MEXICO NARCOTICS

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP98-01394R000200030012-2
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 5
• Document Creation Date: December 27, 2016
• Document Release Date: July 25, 2013
• Sequence Number: 12
• Publication Date: October 1, 1986
• Content Type: REPORT

S Declassified and Approved For Release 2013/07/25: CIA-RDP98-01394R000200030012-2
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[Text) Cochabamba, 22 Feb--The special antidrug police forces. "The Leopards",
will enter Chapare at any moment to establish the principle of authority and
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BRIEFS
OFFICIAL INVOLVED IN TRAFFICKING--Zihuatanejo, Guerrero, 19 March--Agrarian
reform authorities are investigating the communal land commissioner of Valleci-
to de Zaragoza. Efrain Marroquin, for involvement in drug trafficking and the
smuggling of lumber, to the detriment of the communal farmers in that locality.
The department's representative, Angel Torres Marin, noted that Marroquin had
been charging 15,000 and 25,000 pesos per hectare for planting poppies and,
through drafts worth a million pesos, stole lumber in order to take it to the
port of Acapulco. The official claimed that these irregularities began in
1976, when Marroquin was appointed communal land commissioner in that communi-
ty, and after a period in which he ceased to hold that position, he increased
the drug tr.fficking. Now that he received the post again, he has resumed the
lumber smuggling. According to the SRA [Secretariat of Agrarian Reform] repre-
sentative, for this purpose Marroquin urged the commander of the 19th infantry
battalion, Col Arturo Zavala Medina, to engage in this activity. Torres Martin
concluded by saying that an investigation is being made of this charge. [Text]
[Mexico City EXCELSIOR in Spanish 20 Mar 84 Sec A p 32] 2909
TRAFFICKERS SHOOT POLICE--Zacatecas, Zacatecas, 21 March--Four drug traffickers
were killed and three policemen were wounded in a gun battle between State
Judicial Police agents and criminals, which took place in the community of .
Muro, on the Jalisco border. When 15 police agents were carrying out a surveil-
lance assignment in mountain settlements, they discovered a poppy plantation.
As they approached the site, they were shot at by about 15 drug traffickers.
Killed were four criminals, including the head of the ring, a municipal police
agent from Tepic, Amador Lopez Cortez, Francisco Ortiz Castaneda, Jose Manuel
Rios Banuelos and Eduardo Correa Correa. [Text] [Mexico City EXCELSIOR in
Spanish 22 Mar 84 Sec A p 28] 2909
ARMY FINDS COLOMBIAN PLANE--Tehuacan, Puebla, 22 March--A 10-seat model 402
Cessna airplane with superimposed registration XB-DGS was discovered today by
members of the 37th infantry battalion, who found inside the abandoned aircraft
half a kilogram of marijuana and an apparatus purchase receipt from a Colombian
business firm. The public ministry agent, Heriberto Aguilar Izquierdo, reported
that the airplane was apparently Colombian. and its registration was HK-2686.
He added that, according to the investigation, the plane had been crewed by
two individuals who, after abandoning it, escaped in a car with Oaxaca license
plates. The Titan Coobier II,. the name of the aircraft, remained in the
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The directive from the president of the court also requires a report on the control
and security systems in operation at the prison which would prevent the inmates
from becoming involved in illegal activities.
9787
CSO: 5300/2127
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custody of the military unit, under the command of Capt Miguel Angel Saucedo.
[Text] (Mexico City EXCELSIOR in Spanish 23 Mar 84 Sec C p 10] 2909
COCAINE SEIZURES REPORTED--Mexico City, 11 February (INFORMEX)--Today, the
Office of the Attorney General of the Republic announced that, thus far this
year, the Federal Judicial Police have seized pure cocaine worthy 1.3 billion
pesos on the black market in the United States. The drugs have been turned
over to the country's health authorities, to be put to medical use. The
entity also reported that the aforementioned volume of cocaine was obtained
from seven separate operations, all taking place at the Benito Juarez inter-
national airport in this capital. The Federal Judicial Police, for their
part, announced that the methods used by the drug traffickers which are most
difficult to discover consist of bringing the drugs in contained in deodorant
spray cans. The Judicial Police also said that other criminals carry the
cocaine concealed in their stomachs, after they have swallowed it in capsules.
