KILLING OF POLICE CHIEF LATEST IN CARTEL VIOLENCE,

233709 2009-11-06 22:20:00 09MONTERREY415 Consulate Monterrey CONFIDENTIAL 09MONTERREY386|09MONTERREY411 VZCZCXRO2073 PP RUEHCD RUEHGD RUEHHO RUEHNG RUEHNL RUEHRD RUEHRS RUEHTM DE RUEHMC #0415/01 3102220 ZNY CCCCC ZZH P 062220Z NOV 09 FM AMCONSUL MONTERREY TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 4069 INFO RUEHME/AMEMBASSY MEXICO PRIORITY 5149 RUEHXC/ALL US CONSULATES IN MEXICO COLLECTIVE RUEABND/DEA HQS WASHDC RHMFISS/DEPT OF JUSTICE WASHINGTON DC RUEFHLC/DEPT OF HOMELAND SECURITY WASHINGTON DC RHMFISS/FBI WASHINGTON DC RHMFISS/HQ USNORTHCOM RUEHMC/AMCONSUL MONTERREY 9687 C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 MONTERREY 000415 SIPDIS DS FOR IP /ITA AND IP/WHA E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/6/2019 TAGS: KCRM PINS SNAR ASEC PGOV PTER SOCI MX SUBJECT: KILLING OF POLICE CHIEF LATEST IN CARTEL VIOLENCE, INTIMIDATION AGAINST PUBLIC OFFICIALS REF: A. MONTERREY 411 ¶B. MONTERREY 386 MONTERREY 00000415 001.2 OF 002 CLASSIFIED BY: Bruce Williamson, Consul General. REASON: 1.4 (b),(d) ¶1. (C) Summary: On November 4, gunmen ambushed and killed the police chief of the Monterrey suburb of Garcia. Unconfirmed DEA sources identified at least one of the attackers as a member of Los Zetas. This is the latest in the drug cartels' endemic intimidation and violence campaign against public officials that includes mayors of Monterrey's suburbs and police officials (in particular, retired military officers) in Nuevo Leon and Coahuila. Civil authorities, burdened by corruption-riddled police forces, are increasingly turning to military officers to serve as municipal secretaries of public security. Now some of the military officers being detailed to such posts are ending up dead. End Summary. Cartel Gunmen Kill Municipal Secretary of Public Security -------------- -------------- ¶2. (SBU) In the latest brazen attack on civil authorities, on the evening of November 4, a group of assailants killed the new Garcia city Municipal Secretary of Public Security, retired Brigadier General Juan Arturo Esparza Garcia, and his four bodyguards, two of whom were soldiers, in a fusillade of over 200 bullets. Esparza, who had been on the job only four days, was traveling in a convoy on the way to meet with new Garcia mayor Jaime Rodriguez. His appointment came months after several Garcia police officers were arrested for corruption. Mayor Threatened -------------- ¶3. (SBU) Shortly before Esparza's assassination, Mayor �00A;Rodriguez reported that a group of over 30 gunmen in around ten vehicles arrived at his house and threatened him and Esparza. Esparza was then killed soon thereafter around 15 blocks from the Mayor's home. Esparza had 40 years of military service and had served on the protective detail of four Mexican presidents, including a stint as former President Vicente Fox's chief of security. Military, State Take Control -------------- ¶4. (SBU) Over 200 soldiers responded after the killings and conducted a sweep of the area with state police. Media reports indicated that a number of Zeta cadres live in the town of Garcia (pop. 50,000) located northwest of Monterrey in Nuevo Leon. Shortly after the murders, Governor Rodrigo Medina announced that military and state police forces assume control of the city. Mayor Rodriguez told the press that he believed the city's police force had been infiltrated by the drug cartels, finding it unusual that none of the city's police had noticed 10 vehicles full of gunmen on city streets prior to the shooting. State authorities detained Garcia's 70 police officers for questioning in connection with Esparza's shooting. Zeta Member Possible Suspect -------------- ¶5. (C) DEA sources within the military indicated that Eduardo Almanza Morales, a Zeta member whose brother, Otavio Almanza Morales, allegedly orchestrated the February 2009 killing of Cancun's Municipal Secretary of Public Security retired General Mauro Enrique Tello Quinones, was behind Esparza's slaying. (Note: Post has not been able to obtain official confirmation of this information. End note.) Suspects Arrested -------------- ¶6. (SBU) On November 5, authorities arrested five police officers and five other suspects in connection with the killing of Esparza and his bodyguards. Nuevo Leon state Attorney General Alejandro Garza y Garza told the media that one of the suspects, Norberto Jaime Trevino, had been in a dispute with city authorities over his operation of an illegal quarrying company. Trevino had enlisted the help of a local hotel owner, Victor Manuel Gomez, with drug cartel ties to intimidate Garcia municipal officials. Pattern of Cartel Intimidation, Threats, Killings -------------- -------------- ¶7. (C) Esparza's assassination is just the latest in a series MONTERREY 00000415 002.2 OF 002 of overt drug cartel attempts to cow local authorities. On October 30, just hours after taking office, the Municipal Secretary of Public Security in the Monterrey suburb of Escobedo resigned his position, citing threats he had received from organized crime. Four outgoing mayors of Monterrey suburbs recently described threats they had received from narcotraffickers to the CG. One even described brazen threats made in front of print and broadcast media (ref A). In another bold attack on civil authority, around 25 gunmen in six vehicles fired on Zacatecas Governor Amalia Garcia's caravan on a major thoroughfare in September (fortunately she had not yet joined the motorcade). Current and Former Military Personnel Targeted -------------- - ¶8. (SBU) Military personnel and former military officers heading police forces appear to be targeted by the cartels. In August, a retired general serving as police chief in Monclova, Coahuila escaped an assassination attempt that left three of his bodyguards dead. Piedras Negras police chief, army Colonel Arturo Navarro was shot to death in April. Last October, 11 soldiers were tortured and killed outside Monterrey on the orders of a Gulf Cartel leader in retaliation for military action against cartel members. Comment -------------- ¶9. (C) Many cities, including Monterrey and its suburbs, have been increasingly beset by cartel related violence (ref B) over the past year. The growing reliance by municipal and state leaders on the military to secure areas burdened by corrupt police forces will likely increase conflict as cartels face off against the army to regain control of their territories. ¶10. (C) With the change of municipal administrations, the City of Monterrey's list of candidates for police chiefs has yet to be completely vetted, joining other municipalities that are waiting for security vetting to be completed in order to install security heads. Looming drug cartel threats have caused otherwise qualified candidates for these positions to demur from accepting the positions, or, as in the case of the Escobedo chief, to resign (para 7). In one instance, Post is aware of one highly-regarded candidate for the San Nicolas Municipal Secretary of Public Security position, who, if he accepts the job, could conceivably face the same fate as Esparza. The recent violence will only serve to make finding qualified and honest police chiefs harder in the future. WILLIAMSONB