Abstract
This chapter analyzes the weapons and methods of attack of assassins on municipal police chiefs and top-commanders across all other Northern Tier states. The tactical superiority of organized crime elements is manifest in the similarity of weaponry employed in law-enforcement assassinations (mainly AK-47s, AR-15s). It is also illustrated by the two signature attack “styles”: convoy style armed vehicular assaults and strategic hits on officers in or near their homes largely engaged in off-duty, everyday social activities. Operationally, such assassinations occur in strategic towns along three distinctive North-bound drug-transit highways across a range of municipalities in the multiple states of Baja California Norte, Baja California Sur, Sonora, Coahuila, Nuevo León, Tamaulipas, Sinaloa, Durango, Zacatecas and San Luis Potosí. The enhanced weaponry of organized crime elements along with surprise attacks, often involving deception, intersects with the relatively poor equipment (lack of bullet-proof vehicles) and uneven security for officers characteristic of multiple Mexican municipal police departments. Taken together, the tactical superiority of organized crime elements combined with their efforts to clear routes to smuggle drugs (operational means) facilitate the use of law-enforcement assassination as a strategy for action against law-enforcement agents.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Notes
- 1.
“Straw-buyers” or individuals who buy guns on behalf of others in the US are a factor in the flow of illegal arms to Mexico. While Goodman and Marizco (2010: 189) cite as typical straw buyers the girlfriends of drug dealers, drug purchasers and U.S. citizens previously unconnected to Mexican DTOs seeking to make money, US border law enforcement has also been implicated. In the town of Columbus, New Mexico which lies just across the border from Puerto Palomas (Chihuahua), the mayor and police chief were indicted by the US Federal Attorney General’s Office for allegedly conspiring to purchase firearms for illegal export to Mexico. In this federal indictment, about 200 firearms AK-47-type pistols, weapons resembling shortened AK-47 rifles and American Tactical 9 mm caliber pistols, all firearms favored by Mexican drug cartels were allegedly purchased from Chaparral Guns in Chaparral, N.M., owned and operated by defendant Ian Garland. Law enforcement officers actually seized 40 AK-47-type pistols, 1,580 rounds of 7.62 ammunition and 30 high-capacity magazines from the defendants before they crossed the U.S.-Mexico border into Mexico (ICE News Release 2011).
- 2.
The Mexican National Attorney General’s Office (PGR) reported that from December 1, 2005 to January 22, 2009, it confiscated 31,512 weapons from organized criminal groups including 17,118 assault weapons. Confiscated material included anti-tank weapons, RPG rocket launchers, grenade launchers, and 0.50 caliber assault rifles. One of the largest busts occurred in November 2008 in the border city of Reynosa and included 314 assault weapons, 126 short range guns, 287 grenades, and over half a million rounds of ammunition (El Universal 2009a)
- 3.
As in Chap. 2, this chapter utilizes the “rule of five” or a minimum of five English and/or Spanish speaking news stories documenting the same assassination event (see Chap. 2, Methodological Considerations). For each assassination, the author compiled a data set on the following sources: (1) official forensic reports on the number of spent bullet casings, (2) official forensic reports on the type and number of weapons fired based on ballistics reports; (3) available reports from eyewitnesses or other types of testimony on the number, type and bullet-proofing of vehicles involved in the event (DTO and law-enforcement); (4) circumstances of the crime (location, number of victims, name of victims, whether killed or wounded); and (5) evidence of narco-messages, torture, decapitation, binding of hands of the victim’s body. Legal testimony on the identity, arrest and/or prosecution of the assassins is included as available. The “rule of five” sources ensures adequate verification of a single event across multiple sources, thereby highly increasing the reliability of the data.
- 4.
Ironically, of the ten cartel victims, the police chief was the only law enforcement officer who did not actually participate in the original state operation. Among the other nine persons executed included a penal judge, a lawyer, the wife of a policeman, three bodyguards of narcotraffickers (Milenio 2010c). Three years earlier, the municipality of San Pedro municipality (a suburb of Monterrey, Nuevo León) had been considered the “model municipality of the nation” for its affluence, safety and low levels of crime
- 5.
