Posted on 10/14/2010 6:52:17 AM PDT by Responsibility2nd
BROWNSVILLE — A global intelligence company Wednesday said the death of U.S. citizen David Michael Hartley on Falcon Lake was a case of mistaken identity in a turf war between rival drug cartels.
Hartley, who was shot during a Sept. 30 sightseeing trip to the Mexican side of the binational reservoir, was shot by Zeta cartel enforcers because he was mistaken for a spy of the rival Gulf Cartel, according to the report by STRATFOR, and Austin-based think tank specializing in intelligence and international issues.
The report goes on to say Hartley's body likely was destroyed as Los Zetas went into “damage control” mode and that the lower-level operatives responsible for the unauthorized strike against him now are on the Zetas' hit list.
“The cartel boss — Miguel Treviño — is highly upset over the fact that these individuals shot and killed Mr. Hartley and it's our understanding that the cartel boss is hunting for the killers of Mr. Hartley so he can take care of them himself,” said Fred Burton, STRATFOR's vice president of intelligence.
Burton, who doesn't cite his sources, goes on to say the beheading Tuesday of Rolando Armando Flores Villegas, the lead Mexican investigator in the case, was a stern signal to both the United States and Mexico that no body will be produced and to leave the situation alone.
Hartley's wife, Tiffany, has said the two were ambushed while taking pictures of a submerged Mexican town.
She said she raced to U.S. shores without her husband after a futile attempt to lift his body, the gunfire trailing her well across the U.S. line.
The case has drawn international attention, with Tiffany Hartley and her family appearing on various news shows defending her story of lake pirates and pleading for action amid a drug war that has Mexican officials paralyzed by fear.
Her mother, Cynthia Young, said the family had seen the STRATFOR report but had no comment yet on its findings.
“It hasn't been confirmed through the investigative officers here,” she said. “But we're still standing and believing for a miracle that we will get David back in some fashion and that's the way God wants it. But he's in charge.”
She said officials at the U.S. Consulate in Matamoros, Mexico, had assured them Flores' decapitation wouldn't stop the search.
Burton is the author of two books: “Mexico in Crisis: Lost Borders and the Struggle for Regional Status” and “GHOST: Confessions of a Counterterrorism Agent.”
A former special agent in counterterroism for the U.S. State Department, he was appointed in 2007 by Gov. Rick Perry to serve on the Border Security Council. He served briefly as the assistant director for intelligence and counterterrorism for the Texas Department of Public Safety.
His report concludes “halcones,” or Zeta scouts, noticed Mexican tags on the trailer towing the Hartley's personal watercraft, mistook them as spies for the rival Gulf Cartel and sent radio messages buzzing across the lake.
The couple had lived in Reynosa, Mexico, where Hartley worked for an Alberta-based oil company.
“Once Hartley was identified as an American, his body was destroyed the same day as the incident to prevent a backlash from the U.S. government against the group,” the report states.
As for the attackers, “a damage control campaign currently is under way — led by Los Zetas' No. 2, Miguel “Z-40” Treviño Morales — to identify and eliminate those who engaged the Hartleys.”
Treviño Morales is named in federal court documents as the No. 2 Zeta. He's wanted by Laredo police in five slayings they say he ordered in the U.S. during 2005 and 2006. He's also wanted in the U.S. on drug trafficking charges.
The U.S. State Department is offering $5 million and the Mexican government is offering 30 million pesos, about $2.4 million, for information leading to his arrest or conviction.
The death of the Mexican investigator in the case, meanwhile, produced an outcry Wednesday from several U.S. officials, most calling on the U.S. to get more active.
U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Laredo, said Flores had a reputation for cooperation and camaraderie with law enforcement counterparts in Texas.
Cuellar's brother, Webb County Sheriff Martin Cuellar, brokered a meeting last week with the Hartley family and investigators, including Flores.
“Commandante Flores and many of his peers had continued to search for David Hartley in the face of grave threats and imminent danger,” Rep. Cuellar said in a statement. “This tragic incident demonstrates the continued efforts of the Mexican law enforcement community to help us in America solve the Hartley case.”
