Borderland Beat

by Alex Marentes

  9.On October 18, 2011. Semar rejects "categorically the authenticity of the documents." It claims that the documents are not legitimate however they say that they are not in any position to discuss the matter of the content."

  10.On October 18 and 19 the journalist Joaquin Lopez Doriga of Millennium and Televisa says that the confidential document "Operation Salim" was leaked by the Government of the United States.

  11.On June 20, 2010, journalist Jorge Alejandro Medellin published in the "Millennium Weekly" a report: "DEA and the Mexican Marines: how to hunt a terrorist" whose content coincides with the document attributed to the Navy. The story has never been officially rejected by the Mexican government. In the last paragraph it reads: "The man that the Mexican Marines and the DEA were looking for in the house of Mérida 12 had left the place three weeks before. In his room the fourth Special Forces of the Navy of Mexico found a copy of the Koran."

  12.On September 9, 2011 Guillermo Valdés of CISEN said: "In Mexico some groups still operate that believe in violence as an instrument of change. We can never rule out the risk of the real possibility of the presence of Islamic terrorism in our country."

  13.On October 20, 2011. MVS reporter Dolia Estevez said that according to her sources in the United States, their position is that it is very possible that the confidential report "Operation Salim" may in fact not be a false document.”

  In one of the segments in discussions about Borderlan Beat with Caremn Aristegui and Washington DC reporter Dolia Estevez, they started to discuss who and what is Borderland Beat. I found it very interesting at best.

  Caremn Aristegui: “Who is Borderland Beat, do you have any information who is behind this website, place where they receive documents like this and others.”

  Dolia Estévez: “They also show videos, yes.”

  Caremn Aristegui: “This report, well is not like "El Blog del Narco," let’s say, it’s another thing.”

  Dolia Estévez: “No, the founder, for starters all of them are anonymous, in other words they use nicknames, they don't give their information, and the founder is a person who worked 25 or 30 years in an agency of the Attorney General in the southern state of Texas, he calls himself buggs and for 8 years he was a member of the infantry of the Marines here in the US, of the navy, then one can easily say he is well prepared in the service of intelligence, I think he is retired has a pension. In 2009 they created this blog with the interest of reporting information, specially information related to the border because they operate primarily in the border of the US and Mexico, in Texas mainly, and they have an email address borderlandbeat@gmail.com where they request from their audience, public, society, from Mexico as well as the US to send them information, and they get a lot of information. For example they instantly posted the video that we also transmitted, Carmen, about the Matazetas. That is the kind of thing they do. and sometimes the post comments that in my opinion they are comments that are measured, they are not sensationalized, or exaggerated. They post a lot of photographs that are graphic, they have posted for example videos of people that are being decapitated that someone is filming in Mexico and they say that their interest is to keep the public informed of this threat that represents the narco trafficking in Mexico.

  They don't appear to have any liberal affiliation or a position against the government of Mexico. Furthermore, they are not worried about the insecurity.”

  Caremn Aristegui: “Did you talk to them Dolia?”

  Dolia Estévez: “No, I have not spoken to them, there is a telephone number that has an area code of 505 which I think is a telephone number in Texas.”

  Caremn Aristegui: “You have not spoken to them but they explain everything of what you are saying?”

  Dolia Estévez: “Yes, the explanation is on the website, you open the website and you can see the first entry of October 19 "Mexico: Operativo Salim Update"

  A lot of comments in the story posted on Borderland Beat discounted the events as false. Many stated that most Mexican cartel would never collude with Islamic terrorist. There were just too many coincidental facts in events that gave the plot more credibility.

  Texcoco October 13, 2011: Honestly I don't believe this crap. "These are not organizations looking to make easy money or engage in other violent political proclamations specially in other countries. The Mexican cartels already face their own problems, as the battles between them and against the Government. Any foray into international terrorism would be bad for business".

