Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
07MONTERREY818
2007-09-05 20:32:00
UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
Consulate Monterrey
Cable title:  

MONTERREY LAW ENFORCEMENT UPDATE: AUGUST 2007

Tags:  SNAR KCRM ASEC KCOR KHLS KJUS PINS CASC MX 
pdf how-to read a cable
VZCZCXRO9001
PP RUEHCD RUEHGD RUEHHO RUEHNG RUEHNL RUEHRD RUEHRS RUEHTM
DE RUEHMC #0818/01 2482032
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 052032Z SEP 07
FM AMCONSUL MONTERREY
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 2403
RUEHME/AMEMBASSY MEXICO PRIORITY 3221
INFO RUEHXC/ALL US CONSULATES IN MEXICO COLLECTIVE
RHMFIUU/DEPT OF JUSTICE WASHINGTON DC
RUEFHLC/DEPT OF HOMELAND SECURITY WASHINGTON DC
RHMFIUU/FBI WASHINGTON DC
RUEABND/DEA WASHINGTON DC
RUEHMC/AMCONSUL MONTERREY 7682
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 MONTERREY 000818 

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR DS/IP/ITA AND DS/IP/WHA

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: SNAR KCRM ASEC KCOR KHLS KJUS PINS CASC MX
SUBJECT: MONTERREY LAW ENFORCEMENT UPDATE: AUGUST 2007

REF: MONTERREY 800

MONTERREY 00000818 001.2 OF 002


UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 MONTERREY 000818

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR DS/IP/ITA AND DS/IP/WHA

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: SNAR KCRM ASEC KCOR KHLS KJUS PINS CASC MX
SUBJECT: MONTERREY LAW ENFORCEMENT UPDATE: AUGUST 2007

REF: MONTERREY 800

MONTERREY 00000818 001.2 OF 002



1. (SBU) SUMMARY. Monterrey's law enforcement agencies
remained busy during the month of August. In a victory against
narco-traffickers, a Monterrey Special Agent assisted in placing
three known Gulf Cartel kingpins on the U.S. Consolidated
Priority Organizational Target list. Post continued its
outreach with local and Federal law enforcement officials, which
helped secure the arrest of a former regional AFI (FBI
equivalent) agent wanted on money laundering charges. A Post
law enforcement agent helped debrief Juan Carlos de la Cruz
Reyna, the boss of the Gulf Cartel's Tampico, Tamaulipas
"plaza", after his high-profile August 28 arrest. Monterrey DEA
agents worked with local authorities to secure the arrest of a
fugitive wanted in Texas on drug-trafficking charges.
Monterrey's law enforcement offices worked together to recover a
vehicle stolen from a Texas car dealership on August 31.
Finally, RSO, DHS-ICE, and FBI Monterrey worked with their U.S.
counterparts to secure the transport and arrest of an American
Citizen with outstanding arrest warrants as he traveled back to
Laredo, Texas. While an apparent truce between rival drug
cartels continued to curb the number of narco-related
assassinations, Nuevo Leon witnessed a spike in the number of
kidnappings. There were four drug-related killings in August,
bringing the number of such murders in the state to 89 for 2007
(twenty-nine of which were active-duty police officers),
compared to 55 for all of 2006. END SUMMARY.


2. (SBU) In a demonstration of Post's excellent working
relationship with local law enforcement, Monterrey's DHS-ICE
agents worked with DHS McAllen and with the Mexican Attorney
General's office to secure the arrest of Adrian Echeverria
Rodriguez, the former regional AFI director in Veracruz, on
August 24. Echeverria was originally wanted by Mexican
Authorities for his alleged involvement with the Gulf Cartel and
for avoiding Mexican Law Enforcement since abandoning his post

in Veracruz several months ago. While DHS McAllen reported that
Mexico's PGR Attache in San Antonio had stated that Echeverria
did not have any active warrants in Mexico, Monterrey's DHS-ICE
agents worked with the Director of the Narcotics Division for
the newly created Mexican Federal Police to ascertain
Echeverria's true status. Monterrey's Assistant ICE Attache
learned that Echeverria was wanted in Mexico on money laundering
charges. DHS-CBP denied Echeverria entry into McAllen and
walked him back into Mexico where members of AFI's vetted unit
took him into Mexican custody as he crossed the Hidalgo Bridge.


