gangs and their surrogate’s terror is reaching deep into the states.

The recent home invitation robbery and kidnapping of a young 6 year old American boy in Las Vegas Nevada is a in our face example of what is happening right here in our own neighborhoods. 

The Las Vegas recovered ( lucky to be alive) kidnapped boy’s Grandfather is a known drug dealer and is believed by authorities to be involved with Mexican drug cartels and other underworld figures in a drug trafficking operation that covers the entire Southwestern United States.

 Just recently in El Paso Texas just across the border from Juarez Mexico one of the most dangerous and deadly places on earth several law enforcement agencies led by ATF and the FBI are investigating a “possible car bomb” that injured a woman on Friday morning and rocked a middle-class neighborhood in West El Paso.

Shelby County Alabama in a Birmingham suburb, authorities released few details in the case of five men who were found slain in an apartment. They say the men appear to have been bound with duct tape and their throats were slashed. Very similar to known tactic’s used by Mexican drug cartel gangs and their American gang surrogates. These ruthless drug gangs according to DEA operative who wants to remain anonymous says, “investigators close to the Shelby county murders of five Mexican males was carried out by Mexican drug gangs or their surrogates and is very likely related to drugs and cash.

” DEA agents say that the cartels’ incursions into the United States are spurring more secondary crimes, such as shootings, kidnapping, and murders. These terrorist type assassinations are demonstrating the dangerous reach of the Mexican drug cartels and how it now goes very deep into Middle America and are reported to be killing, robbing, torturing, kidnapping, and threatening Americans and others at an alarming rate. 

These gang members are known to be attacking Americans all over the U.S. Recently it came to light that a gang operation of this type was uncovered operating on the east coast from New York to Florida robbing known drug dealers of both their drugs and cash. These attacks were pulled off all up and down the East Coast, federal investigators said.  Investigators said the suspects used terrorist tactics of simulated drowning techniques (water bordering) as well as pliers applied to the male victim’s genitals to learn where and when millions in cash and drugs shipments were being made.

Police say this type of crime is happening on both sides of the U.S Mexican border. Mexican drug cartels through their segregate organizations control the lucrative methamphetamine trade, as the arrival of purer Mexican ice methamphetamine has replaced locally produced powder meth, according to the US Department of Justice.

 In Florida a horrifying story describes a little girl who, after being taken to the Florida panhandle from Mexico, resisted while being raped, and was subsequently made an example of, by being beheaded in front of other girls who were being held to be raped. The girls then were made to watch by being left in the room with the little girl’s headless body for several hours.

Atlanta has become the latest battleground for Mexican drug cartels. “Their idea is to control the whole economic process of production and distribution,” said Georgina Sanchez, an independent security consultant in Mexico and executive director of a public safety policy institute. In many areas of the United States the cartels have entered into partnerships with local gangs, in others they have directly assumed control of local drug distribution, analysts say. 

Gwinnett County, Georgia, where Atlanta is located is over 1,000 miles from our U.S. – Mexico border. They have already had nine drug-related kidnappings this year. DEA agents raided a home and charged three men, all illegal aliens, with kidnapping and conspiracy to distribute cocaine after finding that they had bound and chained the victim to a wall in a basement in the town of Lilburn and beat him for nearly a week in an effort to collect $300,000 in drug debt.

The biggest worry for U.S. citizens and the big concern for local law enforcement groups is that the cartels bring with them violent methods honed during furious cartel wars in Mexico that have left thousands dead already this year. In recent years, Mexican drug violence has reached new heights, with beheadings, videotaped executions broadcast on the Internet, and the targeting and killings of top Mexican law enforcement officials.

We’re seeing younger individuals being deployed by Mexican cartel leadership up into the United States to work for these cartels. Google or click on: Mexican drug cartels infiltrating colleges and high school campuses in America.

Gwinnett D.A. said this is not a blip. This is significant in what’s going on here. U.S. Attorney for the northern part of Georgia said, we are about to see the extreme violence that is happening south of the border happen here in America. It’s more violent there than it is in Baghdad or Afghanistan. They’re beheading people said Benson.

Mexican cartel Los Zetas paramilitary surrogates allegedly attacked and slaughtered an American in Phoenix Ariz. Police say the attackers were dressed in black military like combat uniforms very similar to known Mexican cartel paramilitary gangs.

