Hector Antonio Martinez Guillen Sentenced for Selling arms to the FARC

A former officer in El Salvador's Special Forces was sentenced to 31 years in prison after attempting to sell weapons to an undercover agent posing as a member of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia - FARC).

The U.S. District Court in Alexandria, Virginia found Hector Antonio Martinez Guillen guilty of arms and explosives trafficking, charges which carry a minimum sentence of 30 years.

Martinez pleaded guilty earlier this year after being arrested following a sting operation carried out by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).

The retired military officer sold the weapons and explosives in January 2010 to an undercover DEA agent who posed as a member of the FARC, the left-wing Colombian guerrilla group. He was subsequently arrested in Washington D.C. in November 2010, while attempting to smuggle a 20-kilo load of cocaine into the country on behalf of the FARC.

In late May, authorities in El Salvador arrested six members of the military charged with attempting to sell over 1,800 hand grenades to criminal gangs. That month, another former army lieutenant for trying to sell three M-16 machine guns. Similarly to neighboring Guatemala and Honduras, El Salvador has huge stockpiles of military weapons, a legacy of a series of civil conflicts.

The Rest @ Insight Crime

20 Dead in Zetas - Gulf Shootout in Monterrey

t least 20 killed in Mexico bar, officials say

The attack takes place in the downtown of Monterrey, a prosperous and once-orderly industrial hub hit by over a year of fighting between the Zetas, known as the country's most violent drug gang, and the Gulf cartel.


Forensic workers load a truck with bodies after gunmen stormed into a bar in downtown Monterrey, Mexico, late Friday and killed at least 20 people. (Hans Maximo Musielik, AP / July 10, 2011)


By Ken Ellingwood, Los Angeles Times

Reporting from Mexico City—
Gunmen targeting a rival drug cartel opened fire in a crowded bar in the northern city of Monterrey, killing at least 20 people and wounding several, authorities said Saturday.

The attack occurred late Friday in the Sabino Gordo bar in downtown Monterrey, a prosperous and once-orderly industrial hub that has been buffeted by more than a year of fighting between the Zetas, known as the country's most violent drug gang, and the Gulf cartel.

Authorities said most of the dead — four of them women — were bar employees. Mexican news reports said the toll rose to 21 after a wounded man died in a hospital.

The attack may have stemmed from a dispute over narcotics sales at the bar, officials said.

"The most probable line that we're following is that it was a direct attack against the establishment, rather than against the people who were enjoying themselves there," Jorge Domene, security spokesman for Nuevo Leon state, said in a television interview.

Monterrey, Mexico's richest city, was once known as a peaceful if uninspiring factory town. But the drug violence has turned it into something more like a Wild West outpost, with gun battles in the streets, brazen kidnappings and frequent slayings of police officers in outlying communities.

Some have expressed worry that if Monterrey is lost to violence, so is all of Mexico.

The government of President Felipe Calderon launched an aggressive, military-led campaign against drug traffickers in late 2006, a drive accompanied by furious fighting between drug gangs. About 40,000 people have died.

The latest carnage wasn't limited to Monterrey. In the northern state of Coahuila, next door to Nuevo Leon, the decapitated bodies of seven men and three women were found around the city of Torreon. The killings were attributed to clashes between the Zetas and traffickers based to the west, in the state of Sinaloa.

Also, 11 bodies turned up in the municipality of Valle de Chalco, in the central state of Mexico, outside Mexico City, in an attack believed linked to crime groups.

In the western state of Michoacan, federal police in recent days have battled hit men from a faction of the splintering La Familia gang. On Saturday, the government deployed 1,800 more federal officers to the crime-torn state.

The spate of bloodletting prompted Calderon's public safety spokesman, Alejandro Poire, to call a rare Saturday news conference to defend the government's strategy.

Poire said the violence was caused by "absurd" rivalries between criminal groups and not the crackdown, which faces rising public criticism as the toll climbs.

"The violence is not going to slow down by dropping the fight against criminals," he said.

