MEXICAN MILITARY ARRESTS STATE AND LOCAL POLICE OFFICERS

210563 2009-06-05 20:31:00 09MONTERREY213 Consulate Monterrey SECRET 09MONTERREY210 VZCZCXRO2084 RR RUEHCD RUEHGD RUEHHO RUEHNG RUEHNL RUEHRD RUEHRS RUEHTM DE RUEHMC #0213/01 1562031 ZNY SSSSS ZZH R 052031Z JUN 09 FM AMCONSUL MONTERREY TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 3763 INFO RUEHME/AMEMBASSY MEXICO 4829 RUEHXC/ALL US CONSULATES IN MEXICO COLLECTIVE RUEABND/DEA HQ WASHDC RHMFISS/FBI WASHINGTON DC RUEFHLC/DEPT OF HOMELAND SECURITY WASHINGTON DC RHMFISS/HQ USNORTHCOM RUEHMC/AMCONSUL MONTERREY 9348 S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 02 MONTERREY 000213 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 6/5/2019 TAGS: ASEC SNAR CASC KCRM MX SUBJECT: MEXICAN MILITARY ARRESTS STATE AND LOCAL POLICE OFFICERS REF: MONTERREY 0210 MONTERREY 00000213 001.2 OF 002 CLASSIFIED BY: Bruce Williamson, Consul General, Monterrey, State. REASON: 1.4 (b),(d) ¶1. (SBU) Summary. In ongoing operations, 74 police officers, including some high ranking officials, have been detained by the Mexican military for ties to organized crime. The arrests highlight the level of infiltration of local security forces. While President Calderon has vowed to keep up the fight against corruption, several Monterrey-based opposition party members are claiming that these arrests are a cover to gain votes in the upcoming midterm election. End Summary. Names of Arrested Police Officers Found on Payoff lists ¶2. (U) Starting on June 1, the Mexican military began what is an ongoing campaign in the Monterrey metropolitan area to arrest municipal and state law enforcement officers with presumed ties to organized crime. After four days there have been 74 arrests. Of the 74 arrested, 58 are being held for 30 days pending an investigation, 6 have been released, and 10 are pending arraignments. According to press reports, the military is conducting the arrest based on information found on payroll lists seized during recent drug raids. ¶3. (SBU) The arrests include the heads of municipal public security secretariats and several high ranking police officers. For instance, Fernando Torre y Cuevas a former Nuevo Leon sub-secretary of public security and Monterrey's current director of transit police, was one of those arrested and then released. Of the 6 high-ranking officials that have been detained and released, the reasons why they were let go has not been made public. It is possible that the derogatory evidence found against them was insufficient to make formal charges or that they were arrested in an attempt to pressure them to reveal useful information. In any event, the 6 released officials have not been reinstated to their previous posts pending a full investigation. ¶4. (U) The arrest of the police officers appears to be part of a larger effort by President Calderon to crack down on corruption and organized crime. On May 26, federal police forces arrested 30 government officials (including 10 mayors) in the state of Michoacan. In a June 2 speech following the arrest of the police officers in Nuevo Leon, Calderon openly admitted that organized crime had infiltrated government offices but he declared his government is working to root corruption out and that "Mexico will not go backwards in the war against organized crime." Opposition Claims Arrests Are Political ¶5. (C) Nationwide, security has been the top election issue and the PAN strategy has been to equate the opposition (namely the PRI and the PRD) with corruption and bad governance. However, there is no public evidence to suggest the arrests in Nuevo Leon and Michoacan were politically motivated but the opposition parties are crying foul. In Nuevo Leon, the detentions took place in five municipalities: Escobedo, Guadalupe, San Nicolas, Santa Catarina, and Monterrey. The first two are governed by PRI mayors; the last three by PAN mayors. In addition, Nuevo Leon Public Security Secretary Aldo Fasci had advance knowledge of the military's raids and he reports directly to the state's PRI governor. Indeed, all the prisoners were initially held at the state government's police academy. ¶6. (SBU) The day after the first round of detentions, Nuevo Leon Governor Natividad Gonzalez Paras read a message on behalf of all PRI governors welcoming the arrests of the corrupt police officers but warned the President not to politicize the arrests. The governor also called on the military to share more intelligence with state police forces so they could play a greater role in the investigations. ¶7. (SBU) If President Calderon is acting politically to influence the July midterm elections, there has been little impact locally. A June 4 poll by El Norte showed the PRI and PAN candidates for governor statistically tied if the elections were to be held that day. The poll results have remained relatively steady for the last three months. Nationally, however, the PRI's favorability rating has fallen from about 45% to 39% since March according to a recent poll by La Reforma. ¶8. (C) Comment. To date, the Nuevo Leon municipalities where the arrests have taken place are all areas dominated by the Gulf Cartel. As reported in the press, Post law enforcement sources indicate that the information upon which the arrests are based comes from information gathered during previous military drug raids. While the military arrests are ongoing, so far the influential suburb of San Pedro, where many state and business MONTERREY 00000213 002.2 OF 002 leaders, live has not been touched. This could be because San Pedro's affluence has allowed city leaders to instill a (slightly) higher degree of transparency in its municipal police force. Or it could be because that municipality is dominated by the Beltran Leyva faction of the Sinaloa cartel, an organization about which military authorities in Monterrey have relatively less information. ¶9. (S) Comment continued. Post DEA notes the Mexican military's increasing use of unilateral intelligence in its operations. In addition to the recent detentions, the military also acted unilaterally in the arrests of two Sinaloa cartel leaders in Nuevo Leon: Hector `La Burra' Huerta Rios, on March 24 and his replacement, Rodolfo `El Nito" Lopez Ibarra on May 18. WILLIAMSONB