Mexican cop killed by colleague working as hit man

Thu Jul 31, 2008 2:28 AM BST

CIUDAD JUAREZ, Mexico (Reuters) - A Mexican police officer working as a hit man for drug gangs killed one of his police colleagues on Wednesday in the violent border city of Ciudad Juarez, police said.

Francisco Ventura was shot and killed by gunmen in two sport utility vehicles as he drove home early on Wednesday in Ciudad Juarez across from El Paso, Texas. Federal police arrested three men following the shootout, including the police officer accused of leading the gunmen.

City police declined to give more details, but Ciudad Juarez Mayor Jose Reyes said the discovery of a police officer working as a hit man showed the urgent need for a "total cleansing" of the city's police force.

"We know there are officers who are in the pay of organized crime and that is why we need to flush out bad police," Reyes told reporters.

Despite the deployment of 3,000 troops and federal police in Ciudad Juarez this year, more than 550 people have been killed in drug violence in the city, Mexico's most lethal front in a drug war that has killed 1,900 people nationwide in 2008.

Daylight gun battles have erupted on city streets and buildings set on fire as Mexico's most-wanted man, Joaquin "Shorty" Guzman, fights drug baron Vicente Carrillo Fuentes, boss of the Juarez cartel, for control of Ciudad Juarez and its lucrative smuggling corridor into the United States.

Juárez officer, 5 others charged

By Daniel Borunda / El Paso Times

Article Launched: 07/30/2008 12:19:50 AM MDT

EL PASO - A Juárez police officer is accused of leading a gang of kidnappers and killers that was captured after a vehicle chase by federal police in Juárez, officials said.

Federal police Tuesday arrested municipal police officer Juan Gallegos Acosta and five other men, seized four AR-15 and nine AK-47 rifles and three vehicles, including a 2002 GMC Yukon and a 2007 Toyota Solara, both reported stolen in Texas.

"Unfortunately, he is a member of the department," said Javier Torres, police force spokesman. "We are working on purging the department. Bad police officers will be sanctioned."

Federal officials said a chase began when federal police saw the sand-colored Yukon speeding on Zaragoza Avenue while carrying a group of men with assault rifles and bulletproof vests. The chase ended in the Oasis area.

The men and seized items were turned over to a federal organized crime unit in Mexico City. No charges were announced.

The federal agents were part of Joint Operation Chihuahua, the anti-crime offensive sent to Juárez to curb a flood of homicides, which have reached about 650 so far this year party because of a war among drug cartels.

At least seven people were slain Tuesday, including a triple homicide in the southern part of the city.

Mesa police find 22 at suspected drop house

by Senta Scarborough and Jourdan Rassas - Jul. 29, 2008 02:25 PM
The Arizona Republic

Neighbors were surprised to see a parade of police cars and black Suburban's roll down the quiet streets of their west Mesa neighborhood Tuesday afternoon.

Mesa police discovered at least 22 people in a suspected illegal immigrant drop house near Dobson Road and Eight Street, near the Mesa Riverview retail complex.

Police received a 911 call that led officers to the home in the 500 block of South Visalia, said Detective Diana Tapia, a police spokeswoman Police notified the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency.

There was a line of suspected undocumented immigrants handcuffed and on their knees in the shade of house as police took them individually to the side of the house for questioning.

Neighbors, who didn’t want to be identified, said they never suspected the home was used as a drop house. They said the neighborhood is quiet and all the neighbors watch out for one another.

Earlier Tuesday, ICE detained 49 suspected undocumented immigrants and one suspected smuggler in Phoenix after police responded to a call notifying them of a possible drop house.

Gordon asks media to watch Arpaio's immigration sweeps

by Jerry Kammer - Jul. 30, 2008 12:00 AM
Republic Washington Bureau

Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon escalated his feud with Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio on Tuesday, calling on the national media to come to the Valley and observe the sheriff's crackdown on illegal immigration.

Criticizing the sweeps as heavy-handed and abusive, Gordon said he'd like to see a media mobilization comparable to the effort of the dozens of reporters who streamed to Arizona from around the country following the 1976 murder of Arizona Republic investigative reporter Don Bolles.

Their effort, which became known as the Arizona Project, produced extensive reporting on organized crime in the state.

"Come like you did for Don Bolles; come to Phoenix and stop this madness," said Gordon, who has asked the U.S. Department of Justice to launch a civil-rights investigation. "Let's turn the eyes of the nation on this."

