Frontera NorteSur April 2000

War Between Rival Cartels Possible Cause of Executions

Drug-related violence continued unabated in Ciudad Juárez and the state of Chihuahua in February and March: ten more people were executed in either Juárez or the state capitol, including one man said by state police to be a hit man for the Arellano-Felix Cartel based in Tijuana. Reports in three newspapers--El Diario, El Paso Times, and La Reforma of México City--attributed the violence to an ongoing battle between the Arellano-Felix brothers and the Carrillo Cartel based in Juárez. The murders are "the mark of war between the two drug trafficking organizations for control of the markets and the drug routes to the United States," according to El Diario. In addition, some of the killings are "acts of revenge," said La Reforma. President Ernesto Zedillo dispatched Army units to help patrol Juárez and a new team of federal police (PGR) investigators as part of the new three-level security plan for fighting drug violence on the border. The state of Chihuahua also loaned a helicopter to the city.

Juárez is not the only place in México experiencing a wave of drug-related violence. According to the national news weekly magazine, Proceso, the violence is also intense in Tijuana and the states of Tamaulipas, Jalisco, Sinaloa, and Michoacan. On February 27, the chief of police in Tijuana was assassinated in a hailstorm of bullets fired by eight men using AK-47's and 9mm pistols.

The U.S. State Department issued a traveler's advisory warning February 22 for Tijuana, México City, and Ciudad Juárez, which was labeled as "dangerous." Juárez Mayor Gustavo Elizondo retorted that the advisory "creates an image that damages the economy of our community and offends the dignity of the people who live here," and sent a letter of protest to Secretary of State Madeleine Albright.  He was supported by leaders from all three major political parties. Héctor Carréon, president of the Juárez chapter of the National Chamber of Commerce, had stronger words: "The government of the United States does not have the moral character to say that we have a crime problem when cities such as Chicago, New York, and Dallas have the same crime problem we have here," he said.

However, the continued wave of drug violence led Elizondo to say March 12 that it was "causing a psychosis" in the city. In Ciudad Juárez alone there have been 12 narco-executions in the year 2000 (see list below). "Most law-abiding people have nothing to fear, but the violence has alarmed many, and this is causing a psychosis," he said. Elizondo, Chihuahua state governor Patricío Martínez, and Zedillo worked together to implement the new tri-level anti-crime plan, hammered out during a highly publicized Security Summit in late February. http://www.nmsu.edu/~frontera/feat2.html The Summit resulted in the creation of a new special crime unit within the PGR and the Public Ministry (MP). Attorney General Jorge Madrazo Cuellar said the mixed agency group--made up of municipal, state, and federal police--would have two objectives: 1) to stop the flow of drugs in the city; 2) to address the growing problem of addiction "concretely."

Zedillo visited Ciudad Juárez February 24 and addressed the problem of crime in a speech at the Acer Maquiladora. "We are going to make very clear and very precise commitments to reinforce security actions and the pursuit of justice in this state," he said. One of those commitments was the dispatch of  200 soldiers, veterans of the anti-drug trafficking Mixed Base Operations (BOMs), to patrol the city in early March. At the same time, the president sent additional PGR investigators to not only look into the recent crimes but also "the hundreds of drug-related crimes and disappearances committed in the city in recent years," including the unsolved rapes, murders, and disappearances of women in the city. In addition, the investigators will investigate other police forces including the Federal Judicial Police (PJF).

Certification Process Results In Heated Exchange

The unprecedented tri-level anti-crime initiatives coincided with a heated war of words between Méxican and U.S. officials in the days leading up to México's re-certification as an ally on the "war on drugs" March 1.

The U.S. Ambassador to México, Jeffrey Davidow, made the opening volley February 24 when he commented that "the fact is that the headquarters of the drug trafficking world are now in México. Just as the headquarters, the main base of the Mafia was in Sicily, now the main bases of drug trafficking are in other countries and México is one of them."

Mayor Elizondo responded that Davidow "not only offended the dignity of the Mexican people, but seems to want to mar the image of the country." He continued: "I do not believe the ambassador recognizes that the United States is the top producer of marijuana in all the world and that after the cultivation of corn, marijuana is second most important crop in the whole country."

On February 25,  two U.S. Senators--Jesse Helms and Benjamin Gilman--charged that "drug kingpins . . . operate with virtual impunity" in Ciudad Juárez and five other locations in México. Elizondo sent them both letters saying their allegations were "outrageous" and "offensive." Calling upon the senators to retract their statements, he wrote that "city law enforcement has not been co-opted by drug traffickers . . . we are doing the best we can within our resources." He also noted that there wouldn't be a drug problem if the U.S. was not the world's largest consumer of illicit drugs, according to a report in the El Paso Times.

Barry McCaffrey, White House drug czar, refuted Davidow's comments with a similar argument, noting that in the U.S. "we have 5 million addicts and our country spends more than 30,000 millions of dollars each year on drugs."

