MEXICO: La Familia Michoacana Narco Boss "El Chango" Captured; Power Struggle Expected.

BBC


Jose de Jesus Mendez Vargas, aka "El Chango"/the monkey...a leader of the meth manufacturing La Familia Michoacana narco gang... wanted with a $2.5mn reward on his head...was captured in Aguascalientes state...without a struggle.

La Familia made a spectacular debut in 2006.. throwing severed heads into a nightclub.
Experts predict that La Familia, a ruthless and cult-like gang...will undergo a power struggle... even as it battles the fierce Los Zetas and a splinter group called the Knights Templar...for control of its territories.

GUATEMALA: 18 MAY UPDATE: State Of Seige Hunt Begins ; Gruesome Details Emerge From 3 Survivors Of Peten Massacre.

LINK CHANGE/ M.HERALD/ T. Johnson/ Fresh Details.

       The government has declared a 30-day state of siege in the large and wild northern Peten region that suspends certain rights.
      And a 23-year-old eyewitness has also described how he managed to survive a gruesome massacre in the narco infested region...where at least 22 men...plus 2 women and 3 children...were slaughtered in an ambush in Caserio La Bomba. Two others also survived.
      It is the worst massacre there since its civil war ended in 1996.
     The witness says about 40-50 gunmen were seeking landowner Otto Salguero.
      Police said the gunmen attacked workers on a remote cattle ranch...after they refused to co-operate .
      They bound workers' hands and started hacking at them with machetes and wrote messages in blood saying they were looking for Salguero.
       Salguero's whereabouts are unknown...but he was not known to be involved in criminal activities. 
      The gunmen bound workers' hands and started hacking at them with machetes..
      25 of the victims were decapitated.
      "I played dead when they stabbed me in the stomach. Then I hid and left at around 5am and I came across a pile of human heads," the witness said.

      The government believes the murderers are Los Zetas...who have been fighting local drug gangs for territory.
       The dense Peten jungle region is home to violent feuding narcos, large landholdings, illegal cattle-raising and threats to small farmers.

MEXICO: Profile Of Alleged San Fernando Mass Murderer...The Narco El Kilo.

AP / M.HERALD/ 3 screens combined / M.STEVENSON, S.DININNY

  "When he was deported from the U.S. to Mexico for the third time, Martin Estrada Luna (above) was a high school dropout with a rap sheet of petty crimes like burglary.
    Less than two years later, Mexican authorities say, he has transformed himself into a drug baron known as El Kilo, the leader of a ruthless cell of the Zetas gang who masterminded the mass killings of more than 250 people. He is now under arrest in Mexico City.
    Mexican prosecutors have not presented any evidence publicly to support their claim that he was responsible for the deaths of 72 migrants in August and 183 people months later. The Mexican government often announces big arrests immediately after high-profile crimes, but according to its own statistics, three-quarters of those initially accused as drug traffickers or assassins are let go without charges."

MEXICO: Saltillo Caught-up In Battle For Narco Routes.

CNN

  Until now, the 700,000 residents of Saltillo have lived is a quaint colonial city best known for its auto industry with GM, Chrysler and Freightliner plants.
   But the Austin-based global intelligence company Stratfor claims the Gulf and Sinaloa cartels have joined in an alliance called the New Federation to fight the  Zetas for control of drug routes there.
  "There were pacts here, and now those pacts are broken and a battle has begun between various criminal groups for this territory. This is evident," said Raul Vera, the Catholic bishop of Saltillo.

MEXICO: Zetas Founder Mendez Santiago Captured In Oaxaca.

BBC/

    Flavio Mendez Santiago, 35, aka "El Amarillo"/ the yellow one, and the reputed founder of the brutal Los Zetas narco terrorist gang, was caught in Oaxaca.
    The former soldier had a reward of $1.2 million usd for his arrest.
    He was listed as one of Mexico's 37 most dangerous criminals.

GUATEMALA: Los Zetas Narcos Threaten War On Radio In Alta Verapaz.

AP/M.HERALD/

    Three gunmen, who claimed to represent the notorious Los Zetas narco terrorist gang, forced 3 radio stations in the Alta Verapaz region which is under a state of siege, to broadcast war threats.
    The messages stated that if President Alvaro Colom did not fulfill unspecified promises...a "war will start in this country, in shopping malls, schools and police stations."
    The government has sent 300 soldiers along with about 500 police to the province.
    21 suspected Zetas members and 150 weapons - including assault rifles and grenade launchers - have been seized since the seige began.

GUATEMALA: 21 Dec. UPDATE: Army Declares State Of Seige In Narco Infested Alta Verapaz Province.