Gordon wants to focus attention on the department's sweeps, in which deputies check vehicles and pedestrians in a search for illegal immigrants. The measures have been widely criticized as a form of racial profiling.

Arpaio fired back in a telephone interview from Phoenix.

"He doesn't have to call (on the media), because they're here every day," Arpaio said. "I've been on 3,000 national shows as sheriff. I had two different Dutch reporters yesterday. They come all the time. ... I don't need him to be my press agent."

The Gordon-Arpaio feud is a particularly volatile example of the tensions dividing communities across the country that are frustrated by the inability of Congress to pass immigration reform.

In the absence of a new federal policy, state and local jurisdictions are fashioning their own approaches to enforce immigration law.

Sheriff's report dismisses profiling

by JJ Hensley - Jul. 30, 2008 12:00 AM
The Arizona Republic

The Maricopa County Sheriff's Office apparently looked into and dismissed racial-profiling allegations from an employee in Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon's office months before the incident mushroomed into a political spat and a federal lawsuit.

According to a report released by the Sheriff's Office Tuesday afternoon, supervisors concluded that a deputy broke no department policies and did not racially profile David and Jessica Rodriguez during a traffic stop near Bartlett Lake. David, whose wife works for Gordon, was issued a $120 citation when he drove around a "road closed" sign after heavy rains had washed out the roads in the area.

The report effectively ended the department's internal investigation into Gordon's accusations that Sheriff Joe Arpaio's deputies were unlawfully targeting Hispanic residents.

Police 'torture' videos cause uproar in Mexico

TRACI CARL

Published: 07.01.2008

MEXICO CITY - Videos showing city police practicing torture techniques on a fellow officer, dragging another through vomit and jumping on a suspect created an uproar Tuesday in Mexico, which has struggled to eliminate torture by lawmen.

Two of the videos — broadcast by national television networks and displayed on newspaper Internet sites — showed what Leon city Police Chief Carlos Tornero described as training for an elite unit that must face "real life, high-stress situations."

But many Mexicans saw a sinister side, especially at a moment when other police and soldiers across the country are struggling with scandals over alleged abuses.

"They are teaching police ... to torture!" read the headline in the Mexico City newspaper Reforma.

The Guanajuato state human rights commission said it had opened an investigation.

One of the videos, first obtained by the newspaper El Heraldo de Leon, shows police appearing to squirt water up a man's nose - a technique once notorious among Mexican police. Then they dunk his head in a hole said to be full of excrement and rats. The man gasps for air and moans repeatedly.

Returning immigrants report beatings by Tijuana police

UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER

June 23, 2008

TIJUANA – Nearly 200 illegal immigrants sent back to Mexico from the United States were falsely arrested by Tijuana municipal police who beat or robbed some of them, according to a study that a human rights group released last week.

Victor Clark Alfaro, head of the Binational Center for Human Rights and a longtime observer of Tijuana crime trends, called on the municipal government to rein back the police and respect the rights of the returning immigrants.

Clark, who is also a lecturer at San Diego State University, and a group of students interviewed hundreds of immigrants between August and April. They found 188 of them were arrested for not carrying proper identification and taken before a judge, who many times ordered them jailed for up to 36 hours. Some of those immigrants said police beat or robbed them.

Abandoned vehicle concealed $1 million in cocaine

FROM STAFF REPORTS

May 27, 2008 - 10:27AM

Vehicles abandoned along the road are nothing new, but few drivers ever leave behind a $1 million stash of cocaine in the gas tank.

Local authorities encountered exactly that scenario Monday when an abandoned vehicle was spotted on Highway 95 just north of Gadsden, according to a press statement from the Yuma County Sheriff's Office.

"I think there is a real possibility that with that much drugs in the gas tank he probably ran out of gas before he got where he was going," said Capt. Eben Bratcher, YCSO spokesman.

A deputy stopped to check out the vehicle, which was partially in the roadway, creating a traffic hazard. But prior to removing the vehicle a U.S. Customs canine unit checked out the vehicle for contraband. That's when the 22 kilos of cocaine were discovered hidden inside the gas tank, according to the statement.

The vehicle was registered to an owner in Mexico, but Bratcher declined to release the name pending further investigation.

Juárez cartel war waged on Internet

By Daniel Borunda / El Paso Times

Article Launched: 05/28/2008 12:51:35 AM MDT

The e-mail circulated last week that warned of a violent weekend in Juárez is part of a larger trend in which the Internet has become another front in the war among Mexican drug traffickers.

