Recently in Mexico Category

A former Rosemead man allegedly wanted by authorities in California was arrested in Mexico Monday on suspicion of spousal abuse, according to Los Angeles County sheriff's officials and published reports in Guadalajara.
The man, identified as Henry Daniel West, 51, has outstanding warrants for his arrest in connection with a 2009 case alleging criminal threats and attempted extortion out of the sheriff's Temple Station, Los Angeles County sheriff's Sgt. Michael Martinez said.
According to La Prensa Jalisco, West was arrested by Mexican authorities on suspicion of spousal abuse Monday, before his wife told investigators he was also wanted in California.
La Prensa additionally reported that Mexican authorities contacted the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department to confirm that West was wanted in the United States.
Further details of West's alleged crimes in the Temple City area were not available Tuesday, and was unclear when he may be returned to the U.S. to face charges.

From the Associated Press:

ACAPULCO, Mexico  - Police found the bodies of 15 slain men, 14 of them headless, on a street outside a shopping center in the Pacific coast resort of Acapulco on Saturday.
The victims, all of whom appeared to be in their 20s, were discovered in an area not frequented by tourists.
Handwritten signs left with the bodies were signed by "El Chapo's People"--a reference to the Sinaloa cartel, headed by drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman--said Fernando Monreal Leyva, director of investigative police for Guerrero state, where Acapulco is located.
The narco-messages indicated the Sinaloa cartel killed them for trying to intrude on the gang's turf and extort residents.
Mexico's drug cartels have increasingly taken to beheading their victims in a grisly show of force, but Saturday's discovery was the largest single group of decapitation victims found in recent years.
In 2008, a group of 12 decapitated bodies were piled outside the Yucatan state capital of Merida. The same year, 9 headless men were discovered in the Guerrero state capital of Chilpancingo.
Acapulco has been the site of fierce battles between drug gangs, and this weekend got off to a bloody start with 27 people killed there from Friday evening to early Saturday, Leyva said.
The dead included two police officers cut down on a main bayside avenue in front of tourists and locals; six people who were shot dead and stuffed in a taxi, their hands and feet bound; and four others elsewhere in the city.
"We are coordinating with federal forces and local police to reinforce security in Acapulco and investigating to try to establish the motive and perpetrators of these incidents," Monreal said.
At least 30,196 people have died in drug-related violence since President Felipe Calderon launched an offensive against cartels in late 2006.
Also Saturday, authorities said a small-town mayor was found dead in northern Mexico.
Saul Vara Rivera, mayor of the municipality of Zaragoza, was reported missing by family members Wednesday, Coahuila state prosecutors said in a statement. His bullet-ridden body was discovered Friday in neighboring Nuevo Leon state.
There were no immediate arrests.
At least a dozen mayors were killed nationwide last year in acts of intimidation attributed to drug gangs.

From Fox News: 

A television producer for the hit CBS show "Suvivor" is the main suspect in his wife's death after he reported her missing in the Mexican resort city of Cancun.

The body of Monica Beresford-Redman was found Thursday morning in a sewer at the swanky Moon Palace resort where the family was on vacation, according to the official at the office of the attorney general for Quintana Roo state, where Cancun is located.

A witness at the hotel saw the couple arguing Sunday, and Bruce Beresford-Redman has been detained as a suspect, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the media about the case.

Beresford-Redman had been missing for two days when her body was found Thursday.  According to reports, she left Monday to go shopping but never returned.

KCAL, a CBS News affiliate, spoke with Bruce Beresford-Redman Wednesday, who told them he could not comment on the matter much because he was hoping to keep the phone lines clear.

"I'm very hopeful someone will find my wife very soon," he said. "She still hasn't been located and we're looking."

This from Borderfire:

San Diego - U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers at ports of entry along the California/ Mexico border seized almost 2,900 pounds of narcotics valued at $2.2 million, captured 13 fugitives, and stopped the illegal entry of 417 persons over the busy holiday weekend.

From 6 a.m. on Friday through 6 a.m. on Tuesday, CBP officers at the six land ports of entry intercepted 16 smuggling attempts involving marijuana and methamphetamine. The drugs were hidden in various areas of the vehicles such as in the gas tank, in the bumpers and the spare tire.

The largest seizure occurred at the San Ysidro border station on Sunday at about 1:30 p.m. after a detector dog alerted to a the back wall of a motor-home pulled by a Ford F-350 pickup as it and the two female occupants waited in line to be inspected. The women and conveyance were escorted into the secondary area for a more intensive examination.

Officers subsequently discovered 78 wrapped packages of marijuana in the rear wall of the motor home weighing 1,764 pounds, valued at more than $1 million.

Both the driver, a 34-year-old U.S. citizen from Big Bear, Calif., and her passenger, a 46-year-old U.S. citizen from West Covina, Calif., were turned over to Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents and transported to the Metropolitan Correctional Center. CBP seized the narcotics and conveyance.

An affidavit filed in federal court and attached here details gun deals, drug deals and talk of contract murder and kidnapping. All apparently connected to "La Familia," a Mexican drug cartel. Here's all the details cartel gun runner - affidavit.pdf 

This from the Los Angeles Times:

Federal authorities announced indictments Monday against the reputed leaders of Mexico's Gulf cartel and its paramilitary force, the Zetas, accusing them of trafficking tons of cocaine and marijuana from South America through the Texas-Mexico border.

Three of the men are identified as the "triumvirate" that manages the far-flung enterprise, dividing its territories among themselves. Another reputed leader, Miguel Angel Treviño Morales, allegedly controls the Mexican border city of Nuevo Laredo, where the cartel is believed to funnel large amounts of drugs through the busy truck crossing into Laredo, Texas.

A pair of Mexican police officers linked to a drug case in Covina have been sent back across the border, a week after admitting to criminal charges.

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Reports that two Mexican drug cartels have joined forces and have a combined fighting force of 100,000 foot soldiers has some local officials concerned that the drug war south of the border could spill into our communities.

The idea of such an alliance reminds me of the gang truce between rival hispanic street gangs that led to the rise of La Eme in the 1990s.

In any event, Mexican President Felipe Calderon defended his country's efforts agsinst Narco-Terrorists in Mexico City this afternoon. Here's Bloomberg's take:

March 12 (Bloomberg) -- Mexican President Felipe Calderon delivered his strongest defense yet of his government's fight against drug cartels, alleging some U.S. officials are corrupt and accusing the media of lying.

"To say that Mexico doesn't have authority over all of its national territory is absolutely false and absurd," Calderon said today in Mexico City.

Mexico hasn't lost any territory to traffickers, Calderon said. He criticized the media for mounting a campaign of "lies" against Mexico. His comments come two days after Dennis Blair, U.S. Director of National Intelligence, said Mexico isn't in charge of parts of the country.

Calderon, 46, came to power in 2006 promising a crackdown on the cartels. He has sent tens of thousands of soldiers to areas where smugglers battle over routes into the U.S. Retaliating for arrests and record drug seizures, gangs beheaded rival smugglers, assassinated police officials and executed entire families.

The drug war is reducing annual gross domestic product by 1 percentage point, according to the government. Narcotics-related deaths more than doubled last year as Calderon's crackdown disrupted drug operations and increased competition for the best supply routes to the U.S.