Pubdate: Sun, 23 Jun 2013
Source: Monitor, The (McAllen, TX)
Copyright: 2013 The Monitor
Contact: http://drugsense.org/url/qsOVHygd
Website: http://www.themonitor.com
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1250
Author: Ildefonso Ortiz

SOME CARTEL BOSSES ARE BORN IN THE U.S., BUT WORK IN MEXICO

McALLEN -- The ongoing debate regarding immigration reform has once 
again brought the topic of border security to the forefront.

In South Texas, the area that has seen a sharp increase in drug 
trafficking runs from treacherous waters of the Rio Grande to the 
U.S. Border Patrol checkpoints in Falfurrias and Sarita, the last law 
enforcement waypoint along the roads leading from the Texas-Mexico 
border to inland metropolitan areas.

In those areas, drug smugglers tied to Mexican drug cartels work 
ingenious ways of moving their drugs to their destinations without 
detection by law enforcement.

That activity has drawn the attention of the Texas Department of 
Public Safety, which has classified gangs working with Mexican drug 
cartels as the greatest threat to Texas.

Talks of violent executions and large-scale firefights in Mexico 
between cartel gunmen are some of the talking points brought up 
during those discussions. But what rarely gets brought up is the fact 
that various members of Mexican drug cartels are not Mexican but in 
fact are U.S.-born Texans.

Mexican drug cartels have been active in the U.S. for decades. As 
such, they have developed deep roots with many members being second 
or third generation smugglers, said Hidalgo County Sheriff Lupe Trevino.

"They have been here for a long time but they try to keep a low 
profile; what has brought them to the forefront is what's going on in 
Mexico," Trevino said referring to the crackdown on cartels by former 
presidents Vicente Fox and Felipe Calderon.

Keeping a low profile or trying to minimize their role is what some 
of the drug cartel members who have been caught on U.S soil have done.

When police officers and deputy U.S. Marshals caught Benicio 
"Comandante Veneno" Lopez this month, he claimed that he didn't have 
a leadership figure in the Gulf Cartel, saying he was a mid-or 
low-level smuggler, said San Juan Police Chief Juan Gonzalez.

"No low-key cartel guy has bodyguards, has four or five stash houses, 
carries bulk cash and knows about ton quantities of narcotics," 
Gonzalez said. "He was trying to downplay his role to try to keep a 
low profile."

DIFFERENT ACTIVITIES IN DIFFERENT COUNTRIES

The activities of cartel members in the U.S are very different than 
those in Mexico, however the public and the media quickly associate 
the word "cartel" with the way they operate in Mexico, Trevino said.

"When people hear the word "cartel" they think of convoys of gunmen, 
brutal firefights and crude executions," Trevino said. "That happens 
in Mexico, not here. If they were to try that here they would be 
wiped out. The American people would not stand for that. Every law 
enforcement agency and resource would be used to literally wipe them out."

Because cartel members seek to keep a low profile and are not tied to 
many of the crimes in the community, keeping track of them is a job 
best left for federal agencies, which have the best resources to 
attack transnational criminals, while the brunt of the Sheriff's 
Office's resources go toward local crime, the sheriff said.

Still, in a border county, cross-border organized crime intersects 
with local law enforcement.

"Robberies, theft, carjacking, assault and other crimes - that is not 
something that these individuals are interested in but it affects our 
communities, "Trevino said. "On the other hand, street gangs are 
behind the majority of those crimes. They are the ones holding up 
convenience stores, carrying out drive by shootings, carjackings and 
the brunt of our violent crime. They are our most significant threat 
in this county."

Gonzalez, for his part, paints a different picture from the sheriff. 
He said cartel members are coming out of the shadows and becoming 
more active locally.

"I honestly think we can dismantle the Gulf Cartel," Gonzalez said. 
"It's important to accept the fact that they operate here. This drug 
cartel operates with a lot of money. These guys have 20 to 30 
vehicles assigned to operatives. That concerns because they used to 
hide but now they are brazen and putting are putting stash houses all 
over the place. It's important we address them and try to dismantle them."

U.S.-BORN MEXICAN CARTEL BOSSES

Several key members of the Gulf Cartel and other Mexican drug 
syndicates have ties to the Rio Grande Valley.

* Lopez, known as "Comandante Veneno," is a Houston native who grew 
up in Roma and also climbed to a leadership role in the Gulf Cartel. 
Lopez was a close confidant of Samuel "Metro 3" Flores Borrego, whose 
death led to a split within the cartel. After Flores Borrego's death, 
Lopez worked with other commanders to avenge the death of his friend 
and became the leader of a cartel cell that also worked in the 
Riberena area. Lopez had been wanted by San Juan Police in connection 
with a 2010 failed cartel kidnapping that resulted in the death of 
Roberto Hinojosa, who tried to fight off the kidnappers as his wife 
and young son were in the room. Authorities arrested Lopez and his 
spouse along with two bodyguards on June 13. In addition to the 
murder charges, the group is also facing state drug charges and could 
face federal conspiracy charges, officials have said.

* Juan Garcia Abrego, the legendary leader of a Matamoros based 
smuggling organization which eventually became known as the Gulf 
Cartel led his organization with an iron fist from the 1970's -- when 
he inherited it from his uncle Juan N. Guerra -- until his arrest in 
1996 and later extradition to the U.S., where he was convicted of 
numerous drug trafficking counts and is now serving several life 
sentences. While Garcia Abrego was a kingpin based in Matamoros, he 
was actually born in La Paloma, a small community just south of San Benito.

* Edgar "La Barbie" Valdez Villarreal, a Laredo-born drug trafficker 
who became a leading figure of the Beltran Leyva Cartel and 
spearheaded control of a splinter faction when an internal struggle 
for control broke out within the group. Mexican authorities arrested 
him in 2010 and he continues to fight various drug charges, as well 
as U.S attempts at extradition. He earned his nickname from boyish 
face, thus being compared to a Ken or Barbie doll.

* Mario "Comandante Popo" Pena, a Roma native who grew up to control 
a Gulf Cartel cell in the Riberena area, which is across the Rio 
Grande from Starr County. Pena began his career in local street gangs 
in Roma and built his way up to the rank of commander within the Gulf 
Cartel, where he became a folk hero in Miguel Aleman. Pena, whose 
body was covered in tattoos, was killed in March. His family told The 
Monitor that Pena died "with honor." Following his death, his body 
was brought from Mexico to Roma and buried during a private service.

* Rosalio "Bart" Reta and Gabriel Cardona, two Laredo teenagers who 
are serving 70- and 80-year prison sentences for a series of ordered 
hits for the Zetas. At age 13, the pair began taking on 
murder-for-hire jobs when Zeta gunmen trained them as hit men. 
Cardona was arrested in 2006, while Reta turned himself in at around 
the same time after the Zetas tried to kill him for attempting to 
carry out unsanctioned hits in Mexico.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom