Cartels & Gangs

Updates: 2019/10/26-27 La Familia added; Puerto Rico added. 2019/07/22 SNM section added with Justice dot com-2015/12/04 article on it added; some overall editing, organizational changes incl. moving search and seizure to its own page.  2019/06/14 cartel section moved from River GOLD (rivergold.net) to Police Factor.  2019/01/01 Org. Retail Crime-Albq Jrnl- 2017/11/02;  (05/29/2018 Gangs & Religion-Catholic/LA Times Gangs & Their God; 08/04/2017 New Mexican Mafia corrections/az; 08/02/2017 MSN on MS-13; 07/01/2017; 06/30/2017; 05/28/2017; 05/21/2017; 05/20/2017; 03/17/2017 IN THIS SECTION Articles     Books on Cartels/Gangs Groups By Name  Jalisco     La Santa Muerte     MS-13    New Mexican Gang of Arizona     Sinaloa  Zetas     La Familia  New Mexico Gangs and Related Information   SNM  Cultural Contexts:   Occult      Religion     Systems Approach    Other:   Brief Links           Drugs/New Mexico         Dept. Justice-Org. Crime Cases The Puerto Rico connection in Alaska  See also: Cybercrime     Female Gang Members     Retail Organized Crime     Search and Seizure       How to stop gangs/cartels     CULTURAL CONTEXTS BEHIND CARTELS Approaches to study and respond to them most effectively Occult and Gangs Police Mag dot com 2008/03 Criminal gangs and the occult http://www.policemag.com/blog/gangs/story/2008/03/criminal-gangs-and-the-occult.aspx Religion and Gangs Hispanic, Latino and Mexican Catholic LA Times 1999/05/08 Gangs and Their God. Margaret Ramirez http://articles.latimes.com/1999/may/08/local/me-35168 Many Latino gang members invoke the protection of Jesus or Mary in the form of tattoos and graffiti. Some observers say the practice is a genuine attempt to connect with a spiritual heritage. Department of Justice - Criminal Division - Organized Crime and Gang Section - Cases https://www.justice.gov/criminal-ocgs/ocgs-press-room/2017 Systems Approach: Mexico - Cartels Mexico’s Cartel Problem: A Systems Thinking Perspective Sibel McGee, Ph.D., Michael Joel, Robert Edson Applied Systems Thinking Institute, Analytic Services, Inc.,  2900 S Quincy Street, Suite 800, Arlington, VA 22206 Sibel.McGee@anser.org; Michael.Joel@anser.org; Robert.Edson@anser.or We argue that the efforts that rely purely on law enforcement measures will fail to produce lasting change unless they are coupled with high leverage strategies that address the root causes of illicit activities in Mexico. Biography : Sibel McGee, Ph.D. is a Senior Analyst at the Applied Systems Thinking (ASysT) Institute of Analytic Services Inc., Arlington, VA, providing systems and research analysis for various federal departments and agencies to include Department of Homeland Security and Defense. She is also an adjunct Professor at the University of Maryland University College. Dr. McGee holds an MS in International Relations from Middle East Technical University, Turkey, an MA in European Studies from University of Bonn, Germany, and a Ph.D. in Political Science from Texas A&M University.  Michael Joel is currently an analyst with the Marine Corps Intelligence Activity, Quantico, VA.  Mr. Joel was previously a Senior Associate Analyst at the Applied Systems Thinking (ASysT) Institute of Analytic Services Inc., Arlington, VA.  He holds a BA in History and an MA in Public Policy/National Security Policy from George Mason University. Robert Edson is Vice President for Enterprise Development at Analytic Services Inc., and Director of the Applied Systems Thinking Institute (ASysT). In his role as Director of ASysT, he leads an institute whose mission is to advance the application of systems thinking principles in the fields of national security and homeland security. He has over 25 years of experience in dealing with complex systems issues and systems thinking. Mr. Edson is an Adjunct Professor at Stevens Institute of Technology and has a BS in Biology from George Mason University and a MS in Physical Oceanography and Meteorology from the Naval Postgraduate School.  