Family ambushed and killed near Mexican border

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An undisclosed number of arrests have been made relating to last week’s massacre of three women and six children at the hands of suspected cartel gunmen in northern Mexico, a Mexican security official said Monday.

But Mexico's President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, who has faced mounting criticism for his government's "hugs, not bullets" approach to cartel violence, maintained that war was not the appropriate response to the growing deaths at the hands of cartels.

Authorities have faced mounting pressure to bring those who carried out the killings to justice since last week’s attack. On Sunday, the Mexican government invited the FBI to join the investigation, nearly a week after the bureau first offered its help.

Source: Mexico cartel attack investigation leads to new arrests in massacre of American mothers, children: official

President Trump said in a newly released interview that he is moving to designate Mexican drug cartels as terror organizations.

The news comes weeks after the brutal killings of dual Mexican and American citizens in the northern part of Mexico. Though drug cartels have a reputation for cold-blooded murders, the ambush on Nov. 4 in the Mormon community in La Mora—which included the deaths of six children and three women—sent shockwaves in the U.S. and drew the president's attention.

At the time, Trump called on Mexico to "wage war" on the cartels.

Trump did not indicate exactly how the U.S. policy would change from past years, but said he told Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador that the U.S. stands ready to "go in and clean it out."

Source: Trump seeks to designate Mexican drug cartels as terror organizations

I don't know a lot about this situation other than what I watched on the news when it initially happened and what I've read here, on this thread.

But, if I were to truly consider life in Mexico, I would think that the money generated by the cartels props up the Mexican economy. If they accepted our offer of an 'army' and we hunted down every cartel member we could find, then what? Sure, there would be less terror and violence. But, is less money really better in the long run? I think Mexico needs the cartel, honestly. It's easier to try and keep the peace with them, maybe losing a few citizens here and there, who piss off the cartel, to keep the cartel money underpinning the economy.

I have no idea if I'm right, I haven't studied it extensively. But, it makes sense to me. I don't think it's anything about "hugs" from the Mexican government, I think it's quid pro quo. And, I honestly can't say that I blame them. Why should they disrupt their agreement with the cartel for some crackpot US religious cult who are using up all the water in the area for nuts? I wouldn't.

That's just what makes sense to me.

A Mexican small-town police chief has been arrested on the suspicion of being linked to the brazen massacre of nine women and children from a Mormon community [members of the Lebaron family and held dual Mexican and American citizenship] by drug cartel members last month, authorities said Friday. Fidel Alejandro Villegas, the police chief of Janos in the state of Chihuahua, was arrested by federal authorities on suspicion of involvement in the Nov. 4 attack in the Sonora state, Reuters reported. His role in the killings was not clear. Authorities said Villegas has ties to organized crime. His arrest is the fourth in the aftermath of the killing.

President Trump considered designating Mexican drug cartels as terrorist organizations following the massacre and raised questions about Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador's strategy in taking on the ruthless criminal groups.

It took Mexican national guard troops 10 hours to arrive at the scene following the massacre, Julian LeBaron, a cousin of one of the victims, told The New York Times.

The arrest of Villegas confirmed that Mexican law enforcement cooperates with drug gangs, LeBaron said. "They have a monopoly on security and they get paid a wage for protection and later we find out that they participate in the murder of women and children," LeBaron told the newspaper.

Source: Mexico authorities arrest police chief on suspicion of link to cartel massacre that killed 9 Americans

This reminds me of another story in the news today.

Naval and customs officers in Uruguay seized a staggering six tons of cocaine this week, with authorities calling it the country's biggest bust ever. The National Armada said in a press release that on Dec. 26 officers at the Montevideo port were checking four shipping containers with soy flour destined for Lome, the capital of Togo in West Africa.

So how did they make this discovery?

According to news reports, the export firm had not transported much soy flour in the past, and the flour isn't widely consumed in Africa, raising suspicions that led to a careful search of the containers.

Authorities said a scanner flagged “abnormalities” in the shipment, which turned out to be a total of 4,003 bricks of cocaine – about 4.4 tons of the drug. One container contained 3,089 bricks of cocaine, each weighing about 2.4 pounds. They track the route of the drugs to a ranch 180 miles away and discovered at least another 1.5 tons of cocaine.

So overall, this represents well over a billion dollars of drugs and is in the magnitude of the entire GDP of small countries like Togo..

Nearly a third of the cocaine consumed in Europe is smuggled there via Africa, local media reported.

Source: Uruguay seizes 6 tons of cocaine worth $1B in country’s largest bust

So this represents a pipeline for drug cartels to move cocaine into Europe where it will feed drug addiction, destroy families, turn children into new drug addicts killing many along the way, feed a homeless population. grow an increasing crime rate. Maybe declaring drug cartels as terrorist organization make a little sense.

[size-140]Gangster Arrested for Murders[/size]

José Lara, a member of a gang working with the Juárez Cartel, was busted Wednesday in connection to the massacre of the families on a remote road in Bavispe, Sonora, on Nov. 4, 2019, according to the Daily Mail, which cited Mexico’s attorney general. Lara is accused of being “a member of a criminal organization” and a “likely participant” in the massacre of nine people from a nearby Mormon community, according to the outlet. Lara was charged with homicide and attempted homicide. He’s the 13th person arrested by Mexican authorities in connection to the massacre. His alleged accomplice, Jesús Parra, was arrested in June and charged with homicide.

Source: Gangster busted in Mexican cartel massacre of Mormon moms and kids

These are some of the victims:



This photo shows Howard Jackob Miller, Jr., Rhonita Maria Miller, infant twins Titus Alvin Miller and Tiana Griciel Miller, and Krystal Bellaine Miller, who all died in the attack. Howard Miller, the adult male pictured, is alive and is not believed to have been present at the attack.

Mexican authorities arrested three La Linea drug cartel members in connection to the massacre in which nine American women and children were killed a little more than a year ago. According to multiple reports, the recent apprehensions include two lower-ranking detainees, and the top brass Ramon Gonzalez Montes, known colloquially as "El Mudo" or "The Mute."



Source: Top cartel leader, 2 other members arrested in connection to Mormon massacre