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# The Global Intelligence Files

On Monday February 27th, 2012, WikiLeaks began publishing The Global Intelligence Files, over five million e-mails from the Texas headquartered "global intelligence" company Stratfor. The e-mails date between July 2004 and late December 2011. They reveal the inner workings of a company that fronts as an intelligence publisher, but provides confidential intelligence services to large corporations, such as Bhopal's Dow Chemical Co., Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, Raytheon and government agencies, including the US Department of Homeland Security, the US Marines and the US Defence Intelligence Agency. The emails show Stratfor's web of informers, pay-off structure, payment laundering techniques and psychological methods.

## Re: FORCOMMENT- Cartels and Human Smuggling/Trafficking

Released on 2012-08-22 00:00 GMT

Email-ID | 165169
Date | 2011-10-28 05:07:27
From | colby.martin@stratfor.com
To | analysts@stratfor.com
List-Name | analysts@stratfor.com

I understand. I did not produce this analysis to produce a piece. It
was in order to come to an internal consensus within the company regarding
human smuggling, and cartel involvement in the process. I originally did
this research last summer, some of which came from the articles you
posted, and found it in an old email. I then put it out as a discussion
on CT because we had talked about this subject internally. I tried to
split the information in a way that reflected the desires of Op Center for
publication, but I totally agree we should work together to make this
stronger, and decide if we have anything to add to the conversation, and
if so, what. I am excited by this process, and believe it not only makes
me stronger as an analyst, but it improves our team understanding as
well.
On 10/27/11 9:06 PM, Rodger Baker wrote:
One of my responsibilities is the quality of analysis. I do understand
how pieces are published. I also understand the interaction between the
operations Center and the Analysts and the heads of Tactical and
Strategic Intelligence. My concern with this piece has nothing to do
with whether Operations Center requested a piece. It has to do with the
intellectual and analytical content. A 10 minute search through the
literature has brought several hundred additional articles to the ones I
append below, but overall, what they show is that the points we are
making are not new, and in some ways we are presenting even less detail
than is already in the MSM. In particular, the key points we raise as to
our uniqueness (the change in US border operations being a trigger, that
cartels are more engaged in this now than in the past, that it
supplements their revenues) are and have been the key elements of
previous media reports (and topics of at least two publicly available
congressional hearings). We do not need to be unique for the sake of
being unique, but we do need to be sure that we are bringing something
insightful to the table, and that we are following the intelligence
processes, which includes being sure we are exhaustive in our search
through the open source, as well as our work with insight. This is even
more important when we are building out framing pieces, ones that are
not necessary quick reactions to breaking events, but rather are
thuroughly-researched studies that frame our analysis. Yes, we pull from
the Open Source, and it forms a heavy portion of our information. So we
need to be aware what value we are adding. In this case, the key points
are not even hidden in minor regional papers or in quiet comments by
some un-listened-to law enforcement official, but are the central topics
of CNN, LA Times, Investors Business Daily, etc. In other words, it is
very common knowledge. That does not mean it is not an important issue.
But to add value, we need to go beyond what is already been written on,
and with more detail (like how much money it involves, etc).
Drug cartels raise the stakes on human smuggling
Exploitation of illegal immigrants has become worse, officials say, and
the failure of U.S. agencies to work together has hindered efforts to
stop the organizations.
LA Times March 23, 2009|Josh Meyer
WASHINGTON - Mexican drug cartels and their vast network of associates
have branched out from their traditional business of narcotics
trafficking and are now playing a central role in the
multibillion-dollar-a-year business of illegal immigrant smuggling, U.S.
law enforcement officials and other experts say.
The business of smuggling humans across the Mexican border has always
been brisk, with many thousands coming across every year.
But smugglers affiliated with the drug cartels have taken the enterprise
to a new level -- and made it more violent -- by commandeering much of
the operation from independent coyotes, according to these officials and
recent congressional testimonies.
U.S. efforts to stop the cartels have been stymied by a shortage of
funds and the failure of federal law enforcement agencies to collaborate
effectively with one another, their local and state counterparts and the
Mexican government, officials say.