Videos showing the supposed "confessions" of captured hit men, airing allegations of corruption by government officials and allegedly identifying the mysterious leader of the Juárez drug cartel for the state of Chihuahua can all be found on popular Web sites such as YouTube.com.

Mexican drug traffickers and others have used videos posted online, often accompanied to the music of narco-corridos, to taunt rivals, brag and pay homage to cartel leaders for years.

But in recent months, other videos have been popping up in the Internet that name allegedly corrupt police and government officials in Juárez and Chihuahua state.

"Ya basta de tantos ejecutados. Ya basta de tantos muertos inocentes. Ya basta de tanto dolor en Juaritos," stated text saying "enough" to the executions, innocent victims and the pain in Juárez on a video claiming to have been posted by a small group of honest police.

The video, which is mostly text set to music, lists the names of police supervisors allegedly paid $5,000 a month to look the other way. It ends by stating that Chihuahua residents should protect themselves. "La policia no existe." (The police doesn't exist)

Mexican cops seeking refuge in the States

08:41 AM CDT on Friday, May 23, 2008

By Angela Kocherga

CIUDAD JUAREZ, Mexico -- The drug war along the Mexico border has become so violent that some police officers are going into hiding.

In fact, two officers from Ciudad Juarez are in so much danger they’ve left Mexico and are seeking protection in the U.S.

Cops in Juarez have come well-acquainted with grim crime scenes in which the targets were law enforcement officials.

Gunmen have killed a dozen city cops this year alone. Ten more were attacked, but survived.

The most recent case involved a police officer who fled to Texas after a shooting on a bridge.

The officer was crossing the bridge with his family when gunmen reportedly opened fire on his car. He abandoned the vehicle and ran across the border.

Then, just days after the second in command of the Juarez Police Department died in a hail of bullets, the police chief resigned. His whereabouts are unknown.

The mayor of Juarez named a retired military officer as the new police chief this week.

Mexican town's police force resigns

The Associated Press

Published: 05.23.2008

ACAPULCO, Mexico - A southern Mexican town's 15-member police force has quit for fear of being assassinated in retaliation for a shootout with gunmen, a security official said Thursday.

Zirandaro was the second town in less than two weeks to be left without its police force as Mexico's drug cartels wage increasingly bold attacks against security forces. On Monday, the military took over a town near Texas after all 20 of its police officers were either killed, run out of town or quit.

Eight members of Zirandaro's police never returned to work after a May 13 shootout with gunmen that left a 32-year-old man dead, said Juan Heriberto Salinas Altes, the public safety secretary of the southern state of Guerrero.

The other seven officers - including the police chief - quit days later.

"The Zirandaro police quit the service because they feared the criminals would return to seek revenge," Salinas Altes said.

Phoenix police to ask all suspects about immigration status

by Casey Newton - May. 22, 2008 03:31 PM

The Arizona Republic

Phoenix police may now contact Immigrations and Customs Enforcement when they suspect a person to be in the country illegally, a shift in policy that is expected to increase the number of illegal immigrants deported from the state.

Chief Jack Harris announced changes Thursday to Operations Order 1.4, the police policy on immigration that previously prevented officers in most cases from asking about a person's citizenship status.

Under the new policy, everyone arrested in Phoenix will be questioned about his or her citizenship. If an officer makes contact with someone who did not commit a crime but is still believed to be in the country illegally, the officer can give ICE that person's contact information over the phone or via a one-page form.

“It provides Phoenix officers with additional tools to aid them in the performance of their job and will further enhance criminal investigative efforts attributed to illegal immigration in this city,” Harris said.

Ariz. Sheriff Accuses Gov. of 'Dirty Politics' for Ending Illegal Immigration Contract

Associated Press

Wednesday, May 14, 2008

PHOENIX —

Gov. Janet Napolitano ordered the state to end an anti-illegal immigration contract with a high-profile sheriff Tuesday so she can pay for a larger effort to track down thousands of felons around Arizona.

Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio on Tuesday criticized the governor's decision as a maneuver to thwart his efforts against illegal immigrants.

"Dirty politics are at work right now," Arpaio said at a news conference.

Arpaio, who describes himself as "America's Toughest Sheriff" and is best known for feeding jail inmates green bologna sandwiches, clothing them in pink underwear, and making them work on chain gangs, received praise for his anti-immigration efforts from many who believe the federal government isn't doing enough to remove people in the U.S. illegally.

