Thread: Mexican drug cartel war could cross border, intelligence...

Mexican drug cartel war could cross border, intelligence center report warns

By Daniel Borunda / El Paso Times
Article Launched: 08/30/2008 06:37:04 PM MDT

EL PASO - Drug traffickers could be more prone to confront U.S. law enforcement as they come under pressure as the cartel war continues to rage in the Juárez region, stated an analysis issued by the National Drug Intelligence Center.

The potential the cartel war could cross the border was raised last week when it was revealed El Paso authorities had received unconfirmed intelligence that Mexican drug cartels had approved sending hit men to kill targets in the United States.

More than 900 people have been slain so far this year in Juárez believed to be due to a war between the Juárez and Sinaloa drug cartels. Juárez has also seen a jump in kidnappings for ransom and bank robberies, which total more than 50 this year.

"Once a dominant cartel is established in the El Paso/Juárez plaza, stability will return to the area and the flow of drugs most likely will increase," stated an annual analysis of the West Texas High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) released in May by the National Drug Intelligence Center.

The potential for spillover of the cartel violence into West Texas was mentioned in the analysis, which included information from earlier this year.

"This violence could spill into the HIDTA region, since DTOs (drug trafficking organizations) may more readily confront law enforcement officers in the United States who seek to disrupt these DTOs' smuggling operations," the report stated. "Violence has extended into the HIDTA region in the past when traffickers felt pressure from U.S. law enforcement."

The West Texas HIDTA covers 12 counties near the border, including the cities of El Paso, Midland and Odessa.

But El Paso-Las Cruces area police and sheriff officials have said that it is unlikely that the violence will cross the border. Officers are prepared should it happen, officials said.

"I don't think the Mexican cartels will confront U.S law enforcement directly. Any confrontation will be the result of them coming after targets in the United States," said Robert Almonte, a retired El Paso police deputy chief who is executive director of the Texas Narcotics Officers Association.

"The last thing they want to do is confront U.S. law enforcement either local or federal," Almonte said. A confrontation with law enforcement in the U.S. would raise the ire of authorities.

Almonte said cartel enforcers prefer to lure targets into Mexico or kidnap victims in El Paso to take them to Juárez.

"They have been doing it over there (in Mexico) because they stand a much better chance of getting away with murder in Juárez," Almonte said.

The National Drug Intelligence Center analysis stated there are six major Mexican drug organizations plus 120 multistate groups and 606 local drug trafficking rings operating in West Texas. Groups range in size from five to dozens of members.

The Mexican cartels also have distribution cells in dozens of cities across the U.S. and have formed alliances with prison gangs, street gangs and outlaw motorcycle gangs, stated a Congressional Research Service report issued in February titled "Mexico's Drug Cartels."

The Dallas Morning-News reported that the Zetas, the notorious Gulf Cartel enforcers have been behind murders in Laredo and Dallas. The Zetas are also known to operate in Juárez.

The National Drug Intelligence Center report stated that law enforcement is up against a sophisticated opponent with extensive financial resources, including those of "corrupt Mexican businessmen," capable of funding high-tech equipment, including satellite phones.

Cartel gatekeepers are charged with collecting "taxes" on drug shipments moving through their turfs. It was such tolls that was behind a drop in cocaine in the El Paso region last year, revealed the intelligence center's report.

"Law enforcement reporting indicated the temporary suspension of cocaine shipments by a cartel operating in the El Paso/Juárez plaza occurred in 2007," the report stated. "This suspension is believed to have occurred because the organization implementing the suspension wanted to make sure that all cocaine shipments were being 'taxed.'"

In Juárez, authorities unable to control the crime wave are making changes to Joint Operation Chihuahua, the federal anti-crime offensive, which has been renamed Operation Juárez. More federal police officers arrived Friday and the Mexican army is expected to begin anti-crime street patrols this week, city officials said.

Mexican President Felipe Calderón said recently in his equivalent to the state of the union address that crime is the biggest challenge facing Mexico.

"I know Mexico faces a great security problem. This is a cancer that incubated for years and it wasn't given the attention it deserves but it is a cancer we will eradicate," Calderón said.

Calderón said that more than 100 federal police officers, 72 soldiers and five sailors have been killed in Mexico this year as federal forces fight drug traffickers, kidnappers and other criminals.

"It's a difficult battle," Calderón said. "It's a battle that will take time, resources and, sadly, human lives. But you can be sure it is a battle we will win with the support of the people of Mexico."

Mexico President Felipe Calderón's annual televised report can be viewed at www.presidencia.gob.mx.
http://www.elpasotimes.com/ci_10343864

Mexican drug cartel war could cross border, intelligence center report warns

It's not a question of 'could' but rather a question of 'when'.

I wouldn't be suprised to see our border militarized after November. It's just getting more and more out of control.