U.S. authorities have long focused their efforts on the cartels'
trafficking of cocaine, marijuana, heroin and methamphetamines, which
has left a trail of violence and corruption.
Many of those officials now say that the toll from smuggling illegal
immigrants is often far worse.
The cartels often further exploit the illegal immigrants by forcing them
into economic bondage or prostitution, U.S. officials say. In recent
years, illegal immigrants have been forced to pay even more exorbitant
fees for being smuggled into the U.S. by the cartel's well-coordinated
networks of transportation, communications, logistics and financial
operatives, according to officials.
Many more illegal immigrants are raped, killed or physically and
emotionally scarred along the way, authorities say. Organized smuggling
groups are stealing entire safe houses from rivals and trucks full of
"chickens" -- their term for their human cargo -- to resell them or
exploit them further, according to these officials and documents.
Rep. Loretta Sanchez (D-Garden Grove) said greed and opportunity had
prompted the cartels to move into illegal immigrant smuggling.
"Drugs are only sold once," Sanchez, the chairwoman of the House
Homeland Security border subcommittee, said in an interview. "But people
can be sold over and over. And they use these people over and over until
they are too broken to be used anymore."
The cartels began moving into human smuggling in the late 1990s,
initially by taxing the coyotes as they led bands of a few dozen people
across cartel-controlled turf near the border.
After U.S. officials stepped up border enforcement after the Sept. 11
terrorist attacks, the price of passage increased and the cartels got
more directly involved, using the routes they have long used for
smuggling drugs north and cash and weapons south, authorities said.
Sometimes they loaded up their human cargo with backpacks full of
marijuana. In many cases, they smuggled illegal immigrants between the
two marijuana-growing seasons, authorities said.
Kumar Kibble, deputy director of the Department of Homeland Security's
Immigration and Customs Enforcement's office of operations, said the
cartels made money by taxing coyotes and engaging in the business
themselves.
"Diversification has served them well," Kibble said.
Unlike the drug-trafficking problem, the cartels' involvement in human
smuggling has received scant attention in Washington.
That is the case even as the Obama administration and Congress
increasingly focus their attention on Mexico, fearing that its
government is losing ground in a battle against the cartels that has
resulted in the deaths of more than 7,000 people since the beginning of
2008.
At one of many congressional hearings on the subject last week, Sen.
Richard J. Durbin (D-Ill.) unveiled a chart that he said described the
cartels' profit centers: drugs, weapons and money laundering.
"I would add one thing, senator," said Arizona Atty. Gen. Terry Goddard,
who then described to Durbin his concerns about the cartels' movement
into illegal immigrant smuggling. "It is really a four-part trade, and
it has caused crime throughout the United States."
Arizona has become the gateway not only for drugs, but also illegal
immigrants. Fights over the valuable commodity have triggered a spate of
shootings, kidnappings and killings, Goddard and one of his chief
deputies said in interviews.
In Arizona, the cartels grossed an estimated $2 billion last year on
smuggling humans, Goddard said.
Senior officials from various federal law enforcement agencies confirmed
that they were extremely concerned about the cartels' human smuggling
network.
In recent years, the U.S. government has taken significant steps to go
after illegal immigrant smugglers on a global scale, setting up task
forces, launching public awareness campaigns and creating a Human
Smuggling and Trafficking Center to fuse intelligence from various
agencies.
Drug War's Illegal Fuel
Investor's Business Daily May 20, 2010 Thursday
NATIONAL EDITION
SECTION: Issues & Insights; Pg. A10
Diplomacy: President Felipe Calderon, on his first state visit
Wednesday, diverted talk from Mexico's narco war to worries about
Arizona's immigration law. Time for a reality check: Illegal migration
stokes Mexico's war.
Mexico's president, an otherwise admirable leader, has a real blind spot
about the role illegal immigration plays in the awful war his country is
now fighting on drug cartels.
Speaking at a White House garden press conference with President Obama,
Calderon made fine pledges of cooperation with the U.S. to fight illicit
trafficking: "We agreed upon the urgency to reinforce the actions to
stop the flow of drugs, weapons and cash."