In the assassination of the Tububama (Sonora) police chief, organized crime elements were forced to abandon one of their vehicles while fleeing the crime scene because it ran into another car. The authorities were thus able to search the vehicle. They found a large stash of weapons in a special compartment which included: a long arm (caliber 0.9 loaded) supplied with a cartridge magazine; an M16 (caliber 5.56) long arm with a grenade launcher; an M203 40 mm grenade launcher; two AK-47s (caliber 7.62, 39 mm), a 9 mm pistol with a charger supplied with 15 rounds of ammunition of the same caliber; two super 38 caliber pistols and a 0.45 caliber pistol with a charger mm with eight rounds of ammunition; three grenades, magazines and about 800 rounds of ammunition of different calibers (Policiaca de Sonora 2011 )
- 6.
- 7.
Indeed, the third officer opened her door and fled uninjured into the street. There was no subsequent attempt to assassinate this officer who fled the vehicle. The assassin (a hired gun of an organized crime cell in Mazatlán) was detained in his vehicle and arrested the same day by the military’s Elite Force (Grupo Aeromovil de Fuerzas Especiales: G.A.F.E.). In this case, the hit-man did not waste all of his ammunition in the assassination. G.A.F.E. found an additional 548 bullets in his vehicle along with four AK-47s, two 0.9 caliber pistols and 16 magazines (Río Doce 2011)
- 8.
See: http://tps.com.mx/es/niveles-de-proteccion/ for one illustrative list from a commercial vehicle armoring company detailing the types of weapons, ammunition-velocity and mass that correspond to each level of ballistic protection levels (T4, T6, T7, T8) and http://tps.com.mx/wp-content/uploads/TPS10_TabladeNiveles.pdf. In Mexico, T5 level ballistic protection protects against military assault weapons (e.g., the G3, 308 FAL, caliber 7.62 × 51 mm, the Ar-15 and M16 caliber 5.56 × 45 mm and fragmentation grenades)
- 9.
For one US bullet proofing estimate, see: http://www.texasarmoring.com/blog. The cost of a T6 level of bullet-proof protection new Mercedes Benz was $250,000 in September 2011
- 10.
For further details alleging corruption and pay-offs to top law-enforcement by the Sinaloa Cartel along Baja California Sur Peninsula Highway 1 from Guerrero Negro to Los Cabos, see Chap. 1.
- 11.
The killing of the San Fernando police chief has been directly linked to retaliation for the investigation of the massacre of 72 Central American immigrants committed by the Zetas (Milenio 2011b). The forensic evidence was not sufficient to ascertain whether torture before death was a tactic employed in his assassination. The chief, along with the State Attorney prosecutor in charge of the investigation of the suspected Zeta migrant massacre were reported disappeared a day after their investigations began. Two weeks later their bodies were found in an advanced state of decomposition in a field thirty miles north-east of the city. The Mexican Secretariat of the Navy captured 1 and identified 11 other Zeta suspects in the murders (BBC 2010)
- 12.
In fact, this brief found evidence of some level of legal processing of these law-enforcement assassinations in 16.6 % of the cases (identification of criminal actors, provisional arrests, suspect in custody or sentencing). The organized crime groups identified included: Zetas (6.25 %), criminal cells/hired guns (5.2 %); the Sinaloa cartel (3.1 %) and the Gulf cartel (2.08 %)
- 13.
At the federal level, by mid-2011, there were a total of only 79 successful, completed federal prosecutions for organized crime in Mexico (only one of which was found to include a drug-related assassination) (PGR Informe de Labores 2011: 79; Schatz 2011a, b: 7). The PGR reports that Federal Criminal Sentences for Organized Crime (SIEDO) for drug-related crimes were n = 34 (2007), n = 132 (2008), n = 97 (2009), n = 114 (2010), n = 79 (2011, 7/31) (Schatz 2011b; PGR Informe de Labores 2011: 79)
- 14.
In the US in 2009, in response to the General Accounting Office’s (GAO) request for information on the prosecution of arms traffickers, various US agencies were unable to provide complete data on prosecutions of cases. According to the GAO: “Officials from the Department of Justice (DOJ’s) Executive Office for U.S. Attorneys (EOUSA) stated their national database for tracking criminal cases does not have a category specific to Mexico arms trafficking cases. They said there is not a simple way to determine which cases involve arms trafficking to Mexico since cases may involve various defendants and charges, and no charges are specific to arms trafficking to Mexico” (U.S. GAO 2009: 43). In terms of total US prosecutions, the US Senate Caucus cites a January 2011 ATF report of 809 successful total prosecutions with 209 persons under court supervision for illegal arms trafficking to Mexico (US Senate 2011a: 9). Seekle and Finklea (2013: 39) from the Congressional Research Service report that between FY2005 and FY2010, ATF investigations in U.S. border states led to the seizure of over 8,700 guns and the indictment of 1,705 defendants, of whom 1,170 were convicted, in federal court
- 15.