Elizondo and Juárez received a even bigger show of support on March 13 when President Bill Clinton wrote to Elizondo that U.S. agencies will stop using the phrase "Juárez Cartel." A report in El Diario said the mayor was "visibly emotional" as he discussed Clinton's letter in a press conference. "This is very encouraging news as we continue to work for the vindication of the name of Juárez," he said. "I appreciate the gracefulness that President Clinton showed in responding to the municipal president of Juárez."

Corruption Alleged At Federal and Local Levels

Although Davidow's and the two senators' broad suggestions of corruption were quickly dismissed, other allegations and suggestions of police corruption were later made by two different entities, one in the U.S., one in México. On March 2, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) accused two federal police agencies of corruption: the PGR and Federal Preventive Police (PFP). The DEA said it believes that more than 1,400 federal police have been involved in illegal activities since 1998. "This continues to be a serious problem in the institutions charged with enforcing the law," said William Ledwith, chief of international operations for the DEA.

In addition, on March 8 the U.S. State Department designated the Juárez-El Paso border as one of the largest money laundering centers in the nation, a problem which requires the response of all levels of government.

At the local level, the Juárez daily El Norte alleged in a March 12 editorial that Juárez police chief Javier Benavidez is "blind and mute" in the face of cartel violence, car theft, burglaries, and "the parade of corpses in Ciudad Juárez." Prior to this editorial, Benavidez said he would no longer talk to Norte reporters after a series of articles the paper published alleging that his office was connected to the so-called "parapolice" of the Valle de Juárez, known for their suspicious and sometimes violent activities. The El Norte editorial went on to say that Benavidez was "great at breaking out of his complacency in order to stretch out his hand." The phrase had the literal meaning of "to shake hands" but suggested another, unsavory, meaning.

Record Marijuana Bust

El Norte's dark suggestions came on the heels of some of the most spectacular seizures of drugs made by Méxican police in a long time. On February 26, federal police seized 12 tons of marijuana in three separate operations on the Juárez-San Buenaventura road near Casas Grande. Using x-ray inspection equipment installed January 31, the PGR discovered loads of marijuana in three truck trailers and one passenger bus. Three persons were arrested in connection with the bust. Since the installation of the new technology, the PGR said it had seized 19 tons in the area. On February 23, police seized two tons of marijuana and arrested four people.

Agents from the Orion Group, a special antidrug task force, reported two significant seizures on March 3: one involving 1.5 tons of marijuana and another involving 1.3 kilograms of crystal meth amphetamine, which, according to El Diario, is worth more than cocaine. A kilo of cocaine, said the report, sells for $15,000 in Ciudad Juárez. Orion Group agents arrested two people in connection with the seizure, one of whom was a U.S. citizen, and also announced that it had located over 30 houses which sell drugs within the city. Twenty agents of the Orion Group also began surprise inspections on the bridges connecting Juárez and El Paso.

The Army's BOM operations, which were being conducted both in the city and the rural Valley of Juárez, had resulted in the arrests of one man for drug trafficking, two for stealing cars, and two for trafficking weapons, as of March 11. The primary objective of the BOMs, according to a spokesman for the military, is to "look for guns and drugs." Governor Martínez said he had personally requested that the Army help in the "depistolization" effort.

However, not everyone was happy with the increased law enforcement in the city. Several federal deputies said they believed the military operations were illegal.

Police chief Benavidez said on March 16 that the number of adolescents trafficking drugs in the city had increased "ten times" in the last three years. So far in the year 2000, he said, police had arrested 43 minors for possession of drugs. The minors, who are often desperate for "easy money," are preyed upon by drug traffickers, who continue to rely more and more on adolescents to transport small amounts of drugs into El Paso, he said.

State attorney general Arturo González Rascon said March 13 that "in Ciudad Juárez there exists an armed commando of assassins" who are using police uniforms, usually black, and other police equipment in addition to high-power weapons. In late February, the PGR changed their logo and uniforms.

State Party Leaders Support Law Enforcement Efforts

The state directors of the three major political parties all expressed support for the increased vigilance against drug trafficking. PRI leader Miguel Angel González, for one, said he had confidence that the authorities "will correct the problem." PAN leader Guillermo Luján Peña warned that the problem is expanding statewide, while PRD leader Luis Javier Valero characterized the recent violence as "a war between criminal organizations and a dispute over markets."

Drug Trafficking-Related Executions, February 20-March 15

March 13 -- Benjamín Fernández Montiel, 37, executed by a bullet to  the head, Chihuahua City. El Diario called the murder "an apparent adjusting of accounts." The victim was tortured before being executed, according to police.

