01/17/2012 VIOLENCE TIJUANA AIN'T NOBODY HERE BUT US CHICKENS ACCORDING TO ZETA MAGAZINE, THE NUMBERS DEAD FROM THE DRUG WAR ARE BEING MINIMALIZED BOTH STATE AND NATION WIDE

ONE OF TWENTY FOUR EXOTIC BIRDS BEING SMUGGLED IN BY THE BODYGUARDS OF JORGE HANK ROHN IN CARDBOARD BOXES (courtesy El Mex): Is that blood in the the box?

UPDATE/edit @11:00pm: There have been many searches here for the exact numbers of executions or deaths related to organized crime in Baja California for 2011. Towards the end of last month just before Christmas, Zeta Magazine stated and I blogged it here that the national number was up to sixty thousand plus. This was ridiculed by one other blog-forum, you know the one - "Baja No Mas", as if this should not be reported before Christmas, as if this was not important.


I noticed that Insight Crime, Molly Malone of Frontera and the NY Times are all attempting to update the numbers - but the truth is, who knows? Zeta states that the numbers from the PGR are far from the reality of the death toll in Mexico from the drug war. Each day they report it is obvious the mess of bodies on roads, in neighborhoods, in public squares, in graves - in so many words, the smell of death permeates the air.


According to Zeta, the national numbers are more like a staggering 104,692 dead. Minimizing the numbers is occurring according to Zeta for several reasons; it's an election year and the National Information System is categorizing thousands and thousands of deaths as "other" or "no data".


For our purposes, let's look at Baja California whose numbers are also being minimalized. According to Zeta the State government of Baja California reported 183 deaths related to organized criminal activity in the first nine months of 2011 - but in reality during those months there were 378. At the end of the year so far it looks like there were 476. However, the official "Deceased Briefing Card" issued by the PGJE of Baja California was last issued 11/10/2011 and since then there has been no official Baja California state report. According to the Attorney General of the State Rommel Moreno Manjarrez, the PGR is simply not investigating many of these murders (there is a link within the article to Zeta's past coverage of that issue). An important report from Zeta:


Zeta
Minimizan ejecuciones
Edicion 1972
01/16/2012

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There has not been a rash of executions in our area since the last recorded events of 01/12/12 however there have been attacks on police, human limbs found in a burning house in Mexicali and many arrests. Once again, the rumor is circulating that a truce has been made in our area, but we've been there and done that before, only time will tell.


Here Are The Updates:


- In Mexicali two human legs found in a burning abandoned house in the Jazmines neighborhood:


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- In the ZONA NORTE a Police Officer from Oaxaca thought to be an undercover cop kidnapped and tortured, El Mex states the kidnappers cut off part of his penis. He managed to escape and alert the authorities who subsequently arrested fifteen people:


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- On this same story, AFN reports that some of those arrested were former gang members from California and Nevada who operate as coyotes, or human smugglers. It is unclear if this victim approached the coyotes for assistance to cross over and then was found out to be because of his identification a police officer from Oaxaca. At any rate, initially it was reported that this man was a migrant who was attempting to cross into the U.S. This report from AFN states he was also tortured with electric shocks. Why this police officer from Oaxaca was on the run was not reported by any of the agencies:


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- While waiting to have their tires changed at a tire shop in colonia Obrera, two Tijuana Municipal Police Officers were attacked by gunfire. There was a chase involved with other patrol units who came to their aid, the offenders rolled their vehicle down a baranca and escaped. El Mex notes that two weapons were found inside of the abandoned vehicle:


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- On the same story, AFN notes that there were five spent shells from a 9mm and one from a 223 found at the scene, and that it was a 357 which was found inside of the vehicle. There have been no reports that the police returned fire. AFN has a video:


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- The initial reports on this event which took place on the beach in Playas de Tijuana stated that eight people were arrested including a member of the Ensenada Municipal Police Special-Ops Division. Of course - this raised everyone's eyebrows around here. This report goes on to state the people arrested were in three panga boats which dropped several packages on the beach which were picked up by two trucks which left the scene before the arrival of the authorities. Frontera goes on to state that it was believed these packages contained dope:


Aseguran a 8 en Playas; trian droga en pangas

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- Same story yesterday updates: All agencies are reporting that it was eighteen people who were arrested by the Municipals of Tijuana backed up by the Mexican Army and of this eighteen one was a member of the Special Forces Police of
Ensenada. Again, two trucks picked up the packages, which the fishermen are saying were full of clams. All of these people have been released, there was no evidence of the three pangas transporting dope or migrants. The Special Forces Police officer from Ensenada is actually from San Quintin, his father is head of a fishing co-op in San Quintin.