  "What they want (the cartels) is to make their business in secret, not to do someone else's job," I might be wrong but this is what I think

  Anonymous October 14, 2011: Pure and total B.S...You stupid daydreamers in the cia propaganda department are idiots! Plant your stupid propaganda cheap excuse for attacking Iran in the ny times...the readers there are idiots like you and cant think for themselves...DONT YOU STINKING GET IT FAGGOTS? WERE SICK OF YOUR WARS, TRAMPLING ON THE RIGHTS OF AMERICAN CITIZENS, ATTACKING MY RIGHT TO DEFEND MYSELF FROM YOU HIDEOUS MONSTERS, YOUR NOTHING BUT BLOOD SUCKING TICKS. WE DONT WANT YOUR ENDLESS WARS IN EVERY COUNTRY THAT HAS OIL OR OPIUM OR COCAINE. I CALL ON BB READERS TO DENOUNCE THIS FAIRYTALE, TO THE STAFF AT BB THANK YOU FOR BEING HONEST AND POSTING INFO BUT THESE CHUPACABRAS ARE USING YOU TO SPREAD TRASH.

  Anonymous October 14, 2011: Don't confuse probability with possibility. Islamoterrorists don't care about consequences. They just want to strike at the U.S. The narcoterrorists have been known to strike at innocent people in an effort to propagandize. As long as the threat coming across our southern border is possible, it remains a threat. Let's hope that the possible does not become probable then inevitable. Contingency plans should not be solely reactionary. We need real border security.

  clazy8October 14, 2011: “REgarding the fake voter ID: of COURSE it's fake. The guy's real name is supposed to be Ahmed.

  As for the unlikelihood that drug cartels would jeopardize business by participating in an Iranian scheme to blow up the Saudi ambassador in Washington DC: absolutely, it's pretty far-fetched. But no one has mentioned something else that is just as far-fetched: that this Iranian guy goes looking for a bomber in Mexico and happens to get a US informant. That's pretty bad luck! What are the odds?

  Commenters who see the CIA hiding behind every bush would say these problems prove the whole story is an invention, but there is another interpretation that is, if anything, more likely. Suppose the bomber contacted by this Iranian went to his cartel bosses. Would they settle for a pittance in cash for helping the Iranian? Or would they offer him to the US in exchange for only God knows what, but I'm sure you can come up with a few possibilities.”

  Pedro got defensive when he read all the comments claiming the information had to be false.

  Pedro also got bothered that I had sent some documents to contacts in Mexico to verify authenticity with sources in the Mexican Naval Intelligence.

  “date: Fri, Oct 14, 2011 at 8:24 PM

  Subject: 10-14-11 MEXICOS SECURITY

  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.

  WERE THE DOCUMENTS CONFIRMED AUTHENTIC AS PER ABOVE SENTENCE AM I UNDERSTANDING IT CORRECTLY.”

  “date: Fri, Oct 14, 2011 at 8:43 PM Subject: MOSSAD FINGERPRINTS 10-14-11

  Anonymous said...

  And surprise he had an alshaabah sticker on his toothpaste box. How convenient! The only problem with that is the toothpaste box had mossad fingerprints all over it! BUGGS REMEMBER WHAT I TOLD YOU REFERENCE MOSSAD RETIRED AGENTS AS WAS RELATED TO ME BY FBI.”

  “date: Fri, Oct 14, 2011 at 11:31 PM Subject: G MAIL OF NAVY INTEL GUS 10-15-11

  s2informacion@semar.gob.mx gusfergom@gmail.com gustavo fernandez 011 52 55 562 46500

  BUGGS HERE IS OFFICIAL FROM THE NAVY INTELLIGENCE WHO CLAIMED AND STATED TO ME VIA

  TELEPHONE CONVERSATION THAT THE AHMED AND NAVY 3 COPIES ARE NOT
THEIRS OR THAT THEY

  ARE REAL KINDA LEFT IN THE AIR GAVE ME A SNOW JOB ANSWER HMMM WHO TO BELIEVE

  YOUR SOURCE OR THE ABOVE I HAVE MANY EMAILS OF COMMUNICATIONS WITH HIM AND OTHERS.”

