Arrested Development - Ex-Pats Mexico

"Gunmen broke into a drug rehabilitation center, lined people against a wall and shot 17 dead in a particularly bloody day in Mexico's relentless drug war. At least five people were injured."

The brazen attack followed the killing of the No. 2 security official in President Felipe Calderon's home state."

"Calderon defended his battle against drug trafficking in a speech to Congress on Wednesday. He said the government has taken on the cartels as no previous Mexican administration has dared to do. As never before, we have weakened the logistical and financial structure of crime," the president told legislators."

The federal Attorney General's Office, meanwhile, announced the arrest of its two top officials in Quintana Roo, a state on the Yucatan Peninsula, for allegedly protecting the Gulf and the Beltran Levya drug cartels."

http://apnews.myway.com//article/200909 ... SQC00.html

Obama needs to send the private security forces, the mercenaries, that were promised by GWB, along with a few drones and missiles and wipe out the drug lords from a distance. It's time to get serious with these guys. Black Water, now Xe Services LLC, would be perfect for dealing with the drug lords as long as they can be kept from killing anyone who moves.

Totally agree. Show no mercy. When found these drug lords should instantly get two taps to the back of the head. You have to fight fire with fire. They need to make being a drug lord a very deadly position to hold. Maybe take out their friends and family as well, just like the cartels do.............. Whatever they do hit them back 4 times as hard.

Cheers,

Bob

Having just completed a 3600+ mile drive thru Mexico - some theories and impressions:

It definitely appears that the Federales and military are really concentrating their efforts on matters related to the "Drug Trade" and the related problems. Crossing into Mexico, we encountered a U.S. Customs checkpoint immediately before the border and they quizzed us about weapons and cash in excess of $10K. About 80 to 100 yeards past the actual border crossing, there was a Mexican military checkpoint apparently looking for the same. In driving the 1000 or so miles from the border at Santa Teresa, NM to Guadalajara over 2 days, we did not spot a single Federale on the move on any of the cuotas or libres we traveled on. Upon leaving the Lake area and heading down the back roads to Patzcuaro - we spotted one inactive Federale checkpoint near Zamora and came upon an active one between Uruapan and Patzcuaro. At the active one, they appeared to be concentrating their efforts on large trucks. Once arriving in Patzcuaro, we did notice Federales cruising the streets and saw they now inactive station that was shot up about a month prior. Patzcuaro enjoyed a real influx of "tourists" of all flavors over the weekend, including lots of Mexican tourists. Anywhere that attracted tourist activity, there was an obvious increased police presence! Heading from Patzcuaro to SMA the following Monday morning, we encountered two very large Federale checkpoints manned by at the very least 50 officers that were heavily armed with many wearing "identity masks". No interest in us at the one between Patzcuaro and Moreila but we were checked at the one on the north side of Moreila. Once we completed our loop thru SMA, Dolores Hildalgo, Guanajuato and Leon - we headed north to Zacatecas. Two of the usual military checkpoints but no interest in us. There has been a military checkpoint north of Zacatecas in the past and another north of Torreon - both were gone. Backtracking a bit, there was a new Federale checkpoint near Cuencame just before the libre connects with the cuota again south of Torreon. This wasn't there on our way down but had appeared two weeks later and we would guess that most every Federale from the region was there! Nothing more until we hit the combined military/Federale checkpoint south of the Aduana on the Juarez hwy. This had been a simply a military checkpoint in the past but the Federales had a fair number of officers there and even had a portable vehicle x-ray unit in place. At this particular checkpoint EVERY vehicle was being checked and we saw the Federales removing the inside door panels on a Cadillac Escalade, with heavily tinted windows! There was a female standing outside of the vehicle and I told Kathy that the Federales should have been x-raying the contents of her bra given the size of her chest! At the new Aduana south of Juarez, we noticed a fairly large military presence that had not been there on our way down. Just after passing it, we took the cutoff over to the Santa Teresa crossing. We were stopped by the military checkpoint on our way out for brief questions but then noticed military had been moved directly onto the border crossing.

As an aside to this, we got talking to the bellboy at our hotel in Zacatecas. He had moved back due to the economy in CA and spoke great English. In our discussions, he mentioned that the greater Zacatecas area had experienced some real problems and most of the police force had been run off until the military came in and took charge some months back. Kidnappings were common and extortion was everywhere. They were able to take back over the area and things appear to be back to normal. Even with all the reading that I did before our trip - I certainly was not aware there had been a great problem in the Zacatecas area!

In conclusion, we certainly remained aware of the situation but again, at no time were we ever threatened on the entire trip. We did get the feeling that both the military and the Federales were quite serious in their tasks! Based upon the lack of either sitting or moving Federales on the cuotas - our guess was that they were really concentrating their efforts on the drug related issues with moving checkpoints etc. This was fine with us as we were able to really cruise in the 90 to 100 mph range with few worries!

With respect to Pamela's comments about SHRUB promising private security forces - I wasn't aware of this aspect! However, I would think the the "MEXICAN PRIDE" would come to the forefront and they would not even consider this! That said, the situation in Juarez with over 1400 murders so far this year may just dictate that the MEXICAN Government may just have to resort to really drastic responses!

The wars in my area are heating up again.

Last week the 2,300 army troupes that have put a lid on things were pulled out with no explanation. But now the army has returned, thank goodness! A belated announcement explained that the withdrawal was a planned rotation of troupes to help reduce the chances of the troupes becoming corrupted by the drug gangs. The 2,300 replacement guys are new.

They did not return in time to prevent the Zetas from killing three Lerdo policemen in an unsuccessful attempt to free a gang member from the local jail. The police station/jail is a part of city hall and is located next door to an elementary school in the middle of down town. The mayor has been saying for some time that he wants to move the station to a less populated area; but money for the move is a problem. After this shootout, he came up with an interim solution. The police academy has been moved to the civic gym, and the police station has taken the old academy quarters. The folks down town are greatly relieved.

Just as the army arrived in Gomez Palacio, they were met by a large group of Zetas on the periférico in a populated area. There ensued a major gun battle complete with RPGs and other heavy arms fire. No announcement of casualties yet.

This stuff is getting really old!

Pastor Manuel Estebane describes what life is like in Juarez:
"On the surface everything seems normal. People go to work or school and follow their daily routines because that's what life is about. We have to keep on living.
There is a great deal of fear because the violence could be triggered anywhere - in restaurants, shopping centres, even in churches. Nowhere is safe. The doctors are fearful when injured people arrive because the drug lords could go into the hospital and start shooting in a non-discriminating manner just to 'finish the job'.

Yesterday a man was killed and crucified outside a church. There was a banner saying: "That is the way all the pigs will end up."
I think President Calderon has done a good job, but nobody knew how deep the whole problem was.

I feel a bit safer seeing the army on the streets but this is not a solution. I think we need to receive advice from another country that has solved this problem, like Colombia, for example."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8236945.stm

One of many stories about the U.S. pledge:


http://www.federaljack.com/2009/07/25/p ... -drug-war/

What colour was the Cadillac?

Titty Pink