Post by fng on Aug 1, 2005 20:16:11 GMT -5
Mexican mercenaries expand base into U.S.
By Jerry Seper
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
August 1, 2005
A renegade band of Mexican military deserters, offering $50,000 bounties for
the assassination of U.S. law-enforcement officers, has expanded its base of
operations into the United States to protect loads of cocaine and marijuana
being brought into America by Mexican smugglers, authorities said.
The deserters, known as the "Zetas," trained in the United States as an
elite force of anti-drug commandos, but have since signed on as mercenaries
for Mexican narcotics traffickers and have recruited an army of followers,
many of whom are believed to be operating in Texas, Arizona, California and
Florida.
Working mainly for the Gulf Cartel, one of Mexico's most dangerous
drug-trafficking organizations, as many as 200 Zeta members are thought to
be involved, including former Mexican federal, state and local police. They
are suspected in more than 90 deaths of rival gang members and others,
including police officers, in the past two years in a violent drug war to
control U.S. smuggling routes.
The organization's hub, law-enforcement authorities said, is Nuevo
Laredo, a border city of 300,000 across from Laredo, Texas. It is the most
active port-of-entry along the U.S.-Mexico border, with more than 6,000
trucks crossing daily into Texas, carrying about 40 percent of Mexico's
total exports.
Authorities said the Zetas control the city despite efforts by Mexican
President Vicente Fox to restore order. He sent hundreds of Mexican troops
and federal agents to the city in March to set up highway checkpoints and
conduct raids on suspected Zeta locations.
Despite the presence of law enforcement, more than 100 killings have
occurred in the city since Jan. 1, including that of former Police Chief
Alejandro Dominguez, 52, gunned down June 8, just seven hours after he was
sworn in. The city's new chief, Omar Pimentel, 37, escaped death during a
drive-by shooting on his first day, although one of his bodyguards was
killed.
Authorities said the Zetas operate over a wide area of the U.S.-Mexico
border and are suspected in at least three drug-related slayings in the
Dallas area. They said as many as 10 Zeta members are operating inside Texas
as Gulf Cartel assassins, seeking to protect nearly $10 million in daily
drug transactions.
In March, the Justice Department said the Zetas were involved "in
multiple assaults and are believed to have hired criminal gangs" in the
Dallas area for contract killings. The department said the organization was
spreading from Texas to California and Florida and was establishing
drug-trafficking routes it was willing to protect "at any cost."
Just last month, the department issued a new warning to law-enforcement
authorities in Arizona and California, urging them to be on the lookout for
Zeta members. An intelligence bulletin said a search for new drug-smuggling
routes in the two states by the organization could bring new violence to the
areas.
The number of assaults on U.S. Border Patrol agents along the 260 miles
of U.S.-Mexico border in Arizona known as the Tucson sector has increased
dramatically this year, including a May 30 shooting near Nogales, Ariz., in
which two agents were seriously wounded during an ambush a mile north of the
border.
Their assailants were dressed in black commando-type clothing, used
high-powered weapons and hand-held radios to point out the agents' location,
and withdrew from the area using military-style cover and concealment
tactics to escape back into Mexico.
Santa Cruz County Sheriff Tony Estrada in Nogales said his investigators
found commando clothing, food, water and other "sophisticated equipment" at
the ambush site.
Since Oct. 1, the start of the fiscal year, there have been 196 assaults
on Border Patrol agents in the Tucson sector, including 24 shootings. During
the same period last year, 92 assaults were reported, with five shootings.
The sector is the busiest alien- and drug-trafficking corridor in the
country.
U.S. intelligence officials have described the Zetas as an expanding
gang of mercenaries with intimate knowledge of Mexican drug-trafficking
methods and routes. Strategic Forecasting Inc., a security consulting firm
that often works with the State and Defense departments, said in a recent
report the Zetas had maintained "connections to the Mexican law-enforcement
establishment" to gain unfettered access throughout the southern border.
Many of the Zeta leaders belonged to an elite anti-drug paratroop and
intelligence battalion known as the Special Air Mobile Force Group, who
deserted in 1991 and aligned themselves with drug traffickers.