LINK CHANGE/ AP/ M.HERALD/ 
More Details/


   The army has taken control of Alta Verapaz province which they claim is controlled by the Zetas, a Mexican narco terrorist gang.
   A spokesman for President Alvaro Colom says a month-long "state of siege" has been declared that allows the army to detain suspects and conduct searches without warrants, prohibit gun possession and control the local news media.
    An army spokesman said that the provincial police force had been "totally infiltrated by the Zetas", guaranteeing "total impunity" for criminals.
  All cars entering and leaving Coban, the provincial capital, are being inspected.

MEXICO: Tamaulipas' Troubled Narco War Described.

WSJ/ NICHOLAS CASEY And JOSé DE CóRDOBA /
   An excellent longish summary of the sad and shocking ongoing troubles in the northern border states of Nuevo Laredo and Tamaulipas as two narco terrorist gangs battle it out there for supremacy.
   An expert estimates that 90% of Tamaulipas is controlled by drug gangs and killings there account for almost 17% of the total nationwide--1,300 so far in 2010.
    Tamaulipas is the state where the 6,000 residents of Cd. Mier have literally abandoned their city to the narcos. Their little town used to be called a "Pueblo Magico" because of its unspoiled charms. Now its empty streets feature only festering dead bodies.
CAUTION: Currently, this article is available FREE via the above link. But, in the past, WSJ links have suddenly vanished for readers. My apologies in advance if this happens.

MEXICO: 1ST UPDATE: Investigators Bodies Possibly Found; 3 Suspected Migrant Murderers Delivered...Dead.

AP/ UPDATE: 08 Sept/     Police believe they have found the bodies of 2 men tasked with investigating the Tamaulipas migrant murders. Documents found on the bodies matched those of the missing officials. This brazen discovery came after the chief suspects, Los Zetas, apparently delivered 3 remaining suspects wanted in the murders of 72 Central American migrants to police...DEAD. Their bodies were found by the side of a road in northern Mexico after an anonymous caller told police where to find them. Seven massacre suspects were identified. Only one is still alive, caught in a raid on 24 August at the kill site. Three other suspects died in a shootout at the scene.

MEXICO: At Least 8 Die In Cancun Bar Attack From Fire.

AP/M.HERALD/     The early morning attack with 2 molotov cocktails that killed at least 8 locals took place at the Castillo del Mar bar, located on Avenue Leona Vicario far from the tourist areas. Officials said some men had previously warned the bar owners that they needed “mafia protection.” Earlier in August, a man was arrested for demanding $40,000 to protect the bar. Police suspect Los Zetas narco terrorists are responsible for the attack.

MEXICO: 2ND UPDATE: 2 Bombs Explode In C. Victoria Where Slain Migrants Are Guarded.

LINK CHANGE /WSJ / DAVID LUHNOW/ 27 AUG/  
   Two car bombs exploded outside a TV station and a police offices in Ciudad Victoria where officials are investigating the brutal murders of 72 migrants from Central and South America. The bodies of 58 men and 14 women were found after a gun battle in Tamaulipas with suspected drug terrorists that left one marine and three suspects dead. Migrants are increasingly targeted by drug gangs for ransom. Officials say the area is controlled by Los Zetas, which has branched into kidnapping migrants. Photos show bodies lying along the walls of an abandoned warehouse, some blindfolded with their hands tied behind their back. Marines are protecting the funeral home where the bodies were taken after being discovered bound, blindfolded and slumped against a wall.

MEXICO: Cancun Mayor Arrested On Drug Charges.

LATIMES/    Cancun Mayor Gregorio Sanchez, who's running for governor of Quintana Roo, was arrested by federal police on drug trafficking, money laundering and organized crime charges. Police claim Sanchez offered information and protection to the Zetas and Beltran Leyva narco gangs.
"This takes us all by surprise, it is unprecedented," said Q. Roo Gov. Felix Gonzalez Cantu. "This is a political prosecution. There is no other word for it," Sanchez's wife told reporters. Sanchez was known  for firing corrupt police officers and turning empty lots into parks.

MEXICO: Durango Prison Riot Leaves 24 Dead.

LATIMES/
Fighting between rival drug gangs is being blamed for a riot in the Durango prison that left  24 inmates dead and many injured. The State of Durango has been a battleground between a trafficking group led by Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman and the Los Zetas. Mexico's prisons are overcrowded and have often seen uprisings over living conditions.

Mexico's Most Dangerous Drug Gang : Los Zetas.

7:25 Broadcast from NPR.ORG/John Burnett/
The DEA considers Los Zetas the most dangerous drug-trafficking organization in Mexico. Its has a reputation as super-gangsters adept at paramilitary-style ambushes and bold jailbreaks. They are the most feared, most emulated criminals in Mexico.