Murder City: Ciudad Juarez and the Global Economy's New Killing Fields (44 page)

“All I know is that it is not fair to hold him,” said Carmen Lamas, wife of Arturo Roman Cruz. She contends that he was abducted Friday morning by the military.

El Diario, Ciudad Juárez,
April 1, 2008

In an action unprecedented in the history of this border city, municipal police protested this morning against the Mexican army, refusing to work for fear of being arrested and accused of participation in organized crime.

El Diario, Ciudad Juárez,
April 1, 2008

Municipal police officer César Gómez is fighting for his life in intensive care after being shot by elements of the Mexican army when his patrol car went through a military checkpoint. The military detained two other officers in the car, Arturo Sotelo and Raul Palacios.

El Diario, Ciudad Juárez,
April 1, 2008

Members of the State Investigative Agency and CIPOL were disarmed this morning by the army and the federal prosecutor, after all personnel from both agencies were summoned to the local headquarters of the State Office of Public Security. Masked military personnel armed with assault rifles sealed the building and army helicopters circled overhead during the operation.

El Diario, Ciudad Juárez,
April 1, 2008

Three men were liberated before dawn today by the Mexican army, which said they had been held captive by the Juárez cartel for up to 41 days. The men said they had been abducted at different times and places by hooded men wearing uniforms of the Federal Investigative Police.

El Diario, Ciudad Juárez,
April 2, 2008

Elements of the State Investigative Agency and the Police Intelligence Unit (CIPOL) were disarmed and forced to undergo different examinations of confidence under the authority of the army and the Federal Attorney General’s Office. Some agents were identified as appearing in
YouTube.com
videos supposedly involved in narco-trafficking.

El Diario, Ciudad Juárez,
April 2, 2008

Municipal police from the Babicora and Cuauhtemoc districts gathered in their stations and refused to patrol for three hours to protest the aggression against César Antonio Gómez (shot by the army at a checkpoint) and the arrest of two other officers. Yesterday morning, it was revealed that a female police officer had been the victim of sexual aggression by a group of soldiers and had required urgent medical attention. The attack was not confirmed but it generated a great deal of anger among the police, who warned of possible confrontations with the military.

El Diario, Ciudad Juárez,
April 2, 2008

Municipal police and the army tell different stories regarding the attacks on police officers that resulted in one being shot and seriously injured.

El Diario, Ciudad Juárez,
April 2, 2008

POLICE BURDENED BY A DARK HISTORY

The relationship between police and drugs is nothing new. Evidence of police complicity in narco-trafficking has occurred in every municipal administration. As recently as January 16 [2008] the ex-director of Municipal Public Security [2004-2007], Saulo Reyes Gamboa, was arrested in El Paso for narco-trafficking. Reyes Gamboa, an attorney and public accountant, served until the end of the administration of former Juárez mayor, Hector Murguia Lardizábal. . . . [article details police criminals back to 2002]

El Diario, Ciudad Juárez,
April 2, 2008

The shriveled body of a woman was found yesterday afternoon in an unpopulated area southeast of the city. The body was found at the end of Avenida Manuel Talamas Camandari, where a new housing development is under construction. Authorities gave no estimation of the date of death of the unidentified victim, however, there was no flesh on the face and arms, and other parts of the body were desiccated.

El Paso Times,
April 2, 2008

The Mexican army on Tuesday rescued three men, including an El Pasoan, who had been kidnapped and were being detained in a home in Juárez, Channel 26-KINT (Cable channel 2) reported. The men were found handcuffed inside a home in an upscale neighborhood during a military operation responding to an anonymous tip about narcotics activity.

El Diario, Ciudad Juárez,
April 2, 2008

Due to fear of being attacked or detained by army soldiers, more than 50% of municipal police suspended patrols during the first shift and agreed to respond only to emergency calls.

El Diario, Ciudad Juárez,
April 2, 2008

Fifteen state police officers detained last Tuesday by the military were turned over to the Federal Attorney General’s Office to determine if they will be charged with any crimes.

El Diario, Ciudad Juárez,
April 3, 2008

Municipal police testified yesterday in a court hearing that they had been tied, blindfolded, beaten and tortured with electric shocks by soldiers and federal police who detained them before turning them over to the federal prosecutor.

El Paso Times,
April 3, 2008

Juárez city officials said Wednesday evening that they have developed contingency plans after rumors that some municipal police officers plan to go on a “labor stoppage” in protest of the Mexican army and federal police in the city. Mayor José Reyes Ferriz said plans are in place to make up for any stoppage and that residents should welcome the opportunity to eliminate bad officers.

El Diario, Ciudad Juárez,
April 3, 2008

This morning, the Federal Prosecutor’s Office released four women—Cinthya Cecilia Soto, Silvia Marcela Soto Alvídrez, Imelda Villegas and Yadhira Meza Ramírez—who had been detained for two days by the army. Unofficial sources said that more agents will be released later today.

El Diario, Ciudad Juárez,
April 3, 2008

Two armed men assaulted a branch of Scotiabank, the 14th violent bank robbery this year.

El Diario, Ciudad Juárez,
April 3, 2008

The Coordinating Business Council and the municipality today presented their proposal to the governor to establish a security network in the city with more than 3,000 video cameras in stores, banks and schools. “These strategies will be implemented in less than three weeks,” said Mayor José Reyes Ferriz.

