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America Wins the Drug War! (and Otras Chingaderas)

Dec 18th, 2009 | By Michel Marizco | Category: General News, Politics
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THE BORDER REPORT

That’s what the Feds are saying anyway. Look at these blusterings by top DEA officials celebrating the death of Botas Blancas.

In Arizona, lead DEA cop Beth Kempshall tells the Arizona Republic that the flow of drugs “could decline as Beltrán’s gang struggles to sort out its chain of command and re-establish contacts with Colombian cocaine suppliers.”

Would Mrs. Kempshall have us believe that Arturo Beltrán was the only one with the cellphone number to Diego Espinosa’s frontman within Colombia’s Norte del Valle Cartel?

Does she truly believe that El General, Hector, Mario and Carlos along with Sergio Villarreal and Sr. Barbie are frantically looking through big brother’s Address Book for a supplier? Or trying to friend the guy on Facebook?

Sadly, this is very much what the DEA either believes or wants the rest of us to believe.

Here’s Anthony Placido, chief of intelligence for the DEA, talking to The Associated Press yesterday: “Nobody left out there has the extensive contacts that Arturo had. He moved thousands of metric tons of drugs into the United States, including cocaine, methamphetamine and heroin,” Placido said.

Really, Mr. Placido? And here I thought his MoreExpress S.A. de C.V. transport company, with offices from Tapachula, Chiapas to Ensenada, Culiacán and Hermosillo was in the tomato shipping business.

Nobody left out there has his magnitude of contacts, eh? Not Chapo Joaquín Guzmán, Mayo Ismael Zambada, La Tuta Servano Gómez, El Viceroy Vicente Carrillo, El Ingeniero Fernando Sanchez Arellano; El Azul Juan Diego Esparragoza, Nacho Coronel, nadie.

For years, at least dating back to 1997 and Amado Carrillo’s death, the Mexican traffickers have dissipated the old power structure that brought men like Carrillo and Pablo Acosta to power. Too much investment, too much centralized influence. That structure is dated and archaic; which is why we have fragmented hyper-local organizations with blurred boundaries, like the Sinaloa Cartel, who’ve proven vastly more effective at transporting narcotics and feeding the monster.

I’m no fan of Arturo Beltrán Leyva; I’ve lost two colleagues, one a good friend, to his brand of murder and seen a third exiled from Mexico for the crime of reporting on his transgressions. However, I’m also not going to play up his influence in the drug business. As recently as 2007, he was little more than a supporter to Joaquín Guzmán. In 2001, it was he and Barbie who hid Chapo out after his escape from Puente Grande “max security” prison. In fact, they helped him recover from an extreme drinking binge over the following two years. The turn happened somewhere around the end of 2007, then Mochomo’s fall and the war began.

This is a man who dominated the narco-scene headlines for, ostensibly, two years. Bad move, that.arturo-beltran-leyvaa

Not interesting; people who make too much noise never are. It’s the quiet ones, El Azul, Macho Prieto (nice work on the six dead bodies outside Puerto Peñasco last night. You should be proud), El Mayo, who hold sway; the ones who learned early on, don’t talk too much and for God’s sake, keep out of the public view. Get your business done. Mayo’s name is whispered in the mountains of Sinaloa, part respect, part mystery, fear.

When a reporter was killed in southern Sinaloa, late 2004, Mayo sent a crew after the man who did him, punishing Antonio Frausto in public for bringing heat to the Pacific Coast. The result: He’s lasted nearly three decades as a powerhouse in the narcotics business. When Frausto was arrested in Oklahoma in early 2009, his family threw a party in Rosales, Sinaloa, telling everybody Frausto was there. Such is the fear of El Mayo.

Got off the phone with Phoenix detectives a little while ago. They’re telling me what folks from Las Vegas to San Diego are saying, “Maybe now they’ll get back to business instead of this chaos.”

In Phoenix, bajadores working for the Beltrán associates have taken to ripping off jewelry stores, nightclubs and small businesses. Some may be fronts for the Sinaloans, others, cops aren’t sure about. But the level of brazen stupidity is causing panic within the Phoenix community and panic is not a good foundation to lay a stable economic business model upon. Them boys needed cash. It is indicative of the problem of Phoenix that Beltrán people have been popped with three primitive homemade grenades in the past month. By homemade, I mean over-the-counter grenades like what you’d buy to use as a paperweight and stuffed with regulation gunpowder and a blasting cap.

