Borderland Beat

by Alex Marentes

  Heriberto Lazcano Lazcano was known to use several layers of security at any given moment. He was supposed to be alerted anytime anyone hostel was in the area. If the Military was moving anywhere in the state Lazcano should have gotten a phone call. The fact that Lazca was unaware of the military presence in the area suggests every layer of his security failed. He fell in a hail of bullets not far from the baseball field, shot by elements of the Mexican Miltary. He was killed with his lone body guard Mario Alberto Rodriguez Rodriguez.

  There is very little information regarding Pedro Vazquez Torres. Most of the information presented in this story comes from a confidential file created by Secretaría de la Defensa Nacional or SEDENA. He became part of Mexico’s notorious Grupo Aeromóvil de Fuerzas

  Especiales (GAFE) in 1999. The GAFE is a branch of Mexico’s Special Armed Forces. Los Zetas were originally founded by a group of deserters who originated from GAFE. A Proceso article mentioned his name incorrectly but did state he also worked on communications for the group.

  What is known:

  •SEDENA had a file on el Perro since at least 2010

  •In June of 2010 DEA had a working Nextel number for Lazca

  •In June 2010 Lazca was in San Louis Potosi, the DEA was aware of this

  •Lazca was killed in October 7, 2012 under suspicious circumstances

  •El Perro was not with Lazca when he died”

  It is worth noting that at the time the military had decided to go to a place where El Lazca was located, El Perro was not there.

  El Perro was a military man considered one of the quietest, reserved and most hardened of Los Zetas, that is why he was recruited by Heriberto Lazcano Lazcano as part of his personal escort. It was even said that El Perro always watched the back of his boss.

  El Perro became a man one hundred percent reliable, because thanks to his military preparation, skills and “balls,” he managed to get El Lazca out of truble many times.

  An example was when in the beginning of 2008, a group of soldiers in Tamaulipas ran into the convoy of El Lazca, so El Perro confronted them without fear, proving that he could cover the back of the boss in any situation.

  Of course, the misfortune for El Lazca came in 2012 when he arrived to that soccer game in the state of Coahuila without the company of El Perro and it was there that a contingent of the Marines caught up with him and shot him several times taking his life.

  What caught everyone’s attention was that the network of lookouts (halcones) failed him that day. For some reason, El Perro was not with him, which was are, as he was always with Lazca. This created suspicion that perhaps El Perro was the one filtering the information to the DEA, giving them his locations or providing the cellular telephone number of El Lazca, so they could trace his location. At the moment of the attempted capture of El Lazca, El Perro was given heads up to make himself invisible.

  To date no one knows anything about what happened to El Perro after the death of El Lazca or his whereabouts. Some think that after the death of El Lazca he retired from the narco business or perhaps he is spending the 5 million dollars he got as a reward for providing the locations of his boss, an assumption that was never confirmed.

  Later on, there would be more leaks of information on Lazca and Los Zetas, some was new information but most was the same information I already had. I had the impression Pedro did not have direct knowledge of what was happening with Lazca, but did have the classified information of operations and intelligence.

  Pedro had also mentioned that he had information on Genaro Garcia Luna. He served as Secretary of Public Security in the federal cabinet of Mexican President Felipe Calderon. I wonder if it was the same information I already had of Garcia Luna or information that the government had not released. This is what Pedro sent me:

  “Date: Fri, Oct 14, 2011 at 11:33 PM

  Subject: GMAIL REF GENARA LUNA 10-15-11

  USA dont have them because mexican goverment are very careful about that, usa know that mexico is a super corrupt country, and President Calderon wants to keep in secret many internal things, but I have many documents, many my friend.

  For example I have the file of Genaro Garcia Luna, the chief of the Mexican federal police, he is a fucking corrupt monster, this file is sealed and signed by the director of mexican CIA , CISEN”

  I asked Pedro if he could provide me these documents for my review. He declined to do so, saying it was not safe for him or myself.

