Bankrupt Banker: Mexico

Alfredo Beltran Leyva: Sinaloa Cartel, Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman

<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqm3xfgROkp8HCc0nu5fombyriN4qsqLQLBfdN1__UMre8aiekdJqcnlDRoFvY61A9G2EpzFELnqKo5Z6mhuSd8RSmg6ARTPEZTYsVbdbopwzWaTg2bhM1vphbSdb3G6XimvnYTzyizVGJ/s1600-h/cheese.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5158338694634730034" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqm3xfgROkp8HCc0nu5fombyriN4qsqLQLBfdN1__UMre8aiekdJqcnlDRoFvY61A9G2EpzFELnqKo5Z6mhuSd8RSmg6ARTPEZTYsVbdbopwzWaTg2bhM1vphbSdb3G6XimvnYTzyizVGJ/s320/cheese.jpg" style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRdTib3PH-NYULw76ck6zjSN8BpyRjlNJLTXl0gw9E7G5mrf-4N3Li9D7h7iLYji8BpDWP6pH67CRLsnZneqeLgL4fa8KKI93nU-RG-XEU4oeTYwuODI_b3xs6X0r0UaPkRjG_jQhc2iO-/s1600-h/newsweek-apnet.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5158338698929697346" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRdTib3PH-NYULw76ck6zjSN8BpyRjlNJLTXl0gw9E7G5mrf-4N3Li9D7h7iLYji8BpDWP6pH67CRLsnZneqeLgL4fa8KKI93nU-RG-XEU4oeTYwuODI_b3xs6X0r0UaPkRjG_jQhc2iO-/s320/newsweek-apnet.jpg" style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIh8PvXorQ_aTJb0i9Uq8Umi95ZMbfdAH_DJZJN-oCDu1ny3Oc5p8xUkWMBbHF4m5Mv4L-xDbgqQSkmNyH1e1meTEE2VLoJ8EHAPM2PhllstAPfqLQaUJTFrhWO2vI0MyVWYWUVkNSKeAh/s1600-h/sinicato.bmp"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5158338703224664658" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIh8PvXorQ_aTJb0i9Uq8Umi95ZMbfdAH_DJZJN-oCDu1ny3Oc5p8xUkWMBbHF4m5Mv4L-xDbgqQSkmNyH1e1meTEE2VLoJ8EHAPM2PhllstAPfqLQaUJTFrhWO2vI0MyVWYWUVkNSKeAh/s320/sinicato.bmp" style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" /></a> Mexican army troops captured a leader of the country's most important drug trafficking organization Monday as the government's offensive against organized crime continued. <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnU_TM98_iPpwcxV5drQA0Y5Nhr79EkEuzl7lgYS5k6JDJM0n0vCOvfYw4fTGPnHptEUuzJUBx1zSHNI0vy1IoAPw62fWW65jxE4c79RCwk0bPijXd8eCQegwV2yxhFehJcpuqIkXE9siT/s1600-h/_44371501_arrest_ap_203b.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5158336774784348706" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnU_TM98_iPpwcxV5drQA0Y5Nhr79EkEuzl7lgYS5k6JDJM0n0vCOvfYw4fTGPnHptEUuzJUBx1zSHNI0vy1IoAPw62fWW65jxE4c79RCwk0bPijXd8eCQegwV2yxhFehJcpuqIkXE9siT/s320/_44371501_arrest_ap_203b.jpg" style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" /></a> Alfredo Beltran Leyva, a member of a family allied with the so-called Sinaloa Cartel drug smuggling organization, was captured during an army sweep in Culiacan, the capital of the violent Pacific Coast state for which the organization is named. Beltran Leyva had responsibilities for smuggling cocaine and other narcotics through a wide swath of western Mexico, officials said in announcing the arrest. The Sinaloa Cartel, under at least the nominal control of Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, is widely considered the most important organized crime syndicate in Mexico. The organization's rivalry with the Gulf Cartel, another gangster confederation from cities bordering Texas, has been responsible for much of the underworld violence now claiming more than 2,000 lives a year in Mexico. Much of the violence in recent years in Nuevo Laredo, across the Rio Grande from Laredo, has been blamed on the Beltran Leyva family's battle with Gulf Cartel gunmen. Members of the Gulf Cartel, whose purported leader Osiel Cardenas is jailed in Houston awaiting federal trial on drug charges, have long claimed that the government favors the Sinaloa gangsters. But authorities have gone after the Sinaloa group, seizing 23 tons of cocaine last fall from a ship docked in Manzanillo and arresting a number of its members. Monday's arrest follows a large-scale operation last week in the border city of Tijuana, home of yet another "cartel" that resulted in a number of arrests and deaths, including those of six kidnap victims being held in a gangster safehouse. Sinaloa Cartel Leaders: Joaquín Guzmán Loera, El Chapo. Ismael Zambada, El Mayo Lieutenants: The brothers Arturo y Héctor Beltrán Leyva, dealers in Sonora and all the Federal District Ignacio Coronel Villarreal, Nacho Coronel. Representative for Guadalajara, Head of Finance for the cártel. Edgar Valdés Villarreal, La Barbie, texan, Boss of the foot soldiers in Nuevo Laredo. Otto Herrera García, El Licenciado, guatemalteco, responsable for fast launches and logistics Manuel Alejandro Aponte Gómez, El Bravo, Head of Security for El Chapo. Gustavo Inzunza Inzunza, El Macho Prieto. Head of Security for El Mayo. Vicente Zambada Niebla, son of El Mayo. Logistics for distribution of cocaine from Columbia