“You’re not gonna kill a group of people ten feet away with these things,” I’m told. “But I’d hate to be the one who catches it.”

There was an arrogance in the Beltrán dynasty that is, in my opinion, the drug world at it’s worst. It leads to foolishness and poor decision-making.

That’s why State Department was able to con Misael Beltrán Cital into coming north to Phoenix last week on a visa. He thought they were holding the door open for him. They were. In a sense.

So, no, DEA. I will respectfully disagree with your assessment. You’re talking too much. You and the government of Mexico have taken out a vicious supplanter with a poor business plan. He was able to move as much dope as he moved because of your mutual governments’ ineptitude, one that borders dangerously close to collusion.

One detective put it succinctly Thursday night when she heard the news of Beltrán’s death.

“Awesome,” she says. “Now he can answer to God.”

The border wars may be over. We don’t know yet. The border business remains unchanged.

59 comments
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  1. Nice writing two thumbs up on this report.

  2. A man becomes preeminent, he’s expected to have enthusiasms, enthusiasms, enthusiasms. What are mine? What draws my admiration? What is that which gives me joy? Baseball! A man stands alone at the plate. This is time for what? For individual achievment, but in the field what? Part of a team. Teamwork.

  3. Michel your saying there was arrogance in Beltran’s dynasty but what about chapo’s arrogance that guy to me is really a reason why alot of these wars started. i mean he wants to jump into all the plazas that dont pertain to him and take it by force, if he didnt get along with the Arellano’s because he thought they were people who came from money fine, but he tried to stiff them for not paying the derecho de piso when he was passing shipments thru theyre territory. In Laredo Osiel gets locked up and then he wants to go thru that spot and try to take it, and now the same thing in Juarez. I personally think Beltran was much smart to making a pact of cease fire with the zetas cuase of the business aspect being affected with a war going on with them. MY POINT IS…

    THERES ENOUGH FOR EVERYONE!!!!!!

  4. con todo respeto michel but u need to get off mayo’s nuts….if ur business partner betrays u and your right hand man who happens to be your brother is arrested n 2 days later the afi is on ur ass cuz of this betrayal u have every right to be pissed n go to the extremes “Tio” went to….el chapo bit the hand that fed him n got off easy con la muerte del ocicon de edgar…. el “Tio” lost control of los pinos thnx to el chapo calentando el terreno…that is y the govt was hot on his ass…it was el Tio who negotiated the truce with d zetas n everybody would of continued making money but el enano no quizo….now the zetas have rienda suelta ahora si chapo is gonna have a bloody war on his hands….no botas blancas to save his ass anymore… sinaloa se va bañar de sangre …. the wolves hace been left loose….bye bye mayo y chapo arturo los espera en el infierno….

  5. ahora…dices ke el mayo is discreet y que si saber trabajar…..how long do you think arturo was running this operation? 1,5 ,10 years? no amigo mucho mas ….he was always discreet… bien tapadito….his only mistake was helping his compadre el chapo…..el mayo agarro fuerza thnx to arturo el le abrio las puertas of the sonora/arizona corridor….los beltranes siempre an rifado en sonora…el mayo bien aguitado cuz he couldn’t have his precious jewel known as tijuana…thnx to arturo he began making real money…n actually that goes for the whole sinaloa federation they all got rich because of el barbas control of sonora…. nomas ke el viejon se confio…y perdio….so don’t say he wasn’t discreet…cuz it wasn’t till 2008 cuando se destapo..todos pensaban ke alfredo era su jefe se equivocan si alfredo es grande el Tio ni se diga…

  6. D_nephew…so what happens in Tijuana now?

  7. gotta love this article, pinchis gueros ilusos.

  8. Great article, Michel. The AP stories keep throwing in ABL was nicknamed “The Boss of Bosses.” I’m assuming they get this melodramatic crap from the DEA spokesperson.