But placed with his other statements criticizing Arizona's immigration
law, he left the matter of halting illegal immigration from his country
completely out of the picture. That might be good politics in Mexico,
but it's an awful strategy, given that illegal immigration is a major
part of drug cartel operations today.
Up until the mid-1990 s, people-smuggling by "coyotes" was a small
operation run by freelancers who came and went.
That changed in the past decade with increased U.S. border control
measures, which put them out of business.
U.S. Border Patrol spokesman Special Agent Joe Romero told the San
Francisco Chronicle in 2008 that the drug traffickers and people
smugglers have now completely merged.
"The drug cartels have determined this is big business," he said from El
Paso. Drug cartels "control these corridors. . . . It used to be, "Get
across the fence and run.' Now it's a lot more organized."
The cartels -- which had vast networks of smugglers, document forgers,
safe house operators, drivers, and officials on the take -- had
resources to evade border checks and to rake in money.
Texas' border crackdown in recent years sealed a key entry point, so
Arizona has become the new gateway.
Mexico has now shipped between 6 million and 12 million illegal
immigrants to the U.S., with most paying the cartels to enter.
So every illegal immigrant, so romanticized by political leaders, is
also someone who's paid $2,500 or so to cartels.
With millions making it to the U.S., it amounts to $6 billion in
earnings for the smugglers -- compared with Mexico's drug trade, which
brings in $10 billion to $20 billion a year.
So it's not just Hollywood cocaine snorters who are fueling these
cartels. It's also cash from Mexican illegals, who are often forced to
double as drug smugglers or work in slave conditions for the cartels to
pay off their debts.
Lawmen say that the cartel takeover of human smuggling operations also
is responsible for the incredible violence and ruthless abandonment of
immigrants in the desert, which thus far has been blamed on the U.S.
The reality is, it's human smugglers -- the same people who shoot up
Mexican restaurants, kill U.S. consular employees, attack Mexican
military bases, kidnap, massacre schoolchildren and "disappear"
political leaders, as happened to a prominent member of Calderon's own
political party in just the past week.
Fact is, drug cartels are financed by cash, and much of that cash is
coming from a nonstop stream of illegal immigrants -- who, incredibly
enough, are being encouraged to immigrate to the U.S. by the Mexican
government itself as a convenient means of relieving themselves of the
pressure of creating jobs and investing in education.
Unfortunately, this is now being ignored in the wartime strategy to
defeat Mexico's violent cartels.
It makes zero sense. Until cartels start losing the billions in cash
flow they get from illegal immigrant smuggling operations, it won't
matter how many drug operations are won.
The Obama administration talks a good game about a comprehensive
immigration strategy but what he and his Mexican counterpart must really
talk about is a comprehensive victory strategy.
Ending illegal immigration is as much a part of it as beating the
cartels. In fact, the immigration issue isn't separate from the Mexican
war. It's the same war.
Human trafficking second only to drugs in Mexico
CNN.com August 26, 2010 Thursday 8:14 AM EST
BYLINE: By Arthur Brice, CNN
Mario Santos likely never made it to the United States.
The 18-year-old set out 10 years ago from his native El Salvador in
search of opportunity and a better way of life. But he had to travel
north through Mexico first.
A short while after leaving, he called his parents to tell them he had
been beaten and robbed in Mexico, left penniless and without shoes or
clothes. It was the last they heard from him.
While it's not certain that Santos is dead, he probably suffered the
same fate as 72 migrants from Central and South America whose bodies
were found this week in a ranch in northern Mexico, just 90 miles from
the U.S. border. Officials are investigating whether they were the
victims of human traffickers or drug cartels that prey on migrants.
It's a fate that officials say befalls thousands of Central and South
Americans every year.
"It's brutal," says Peter Hakim, president emeritus of the
Inter-American Dialogue, a non-partisan Washington policy institute.
"This is very big business. It's very brutal."
It is indeed big business. Human trafficking is one of the most
lucrative forms of crime worldwide after drug and arms trafficking, the
United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime said in April.