In 2009, the United Nations estimated that 60 % of municipal governments and police forces had been infiltrated by drug cartels (Justice in Mexico News Report 2009: 2). Recent federal prosecutions continued to reveal large monthly pay-offs (US $2,000–$100,000) by organized crime elements to selected military, the Federal Attorney General’s Office, the federal police, the AFI personnel, judicial, state and municipal police in exchange assistance and impunity for their operations (Proceso 2012b; PGR/SIEDO/UEIDCS/041/2012). The federal attorney general’s office report on the Zetas also showed that public servants were paid by the cartel to: report all formal or anonymous denunciations of its members, share classified SIEDO information on its members, to remove charges against organized criminals, liberate stolen goods, vehicles and weapons secured in operations, to filter the federal transit police at selected federal highways to identify rival commandos or their cargos and to ensure free transit, to provide information of operations in the Federal District and other corporations, to escort shipments of drugs, weapons, armor and other goods to the cities of Miguel Aleman, Nuevo Laredo, Reynosa and to provide protection for illegal PEMEX oil extractions (Proceso 2012b)
- 16.
As Samuel Gonzalez, Mexico's former Attorney General, told Al Jazeera in a report on Veracruz’s mass police firings, “The great paradox is that we pay for the training of organized crime through the bad planning in the training of the police. Then, we get rid of the police, and they go to organized crime” (Insight Organized Crime 2011).
References
AAP. (2013, January 2).
Agozino, B., Bowling, B., Ward, E., & St. Bernard, G. (2009). Guns, crime and social order in the West Indies. Criminology and Criminal Justice, 3(3), 287–305.
Boatman, R. H. (2005). Living with the 911: A fresh look at the fighting gun. Boulder: Paladin Press.
Bowden, C., & Malloy, M. (2011). El Sicario: The autobiography of a Mexican assassin. New York: Nation Books.
Bunker, P. L., Campbell, L. J., & Bunker, R. J. (2010). Torture, beheadings, and narcocultos. Small Wars & Insurgencies, 21(1), 145–178.
BBC News (2010, October 8). Mexico navy arrests suspect in 2010 Zetas killings.
Bunker, R. J., & Sullivan, J. (Eds.). (2011). Narcos over the border: Gangs, cartels and mercenaries. London: Routledge.
Cajeme, H. (2012, September 10). Detienen Militares a Jefe de plaza de Huatabampo.
Cambio de Michoacán. (2006, October 4). En la mira, jefes de la policía en Michoacán.
Campbell, H. (2009). Drug war zone: Frontline dispatches from the streets of El Paso and Juárez. Austin: University of Texas Press.
Casteñeda, J. G. (2012). Mañana Forever?: Mexico and the Mexicans. New York: Vintage.
Cayeros, A., Magaloni, B., Matanock, A., & Romero,V. (2011). Living in fear: mapping the social embeddedness of drug gangs and violence in Mexico. Paper prepared for the Stanford University, Violence, Drugs and Governance: Mexican Security in Comparative Perspective, CDDRL, CISAC, FSI Stanford, Program on Poverty and Governance Conference. http://iis-db.stanford.edu/evnts/6716/Networksoffearbea.pdf
CNN Mexico. (2011, July 5). Armamento de ‘Los Zetas’ se compra en EU, dice fundador del grupo criminal.
ContraLinea. (2012, November 7). Sicarios del Chapo dicen haber comprado armas a la Border Patrol.
Cook, P. J., Cukier, W., & Krause, K. (2009). The illicit firearms trade in North America. Criminology and Criminal Justice, 3(3), 265–286.
DEA. (2012). Map of DTO areas of dominant influence in Mexico by DEA. In R. J. Sullivan & J. P. Elkus (Eds.), Studies in Gangs and Cartels. NY: Routledge. (August 2013, Appendix).
Debate [El]. (2012b, April 18). Dictan auto de formal prisión a presunto homicide de policía.
Debate [El]. (2012a, March 26). Matan a balazos a comandante de la Policía Municipal [Los Mochis].
Dintino, J. J., & Martens, F. (1983). Police intelligence systems in crime control. Springfield: Charles C. Thomas.
