Borderland Beat
Tijuana: CAF member arrested
2 heads and banner left in Tijuana signed by CAF
Part 1: Mexican Cartel-Canadian Drug Pipeline
Tijuana: CAF member arrested
Posted: 13 May 2015 04:59 PM PDT
CAF member arrested
Amidst escalating violence in Tijuana, as organized crime groups, mostly represented by retail distribution cells, feeding the cities crystal meth and heroin addicts, another member of what remains of the Arellano Felix dynasty is arrested.
It should be noted that all official and mostly unofficial reports indicate that after the arrest of Fernando Sanchez Arellano, last summer, there are no more Arellano Felix family members active in the business. One wonders where that leaves Endenina Arellano Felix, but, in any case she is a lifetime away from the day to day arrests, killings, and sales that drive the violence in Tijuana.
An easy way to put it: there is not thought to be any more Arellano Felix cartel in Tijuana, but there is a Cartel de Tijuana, which is former or currents cell leaders and cells who are loyal to their own, and antagonistic to those representing the Sinaloa Cartel, mostly under Aquiles. They control retail drug areas, extortions, kidnappings, in their areas of influence. Some traffic on a transnational level, but this has been very much diminished in the years after Javier Francisco Arellano Felix was arrested in 2006.
Arturo Rojas Alocer 'Nodo' fits into this new subset of organized crime, a cell leader or someone of some prominence, displaced in recent years. He is 37 years old, and according to reports maintains a series of aliases and false identifies. He is thought to lead a retail drug cell in the city. Aloccer has a warrant for homicide at the time of his arrest.
'Nodo' was arrested while seeking medical treatment from unknown injuries that occurred during a gunfight, or other conflict with a rival group. In the weeks since the killing of 'El Mono', a wave of shootings and killings descended upon the already violent retail trade.
Sources: AFN Tijuana
2 heads and banner left in Tijuana signed by CAF
Posted: 13 May 2015 02:18 PM PDT
Borderland Beat
2 human heads were found today at about 7:30 AM near Tijuana´s MacroPlaza mall. The heads were left inside an ice cooler along 2 banners with a message threatening several CDS cell leaders operating in Tijuana under Alfredo Arteaga aka "El Akiles".
The message read as follows:
"SIGUES TU JABAS, MARLON, GRIEGO, JACK, LES VA A PASAR LO MISMO POR CORRIENTES MATA INOCENTES, SE LA VAN A PELAR LA VERGA CON LA GENTE ARELLANO, MEJOR VAYAN Y PIDANLE DINERO A SU PAPI AQUILES PINCHES MUERTOS DE HAMBRE, SI FUERAN TAN VERGAS, SI FUERAN TAN VERGAS ESTUVIERAN AQUI EN TIJUANA. ERES IGUAL QUE TU HERMANO PINCHES NARCOS DEPRIMIDOS. ESTO LE PASARA A TODOS LOS JOTOS QUE ANDEN CON USTEDES. INCLUYENDO AL PERIODISTA IVAN VILLEGAS AL QUE LE PAGAN PARA QUE NO SALGAN LAS BAJAS.
Atte. LOS VERDADEROS DUEÑOS DE LA PLAZA
EL CAF SIGUE MANDANDO"
Roughly translated as:
"You are next Jabas, Marlon, Griego, Jack, the same is going to happen to you for being cheap innocent killers, you ain´t gonna make it against the Arellano people, you starved motherfuckers better go and ask for money to your daddy Aquiles, if they were as bad as they claim then they would be here in Tijuana. You are the same as your brother, fucking depressed narcos. This is going to happen to all the faggots that hang with you, including news reporter Ivan Villegas whom you pay to not report your losses.
Sincerely THE REAL OWNERS OF THE PLAZA
CAF KEEPS RULING"
The heads and message were taken away by the State Atttorney´s Office personnel an hour after the report.
BACKGROUND INFO
Another banner was hung yesterday near the Tijuana Bus Central threatening several criminal for allegedly being responsible of killing a PGJE employee who apparently was the partner of former Ministerial Agent and alleged CAF cell leader Esteban Nides.
The attack in which Itzel Medina(38) was killed was apparently directed against Esteban Nides when they arrived at a junkyard belonging to another former Ministerial Agent by the last name of Cosme, Agent Cosme was arrested 10 years ago leading a criminal cell formed by Police Agents working for Francisco Javier Arellano Felix aka "El Tigrillo".
