Frontera NorteSur September-October 2003

Mexico's Attorney General's Office has announced that alleged Milenio cartel leader Armando Valencia Contreras was formally placed under arrest on Wednesday, August 20, 2003. Valencia and seven other men were detained on Friday, August 15 in Jalisco.

Arrested along with Valencia was Eloy Treviño, the alleged head of the Milenio cartel in Tamaulipas. All eight men have been charged with unspecified offenses related to drug trafficking and organized crime. 

The Mexican Attorney General's Office (Procuraduría General de la República, PGR) said that Milenio was trying to take control of Nuevo Laredo away from the Gulf cartel. According to the PGR, this led to two widely-publicized street battles in Nuevo Laredo on August 1, 2003 that included the use of automatic weapons and a grenade launcher. 

In the first August 1 confrontation, authorities allege that Treviño and his men battled with Los Zetas, deserted, Mexican Army special forces that work for the Gulf cartel. In the second battle, federal authorities say they were attacked by men from the Milenio cartel. 

Also according to the PGR, Valencia's organization allegedly moved 200 gunmen into 20 rental houses around Nuevo Laredo so that they could aid in the take over of the border city. In response to this, in April 2003, the PGR alleges that Los Zetas kidnapped and murdered nine men from one of the homes and left their bodies in the neighboring state of Nuevo León. 

The PGR says that over the past two years the Milenio cartel has moved large quantities of cocaine into the US. It also holds Milenio responsible for two shipments of cocaine that totaled approximately 400 kilograms and that were later intercepted by the DEA in Atlanta. 

Sources: El Mañana (Nuevo Laredo), August 21, 2003. Reforma, August 16, 2003.

Tunnel Found Under Mexicali-Calexico Border

A 150-yard long tunnel that crosses under the Mexicali-Calexico border was discovered late last week. A sophisticated ventilation system, electric lights, and two small carts with metal wheels were some of the elements found in or near the tunnel. Mexico's Attorney General's Office said that an unknown drug organization spent US$400,000 on its construction. 

While September 16 reports about the tunnel from Mexicali's La Crónica newspaper state that the project was still under construction and had not yet entered use, the initial September 12 story on the tunnel said that it had been in use smuggling drugs and people across the border for the past eight to ten months. 

According to the September 12 story, Calexico sewer workers reported the tunnel to US officials. US officials later contacted Mexican authorities who went to the source of the tunnel and detained four people. 

One of the men that was detained told Mexican law enforcement that the tunnel had been in use eight to ten months. He said it was used to move drugs and people to the US. 

The FBI said that it was investigating on the US side of the tunnel but had arrested no one. 

By September 16, the story had changed and the tunnel was said to still be under construction. It was also mentioned that the men detained near the tunnel on September 12 had not been charged with any crimes but were placed under house arrest. Under Mexican law, the men can be held for 30 days in this manner. 

La Crónica also reported that the tunnel is Mexicali's first although it is the fifth in Baja California.. 

Source: La Crónica (Mexicali), September 12 & 16, 2003. Articles by Samuel Murillo, José Manuel Yépiz, and Ernesto Alvarez. 

Mexico Tightens Mexicali Airport Security

Since September 11, 2001, Mexican authorities have performed closer screenings of airline passengers and strengthened their inspections of aircraft, says Pablo Rivera Cordero, an official with the Federal Preventative Police's intelligence branch. 

Rivera told the Mexicali newspaper La Crónica that in recent days he has received no official orders to heighten the alert status at the Mexicali airport. However, a source at the Mexicali airport told the newspaper that twelve federal law-enforcement agents arrived to the facility on Friday, September 5, 2003. The agents' duty is to help improve the inspection of planes, the newspaper's source stated. 

According to La Crónica, federal agents were dispatched to Mexicali because of a Thursday, September 4, 2003 Department of Homeland Security advisory.  

Although the US advisory does not mention Mexico by name, it does state the following: "A growing body of credible intelligence indicates Al-Qaeda continues to develop plans for multiple attacks against targets in the US involving commercial aircraft, with some plans calling for hijacking airliners transiting near or flying over the continental United States - but not destined to land at US airports. Operatives have been studying countries to determine which have the least stringent requirements for entry (visas or other documentation). Identifying which countries have the least restrictive requirements for entry may also tell terrorist operatives which airline flights would be easiest to board and take control in order to crash into targets in the US during over flight."

According to La Crónica, Mexicali currently has no direct flights to US cities. Mexicana airline used to have flights to the US from Mexicali but the route was unprofitable and therefore abandoned. 