GROUPS BY NAME (not a comprehensive list) Jalisco The Daily Beast 2016/03/26 Fighting Mexico’s new super cartel http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2016/03/26/fighting-mexico-s-new-super-cartel.html La Sante Muerte Huffington Post 7 things to know about La Santa Muerte http://www.huffingtonpost.com/latina-magazine/7-things-to-know-about-la_b_8385476.html MS-13 Gangs MSN 13 officials detail best ways to combat the violent gang http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/crime/fighting-ms-13-officials-detail-best-ways-to-combat-the-violent-gang/ar- AApjepI?li=BBmkt5R&ocid=spartandhp New Mexican Mafia of Arizona (Not to be confused with the state of New Mexico in the name; but also see another type of prison gang - SNM of New Mexico) Corrections dot az https://corrections.az.gov/new-mexican-mafia-0 Sinaloa Business Insider 2012 Fast and Furious Guns Sinaloa Cartel http://www.businessinsider.com/fast-and-furious-guns-sinaloa-cartel-2012-8 Huffington Post http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/ismael-el-mayo-zambada-sinaloa_us_56a0becce4b0404eb8f05313 Consider Reading: -Insight Crime, insightcrime.org   Latin American cartels, some American material- -Robert J. Bunker (also seen in No to Sacrifices in Human Issues section on this website) expert on terrorism and cult behavior in cartels -Sylvia Longmire:  Cartel: The Coming Invasion of Mexico's Drug Wars (2011) -Ioan Grillo The Bloody Rise of Mexican Drug Cartels (2017) -George W. Grayson - The Los Zetas Drug Cartel - Sadism as an Instrument of Cartel Warfare in Mexico and Central America (2015) -Police Mag article on Criminal Gangs and the Occult:  http://www.policemag.com/blog/gangs/story/2008/03/criminal-gangs-and- the-occult.aspx Retail Org. Crime Alb Jrnl: (2017) Retailers face new threat: Organized crime. BY LORRAINE MIRABELLA / THE BALTIMORE SUN https://www.abqjournal.com/1086991/retailers-face-new-threat-organized-crime.html Organized theft has surpassed internal theft to become the leading cause of retail loss, said Robert Moraca, vice president of loss prevention for the National Retail Federation. Analysts say the increase has been fueled by the opioid epidemic and by the growing understanding among criminals that theft can be quick, easy and profitable. In a well choreographed assault, Moraca says, thieves can clear shelves of thousands of dollars’ worth of goods in minutes. “And that’s happening in multiples,” he says. “It’s not just a group that gets together and wants to steal. These are groups that already exist for criminal purposes,” such as drug trafficking and human trafficking. “These are hardened criminals, and they get into organized retail crime because it’s extremely profitable.”… “The individuals who are doing the shoplifting have become extremely dangerous, much more than anyone would think of a petty shoplifter doing,” spokesman Stephen Holmes says. He says assaults on security guards and asset protection personnel have become common. “It can be the slightest thing that triggers that act of violence,” he says. “I just don’t think the average person realizes what’s going on.” https://www.abqjournal.com/1086991/retailers-face-new-threat-organized-crime.html Zetas Comment: although Insight Crime suggests the Zetas are in decline, we need to learn from some of their elite armed forces background and other approaches and strategies in terms of looking for signs that other cartels are using these things as well.  Also Insight Crime and others inform us that the Zetas have had widespread influence in neighboring countries along with the Sinaloas.  As such, it is possible there has been a cultural influence along Zeta lines even if the main thrust of the organization if largely over. Gijn.org gijn.org/for-zetas-guatemala-is-the-new-mexico/ Excerpt: For Zetas, Guatemala is the New Mexico.  