By Jerry Seper
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
August 1, 2005
A renegade band of Mexican military deserters, offering $50,000 bounties for
the assassination of U.S. law-enforcement officers, has expanded its base of
operations into the United States to protect loads of cocaine and marijuana
being brought into America by Mexican smugglers, authorities said.
The deserters, known as the "Zetas," trained in the United States as an
elite force of anti-drug commandos, but have since signed on as mercenaries
for Mexican narcotics traffickers and have recruited an army of followers,
many of whom are believed to be operating in Texas, Arizona, California and
Florida.
Working mainly for the Gulf Cartel, one of Mexico's most dangerous
drug-trafficking organizations, as many as 200 Zeta members are thought to
be involved, including former Mexican federal, state and local police. They
are suspected in more than 90 deaths of rival gang members and others,
including police officers, in the past two years in a violent drug war to
control U.S. smuggling routes.
The organization's hub, law-enforcement authorities said, is Nuevo
Laredo, a border city of 300,000 across from Laredo, Texas. It is the most
active port-of-entry along the U.S.-Mexico border, with more than 6,000
trucks crossing daily into Texas, carrying about 40 percent of Mexico's
total exports.
Authorities said the Zetas control the city despite efforts by Mexican
President Vicente Fox to restore order. He sent hundreds of Mexican troops
and federal agents to the city in March to set up highway checkpoints and
conduct raids on suspected Zeta locations.
Despite the presence of law enforcement, more than 100 killings have
occurred in the city since Jan. 1, including that of former Police Chief
Alejandro Dominguez, 52, gunned down June 8, just seven hours after he was
sworn in. The city's new chief, Omar Pimentel, 37, escaped death during a
drive-by shooting on his first day, although one of his bodyguards was
killed.
Authorities said the Zetas operate over a wide area of the U.S.-Mexico
border and are suspected in at least three drug-related slayings in the
Dallas area. They said as many as 10 Zeta members are operating inside Texas
as Gulf Cartel assassins, seeking to protect nearly $10 million in daily
drug transactions.
In March, the Justice Department said the Zetas were involved "in
multiple assaults and are believed to have hired criminal gangs" in the
Dallas area for contract killings. The department said the organization was
spreading from Texas to California and Florida and was establishing
drug-trafficking routes it was willing to protect "at any cost."
Just last month, the department issued a new warning to law-enforcement
authorities in Arizona and California, urging them to be on the lookout for
Zeta members. An intelligence bulletin said a search for new drug-smuggling
routes in the two states by the organization could bring new violence to the
areas.
The number of assaults on U.S. Border Patrol agents along the 260 miles
of U.S.-Mexico border in Arizona known as the Tucson sector has increased
dramatically this year, including a May 30 shooting near Nogales, Ariz., in
which two agents were seriously wounded during an ambush a mile north of the
border.
Their assailants were dressed in black commando-type clothing, used
high-powered weapons and hand-held radios to point out the agents' location,
and withdrew from the area using military-style cover and concealment
tactics to escape back into Mexico.
Santa Cruz County Sheriff Tony Estrada in Nogales said his investigators
found commando clothing, food, water and other "sophisticated equipment" at
the ambush site.
Since Oct. 1, the start of the fiscal year, there have been 196 assaults
on Border Patrol agents in the Tucson sector, including 24 shootings. During
the same period last year, 92 assaults were reported, with five shootings.
The sector is the busiest alien- and drug-trafficking corridor in the
country.
U.S. intelligence officials have described the Zetas as an expanding
gang of mercenaries with intimate knowledge of Mexican drug-trafficking
methods and routes. Strategic Forecasting Inc., a security consulting firm
that often works with the State and Defense departments, said in a recent
report the Zetas had maintained "connections to the Mexican law-enforcement
establishment" to gain unfettered access throughout the southern border.
Many of the Zeta leaders belonged to an elite anti-drug paratroop and
intelligence battalion known as the Special Air Mobile Force Group, who
deserted in 1991 and aligned themselves with drug traffickers.