The Rest @ Intermex

Drug Sub Captured with 2/5 Tons of Cocaine

The drugs were on the vessel sunk off the Caribbean coast of Honduras around two weeks ago by its four-man crew after the coast guard caught up with the suspected traffickers.

General Rene Osorio of Honduras said the semi-submersible sub had been carrying around 5 tons of cocaine and that half of the narcotics shipment was still on board.

Honduras is used by Mexican and Colombian cartels to traffic drugs to the United States. Mexican drug gangs have been moving into Central America since Mexico's government launched an army-led drive to crush them 4-1/2 years ago.

(Reporting by Gustavo Palencia; Editing by Eric Walsh)

The Rest @ Reuters

Guns at Tuscon Garage Sales

Earlier this week, the Justice Department said gun shops in four Southwest border states, including Arizona, will be required to alert the federal government to frequent buyers of high-powered rifles.

It's an effort to track the flow of guns into Mexico.

What if they're buying somewhere else where a background check and registration are not required?

On any typical summer Saturday morning in Tucson, you can drive through nearly any neighborhood and find a yard sale or garage sale.

You can get almost anything from these bargain bonanzas; from furniture to sporting goods, even weapons.

"If someone wants to sell a gun at a garage sale, it's their right to do so. It is what it is: personal property," said Tom Mangan, a special agent with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

While exploring one morning we found an East Side garage sale that had two rifles for sale.

"They've never been used," the owner informed us. He had all the papers of purchase and was ready to make a deal.

Anyone could buy them if they had the cash. No background check, no registration required. Even a convicted criminal could make the purchase.

"Certainly, selling them at a garage is their right to do so," Mangan said.

Darrell Murray is a retired highway patrolman with the Department of Public Safety who makes a little extra cash as a private gun dealer. He has his own bill of sale form to use when he sells a gun.

"Folks on their own, most responsible gun owners, are drawing up their own when they buy a gun from somebody," Murray said. " They get the serial number, how much they paid, the driver's license and the date it was purchased."

He and other dealers saw a spike in gun sales after Barack Obama was elected president in 2008. He also saw a similar boost after the Tucson shootings six months ago.

"They tend to do that when they think legislation is coming that would be hindering the purchase of firearms," Murray said.

No additional laws have been put in place.

Mayors Against Illegal Guns endorsed legislation to improve background checks on those trying to buy a gun.

In January, the group led by New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg commissioned a sting operation at a Phoenix gun show. It illustrated the holes in the federal background check system and drew criticism from both sides.

If a gun shows up at a crime scene, it can be traced to the last register user. That's why it's in the best interest of the seller to have the gun registered to the new owner.

Some gun owners we talked to off camera say they want to avoid registering a gun because they think the government will take notice of their purchases. That's what makes private sales more appealing for them.

We spoke to a man who didn't want to be identified who bought a gun from a private seller years ago and plans to sell it at a garage sale.

"If I took it to a dealer or pawn shop I'd get $45 or $50. But at a yard sale I know I could get $150 easily," he said.

Back at the garage sale, we are certain at least one deal was made for at least one of the rifles. No background check, but no cash either. The customer decided to trade for another gun.

Finding a garage sale with guns requires some persistence and patience.

From our experience, some publications and websites don't allow the word "gun" in an ad. Sellers use other phrases, like ".22," ".30 cal" or "pea shooter."

They might also have everything else related to guns in the ad - i.e.: loader, powder, ammo, etc. - and you just have to fill in the blanks.

By Scott Kilbury

The Rest @ KOLD News 13

Terrorist Attack on Lewis-McChord in Seattle Stopped

he Department of Justice arrested and charged two American Muslims who conspired to kill US soldiers at a processing center for military recruits in Seattle. The men were identified as Abu Khalid Abdul-Latif and Walli Mujahidh. A third man, who acted as a paid informant for the FBI, was not identified. They planned on carrying out an armed attack on soldiers at a military center, just as Major Nidal Hassan did at Fort Hood, Texas, in 2009. So far, no links to external terror groups have been ascertained. From Reuters:

Abdul-Latif mentioned the 2009 shooting rampage at Fort Hood, Texas, where an Army major is accused of killing 13 people, noting that "if one person could kill so many people, three attackers could kill many more," the informant told authorities, according to the criminal complaint...

