Congressman Poe represents a district on the east side of Houston to Beaumont.
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.
Lets just stick to this Hartley issue. The Hartleys gambled with their lives and lost.
Personally, I would never vacation in Mexico—but I don’t think we should write off our own citizens simply because they visit Mexico.
“Oh, well then. I guess we shouldn’t be concerned.”
Correct.
Ping
If you want on, or off this S. Texas/Mexico ping list, please FReepMail me.
I’m sure you’ll hold that view until it’s your own ox being gored.
Stupid people do stupid things all the time. You can’t save stupid people from themselves.
You won’t catch me in South Central Los Angeles at 2am singing Toby Keith songs.
I've read a couple of Friedman's books, and if I was going to guess I'd say he's probably a democrat, but it's pretty hard to tell and he doesn't show any bias that I could pick up on.
Sounds like we have a writer for the SAE that is bought and paid for by the CARTEL. But hey she has given HILLary a an excuse to do NOTHING.
What struck me was the the statment
“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 cartle had spies on the lake, the cartels have mountain top spotters near Fenix (AZ) to monitor drugs/human shipments and to warn of police activity.
That level of planning/activity should scare the avg American.
The lake provides flood control as well as water and recreational opportunities. Draining it isn’t an option. I agree with the cordon sanitaire, but I think they should also blow up the island they use for a staging area and send in some Apache helicopters to assist the blanket-coverage Coast Guard operation. Kill them all, create a dead zone on the Mexican side of the lake.
You might think you’re safe from the Mexican thugs in Nevada, but you’re probably not. You need not go into known dangerous areas to find yourself in the middle of things. These thugs are just about everywhere. In an earlier post, I wrote about how they are threatening Oklahoma law enforcement and their families. Let me add that they are also moving into private land. A local rancher was threatened after he discovered marijuana growing in a remote area of his ranch. He’s since sold out, and who knows if it’s in the cartel’s hands, or if someone else is being threatened.
Congressman Poe represents a district on the east side of Houston to Beaumont.
Ah, the good old days.
“These thugs are just about everywhere. In an earlier post, I wrote about how they are threatening Oklahoma law enforcement and their families. Let me add that they are also moving into private land. A local rancher was threatened after he discovered marijuana growing in a remote area of his ranch. He’s since sold out, and who knows if it’s in the cartel’s hands, or if someone else is being threatened.”
Lets just stick with the Hartley issue. They were in Mexico in a known area of drug running... they knew the score.
US law enforcement can and will deal with crime in the US, regardless of the perps race.
>>The Hartleys gambled with their lives and lost.<<
It’s that kind of attitude that has led to the state of capitulation that this country is in today. If we can’t even depend on our citizens to act with outrage and action when our borders are as dangerous and porous as they now are, why would the elected officials listen? That statement is indicative of the lack of spine all to evident in American citizen ideology.
As one might say, the fools outnumber the sane.
The Hartleys are nothing but a number in a very long list of stupid people doing stupid things in other countries. The only difference is that the other country is on our southern border.
I use to go to Mexico, but when I heard that people were being decapitated in places like Cancun, Acapulco, Cabo San Lucas, Mazatlan, and Puerto Valarta, I decided that it was just too dangerous and unpredicatable. Others may want to take their chances and go there.... more power to them. But if they get their head chopped off, don’t go on TV and start crying that they got their head chopped off.
Grain of Salt Ping...
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