  “DateFri, Oct 14, 2011 at 11:38 PM Subject: PGR CORRUPT 10-15-11

  Another deal between you and me, never ask for a reward in PGR , means in Mexico, if you do that, I can tell you advance both of us will be dead soon, PGR is the most corrupt agency in Mexico, all of them works for drug lords, so be very very very careful. document from Mexican army intelligence, this document it’s about he is a former special forces Mexican soldier, he is the personal bodyguard and gunman . I’m gonna send to you this email so you can see I can get top level confidential documents for my job, someday I will tell you how I can do that.”

  Mexico: Operation Salim

  Although I did not act on the information I had obtained of Heriberto Lazcano Lazcano, Pedro continued to send me Mexican classified information. While getting information from Pedro this email peaked my interest.

  “Date: Tue, Oct 11, 2011 at 7:18 PM

  Subject: ADD'L DOCUMENTS #5

  I sent 5 mails with different attachments. Please confirm receipt of same.

  Thank you

  3 attachments — Download all attachments

  HE STATES HE CAN GET DOCUMENTS AT HIGHEST LEVEL IN GOVT.wps

  LAZCA, his name is Pedro, his aka El Perro The Dog.wps ROOM 12S AHMED SALIM EMAIL 4 OF 4 09.1.10.wps.”

  The documents of Ashmed Salim were ringing a bell. There were documents about a search warrant executed by the Mexican Navy/Marines and was titled “Operativo Salim.” It had this notice:

  "THIS TOP SECRET DOCUMENT IS ABOUT WHAT THE MEXICAN INTELLIGENCE NAVY FOUND INSIDE THE 12S ROOM, AND ABOUT AHMED FILE, LISTEN, NOBODY, NOBODY IN US GOVERMENT KNOWS ABOUT

  THIS INF."

  The classified documents stamped with “Confidential Naval Ministry” revealed information about the operation that included items found in the search warrant and identification of a suspect named Arturo Hernandez that appears to be the alleged Ahmed. Ahmed had ties to Al Shabaab with strong links to Al Qaeda and it was suspected that it was meant to be a plot to bomb the US embassy in Mexico City (DF). There was an article in 2010 about the search warrant in the publication Milenio.

  Mexican media stories published in June 2010 mention that a bombing plot was foiled when Mexican Marines raided a residence in the Colonia Roma in Mexico City. Some published stories even mention that the raid by the Marines was based on information forwarded by the DEA to Mexican Naval intelligence that an Islamic terrorist named Salim or Saleem that had entered Mexico through the southern Guatemalan border.

  According to the Milenio Weekly story, the DEA obtained the name of Salim during an investigation of Los Zetas weapons and explosives procurement networks.

  The Milenio Weekly story and another one published in the MVS news agency describe how shortly after the raid in the Colonia Roma, the Naval Ministry issued a news release that it had arrested four suspects and seized 20 kilos of high explosives. Within several hours Mexico's Attorney General's Office (PGR), the federal organized crime task force (Siedo) and the Interior Ministry (Gobernacion, Segob) all issued a different version of the incident.

  The official government version was that the four suspects were artists and the paraffin and pure glycerin were materials used in plastic artwork.

  So here it was, possibly classified proof from the Mexican government themselves that perhaps the original story of an Islamic terrorist named Ahmed had indeed plotted bombings of the US embassy in Mexico City. I spoke with Borderland Beat contributors Gerardo and Ovemex about the information we had obtained and we agreed to do further research wit
h the full intent to go public on Borderland Beat. With their contribution, we went public, posting the information on Borderland Beat on October 13, 2011 under the title “Mexico: Operativo Salim” We also shared all the classified documents and suspect information we had obtained from Pedro related to Operation Salim.

  “A couple of days ago we received information from an anonymous person telling us about information that this person wanted to share with us. Without giving it any thought we agreed to get the information. We received some documents that appear to be official and did not appear to have been published anywhere else. One particular document that caught our attention was a Naval Ministry intelligence report stamped June 10, 2010.

  In addition to the above described document, we also received a copy of an official voter ID with the name of Arturo Hernandez Hernandez that appears to be the alleged Ahmed described in the document.

  First and foremost, we want to make it clear that we have no way to confirm the validity of these documents, but we present it for the content it represents, readers must form their own conclusion as to the validity of such document.