Dube, A., Dube, O., & García-Ponce, O. (2013). Cross-Border Spillover: U.S. Gun Laws and Violence in Mexico. American Political Science Review., 107(3), 397–417.
El Diario de Juárez. (2010, January 5). Policía Municipal, primera en México con armas largas automáticas.
El Economista. (2012, April 20). Gobiernos adquieren 30 % de autos blindados.
EFE. (2010, May 21). Alta funcionaria mexicana sobrevivió a brutal ataque narco.
Es Más. (2006, September 12). Ejecutan a jefe policiaco de Linares, Nuevo León.
El Heraldo de Chihuahua (2008, May 26). Aparece narcolista de policías “ejecutables” en Chihuahua.
El Heraldo de Chihuahua. (2011, November 13). Crisis policiaca en 7 municipales.
El Imparcial. (2010a, March 11). Arraigan a Policias Municipales de Caborca.
El Imparcial. (2010b, September 25). Matan a 2 policías en Huatabampo.
El Imparcial. (2011, January 26). Dos descuartizados eran policías en Nuevo León.
El Mañana. (2012). Deserta como edil por la inseguridad.
El Mañana de Tamaulipas. (2012). No cuentan municipios con policías capacitados.
El Observadora Arizona-Mexico. (2011, May 18). Balean sicarios a comandante de la Policía de Altar, Sonora.
El Paso Times. (2011a, June 23). Juárez Police Chief Julian Leyzoala survives assassination attempt.
El Paso Times. (2011b, August 7). Juárez Police Commander ambushed, killed in hail of gunfire.
El Paso Times. (2011c, August 11). Former Juárez Police Chief Killed in Chihuahua City.
El Paso Times. (2012, January 28). Eighth Júarez Police Officer Killed This Month.
El Porvenir. (2006a, February 14). Ejecutan sicarios a Ayala Moreno desde vehículo en marcha.
El Porvenir. (2006b, November 14). Ejecutan sicarios a comandante de San Nicolás.
El Siglo de Durango. (2009 January 28). Matan a un Comandante de la Policía Municipal.
El Siglo de Durango. (2011, March 5). Matan a titular de Seguridad de Coneto de Comonfort.
El Siglo de Torreón. (2009, February 4). Crimen organizado declara Guerra a la policía.
El Sol de Mazatlán. (2011, April 26). Asaltantes de Carretera.
El Sol de Tijuana. (2008, January 3). Baja California: Hallan cadaver de jefe policiaco.
El Sol de Tijuana. (2011, March 28). Matan a jefe policial frente a su familia.
El Universal. (2009a, January 29). Es el cártel del Golfo el más violento: PGR.
El Universal. (2009b, June 20). Calderón: la crisis es de seguridad.
El Universal. (2010, March 29). Asesinan al subjefe de policía en Sonora.
El Universal. (2011a March 10). Ejecútan al director de Seguridad Pública de Tanhuato, Michoacán.
El Universal. (2012a, March 29). Asesinas a 5 policías en Cuidad Juárez.
El Universal. (2012b, June 30). Muere jefe policiaco de Choix tras atentado.
El Universal. (2012c, October 7). Federación condiciona la entrega de armas a policías del Mpio. de Chihuahua.
Emequis. (2011, May 10). Grupo armado ataca al jefe de la policia de Guadalupe.
Excelsior. (2011, May 15). Liberan a policías arriagodos de Caborca.
Excelsior. (2012, June 11). Dan 102 años de cárcel a sicario en Chihuahua.
ForeignAssistance.Gov. (2012). Mexico. http://foreignassistance.gov/OU.aspx?OUID=183&FY=2012&budTab=tab_Bud_Spent#ObjAnchor
Fox News Latino. (2013, January 15). Mexico Jumps into the U.S. Gun-Control Debate.
Goodman, C. (2011). Update on U.S. firearms trafficking to Mexico. Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, Mexico Institute.
Goodman, C, Marizco, M. (2010). U.S. firearms trafficking to mexico: new data and insights illuminate key trends and challenges. Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, Mexico Institute.
Grayson, G. W. (2011, April 19). Quoted in “Brutal Drug Gangs Crosses into US”. Washington Times.
Grillo, I. (2011). El Narco: Inside Mexico’s criminal insurgency. New York: Bloomsbury Publishing.