  9. hey Vincent, i think this is the right time to open a nice taco stand in Tijuana, i call cashier, dismembered bodies keep popping out every day, (including today) Leyzaola sayd today, “big heads will roll”, i don’t know if the man is making fun of the situation, or he is giving away a clue of what’s could happen very soon.

  10. Name Changer great to hear from you again, by who I mean d_nephew. So I guess Arturo was not biggest fish in Mexico after all. Yet you still want to make it seem that Arturo was some how more powerful than Shorty. and Mayo.

    Again Artruro made a truce with the Zetas because they were kicking his ass, those Z’s were all over his territories and would not leave. That deal with the Zetas only served El Barbas and no one else. And the Zetas that Arturo was in cammand of is now going at it Lazcano’s Z’s. And what can Lazcano’s Zetas do? Nothing because the Mexican Army is hammering them in the Eastside of Mexico they have to fight tooth and nail to maintain what they have. Those Zetas on the West, the ones Arturo had and the ones actually fighting el Chapo and Mayos allies, are probably going to go crazy or look for new allies.

  11. well well another mayo and chaputo fanatic…..move….answer me this y is he considered the JEFE DE JEFES? who paid to get chapo out of his shit hole? kien mando a la shingada al chaputo? n thats where the betrayal stems from…arturo never wanted nuevo laredo….le hizo el favor a su compadre and chaputo bit the hand the fed him……think about it……would ya…..

  12. He was called Jefes de Jefes to feed his ego that has no basis in reality. Name Changer you want to back up your claims because of a nickname that is fine, but it makes you look like a five year old child.

    But what else can be expected from you. Last time you were making the case that Arturo’s security forces were better than El Chapo’s and Mayo’s because they were, according to you, good looking guys. It’s true Shorty and Mayo have indio ass looking mother fuckers, El Bravo and Macho Prieto, on their side, but damn can they get the job done. The pretty boy Barbie and tall dark and handsome El Grande have the looks according to you but no nearly the usefullness of Bravo with both of them combined. With the guys Arturo had its no wonder he had to get Z40 on his team.

    I’ll bet anything that if Arturo didn’t exist Chapo would of still got out of Puente Grande. And the the Sinaloans feed of eachother, it just that Arturo was on his “Jefe de Jefes” trip because he felt big that he had some Zetas on his side. Guess he figured if the Zetas fucked his people up they could probably do the same to Chapo. He was wrong and now he is dead, end of story.

  13. Macho Prieto is not an indio looking guy, es un vato guero colorado, not a pretty boy, pero not a Bravo looking type of guy.

  14. Never seen a picture of MP, but I assumed he was darked skinned because of his nickname, look at me I’m starting act like Name Changer.

    Either way you know what I mean, Bravo = Ex Miliitary lieutenant, Barbie = Pretty boy that sold some drugs in the Laredo area.

    If you had a choice of a person to handle your security who would you choose?

  15. Will someone please connect the obivious dots to Tijuana…hint hint.

  16. Mira yo soy de sinaloa mas especifico un rancho de mocorito y yo se que el jefe de jefes era el botas blancas pero ahorra es el quinto mes

  17. for users iligal and move : here pics of el macho prieeeto, and yes thats him, i know 4 sure 100%

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jyr2BEeRiA8&feature=related
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jNcHaMo8Aw4&feature=related

  18. <>

    I’m wondering where the DEA was while Arturo moved all those “thousands of metric tons?”

    Seems to me that Mr. Placido’s comment is an admission of DEA’s failure.

  19. that’s el Gonzalon alright, as you can see, he’s not an indio looking guy, he’s like we call, a “guero colorado”, we call guero colorado, people who is light skinned, but they look dark skinned because they have spent most of their lives exposed to sun light, like la gente del campo, as el macho himself, just let him spend a couple of years on a federal hotel and he will get a healthy redneck look.

  20. la barbie vendio al barbas dicen que esta con el 7 en mazatlan

  21. well, the feds are looking for him right now in Morelos.

  22. To me from those pictures MP aint no guero colorado. When I think of the words guero and colorado the words that come to mind is blonde or brownish hair and red skin. People that are very light skined turn red when the sun hits them not that dark brown MP was showing, then againg those are pictures and he might look different in real life.

