Mexican army deserters join violent (US) border gangs

Houston Chronicle ^

[Jalapeno]

Oct. 10, 2003, 9:18PM

Mexican army deserters join violent border gangs

By MARK STEVENSON

Associated Press

NUEVO LAREDO, Mexico -- Members of an elite Mexican army unit have deserted and formed a drug gang, using their military training to launch a violent battle for control of this border city, Mexico's top anti-drug prosecutor said in an interview with the Associated Press.

The war for Nuevo Laredo is unlike other recent drug conflicts -- it's a turf war involving most of Mexico's major cartels in broad alliances not seen in a decade. It has the Mexican army fighting an organized unit of former comrades, and it has cost American lives.

"They are extremely violent, and they are very much feared in the region because of the bloodshed they unleash," said Jose Santiago Vasconcelos, Mexico's top drug prosecutor.

The battles, which have taken 87 lives since 2002, have involved unprecedented alliances among Mexico's drug cartels, according to Nuevo Laredo police commander Martin Landa Herrera.

"I don't think anything like this has happened before in Mexico," he said. "I have never heard of this many cartels fighting for one piece of territory."

Known as the "Zetas" or "Z"s, the new drug gang -- which appears to have won control of the city -- is led by former members of an elite paratroop and intelligence battalion that was posted to the border state of Tamaulipas in the 1990s to fight drug traffickers.

Vasconcelos said about 31 of the estimated 350 members of the Special Air Mobile Force Group had deserted and joined the drug turf war.

The Defense Department has refused to confirm any of its soldiers formed the Zetas. But the army recently began posting wanted posters across the country offering rewards for the deserters, some still pictured in army uniforms. That led to speculation the soldiers were behind the Zetas.

The skirmishing began in 2001 as a dispute among local drug gangs that operated with the permission of reputed Gulf drug cartel leader Osiel Cardenas. By early 2002, the battle had heated up enough that the Zetas appeared, working as hit men for Cardenas to restore order.

But Cardenas' arrest March 14 during a shootout in the nearby border city of Matamoros opened the floodgates for a wider conflict. With Cardenas in jail, cartels across Mexico -- Michoacan, Ciudad Juarez, Sinaloa and possibly Tijuana -- sensed weakness and tried to move in on the territory.

The Zetas appear to have the upper hand and are still linked to Cardenas, city police say. While dozens of hired gunslingers from other cartels have died, Vasconcelos said only a few Zetas have been killed and only one or two have been captured.

The Zetas have killed dozens of rival traffickers, trading shots from passing sport utility vehicles on the streets of Nuevo Laredo.

Nobody has to tell Houston resident Noe Villarreal how vicious the war has become. On Sept. 27, a commando of at least 30 masked men carrying assault rifles kidnapped his brother -- Hayward, Calif., businessman Juan Villarreal Garcia -- from his Mexico home in Sabinas Hidalgo, a town south of Nuevo Laredo.

The gunmen had fanned out across the town in search of a rival. They killed two policemen, kidnapped seven people, burst into Villarreal's home -- in a possible case of mistaken identity -- and dragged the 78-year-old tortilla store owner away.

The other hostages were released soon afterward, but Villarreal remains missing and is presumed dead. The area is so violent that nobody is sure who kidnapped him or why.

"I don't know if it was the Zetas," said Noe Villarreal, "because the Zetas have never released anyone alive. That's not their style."

It wouldn't be the first time that Americans have died in the conflict. A wild pre-dawn battle on Aug. 1 in Nuevo Laredo left at least three dead -- one of them a man from Laredo -- and six wounded.

[Husker24]

is led by former members of an elite paratroop and intelligence battalion

I had no idea that they even had such units in Mexico, you never hear about the Mexican Armed forces. I wonder what their Air Force is equipt with.

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[Eric in the Ozarks]

Old TWA airplanes.

[holyscroller]

Hey not to worry. They'll be on our side of the border any day now, and we'll just convince 'em all to go on welfare instead of warfare. Just remember, they're only here to do jobs Americans don't want to do. They're really nice guys. You'll love 'em when they take over your town.

[upcountryhorseman]

This was one of the events to look out for as stated in the
book "Civil War II". Doesn't El Presidente Fox have control
of his own country?

[TheBattman]

And people wonder why the call for US troops on the border...

[newyorkronin]

If and when bandidos like the Zetas start operating in the US, the government won't have the political will to "solve" the problem.

I wouldn't be surprised to see American death squads, ski-masked men who drive around doing drive-bys on them, as well as assassinations, kidnapping, bombing and torture. I think GW's capitulation to Vincente Fox and the amnesty movement is this government's admission of its failure to enforce this little thing called a social contract to protect its citizens.

The average American will have to take their guns out of the closet and it won't be for duck hunting.

[P.O.E.]

These internecine drug wars are very much like the turf battles in the Middle East, South America, and Africa. And another reason for the WOD - trimming these gangs back.

[judicial meanz]

Hey not to worry. They'll be on our side of the border any day now, and we'll just convince 'em all to go on welfare instead of warfare. Just remember, they're only here to do jobs Americans don't want to do. They're really nice guys. You'll love 'em when they take over your town

You really know when they take over your town by the amount of cars with bullet holes in the trunk or quarter panels, coupled with the amount of heroin and methamphetamine arrests.

But, they are only here to work at jobs we dont want

[martian_22]

I remember a crazy little sob named Ross who said, "People, tell your congesscritters to vote NO on NAFTA or you can kiss your borders good-bye.".

I continue to re-evaluate the word "crazy" used in his public image.

[judicial meanz]

Perot was ahead of his time...thats for sure

[archy]

[archy]

Previous related story *here*

-archy-/-