  Pedro went on to tell me “here is the only photo that the us government has about the terrorist Ahmed, and guess who was the one that was given to them? me , of course, now ask your friends if I am a liar”

  He provided excerpts of an email from June 2010 relating with the subject “African.”

  Date: Wed, 2 Jun 2010 12:42:16 -0500 Subject: Africano, el TIO y su gente To: NCAR23

  “This person supposedly had been abducted by the omega, but they made a mistake and they abducted the wrong person, he was born in Somalia, his name is Ahmed, he has more than a year in the df and is related to people who move currency of the Islamic extremist organization Al Shabaab, the ife credential is false. They are trying to locate him, he supposedly bought a lot of nitric acid apparently, that he speaks Spanish and English and that he moves fast all over the country. That he resides in cheap hotels and rents cheap apartments, and that he is fanatic of Islam and that he is getting ready to plan something.”

  Pedro would eventually get in contact with Dolia Estevez, the Washignton DC correspondent with MVS, information that he got from posts on Borderland Beat. Days later “Pedro" would also provide Dolia with further documents related to the Ahmed person.

  Back Home

  This “Project Salim” that was posted on Borderland Beat was all over Mexico, making national news, being talked about on social media and I am sure it got someone’s attention here in the U.S. from the federal government. I was an active law enforcement officer with the City of Albuquerque, and I started to think that perhaps I should let my chain of command know what was going on.

  I had confided much of the information to my work associate and close friend, Officer Neal, whom I trusted, although he did not have much interest in the matter. I decided to let my immediate supervisor know that an unknown source had been sending me Mexican classified information about cartel activity. He had no clue how to handle my disclosure. He was merely an online supervisor who spent all his time in the field dealing with police matters at the lowest level possible.

  What do you do when your subordinate discloses to you that he is involved with sensitive classified information from Mexico that is all over the Mexican news? And even though I was anonymous, people in the right places could very easily figure it out? Media and federal government entities were starting to figure out the true identity of Buggs. All this sounded like some spy novel, and way beyond my sergeant’s level of expertise and rank. Another question popped up, is it even legal? And the third:

  “Fuck dude, do I even know you?” was all he could say about the matter when I told him about it.

  He did feel that perhaps I should talk to the police department’s head of Homeland Security. I spoke with Albuquerque Police Commander Banes, who also was not quite sure how to handle my disclosure. He requested that I give him the documents so that he could turn them over to the local federal task force in charge of such matters. APD had detectives assigned to a federal task force that included officers from other counties around the state, state police officers, FBI and even the CIA. I turned over a disk to him with all the information I had in my possession. A few days later I got a call from the FBI agent in charge in Albuquerque, asking if I could provide all the documents I had. I had officer Neal go with me to deliver the documents to the FBI office.

  Around this time Pedro stopped corresponding with me.

  A few days later I got a call at work from an FBI agent. He asked me to confirm my name and requested that I meet with him to talk about the documents I had been receiving. Point blank he asked me if I was one of the good guys or bad guys. I told him I was willing to cooperate with anything they needed.

  He told me that they had an interest to talk to me. I asked if I should discuss this with my chain of command and he requested that I speak to no one about this. We set up a meeting at a restaurant during the weekday at daylight hours. I asked how I would know it was him, he said he would be the one holding a folded-up newspaper in his arm. I hung up the phone and I had this uneasy feeling in my stomach.

  My police friend Neal had heard my conversation as he was sitting right next to me, and I told him that it appeared that members of the FBI/CIA wanted to chat with me.

  “How do you know it's the FBI?” Neal asked.

  “I don’t, I guess not until I meet with them.”

  “What if it’s the Mexican cartel?” Neal enquired while raising his eye brows in a questioning form.