Guerrero-Gutiérrez, E. (2011). Security, drugs and violence in Mexico: A survey. Paper prepared for the Stanford University, Violence, Drugs and Governance: Mexican Security in Comparative Perspective, CDDRL, CISAC, FSI Stanford, Program on Poverty and Governance Conference, iis-b.stanford.edu/evnts/6716/NAF_2011_EG_(Final).pdf
Hobbs, D. (1998). Going Down to the Global: The local context of organized crime. The Howard Journal of Criminal Justice, 37(4), 407–422.
Horacero. (2012, June 9). No cuentan municipios con policías capacitados.
Houston Chronicle. (2010). Drug-fueled triangle of death engulfs Rio Grande region.
ICE [U.S. Department of Homeland Security] News Release. (2011, March 11). ICE, ATF arrest police chief, mayor and trustee of New Mexico town.
Imagen Zacatecas. (2012, July 6). Necesitan polis de Jerez 10 patrullas.
Informe (II) de Actividades Chihuahua. (2011). Supremo Tribunal de Justicia, Poder Judicial de Chihuahua.
Insight Crime—Organized Crime in the Americas. (2011, December 23). Veracruz Police Purge May Provide Recruits for Criminal Gangs, by Hannah Stone.
Jessop, B. (1993). The transition to post-Fordism and the Schumpeterian workfare state. In R. Burrows & B. Loader (Eds.), Toward a post-Fordist welfare state?. London: Routledge.
Jessop, B. (1994). Toward a Schumpeterian Welfare State? Preliminary remarks on the post-Fordist political economy. Studies in Political Economy, 40, 7–39.
Justice in Mexico News Report. (2009, February). Trans-Border Institute, University of San Diego, pp. 2–3.
Justice in Mexico News Report. (2011, February 11). Nuevo Laredo police chief is murdered. Trans-Border Institute, University of San Diego, CA.
Justiciabarómetro. (2011). Reporte Final: Diagnóstico Integral de la Policía Municipal de Ciudad Juárez”, Justice in Mexico Project, University of San Diego, El Colegio de Chihuahua, El Colegio de la Frontera Norte, San Diego CA.
Kugler, M., Rosenthal, H. (2000). Checks and Balances: An Assessment of the Institutional Separation of Political Powers in Colombia. Working Paper, Economics Division, School of Social Sciences, University of Southampton.
Kugler, M., Verdier, T., & Zenou, Y. (2005). Organized crime, corruption and punishment. Journal of Public Economics, 89, 1639–1663.
La Jornada. (2006, September 13). Asesinan de 15 tiros al director de seguridad pública de Linares, NL.
La Jornada. (2011a, January 7). Asesinaron al jefe policiaco de Taretan, Aparicio Méndez.
La Jornada. (2011b, January 28). Renuncia massiva en General Terán; hay 13 municipios de NL sin policías.
La Jornada. (2011c, March 6). El crimen organizado mató a 21 personas entre viernes y sábado; seis en Guerrero.
La Jornada. (2011d, May 17). Comienzan los cursos para formadores de la nueva policía estatal acreditable.
La Jornada. (2013, January 13). Sin policías suficientes ni equipo, 58 por ciento de municipios de NL.
La Policiaca de Sonora. (2011, May 30). Ejecutan Agente Municipal de Tubutama y Menor en “Fiestas del Pitic” en Hermosillo.
La Policiaca. (2011a, January 27). Renuncian policías preventives de Poanas, Durango.
La Policiaca. (2011b, March 1). Ejecutan a director de Tanhuato.
La Policiaca. (2011c, March 8). PGR alerta a no viajar de noche por Durango.
La Policiaca. (2011d, March 21). Dejan hoteles policías de Ciudad Juárez.
La Policiaca. (2011e, March 24). Murío El Dragón de 15 impactos.
La Policiaca. (2011g, April 27). Investiga PGR a detenidos con armas.
La Policiaca. (2011h, August 10). José Refugio Ruvalcaba y su familia ya habían recibido amenazas.
La Policiaca. (2011i, September 13). Matan a 2 policías.
La Policiaca. (2011j, October 15). 92 años de prisión por asesinato de tres ministeriales.
La Policiaca. (2011k, November 14). Ejectan y calcinan a jefe de la policía de Castaños.
La Policiaca. (2012f, December 5). Vuelven policías de Rosales a las calles sin equipo pero con aumento de sueldo.
La Policiaca. (2012e, December 4). Rosales tiene 2 días sin policías!