March 11 -- Berenice Ortiz Gómez, 22, killed by two bullets to the head, while a passenger in a white 1999 Lincoln driven by her boyfriend, Raymundo Pérez Hijar, on Avenida Tecnologica, Ciudad Juárez. Pérez, 38, was hit in the elbow with a bullet during the attack, but survived. His arm was later amputated. Assassins using AK-47's struck the car with fifteen bullets. Police later identified Pérez as the same man who survived a similar attempted shooting on November 7, 1997. At that time, Pérez identified himself as a "veterinarian" working for a security company whose owner had been executed November 4. State police said that Pérez is not a veterinarian "but apparently is an important member of a criminal organization." He was flown to México City under heavy police protection and will be questioned by federal authorities.

March 11 -- Alejandra del Castillo, 26,  strangled to death, was found wrapped in a blanket inside a red 1999 Lincoln Navigator which was parked along the Calle Montemayor, Ciudad Juárez. Police investigators said that the woman had been kidnapped by an "armed commando" on the morning of March 10 in the Los Parques neighborhood. Wounds on her body also indicated that the victim had been tortured prior to being strangled, according to Suly Ponce, special investigator into the murders of women in Ciudad Juárez. Her family has refused to provide information about her friends or activities, said Ponce. In addition, Alejandra's sister Perla has been missing since December 28, 1999, but her relatives did not file a report with state authorities.

March 11 --  The body of a man believed to have been dead for 3 to 4 weeks was found in a sewer in a state of decomposition, Calle Barranco Azul, Ciudad Juárez. Police authorities believe he was put there by "assassins of a criminal organization."

March 8 -- Vicente Varela Vásquez, 19, strangled to death, was found wrapped in blankets in a vacant lot in the San Angel neighborhood, Ciudad Juárez. He was an employee of the National Institute of Statistics, Geography, and Information (INEGI). According to the Mexican federal police (PGR), he was a census worker who allegedly had canvassed a neighborhood where a drug trafficker had lived. Medical experts told reporters that asphyxiation is one of the most painful methods of torture. El Diario quoted agents of the state's attorney general office who said one of the Carrillo Cartel's top assassins, Arturo "El Chaqui" Hernandez, specializes in his strangling his victims.

March 6 -- Samuel Martínez Montes, 28, executed by a 9mm bullet to the head, found dead behind his car and at the side of the Juárez Porvenir highway, between the towns of San Isidro and Loma Blanca. The victim had been directed to the side of the highway by men in a dark-colored Jetta who placed a flashing police light on top of their car, according to Martínez' cousin, Santiago de León Martínez, who was a passenger in the victim's GMC pickup truck. Upon stopping Martínez' truck, the men seized the victim and beat him before executing him. They then got into the Jetta and drove off in the direction of Juárez, according to the cousin, who was unharmed. Samuel Martínez Montes, a lawyer, was the son of notary public Samuel Martínez Escandón of Juárez, according to police authorities.

State police said their preliminary investigations indicated that there may have been Juárez municipal police involvement in the killing, however, they were unable to establish a motive for the crime. According to El Norte, investigative agents said that the killing was a "professional assassination" apparently "done by a police official." Martínez's cousin said that the two were on their way to Las Cruces, New Mexico.

March 3 -- Francisco Urióstegui, 25, executed by a bullet to the head, found wrapped in blankets tied together by an electric cord in a vacant lot, Santa Fe neighborhood, Ciudad Juárez. State police speculated that the killing was "the product of a bust of more than a kilo of  'Crystal,' a drug derived from meth amphetamine, which has a value higher than cocaine," according to El Diario. In addition, police later discovered that the victim had been in the state police office a few days before this death, testifying about a shooting incident in which his friends René Quiñónez and César Tovar Acosta injured a man named Luis Villa, 20. According to state police, René is the brother of Chihuahua City drug trafficker Raúl Quiñónez.

February 28 -- Luis Alejandro Loya Olivas, alias "El Petus," 35, shot to death by an individual using a .40mm pistol, Chihuahua City. A resident of Namiquipa, Loya was on his way to a nightclub with friends when the shooting occurred. Witnesses told police that they "could not see the [gunman] very well." One of them was also struck in the leg by a bullet. Witnesses also told police that Loya was planning to travel to Juárez in his 2000 Cherokee to visit his parents, who have "various businesses" in the city and a large ranch in Namiquipa.

February 20 -- Francisco Lozano Rico, 35, executed by a bullet to the head, after being chased in his vehicle through the streets of Chihuahua City by three men. Witnesses affirmed that the two cars stopped near the Club Deportivo just before the shooting. According to police reports, the three pursuers knew the victim and attempted to talk with him. Lozano Rico, a resident of Ensenada, Baja California, was identified as an assassin working for the Arellano-Felix Cartel by state attorney general Arturo González.

February 20 -- Victor Manuel Corral Pando, gunned down while driving in his car, in Chihuahua City. His attackers used an R-15 machine gun, hitting the victim several times in head while both their Ford pickup and Corral's 1974 Toyota were in motion. Corral's cousin Teofilo Palma Aguirre was struck in the shoulder, but survived the attack and the subsequent crash of Corral's car. Two children in the back seat of the car were found uninjured.

Sources: El Diario, El Norte, El Paso Times, Proceso