  For the first time since I had been reporting on the Mexican drug cartels I felt that this was too close to home. Most of my activities had been on the internet, or on the telephone, or in another place away from my backyard, but now it was here, right at home. My friend suggested that I take an old friend of mine who had been on the SWAT team and who would be nearby for in for case everything went to shit. I considered it, but I did not want to involve anyone else. So, I decided to go by myself, but I would be armed. After all, I was a law enforcement officer.

  My decision to come out of my anonymity with my real name and reveal some personal information concerned me, but mostly what it did was to restrict my travel into Mexico for safety reasons. It was during this time that some of the threats we received took a different meaning. They were not only directed toward Borderland Beat or Buggs, but some where directed toward me personally. People now knew my name, my profession, the city where I lived and to extend, pictures of me on the internet.

  One day while at home around 8 p.m. I was sitting in the living room of my home watching TV and reading a book (Mexican cartel related). I had a lamp on beside me to get enough light so I could see the book.

  I looked down and distinctively saw a red laser dot on my chest. I immediately dropped to the floor and crawled to my bedroom to get my handgun and shotgun. I made my way back to the living room, turning off all lights inside the house. I looked outside and saw nothing.

  I went outside by way of the back and around the front of the house and looked around.

  There is a park in front of my house and I looked for any vehicles or people in the park. There was no one. I stood there for a while, on the side of my house looking very carefully.

  I would watch cars pass by, or cars driving by the park, and try to see if anything looked out of place. I knew that it was very unlikely that a cartel would have a sniper, it was not their MO. Then I realized that I had armed myself with a Remington tactical pump shotgun with an extended magazine along with a 9mm Glock with at least 17 rounds. Was this the right combination of firearms for the situation?

  Hell, who knows!

  I knew that if it was the cartel, they would try to catch me by surprise and ambush me in some way. I also knew they were known to be armed with long guns, and I knew that if for some reason the time came, I would have to be ready. It would happen very fast and I would not have time to react to anything. The key to surviving a hit from a cartel was to be prepared beforehand, take all necessary precautions and be armed to the teeth for a massive counterattack. I also wondered if I was overreacting to things and if I was overthinking the situation.

  This made me think of a situation that I came across in the desert of the west side of the city several years ago in a remote area known as Pajarito mesa.

  This area is a popular place for people who dump trash and also, many people go there to target practice. I was driving around looking for interesting things to photograph. I could hear gunshots in the distance echoing in the canyon. I thought someone is target shooting. I thought, it might be a cool idea to photograph someone actually target shooting.

  I drove to the sound of the gunfire. I saw two late model pickup trucks that were backed up against a hill and it appeared that three men were armed with long guns. They were shooting at some paper targets and bottles propped up on a wooden pallet.r />
  I immediately noticed that the men were nicely dressed in western wear, similar to what I have seen from men that are from the northern part of Mexico (Sinaloa). Two of them had AK-47s. They saw me and smiled. They were Mexican nationals as they spoke to me in Spanish. They become nervous and they started putting their weapons away.

  I did not even ask if I could photograph them, I just greeted them in a friendly way and drove away. The scene just did not seem right to me, but I could not pinpoint what seem out of place at the time. This was an area where people go shooting all the time and I had seen my share of people armed with long rifles, including AR-15s and such. This just seemed different, I just could not figure it out.

  Later on, when I started to learn more about Mexican sicarios and cartel members from Sinaloa, I wonder if they were cartel members? This possibility is not farfetched considering the proximity to the border and the large amount of the Mexican community living in the state. Based on what they were wearing, the late model pickup trucks, Mexican nationals, the “cuernos de chivo” (AK-47, the preferred weapon of the Mexican cartels) and their behavior, just made me wonder.

  Cartels would have no problem reaching out to me and touching me for sure.

  The next day at work I asked Neal if he had played a trick on me last night by pointing a laser through my window. He is a jokester sometimes, but he gave a look of concern. He said he had not. I told my sergeant what had happened, and he thought the whole thing was funny and that I was being paranoid.