Just as in Mexico they have taken over a large portion of territory, having conquered to date 75 percent of all Guatemalan trafficking routes, according to an estimate by the DEA’s Mexico office. Every year, they move 250 to 300 tons of cocaine along those routes. gijn.org/for-zetas-guatemala-is-the-new-mexico/ Insight Crime: Zetas https://www.insightcrime.org/mexico-organized-crime-news/zetas-profile/ Excerpt:  Beginning as a group of deserters from an elite unit of the armed forces at the service of the Gulf Cartel, the Zetas would go on to become one of the most powerful and feared cartels in Mexico before infighting and the loss of leaders started the organization’s decline. The Zetas started out as an enforcer gang for the Gulf Cartel predominantly made up of former soldiers with specialized training. Their military background and unbridled ferocity proved an underworld game changer, with the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) describing them as perhaps “the most technologically advanced, sophisticated and violent of these paramilitary enforcement groups.” The Zetas broke away from the Gulf Cartel in the mid-2000s to become its own group, and launched an offensive that would see them expand throughout Mexico and Guatemala. The group employed a new model of organized crime, based on violently seizing and holding territory, using fear rather than corruption as a first resort. However, after rising to the point where they could compete with the mighty Sinaloa Cartel, the Zetas are now a fragmented force, held together by little more than a name and increasingly dependent on local criminal revenues rather than the transnational flow of … La Familia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Familia_Michoacana Excerpt: La Familia Michoacana, (English: The Michoacán Family) La Familia (English: The Family), or LFM is a Mexican drug cartel and a organized crime syndicate based in the Mexican state of Michoacán. Formerly allied to the Gulf Cartel—as part of Los Zetas —it split off in 2006. The cartel was founded by Carlos Rosales Mendoza a close associate of Osiel Cárdenas. https://mexicandrugcartels.wikia.org/wiki/La_Familia_Michoacana_Cartel Excerpt: La Familia Michoacana Cartel La Familia Michoacana Logo La Familia Michoacana, (English: The Michoacán Family) La Familia (English: The Family), or LFM was a Mexican drug cartel and an organized crime syndicate based in the Mexican state of Michoacán. Formerly allied to The Gulf Cartel as part of The Los Zetas Organization it split off on 2006. The cartel's first leader, Nazario Moreno González, known as El Más Loco (English: The Craziest One), preached his organization's divine right to eliminate enemies. He carried a "bible" of his own sayings and insisted that his army of traffickers and hitmen avoid using the narcotics they sell. Nazario Moreno's partners were José de Jesús Méndez Vargas, Servando Gómez Martínez and Enrique Plancarte Solís, each of whom has a bounty of $2 million for his capture, and were contesting the control of the organization https://mexicandrugcartels.wikia.org/wiki/La_Familia_Michoacana_Cartel ARTICLES - List from everything on this page (being developed) Cartels by Media/News Publication Source A, B, C Borderland Beat:  Cartel Violence, Cash Infiltrating U.S. (05/2011) http://www.borderlandbeat.com/2011/05/cartel-violence-cash-infiltrating-us.html Business Insider: Fast and Furious Guns Sinaloa Cartel (2012) Tag-Sinaloa http://www.businessinsider.com/fast-and-furious-guns-sinaloa-cartel-2012-8 University of Chicago: Irving Spergel Leading Scholar Gangs 1924-2010. By William Harms (12/08/2010) https://news.uchicago.edu/article/2010/12/08/irving-spergel-leading-scholar-gangs-1924-2010 CNN:   On the border: Guns, drugs -- and a betrayal of trust.  Cartels Columbus, New Mexico By Michael Martinez.  (06/102012) Tag Columbus, New Mexico http://www.cnn.com/2012/06/10/us/cartels-columbus-new-mexico/ Whitey Bulger six surprising facts (09/17/2014) http://www.cnn.com/2014/09/17/justice/whitey-bulger-six-things/index.html CNS News: Effort Combat Drug Cartels Operating New Mexico Spurs Racial Profiling Complaints. By Susan Jones (07/12/2012) http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/effort-combat-drug-cartels-operating-new-mexico-spurs-racial-profiling-complaints D, E, F The Daily Beast: Jeremy Kryt http://www.thedailybeast.com/author/jeremy-kryt Fighting Mexico’s New Super Cartel. By Jeremy Kryt (03/26/2016) The Jalisco New Generation Cartel is known for its hyper-aggressive, paramilitary tactics—now it’s bringing the terror to America’s doorstep. http://www.thedailybeast.com/author/jeremy-kryt http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2016/03/26/fighting-mexico-s-new-super-cartel.html