In Mexico, it is a $15 billion- to $20 billion-a-year endeavor, second
only to drug trafficking, said Samuel Logan, founding director of
Southern Pulse, an online information network focused on Latin America.
"And that may be a conservative estimate," Logan said.
That money, which used to go mostly to smugglers, now also flows into
the hands of drug cartel members.
The Center for Strategic and International Studies, a bipartisan,
nonprofit policy institute based in Washington, noted in an August
report that human smuggling and other illegal activities are playing an
increasingly important role as narcotraffickers diversify their
activities.
"The drug cartels have not confined themselves to selling narcotics,"
the report said. "They engage in kidnapping for ransom, extortion, human
smuggling and other crimes to augment their incomes."
Some cartels have come to rely more in recent years on human smuggling.
"For the Zetas, it's been one of their main revenue streams for years,"
Logan said about the vicious cartel, which operates mostly in
northeastern Mexico.
Cartel involvement has increased the risk for migrants crossing through
Mexico to get to the United States, said Mexico's National Commission
for Human Rights. An investigation by the commission showed that 9,758
migrants were abducted from September 2008 to February 2009, or about
1,600 per month.
No one knows exactly how many people try to make the passage every year.
The human rights organization Amnesty International estimates it as tens
of thousands. More than 90 percent of them are Central Americans, mostly
from El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua, Amnesty
International said in a report this year. And the vast majority of these
migrants, the rights group said, are headed for the United States.
"Their journey is one of the most dangerous in the world," Amnesty
International said.
"Every year, thousands of migrants are kidnapped, threatened or
assaulted by members of criminal gangs," the rights group said.
"Extortion and sexual violence are widespread and many migrants go
missing or are killed. Few of these abuses are reported and in most
cases those responsible are never held to account."
An indication of how many people attempt the trip can be found in
statistics compiled by Mexico's National Migration Service, which tracks
how many migrants are detained and returned to their countries of origin
each year. Experts note that these are only the migrants who get caught,
and that many -- even most -- are not apprehended.
Nonetheless, the Mexican agency said it detained 64,061 migrants last
year, 60,383 of whom were from El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and
Nicaragua. About 20 percent of them were females and about 8 percent
were under the age of 18. Some were under 10.
Officials in El Salvador, where the teen-aged Santos started his trip,
estimate that about 10,000 Central American migrants suffered some kind
of abuse in 2009.
"The vast majority has been committed by these organized crime gangs,
such as the Zetas for example, in the route along the Gulf (of Mexico),
which is where they operate most frequently," said Juan Jose Garcia, the
Salvadoran vice minister for citizens living abroad.
"But we also have found events in which (Mexican) authorities have
participated," Garcia said.
The Salvadoran Foreign Ministry estimates up to 150 citizens leave each
day for Mexico. Some analysts put that figure at closer to 300.
For most Central Americans, that journey begins with a human smuggler,
commonly called a "pollero." In the United States, the smugglers are
better known as "coyotes."
For a set fee, usually ranging from $850 to $5,000 a head, a smuggler
will deliver a migrant to the border of the United States or even offer
passage across.
Problems often arise when smugglers and migrants approach the border and
organized crime organizations get involved.
"This is where things get complicated," said Logan, who is writing a
book on the Zetas and is the author of "This is for the Mara
Salvatrucha: Inside the MS-13 America's Most Violent Gang."
The drug-trafficking organizations charge the "polleros" a price per
person for the right to cross over their territory, a practice called
"derecho de piso," or right of passage.
Or they will abduct the migrants and hold them for ransom from their
relatives and friends in the United States or family back home.
Often times, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime said, migrants
who are abducted are subjected to sexual or labor exploitation.
If the migrants are being held for ransom and the money is not paid in
time, the situation can get ugly.
"Sometimes the Mexican organized crime group says, 'The hell with it.
We're not going to deal with these people,' and they kill them all,"
Logan said.
