"Material witnesses" vanish in America. Guantanamo just sort of
sits there, full of permanent nonpersons. CIA agents
have Italian warrants out for their arrest as an
organized crime group.
*Meanwhile, in Nuevo Laredo, an elite anti-narcotics police
takes over the narcotics racket by the simple expedient
of kidnapping the narco runners and replacing them.
*The ultimate version of the war on drugs is to have
the cops become the pushers; the ultimate version
of the war on terror is to have the State become
the biggest lawless warlord. Welcome to Black
Globalization.
http://www.statesman.com/news/content/auto/epaper/editions/tuesday/news_240c6fda86ff02e40040.html
"Mexico raids turn up 44 abductees
(((Not four abductees – FORTY-FOUR.)))
"The Sunday night rescue was met with grenade and machine-gun fire by at least three men identified as kidnappers, who were taken into custody
By Ginger Thompson
THE NEW YORK TIMES
Tuesday, June 28, 2005
"MEXICO CITY – Hundreds of federal agents sent to bring order to the crime-plagued Mexican border city of Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas, have rescued 44 people who appeared to have been kidnapped and held in two houses in a poor neighborhood on the south side of the city, Mexican authorities said Monday.
(((That's right across the border from Laredo, Texas, for
those of you who study geography.)))
"The rescue of 38 men and six women was made Sunday night, they said, when at least 200 federal police officers and soldiers raided three houses in a notorious neighborhood of government-funded housing. The agents were met with grenades and machine-gun fire by at least three men identified as kidnappers, who were taken into custody.
"Agents found some of the people bound and gagged with duct tape, at least two were naked, and one showed signs of having been tortured, authorities said. (((One may note that these non-prison prison guards are getting better at extraordinary procedures that don't leave torture marks.)))
"Some of the victims freed Sunday told authorities they were kidnapped by police officers in Nuevo Laredo, a city of 350,000 across from Laredo, or by members of the Zetas, a gang led by former special forces officers who became drug hit men and are blamed for a rash of killings and violence along the Mexico-U.S. border, said Deputy Public Safety Secretary Rafael Rios."
(((Every cop who abandons law to become Batman
will eventually devolve into a Zeta, especially if
there are great big Bruce Wayne heaps of loose
cash involved.)))
"Some of the victims told authorities they had been held up to three months; none of those rescued had been reported missing or was the subject of a ransom demand, Rios told reporters in Mexico City.
(((Nobody missed them, presumably because they're
all drug racketeers.)))
"Deputy Attorney General Gilberto Higuera said those rescued were apparently 'involved in criminal activities and were not victims of kidnappings' for ransom. Authorities would not give additional information about the people found, saying that some could be members of rival drug gangs or kidnappers or drug traffickers hiding among the victims.
"A wave of drug-related crime has pushed Nuevo Laredo close to anarchy. The Rio Grande city has been overwhelmed by clashes among rival drug organizations fighting for control of the lucrative drug routes through this region.
"Human rights investigators said that about 65 people, including the city's last two police chiefs, have been killed in drug-related violence so far this year. U.S. diplomats in the region had reported that more than 30 Americans had been killed or kidnapped in the city over the last nine months. (((not three – thirty Americans.)))
"Mexico's drug war has already taken at least 300 lives this year along Mexico's northern border. Two weeks ago, President Vicente Fox sent 1,000 troops and federal agents to eight cities along Mexico's northern border to crack down on fighting among rival drug organizations and restore order. The largest contingent was sent to Nuevo Laredo, where the violence has escalated the fastest and where authorities believe municipal police have served as lookouts and hit men for the drug organizations.
"At the start of the special federal operation, the mayor of Nuevo Laredo suspended the entire municipal police force of about 730 officers pending drug and polygraph tests. So far, about 100 have been fired. (((I wonder what these armed and trained ex-cops
are doing in their new spare time.)))
"But the killings continue. On Monday, the violent death toll in Nuevo Laredo rose by three, including a state police officer and a 15-year-old youth.
"Two state policemen were found killed late Sunday on another part of the border.
"The fights among the traffickers have grown increasingly cruel and brazen, giving residents and business leaders the feeling that the government has lost control of the streets."
(((It might be rather more accurate to allege that
the government has lost control of the government.)))
(((Oddly, this scarifyiong Zetas story seems to be mostly fodder
for anti-immigration white-power websites and
the Christian right. You'd think that, given the Global
War on Terror and all, the well-nigh complete
breakdown of law and order in a city bordering
Texas would command a more general attention.)))