    And from those pictures MP looks more like an indio than Bravo, look at MP’s high cheeck bones and big nose. Bravo’s indio facial features are not that obvious to detect.

    Speaking of indios I can not help but think of Pablo Acosta and Danny Trejo the actor. Those two look like straight up twins. I always wanted to see a movie about Pablo A. with Danny playing his role. If you could find the right director and screen writer that movie would be bad ass.

  23. well, move, you win, i’m not from Culiacan anymore, because i don’y know how a guero colorado looks like.

  24. Guero colorado could mean what you say it does, my family is not from Sinaloa, so guero colorado means something different to you I guess. It’s just that colorado means the color red to me. And I have never heard of some one with black hair being called GUERO. Dark brown hair sure, but never some one with black hair. Plus I already said he might look different in real life because photographs tend to distort things.

    Point still stands, they should make a movie of Pablo Acosta starring Danny Trejo and they need to do it before Danny gets too old.

  25. well, for the record, my hair is black…there is a friend somewhere in here who knows me in person, he won’t let me lie.

  26. …how about Benicio Del Toro as Pablo, he sounded very Colombian in Traffic.

  27. Arturo’s body just arrived in Culiacan.

  28. You’re talking about what. You’re talking about…Bitching about that sale you shot, some son-of-a-bitch wanna buy land, some broad you’re trying to screw, so forth. Let’s talk about something important.

  29. I’ve been following Mexican Cartel activity for quite a few years. I live closer to Juarez and that area has been what I have followed more than other areas, however they are all of interest to me. In the last 6 months, it seems that there has been a change in the winds, a sence of ergency. It hit me in the face when out of the clear blue, Calderon decriminalized drugs and made it legal to posess small quanities of anything. I suspect we will see some weeding out of cartels, and then the cartel battles will end. They will negotiate a truce and the Mexican Government will claim victory (LOL). Mexico will figure out a way to tax the drugs sold there, and the cartel that is in favor with Calderon will become a major legal supplier to Mexico (Sinaloa). It might be a hell of a stock to invest in. The other cartels will of course run their plaza’s through sales of the legal drugs. The border plaza’s and tourist plaza’s will make big money. Think how easy it will be to smuggle into the U.S. what is legal in Mexico. Everybody will be happy. Amsterdam keeps coming to mind. The U.S. can claim victory as the cartel wars stop and they can continue with the rediculous prhibition laws in the U.S. Could this happen as early as late 2010 or in 2011? And if it does, would the U.S. consider an similar plan in about 2016. I know the cartels there are connected with law inforcement and the government. I am not so naive as to not suspect our government is involved on a deeper level also.

  30. Michel says it the best, if you want to do drugs, but don’t want to have blood on your hands by buying up drugs from an unknown source i.e. You don’t know where the drugs came from orginally…then GROW, MANUFACTURE, PRODUCE, your own private usage. Leagalize the shit, you don’t think they’ll just lower their prices?

  31. I dont know about else where but up here in skunk country people I know are packing there harvest in 55 gallon drums waiting for the market to come back and prices to go back up. high grade nor cal skunks running 1500 a pound used to be 4000 a pound, the recession is a MFr. its a bad year for( made in USA bud) its got to be affecting the mex market. dont know about synthetics but I say make that shit leagle and let them all OD the next gen will learn. even the med growers are hurting.
    I dont think it will ever be legal, to many people on both side of the border are makeing to much money. and I think the coruption on our side of the border runs just as high as mex.

  32. As plans are being made for Beltrans funeral, there is alot of tension and questions floating around. This funeral will be watched so closely that when everything hits the fan; it will either get better or Armagedon will have arrived.

  33. sobrino, que onda, te meneas en az o en cali? tienes los numeros de cali para alfalfa y vestidos de novia actualizados?

  34. ke onzas ilegal……de la jolla a scottsdale y luego pa henderson es el nuevo triangulo de oro….puras colitas d borrego como decia el “tio”….y sin olvidar su ropa lavada…….y arriba la palma badiraguato…….