El Diario, Ciudad Juárez,
April 4, 2008

“We are going to continue with the internal investigation of the public security forces until they are completely cleaned up and sanitized,” said Governor José Reyes Baeza, during the third day of protests by human right activists and family members of the police agents arrested by the Mexican army. Reyes Baeza said that the special operation would decrease the problem of atypical violence in Juárez during the last two months and he dismissed the idea that “narco-trafficking rules in Chihuahua.”

El Paso Times,
April 4, 2008

The Mexican army has detained 22 employees of the Chihuahua state attorney general’s office and the state public security office as part of operations targeting organized crime. The detainees were being questioned on Thursday about possible crimes.

El Paso Times,
April 4, 2008

U.S. authorities have indicted a suspected Mexican drug cartel leader who officials believe was one of several men dressed in military uniforms during a high-profile border incident two years ago. Jose Rodolfo Escajeda is identified as one of several men appearing to be Mexican soldiers who had crossed the Rio Grande and were helping suspected drug smugglers elude U.S. law enforcement during a chase. He remains a fugitive. . . . According to DEA officials, the Escajedas, based in the village of Guadalupe across the Rio Grande near Tornillo, are believed to control a 120-mile corridor east of El Paso.

El Paso Times,
April 4, 2008

The city of Juárez has unveiled a new official hymn for the city, “Ciudad Juárez, Valor de México,” loosely translated as Juárez, Jewel of Mexico, city officials said. The song praises the work ethics and pioneering spirit of Juarenses and will be taught in elementary schools. The hymn opens with the line, “Juárez is our city, the best of the borders, because it was born with courage and built its history with great faith and hope.”

El Diario, Ciudad Juárez,
April 4, 2008

CHIHUAHUA—General Jorge Juárez Loera, commander of the 11th Military Region, was interviewed at the State Government Palace, accompanied by the Attorney General Patricia Gonzalez. The general issued a call to the media. “The media are very important to us. Tell the truth, say what you have to say, but say it with courage. And I know that the media are sometimes afraid of us, but they should not be afraid. I hope they will trust us. And I would like to see the reporters change their articles and where they say ‘one more murder victim,’ instead say, ‘one less criminal.’” Army troops arrived early and took up their strategic positions around the government buildings, ready for action along Calle Libertad.

El Diario, Ciudad Juárez,
April 5, 2008

Three state police officers, José Guadalupe Rivas González, Juan Ramón Durán Robles and Luis Carlos Aviña Corona, were apparently tortured by the military while held at the headquarters of the 20th Motorized Calvary Regiment. “We were surprised when we saw our three companions, they had been severely beaten, one was taken to the hospital as his legs were seriously injured,” reported another police officer being held by the Federal Prosecutor’s Office. He said that the women arrested were blindfolded and stripped for a supposed medical examination. “It was denigrating what they did to the women.” The anonymous source said that most of his fellow officers who were detained will not talk to anyone for fear of being picked up again by the army.

El Diario, Ciudad Juárez,
April 5, 2008

After a visit yesterday to the border, U.S. Ambassador Tony Garza expressed concern about the “narco-violence” here and that this insecurity may lead to raising the level of the travel alert to U.S. citizens in Chihuahua. “Obviously, we support the President Calderón’s initiatives and we also take this criminal activity seriously. Narco-violence and crime affect the lives of the citizens on both sides of the border. . . . ”

El Diario, Ciudad Juárez,
April 5, 2008

Municipal police who joined the force last March 8 said that as of yesterday, they had not yet received their paychecks and that they were going out on patrol without firearms, due to a shortage.

El Diario, Ciudad Juárez,
April 5, 2008

HIDALGO DEL PARRAL, Chihuahua—Gun battles in the area yesterday afternoon left at least 14 dead and 7 wounded, including two persons identified as Federal Investigative Police. The shoot-outs began in nearby Villa Matamoros, where an armed commando assassinated Francisco Barron. The armed forces later patrolled the city of Hidalgo del Parral, where businesses shut down as if under martial law. It is presumed that this bloody afternoon was caused by “the cockroach effect,” after the launch of the Joint Chihuahua Operation last Monday in Juárez. Preliminary reports indicate that the confrontation broke out between gangs led by Tacho Puertas and Kiko Barba, both members of the Carrillo Fuentes cartel after the first week of the military operation. At press time, no official information had been released.

El Diario, Ciudad Juárez,
April 8, 2008

The army and the State Attorney General’s Office engaged in a “numbers war” concerning the number of deaths resulting from the confrontation between two criminal gangs last Saturday in the southern region of Chihuahua state. General Jorge Juárez Loera, chief of the 11th Military Region, said that all of those killed in the shoot-out were criminals, that the federal forces had suffered no losses. “In addition to the ‘cockroach effect,’ the operation is stimulating more violence because the criminals feel desperate. Before, they could act freely, kidnapping and collecting ransoms, but now they are forced into more violent acts.” When asked whether the cartel leaders had left the state, he said, “Normally the majority leave because they don’t like it much when the army gets here.” He lashed out against the representatives of human rights groups, “And when are they going to issue a recommendation to the cartels not to execute and kill people?” He affirmed that the military is respectful of the human rights of the common people (
la gente
) of Mexico.

El Diario, Ciudad Juárez,
April 9, 2008

The Secretary of National Defense said yesterday that the Carrillo Fuentes organization is trying to discredit the Mexican army by committing violent and criminal acts disguised in the uniforms and vehicles of the military. It was revealed recently that the cartel had begun a counteroffensive to the Chihuahua operation, paying people to attend protest marches against the military presence.