That's what may have happened, Logan said, to the 72 people whose bodies
were found Tuesday in a ranch building in Tamaulipas state, about 14
miles (22 kilometers) from the town of San Fernando, near the border
with Texas.
Or the migrants may have refused to work for the cartel, which is one
possibility that has been mentioned in news accounts.
A bloody turf war between the Zetas and the Gulf cartels also may have
complicated matters because the smugglers may not have known who to pay
or may have paid one group and angered the other.
"In Tamaulipas, it's very hard for a pollero to know who is who," Logan
said. "The Zetas and Gulf cartels were once allied and now have split."
At any rate, the involvement of the drug cartels has changed the
dynamics of human smuggling in Mexico, said Andrew Selee, director of
the Woodrow Wilson Center's Mexico Institute.
Selee remembers living in northern Mexico a few years back and knowing
that a father-son duo who lived on his block were "polleros."
"That's gone," Selee said, noting that the costs of having to pay
cartels for the right to cross their territory has driven out small-time
smugglers.
"They now have to be big enough to handle those costs," Selee said.
Selee and the Inter-American Dialogue's Hakim point out that increased
border security and interdiction by the United States also has led to
cartel involvement because of the level of sophistication and complexity
now often involved in getting someone across the border. The cartels
already have the routes and other facilities in place they use for
smuggling drugs.
"We're no longer talking about a simple process that involves one or two
individuals," Selee said. "This has become much more dangerous."
As always, profit is the motive.
"The smuggling became profitable the more the United States began to
build barriers to immigration," Hakim said.
On Thursday, Amnesty International called on the Mexican government to
take swift action about the slayings of the 72 people in Tamaulipas.
"Amnesty International issued a report in April highlighting the failure
of Mexican federal and state authorities to implement effective measures
to prevent and punish thousands of kidnappings, killings and rape of
irregular migrants at the hands of criminal gangs, who often operate
with the complicity or acquiescence of public officials," the rights
group said in a release.
"This case once again demonstrates the extreme dangers faced by migrants
and the apparent inability of both federal and state authorities to
reduce the attacks that migrants face. The response of the authorities
to this case will be a test."
It's too late for the families of the victims.
For the parents of Mario Santos, the Salvadoran who disappeared 10 years
ago, much of the anguish lies in not knowing what happened.
"If only he would call me on the telephone and I would know he is alive,
even if I never saw him again, that would satisfy me," said his father,
Daniel Santos.
For thousands of Central American families, the phone does not ring.
Interview with U.S. Marshal David Gonzalez
SHOW: FOX ON THE RECORD WITH GRETA VAN SUSTEREN 10:30 PM EST
Fox News Network June 15, 2010 Tuesday
BYLINE: Greta Van Susteren
GUESTS: David Gonzalez
VAN SUSTEREN: We're live in Phoenix, Arizona. And it is the no secret
some of the most deadliest violence in the world has jumped across the
Arizona border in Mexico, and it is a constant fight to stop that
violence from bleeding into the United States.
United States Marshal David Gonzalez faces the violence everyday with
his team. Good evening sir.
DAVID GONZALEZ, U.S. MARSHAL, ARIZONA DISTRICT: Welcome to Phoenix.
VAN SUSTEREN: It is beautiful, a little toasty, but beautiful. These are
weapons used by the drug cartels, right?
GONZALEZ: These are standard weapons used by cartels, ATF and other
state and local agencies on a daily basis, purchased primarily in the
United States, which is a huge problem, because, as you know, we have
drugs and money going south and people and dope coming north.
And dealing with those two issues creates a lot of violence and issues
throughout the country.
VAN SUSTEREN: It is extraordinary the amount of firepower. We've been to
Mexico. What we've heard is the firepower of the drug cartel exceeds
what we give our ATF for instance. We don't have necessarily the same
firepower we use back at them.
GONZALEZ: There's no question. U.S. law enforcement, state and local
U.S. law enforcement, and Mexican law enforcement, you cannot compete
with firepower like this, no way.
VAN SUSTEREN: What do you need? If President Obama were watching tonight
and the head of the marshal service in Washington, what can help you?