The major Mexicali air routes are Mexicali-Mexico City and Mexicali-Guadalajara on Mexicana and Aeroméxico airlines. 

Source: La Crónica (Mexicali), September 8, 2003. 

Thousands of Stolen Vehicles Destroyed in Tijuana Cleanup Effort, Owners Not Notified

Between 2002 and the present, Tijuana has removed approximately 25,000 stripped vehicles from city streets and sent them to their ultimate fate of compaction at junk yards. Of these vehicles, an estimated 7% to 30% were stolen but until June 2003 the vehicles' owners were never notified that their property was headed for destruction. 

Luis Alfonso Morlett Corrales is an official with the Tijuana city government. When asked if stolen vehicles were among those compacted he replied, "I suppose, but we can't talk about them being stolen because they are not even cars anymore, they have no parts, no one is allowed to take away complete cars even if they lack tires, the cars have to be totally destroyed, burned, stripped, with no windows, in a state of total abandonment."

Rogelio Delgado Neri, an assistant state attorney in Tijuana, told that city's Frontera newspaper (no relation to FNS) that before June of this year a few thousand stolen cars were destroyed without first notifying the vehicles' owners. 

Prior to June, according to Morlett, there was a case in which a stolen car was inadvertently crushed. The owner showed up looking for his vehicle and said that he wanted it returned to him. A scandal ensued and on June 12, 2003, Tijuana began making sure that all vehicles marked for destruction were inspected by the state police's auto theft unit. In the case that a junked vehicle is stolen, the state police contact the owner and describe its condition. If the owner is no longer interested in the vehicle, it is destroyed. Otherwise, the owner can recover the car. 

Delgado says that between one and three of every ten junked vehicles is a stolen vehicle. However, this estimate seems high. Recent statistics reported by Frontera note that out of every 700 junked cars, an average of between 50 and 60 were stolen (7% and 8.5%). 

Despite the program's early problems, city officials and state law enforcement view the removals as a success. Police like the program because it allows them to close stolen vehicle cases. City officials are glad to get rid of health and traffic hazards and beautify their city by removing junk from city streets.

Source: Frontera (Tijuana), September 9, 2003. Articles by Manuel Villegas.

Twenty Percent of Detained Tijuana Motorists Offer Bribes to Police

Working with a Tijuana municipal police officer, an undercover reporter wearing a police uniform was offered bribes by four of the twenty drivers that the pair stopped for committing actual traffic violations. In all instances, it was the drivers that initiated discussions of the bribes which they hoped would get them out of inconvenient and costly tickets. The bribes ranged from between US$10 and US$40 each. 

"This is the other side of the coin, when it's society that first offers and wants to take care of things with money," said Francisco Arellano Ortiz, Tijuana's police commander. "Corruption is a definitive problem that must be worked out between citizens and police," he added.

In the combined law enforcement-media operation, vehicles were pulled over by the real police officer but first contact with the driver was made by the journalist. The operation took place on Saturday, August 16 and Sunday, August 17. 

The Frontera newspaper article noted that had the bribes been accepted, the officer-reporter would have pocketed US$100 over the two days. 

One man that was pulled over for speeding in a truck, offered US$40 to avoid the cost of a fine and the inconvenience of going to the police station. In the end, the man was issued a ticket and held on to the money he had offered as a bribe. He now faces a speeding ticket with a fine ranging from approximately US$65 to US$130. 

Source: Frontera (Tijuana), August 25, 2003. Article by Agustín Pérez Aguilar.

Juárez Serial Rape-Murders: Chihuahua Business Leaders Mull Legal Action against NGOs

Two of Chihuahua's most important business organizations are angry at the way non-governmental organizations portray the state and Ciudad Juárez in relation to the Ciudad Juárez serial rape-murders. 

Carlos Reyes López, local president of Coparmex, Mexico's largest business owner's association, told Chihuahua City's El Heraldo that groups trying to end the serial killings are magnifying the extent of the murders. He also said that attacks against Chihuahua are well aimed and represent a "dark interest."

Reyes continued by saying , "there should be the ability to identify and sanction" groups that are purposefully tarnishing the image of Cd. Juárez and the state of Chihuahua. Reyes states that he will contact authorities to see what sorts of action can be taken toward the groups that allegedly malign Cd. Juárez. This will also include an inquiry into what legal actions can be taken against the organizations, he said. 

Reyes believes that although the murders are a disagreeable and delicate subject, other cities have higher crime rates and similar crimes, perhaps worse than Cd. Juárez. 