Cartel Watch - Why the Military Will Never Beat Mexico's Cartels. By Jeremy Kryt (04/02/2016) As the murder rate in Mexico rises yet again, it’s time to admit current policies aren’t working—and start looking for new solutions. http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2016/04/02/will-mexico-s-surreal-drug-war-ever-end DEA dot gov: Synthetic Drugs Excerpt:  (2012) more than five million packets of finished designer synthetic drugs were seized across the country in the first-ever nationwide law enforcement action against the synthetic designer drug industry responsible for the production and sale of synthetic drugs that are often marketed as bath salts, Spice, incense, or plant food https://www.dea.gov/divisions/elp/2012/elpaso073012p.html FBI: Organized Crime: History of La Cosa Nostra https://www.fbi.gov/investigate/organized-crime/history-of-la-cosa-nostra G-K Huffington Post:  7 Things to Know About La Santa Muerte.  By Latina Magazine (10/26/2015 05:30 pm ET | Updated Oct 25, 2016) http://www.huffingtonpost.com/latina-magazine/7-things-to-know-about-la_b_8385476.html Meet The Man Who Runs The Sinaloa Cartel... With Or Without ‘El Chapo’; Unlike “El Chapo,” Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada hasn’t spent years in prison. By Roque Planas (01/21/2016) http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/ismael-el-mayo-zambada-sinaloa_us_56a0becce4b0404eb8f05313 Insight Crime: Corrupt Mexico police concentrated in ten [Mexican] states http://www.insightcrime.org/news-briefs/corrupt-mexico-police-concentrated-in-ten-states KTVA: (2019/07/11) How Alaska residents help the Sinaloa cartel smuggle drugs north https://www.ktva.com/story/40768037/how-alaska-residents-help-the-sinaloa-cartel-smuggle-drugs-north Excerpt: She was stopped at a border patrol checkpoint north of Nogales, where she was found to have 200 grams of cocaine on her person. The woman is identified as "Female Individual 2" in a federal court document that was sealed on Tuesday, after being accessible to the public for months. The document is a warrant filed by a Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) agent investigating the trafficking of drugs to Alaska. Female Individual 2 was carrying roughly $20,000 worth of cocaine, according to a street value estimate from the Anchorage Police Department.She represents a small piece of a puzzle that is largely kept secret: The inner workings of the Sinaloa Cartel, a Transnational Criminal Organization (TCO) based in Sonora, Mexico. L, M, N Judith Miller: Mexicanization American Law Enforcement http://www.judithmiller.com/6482/mexicanization-american-law-enforcement LA Times: ATF Fast Furious http://www.latimes.com/nation/atf-fast-furious-sg-storygallery.html ATF Guns http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-atf-guns-20111009-story.html#axzz2qP3R9IU4 U.S. warns citizens about traveling to Mexico's Cancun and Los Cabos as violence surges. By Kate Linthicum (08/22/2017) http://www.latimes.com/world/mexico-americas/la-fg-mexico-cancun-warning-20170822-story.html LAPD authors: Dunn http://www.lapdauthors.com/dunn.html MSN: Fighting MS 13 Officials Detail Best Ways to Combat the Violent Gang. By Kaitlyn Schallhorn (08/02/2017) http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/crime/fighting-ms-13-officials-detail-best-ways-to-combat-the-violent-gang/ar- AApjepI?li=BBmkt5R&ocid=spartandhp National Review: Fast Furious = Obamas First Scandal. By Ian Tuttle (01/21/2016) http://www.nationalreview.com/article/430153/fast-furious-obamas-first-scandal NPR: Prison gang reach increasingly extends into streets (2013) http://www.npr.org/2013/04/02/176035798/experts-prison-gang-reach-increasingly-extends-into-streets O, P, Q, R Police Mag:Criminal Gangs and the Occult http://www.policemag.com/blog/gangs/story/2008/03/criminal-gangs-and-the-occult.aspx Of all the criminal groups that I have worked over the more than three decades in law enforcement, the most credible attempts on my life have come from these occult true believers.Be aware of these trends and beliefs. Gang members who take the occult seriously can be truly