Alfredo Beltran Leyva: Sinaloa Cartel, Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman

Mexican army troops captured a leader of the country's most important drug trafficking organization Monday as the government's offen...

Alfredo Beltrán Leyva (updated) arrest is unleashing more violence

<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh11CLyWGg0zAO__bRkQ1hr4EpekC0ujZaUTGWBt8gElwOHszRI_XtBEYeBxJYsP1_gmNpTRXT018mE-1tYpzVvm1GGRiu30klSx1t6yjzE2uovYYLY5sv9wYtE67LUO1MfG9YGMzjcWXGD/s1600-h/alfredo_beltran_c.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5158127764495856114" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh11CLyWGg0zAO__bRkQ1hr4EpekC0ujZaUTGWBt8gElwOHszRI_XtBEYeBxJYsP1_gmNpTRXT018mE-1tYpzVvm1GGRiu30klSx1t6yjzE2uovYYLY5sv9wYtE67LUO1MfG9YGMzjcWXGD/s320/alfredo_beltran_c.jpg" style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" /></a> The government scored a success in Sinaloa on Monday when it captured Alfredo Beltrán Leyva, one of five brothers who are high-ranking lieutenants in the Culiacan-based cartel. Though the big bosses have slipped through the dragnet — the offensive that was started against the gunmen in late November after a prominent local politician was murdered in Río Bravo — it has paid off in many respects, officials said. The police have arrested about 40 reputed members of the gang and seized dozens of machine guns, rifles, side arms, grenades and boxes of ammunition. The federal police have also begun to submit local police officers to a battery of tests to determine who might be linked to organized crime. Among the tests are polygraphs, drug tests and the vetting of personal finances. The goal is to weed out collaborators. Many people here say they welcome the federal intervention, even if it means having columns of troops patrol their streets. But others voice doubt that government forces can ever stamp out the cartel, given its infiltration of the local police. All the federal forces have accomplished, they say, is unleashing more violence. “Living in Mexico has become very difficult,” said one man who had been searched at a roadblock near Matamoros. He spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of drug dealers. “Even Colombia is looking better.” Others complain that the presence of soldiers and federal agents, along with the gun battles, has scared away American tourists, an important source of income. Last year, about six million fewer people visited border towns than in 2006; hotel bookings are down and sales of package tours have fallen steeply, according to the Association of Mexican Hotels and Motels.