GONZALEZ: It is a very complicated process. You have intertwined drug
smuggling and human smuggling. And when you have that much money
involved it is very difficult to take head-on.
But I think if there was something we could do as a country to help stem
the tide of a lot of these issues, I think we need to really concentrate
on where the primary issues are, in this case, guns going south and
money going south, identify who the main players are in these organizes
and take them out, similar to what happened in Colombia.
And that is why we are dealing with the situations we are dealing with
this Arizona, because the Mexican cartels took over for the Colombian
cartels who were split up and the Mexican cartels have become so strong
and so wealthy that to deal with them we need to break up those cartels
so we can manage them.
So I think that is our primary responsibility and an issue we need to
deal with.
VAN SUSTEREN: Since you are on the border this gets pushed in this
state's face every single day, the risk, the scare.
The thing I thought was extraordinary, the one that catches my attention
is the former rangers, the Mexican army that have gone rogue. They are
special forces. And they are so well trained and so violent, and they
went rogue. There's almost no way to stop them.
GONZALEZ: There are seven main cartels. The Zeta's started off as
enforcers and then became a cartel. But just 180 miles from where we
stand now, that area is controlled by a federation of cartels. And that
is called "the federation." It's a group of two or three different
cartels that have formed to control the distribution routes.
And this is what all the violence is about in Mexico now bleeding over
into the U.S. It is control of lucrative drug and human smuggling
distribution routes. That is the bottom line.
VAN SUSTEREN: We have the drug smuggling, gun smuggling, and violence.
But the human trafficking is terrible too.
GONZALEZ: Phoenix is number two in kidnapping in the United States.
Number one is Mexico City. Arizona, the Phoenix area here has five
million people and Mexico city about 25 million, and we're number two in
the world we it comes to kidnapping, and that's all connected to human
smuggling which is connected to the money. That seems to be the root.
VAN SUSTEREN: It seems as though, until recently, that people have not
listened to Arizona, that people have not listened as to how big a
problem it is here. Is that your sense, that fallen a little off the
radar screen for other issues?
GONZALEZ: It has been frustrating being a law enforcement officer here.
I think that's why 1070 was passed. I think there was a lot of
frustration that more needed to be done on our border.
We have 365 miles of border with Mexico, and it is the busiest sector in
the country. And 48 percent of all illegal immigrants that come into the
U.S. come through the Tucson sector. About 48 percent also of all drugs
that come into the U.S., like marijuana, come in through the Tucson
sector. And they are all controlled by the Mexican cartels.
VAN SUSTEREN: I don't mean to be gruesome, but the article that sticks
with me they are trying to intimidate people in a club, they beheaded
five people and rolled the heads across the dance floor, or where they
opened up the chest and take the hearts out. The violence, it's like a
horror movie.
GONZALEZ: Exactly. And the 12 policemen killed yesterday --
VAN SUSTEREN: I forgot the 12 policemen yesterday.
GONZALEZ: Greta, that's to send a message to the locals, to the
government that they are here to stay, and they are not intimidated. And
we're here to the very end. You are not going to scare us off. So we are
in for a long battle.
VAN SUSTEREN: How many deputies you have?
GONZALEZ: In Arizona about 220 deputies. Working fugitives, sex
offenders work closely with the Mexican government bringing fugitives
out of Mexico, which is a huge problem because a lot of fugitives wanted
in the U.S. flee to Mexico we work closely with the Mexican government
to get our fugitives out of there.
VAN SUSTEREN: I know your deputies are tough, but I hate to them put at
risk.
GONZALEZ: When you to deal with this, what can you do?
VAN SUSTEREN: Thank you, marshal.
GONZALEZ: Thank you.
CQ Congressional Testimony
May 11, 2011 Wednesday
U.S. MEXICO BORDER LAW ENFORCEMENT;
COMMITTEE: HOUSE HOMELAND SECURITY;
SUBCOMMITTEE: OVERSIGHT, INVESTIGATIONS, AND MANAGEMENT
TESTIMONY-BY: STEVEN C. MCCRAW, DIRECTOR
AFFILIATION: TEXAS DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY
Statement of Steven C. McCraw Director Texas Department of Public Safety
Committee on House Homeland Security Subcommittee on Oversight,
Investigations, and Management
May 11, 2011
Chairman McCaul and Committee members, on behalf of the men and women of
the Texas Department of Public Safety, I would like to thank you for the
opportunity to appear before you today to discuss a vitally important
public safety and national security issue, our unsecure border with
Mexico.