La Policiaca. (2012d, June 29). Hallan decapitado a jefe de la Policía.
La Policiaca. (2012c, March 29). Comando masacra a 5 policías de Juárez en una fiesta.
La Policiaca. (2013, January 21). Confirma FGE investigación de PGR en varios municipios.
La Red de Notícias. (2009, January 19). Dejan cabeza humana frente a comandancia de Praxedis D.B.
Linea Dírecta. (2013, February 19). Tamaulipas está atrasado con el modelo de mando único policial:Germán Pacheco.
Linea Dírecta. (2011c, July 12). Hallan muerto a jefe policiaco de Angostura.
Linea Dírecta. (2011b, April 25). Han detenido a tres por crimen de Policía Municipal
Los Angeles Times (Mexico Under Siege Series). (2010, June 27). Mexican State Security Minister Can’t Trust her Own Police, Tracey Wilkinson.
Mas Medio. (2013, October 22). Entrega SSP armamento a policías municipales.
McDougal, T., Shirk, D. A., Muggah, R., & Patterson, J. H. (2013). The Way of the Gun: Estimating Firearms Traffic Across the U.S.-Mexico Border. San Diego: University of San Diego, Trans-Border Institute, IGARAPÉ Institute.
Merlos, A. (2009, June 6). PRI: mas de 200 mil armas llegaron por frontera con EU. El Universal.
Milenio. (2007, March 3). Sonora entrega a PGR datos de policías sospechosos.
Milenio. (2009b, March 27). Atribuyen autoridades 10 ejecuciones a La Burra.
Milenio. (2010a, March 24). Enfrentamientos en Ciudad Mante, Tamaulipas. Internet acknowledgement of photo taken from video posted by Manteunido (2010, February 23) entitled, “En Mante no pasa nada 2”, http://manteunido.wordpress.com/category/el-mante/
Milenio. (2010b, March 26). Decapitan a director de policía de Agualeguas.
Milenio. (2010c, October 14). Absuelven a Héctor Huerta ‘La Burra’ del delito de homicidio.
Milenio. (2011a January 3). Ejecutan a subdirector de policía de Empalme, Sonora.
Milenio. (2011b, April 17). Presentan a El Kilo, presunto responsable de 217 ejecuciones en San Fernando.
Milenio. (2011c, July 5). Cártel del Golfo, quien más armas trae a México de EU: ‘El Mamito’.
Milenio. (2012b, April 4). Abaten ‘El Quemado’, autor intelectual de atentado a Manuel Farfán Carriola.
Molzahn, C., Ríos, V., & Shirk, D. A. (2012). Drug violence in Mexico: Data and analysis through 2011. Special Report. San Diego: University of San Diego, Trans-Border Institute.
Murataya, R., Chacón, S., & González, Z. (2011). Power with Impunity: Michoacán, Mexico. International Journal of Humanities and Social Science, 1(16), 1–8.
New York Times (2012, April 4). New York Times. Police Chief is Shot Dead in Mexico.
New York Times. (2011, March 12). Michoacán, Mexico. Wanted: Officers to Retake Mexico.
New York Times. (2009, February 29). With Force, Mexican Drug Cartels Get Their Way
Noroeste. (2011a, April 25). Atacan a patrulla y matan a agente.
Noroeste. (2011b, July 13). Buscan a Policía de Angostura.
Nota Roja. (2011, January 19). Durango: Decapitan a comandante de Poanas.
Nota Roja. (2012, September 12). Policías ejecutados en Culicán.
Notimex. (2011a, July 13). Asesinan a jefe policial de la Angostura, Sinaloa.
Notimex. (2011b, September 5). Policías de Tamaulipas desertan luego de capacitación.
Notimex. (2012a, March 1). Asesinan a comandante de la policía de San Cristobal [Zacatecas].
PGR-Quinto Informe. (2011). Quinto Informe de ejecución del Plan Nacional de Desarrollo 2007–2012. http://quinto.informe.gob.mx/archivos/informe_de_gobierno/pdf/1_4.pdf
Portalautomotriz. (2010, May 21). Exhiben blindado que soportó ataque de narcos con 350 balas y varias granadas.
Policiaca de Sonora. (2010, September 25). Ejecutan comandante y agente municipal con Ráfagas de “Cuerno de Chivo”. Internet acknowledgement of photo taken by journalist Alfonso Campos-Rubio.