Still other drug traffickers dilute the drugs in water to make their detection
more difficult. Most of the drug traffickers captured this year have been
of Colombian nationality. [Text] [Mexicali LA VOZ DE LA FRONTERA in Spanish
12 Feb 84 Sec B p 13] 2909
MARIJUANA, WEAPONS SEIZED?Guadalajara, Jalisco, 7 March (EXCELSIOR)--Federal
Judicial Police agents seized 20 million pesos worth of marijuana and arrested
the drug traffickers Alberto and Rafael Osorio Palomera, at the El Tigre farm
in the municipality of Talpa. Nicolas Flores Almazan, the Federal Judicial
Police commander in this city, announced that weapons and vehicles which the
drug traffickers had kepthiddenon the farm in the middle of the mountains were
also confiscated. The police chief noted that, after the questioning to which
they were subjected, the Osorio brothers admitted that they had dealt in the
drugs with traffickers from Sinaloa, whose names were not known but whose
whereabouts are being investigated. [Text] [Mexicali LA VOZ DE LA FRONTERA in
Spanish 8 Mar 84 Sec B p 11] 2909
FEBRUARY ANTIDRUG RESULTS--Mexico City, 12 March (LEMUS)--The secretary of
national defense, Can Juan Arevalo Gardoqui, announced that Army forces, in
their permanent campaign against the planting and trafficking of drugs, seized
and destroyed drugs worth 28.051 billion pesos during February; adding that
159 presumed drug traffickers were arrested and 199 weapons and 2,731 rounds
of ammunition were seized. [Excerpt] [Hermosillo EL IMPARCIAL in Spanish 13
Mar 84 p 9] 2909
DRUG DEFENDANTS DENY CHARGES?Arguing their "innocence" and claiming to be
too poor to be trafficking with a quarter of a kilogram of cocaine, Juan
Carranza Rivas and Jose Luis Martinez Jasso retracted in the second district
court the statements they had made to the Federal Judicial Police and the
agency of the Public Ministry. They claimed to be victims, and argued that
the drugs found in the Rambler vehicle with license plates EUZ-913 on Thursday
afternoon by federal agents belonged to an individual named "David," from
Laredo, Texas, who had left them in their care. Greatly encouraged by their
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defenders, the drug traffickers also claimed to have been beaten by Comdr
Rogelio Hirachi Coutino and the group chief with the surname Saldivar. Juan
Carranza Rivas had admitted to the Federal Judicial Police that he was a drug
trafficker and had brought the drugs from Durango, having purchased them from
an individual whom he identified as Oscar Dominguez. Yesterday, before the
judge, he denied ever having left Nuevo Laredo, claiming that if he did so it
was only to go to Monterrey, Nuevo Leon. He added that he was very "poor,"
and earned barely enough to support his family. As for "David," he explained
that he had known him for a week, and was unaware that he was a drug traffick-
er. He said that, on the day of his capture, his erstwhile friend "David" had
left the drugs with him and departed, never returning, until the federal
police caught him. Jose Luis Martinez Jasso, for his part, denied all the
charges, telling the judge that he had been beaten because he would not
declare himself guilty, but that, in the end, he did so. Both claimed to be
dissociated from trafficking, but could not explain how the quarter of a
kilogram of cocaine ended up in their car, since "David" supposedly bought
it. [Text] [Nuevo Laredo EL MANANA in Spanish 16 Mar 84 Sec B p 5] 2909
HEROIN SEIZED--San Luis-Rio Colorado, 28 February (PH)--Agents from the Office
of the Attorney General of the Republic, under orders from the Federal Judicial
Police commander in this district, arrested two individuals here from whom they
seized 50 grams of heroin worth more than 8 million pesos on the black market.
The action took place on Madero Avenue and Eighth Street, as the subjects were
walking and behaving suspiciously; this prompted both to be approached by the
Federal Judicial Police, whereupon their uneasiness gave them.away. The police
agents searched them and found the aforementioned -drugs. One of those arrested
Is the youth Daniel Joel Araiza Astorga, recording secretary of the criminal
court, who was the owner of the drugs; while the other is Cesar Sotomayor Fim-
bres, a locksmith by trade, who was to be assigned to find a customer, in order
to earn a commission of $2,000, following an agreement made by the pair,
according to a report given to EL IMPARCIAL by the PJF commander, Aurelio
Raudales Garcia. The drugs were to be sold to a purchaser from the United
States, and, according to Raudales Garcia, Araiza Astorga wanted to obtain the
sum of $10,000, based upon the drug traffickers' statements. [Text] [Hermosillo
EL IMPARCIAL in Spanish 9 Feb 84 p 2] 2909
DEFENSE SECRETARY INSPECTS SONORA--Yesterday, Gen Juan Arevalo Gardoqui, secre-
tary of national defense, arrived in this capital for the purpose of inspecting
and checking the proper operation of Armed Forces personnel and equipment in
Sonora, and also to personally oversee the incineration of 20 tons of marijuana
confiscated by Mexican Army forces. Coming from Ciudad Obregon, Arevalo Gardo-
qui arrived yesterday afternoon at the Ignacio L. Pesqueira international air-
port aboard the Mexican Air Force plan "Tarahumara," accompanied by high-ranking
national defense officials. He was met by the governor of Sonora, Dr Samuel
Ocana Garcia, and the commander of the Fourth Military Zone, Gen Angel Barron
Viezcas. Today, the chief of the Armed Forces will attend and witness the
burning of 20 tons of marijuana discovered by a company of riflemen from the
24th Infantry Battalion at the Los Chacuales farm in the municipality of Altar.
