“Mexico: Dozens of bodies found dumped on roadside”

Taken from: http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/world_now/2012/05/dozens-of-bodies-dumped-roadside-in-mexico.html#more

May 13, 2012

Mexican authorities responding to an anonymous tip on Sunday discovered about 50 mostly mutilated bodies dumped on the side of a highway between Monterrey, Mexico’s wealthiest city, and the U.S. border.

The bodies of at least 43 men and half a dozen women were found in plastic garbage bags near the town of Cadereyta Jimenez, the location of a large state-run oil refinery, officials in the state prosecutor’s office told The Times. The exact number of dead was being sorted out, confused by the condition of the bodies.

Army and police troops descended on the site and temporarily closed the highway, a major thoroughfare from Monterrey to the border city of Nuevo Laredo.

Sunday’s discovery apparently was linked to a string of increasingly violent attacks as rival drug-trafficking gangs battle for control of the lucrative northeastern corridor of Mexico. Gangs often leave their victims in public venues as a warning to their enemies.

Earlier this month, 15 bodies were discovered on the road to Chapala, Mexico, a popular retirement community for U.S. citizens in Jalisco state. And on May 4, 23 bodies — nine hanging from a highway overpass and the other 14 decapitated — were discovered in Nuevo Laredo.

More than 50,000 people have been killed since President Felipe Calderon launched a military-led assault on powerful drug cartels in December 2006. Mexicans on July 1 will vote for Calderon’s replacement. Election news has largely eclipsed reports on drug-war violence, but in recent weeks the mounting death toll has once again earned front-page coverage.

The fight among drug cartels has boiled down largely to a battle between the Sinaloa group, the oldest and largest drug-trafficking network in Mexico, and the vicious Zetas paramilitary force. The Zetas once controlled much of northeastern Mexico, but Sinaloa loyalists have steadily moved into the region.

Also over the weekend, gunmen attacked the offices of a newspaper in Nuevo Laredo. No one was hurt in the Friday evening assault; the newspaper, El Manaña, long ago stopped reporting on cartel violence out of fear.

Four current and former journalists were killed in a week’s time this month in the coastal state of Veracruz, including a well-respected investigative reporter who specialized in writing about police corruption and drug-trafficking.

“5 law officers among 70 charged in Arkansas drug trafficking bust”

Taken from: http://www.cnn.com/2011/10/11/justice/arkansas-drug-trafficking/index.html?hpt=ju_c2

October 11, 2011

(CNN) – Five law enforcement officers were among 70 people in Arkansas charged in a federal drug-trafficking crackdown that also involved public corruption charges, authorities said Tuesday. The five officers took bribes to look the other way while crimes were being committed, authorities said. Investigators are continuing to look at other law agencies for criminal misconduct, authorities said.

On Tuesday, 800 federal and local authorities arrested 51 of the 70 people, officials said. Five others were already in custody, and the remaining 14 defendants are considered fugitives, authorities said. The Arkansas National Guard was also involved in making the arrests, authorities said. One agent was shot while serving warrants, and he is hospitalized with injuries that are not life-threatening, authorities said.

The law enforcement figures named in indictments are Helena-West Helena Police Department officer Herman Eaton, 46; Helena-West Helena officer Robert “Bam Bam” Rogers, 35; Helena-West Helena Sgt. Marlene Kalb, 48; Marvell police officer Robert Wahls, 42; and former Phllips County Deputy Sheriff Winston Dean Jackson, 44, who’s now a Helena-West Helena police officer, according to court records and a prosecutors’ statement.

Their attorneys couldn’t be immediately determined or reached for comment.

A two-year investigation, called Operation Delta Blues, focused on public corruption, cocaine and crack cocaine trafficking, and money laundering in the Helena-West Helena and Marianna, Arkansas, areas, authorities said. Investigators used 16 court-authorized wiretaps in their investigation, officials said. ”Today’s indictments and arrests are merely the beginning. We believe there are more cases of corruption, and we intend to press forward with our investigation to weed out those who would sacrifice their oath and violate the public’s trust,” said Valerie Parlave, special agent in charge of the Little Rock field office for the Federal Bureau of Investigation. ”Several of those indicted today are no strangers to law enforcement. Many have been charged in state court with some of the serious class (of) felonies, including murder,” Parlave continued. “Yet they remain free today. As our investigation moves forward, we continue to find instances where these violent felonies were never completely prosecuted and some of the most serious charges were dropped.”

Added U.S. Attorney Christopher R. Thyer of the Eastern District of Arkansas, “Our commitment to eradicating drug trafficking and violent crime has never been stronger. ”When these two elements are mixed with law enforcement corruption, it can make for the perfect storm in a community. It can paralyze honest law enforcement action, silence witnesses, and erode public confidence in our system of justice,” Thyer said in a written statement.