Mexican Drug Trafficking Organizations have exploited weaknesses in our
border defenses for many years in an effort to exert their dominance
over the highly lucrative U.S. drug and human smuggling market and they
have evolved into powerful and vicious organized crime cartels that now
threaten the domestic security of Mexico. They battle each other and the
Government of Mexico to maintain and/or increase their share of the
multi-billions of dollars derived from the smuggling of drugs and humans
into the U.S., and bulk cash, high value merchandise, stolen vehicles
and weapons into Mexico.
They use military and terrorist tactics and weaponry killing over 36,000
people since 2006 and there is no limit to their depravity. They employ
horrific tactics to intimidate their adversaries and the public such as
decapitations, acid baths, skinning people alive, torture and Improvised
Explosive Devices and they have expanded their criminal operations to
profit from kidnappings, robberies, human trafficking, extortions and
theft. During the past several months we have seen reports of mass
graves and self-censorship of the Mexican press. The Mexican Cartels
work closely with Texas based and transnational gangs to support their
criminal operations on both sides of the border. We continually see
multi-ton drug loads seized throughout Texas.
The Mexican Cartels use a mature decision-making process that
incorporates reconnaissance networks, techniques and capabilities
normally associated with military organizations such as communication
intercepts, interrogations, trend analysis, secure communications,
coordinated military-style tactical operations, GPS, thermal imagery and
military armaments including fully automatic weapons, rocket propelled
grenades and hand grenades. They are very adept at corrupting government
officials and entire institutions to support their criminal operations
undermining the ability of Mexico to address this threat. Recent reports
reveal that Mexico has only a 2% criminal conviction rate.
The 2011 GAO Report confirmed what we already knew in Texas, there are
insufficient federal resources to secure the Texas/Mexico border with as
much as 70% to 90% of the 1,250 miles of border in Texas is only being
monitored as opposed to managed or operationally controlled. It is
important to note that the men and women of the Customs and Border
Protection Service are dedicated professionals and do an exceptional job
with the limited resources they possess. However, there has been a
substantial underinvestment in border security for several decades to
the benefit of the Mexican Cartels and the detriment of public safety
and homeland security.
Texas is a law and order state and there is a high expectation by our
citizens that Sheriffs, Chiefs of Police and the Texas Department of
Public Safety will work closely together with our federal partners to
proactively protect Texas from all criminal and terrorist threats
regardless of their origin. When Texas landowners are overwhelmed by
drug and human smugglers trespassing and vandalizing their property,
they expect a timely law enforcement response and do not want to hear
from Sheriffs and the State of Texas that it is not their job. The State
of Texas has already invested over $250 million to enhance border
security efforts recognizing long ago its importance to the safety of
all Texans.
The State adopted a unified command structure to centralize local, state
and federal border related intelligence across 53 Texas border Counties
and over a hundred local, state and federal agencies to support unified
patrol operations on the ground, in the air and on the water. Combining
efforts is a force multiplier and provides a more accurate understanding
of the current and future border-related threats.
It has also been necessary to increase the state's tactical capability
on the border. The Cartels have become increasing confrontational using
blocking and chase cars, caltrops to disable patrol cars during high
speed pursuits and Cartel boat teams that confront U.S. law enforcement
on the U.S. side of the Rio Grande River while they retrieve the drugs
from vehicles that have been driven into the Rio Grande River to avoid
capture. In ONE instance, Cartel members threw a Molotov cocktail at
Texas Rangers in an attempt to avoid capture and on at least two
occasions, Border Patrol Agents were fired upon from Mexico while
patrolling the Rio Grande River. The State of Texas established Texas
Ranger Recon Teams augmented with DPS SWAT resources, Texas Military
Forces personnel, DPS Aviation and Trooper Strike Teams who work closely
with local law enforcement and the Border Patrol to confront the Cartels
in high threat areas.
