7/27/2008: Intel News Brief: News from South of the Border:

El Informador (Guadalajara, Jalisco) 7/27/08 (this item also
appeared in at least 6 other papers)

Mexican federal agents and army personnel searched a large
“narcowarehouse” in Zapopan, Jalisco and found eight thousand four
hundred barrels filled with six different chemical precursors for the
production of synthetic drugs. Each barrel has a capacity of 200
liters (some 52.8 gallons). If there was any doubt as to the
involvement of organized crime it was dispelled when it was found that
the barrels were also fitted with GPS devices. (Zapopan is a satellite
city of Guadalajara.

_________________________

Nacion (San Jose, Costa Rica) 7/27/08

An airline passenger from Mexico en route to Panama made a transit
stop at the San Jose airport last Wednesday night. But “anti-drug”
agents noticed his nervousness and checked his baggage. Hidden in his
briefcase: $514,000 dollars. He was unable to explain their origin or
ownership.
————
Cuarto Poder (Tuxtla, Chiapas) 7/27/08

A small rolling arsenal was found in two vehicles on the highway
between Tuxtla and San Cristobal de Las Casas, Chiapas; they were
loaded with twenty AR15, three AK47 and a .72mm. AR-10 rifle; plus two
fragmentation grenades, 1,383 rounds of ammo, 6 bullet proof vests,
bandoleers, helmets, etc. Two thugs were arrested.
————
(Note: Initial portion of the following report regarding the number
of new homicide victims in Mexico had to be amended several times
prior to posting, because the number kept increasing as articles were
researched and posted at a later hour in other papers. No guarantee
that it hasn’t increased yet again.)

A condensation from a number of papers including Diario de Coahuila,
(Saltillo, Coah.), El Universal & Excelsior (Mexico City), Noroeste
(Culiacan, Sinaloa); Novedades de Quintana Roo (Cancun, Q.R.)
7/27/08

In the last 24 hours twenty-one persons have lost their lives in
Mexico due to organized crime activity. The states of Chihuahua and
Sinaloa lead the list, followed by Sonora and Durango. The group
includes a city treasurer and two police officers. The articles then
usually go on to describe the related events in more detail. The
Excelsior article, posted at 10:48 a.m. Mexico City time, rose the
count in Sinaloa from the original six to eight.
And the following is an abbreviation of how Noroeste reported the
latest murder of law enforcement officers in Culiacan:
At dawn today (Sat.) two “Ministerial State Police” agents were found
in the trunk of a car in the center of town; that raises the number of
police officers murdered this year in Sinaloa to sixty-seven. The two
were assigned to the Homicide Investigations Division of Culiacan. A
parked car with windows down drew the attention of officials, who saw
a black briefcase on the front seat and a 7.62×51mm G3 rifle, along
with two pistols and a radio on the back seat. In the trunk were the
bodies of the two agents, with signs of torture and with their hands
and feet tied. Their death follows the quite recent resignation of
twenty “ministerial police” members due to low salaries and
insecurity.
Source: Morning Intel News Brief via Internal Company New Wire- Border
Issues