3. (SBU) On August 29, two of Monterrey's DEA Special Agents
met with AFI agents and representatives from the Mexican
Attorney General's Office of Organized Crime (SIEDO) to share
intelligence about the whereabouts of known drug traffickers.
As a result of this intelligence-sharing, Mexican authorities
were able to arrest a DEA fugitive out of Dallas who had been
wanted on drug trafficking charges since 2003. Mexican
authorities arrested the fugitive in Nuevo Laredo and seized a
large weapons cache that included semiautomatic weapons,
handguns, and a large assortment of ammunition. Also found in
the suspect's car was a money-counting machine, a testimony to
the large sums of money with which he operated on a daily basis.


4. (SBU) On August 31, Monterrey's law enforcement officials
received information from the DHS-ICE in Corpus Christi that
vehicles that had been stolen from a Texas car dealership had
been located via On-Star in Reynosa, Mexico. Monterrey's RSO,
DHS-ICE, FBI, and DEA offices worked together with local Mexican
authorities to pinpoint the exact location of one of the
vehicles. When Mexican police arrived at the location, they
were able to recover the car. Leads from the recovery will aid
local police in locating the other stolen vehicles.


5. (SBU) American Citizen Rudy Alejandro Norman came to the
Consulate on August 31 and told the American Citizens Services
section that he was the victim of a robbery and that all of his
possessions had been stolen the previous day at a Monterrey bus
station. After conducting preliminary checks, the ACS Chief and
RSO office ascertained that Norman had a criminal history and
that he had outstanding arrest warrants in Texas. Monterrey's
RSO, DHS-ICE, and FBI Special Agents then worked together to
provide Norman with public transportation back to Laredo, Texas,
and to facilitate his arrest at the U.S.-Mexico border.


6. (SBU) A Monterrey Special Agent represented AmConGen
Monterrey's LegAtt office at an interagency meeting on the
Consolidated Priority Organizational Target list (CPOT),which
was held at DEA headquarters in Washington, DC on August 13.
Representatives from DEA and DOJ were also in attendance. The

MONTERREY 00000818 002.2 OF 002


interagency group agreed to add three Gulf Cartel kingpins onto
the national CPOT list.


7. (SBU) There were four drug-related killings in Nuevo Leon
in August, bringing the number of drug-related executions in
Nuevo Leon to 89 for the year, compared with the 55 who were
killed in all of 2006. Of that 89, 29 were active duty police
officers. While the apparent "truce" between rival drug cartels
continued to curb the number of assassinations, Nuevo Leon
witnessed a spike in narco-kidnappings (reftel). So far, there
have been 78 kidnappings in the state in 2007, compared with 35
for all of 2006. On August 7, there was an attempted kidnapping
of the 16 year old daughter of a former Mexican congressman in
San Pedro, the Monterrey suburb where all Consulate families
reside. On August 16, two AFI officials were kidnapped and
killed. Two days later four additional AFI agents were
kidnapped in Santa Catarina and were found a day later nude,
bound, and blindfolded, but still alive. On August 20, two
transit police and one PFP agent were also kidnapped in Santa
Catarina. A day later, an armed commando group entered a local
police station in San Nicolas, forced the police to open a jail
cell, and kidnapped a prisoner who was later found dead from a
bullet wound to the head. Interestingly, the City of San
Nicolas has officially denied that the incident took place,
despite media reports that detailed the kidnapping. Consulate
law enforcement sources have stated that the police station
kidnapping did, in fact, take place. Similarly, on August 29,
local police in Garcia, another Monterrey suburb, were
transferring a prisoner when their police vehicle was
intercepted by "sicarios" (drug cartel hitmen). A gun fight
ensued, but police were able to get the prisoner out of harm's
way. Finally, on August 31, a man was kidnapped from his
vehicle in Monterrey after he had been pursued by an armed
commando group.
WILLIAMSON