THE BORDER REPORT

The dynamics of this arrest are interesting. But is he important? Other than being the sole (known) Anglo, is Edgar "La Barbie" Valdez Villarreal as important a catch as the Mexican government and the American federal agencies will make him out to be? Resilient, yes he was, on the move since the late 1990s, indicted on a $3 million pot trafficking charge out of federal court in Louisiana in 2003, I believe. He and Arturo were credited with helping Joaquin El Chapo Guzman recover from a bout of alcoholism following the Puente Grande escape of 2001. By 2006, he'd lost Nuevo Laredo to the Gulf Cartel, and by 2008, he and Beltran had gone to war with the Sinaloa Federation. All told, a decade running before his arrest today in Morelos. Now, as a Tejano, is the State Department going to abide by usual protocols, and visit him in jail to ensure his rights as an American citizen are being honored by the Mexicans? Will he be prosecuted in the U.S. first on those 2003 charges or face trial in Mexico? Or is he a dual citizen (I doubt he's a dual citizen, he started working so early in life, he probably didn't even have time to get a U.S. passport, let alone a Mexican one.) I wish the Mexicans had come up with the trading cards the Americans used on al-Qaeda, post-9/11; I'm losing track. It started with Arturo Beltran Leyva in Cuernavaca. Then a month later, Teodoro Garcia Simental, El Teo, in Tijuana. Next up was Nacho, yeah?

THE BORDER REPORT

So, so far we're up to 72 people in that mass grave near Matamoros; then two car-bombs in Cd. Victoria, then the killing of the ministerio publico into the murders. He was found on the highway. Still want to tell me it's the Zetas? Pres. Felipe Calderón has been expounding on the point for days now, insisting that these migrants had been killed because they refused to work for the Zetas. Again with the Zetas. Last year, when the killings began along the Guatemala border, that was blamed on the Zetas, too. In fact, every time a new travesty breaks out, it's usually the Zetas who are blamed. Not, mind you, that I have any love for the Zetas, but I do appreciate facts when I come across them and this excuse of the Zetas has been used so many times, it's grown wearisome and frankly, suspect. Let's be clear here; Calderón has no proof. At last count, 31 of the 72 bodies had been identified. If the Mexican government can't even identify the bodies of the dead, how are they going to identify the motive?  They're not, it's ridiculous. In fact, he actually doesn't know, he's guessing. This is what he says about the Zetas in a press release issued this morning:

"Son ellos los que están recurriendo a la extorsión y al secuestro de migrantes como mecanismo de financiamiento y de reclutamiento debido a que están enfrentando una situación muy adversa para abastecerse de recursos y de personas." Very roughly: "It is they who keep returning to extortion and kidnapping of migrants as the financial mechanism and recruiting plan because they are facing a very adverse situation to supply themselves with resources and manpower."

In other words, this is their modus operandi, and therefore, it is they who did this. The president is taking much the same tack as his American counterparts. In the Americans' case, they say the same thing about smugglers in general. Calderón's convenient boogeyman is more specific, the Zetas. That's obscene. I'm going to go more with the Rev. Pedro Pantoja, director of the Casa del Migrante in Saltillo who tells  The AP: "The permissiveness and complicity of the Mexican state with criminals ... is just as much to blame."

THE BORDER REPORT

Keep an eye on Hiram Francisco Quiñonez, Nacho Coronel's main man. He was Coronel's private secretary and from all accounts, not a narco but a businessman. The Americans are expecting he'll break early. I'm thinking, even sooner than that. He's already been turned over to the PGR from SEDENA. They're done with him, meaning he's soon to disappear into the Kafka-esque cellars of the Mexican judicial system. It is telling that he was fingered as a sicario, and not as a contadór, by the Mexican Feds. Yet, that's what he's been targeted as, an accountant, or a secretary. I spoke with an American intelligence official today, one from Mexico City, linked closely to the State Department following the arrest. Quiñonez kept current information on Nacho Coronel's whereabouts, his contacts, his dates and appointments. He was the scheduler for Mexico's Crystal King. I imagine he'll have lots to say. From the pictures of his being handed over to the PGR, the military torture him. That's a smart move, in my opinion, keeps the outrage levels down and the Americans happy. But Quiñonez is a businessman and may negotiate a way out of this. That, of course, is assuming the Mexican government didn't enter into an acuerdo with someone else and they don't need Quiñonez at all. I'd expect a Zeta or a Pacific Gulf startup, maybe a Valencia, to go down next. Another Sinaloan would be too obvious so soon, I guess. Whether the Mexicans can have a serious impact on the Sinaloans before Calderón's administration is up in two years will depend largely on whether the Sinaloans are willing to help build a peace. So far, they haven't. We'll find out.

