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OPINIONS Politics Must Not Offer
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LETTERS
Mexican Drug Lords Safe Havens
WRITERS' RESOURCES
Jerry Brewer - mexidata.info
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ENTERTAINMENT
December 23, 2010
VALLARTA LIVING
Once again attention of a valiant battle, to wrest the
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considerable control drug trafficking organizations hold of
TRAVEL / OUTDOORS Mexico, and against other transnational crimes and threats,
HEALTH / BEAUTY
becomes the arena’s political football game. With a death toll that since 2006 exceeds
30,000 persons, who is really to blame?
SPORTS

DAZED & CONFUSED Some Mexican politicians believe that dishonor must go to President Felipe Calderon.
PHOTOGRAPHY
There are those political pundits who blame
CLASSIFIEDS Calderon’s failures “when he lost Congress Mexico’s political apparatus must work to
in July 2009,” essentially entering his lame- achieve common ground on understanding
READERS CORNER
duck phase. President Calderon recently the real threats to the Mexican homeland.
BANDERAS NEWS TEAM remarked that progress may be difficult
because “they block the ability to get a
parliamentary majority.”

The frightening words of political knee-jerk actions were echoed when other lawmakers
said they were wary of anything that could be perceived as giving Calderón more power.

Free Newsletter! Does anyone truly and rationally believe, with some degree of semblance or evidence that
the drug cartels were better left alone to conquer the Mexican homeland with impunity
and not be challenged? Would there have been less death or a more harmonious
assimilation of organized and transnational crime and insurgency had they been left
alone?

Going back to some of the early facts of what has been described as “Mexico’s drug war,”
we must revisit some of the early evidence of this war that began as a so-called
“conflict.” During the watch of President Vicente Fox, a gun battled occurred on July 28,
2005, in Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas, between "armed criminal groups (with) unusually
advanced weapons." This since the combatants used an arsenal that combined automatic
weapons, bazookas and hand grenades.

Actually, hundreds of different caliber shells were subsequently found at the war zone-like
scene, along with AK-47 rifles, handguns and ski masks. And if that is not disturbing
enough, a state policeman who asked not to be identified said that investigators found
numerous photographs of municipal police officers at the residence involved, an apparent
hit list of officials sentenced to death. Further intelligence revealed that each of the
photographs listed the officer's name and assigned location, along with maps to their
homes.

The Mexican presidential spokesman at the time, Ruben Aguilar, said federal efforts to
stop the violence in Nuevo Laredo “had been successful.” A week later another city official
of Nuevo Laredo, City Councilman Leopoldo Ramos Ortega, was shot dead as he
innocently sat in his truck. Ramos also chaired the council's security committee.

A false complacency began as a man named Omar Pimentel was then selected as Nuevo
Laredo’s police chief, replacing Alejandro Dominguez who was killed in a hail of gunfire on
his first day on the job. Pimentel stated that he himself was “not looking for bad guys to
fight, nights on patrol, (or) raids” – and no crime scenes for him. “I have simply come
here as a political figure for the Mayor.”

In Nuevo Laredo nearly 200 people were murdered in 2005, and other victims simply
vanished. What was just as appalling is that nearly 20 police officers, including the chief
of police and city councilman, had been gunned down.

President Calderon’s administration inherited an existing “drug war.” The sophisticated

armaments, tactics and the aggressive nature of a previously, practically, untouched drug
cartel hierarchy began to diabolically confront local police, political officials, and the
military head-on with superior firepower. Local police became useless as many of their
rank and file simply fled. Local Mexican law enforcement was no match for this power
directed against them.

Under President Calderon’s direction the Mexican military and federal police became
increasingly successful in carrying out operations to remove top cartel leaders. Mexico's
armed forces number about 225,000, and some of their military roles include not only
national defense, but narcotics control. The Mexican Congress passed legislation in 2009
expanding the investigative and intelligence capabilities of the Federal Police, which itself
has expanded from 20,000 personnel to approximately 34,000.

Mexico’s political apparatus must work to achieve common ground on understanding the
real threats to the Mexican homeland. Failure to do so and act strategically could certainly
result in a failed state.

This century, transnational organized crime groups have flourished throughout the world,
copying legitimate business practices, forming strategic alliances and pursuing joint
ventures. They are threatening the autonomy of states. The infiltration and forging of
alliances with corrupt government officials remains a critical component.

With corruption and organized crime as close allies for success, the Mexican government
must continue its efforts to reorganize local police forces to effectively coordinate with the
tactical power and expertise of the military and federal police. The welfare and safety of
Mexico is at stake, and dependent on elected officials to do the right thing.

Jerry Brewer is C.E.O. of Criminal Justice International Associates, a global threat

mitigation firm headquartered in northern Virginia. His website is located at
www.cjiausa.org. TWITTER: cjiausa
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