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Posts Tagged cartels
Twelve States Back Foreign Country In Lawsuit Against American Businesses
From Guns.com:
The 26-page brief, submitted by the attorneys general of Massachusetts, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, and Oregon, as well as the District of Columbia, supports a controversial $10 billion lawsuit brought by Mexico against some of the biggest names in guns including Barrett, Beretta, Century Arms, Colt, Glock, Ruger, and Smith & Wesson.Â
Rolling Stone Blames Drug War Violence On American Guns
From Rolling Stone:
Pérez, who studied the illegal-arms trade at University College London before joining Mexico’s government, doesn’t deny that other factors, including the failed War on Drugs and the notorious corruption of the Mexican police, have contributed to the crisis. Still, “it would be impossible to imagine this scenario without American guns,†he says.
*Emphasis added.
How To Deal With The Cartels
From The Federalist:
If the administration wants to go on the offense, it could take a few practical steps in the right direction. Adding more cartels to the list of transnational criminal organizations would allow us to squeeze them as much as possible financially. But it would not be enough, as Giovanni Falcone advises, to “follow the money.†The Insurrection Act, which the president has mentioned before, is another instrument that would be useful in this fight.
Because of the Posse Comitatus Act, our troops on the border operate in a passive, observe and report capacity. The Insurrection Act could remedy that problem. If it is “clearly lawful,†as University of Texas Law School professor Stephen I. Vladeck writes that it is, for the president to use the act in immigration matters, then surely that lawfulness extends to border security. “And although Congress in the Posse Comitatus Act of 1878 generally prohibited use of the federal military for domestic law enforcement,†Vladeck writes, “the Insurrection Act was always understood as the principal exception to that general rule.â€
Cartel Beats Mexican Military
From The Federalist:
The battle of Culiacan marks a turning point in the collapse of the Mexican state. There is now no doubt about who is in control of Sinaloa, let alone the rest of the country. Cartel forces seized a major regional capital city in broad daylight and defeated the national armed forces in open battle.
.50 Caliber Rifles Seized In Mexico
Posted by Gary in News, Threat Watch on 15/Aug/2018 07:00
From Breitbart:
The investigation into a recent seizure of several .50 caliber Barrett rifles in this border state revealed that arms smugglers in Mexico City and other areas are paying border state cartels to deliver their weapons safely into the country.Â
Cartel Influence In The United States
From the DEA:
Mexican transnational criminal organizations (TCOs) pose the greatest criminal drug threat to the United States; no other group is currently positioned to challenge them. These Mexican poly-drug organizations traffic heroin, methamphetamine, cocaine, and marijuana throughout the United States, using established transportation routes and distribution networks. They control drug trafficking across the Southwest Border and are moving to expand their share, particularly in the heroin and methamphetamine markets.
Mexican Border City Reynosa, Erupts With Violence
From BBC:
Gun battles have left at least three people dead on the streets of Reynosa, a Mexican city on the border with the US that has been plagued by drug cartel violence.
Fighting broke out after the arrest of a leader of one of the main gangs in the area.
Mexican Civilians Defy Gun Ban To Defend Against Cartels
Posted by Brian in News, Threat Watch on 15/Nov/2013 12:04
From TribLive.com:
Eight months after locals formed self-defense groups, they say they are free of the cartel in six municipalities of the Tierra Caliente, or “Hot Land,†which earned its moniker for the scorching weather but whose name has come to signify criminal activity.
Mexico’s Zetas Are Not Finished Yet
Posted by Brian in Opinion, Threat Watch on 2/Nov/2013 08:08
“Mexico’s Zetas Are Not Finished Yet is republished with permission of Stratfor.”
By Scott Stewart and Tristan Reed
During the question-and-answer portion of our quarterly Mexico Security Monitor webinar, we were asked a question pertaining to the current status of Los Zetas. The question was something to the effect of: “Some Mexican media outlets and analysts claim that Los Zetas have been dismantled as an organization and are now little more than a ‘ragtag operation.’ Why do you disagree with that assessment?”