dangerous. http://www.policemag.com/blog/gangs/story/2008/03/criminal-gangs-and-the-occult.aspx S, T, U Slate: “A Unique Death Cult” How the Romanian Iron Guard blended nationalistic violence with Christian martyrdom to spread a  singularly morbid fascist movement. By Stanley G. Payne (02/21/2017) See photo in article with heading: Corneliu Zelea Codreanu and members of the Legion of the Archangel Michael (also known as the Iron Guard) in Bucharest, Romania, in 1937. http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/fascism/2017/02/romania_s_unusually_morbid_fascist_movement_blende d_nationalistic_violence.html Note: although this entry is not actually “cartel” material, since it connected to the 1930s, I feel there is applicability to current times in those cases where there is a mix of religiosity and governmental control systems. Tech Dirt: DEA loses big drug case thanks to illegal wiretap warrants prosecutor calls procedural errors https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20151214/08492533071/dea-loses-big-drug-case-thanks-to-illegal-wiretap-warrants- prosecutor-calls-procedural-errors.shtml UCLA, Newsroom:  Jorja Leap Jumped In book (03/08/2012) http://newsroom.ucla.edu/stories/jorja-leap-jumped-in-book-230195 V, W, X, Y, Z Vice:  Mexico’s efforts to tackle police corruption are failing. By Paul Imison.  (03/21/2016)  https://news.vice.com/article/mexicos-efforts-to-tackle-police-corruption-are-failing The Mexican-Mormon War Part I (video clip) https://www.vice.com/en_au/article/the-mexican-mormon-war-part-1 Washington Post: House Democrats say Phoenix ATF to blame in fast and furious. By Sari Horwitz (01/31/2012) Excerpt: Federal agents based in Phoenix, not officials at Justice Department headquarters in Washington, were responsible for the controversial tactics used in the gun operation known as “Fast and Furious,” Democrats on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee said in a report released Tuesday. A year after it became known that the operation relied on a tactic known as gun walking, the 89-page report called Fast and Furious “reckless and fatally flawed.” It puts the blame squarely on the Phoenix office of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. It also concludes that the strategy began as early as 2006. https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/house-democrats-say-phoenix-atf-to-blame-in-fast-and-furious- fiasco/2012/01/31/gIQAUQ9HfQ_story.html?utm_term=.92b235cb8ae8 In Mexico’s Nueva Laredo, Drug Cartels dictate media coverage. By William Booth (08/01/2010) http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/08/01/AR2010080103481.html Excerpt:  Two weeks ago, Mexican soldiers clashed here with drug cartel gangsters in running gun battles that lasted five hours. The outlaws hijacked vehicles, including a bus, for use as barricades and battering rams. Terrified residents scrambled for safety. At least a dozen people were killed, including bystanders. Children were wounded in the crossfire.  Not a single word about it appeared in the local news media.  Nuevo Laredo has three television news channels, four daily newspapers and at least five radio stations that broadcast news, but every outlet ignored the biggest story of the year. Nuevo Laredo is not an isolated village but the busiest city along the U.S.-Mexico border, a vital U.S. trade partner with a population of 360,000, professional sports teams, universities and an international airport.  Fearing for their lives and the safety of their families, journalists are adhering to a near-complete news blackout, under strict orders of drug smuggling organizations and their enforcers, who dictate -- via daily telephone calls, e-mails and news releases -- what can and cannot be printed or aired.  "We are under their complete control," said a veteran reporter, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. Editors and managers of news organizations who agreed to speak with The Washington Post insisted that the interviews take place away from their offices, at back tables in empty bars. "The cartels have eyes and ears inside our company," one editor said. OTHER The Puerto Rico connection in Alaska Side note: Puerto Rico - Dominican Republic - New York - Chicago - Marine/DEA connection Illegal Alien Crime Report (2019/09/26) Corruption DEA [ex-Marine] Agent working for drug cartel https://www.illegalaliencrimereport.com/corruption-dea-agent-was-working-for-drug-cartel/ Excerpt (found elsewhere on this website in AGENCIES/DEA ) NEW YORK CITY, NY (AP) – A federal narcotics agent scheduled to stand trial this month has pleaded guilty to participating in a decade long drug conspiracy that involved the smuggling of thousands of kilograms of cocaine from Puerto Rico to New York.  Prosecutors said Fernando Gomez, a former U.S. Marine, infiltrated the Drug Enforcement Administration in 2011 and remained a federal agent until his arrest last year, even as he assisted a drug trafficking ring known for slaughtering its rivals…..A newly released transcript shows Gomez, in pleading guilty, admitted selling firearms to a high-volume cocaine trafficker drug dealer, Jose Martinez-Diaz, while Gomez was working as a police officer outside Chicago. Martinez-Diaz, a member of La Organizacion de Narcotraficantes Unidos,  pleaded guilty this summer to distributing more than 5,000 kilograms of cocaine, drugs he smuggled from the Dominican Republic by boat. Prosecutors said Martinez-Diaz encouraged Gomez to apply to the DEA in 2010 to further his drug trafficking. Gomez became an agent the following year after lying during his employment screening about whether he had ties to criminals, authorities said. As an agent assigned to the DEA’s Chicago field division, Gomez helped Martinez-Diaz avoid detection from law enforcement and also improperly accessed DEA records about a cooperator he believed to have information about his co- conspirators, prosecutors said. https://www.illegalaliencrimereport.com/corruption-dea-agent-was-working-for-drug-cartel/ Articles Puerto Rico/Alaska drug and cartel connection Washington Times (2012/06/06) Puerto Rico-based cartel indicted for cocaine smuggling Illicit cargo sent to U.S. on airplanes. By Jerry Seper. https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/jun/6/puerto-rico-based-drug-cartel-indicted-cocaine-smu/ Excerpt:  Members and associates of a Puerto Rico-based drug cartel have been indicted by a federal grand jury in an international scheme to smuggle cocaine into the United States and transport illicit drug profits back to Puerto Rico, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) said Wednesday. Two indictments named 45 suspected drug cartel members and associates, accused of conspiring to possess with the intent to distrib https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/jun/6/puerto-rico-based-drug-cartel-indicted-cocaine-smu/ Cryptome http://cryptome.org/2012/12/ng-alaska-blaylock.pdf Ground Based Midcourse Missile Defense (GMD) at Fort Greely Alaska: x Defense system to intercept nuclear missiles attacking this hemisphere.  Security there is compromised. x Sex Club participation is mandatory if you want to get promoted. x Sexual Assaults and Drug Trafficking covered up.  Reprisal against victims and anyone trying to report them. x In conjunction with R&R full-time personnel are recruited from Puerto Rico.  Taking people with English as a second language, for the missile defense of the hemisphere, from a tropical environment to a sub-arctic environment.  There are no recruiting projects to get personnel from any other state.  Puerto Rico is the Drug Cartel Connection to the GMD.   x The push to recruit from Puerto Rico did not start until Katkus became the AKARNG commander and directed it to happen.  x Drugs are flown in from Puerto Rico to the FT Greely airstrip and dropped off without having to go through any type of inspection.  Private planes and visitors pick up packages and take them away.  Greely personnel stand guard while the transactions take place. x In October of 2010 the largest FBI raid in history was done in Puerto Rico.  Puerto Rican Military, Police, Prison Guards, and National Guard personnel were arrested as part of a Colombian Cartel. http://cryptome.org/2012/12/ng-alaska-blaylock.pdf  Updates: 2019/12/20added the gomez/marine/chicago-new york/puerto rico-dominican republic drug thing in Alaska-Puerto Rico section