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Mexican drug commandos expand ops in 6 U.S. states
WorldNetDaily.com ^ | June 21, 2005

Posted on 06/21/2005 12:41:10 PM PDT by robowombat

Mexican drug commandos expand ops in 6 U.S. states Feds say violent, elite paramilitary units establish narcotics routes north of border

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Posted: June 21, 2005 1:00 a.m. Eastern

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- © 2005 WorldNetDaily.com

WASHINGTON – The ultra-violent, U.S.-trained elite, Mexican paramilitary commandos known as the "Zetas," responsible for hundreds of murders along the border this year, have expanded their enforcement efforts on behalf of a drug cartel by setting up trafficking routes in six U.S. states.

A U.S. Justice Department memo says the U.S.-trained units have recently moved operations into Houston, San Antonio and the states of California, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Georgia and Florida. They have been operating in Dallas for at least two years, according to the feds.

The original Zetas are former Mexican army commandos, some apparently trained in the U.S. by Army special forces to combat drug gangs. Members of a broader Zetas organization have worked for the Gulf cartel since 2001. They provide firepower, security and the force needed to oversee shipments of narcotics and smuggled aliens along the border and up Interstate 35, which runs through Texas and Oklahoma.

According to FBI officials, the Zetas are attempting to consolidate their grip on the smuggling route along I-35. Anyone caught not paying the 10 percent commission they charge on all cargo – drugs or humans – is killed, according to U.S. and Mexican law enforcement sources.

The Zetas have also brought their cold-blooded killing tactics to the U.S., say federal law enforcement authorities – murdering rival drug dealers and sometimes innocent bystanders.

"Texas law enforcement officials report that the Zetas have been active in the Dallas area since 2003," said the Justice Department intelligence bulletin circulated among U.S. law enforcement officials. "Eight to ten members of the Zetas have been involved in multiple assaults and are believed to have hired criminal gangs in the area ... for contract killings."

The feds say the group has begun establishing its own trafficking routes into the United States and will protect them at any cost.

"U.S. law enforcement have reported bounties offered by Los Zetas of between $30,000 and $50,000 for the killing of Border Patrol agents and other law enforcement officers," the bulletin said. "If a Zeta kills an American law enforcement officer and can successfully make it back to Mexico, his stature within the organization will be increased dramatically."

The Zetas take their name from a radio code once used by its members. While originally there were 68, the Zetas have trained a second generation of commandos – many of them sons and nephews of those trained by U.S. military forces to combat drug trafficking in Mexico. U.S. law enforcement officials say they now number more than 700. Their numbers also include some Mexican army deserters and former federal police officers.

U.S. and Mexican law enforcement authorities say the Zetas operate special training camps in the Mexican states of Tamaulipas and Michoacán, where newly recruited Zetas take intensive six-week training courses in weapons, tactics and intelligence gathering.

The Zetas conducting a bloody war for control of the entire southern border in an effort to secure a monopoly on drug-smuggling and people-smuggling routes, according to law enforcement officials.

At least 600 have been killed this year in a wave of violence waged by the Zetas gang, headed by reputed drug kingpin Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, said Mexico's Attorney General Daniel Cabeza de Vaca.

Among the victims of the U.S-trained Zetas have been other suspected smugglers, hit men, police, soldiers and civilians on both sides of the 2,000-mile border.

There are widespread reports of the commandos making cross-border runs into U.S. territory in military-style vehicles, armed with automatic weapons.

The U.S. government spent millions of dollars training Los Zetas to intercept drugs, some of them coming from Mexico's southern border, before they could reach the U.S. The U.S. government has also sent U.S. Border Patrol agents to Mexico's southern border with Guatemala to train law enforcement and military forces to intercept human smugglers destined to reach the U.S.

Guzman, whose nickname means "Shorty," bribed guards to escape from prison in 2001. He is one of Mexico's most-wanted fugitives. U.S. authorities have offered a $5 million reward for his capture.

The spike in killings and kidnappings in northern Mexico in recent months has made headlines and prompted federal agents and soldiers to patrol the streets of Nuevo Laredo, across from Laredo, Texas. Recently, a new police chief in Nuevo Laredo was assassinated nine hours after taking office.

