Mexican drug czar: Cartel "wounded," will not recover
VIOLENCE OVER FOR NOW; POLICE SEEK ARREST OF CARTEL LEADERS

by Jeff Barnet, Staff Writer

After thirty days without any drug-related violence in Ciudad Juárez, Mexican drug policy chief Mariano Herran Salvatti claimed March 20 that the Cartel de Juárez is "practically dismembered" and would never recover the power it once had under Amado Carrillo. According to the banner story in El Norte de Ciudad Juárez, Salvatti stated, "The Juárez Cartel, since the death of Amado, is in disarray and will not recuperate...It does not have a new leader, and it will not have one--the government has seriously wounded this drugtrafficking organization."

For the first time since the death of alleged drug lord Amado Carrillo Fuentes July 4, 1997, an entire calendar month passed in Ciudad Juárez without a single incident of reported drug-related violence. Since January 31, in fact, there has been only one drug-related killing in the city, the assassination of a Juárez lawyer February 19, which Juárez police hypothesized was a case of mistaken identity.

A February 27 New York Times story by reporter Sam Dillon claimed that two different U.S. officials identified Rafael Muñoz Talavera the "new leader" of the Juárez cartel. One official said that Muñoz Talavera had "taken over the role" once held by Amado Carrillo, and that rivals Vicente Carrillo and Juan Jose Esparragoza "El Azul" Moreno had "fallen off of the radar."

However, Mexican police and government officials have said nothing about Muñoz Talavera.

With the narco-guerra at a cease-fire, if not over, Mexican federal police (PGR) declared war on the Juárez drug-trafficking organization March 9, issuing warrants for the arrests of 65 people believed to be associated with the Cartel de Juárez. Included on the list of names were six Cartel leaders, or capos: Vicente Carrillo, younger brother of the late Amado; Eduardo González "El Flaco" Quirarte; Ismael Zambada "El Mayo Zambada" García; Juan José Esparragoza "El Azul" Moreno; Arturo "El Chaqui" or "El Chacky" Hernandez; and Ramón Alcides "El Teniente" or "El Metro" Magaña.

Herrán Salvatti announced a reward of $500,000 (U.S.) for information leading to the arrest for any one of these six capos. All six have been charged with "crimes against the public health." Interestingly, Rafael Muñoz Talavera was not named among the 65 people alleged to be connected to the Cartel de Juárez.

Herran Salvatti also said that authorities "are ready to do whatever it takes to totally dismantle the Juarez cartel." Five days earlier, the U.S. and Mexican governments announced the creation of a Bilateral Anti-Drug Force to be centered in three Mexican border cities. The Juarez group of this new force would include 150 Mexican soldiers, 80 agents from the Special Taskforce on Crimes Against the Public Health (FEADS), and 20 anti-narcotic agents from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA). The Juarez area would also be patrolled by Huey military helicopters provided by the United States.

Cartel de Juárez "first criminal organization in history" to own a bank

In the ongoing investigation into the Cartel's financial operations, authorities revealed March 17 that the Cartel de Juarez had become the first criminal organization in Mexican history to purchase a bank, the Grupo Financiero Anáhuac. According to sources in the National Banking Commission (CNBV), the Cartel purchased the bank during 1995 and 1996 for 82 million pesos (approximately $10 million U.S.), and used the institution to launder drug-trafficking profits. PGR sources also said that the operating executives of the Grupo Financiero Anáhuac were Jorge Bastida, leader of the national electricians' union, and industrialist Juan Zepeda Mendez, both of whom were connected to Luis Vicente Leyva Carrillo, son of Amado Carrillo.

The CNBV took control of the Cartel's bank after it was discovered that the institution had committed fraud against the IMSS, the national health and social services agency. The case has motivated authorities to begin investigations into other financial institiutions in Cuba, Chile, and Argentina, and in the Mexican states of Morelos, Quintana Roo, Campeche, Sonora, and Yucatan.