THE BORDER REPORT

UPDATE: A good friend in Sasabe, Ariz., tells me the Americans closed the port of entry there early citing bad weather ... That port is only open until 8 p.m., and they closed at about 7:30, she says, but the unexpected closure leaves about 20 people stranded in Sasabe tonight. It's a town with a population of 25 people, it's not like there's a hotel for them to drive to and Tucson's an hour away. I could be wrong but I've never heard of the Americans closing the port because of weather conditions; frankly, I wonder if it wasn't because of the fight last night in Saric pero quien sabe. Good morning. Lots going on today. We'll start with Sonora. According to an FBI source earlier today: First, the Sinaloa Federation finally moved in on El Gilo in the hills between Sáric and Tubutama last night, about 7 p.m. The Mexican military has seized ten armored vehicles. There are reports of 30 to 40 people dead, with Guzmán's people having the upper hand. The Mexican Army is currently in the area.  Apparently, there was an accident involving Mexican Army soldiers unrelated to the firefight, who were enroute to the Sáric/Tubutama area.  Apparently several soldiers died in the accident. Then "El Dos Mil" Francisco Hernández García, has started acting up again. There was a shootout between Sonora state police and Dos Mil in San Pedro, just east of Hermosillo. At least one cop is dead. Then there was another gunbattle yesterday at the Nogales, Sonora, airport between rival gangs.  So far, two dead and another seriously injured. So you have Dos Mil in central Sonora, the Sinaloans appear to have killed "El Gilo" Arnoldo del Cid Buelno, Hector Beltrán Leyva's lieutenant in the hills just south of Arizona, and another fight at the airport. Gilo had some 300 men stocked in those towns. Two weeks ago, the Sinaloans tried to move on him but were defeated in an ambush that left some 20-30 gunmen dead. Meanwhile, on the political front, U.S. Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Alan Bersin appears to be carefully congratulating Mexico for killing Nacho Coronel Villarreal in a gunfight yesterday. Read what he has to say in that linked El Universal interview. Ilegal, who first told me about la muerte de Nachito, found this bizarre story of a bounty on Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio's head. Finally, I thought YeYo lent some interesting insight into the discussion today (I am not spell-checking him though or I'll be here all day ... Kidding! I'm kidding!): "Durango esta de luto por La muerte del "Cachas de diamante"..Holy shit seems super duper oficial he is dead and the worst is yet to come.I need a body and none has been brought to light as of yet, it might be premature to ask for it since this is breaking news but part of me still holds on to the fantasy of some kind of error..But all signs point to the worst. --Chapo and Nacho had a rupture over a certain kidnaping of someones wife in Sinaloa whos sister is maried to one of Chapos imidiate relative..Remember that??But I doubt  Chapo has anything to do with this because he would be a dead man via Mayo Zambada..Chapo has never been bigger than Nacho and Nacho has provided many of nice places to hide in the Sierra de Durango..Chapo aint no bigger than the next one so everybody quit griping his nuts cause he might be next.. --Juarez Cartel promised to stop the car bombs if a big Sinaloa fish was brought to justice last I heard, so it could be the goverment actualy doing their job since Cevallos hasnt apeared yet and Nacho was relased supposedly.. --Nacho has been beefing with Zetas from Durango all the way Jalisco..8 heads in Durango where Zetas trying to establish themselfs and make a move to the south..Confirmed that yesterday threw a friend who actualy lives in DGO city and saw one of the heads while driving around.. -- Why not the Marina?? Sure Chapo has pull within the ranks of the Mexican Military but he isnt god. The military operates in Zonas and this was the 15 zona historicaly not Chapos but has been known to mingle with others like FM and CDG not to mention Lazca an Nacho as well.. --Nacho had been pegged since his meeting with El Mini then Mini was killed by  nobody knows.. --He was suposedly captured then relased in exchange for Cevallos but nothing was ever mentioned or heard about Cevallos since.. --4 days ago members of Familia Michoacana where captured in Jalisco with a huge arsenal of weapons one of them being Valdemar Hernandez Barajas or (Servando Gomez Martinez..real name) the suposed son of La Tuta but later was found not to be..He was sent to advance into Jalisco but failed.. To sum it up you have to look at who would benifit from his downfall and that would NOT be the Sinaloans thats for sure..The only people that could benifit from this would be the Zetas, Familia Michoacana and the Mexican goverment..Nacho was also the king of meth and was competing for that tittle with the Familia but at the same time was beefing with Zetas..He was alos beefing with BLO over the death of his son and the horrific murder of Pepino but they dont have the pull that they used to have especialy in Jalisco or 15 Zona, so they seem to have lost a foe by way of another foe..The thing that gets me the most being from Durango is this is an oportunity for the ZZ's to move in and also the Juarez cartel..I suspect they will bump into each other on there way in and the blood will flow threw Durango like it never has before..Not to metion the mess thats about go down in Jalisco.. He went down in a gun battle and lost he even took military personel with him on his way out. and I guess if you choose to live that lifstyle thats a hell of a way to go out, I rather be alive personaly but to each his own....Arriba Durango Raza!!" Oh and one last point. I think the comments section needs to be structured differently so that the chismes and interesting details you all share, well, most of you, don't get lost as we move from one story to the next. Any suggestions, email me.

THE BORDER REPORT

Milenio and El Universal are both confirming that Nacho Coronel Villarreal died in a shootout with Mexican federal forces a short time ago. El Universal has a much more detailed preliminary story, saying the Feds had moved in on six houses searching for Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán in Jalisco when they engaged Coronel. Curious. If you'll recall, this past May, border law enforcement sources told me Nacho had been arrested in Guadalajara. They expressed frustration that the Mexican government had not admitted to the arrest and everyone presumed Nacho had bought his way out of that one. Was there a traicíon leading up to today's killing? We'll find out. Press conference at 7:30 tonight in Mexico City. The 56 year old "Rey del Cristal" was one of the leaders of the Sinaloa Cartel and was first indicted in the U.S. on cocaine conspiracy charges in 2003. Now we wait and see if the other Sinaloans gave him up or not. In early 2009, Nacho and Chapito were up here on the border holding a meeting with Phoenix-based traffickers in Nogales and Sonoyta so I can only assume they were friendly then. But that was a year ago and a year to these guys seems to be a lifetime.