I’m Out
May. 9, 2008
And away from email for the next few days. Any of you pajarritos who want to drop a tip, pues ya saben, 520-820-8525.
Cuidense.
Rocket Launcher Attack
May. 9, 2008
THE BORDER REPORT
Noroeste newspaper has a great multi-media show of the attack on Joaquín Shorty Guzmán’s son. One photo, shown here and used by permission of Noroeste, shows the plate sized hole left by one rocket. Twenty-five cars were destroyed in the battle that, it’s said, took Edgar Guzmán’s life. It should be stressed that the Sinaloan government has not yet confirmed his death.
A, umm, source, who sent me a message this morning is anxiously awaiting the funeral.
– Michel Marizco
Treacheries, Then Murder
May. 9, 2008
THE BORDER REPORT
No sooner did Mexico give tribute to Edgar Millán, murdered head of the nation’s federal police force, when the top boss of Mexico City’s anti-kidnapping police force, Esteban Robles, was gunned down, dying this morning with a bullet to the eye.
Millán’s killer waited in his home, shooting him ten times. Police tell El Universal it was an inside job; few knew his staggered routines. The killer was arrested, the government showed him on television yesterday, crouched, cuffed, his red and black striped shirt soaked in sweat, a bandage over his right eye.
Sinaloa Police Commanders Quit
May. 8, 2008
THE BORDER REPORT
El Debate’s reporting that the director and sub-director of the Sinaloa state police force have resigned after they received death threats.
At least one Justice Department source I spoke with today feels the same way I do; somewhere, someone trashed an agreement with the State. Whether it was Arturo Beltrán Leyva or someone blaming him with those damned narco-banners spreading out over the city, I don’t know. But it’s a curious turn of events.
There’s been six cops murdered in the past four days in Sinaloa, all state police officers. And not just cops, but investigators; not uniformed patrolmen, but intelligence. They’re going for the head.
THE BORDER REPORT
This story’s about a week old, but I like it because it sums up nicely just how entrepreneurial migrant smuggling has become on the U.S.-Mexico border.
An anonymous tipster notified Sonoran state police about Rita Lugo who was holding four migrant kids in a Nogales, Sonora, stash house. Police discovered 25 laser visas she was selling for $1,000 apiece to the children of illegal migrants.
Lugo was crossing the kids herself, she told police. Of course, if she were working for somebody else, she probably wouldn’t rat the person out. There are fates worse than death, after all. There are pliers.