Policiaca de Sonora. (2011, May 30). Ejecutan Agente Municipal de Tubutama y Menor en “Fiestas del Pitic” en Hermosillo.
Proceso. (2007, March 19). La policía de Nuevo León, en la mira de sicarios.
Proceso. (2008, April 28). El sospechoso gobernador multimillonario.
Proceso. (2010a, April 17). Los secretos de Juan José Esparragoza “El Azul”.
Proceso. (2010b, September 2). Mando policial era “halcón” de Narco de Tamaulipas.
Proceso. (2011a, June 24). Envía el Ejército dos mil 790 soldados más a Tamaulipas.
Proceso. (2011b, December 5). Acribillan a comandante de la Policía de Saltillo y a su hijo de 11 años.
Proceso. (2012a, Janauary 6). Cae “El Mataperros”, capo implicado en la masacre del Casino Royale.
Proceso. (2012b, March 28). Los Zetas infiltran al Ejército, La PGR, La AFI, La PF.
Proceso. (2012c, May 16). Atentan contra jefe policiaco en Zacatecas y rafaguean comandancia
Proceso. (2012e November 24). Sicarios “cazan” a policía al salir de un centro comercial, en Chihuahua.
Públic Es. (2011, June 3). Primera condena a cadena perpetua en México por el asesinato de policías.
Redacción. (2009b, August 31). Dejan “morir” a jefe de policía de Coahuila.
Redacción. (2011a, March 14). Ejecutan a jefe policial y a preventiva de Torreón, Coahuila.
Redacción. (2012a, May 12). Matan a director de la Policía de SLRC.
Redacción. (2012b, May 22). Cristianismo, remedio para blindar a policiás de Guadalupe del crimen organizado.
Redacción. (2013a, January 26). Cártel “declara la guerra” a la policía de Chihuahua, tras la muerte de un supuesto líder; ejecutan a agente.
Redacción. (2013b, February 22). 45 años de prisión a dos “Mazatlecos” por asesinato de policías.
Reforma. (2012, December 17). Detiene la PGR a 7 infiltrados.
Reuter, P. (2009). Systemic violence in drug markets. Crime, Law and Social Change, 52, 275–284.
Reuters. (2012, May 23). Mexico’s Zetas cartel rewrites drug war in blood.
Ríos, V. (2010, October). Assassins on the Cheap. International Relations and Security Network.
Ríos, V. (2011a). Why are Mexican mayors getting killed by traffickers? A model of competitive corruption. Harvard University, www.gov.harvard.edu/files/Rios2010_CorruptionMechanicsAll_0.pdf
Rio Doce. (2011, April 25). Cae Presunto Sicario en Mazatlán Vinculado a Muerte de Policía.
Rosi, G. (2011). El Sicario Room 164 (France/US). New York: Icarus Films.
Sabet, D. (2009). Two Steps Forward: Lessons from Chihuahua. In R. A. Donnelly & D. A. Shirk (Eds.), Police and Public Security in Mexico (pp. 169–196). Trans-Border Institute: University of San Diego.
Sabet, D. (2010). Police reform in Mexico: Advances and persistent obstacles. In R. A. Donnelly & D. A. Shirk (Eds.), Police and Public Security in Mexico (pp. 247–269). San Diego: Trans-Border Institute Press.
Sabet, D. (2012). Police Reform in Mexico. Stanford: Stanford University Press.
Schatz, S. (2011a). Murder and Politics in Mexico. New York: Springer. (Studies in Organized Crime Series).
Schatz, S. (2011b). The Mexican judiciary & the prosecution of organized crime: the long road ahead. Trends in Organized Crime, 4, 347–360.
SEDENA (2012). Secretaría de la Defensa Nacional, Informe de Rendición de Cuentas, 2006–2012, pp. 1–392.
Seelke, C., & Finklea, K. (2011). The Mérida initiative and beyond. Washington DC: Congressional Research Service.
Seelke, C., & Finklea, K. (2013). US-Mexican security cooperation: The Mérida initiative and beyond. Washington DC: Congressional Research Service.
Sheptycki, James. (2003). The Governance of Organized Crime in Canada. Canadian Journal of Sociology, 28(4), 489–516.
Southworth, S. A. (2004). US armed forces arsenal: A guide to modern combat hardware. Cambridge: De Capo Press.
SSP. (2012). Secretaría de Seguridad Pública. Informe de Rendición de Cuentas de la Administración Pública Federal, 2006-2012, Etapa 1, pp. 1–268.