  35. oye rabbit do you know a good friend of mine his name is xavier rascon de naco o arturo rascon

  36. oye d nephew is that the only place you cyber narcos know of in sinaloa is badiraguato
    el tio se murio ahora el jefe de jefes undisputed el quinto mes

  37. Hmmta madre.. salieron a relucir los mangueras.. ustedes saben quienes son.

  38. Pendejos, Prieto is his lat name not his color!

  39. al parecer aqui el unico pendejo eres tu, se apellida Inzunza Inzunza, no Prieto.

  40. You and ilegal are funny dry snitching idiots. You know what a dry snitch is right, your are from southern cali. What diots try to look like you are all in the know because you two are having a little weed talk on the board, lames. See you guys are doing exactly what Arturo is doing which was BURNING HIMSELF. Now let me make this painfully clear, I would not give a fuck if Chapo and all his crew died tommorow. Quit pretending you know everything that goes on in Mexico, your on this side of the border. Let me humor you i’ll make believe you are some narco in the US working for people connected to Arturo, just to prove my point of you being an idiot.

    Now lets say you worked with in Arturo’s network in the US. Now all the info you would get would be biased towards Arturo. Everyone that could give you info would be pumping Arturo up in this war because that’s what people working for him WANT to believe. What I’m saying makes sense so far right? Same thing for people working fo El Chapo and Mayo. A bunch of morons gossiping on the US side of the border with people in Mexico for info is always going to get a corrupted view. I don’t care if you were banging Arturo’s sister if you live in the US you have an outsiders view of things. You may actually be related and work for Arturo, that’s bullshit but tha’s your fantasy, but unless you’re in the trenches fighting this war your opinion means shit. And even then your view of things would lean towards to the person you are fighting for.

    Stop looking desperate Name Changer. Arturo without the other Sinaloans backing him up only lasted two years. And he surrounded himself with a bunch of pretty boys to protect his ass. Still feel like making fun of El Bravo’s outward appearance? Now do you see why looks don’t matter in this. Barbie buckled, if he didn’t have a direct hand in ratting out Arturo he sure made it clear to everyone where he hanged out. Hell Artruro made it clear himself, the way he was acting and moving in his predictable cities made it almost like he wanted to die.

    It’s not some big fucking mystery who these people are. El Chapo is the most famous out of all the narcos in Mexico, but Arturo acted like he wanted some of it with his Jefe de Jefe signs in dead bodies all over Mexico. El Chapo is always the aggressor in these narco wars, right? He is as you called him a roba plazas. If someone is the aggresor in the confict he is always the stronger of the two because people rarely chose to fight something stronger than themselves. Arturo on the other hand was running around looking for allies and outside help with people he couldn’t trust, and If you couldn’t see that it’s because you didn’t want to see it.

    Oh and ilegal now you know why choosing for some small time dope dealer from Laredo to be very high up in your organization is a bad idea. Barbie is weak and can’t handle the pressure. You don’t as you said become a bad ass over night. I still say there was some homo shit going on with Barbie and Arturo, it makes no fucking sense keeping that guy around no fucking sense at all.

  41. damn, it looks like you are hurt or something, we are just having a little argument and some fun in here, not a fight to see whos the meanest trash talking bloke on the web, “homo shit going on…”, come on man, that was a childish move, move

  42. hahahahaha…..did I hit a nerve “move”? hechate del famoso talco de tu chapito pa lo ardido….. u fuckin cheerleader….el move dice “Arturo without the other Sinaloans backing him up only lasted two years.” hahahahahahahahaa….pinshe manguera si el arturo no ocupaba respaldo get it straight….el era el jefe de jefes pendejo……si esta traicion ya la tenia pleneada tu chapo y mayo…. it was mayo who begged arturo to get rid of el nueve in sonora y cuz he knew el nueve only obeyed the beltranes….tambien fueron las dos ratats kienes mataron a la chiva en monterey, u know y? cuz he only obeyed beltranes…..kien puso al mochomo? las dos ratas, y? cuz he only obeyed his big brother…….y si la barbie no es chingon porke el chapo se lo pidio al barbas segun pa ayudarle a entrenar a su gente y luego el chapo le pide a la barbie ke se quede…sabes ke le dijo la barbie? i only work for arturo……y sabes kien entreno a los putos antrax nomas ni menos ke los FEDA comandados por el cdte.magaña RIP……murio en la linea defendiendo la sangre del señor……now tell me that these are all lies…… u cyber-bitch……

  43. parece que al entrenar al chino y a su gente se les olvido dicirles que aparte de entrenamiento y armas tambien se ocupan guevos, que el virus del antrax y que la verga, el unico virus que les dio fue el una amiba en la panza porque hasta chorro les pego cuando escucharon los cincuentones y G3 cantar y ni siquieran entraron a hacerle el paro al gonzalon y al cholo wilmer cagado, hasta los pobres policias salieron hullendo y pensando que se les habia voltiado la gente del chino y que los seguian pa matarlos, pero eran los antrax que traian a la gente del Isidron Flores detras de ellos.