In the attack several men arrived at the junkyard and began shooting at the people there, those inside, including Nides dropped to the floor to avoid being hit but Itzel was hit in the head before she could do anything. According to some versions, Nides shot back and then jumped the back wall into a neighboring house, he made several cuts to his hands and feet doing this and scared the owner of the house who began screaming asking for help. Nides was subdued by several neighbors and taken to the hospital. Since Nides was a victim of the attack and apparently they have nothing against him, PGJE left him free after he gave his statement, according to witnesses he claimed he "would find those who did this".
ADDITIONAL INFO
Esteban Nides
Esteban Nides has been mentioned as a leader of a criminal cell serving the Arellanos several times before but there´s apparently no investigation or arrest warrant against him. He even gave ZETA an interview some time ago in which he claimed to be a motivational speaker giving speeches against bullying in public schools backed by State Government and by the State Human Rights Commission.
He also claimed owning a Telecommunications Engineering firm dedicated to provide maintenance of systems for the last 10 years or so.
In the interview he explained there was a "misunderstanding" which was already fixed and stated there was no investigation or warrant against him, proof of that was the fact he was still free.
SOURCES: AFNTijuana ZETA Tijuana
Part 1: Mexican Cartel-Canadian Drug Pipeline
Posted: 13 May 2015 08:23 AM PDT
Lucio R. Borderland Beat - thank you to Canadiana, republished from National Post
Port of Vamcouver
Part One
How Hells Angels and criminal gangs came to control much of the Vancouver docks
More than two dozen of the longshoremen unloading container ships on the docks of Metro Vancouver are Hells Angels, their associates, other gangsters or people with serious criminal records, a Vancouver Sun investigation has found.
The infiltration of gangsters and criminals into the port workforce is perpetuated by a longtime employment practice that allows existing union members to nominate friends, relatives and associates when new jobs become available.
Police say organized crime maintains this foothold on the waterfront for strategic purposes — so drugs and other contraband can be smuggled in some of the more than 1.5 million containers that pass through the four container terminals at Port Metro Vancouver every year.
Just over three per cent of containers arriving here are checked by the Canada Border Services Agency.
"It is a concern to us. We feel that a lot of the illegal drugs that come into this country come in through our ports," said Det.-Staff. Sgt. Len Isnor, the country's top law enforcement expert on the Hells Angels.
We feel that a lot of the illegal drugs that come into this country come in through our ports
Isnor, who works for the Ontario Provincial Police, has testified at several major B.C. cases involving the biker gang.
Isnor said the Hells Angels have maintained a foothold in Canada's three largest ports — Vancouver, Montreal and Halifax — for the past 30 years.
"So as far as the ports are concerned, it's the whole success of the Hells Angels."
While airports have tightened security in the post-9/11 world, Metro Vancouver docks remain relatively porous, allowing people linked to organized crime, and even some convicted of international drug smuggling, to work on the waterfront.
The Sun has identified at least six full-patch Hells Angels who are active members of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union.
Some have worked on the docks for years, like Al DeBruyn, a senior White Rock Hells Angel who started in 1981 — two years before the HA was set up in B.C.
Other Hells Angels joined the longshoremen more recently. Rob Alvarez of the elite Nomads chapter and Kelowna Angel Damiano Dipopolo started on May 24, 2012. West Point Hells Angel Ryan Sept started just last year, nominated by another full-patch member of his chapter.
Bikers aren't the only people with links to crime working on the waterfront.
Others who police have publicly identified as gangsters, such as Mani Buttar and Bobby Tajinder Gill, are also longshoremen, as are some of their associates.
Buttar has been a member of Local 502, a Vancouver local of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union, since 1998. The local provides hundreds of workers a day to Fraser Surrey docks and Deltaport. And Buttar, whose two brothers died in gangland shootings, is on his union's executive committee despite a lengthy criminal history.
Gill is in jail after police issued a warrant for him several months ago on some outstanding charges.
The Sun has documented 27 active longshoremen with gang or criminal links from various sources of information, including public records and union membership lists.
