Investigator of Mexican Mass Killing Kidnapped and Murdered
August 28, 2010 in News
The bodies of some of the 72 presumed migrants killed in a ranch in Mexico, lie on the ground at the abandoned warehouse in San Fernando, Tamaulipas State, on August 25, 2010. Blame for the killing of the 72 presumed migrants fell on the Zetas drug gang on August 26, as President Felipe Calderon condemned the murders and cartel attacks on migrants. An injured Ecuadoran man claiming to be the sole survivor of a massacre alerted the military and told police the group had been kidnapped and killed by members of the Zetas for refusing to work for the cartel. AFP PHOTO/STR ---- BEST QUALITY AVAILABLE (Photo credit should read STR/AFP/Getty Images)
Mexican massacre investigator found dead (guardian.co.uk):
The body of an official investigating the massacre of 72 Central and South American migrants killed in a ranch in the northeastern Mexican state of Tamaulipas was found today dumped beside a nearby road alongside another unidentified victim, according to local media.
Earlier, two cars exploded outside the studios of the national TV network Televisa in the state capital, Ciudad Victoria. There were no casualties, but the blasts added to a growing sense of fear in the aftermath of the worst single act of violence in the country’s raging drug wars.
Meanwhile, investigators under armed guard continued the process of identifying the victims, with 20 named by midday on Friday, local officials said.
The migrants, 14 of them women, came from at least four countries, including Honduras, El Salvador, Brazil and Ecuador. They were found bound and blindfolded by the wall of a barn after navy personnel stormed the ranch on Tuesday.
The massacre was discovered after an Ecuadorian migrant, who had been left for dead with a neck wound, escaped. Luis Freddy Lala Pomavilla, 18, found his way to a navy road checkpoint.
He said the migrants had been kidnapped by armed men who identified themselves as belonging to the Zetas, one of the cartels fighting for supremacy in the state. He said the killing began after they refused offers to work for the cartel.
Interviewed at their home in a remote Andean village by Ecuadorian TV, Lala’s family said he had left for the US two months ago after paying $15,000 (£9,000) to a people smuggler to organise the trip.
“I told him not to go, but he went,” said one of his seven brothers, Luis Alfredo. His 17-year-old pregnant wife Maria said she had received a call a few weeks ago from Guatemala, indicating all that was well.
The Ecuadorian government has complained that the survivor’s security has been put at risk by the publication of his identity around the world. Mexican newspapers said he had been transferred from hospital to a naval base. His family in Ecuador was put under police protection.
The massacre has focused attention on the vulnerability of US-bound economic migrants as they cross Mexico, a situation long denounced by activists, but largely ignored by the Mexican government until now. Since at least 2008 organised crime groups, particularly the Zetas, have preyed on migrants, primarily from Central America. Copycat groups might also be using the name of the infamously violent cartel to terrify their victims. A report published in 2009 by Mexico’s national commission of human rights estimated that more than 1,600 migrants were kidnapped every month.
The bodies of some of the 72 presumed migrants killed in a ranch in Mexico, lie on the ground at the abandoned warehouse in San Fernando, Tamaulipas State, on August 25, 2010. Blame for the killing of the 72 presumed migrants fell on the Zetas drug gang on August 26, as President Felipe Calderon condemned the murders and cartel attacks on migrants. An injured Ecuadoran man claiming to be the sole survivor of a massacre alerted the military and told police the group had been kidnapped and killed by members of the Zetas for refusing to work for the cartel. AFP PHOTO/STR --- BEST QUALITY AVAILABLE (Photo credit should read STR/AFP/Getty Images)
The bodies of some of the 72 presumed migrants killed in a ranch in Mexico, lie on the ground at the abandoned warehouse in San Fernando, Tamaulipas State, on August 25, 2010. Blame for the killing of the 72 presumed migrants fell on the Zetas drug gang on August 26, as President Felipe Calderon condemned the murders and cartel attacks on migrants. An injured Ecuadoran man claiming to be the sole survivor of a massacre alerted the military and told police the group had been kidnapped and killed by members of the Zetas for refusing to work for the cartel. AFP PHOTO/STR ---- BEST QUALITY AVAILABLE (Photo credit should read STR/AFP/Getty Images)
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The Mexico + American Narcosphere (Calling Carlos “Slim” Helu)
http://www.phibetaiota.net/?p=25514 (loads of interesting material)
$113 billion is spent on marijuana every year in the U.S., and because of the prohibition *every* dollar of it goes straight into the hands of criminals. Far from preventing people from using marijuana, the prohibition instead creates zero legal supply amid massive and unrelenting demand.
According to the ONDCP, two-thirds of the Mexican drug cartel’s money comes from selling marijuana in the U.S., and they protect this cash flow by brutally torturing, murdering and dismembering thousands of innocent people.
If we can STOP people using marijuana then we need to do so now, but if we can’t then we need to legalize the production and sale of marijuana to adults with after-tax prices set too low for the cartels to match. One way or the other, we have to force the cartels out of the marijuana market and eliminate their highly lucrative marijuana incomes – no business can withstand the loss of two-thirds of its revenue!
To date, the cartels have amassed more than 100,000 “foot soldiers” and operate in 230 U.S. cities, and the longer they’re able to exploit the prohibition the more powerful they’ll get and the more our own personal security is put in jeopardy.
Jillian Galloway has it correct.
There is an added irony: that Americans actually pay through the nose for the “war on drugs” yet it is the American people buying the drugs, and the gangs laughing all the way to the bank.
All this because of a prevalent mindset amongst Americans that the best way to deal with a problem is to ban it or kill it.
The rest of the world laughs ….
“All this because of a prevalent mindset amongst Americans that the best way to deal with a problem is to ban it or kill it.”
And can you name a whole lot of other countries with a political class who think differently?