Mexican authorities have begun to unravel the complex financial operations of the Cartel after securing confessions from Manuel Bitar Tafich, the man once called "the financial brain" of the organization. The Cartel created several corporations, including Cobit, S.A. de C.V. and Century 21, to purchase its many properties across the nation. According to the PGR, the Guernika Hospital in Juárez was the first purchase by Bitar's Cobit corporation.

The PGR and Chihuahua state police (PJE) secured houses in both Juárez and Mexico City that were alleged to have belonged to the Cartel de Juárez. On one night, March 26, PGR operatives seized eight houses in Juárez which had been the residences of Amado and Vicente Carrillo and Eduardo Gonzalez "El Flaco" Quirarte, according to El Diario.

Earlier, on March 10, PGR agents raided a house in Juárez in which they discovered a stash of high-powered weapons, including eight AK-47's. Federal authorities said the house "was presumably used as a safe house," and that the weapons discovered may have been used by assassins ("sicarios") in the Max-Fim and Geronimo's massacres of August. The PGR said the weapons would be examined by experts.

Significant related stories to the Cartel de Juárez:

Wed., Mar. 4: General Rebollo Sentenced to 13 years in Prison

Former Mexican drug policy chief General Jesus Gutierrez Rebollo, arrested in February 1997 and accused of working for alleged drug lord Amado Carrillo Fuentes, was sentenced to 13 years, 9 months, and 3 days in prison for his role in drug-trafficking operations. In addition to "abuse of authority," Guitierrez Rebollo was found guilty of transporting firearms which were for the exlusive use of the Mexican Army.

Source: El Norte de Ciudad Juárez

Fri., Mar. 7: Army Destroys Planes Used by Drug Traffickers

The Mexican Army destroyed five Cessna planes used by drug traffickers in "strategic places near the border," according to a story in El Norte de Ciudad Juárez. The planes were seized during a joint operation of agents from the PGR, the PJE, and the state Attorney General's office (PGJE).

Source: El Norte de Ciudad Juárez

Wed., Mar. 11: "El Chacky" Hernandez Wanted By State, Feds

Arturo Hernandez, alias "El Chacky," one of the four men named by Chihuahua state attorney general Arturo Chavez Chavez February 3 as one of a team of assassins responsible for several executions in Ciudad Juárez, was also named one of the leading six capos of the Juarez Cartel by the PGR March 10.

According to the PGJE, state police agents have been searching for Hernandez "for months." He is alleged to have killed "tens" of victims by strangulation.

Source: El Norte de Ciudad Juárez

Sat., Mar. 14: Former President's Brother Connected to Juárez Cartel

Raul Salinas, brother of former Mexican President Carlos Salinas, received millions of dollars in drug trafficking money from 1990 to 1993, according to both U.S. and Mexican authorities, said a story published in the Wall Street Journal.

The Journal said "there is sufficient evidence to prove that Raul Salinas was an intermediary and received millions of dollars from Colombian drug traffickers," in addition to several Mexican capos, including Amado Carrillo Fuentes.

Sources: El Diario, Wall Street Journal

Fri., Mar. 20: Binational Anti-Drug Conference Meets in El Paso

U.S. drug policy chief Gen. Barry McCaffrey was among 300 U.S. and Mexican officials who met in El Paso's Camino Real Hotel for the two-day U.S.-Mexico High Level Contact Group Bi-National Demand Reduction Conference, March 19 and 20. It was the first such conference on reducing demand for illegal substances.

McCaffrey said that community action against drug problems must be "the heart of the solution. There is no national drug problem, but a series of local epidemics."

McCaffrey revealed official statistics that said the United States has over 12 million drug users and 6 million addicts who consume over $50 billion in drugs each year. In addition, he said that the U.S. was the leading producer of marijuana and methampetamines in the world.

The Mexican delegation was led by Dr. Juan Ramon de la Fuente, health secretary, and Dr. Roberto Tapia-Conyers, undersecretary of health.

