Friends of Ours

Cartel Lawyer Gunned Down In North Texas

Juan Jesus Guerrero Chapa, a Mexican lawyer who engaged in dirty work for the Gulf cartel, was gunned down in his car on Wednesday evening in the wealthy suburb of Southlake outside the Dallas-Fort Worth area as reported by The Dallas Morning News: 

Specifically, the investigator said, Guerrero Chapa was the personal attorney to cartel leader Osiel Cardenas, who is serving a 25-year sentence in the United States for drug trafficking, money laundering and other charges. * * * Guerrero Chapa served as what's commonly known in Mexico as el correo — the mail — delivering communications between Cardenas and the rest of the Gulf cartel, according to author and journalist Ricardo Ravelo of Proceso magazine.  The cartel has long been known for its army of lawyers, who didn't just provide legal counsel but were actual members of the organization, Ravelo has written.

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The Mexican drug cartels have well-entrenched "command and control" centers in Dallas, TX which are staffed with high-ranking members from which they coordinate wholesale distribution operations across the country as reported by Scott Friedman for KXAS.  Fred Burton, a security analyst with Stratfor Global Intelligence, says "recent investigations show cartels now use Dallas to move drugs to major cities including Chicago, Los Angeles and Atlanta."  Burton said "the cartels are attracted to Dallas by the same things that attract many major companies -- including a highway network with easy connections to points across the country, and Dallas has become an essential place that cartels have to control to run their business effectively."

Although the Obama Administration insists that there is no drug cartel spillover violence the dead bodies on the north side of the border stubbornly belie the President's cynical lie.

Further reading that may be of interest:

President Obama Cedes Border To Drug Cartels

Montreal Mobster Cops To Drug Dealing

Alessandro Taloni, a reputed associate of the Montreal-based Rizzuto clan, has pleaded guilty for his role in an alleged $1 billion drug trafficking organization which brought hydroponic bud into New York and sent powder cocaine into Canada according to a press release from Brooklyn federal prosecutors: 

The organization allegedly transported tens of thousands of pounds of marijuana from outdoor growers in British Colombia to Montreal, Canada, and controlled numerous warehouses in and around Montreal for the manufacture of ecstasy and hydroponic marijuana. The drugs were smuggled into the United States using transportation networks run by the Hells Angels and Native American co-conspirators from the Akwesasne Mohawk Reservation along the U.S./Canadian border. Once the drugs were sold in the United States, much of it by distributors tied to the Bonanno crime family in New York, the organization used millions of dollars in drug proceeds to purchase more cocaine from the powerful Sinaloa Cartel in Mexico for exportation to and distribution in Canada.

Taloni operated in Los Angeles where he collected the cash from the pot sales which was flown weekly from New York on private planes and, in turn, made the cocaine buys from his Mexican connections as reported by Adrian Humphreys for the National Post.  The drug traffing mobster had two Beverly Hills homes where he stashed "millions of dollars and dozens of kilograms of cocaine" as reported by Joseph Serna for the Los Angeles Times.

Last month reputed Bonanno associate John "Big Man" Venizelos pleaded guilty for his role in the alleged operation.

The charged ringleader of the drug operation is Canadian national Jimmy "Cosmo" Cournoyer who is slated for trial in a Brooklyn federal court.

Maybe the Treasury Department should designate the Bonanno and Rizzuto mafia families as transnational criminal organizations pursuant to Executive Order 13581 in order to freeze their U.S. assets and ban Americans from conducting even legitimate business with them.

Further reading that may be of interest:

A Call For U.S. Treasury Department To Designate Gambino Crime Family As A Transnational Criminal Organization

Knights Templar March Across Michoacan State

The cult-like drug cartel Knights Templar has taken effective control over Mexico's western state of Michoacan, and the narco insurgents are burning down businesses across the land to force the good people into submission as reported by Mark Stevenson for The Associated Press:  "they maintain country roads, control the local economy and mete out justice for common crimes."  Meanwhile, President Enrique Peña Nieto has sent in a few thousand troops into the state which he insists will remain "until there is security and peace for all state residents."  Just another empty promise from another useless politician.  In short, "a mafia openly rules and the government is largely absent."

Narco Traffickers Target Dominican Prosecutor

A prosecutor in the Dominican Republic is the target of death threats for taking on organized crime as reported by Dominican Today:  "La Romana province prosecutor José Polanco Ramírez said Monday drug traffickers and killers-for-hire plan attempts on his life and those of his family, for which he was assigned more bodyguards."

Dominican drug trafficking organizations -- both in the Dominican Republic and in North America -- increasingly have been appearing on law enforcement's radar screen for their involvement as distributors for the Mexican drug cartels.

Last May the feds busted 11 suspects in Providence, RI for their alleged roles in a heroin ring run by a Dominican group on behalf of a Mexican cartel as reported by Tatiana Pina for the Providence Journal:  "the investigation . . . resulted in the seizure of more than 3 kilos of heroin, which carries approximately a $1 million street value, $450,000 in cash, a substantial quantity of high-end jewelry, five fire arms, four of them loaded, and 12 vehicles."

And in January 2012 U.S. customs officials seized 130 pounds of cocaine with a street value of $4 million from three unattended duffel bags which arrived on a flight from the Dominican Republic to Philadelphia International Airport as reported by WPVI:  "the previous largest cocaine seizure at Philadelphia International was 55 pounds of the powdery narcotic, seized on August 5, 2000."

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration is working with the Dominican Republic's National Drug Control Agency to investigate a suspected new DTO dubbed the Cibao cartel operates in the country's northern region as reported by The Associated Press:  "Agency spokesman Ramon Rodriguez described the group as extremely dangerous and said they work with cartels in Mexico and Colombia." 

Of course, organized crime cannot exist in the Dominican Republic without public corruption according to anti-drug government advisor Marino Castillo as reported by Fox News Latino:  "the illegal drug trade has made progress in the country due to its infiltration of the armed forces, police, political parties, business, banking and the real estate industry."

Drug Cartels Run US Distribution From Dallas, TX

The Mexican drug cartels have established "command and control" centers in Dallas, TX which are staffed with high-ranking members from which they coordinate wholesale distribution operations across the country as reported by Scott Friedman for KXAS.  Fred Burton, a security analyst with Stratfor Global Intelligence, says "recent investigations show cartels now use Dallas to move drugs to major cities including Chicago, Los Angeles and Atlanta":  "Burton said the cartels are attracted to Dallas by the same things that attract many major companies -- including a highway network with easy connections to points across the country, and Dallas has become an essential place that cartels have to control to run their business effectively."

View more videos at: http://nbcdfw.com.