Among the 600 people murdered in gang shootings across the Mexican border this year, many were slain execution-style, with their hands tied behind their backs.

The violence along the border has reached a point where some are questioning President Vicente Fox's ability to govern the country.

A senior U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration official, Anthony Placido, told Congress last week that Mexico's corrupt police forces were "all too often part of the problem rather than part of the solution" in fighting the drug cartels.

Fox won office in 2000, ending 71 years of one-party rule and promising to clamp down on the multibillion-dollar cross-border trade in cocaine, marijuana and heroin.

While initially winning praise for putting bosses like Benjamin Arellano Felix and Osiel Cardenas behind bars, his crime-busting reputation has been undermined by the alarming rise in violence, along with evidence Fox has failed to clean up Mexico's police forces.

Faced with the fallout on its southern frontier, the State Department has twice issued travel warnings for the Mexican border, where more than 30 U.S. citizens have been kidnapped.

Mexico's apparent inability to curb the bloodshed on the 2,000-mile border is affecting the financial markets. Banking group HSBC said "staggering" levels of violence could raise questions about Mexico's stability in the run-up to next year's presidential election. Fox is constitutionally barred from running for re-election.

His approval rating has taken a hit, dropping 3 points to 56 percent in a poll in May, with many Mexicans complaining of safety fears, particularly in the north.

Fox has pledged a "mother of all battles" against the drug traffickers he says are openly challenging the government.

"We have taken on the challenge and we will do battle against all the cartels' criminals and against organized crime," Fox said in a speech Friday.

He sent hundreds of troops and federal agents to the states of Tamaulipas, Sinaloa and Baja California last week after suspected drug hit men killed the police chief of Nuevo Laredo.

Despite the move, drug gangs shot and killed at least 11 people across the three states during the week, prompting observers to declare the operation, dubbed "Mexico Secure," a failure.


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Crime/Corruption; Culture/Society; Foreign Affairs; Government; Mexico; News/Current Events; Philosophy; Politics/Elections; US: Oklahoma; US: Texas; War on Terror
KEYWORDS: aliens; bordersecurity; bushamnesty; dhs; hispanicterrorgroup; illegalaliens; mexico; wodlist; zetas
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1 posted on 06/21/2005 12:41:11 PM PDT by robowombat
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To: robowombat

Somebody 'splain to us again how the Drug War is a good thing.


2 posted on 06/21/2005 12:47:28 PM PDT by kms61
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Comment #3 Removed by Moderator

To: robowombat

If only drugs were illegal, we wouldn't have these kinds of problems.


4 posted on 06/21/2005 12:50:05 PM PDT by coloradan (Hence, etc.)
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To: robowombat

Only 10 percent? If only our government gave us that good a deal!


5 posted on 06/21/2005 12:50:52 PM PDT by thoughtomator (The U.S. Constitution poses no serious threat to our form of government)
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To: robowombat

How nice, Bush's illegal friends are setting up operations in the United States.

How nice.


6 posted on 06/21/2005 12:52:57 PM PDT by Iron Matron (The UNITED STATES OF AMERICA , By the Blood of our Forefathers a Sovereign Nation.)
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To: robowombat; HiJinx

Protect our borders and coastlines from all foreign invaders!

Be Ever Vigilant!

Minutemen Patriots ~ Bump!


7 posted on 06/21/2005 12:54:15 PM PDT by blackie (Be Well~Be Armed~Be Safe~Molon Labe!)
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To: robowombat; Know your rights
The U.S. government spent millions of dollars training Los Zetas to intercept drugs,...

Well, that was money well spent.

8 posted on 06/21/2005 12:54:20 PM PDT by Wolfie
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To: robowombat
He sent hundreds of troops and federal agents to the states of Tamaulipas, Sinaloa and Baja California last week after suspected drug hit men killed the police chief of Nuevo Laredo.

Pardon me? Does this read that the Mexican Army was in California? Within the borders of the Sovereign United States?