He said the case underscores the need for the Mérida Initiative, an infusion of resources he supported to help Latin American nations fight the drug war.
But Republican politicians including Perry and U.S. Sen. John Cornyn say the incident instead should be seen as a failure of the Obama administration to secure the nation's southern border.
U.S. Rep. Ted Poe, R-Humble, accused the State Department of moving slowly in the investigation that has emboldened the narcotics cartels that he likened to terrorist groups.
Poe, who sits on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said the United States would not be intimidated by the Zetas or other cartels.
“If anything, the United States ought to give more resources to this investigation,” he said.
Staff Writers Gary Martin and Jason Buch contributed to this report.
Having lived in Reynosa, some 50 miles from Falcon Lake, the Hartleys were surely aware of the problems/dangers along that section of the US/Mexico border. They garner no sympathy/empathy from me concerning their whereabouts in Mexico on Lake Falcon, only wanting to see a submerged Mexican town. Are they related to the Iranian hikers? Oh well.
Long past time for the front-line states on our southern border to coalesce their National Guard forces and get the job done, and tell the meddling feds to either help out or f*** off. This has gone on far too long!
Often when these thugs kill, they go after the entire family.
Perhaps, or maybe an invitation to a marshmallow roasting party on the beach. And an apology for our citizens being in the way of the cartel’s business...
Reggie,they better be my fries!
“The Hartleys were surely aware of the problems/dangers...”
So will this become serious when they start killing Americans who aren’t aware that sections of this country are unsafe or what? I just want to set a standard as to when we as a country decide that we are being slowly invaded and the government is doing NOTHING to protect its own citizens. Just a thought.
When you go into another country, your American civil rights are severely curtailed.
Anyone wonder who the Justice Department aka Hussein’s Regime will sue over this one? Wonder if it will be the State of Texas who wants their border secure like Arizona?
The story about how the US government has let this widow down gets worse.
“The State Department has not delivered diplomatic assistance to the widow of a man shot down by drug lords while on a jet ski trip on the U.S.-Mexico border, U.S. Rep. Ted Poe said Wednesday.
Poe, R-Texas, whose district contains the U.S. side of border-straddling Falcon Lake, said Tiffany Hartley did not even receive help from the U.S. consulate in Mexico to file a complaint against members of the Zeta drug cartel that is suspected of shooting David Hartley while the couple was skiing through the Mexican side of the border weeks ago.”
Obama has said Americans shouldn’t be near the border.
Whoever they are it is pure speculation.
If I may say, citizens shouldn’t have to fear that sort of thing in our country. If the govt was doing it’s job this wouldn’t have happend.
And his i-reggie.
Our government (including Republicans) has truly harmed the country by looking the other way while this (and so much else on the border!) goes on. I’m disgusted with people in both parties, but the guy in charge right now is a co-conspirator as far as I’m concerned.
Well, if the Zetas are taking care of it, we can just sit back. Justice will be done. /s
On the other hand, if we had a real president, it would be time for the Deltas to turn the Zetas Tango Uniform.
Sorry, Ted Poe’s district borders Cajunland.
The killing didn’t happen in the US.. it was on the Mexican side or very near the actual international line.
“When you go into another country..”
True. However, this one episode is part of a much bigger issue. The U.S. has not gone into Mexico; however, Mexico has certainly invaded the U.S. Not sure where you live but my county and state are loaded with illegals. Neighborhoods, school, etc... are being completely turned into “little Mexcico”. Just a thought.
If he deems our borders unsafe, he should act to make them safe, no matter how many troops it takes. How far away from our borders must we go to be safe from this plague? I live in Oklahoma, and our local news carried stories of death threats from drug cartels against law enforcement (and their families!) here. So should we also write off Oklahoma? How about Kansas? Nebraska? Or should we just cede the entire country to the cartels by stating it’s unsafe, and condemning anyone who dies in the crossfire because after all, they were told it was unsafe. (Heaven forbid we should actually defend our citizens.)
Oh, well then. I guess we shouldn’t be concerned. (/sarc)
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