Stratfor. (2012, June 13). Mexico security memo: Body dumps in Sinaloa and Tamaulipas.
Stratfor. (2012b). Areas of cartel influence, with smuggling routes. In R. J. Sullivan & J. P. Elkus (Eds.), Studies in Gangs and Cartels. NY: Routledge. (Forthcoming August 2013, Appendix).
Stratfor. (2013, January 17). Mexico’s drug war: persisting violence and a new president.
SUBSEMUN. (2012). Subsidio para la Seguridad en los Municipios [Secretaría de Gobernación- SEGOB]. http://secretariadoejecutivo.gob.mx/es/SecretariadoEjecutivo/reop2012
Sullivan, J. P. (2010). Counter-supply and counter-violence approaches to narcotics trafficking. Small Wars & Insurgencies, 21(1), 179–195.
Sullivan, J. P., & Elkus, A. (2008). State of Siege: Mexico’s criminal insurgency. Small Wars Journal, 1–12.
TAC. (2012). Texas armoring corporation. Armored Vehicle Protection Levels. http://www.texasarmoring.com/armoring_levels.html#ballistics
TAC. (2012). Texasarmoring.com/blog/. Immediately Available Armored Vehicles as of 09/19/12.
TBI [Trans-Border Institute, University of San Diego]. (2010, January 1). Drug-Killings in Mexico.
TBI [Trans-Border Institute, University of San Diego]. (2011, January 1). Drug-killings in Mexico.
Tiempo Digital: la noticia digital. (2012, November 24). Narco ejecutan a jefe de policía de Meoqui afuera de Alsuper.
Turbeville, G. H, Jr. (2010). Firefights, raids, and assassinations: tactical forms of cartel violence and their underpinnings. Small Wars & Insurgencies, 21(1), 123–144.
Univision. (2011, June 13). Hallaron cuerpo mutilado y decapitado de jefe policial en Monterrey.
US-GAO. 10-837. (2010). The Mérida Initiative and Beyond. United States Government Accountability Office.
US-GAO-09-709. (2009). Firearms trafficking: U.S. efforts to combat arms trafficking to Mexico face planning and coordination challenges. United States Government Accountability Office.
US Senate. (2011a. Halting U.S. firearms to trafficking to Mexico: A report by Senators Dianne Feinstein, Charles Schumer and Sheldon Whitehouse to the United States Senate Caucus on International Narcotics Control, One Hundred Twelfth Congress, First Session. June 2011, pp. 1–28.
US Senate. (2011b). Senate Bill, SJR 10 amended: Relative to firearms trafficking. Introduced by Senator by Senator De León, Coauthors: Senators Hancock, Hernández, Padilla, Pavley, and Vargas; Coauthors: Assembly Members Alejo, Allen, Bonilla, Bradford,Cedillo, Davis, Eng, Roger Hernández, Hueso, Huffman, Lara, Mendoza, Perea, V. Manuel Pérez, Solorio, Swanson, and Torres.
Washington Post. (2012, August 20). In Mexico’s murder city, the war appears over.
White, R. F. (2007). General theory of assassination. Assassination Research, 5(1), 1–22.
White, R. F. (2008). Assassination discourse and political power: The death of Alexander Litvinenko. Assassination Research, 5(2), 1–8.
Williams, P., & Savona, E. (Eds.). (1995). Transnational Organized Crime: Special Issue. The United Nations and Transnational Organized Crime, 1(3). London: Frank Cass.
Yañez, R., & Arturo, J. (2009). Violence in Mexico: Organization and Expansion. Voices of Mexico, 84, 15–19.
Zacatecas Nota Informe. (2011, November 3). 40 de 144 policías en Jerez, Zacatecas con antecendentes penales.
Zeta Reportajez. (2011, October 30). Comandante Márquez conocía a sus asesinos.
Zeta Reportajez. (2008, February 22). Funcionarios Blindados.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2014 The Author(s)
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Schatz, S. (2014). Weapons and Methods of Attack as a Tactical Advantage. In: Impact of Organized Crime on Murder of Law Enforcement Personnel at the U.S.-Mexican Border. SpringerBriefs in Sociology. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-9249-3_3
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-9249-3_3
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-94-017-9248-6
Online ISBN: 978-94-017-9249-3
eBook Packages: Humanities, Social Sciences and LawSocial Sciences (R0)