El Vigia does make a special note that it was on January the 4th of this year that three jet skis with migrants aboard being smuggled into the U.S. were in this same area and were not caught by the authorities. So, to me at least it is obvious why the authorities arrested the eighteen people - the smuggling on this coast by criminal groups is rampant. However,the comments under this article are extremely anti-authority, citing these arrests as an abuse of power. A lot of jangled nerves over this one:


Detuvieron en Tijuana a policia de Ensenada


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- Four bodyguards of Grupo Caliente's owner, Jorge Hank Rohn were arrested at the airport while picking up Hank and Maria Elvia on their private flight into Tijuana from the State of Mexico with twenty four exotic birds which are protected under Mexican law, one of the birds was dead. The four men were detained by the Mexican Army and handed over to the PGR, one of the bodyguards is an active Tijuana Municipal Police officer who works in the commercial zone.


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What? No weapons? Nope, ain't nobody here but us chickens...


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UPDATE/EDIT 01/18: All agencies are reporting this morning that the four employees of Grupo Caliente arrested for smuggling the birds are out on bail. Frontera states the case is open and there is plenty of evidence to presume the commission of a crime. This would be violation (s) of Article 420 of the Federal Criminal Code, or Crimes Against the Environment and Environmental Management and Biodiversity. The birds were stashed in cardboard boxes and there was no documentation.(I would say something here but I won't)



According to the Military, the birds arrived in Tijuana on a private jet coming from Toluca. Flight records show the flight plan of the G11-59 jet registration number N25OMS carried Jorge Hank Rohn and family members from Toluca to Tijuana arriving Tijuana at 8pm this last Sunday. Google in title if URL doesn't come up.


En Libertad bajo fianza los 4 detenidos por aves


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UPDATE/EDIT 01/23: Wait a minute, not so fast - seems Hank is off the hook. According to Zeta the PGR decided that it was the bodyguard of Hank who was also an active Commercial police officer in Tijuana who actually acquired the birds on his little tiny salary, not Hank. You might want to check out the other story from Zeta on the cruel conditions the birds were transferred in :


Zeta
Edicion 1973
01/23/2012

PGR al servicio de Hank

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Oh what the heck let's do another song already...


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And on to the elections....


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Just a small sample of the arrests, interestingly these are of people associated with Raydel Lopez Uriate (aka "the Crutches"), close to Bengochea who is still as far as we know being held at the Military barracks and has not been transferred to OFDI in Mexico City:


- Two men arrested with arms and ammo. AFN places these arrests in Tijuana, El Mex reports they happened in Mexicali. Still, both men are reported to be former operatives of Raydel Lopez Uriarte, one of these men stated he is married to the cousin of Uriarte and both admitted to being involved in narcotics trafficking. Although the name of El Aquiles was not mentioned in this report, some people have remarked in the comments section that there is a connection to El Aquiles:


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- Officers of Mexican Military Intelligence arrest five people in the Downtown area of Tijuana - the pictures look like the Zona Rio. All were taken to the Army barracks in colonia Morelos. Although unconfirmed, one of the five could be a relative of Raydel Lopez Uriarte. This article from AFN states it is unknown what the charges are against these people, nor have they been identified:


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Here are the links for all of the local news:



Zeta Tijuana

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AFN

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FRONTERA

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EL MEXICANO

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Noticias Ensenada.net - Ensenada News

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El Vigia de ensenada - Ensenada News

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Encuentro 29.com - Mexicali News

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Mundo Narco

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LA Times

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