  However, other documents stamped Confidential Naval Ministry that were received from the anonymous source were shown to a member of Mexico's security establishment who confirmed their validity.

  As the Iranian backed plot to assassinate Saudi Arabia's Ambassador to the U.S. unfolds in the media we are faced with the question of what is the true level of risk that a terrorist attack by Islamic militants or contracted agents aimed at the United States would come from across our southern border.

  According to the intelligence analysts at Stratfor, "The threat is much smaller than it might initially seem — in part because of close U.S.-Mexican cooperation and primarily because the threat of U.S. retaliation on any organization that participates in terrorist activities is extremely high."

  However, the documents leaked by the anonymous source to Borderland Beat, together with ongoing criminal cases in the U.S. federal court system, paint a more complicated picture of what the risk may actually be.

  In particular, the risk posed by the Somali based militant Islamic terrorist organization "Al Shabaab" (The Youth in Arabic) is highlighted.

  Al Shabaab has strong links to Al Qaeda, and its latest suicide bombing in the Somali capital of Mogadishu resulted in the deaths of more than eighty people.

  In July 2010, Al Shabab was responsible for the deaths of over eighty people in bombings at bars in the Kampala, Uganda as fans watched a World Cup match.

  The documents posted are from a confidential report written by Mexican Naval intelligence and includes an analysis of evidence gathered in a raid between the days of June 7 and June 10, 2010 on a hotel room in Mexico City occupied by an individual identified as AHMED, allegedly a member of Al Shabaab.

  Included in the report is a photograph of a Mexican voter's picture ID card identifying AHMED as Arturo Hernandez Hernandez, a Mexican citizen.

  The translation of confidential Naval Ministry intelligence report stamped June 10, 2010 included the following:

  Mexico D.F. June 10, 2010

  Report of evidence in custody

  In room #12S (128?)the following was found:

  1-A cylinder shaped cardboard container holding 22.7 kilograms of high explosives and sealed with a paraffin compound. Two copper cables sheathed in plastic were inserted into the paraffin.

  2-An orange colored thick fabric suitcase containing 2 Motorola c115 cellphones without batteries, 4 Motorola multichannel radios with chargers, 1 Radioshack frequency counter, latex gloves, 1 dark green notebook with Arabic and Spanish writing, 1 small prayer rug with Islamic motifs, 1 bar of body soap, 1 toothbrush, 1 sealed box of toothpaste, 1 liter of nitric acid, 5 liters of pure glycerin, 1 plastic bag containing 5 fuses (3 slow burn and 3 rapid burn), 1 kilogram of gunpowder containing aluminum, 10 meters of yellow/red colored detonation cord, 5 (illegible)__opines, 150 grams of mercury.

  In the interior of the toothpaste box was a 2cm x 2cm piece of photographic paper imprinted with the logo of the armed Islamic extremist Islamic group AL SHABAB, attached with brown adhesive tape.

  North American authorities informed us that intelligence agents attached to the Israeli embassy have been following the trail of the alleged terrorist of Somali nationality named AHMED, who allegedly belongs to the Islamic extremist organization mentioned above, and attached is a photograph and counterfeit credential. We also have information that the explosives were to be used in an attempt against the United States embassy in Mexico and also other objectives such as consulates.

  Intelligence sources from the Israeli embassy in our country maintain that AHMED has been staying since Monday June 7th at the Hotel Puebla, located on the street of the same name Puebla and 1 and ½ blocks from the home of Merida #_2, as video from surveillance cameras within the hotel show.

  Also included were photo ID of Ahmed/Arturo Hernandez Hernandez.

  The documents posed many questions:

  Are they valid? There is a possibility that they are although it is impossible to independently confirm their validity.

  If this operation against Al Shabab did occur, who undertook it?

  How did AHMED obtain the bomb making materials and a voter ID card? How well was his mission financed and planned?

  What is the fate of AHMED?

  The anonymous source's assertion that the U.S. Government had no knowledge of the operation seems improbable.