Ballot measure has cops enforcing border laws

The Associated Press

Published: 05.06.2008

Advocates for tougher border enforcement say the Legislature needs to act on a proposed ballot measure that would draw local and state police in Arizona deeper into the fight against illegal immigration.

The measure would prohibit agencies from restricting the enforcement of federal immigration laws and withhold state funding for departments that refuse to end such policies. It also would expand a state trespassing law to make it illegal for an undocumented immigrant to enter Arizona.

The proposal is awaiting a final vote in the state House.

Napolitano vetoes bill on police role in immigration

The Associated Press

Published: 04.28.2008

Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano vetoed a bill to require city and county police agencies to have programs to confront federal immigration violations.

The proposal approved by the Legislature would have allowed local police agencies to meet the requirement to confront immigration violations in several ways.

Those ways included getting training for their police and jail officers, putting federal immigration agents in units within their departments or cultivating relationships with federal authorities.

Bodies of federal police agents discovered by rural Baja road

By Sandra Dibble

UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER

8:33 p.m. April 17, 2008

TECATE – The tortured bodies of two Mexican federal police agents and a third man also believed to be a federal agent were discovered early Thursday by a rural road between Tijuana and Tecate, the Baja California Attorney General's Office reported.

The victims were members of the Federal Preventive Police. The two who were identified were Manuel Alejandro Arellano Figueroa and Guillermo Cahutle Hernandez, according to a written statement.

The agents had been missing since Wednesday, said a law enforcement source who spoke on condition of anonymity late Thursday because the investigation was ongoing.

The agents had recently been sent from Mexico City to investigate organized crime, the source said.

Mexico agents arrest border police chief

By OLGA R. RODRIGUEZ

A Mexican federal official says the police chief of the border city of Reynosa has been arrested for allegedly protecting members of the Gulf drug cartel.

The official says Chief Juan Muniz will be flown to Mexico City on Thursday to be questioned by organized crime investigators.

Muniz has been arrested by federal agents in Reynosa, across from McAllen, Texas, according to the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to discuss the case.

Phoenix mayor asks FBI to check sheriff

Sun Apr 13, 2:46 PM ET

The mayor wants the FBI to investigate whether the local county sheriff has violated any civil rights laws with his recent high-profile crackdowns on illegal immigrants.

The "saturation patrols" have drawn protests from civil rights and immigrant-rights advocates, but they have drawn support from backers of Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio and from people who believe the government hasn't done enough against illegal immigration.

In an April 4 letter to U.S. Attorney General Michael Mukasey, Mayor Phil Gordon asked the agency and the Justice Department's civil rights division to examine what he called discriminatory harassment and improper stops, searches, and arrests by sheriff's deputies in Maricopa County, which encompasses the metropolitan area.

"Over the past few weeks, Sheriff Arpaio's actions have infringed on the civil rights of our residents," Gordon wrote. "They have put our residents' well-being, and the well-being of law enforcement officers, at risk."

Justice Department officials said they would review Gordon's letter but declined to comment further.

Man arrested with 800 pounds of pot

April 6, 2008 - 10:00PM

BY JUANA GYEK, SUN STAFF WRITER

A Yuma man has been booked into the Yuma County jail on a charge of importing marijuana for sale.

Samuel Canizales-Velasquez was driving a van Saturday containing what was reported to be 800 pounds of marijuana, a Yuma Police Department news release said.

While on duty as part of Operation Drive Safe, a police sergeant observed Canizales-Velasquez's van speeding through the intersection of 4th Avenue and 1st Street.

When police tried to pull over the van, the 37-year-old driver fled on foot but was later caught with the help of U.S. Border Patrol agents, the release said.

The numerous large bundles visible inside the van were secured by police pending further investigation.

Voters may decide how much power local police have to enforce immigration laws

April 8, 2008 - 5:28PM

BY HOWARD FISCHER, CAPITOL MEDIA SERVICES

PHOENIX - The state House voted Tuesday to ask Arizona voters to let state and local police arrest people who are in this country illegally.

HCR 2039 would expand the state crime of trespass to include anyone on public or private property who is in violation of federal immigration laws. Police officers could either refer the individuals for prosecution or simply turn them over to Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

The measure also would bar the state or local governments from having any policies, official or otherwise, that prohibit police officers from asking those they stop about their immigration status. In fact, it specifically requires officers to question anyone arrested on any other law about whether they entered the country legally.

Tuesday's preliminary vote is not the end of the matter. The measure still requires final House action and Senate approval.