Chinese Sanitary Workers Removed Over 12K Pig Carcasses From Huangpu River

Some of the pig carcasses tested positive with epidemic diarrhea virus and with PCV, a common virus for pigs, but harmless to humans.

By H. Nelson Goodson

March 17, 2013

Shanghai, China - On Saturday, the Chinese government state media reported that, since last week more than 12.5K pig swollen and rotting carcasses have been removed from the Shanghai Huangpu River. Yu Kangezhan, Director of the Chinese Agriculture Ministry told the state media, that the carcasses fished out of the river pose no threat to 23 million people who get their drinking water from the river. By March 8, about 8,965 pig carcasses were removed from the river by sanitary workers in the Songjiang district. By Friday, another 3,601 carcasses had been recovered from the river.

Some of the pig carcasses tested positive with the epidemic diarrhea virus and with Porcine Circovirus (PCV) disease, a common virus for pigs, but harmless to humans, according to Kangezhan.

The Shanghai Municipal Agriculture Commission (SMAC) confirmed, the pigs were discovered floating in the river last week and believes that the carcasses originated from Jiaxing where 103K pig farms are located. 

The state media reported that pig farmers from Jiaxing had raised more than 7M pigs in 2012. The Chinese government and police for months have been cracking down on the sale of contaminated pork meat in the food markets in the province. No swine flu has broken out, Kangezhan told the Chinese state media.

IRS Deputized 30 Florida Law Enforcement Agents To Combat Fraud

IRS in Florida added 30 agents to their statewide fraud task force by swearing in police officers and sheriff deputies as federal agents.

By H. Nelson Goodson

March 16, 2013

Tampa, Florida - On Friday, 30 new federal deputy agents were sworn in by the Florida based Internal Revenue Service (IRS). The IRS deputy agents were recruited from 10 state and local law enforcement agencies that included police officers and sheriff deputies. They will be part of an identity theft tax refund fraud task force that will join another 20 agents in the IRS criminal investigation unit.

In the last few years, criminal organizations or criminals have used stolen identities to filed fraudulent tax refunds costing the government millions. State and local authorities investigating identity theft cases couldn't easily get personal taxpayer information from the IRS to help prosecute cases.

Law enforcement agencies will now have IRS deputy agents in their departments to access taxpayer information for investigations concerning identity theft and interstate tax fraud cases, including sending fraudulent acquired tax refunds out of the country.

Officers were recruited from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement,  Brooksville, Clearwater, Largo, St. Petersburg and Tampa Police Departments and sheriff deputies from Hernando, Hillsborough, Manatee and Polk Counties.

The IRS reported, that to stop identity thieves up front, the IRS has made a significant increase for the 2013 tax season in the number and quality of identity theft screening filters that spot fraudulent tax returns before refunds are issued. The IRS has dozens of identity theft screens now in place to protect tax refunds.

These efforts helped the IRS in 2012 protect $20 billion of fraudulent refunds, including those related to identity theft, compared with $14 billion in 2011.

Conspiracy Plot To Kill Milwaukee Cops Fails To Convict Gang Member

Joe Frazier

A jury acquitted La Familia gang member in conspiracy plot to kill two Milwaukee officers.

By H. Nelson Goodson

March 15, 2013

Milwaukee, WI - On Thursday, a jury acquitted Joe L. Frazier, 21, of conspiring to kill two Milwaukee police officers. The jury found Frazier not guilty of all counts. 

The state failed to provide proof that Frazier, a suspected La Familia gang member intended to go forward in an allege plot to actually commit murder. Frazier had been charged with three counts of conspiracy to commit intentional homicide and was the first defendant of five to go on trial in the case.

Milwaukee police accused five suspects of plotting to kill two officers and several other would be victims. Frazier's trial showed that police and the state had a weak case and puts the rest of the trials of co-defendants in jeopardy. Without Frazier's conviction who police say was the trigger man, gaining any convictions from the four remaining defendants will be difficult to achieve.

The murder plot was discovered in September after several tips to police were made about the plan of members of La Familia were planning to commit multiple murders. 

Three men and a woman, Eliezer Cruz Jr., 20, Michael Geluk, 21, Gabriel Guerrero, 24, and Maricela Gullicksen, 29, were also each charged for conspiracy to commit first-degree intentional homicide.

Reynosa Gulf Cartel Confirmed Its Leaders, El Gringo And El Puma Were Killed

Photo courtesy of Valor por Tamaulipas

Two Gulf Cartel leaders killed in feud to control Reynosa.

By H. Nelson Goodson

March 15, 2013

Reynosa, Tamaulipas, Mexico - On Friday, the Mundo Narco dot com (MN) reported that the Gulf Cartel had confirmed, that two of its leaders El Gringo and El Puma were killed during last Sunday's gunbattle in Reynosa between several factions of the same cartel. The MN also posted that according to official sources, that four vehicles with about 40 corpses were recovered.

Apparently, the GC managed to take their dead or casualties with them. Some look outs (halcones) and members of the factions headed by both El Puma and El Gringo were eliminated from Bugambilias, San Valentin and Granjas zones. Those who survived the infighting and had worked for the deceased GC leaders are now working for the new leadership that allegedly took over Reynosa.

Another leader known as El Tachas was seriously injured.

Last Sunday, El Gringo, who was one of the leaders of the Gulf Cartel in Reynosa was reported killed in a confrontation with Los Metros a faction of the Gulf Cartel. The Gulf Cartel had been feuding among family factions for months, since another leader, M4 was killed under orders of El Gringo.

The Cartel Narco dot com (CN) reported, that Mario Armando Ramirez Treviño, aka, El X-20 or El Pelón from Los Metros ordered for El Gringo to be eliminated. Treviño is now the new leader of the Gulf Cartel operating in Reynosa, according to social media postings and CN.

Photo of El Gringo courtesy of Cartel Narco.

Four Security Guards Kidnapped From The Reynosa Soriana Periférico Mall

Armed gunmen kidnapped four security guards responsible for stopping a Soriana Periférico Mall invasion on Sunday by armed intruders to prevent bloodshed of customers. 

By H. Nelson Goodson

March 15, 2013

Reynosa, Tamaulipas, Mexico - On Monday, six vehicles with armed gunmen enter the Soriana Periférico Mall and kidnapped at least four mall security guards, according to recent postings in the Valor por Tamaulipas (VT) Facebook page. The mall guards were taken because they prevented gunmen from invading the strip mall last Sunday during a major gunbattle confrontation between two factions of the Gulf Cartel (GC) feuding for control of Reynosa and the multimillion dollar drug trafficking routes leading to the U.S.

The Soriana Periférico Mall closed it doors on Sunday once the infighting between the GC broke out and no one was allowed to enter or leave the mall to protect the safety of the customers and store employees inside. The typical suburban mall houses multiple stores that includes Famsa, an appliance store, Woolworths, a huge food court and a movie theater. 

No information has been released by the Soriana Periférico Mall management or the Reynosa police concerning the kidnapping reports of the guards circulating on the local social networks in Reynosa. The kidnapped guards have not been identified or have been seen since Monday. One guard managed to escape from the mall without being taken by the gunmen. He is not expected to return to work any time soon.

The gunmen were also searching for the security supervisor as well, but failed to locate him.

Reynosa has a population of 500,000 residents. Pharr and McAllen, Texas are just a few miles North of Reynosa.

34 Drug Cartel Suspects, Including 17 Community Police Taken Into Custody In Michoacan

The suspects were heavily armed and openly patrolled a town in Michoacan.

By H. Nelson Goodson

March 14, 2013

Mexico City, Mexico - The Mexican federal Attorney General's Office (PGRF) announced that last Thursday, 34 drug cartel suspects, including 17 community security officers (CSO) and two teenagers were taken into custody by the military for having ties to the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (JNGC). The PGRF says, a total of 47 weapons were confiscated, including 36 high power weapons that were distributed to the suspects and the group was financed by the JNGC.

The military also freed Otoniel Montes, the Municipal Public Safety director and five of his staff members who were taken into custody last week by the CSO. The CSO took over the police station and jailed Montes and his staff, accusing them of having ties with criminal organizations.

The JNGC is known to sponsor CSO units in Jalisco, Michoacan and Colima. The military has tolerated armed CSO's in the region who provide self-defense patrols to keep drug cartels and criminal organizations from their communities, but most are armed with machetes and low grade weapons compared to the high-powered weapons confiscated from the suspects taken into custody. 

Th JNGC is feuding with the Caballeros Templarios Cartel (CTC) in the region. A week ago, a narco message was posted by the CTC in the area alleging that the CSO's operating in Buenavista Tomatlán had ties to the JNGC.