Phoenix papers reported that 6 Mexicans killed a Phoenix man who was found dead by police in a local neighborhood home riddled with more than 100 bullets. Google or click on: They’re known as “Los Zetas

“We have seen an increasing amount of these types of violent crimes in the past five months,” Phoenix Police Sgt. Joel Tranter said. “We want the public to realize that these types of crimes will not be tolerated in Phoenix.” These men each wore tactical clothing and Kevlar helmets and other weapons were found in the vehicle. Police believe the hit was drug-related and are looking for three more suspects in the case.

Federal, State and Local law enforcement officers believe there are many more violent crimes being committed here in the states by drug related Mexican drug cartels and their surrogates and Americans are only hearing about a very few. But as a DEA official said recently, “I feel this is but the beginning and that the dangers of the menus [SEC] of the Mexican drug organizations is something America will be dealing with for a long time to come.”

For More related articles go to or Google www.lagunajournal.com  

By Michael Webster: Syndicated Investigative Reporter. Jan 30, 2009 at 10:00PM PST

Many of American gangs have developed regular

working relationships with Mexican Drug Cartels (MDC’s)

and other international criminal organizations in Mexico,

Central America, Canada and Afghanistan. Where they develop

sources of supply for wholesale quantities of illicit drugs and to

facilitate other criminal activities. According to federal law enforcement

gang members provide Mexican MDC’s with support, such as

smuggling, transportation, and security. Specific examples include:

Some prison gangs are capable of directly controlling or

influencing the smuggling of multi-hundred kilograms of cocaine

and methamphetamine weekly into the United States from MDC’s.

Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and California-based, prison gangs

cooperate with Mexico-based MDC’s to smuggle wholesale

quantities of cocaine and marijuana and illegal aliens into the

United States from Mexico. According to federal authorities.

Additionally, these gangs extort money from drug and alien

traffickers transiting the U.S. Mexican Border.

Often national and international-level Hispanic street gangs

have close associations with Mexico-based MDC’s. Hispanic

gang members reportedly obtain cocaine, methamphetamine

and marijuana from the MDC’s and their surrogate Mexican gangs,

who transport the drugs to primary U.S. drug market areas for further

distribution by American street gangs.

Canada-based Chinese and Vietnamese MDC’s and criminal

groups maintain close working relationships with Asian gangs

operating in Canada and the United States. Canada-based MDC’s

are the primary suppliers of multi thousand tablet quantities of

MDMA and multi hundred pound quantities of high-potency

marijuana to Asian gangs operating in the United States. The

MDC’s  also use Asian and Mexican gang members for other

aspects of drug distribution operations, prostitution, money

laundering and gunrunning in the United States and Mexico.

Gang Members are infiltrating the U.S. Military, according to high

placed American law enforcement agencies they believe members

of nearly every major street gang as well as some prison gangs and

Organized Motorcycle Gangs OMG’s have been identified on both

domestic and international military installations.

Deployments have resulted in gang members among service

members and/or dependents on or near overseas bases.

Additionally, military transfers have resulted in gang members, both

service members and dependents/relatives, moving to new areas and

establishing a gang presence.

These same gang members come out of the military and many times

return to their old neighborhoods and with their newly gained

knowledge of weapons training. These gang members with military

training provide a unique threat to law enforcement personnel because

of the distinctive military skills that they possess and their willingness

to teach these skills to fellow gang members. While the number of gang

members trained by the military is unknown, many experts estimates

the number to be in the thousands. This threat that they bring to law

enforcement is potentially significant, particularly if gang members

trained in weapons, tactics, and planning pass this instruction on to

other gang members.

In addition, gang members currently serving in the military sometimes

take advantage of their positions to engage in criminal activities such as

trafficking in weapons and drugs.

Cross-Border gang activity and relationships of U.S.-based gang

members are increasingly involved in cross-border criminal activities,

particularly in areas of Texas and California along the U.S.–Mexico

border. Much of this activity involves the trafficking of drugs and

illegal aliens from Mexico into the United States and considerably

adds to gang revenues. Further, gangs are increasingly smuggling

weapons from the United States into Mexico as payment for drugs

or to sell for a significant profit.