More on drug use in Mexico and the Bi-National Conference

Source: El Diario, El Paso Times

Fri., Mar. 20: Current President's Brother Connected to Juárez Cartel

The Guadalajara daily newspaper, El Publico, alleged that Rodolfo Zedillo Ponce de Leon, brother of current Mexican President Ernesto Zedillo Ponce de Leon, laundered money for several Mexican capos, including Amado Carrillo Fuentes.

Former National Action Party (PAN) presidential candidate Diego Fernandez de Cevallos was also named as an alleged money launderer in the same report.

Rodolfo Zedillo denied the allegations, saying he was "absolutely clean."

Source: El Diario, El Publico

Sun., Mar. 22: Cartel de Juárez Assassin Arrested in Chicago

Roberto Orozco Fernandez, alias "El Che" or "El Chet," alleged to be an assassin ("sicario") for the Cartel de Juárez, was arrested in Chicago, Ill., where he awaited extradition to Mexico. "El Che" or "El Chet" is wanted for drugtrafficking, money laundering, and arms trafficking in Mexico. He is a former Federal Judicial Police (PJF) agent.

According to a petition submitted by the PGR, Orozco Fernandez is one of the principal assassins used by Cartel de Juárez leader Eduardo Gonzalez "El Flaco" Quirarte to "eliminate his adversaries," principally members of the Tijuana drug cartel led by the Arellano Felix brothers.

However, chief of the Homicide Group of the Chihuahua state police, Arturo Tovar Hernandez, said Orozco Fernandez is not wanted for any executions committed in Ciudad Juárez. Orozco is said to be a member of a group called "Los Arbolitos," or "Little Trees."

Source: El Diario

Mon., Mar. 23: Police Investigate Cartel Role in Colosio Assassination

The PGR and Interpol believe there may have been a connection between the Cartel de Juárez and the assassination of presidential candidate Luis Donaldo Colosio in 1994, according to an article in El Norte de Ciudad Juárez. Colosio, the PRI nominee for president, was extremely popular and expected to win the presidency easily before his assassination in Tijuana.

Police investigators quoted in El Norte said they have connected Juan Jose Esparragoza Moreno, alias "El Azul," then a lieutenant for Amado Carrillo Fuentes, as one of several Cartel de Juárez drug traffickers who were, according to a PGR hypothesis, behind a plot to kill Colosio using gunmen from the Tijuana cartel. The order for the assassination, according to this theory, came from Amado Carrillo Fuentes.

Police investigators gave several reasons why the Juárez and Tijuana cartels would want Colosio dead, including the allegation that Colosio rejected the support of the drug traffickers, even after they have given $10 million (U.S.) to his campaign.

"El Caso Colosio" has remained unsolved for four years.

Source: El Norte de Ciudad Juárez

Fri., Mar. 27: U.S. Senate Re-Certifies Mexico in Drug War

By a vote of 54-45, the United States Senate passed a motion to re-certify Mexico in the fight against drugs.

Sen. Paul Coverdell, R-Georgia, and Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-California, led the debate against re-certification. According to Coverdell, "we are losing the war." According to the report in El Diario, the anti-certification debate included "a series of punitive lies."

Source: El Diario

Sat., Mar. 28: Amado's Killers Still Alive, Says PGR

According to press reports originating in Santiago, Chile, Mexican drug policy chief Mario Herran Salvatti gave an interview in which he said the assassins responsible for the alleged death of alleged drug lord Amado Carrillo Fuentes were still alive. Chilean newspapers earlier reported that Amado Carrillo himself was still alive.

According to the Chilean press reports, Herran Salvatti said there were three people responsible for Carrillo's death. Only Dr. Jaime Godoy, one of three victims found stuffed in oil barrels alongside a Guerrero highway November 2, has been found dead and positively identified.

Herran Salvatti is also alleged to have said that Amado Carrillo is dead.

Source: El Diario