The drugs were in a warehouse, packed and ready to be taken to the northern
part of the country. According to a report from the Fourth Military Zone given
yesterday, in this action by the military forces several implicated individuals
were arrested, and will be turned over to the federal authorities. The soldiers
also found high-caliber weapons, bullets, fuel for a small plane, scales and
other items associated with drug trafficking. Upon Arevalo Gardoqui's arrival,
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it was learned that his visit was for the purpose of intensifying the National
Army's action to prevent the spread of plantations and the trafficking of drugs
which are seriously affecting the youth induced into this type of vice. In
addition, the defense secretary is including in his brief working tour an
inspection of the troops assigned to the Fourth Military Zone and the 38th
Infantry Regiment, as well as the technical equipment at their disposal. The
incineration of the marijuana confiscated by members of the Armed Forces will
take place this morning, at the facilities of the Div Gen Gilberto R. Limon
Marquez No 4 military camp. [Text] [Hermosillo EL IMPARCIAL in Spanish 2 Mar .
84 pp 1A, 4A) 2909
OFFICIALS WITNESS MARIJUANA BURNING--Yesterday, in what was described by the
governor of Sonora, Dr Samuel Ocana Garcia, as "vigorous action and intensive
combating of the planting and trafficking of drugs," 26 tons of marijuana
worth several billion pesos on the black market were incinerated on the grounds
of the Fourch Military Zone in this town. Ocana Garcia, who set fire to the
tall heap of drugs to be burned, in the presence of the secretary of national
defense, Gen Juan Arevalo Gardoqui, also commented: "The state government
values in all its significance the resolved concern of the Mexican Army to
eliminate this evil that it has been attempted to entrench in Sonora." Then
he referred to Gen Arevalo Gardoqui who, he said, complying with instructions
from President Miguel de la Madrid Hurtado, has at the same time shown a sign
of solidarity with the people of Sonora in their productive effort "to elimi-
nate what is upsetting the advancement of our progress." He also stressed that
with actions such as this incineration, a response is being given to the drug
traffic, which "has attempted to defy the Mexican Army, the Office of the
Attorney General of the Republic and the "state government of Sonora," which,
on their respective levels and with their individual authority, are maintaining
a permanent battle against any kind of drug trafficking. The marijuana which,
as was reported at the time, had been seized at the Los Chacuales farm in the
municipality of Altar by riflemen from the 124th Infantry Battalion, was burned
at an impressive ceremony which even evoked applause from scores of soldiers
from the Fourth Military Zone who were present on the site. Attesting to this
action was the agent of the Federal Public Ministry in Hermosillo, Gaston
Galindo Lopez, who drew up the pertinent records which were signed by Arevalo
Gardoqui, Governor Ocana and officials from federal agencies associated with
this sector. [Text] [Hermosillo EL IMPARCIAL in Spanish 3 Mar 84 p 2) 2909
Y.IF COMMANDER REPORTS--Ciudad Obregon, Sonora, 5 March (PH)--"The campaign
against the drug traffic is continuing its battle on a permanent basis
throughout our entire jurisdiction, which includes the area from the Sinaloa
border to the settlement of Las Guasimas. The vigilance has not been neglected
at any time, and we are on the watch, both on land and by air." After making
the foregoing statement, the Federal Judicial Police commander, Arturo Castel-
lanos Lira, said that, for an entire week last month, a tour was made of vari-
ous sites in the mountains aboard two helicopters and a small airplane, but no
drug plantations were found. He said that one was discovered in the Yecora
mountains, but it was outside his jurisdiction, and those responsible for
destroying it were the members of the same entity, but from the state capital.
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With regard to the rumors to the
armed with machine guns who have
such as Nuri, Cuba and Tesopaco,
nothing but mere rumors; because
by members of the federal police.
6 Mar 84 p 5) 2909
CSO: 5330/16
effect that there are underworld gangs heavily
devastated several locations in the mountains,
Comdr Castellano Lira claimed that these were
those places are under complete surveillance
[Text] [Hermosillo EL IMPARCIAL in Spanish
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