  Mexico's security establishment is believed to be heavily infiltrated by U.S. intelligence agencies since the days of the Cold War. Although corrupt officials in government and law enforcement have often thwarted U.S. antidrug efforts, Mexico has always been a stalwart supporter of the U.S. against external enemies, from Communists to Islamic extremists.

  Other aspects of Al Shabaab's presence in Mexico are highlighted in cases against U.S. citizens of Somali and non-Somali heritage, and resident Somali citizens in the U.S. federal court system.

  To say that Mexico's drug cartels would police themselves and defer the hefty profits of smuggling these people into the U.S. should no longer be accepted as conventional wisdom. Even if they unwittingly smuggle potential terrorists into the U.S, the damage has already been done.

  If these drug cartels have proven anything by their actions in Mexico, it is that financial gain will be obtained at almost any cost.”

  Needless to say, this post on Borderland Beat blog went viral in Mexico and started to make the rounds in main stream media in Mexico. Televisa had Millennuim news anchor Joaquin Lopez Doriga report on television that the US government had actually leaked the information of "Operation Salim" and that it was confirmed to be false by the Mexican authorities. He failed to tell the truth, that in fact it had been exposed by Borderland Beat and the classified documents had been received by an anonymous person named Pedro as documented in the Borderland Beat Blog.

  It also became a news topic in Notocias MVS with radio talk host Caremn Aristegui. A review of the topics that they covered were:

  “1. On June 9, 2010, the Semar reported an operation in Merida 12, Colonia Roma. This is what authorities reported of the operation; "Over 20 kilograms of high explosive were recovered. The material is used in demolition and when applied directly to structures the velocity of the detonation along with the density of the blast is sufficient to demolish through steel." That night Televisa showed footage of the place and showed the materials described by the Navy.

  2.On June 10, 2010 SIEDO corrects the Navy and reports: The official opinion is that chemicals found at the scene which included glycerin, nitric acid and paraffin ... do not correspond to any type of explosive material and in regards to the people detained, they were not under arrest, they were merely people presented.

  3.In June 2010, Dolia Estévez, of MVS Mexican News confirms, with her sources in Washington that the original version of the Navy regarding the explosives was true and that the DEA was involved in the matter.

&
nbsp; 4.The 26, 30 and 31 of August 2010, Semar answers three requests for information by the media pursuant to the Transparency of Law. On the 26th they said that since the SIEDO determined that the substances that were seized were not found to be any type of explosive material, Semar determines that their position is confirmation of the matter in question." On the 30th, they responded that "in their examination of the material using molecular detection equipment which has an effectively accuracy of 99.00% in determining explosives, the material examined in this specific case tested positive for explosives." Then on August 31 they said: "... Semar did not conduct an examination of the material since they do not possess any scientific means of examining chemicals or provide any conclusions to that end." They stress that SIEDO did determine that the material was in fact "paraffin, glycerin and nitric acid."

  5.On June 17 the official website of the Navy removed the statement of the investigation 141/2010 where they revealed the discovery of the explosives.

  6.On June 22, 2010 the Navy again gives access to their unchanged statement providing a description of explosive materials.

  7.On August 31, 2010, PGR (The Attorney General Office) officially refuses to provide information on the matter claiming that it is of confidential information ... and may remain as such until a period of 12 years."

  8.On October 13, 2011 the blog Borderland Beat that reports on the Mexican Cartel Drug War, that appear to be retired members of intelligence services in the United States, released a confidential document that is said to be originated by Semar entitled "Operation Salim." Dolia Estevez advises that it appears to be an official looking document, as well as the official seals and security marks on the paper.

  The document provides details of the operation, its purpose and what they found. It states: "what was found inside the cardboard box that was taped with a brown sticker bearing the logo of the armed Islamic extremist group Al-Shabab." It also reports that: "U.S. officials informed us that intelligence officers assigned to the Embassy of Israel in Mexico are the ones who have been tracking the alleged terrorist named Amhed who is said to be a Somali national. He allegedly belongs to the international armed Islamic extremist organization and whose photograph and a copy of his Mexican credentials has been falsified. There is also information that the explosives would be used to attack targets against the United States Embassy in Mexico, and other U.S. targets such as consulates."