Regionally at least, Reyes' suggestion that other cities have similar crimes and crime rates would not appear to be true. The Pan American Health Organization's 2000 study, "Mortality Profiles of the Sister Communities of the U.S. Mexico Border," shows that the rate of female homicide per 100,000 women of all ages is approximately 4 times higher in Cd. Juárez than it is in El Paso and Tijuana. 

For girls and young women ages 5-14, Cd. Juárez has a homicide mortality rate 3 times that of El Paso and more than 12 times higher than Tijuana, according to the study. For young women 15-24 years old, the Cd. Juárez homicide mortality rate is 12 times that of El Paso and 3 times that of Tijuana. 

Víctor Silva Chacón, local president of the chamber of commerce, Canaco, said that organizations seeking to end the serial-killings are trying to mar the image of Cd. Juárez. He also stated that Chihuahua has hard-working, capable people and that it is unfair that only the negative side of Chihuahua is publicized. 

In the article, neither Reyes nor Silva identified by name the groups they were accusing. 

Source: El Heraldo (Chihuahua City), September 19, 2003. 

Body Found in Chihuahua City is that of Diana Yazmín García Medrano

The body found near Chihuahua City on Sunday, September 7, 2003 has been identified through preliminary police studies as that of Diana Yazmín García Medrano. García disappeared on May 27, 2003 on her way to the BC&T school in Chihuahua City. 

According to the Chihuahua City newspaper El Heraldo, García's relatives confirmed that the young woman's glasses, shirt, and rings were found at the crime scene. However, García's mother, Hilda Medrano, wanted DNA testing to be performed. Later, police said that they took blood from members of García's family to perform the desired testing. 

Police officials are saying that García possibly died from stab wounds. This is based on the fact that dried blood was found at the scene of the crime. 

In previous serial-murder cases in the state, the cause of death has frequently been strangulation or a broken neck. In García's case, there was no sign of either, police told El Heraldo. 

Previously, El Heraldo noted that the skull found at the crime scene had had dental work done on it. García's family said that their daughter never had any dental work done. 

The Chihuahua City-based group Justicia para Nuestras Hijas, an organization that supports the families of serial-killing victims and the disappeared, tried to accompany García's mother into the police building when she went to identify the clothing found at the crime scene. However, group members were not permitted to go inside with her, Justicia reported in a press release. Four hours later, when Medrano left the building, she was accompanied by police and members of Justicia could not speak with her then either. 

Source: El Heraldo (Chihuahua City), September 10 & 11, 2003. Article by Jose Ernesto Topete Bernal.

Another Body Found in Chihuahua City

While walking through the hills near Chihuahua City on Sunday afternoon, September 7, Omar Tabárez Anaya came across the body of an unidentified young woman. This is the third confirmed young woman found dead in the outskirts of Chihuahua City since May 28, 2003. Another body was rumored to have been found earlier in the summer but authorities would not confirm or deny the recovery of the fourth body. 

The Ciudad Juárez newspaper El Diario suggested that the body might be that of Diana Yazmín García Medrano who disappeared on May 27, 2003. García was wearing glasses at the time of her disappearance and glasses were found near the body that was discovered on Sunday. Clothing found at the scene also seemed to match what García was wearing at the time of her disappearance. 

In contrast to El Diario's conclusions, the Chihuahua City newspaper El Heraldo quoted a state police official as saying that the victim's body had had dental work done throughout her life. García's parents told El Heraldo that their daughter had never had any dental work. 

Given the degree of the body's decomposition, authorities estimate that the young woman died approximately three months ago. 

   Related crimes

What is allegedly the body of Viviana Rayas was found in the outskirts of Chihuahua City on May 28, 2003. Rayas had been missing since March 16 of this year. However, Raya's parents doubt that the body they were given was actually their daughter's. So far, law enforcement officials have not allowed the DNA testing that the family wants. 

Arrested for Raya's death was US citizen Cynthia Kiecker and her Mexican husband Ulises Perzábal. Kiecker and Perzábal say they were tortured into confessing to Raya's death. Also, two of the three government witnesses in the case admitted that they were tortured into framing Kiecker and Perzábal. Kiecker's trial is currently underway in Chihuahua City. 

On July 14, 2003, the body of Neyra Azucena Cervantes was found outside Chihuahua City. Azucena disappeared on May 13, 2003. Both her stepfather and his nephew say they were detained and tortured by police in relation to her death. The nephew, David Meza, who was in Chiapas at the time of Azucena's disappearance and was active in the search for her, has now been charged with her death. 

Sources: El Heraldo de Chihuahua (Chihuahua City), September 9, 2003. El Diario (Ciudad Juárez), September 9, 2003.