This question apparently came in response to our quarterly cartel report (an abbreviated version is available here), in which we wrote that despite the leadership losses suffered by Los Zetas, including the arrest of their leader, Miguel “Z-40” Trevino Morales, there were no signs that other leaders were challenging the current leader and Miguel’s brother, Omar Trevino Morales. We also wrote that we believed Los Zetas have maintained their operational capabilities in terms of drug smuggling and other criminal activity, and that they have retained the ability to defend their operations and to continue conducting offensive operations deep in their rivals’ territory. Read the rest of this entry »
Mexico and the Arms Trade
Posted by Brian in Law, News, Threat Watch on 4/Sep/2013 12:46
From Free Republic:
It wasn’t sporadic. It was continuous throughout the city. For a country that bans guns I thought, how in the world did they get their hands on all these full-auto weapons? Clearly what sounded like M16 fire was prolific along with 7.62 x 39 AK autos with a smattering of smaller caliber full-autos, most likely 9mm. Gun fire can be heard in most American cities on New Years, but I’ve never heard full-auto weapons being fired, at least not in the San Diego area.
The next day I went into work and sat down with a trusted senior Mexican manager. I looked at him and said, “I thought guns were illegal in Mexico.” He chuckled and said, “So you stayed in town last night?” As the conversation progressed, it became clear that guns are as common in Mexico as tamales at Christmas. Everyone he knows, including himself, own at least one gun. And, it matters not whether it’s a semi-auto or fully automatic, they’re all illegal, so why stop with semi-autos? Though clearly illegal in the states in most instances, a lot of Mexicans have more firepower in terms of military weapons than we can only dream of owning here.
This article first appeared in 2009. The author describes how no one in Mexico is unarmed despite it being illegal to own a gun larger than .22.
Mexican Town Arms Women In Struggle Against Cartel Violence
Posted by Brian in News, Threat Watch on 31/Aug/2013 08:00
From Tea Party Economist:
The women signed up over the past four days with the Union of Peoples and Organizations of Guerrero State, or UPOEG, Xaltianguis community self-defense force commander Miguel Angel Jimenez told reporters.
Wachovia Ignores Mexican Money Laundering While Chase Harrasses Defense Distributed
Posted by Brian in News, Threat Watch on 15/Aug/2013 08:12
According to an article in The Gaurdian, Wachovia bank ignored evidence that Mexican cartels were laundering billions of dollars through said bank:
“Wachovia’s blatant disregard for our banking laws gave international cocaine cartels a virtual carte blanche to finance their operations,” said Jeffrey Sloman, the federal prosecutor. Yet the total fine was less than 2% of the bank’s $12.3bn profit for 2009. On 24 March 2010, Wells Fargo stock traded at $30.86 – up 1% on the week of the court settlement.
Criminal proceedings were brought against Wachovia, though not against any individual, but the case never came to court. In March 2010, Wachovia settled the biggest action brought under the US bank secrecy act, through the US district court in Miami. Now that the year’s “deferred prosecution” has expired, the bank is in effect in the clear. It paid federal authorities $110m in forfeiture, for allowing transactions later proved to be connected to drug smuggling, and incurred a $50m fine for failing to monitor cash used to ship 22 tons of cocaine.
This comes just a few weeks after we learned that Chase bank cancelled Defense Distributed‘s account based not on illegal activity but because of politics. Here is Cody Wilson’s take on it from a recent interview with The Washington Post:
We’re regarded with suspicion. You might even say that it’s due, right? . . . So I have to file, like, affidavits that I’m not involved in illicit activity and online gambling, and I’m constantly just harassed with extra administrative supervision and stuff — this is while we were at Chase. We did like $18,000 in deposits one month this summer. We were doing business for Chase Bank, and treated more or less like — not resentment, but just like, “Ah, we’re a burden.â€
So here we have a law student who runs a non-profit given the 3rd degree to make sure he is not a criminal, and on the other hand the drug cartels are laundering millions if not billions through Wachovia without raising much suspicion. Yep, everything seems to be working as planned.
Los Zetas Kingpin Captured
From PBS:
“The Zetas were involved in 20 different criminal activities,” George Grayson, an expert on the Zetas and professor of government at the College of William & Mary, said. “Extortion, smuggling, torture, possible harvesting of human body parts. You name it, the Zetas did it.”