NEWS: Head of Top Mexican Drug Cartel Arrested

Mexican officials stated, they may have made a major breakthrough in their battle against major Mexican drug cartels, when they arrested a man who they believe is Vicente Carrillo Fuentes the leader of the notorious Juarez drug cartel. Mexican authorities say it will take a few days to determine his true identity via finger prints and DNA testing; because Fuentes was believed to have undergone major cosmetic surgery to hide his identity.



If confirmed, this could be a very significant arrest considering that the Juarez gang is the only drug cartel in Mexico that has not had a top leader arrested since Mexican authorities announced their nationwide crackdown on drugs.

If true, this could put an end to the recent crime wave on the U.S./Mexican Border and that can only be seen as a good thing for both sides.

Is this a sign that Mexico is actually doing someting about drugs? Perhaps and perhaps not, since their government is known for their corruption.



Related News Links:
www.borderlandnews.com



[edit on 7/4/2005 by shots]

Well I'll be dipped! They caught the man if this is true. I never thought they would because the government is so corrupt

I guess outside pressure IMO caused them to do this.

If this is true then Mexico is doing more to fight the big picture than my own country as far as (South Texas) goes.

Again if this is true then: to Mexico!!!!!!!

.
While i think virtually all drugs should be legal for adults,

And their excess profits feed the coffers of the very worst elements of society instead of paying for national infrastructure,

it is encouraging that Mexico is making some actual attempt to enforce its own laws.

Now if we could just educate governments to only make laws against real crimes against other people and not those things that only happen to upset people's delicate sensebilities.

Having black people ride on the front of the bus upset people's delicate sensibilities, we did manage to get rid of those laws.
.

Now, now Slank you aren't being very politically correct. Better watch out or someone from the far-right fringe groups will come calling some day.

I never thought I would be agreeing with you, but I do agree with your comment about legalizing most drugs. Why not do so and eliminate about 90% of our prison population plus get better control over actual abuse of drugs and realize some tax revenue at the same time, all while freeing our law enforcement people to go after real criminals. It has been done in the U.K. and other countries and for the most part it works better than the U.S. system.

[edit on 5-7-2005 by Astronomer68]

When i read the headline, I thought....
Damn... what did they do?
grab him while he was having breakfast with Vicente Fox?

seriously though... unless we are paying mexico major bribes, they wont cut there own feet off...
why would they get rid of one of the primary exports of mexico to the US?
they need the money, do they not?... so it is being replaced with money from somewhere...

or else the government just decided to eliminate the drug market competitiion and take all the profits...

I see nothing here except a face changing of the guy behind the counter.

IMO that the drug war is the main reason that we can't close the damn borders... to many "semi legitimate" payoffs occur.

If the US could supply its own crops, then the money would go here instead (into the farmers pockets...yeah middle america)... and enable us to close the border to any higher priced imports... as well as to a bunch of terrorists that look like mexican drug smugglers...(the main concern)

If it is confirmed that they have indeed captured Fuentes, than this is excellent news. LA times also has an interesting article about Mexico's most wanted/(protected?) druglord : Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, Mexico's real-life "Get Shorty". If they nab this guy anytime in the near future, then I'll be convinced Mexican authorities have truly changed their tune, but some of the article disturbingly tends to portray El Chapo as a modern-day Pancho Villa type, as he is viewed by many sympathizing villagers who aid him.

Since his escape, drug cartel chief Joaquin 'Shorty' Guzman has expanded his empire, waged war on rivals and become a legend.

On the lam with a satellite phone, laptop computer and AK-47 rifle, the 50-year-old fugitive has rebuilt his empire and started a war with rival smugglers that has claimed more than 600 lives this year. Although Mexican officials call him one of the most prolific, innovative and ruthless traffickers they have ever faced, his disappearing acts have made him a folk hero.

Although U.S. officials have repeatedly praised Mexico's anti-drug efforts under President Vicente Fox, including the arrest of 18 cartel leaders over the last four years, Guzman's elusiveness is an embarrassing symbol of the country's failure to stop the bloodshed or slow the flow of coc aine, heroin, marijuana and amphetamines into the United States.

But so far the heat on Guzman has merely enhanced his mystique as an untouchable outlaw constantly on the move, escorted by 10 armed bodyguards and apparently shielded across Mexico by a web of corrupt officials to whom he once boasted paying a total of $5 million per month.

"Some of them have benefited from his generosity," said Santiago Vasconcelos, the federal prosecutor. "They see him as a hero. They cover for him, and when any stranger comes into the communities, they warn him."

Badiraguato's 29-man police force does nothing to stop his security detail from setting up checkpoints, people in the area say. "When the cops pass El Chapo on the road, they call him Boss," a resident said.

"He thinks big," Drug Enforcement Administration spokesman Misha Pilastro said. "When Chapo gets involved in a drug deal, we're talking about extremely large quantities. Tons."

First arrested in 1991, Guzman bribed the Mexico City police chief $50,000 to let him go. Later testimony in Mexico alleged that he enjoyed the protection of the country's top law enforcement officials at the time.

His rivals have fallen one by one since 2002. Ramon Arellano Felix is dead, and his brother Benjamin is in prison, along with Gulf cartel boss Osiel Cardenas, exposing their Baja California and Rio Grande territories to Guzman's forays.

One U.S. official says gangs led by Guzman and two allies now control all drug traffic along the Arizona and New Mexico borders and are fighting for gateways into Texas and California in a battle involving hundreds of gunmen.

U.S. officials say there is no evidence that the violence has diminished Guzman's operation or the overall flow of drugs from Mexico. But the Mexican manhunt is focused enough, they believe, that in the long run Shorty will go down. "He's a very high-profile target, and eventually he'll make a mistake and get caught," a U.S. official said.

Mexico's Master of Elusion

It is also possible that Congress's latest threat to block $66 million in US aid if Mexico didn't extradite suspected cop-killers is a motivating factor. Forcing Fox & authorities to target those who are most likely to kill cops in the future and thus compromise future aid.

It is not who they thought it was we are back to square one

Mexico Says Suspect Isn't Drug Kingpin
Fingerprint analysis and DNA testing clear a man authorities first believed to be Vicente Carrillo Fuentes, leader of the Juarez cartel.

By Marla Dickerson, Times Staff Writer


MEXICO CITY — Mexican authorities said Monday that they thought they had arrested the leader of the Juarez drug cartel, but later said tests showed it was a case of mistaken identity.

The determination that the detained man was not Vicente Carrillo Fuentes dashed hopes of a rare instance of good news for Mexico's anti-narcotics forces amid an upsurge of violence.

www.latimes.com...