  44. A lot of us are just on here having discussion about the U.S. border. We share thoughts and info. It gets messages out there that a lot of people don’t or won’t talk about. Then you get these guys on here that just like to bash the rest of us that are doing our best to enjoy our discussion. Keep it fun, that’s what it’s all about. Lol!

  45. simon ilegal…el puto chino segun dice ke por la empreza da su vida…..ni madres ese compa es ma culo ke la chingada… recuerdo el año pasado el puma osea el 28 y el chalito lo traian a pan y verga cuando se desato el desmadre….ay te va otra move osea el chalito siendo hijo del chalo araujo kien era gente del mayo se les volteo do u know y? porke el mayo es un puto traicionero…

  46. some details:
    http://guma187.blogspot.com/2009/12/quien-mato-arturo-beltran-leyva-fue-la.html

    They were on him because of that that guy at Starbucks that he popped. ABL got him too late.

    What does all this mean to T.J. and the 3 letters?

  47. Sometimes I ponder why this world is forever in war and conflict, then I read how even on a one on one people have to always behave like the Wizard on the wizard of Oz….. stay unseen and run your mouth. To think our mothers could not wait till we learned how to talk, what happened in between?

  48. move, ‘I don’t care if you were banging Arturo’s sister’ good one LMAO!!

    after reading your comment i think your confusing ilegal for me, i do change my name only for those movie quotes and i called chapo a roba plazas

  49. Speaking of name changing, anytime you wanna pick up on my Glenngary Glenn Ross quote please feel free…

  50. LMFAO!!!!!!!!!!! ididnt even see it til you mentioned it…..

  51. i dont got to listen to this shit

  52. Botton line, el barbas esta muerto el pinche chapo no… k si esta protegido por el PAN el chapo.. ustedes k creen??? K si hay honor entre criminales?? todos son una bola de bestias que no pudieron enfrentar al mundo haciendo algo bueno para la humanidad(como muchos k secuestran estas bestias) asi k honor pues nomas no. K el pinche diablo tiene al jefe de jefes con un pineapple up his ass right now…? U better believe it :-)

  53. Anyone know who the guy and two women pulled from the apartement where ABL was killed are?

    http://news.yahoo.com/nphotos/Arturo-Beltran-Leyva/photo//091217/photos_pl_afp/9734df7808d2ed18a1116dff22a18252//s:/afp/20091217/pl_afp/mexicocrimedrugsus#photoViewer=/091217/ids_photos_wl/r2705784526.jpg

    Please copy and paste

  54. well, that guy ain’t talking anytime soon, the sailors shook him so hard, now his memory is blank and he doesn’t even remember his own name.

  55. is it true that they left a narco mensage on the guys they smoked at a taqueria in Nogales? the paper is not saying shit about it.

  56. http://www.debate.com.mx/eldebate/Articulos/ArticuloGeneral.asp?IdArt=9320449&IdCat=6087 so that way they learn…

  57. well it looks as though the shit has definitely hit the fan now, real cowards kill innocent unarmed civilians, also why does the press not mention VICENTE CARRILLO AT ALL, must have powerful connections in the press and government…

  58. yo big M if you have internet access in the sheraton, hang in there compa and also what is your take in all this mayhem…since you know both sides of the party at war…

  59. Here’s how the U.S. can win the drug war: Federal prosecutors turn over all potentially difficult cases to Mexican prosecutors. Hmmmm…. We’ll see.

    http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2010/01/04/20100104mexicobust1229.html

    Not surprisingly, Isabel Garcia is opposed. I’m sure Raul Grijalva is also.

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