The two men originally planned to attack the Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington state but then switched targets to the place where military enlistees are screened and processed, according to prosecutors.

Abdul-Latif developed an extensive plan of attack on the military centre, three miles south of downtown Seattle, and noted he wanted to attack people in the military, not civilians, the complaint said. He expressed little concern about dying in the planned assault, it added.

"Abdul-Latif explained that, in his view, murdering American soldiers was justifiable," the affidavit said. The two were provided weapons that were brought by the informant but had been rendered inoperable by law enforcement authorities.

Abdul-Latif provided the informant with $800 in cash to help buy the weapons and arranged to buy a bus ticket for Mujahidh to travel from Los Angeles to Seattle to participate in the attack, prosecutors said.

After being arrested, Mujahidh waived his legal rights and told FBI agents that the plot was to prevent US military personnel from going to Islamic lands and killing Muslims, the affidavit said.

The Rest @ The Long War Journal
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FARC Arms Trafficker "El Indo" Captured

Colombian authorities have captured FARC member and alleged arms and drug trafficker alias "El Indio," the brother-in-law of alias "Gafas," responsible for kidnapping three American contractors.

According to Director of Citizen Security Jose Roberto Leon Riaño, Aurelio Vasquez Serrano, alias "El Indio," was arrested while traveling towards Buenaventura, northwest of Cali on the Pacific Coast, on a public bus, with the alleged objective of "exploring drug trafficking routes," newspaper El Tiempo reported Thursday.

According to police, El Indio was an arms supplier for the FARC's 36th front, operating mainly out of the department of Antioquia, and 38th front operating mainly out of the Voyaca and Casanare departments, and also negotiated exchanges of cocaine for arms for the organization.

He is also a family member of FARC member alias "Gafas," currently serving 19 years in prison after being arrested in the military's Operation Checkmate, in which three U.S. contractors and the now infamous Ingrid Betancourt were rescued from the guerrilla organization.

El Indio was located by police after months of investigation, reportedly through a cell phone call he made from the bus, and has five arrest warrants against him for charges of terrorism, homicide, supplying weapons, extortion and drug trafficking.

The Rest @ Columbia Reports

Marco Antonio Guzman Captured

MEXICO CITY — Federal authorities detained a former police officer accused of leading the armed wing of the violent Juarez Cartel in northern Mexico, the government said Thursday.

Marco Antonio Guzman, who had several aliases including "El Brad Pitt," was captured Wednesday in the U.S. border state of Chihuahua along with two alleged accomplices, according to a federal police statement.

Guzman, 34, was brought to the Mexican capital Thursday and shown, handcuffed, to the news media.

Police said Guzman was involved in the June 15, 2010 car bomb explosion that killed a federal police officer and two civilians.

They also accuse him of being involved in drug-trafficking operations across Chihuahua. The state is one of the worst-affected areas of the drug war. It is the state of deadly Ciudad Juarez, where an estimated 3,100 people were killed in 2010 alone.

A federal official who was not authorized to speak on the record said Guzman's nickname "El Brad Pitt" comes from a disguise he wore when he served as a lookout for the Juarez cartel.

To go unnoticed, he tried to look like a tourist wearing his hair long, a baseball cap and a camera around his neck. According to the official, gang associates said Guzman looked like Pitt in a scene from the American film "Spy Game" about CIA agents, in which the actor wore a similar outfit.

The nickname apparently stuck.

Guzman had a $42,000 (500,000 pesos) reward for his capture, and may have been planning another such bombing; federal police said in a statement that he had been responsible for acquiring another load of explosives seized in Ciudad Juarez on April 25.

The Rest @ Huffington Post