That number doesn't include the "inactive" members of the union who are also Hells Angels — East End president John Bryce, Nomads Angel Gino Zumpano, Haney member Vince Brienza, West Point member Larry Amero and former Vancouver president Norm Krogstad.
ILWU national president Mark Gordienko agreed to be interviewed for The Vancouver Sun series. But he cancelled without explanation the day before the interview. He also declined through a spokesman to answer written questions for the Sun.
The Hells Angels did not respond to emailed interview requests.
Police admit there's a serious problem when criminals and gangsters have the ability to move drugs and other contraband through Port Metro Vancouver.
A series of government and police reports about organized crime on the waterfront and obtained by the Sun show authorities have been documenting concerns for two decades.
"The presence of numerous members of organized crime groups (OCGs) as dockside employees of the Port of Vancouver, coupled with the ability to access the port by members of OCGs employed in the trucking industry creates a high-risk for smuggling at the port," says a September 2010 internal Border Services Agency report.
The only way someone can get hired as a longshoreman in British Columbia is by the ILWU putting their name forward.
Port Metro Vancouver then issues a basic port pass. A criminal record check is not required, yet the pass allows wide access to the tens of thousands of containers stacked behind locked gates in Vancouver, Surrey and Delta.
Port Metro vice-president Peter Xotta said he was unaware of how many port pass holders are Hells Angels or others with criminal links.
"We certainly don't have that level of detail," he said.
"My sense of it is it is much more difficult for this (criminal) activity to occur on the waterfront. That's not to say that there aren't elements or individuals on the waterfront and in other parts of working society in Vancouver that aren't involved in some sort of activity that could give rise to concern."
Andy Smith, president of the B.C. Maritime Employers Association, said his agency is aware of the Hells Angels and others with gang connections on the docks.
"Yes, we are aware of who they are. They make no secret of it," he said.
Yes, we are aware of who they are. They make no secret of it
But he also said his association's role is to ensure longshore workers are properly trained, not worry about their criminal histories.
"It is not within my mandate," Smith said. "We are a service provider to the industry — primarily to labour relations and training and secondarily in terms of government relations and social outreach. In any of those arenas, we have yet to see a situation where someone's criminal associations or participation in the Hells Angels, or whatever, has been an issue."
Some of the thousands of dock workers in B.C. also possess a higher-security Transportation Security Clearance pass issued by Transport Canada that allows them inside restricted zones on the waterfront.
Workers are screened for links to organized crime and criminal records before those passes, known as TSC, are issued.
But Smith said the restricted zones at the port are small compared to the areas accessed with the general pass.
"If you are talking about access of workers to long rows of containers which are in lightly populated work areas day or night, the TSC doesn't come into it," he said.
Guy Morgan, director of security and screening programs for Transport Canada, wouldn't comment specifically on the Hells Angels or other criminals working on the waterfront. But he said his agency does screen several ways for links to organized crime before issuing the TSC passes.
He suggested the Hells Angels on the Sun's list don't have the high-security passes — though he wouldn't say so directly or comment on any individuals.
"If Transport Canada receives any information that an existing clearance holder poses a security threat, we act on it," Morgan said.
By contrast, airport workers who handle baggage and cargo "have to have the security clearance under the Transport Canada program," Vancouver Airport Authority spokesman Chris Devauld said.
Morgan said it's unfair to compare the two as there are also areas at the airport where workers don't need the high-security clearance.
"I think that the marine transportation security regulations have set out very robust security requirements for the vessels, the ports, the marine facilities and the purpose of those regulations is to enhance the international framework for the deterrence and prevention and detection of acts that may threaten security in the marine port," Morgan said.
"We are continuously reviewing and enhancing our marine security regime and that includes our security regulations, our standards, our procedures in order to maintain that security environment."
Senator Colin Kenny, who has been outspoken on national security issues, was in Vancouver last fall talking to Port Metro Vancouver officials about security.
He thinks more should be done to deal with organized crime on the waterfront, an issue that crops up every few years but never gets addressed.
But Kenny doesn't expect a clampdown on criminalized port workers any time soon, given the RCMP is reassigning hundreds of officers across the country to work on terrorism cases. Many of those resources have been taken from organized crime cases. That, said Kenny, is short-sighted.
"We have made the point consistently that if people from organized crime can get in, terrorists will follow," said Kenny, who sits on the Senate's National Security and Defence committee.
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