Alfredo Beltrán Leyva (updated) arrest is unleashing more violence

The government scored a success in Sinaloa on Monday when it captured Alfredo Beltrán Leyva, one of five brothers who are high-ranking lieut...

Alfredo Beltran Leyva member of the Sinaloa cartel

Mexican elite soldiers, with the help of law-enforcement officials, seized $900,000 in cash, an AK-47 assault rifle, eight guns, a BMW vehicle and 11 luxury watches during the arrest, the statement said. President Felipe Calderon has used the army to crack down on drug trafficking and related violence since taking office in December 2006. Organized criminals killed more than 2,000 people in 2007 and more than 100 so far this year, according to daily newspaper El Universal. Police have netted dozens of hit men in northern states after deadly shootouts this month. <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhesMoTV5ixx-6WHE82eTDO9LnMTsfX-KsYp2ANu2y-uykAwhHNOhcaAKedWYcf_DRDT2v6KAj7TTLgPPRTINHor0VHmCZHOyO4f6Fd9RjPAHG9-BHuLy0wFqTbi9ajrE4BOwiYnMzDjW6X/s1600-h/_44371501_arrest_ap_203b.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5158116168084156866" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhesMoTV5ixx-6WHE82eTDO9LnMTsfX-KsYp2ANu2y-uykAwhHNOhcaAKedWYcf_DRDT2v6KAj7TTLgPPRTINHor0VHmCZHOyO4f6Fd9RjPAHG9-BHuLy0wFqTbi9ajrE4BOwiYnMzDjW6X/s320/_44371501_arrest_ap_203b.jpg" style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" /></a> Special forces soldiers captured Alfredo Beltrán Leyva in the Sinaloa capital, Culiacán, along with three of his bodyguards, several weapons and $900,000 in U.S. currency, the Defense Ministry and the attorney general's office said in a joint statement. Mr. Beltran Leyva was then brought to Mexico City. Mr. Beltrán Leyva, whose nickname "El Mochomo" refers to a desert ant, is a purported key operator for the cartel run by his cousin, Joaquín Guzmán Loera, known as "El Chapo" Guzman. "This is one of the people who function as the right hand of Chapo Guzman," said Javier Ibarrola, who writes on military and drug issues for the magazine Milenio. "This is important." Mr. Beltrán Leyva had broad responsibilities in northern states and held a position at the top tier of the cartel, along with his four brothers, officials said. "Part of his functions consisted of directing drug transportation operations, money laundering and the cooptation of public officials for the organization in Sinaloa, Sonora, Chihuahua, Durango, Jalisco and Nayarit," according to the government statement. The government also said Mr. Beltrán Leyva controlled two groups of hit men within the cartel, one in Guerrero state, where Acapulco is located, and another in Sonora. Sinaloa cartel hit squads have been on the front lines of a turf war with the Gulf cartel, which is based on the Texas-Mexico border, and its paramilitary enforcement arm, the Zetas. Monday's arrest, Mr. Ibarrola said, appeared to be a nice piece of intelligence work by the federal government, which had said at the start of the year that its strategy had changed from patrolling streets in drug hot spots to more surgical strikes against top cartel operators. The arrest was also a welcome change, Mr. Ibarrola said, from the recent bloody streets fights in border towns like Reynosa and Tijuana, contributing to a death toll of more than 100 this year from drug-related violence. Last year, about 2,500 people were killed in drug violence. U.S. Ambassador Tony Garza congratulated Mexican officials on the capture. "When Mexico takes dangerous criminals like Beltrán Leyva and his crew off the streets, the people of the United States also benefit," Mr. Garza said, adding that the U.S. commitment to working with Mexico against crime is "stronger than ever."

Alfredo Beltran Leyva member of the Sinaloa cartel

Mexican elite soldiers, with the help of law-enforcement officials, seized $900,000 in cash, an AK-47 assault rifle, eight guns, a BMW vehic...