Communities in the states of Guerrero and Michoacan have set up their own armed CSO's to provide security for their small towns. The CSO movement has been spreading to other communities in Mexico and the military is faced with determining, which CSO's are operating within the law and which ones are being financed by criminal organizations. Armed CSO's in Mexico are illegal to operate, but sometimes they're the only means to provide public safety in small and rural areas where the military is absent to provide security.

The suspects were charged for organized crime and possession of high power weapons exclusively reserved for the military. 

The weapons included, 12 -AK-47's, 6 -AR-15's, 1 - 9mm Uzi, 2 -Cal. 5.7- P90's, 2 -.22 Cal. long rifles, 2 -30 Cal. carbines, 11 shotguns and 15 handguns, 5 -9mm's, 2 -45 Cal., 6 -38 Cal. and one 5.7 Cal. handgun. Also confiscated by the military were several small bags of marijuana, 2,500 cartridges of various types of ammo, 106 magazines and two bullet proof vests.

The suspects were arrested in La Ruana, located in the municipality of Buenavista Tomatlàn, Michoacan. They were identified as,

- Jesús García Bejarano, 29, 

- Pedro Montes Zavala, 31, 

- Leobardo Ramírez Reyes, 49, who has a history of criminal convictions, 

- Pedro García Anguiano, 58, 

- Manuel Valencia Orozco, 

- Marcelo Valle del Toro, 31, 

- Edgar Iván Sánchez Tavera, 20, 

- Mario Gutiérrez Tinoco, 24, 

- Ismael Cisneros Vázquez, 22, 

- Juan Luis Hernández Chávez, 27, 

- Víctor Manuel Ibarra, 20, 

- Gustavo Mendoza Ortega, 32, 

- Julio César Santacruz Morales, 

- Ramiro Aguayo Ramírez, 

- José Ricardo Cervantes,  

- José Carlos Cerda, 19,

- Miguel Ángel Villalobos Sánchez, 20, 

- José Guadalupe Sánchez López, 25, who also has prior convictions,

- Pedro García Bejarano, 36, 

- Artemio Almazán Díaz, 

- José Alberto Ayala Chávez, 17,

- Gonzalo Alberto Ayala Bucio, 16, 

- Miguel Ángel Pimentel Martínez, 26, 

- José Carlos Vizcaíno Mendoza, 29, 

- Alfonso Pulido Figueroa, 31, also has prior convictions, 

- Víctor Manuel Moreno Mendoza, 

- Jesús Villa Ríos, 33, 

- Eduardo Chávez Godínez, 20, 

- José María Hernández, 48, 

- Julios César Estrada Gómez, 30, 

- Artemio Espinoza López, 31, 

- Adrián Eduardo Zamora Cortés, 19, 

- Daniel Mora Torres and 

- Ramón Quintana Chávez, 22. 

Mexican Marines Freed 104 Central Americans Held Captive By Zetas In Nuevo Laredo

Tip led to the rescue of 104 undocumented immigrants from Central American held captive by Zetas in Nuevo Laredo.

By H. Nelson Goodson

March 14, 2013

Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas, Mexico - The Mexican Secretary of Marines (Semar) confirmed that a tip led to the rescue of 104 undocumented immigrants from Central America held captive in a Nuevo Laredo home by Zetas. Semar said, 91 men, 13 women, which 102 were from Honduras and 2 from El Salvador had been kidnapped by members of a criminal organization known as Zetas.

A nearby resident in the neighborhood 105 Aniversario de Nuevo Laredo called Semar and said, that armed men had been seen dragging people from vehicles and forcing them into a home. On March 7, Semar launched a rescue operation and managed to rescue the immigrants from a Zeta held security home. 

The immigrants told Semar, that they had been held captive since March 3.

The immigrants were provided medical treatment, food and are expected to be deported back to their native countries.

Between 2008 to 2012, Semar has rescued 331 undocumented immigrants that were kidnapped and held captive by various criminal organizations.

Immigrants who fall victim to organized crime are forced to pay extra to be smuggled through Mexico. Some are forced to join and work for criminal organizations or are held for ransom. Others end up in prostitution rings and drug trafficking operations. In many occasions, immigrants are usually killed after their families from their native countries pay a hefty ransom.