On sale now!

A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012. Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing the drug and gang related violence in Mexico. Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has dominated Mexico for six years.

Click here for more information

On Sale Now!

The threat of civil war hangs over an isolated ficticious southeastern Oklahoma town.

Rantburg.com and Borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents Newtonville, his first, epic novel of love and betrayal set in the turbulent late 1960s. Click here to buy

Badanov's Buzzkill Bulletin
2011-05-22
Posted by: badanov

For a map, click here

Mexican Army and Policia Federal security forces have seized 326 kilograms of cocaine and 941 kilograms of marijuana as well as 168 rifles, pistols and rocket launchers since May 14th.

• A Policia Federal unit seized 82 packages weighing about one kilogram each of cocaine hidden inside the fuel tanks of a Freightliner tractor rig near Tapachula, Chiapas last Monday.

  Agents used an x-ray machine after they determined irregularities existed in the fuel tank area. The search and seizure took place on Kilometer 243 of Mexican National Highway 200. Arrested was Jorge Alberto Lozano Gonzalez, 45.

• A Policia Federal unit captured three men who admitted working as lookouts for the Gulf drug cartel in San Luis Potosi Wednesday. Acting on a call to the Ciudad Valles, San Luis Potosi municipality, agents ordered the driver of the Chevolet Cruze sedan to pull over, but instead the driver attempted to escape. A one point the occupants bailed out of the vehicle and fired on federal agents before they surrendered.

  Arrested were Ricardo Barron Barragan, AKA El Flaco, 26, Hector Rodriguez Garcia , AKA El Gordo, 28 and Pablo Bermares Cruz, AKA El Tecolin, 60.

  Seized were four AR-15 assault rifles, one 9mm pistol, 1,041 rounds of ammunition, 26 weapons magazines, 16 bulletproof vests, five ballistic vests and communications equipment.

• Policia Federal agents arrested two men and seized more than 21 kilograms of cocaine near Tuxla Guiterrez, Chiapas Wednesday. The arrest was made at a checkpoint on Mexican National Highway 145D near Kilometer 182, where Juan Mario Ortiz Rosas, 40, and Solomon Parra Gutierrez, 34, were arrested following a search of the Volvo sedan they were riding in.
• Policia Federal undercover agents arrested a man they say was a major leader of the Gulf drug cartel in Miguel Aleman, Tamaulipas Wednesday. Gilberto Barragan Balderas, 41, Romeo Eduardo Mejía Gonzalez and Sergio Guerra Castañon were arrested in the sting. Barragan Balderas was captured after he was lured to a party.
• A detachment of the Mexican 45th Military Zone and agents with the San Luis Rio Colorado, Sonora municipal police corporation, raided a warehouse and seized 108 packages of marijuana weighing a total of 190 kilograms. The seizure took place in the village of Golfo de Santa Clara, and included a vehicle and MP $2,500.00 (USD $215.08) in cash.
• A unit of the Mexican 39th Military Zone arrested four individuals and seized an amount of drugs and weapons Tuesday. The unit was sent to the Barrio Belisario Dominguez in Comitan, Chiapas, and based on an anonymous tip, seized 225 kilograms of cocaine in 205 packages, four rifles, 536 rounds of ammunition, 11 weapons magazines and six vehicles.
• Three armed suspects were killed and another three were arrested in a counternarcotics operation in Matamoros, Tamaulipas that also netted more then 100 weapons Thursday.

  A unit of the Mexican 8th Military Zone was sent to a location inside the city after a Fuerza Aerea Mexicana recon Bell-212 helicopter was fired on by armed suspects riding in a multi vehicle convoy. A ground force subsequently sent to the location found and engaged the group, and forced them to scatter. Some of them abandoned their vehicles.

  Seized in the aftermath were 83 rifles, 18 handguns, five 40mm grenade launchers, one rocket launcher, 11 grenades, 28 40mm grenades, 315 weapons magazines, 18,274 rounds of ammunition, 17 vehicles and eight kilograms of marijuana.

• A detachment of the Mexican 36th Military Zone arrested four individuals who were in possession of a number of weapons. The arrests and seizure took place near Tapachula, Chiapas. Seized weapons included four rifles, four handguns, a grenade launcher and five grenades.
• A detachment of the Mexican 5th Military Zone arrested four individuals and seized 728 kilograms of marijuana, as well as a number of weapons and other contraband in Chihuahua state last Sunday. The interdiction took place in the Janos municipality where soldiers found four unidentified individuals with 124 packages of marijuana weighing a total of 728 kilograms.

  Weapons seized in the operation also included four rifles, two handguns, two fragmentation grenades, 14 weapons magazines, , 421 rounds of ammunition, six bullet-proof vests, vehicles and other contraband.

• A unit of the Mexican 19th Military Zone seized a number of weapons in the state of Veracruz Monday. The unit was on patrol in the Mataredonda colony in Ciudad Cuauhtemoc when it seized four rifles, one handgun, 35 weapons magazines, 155 rounds of ammunition, three practice grenades, and two vehicles.
• A detachment of the Mexican 13th Military Zone on patrol Tuesday in the village of San Dieguito in the Abajo municipality in Acaponeta, Nayarit when it was fired on by armed suspects riding in a truck. Army return fire killed two shooters. Seized following the shootout were four rifles, 13 weapons magazines, 518 rounds of ammunition and the vehicle.
• A detachment of the Mexican 35th Military Zone was on patrol in Apaxtla de Castrejon municipality of Guererro when they were fired on by armed suspects travelling aboard six vehicles. Army return fire killed three. Ten individuals were detained following the gunfight including four woman and three children. The army also seized 22 rifles, 12 handguns, one grenade, 78 weapons magazines, 2,690 rounds of ammunition, nine kilograms of opium gum , 26 kilograms of cocaine, tactical gear and six vehicles.
• A detachment of the Mexican 29th Military Zone rescued a kidnapped individual in a residence in Ciudad Isla, Veracruz Tuesday. Five suspects in the abduction were also detained. Seized were two rifles, eight weapons magazines, 190 rounds of ammunition, a quantity of marijuana and cocaine, and tactical gear.
• A unit of the Mexican 14th Military Zone arrested an individuals with drugs and weapons Monday. The arrest took place in the town of Aguacalientes, Aguacalientes, where soldiers seized seven rifles, two pistols, two grenades, 203 rounds of ammunition, 13 weapons magazines and about 15 kilograms of marijuana.