9 posted on 06/21/2005 12:54:53 PM PDT by Iron Matron (The UNITED STATES OF AMERICA , By the Blood of our Forefathers a Sovereign Nation.)
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To: robowombat

I'm sure that good old reliable Bayourod will be posting to this thread soon!

Oh, wait...


10 posted on 06/21/2005 12:58:33 PM PDT by Calico Cat (the simplest solution is usually the correct one)
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To: Iron Matron
have recently moved operations into Houston, San Antonio and the states of California, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Georgia and Florida. They have been operating in Dallas for at least two years

There everywhere.

11 posted on 06/21/2005 12:58:44 PM PDT by Black Tooth
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To: robowombat; All

I reckon Hispanic terror groups like the Zetas and MI 13 aren't a threat at all to the US? So, therefore, the Dept. of Homeland Security, FBI, ATF, or NSA needn't be concerned? I reckon as long as the Zetas get their cut (10%) anyone can smuggle anything into the US and it's OK with both Foxx and Bush?


12 posted on 06/21/2005 1:00:52 PM PDT by RSmithOpt (Liberalism: Highway to Hell)
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To: Iron Matron
Pardon me? Does this read that the Mexican Army was in California? Within the borders of the Sovereign United States?

I believe it means that they were in the Mexican states of Tamaulipas, Sinalao, and Baja California. But maybe the article is lying and you really are under invasion from regular Mexican army divisons. You'd better look outside and check, just in case.

13 posted on 06/21/2005 1:04:18 PM PDT by Alter Kaker (Whatever tears one may shed, in the end one always blows one’s nose.-Heine)
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To: Iron Matron

Baja California is a Mexican state. It is located south of our State of California.


14 posted on 06/21/2005 1:05:48 PM PDT by backtothestreets
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To: Alter Kaker

LOL!

I thought BaJa California was in the USA! How silly.


15 posted on 06/21/2005 1:06:11 PM PDT by Iron Matron (The UNITED STATES OF AMERICA , By the Blood of our Forefathers a Sovereign Nation.)
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To: robowombat

"At least 600 have been killed this year in a wave of violence waged by the Zetas gang, headed by reputed drug kingpin Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, said Mexico's Attorney General Daniel Cabeza de Vaca."

I'm sorry. I thought the last part of the story said, "headed by reputed drug kingpin Joaqum "El Chapo" Guzman AND Mexico's Attorney General Daniel Cabeza de Vaca."



16 posted on 06/21/2005 1:09:04 PM PDT by righttackle44 (The most dangerous weapon in the world is a Marine with his rifle and the American people behind him)
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To: backtothestreets

Thanks.

***embarrassed***


17 posted on 06/21/2005 1:10:17 PM PDT by Iron Matron (The UNITED STATES OF AMERICA , By the Blood of our Forefathers a Sovereign Nation.)
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To: robowombat
Is THIS the Country which faced down the Redcoats at Bunker Hill, Cowpens, Princeton and Yorktown, and Tarleton at King's Mountain???

Is THIS the Country which launched and fought the Constitution in the War of 1812?

Is THIS the Country which beat the Barbary Pirates?

Is THIS the Country which whipped the Mexicans at every major battle in the Mexican War?

ARE WE the people who fought so gallantly on BOTH sides at Gettysburg, Antietam, Shiloh, Chickamauga, etc??

Did WE free Cuba and the Philippines from the Spaniards??

Did OUR nation produce Sgt. York and Audie Murphy and thousands of other heroes who fought and died in the Argonne Forest, Normandy, the Bulge, Iwo Jima and Okinawa???

WHAT ON EARTH HAS BECOME OF US????

WHY have we allowed cowardly politicians, arrogant egocentric judges, twisted entertainment figures, and biased journalists turn us into such a nation of compliant whimps???

Just sign me "Disgusted".
18 posted on 06/21/2005 1:10:40 PM PDT by ZULU (Fear the government which fears your guns. God, guts, and guns made America great.)
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To: robowombat

*BUMP* !


19 posted on 06/21/2005 1:10:53 PM PDT by ex-Texan (Mathew 7:1 through 6)
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To: ZULU
ditto...

Its like watching a train wreck...

20 posted on 06/21/2005 1:15:15 PM PDT by antaresequity
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