The Committee requested that I provide an assessment of the impact of
Cartel-related crime in the Texas border region. To accurately assess
the overall criminal impact of an unsecure border on Texas requires the
syntheses of several different variables within and outside the border
region. For example, if we were to use only Index Crimes as reported
through the FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) system, it would not
include essential variables such as extortions, kidnappings, smuggling
incidents, corruption, smuggling-related trespassing and vandalism,
arrests of aliens from countries with strong terrorist networks,
seizures of Cartel drugs, weapons and bulk cash on the 10 major
smuggling corridors throughout Texas, Cartel command and control
networks operating in Texas, increases in Cartel-related gang activity,
death squad members living in Texas, Cartel- related killings of U.S.
citizens in Mexico, Cartel-related violence along the border directed at
U.S. law enforcement and the recruitment of Texas children in our border
region to support Cartel operations on both sides of the border. These
indicators reflect what the Texas Department of Public Safety refers to
as "spill over crime" and are discussed below:
Over the last 18 months, six of the seven Mexican Cartels have
established command and control networks in Texas cities. This is a
three-fold increase. Within the last year the number of Texas prison
gangs who work directly with the Mexican Cartels have increased from
four to twelve. This is significant because 62% of prison gang members
are incarcerated for violent crimes in Texas and as much as 60% of the
criminal activity in some Texas communities is carried out by gangs.
Since January 2010, DPS has identified in Texas 22 murders, 24 assaults,
15 shootings and five kidnappings directly related to the Mexican
Cartels. -- The Mexican Cartels are recruiting Texas school age children
to support Cartel operations. The border region constitutes 9.4% of the
state's population and now has over 18.9% of the juvenile felony drug
and gang referrals. -- The Mexican Cartels are actively recruiting U.S.
law enforcement officers to support their smuggling operations. Two
South Texas Sheriffs were convicted for Cartel-related corruption and
over 70 CBP Agents have been arrested for corruption along the southwest
border. -- The Mexican Cartels and Texas gangs who support them smuggle
and traffic in humans. There have been 480 human trafficking victims
over the last four years, 77% were children. Approximately 10% of the
calls to the National Human Trafficking Hotline come from Texas, more
than any other state. -- The FBI in San Antonio reported that there have
been 266 kidnappings since 2004, 14 reported in 2004, and 58 in 2009.
Kidnappings include Americans kidnapped in Mexico, victims abducted in
Texas and taken to Mexico and victims kidnapped in Texas by subjects
from Mexico. -- Virtual kidnappings and extortions are increasing in
Texas. There were 23 reports of attempted extortion in El Paso between
August 2009 and September 2010. -- The amount of drug and human
smuggling and trafficking that occurs in Texas is an essential indicator
of the crime impact on the state. A senior DHS official has reported
that only 6.5% of the drugs and humans smuggled into the U.S. from
Mexico are interdicted. The Department of Public Safety is not in a
position to confirm the percentage cited but it does track interdictions
within the border region and seizures beyond the check points.
-- The 2009 UCR data for the El Paso Police Department shows a reduction
in murders; however, the 2011 data from the El Paso Police Department
currently shows a 1,200% increase in murders from 2010 to 2011. The
Department of Public Safety considers UCR data as only one indicator
because of the delay in reporting and the limited incidents it captures.
-- CBP Agents and Officers continue to arrest illegal aliens along the
U.S./Mexico border from countries with a known terrorism presence and
74% of those arrests have occurred in Texas.
* A recent federal investigation in Texas underscores the seriousness of
this homeland security threat. Between 2006-2008, Dhakane smuggled 300
Somali illegal aliens, moving them through Brazil-Guatemala-Mexico-Texas
and California. Dhakane eventually admitted that not only had he worked
for many years for the designated terrorist groups AL-ITTIHAD-AL-ISLAMI
(AIAI, or Islamic Union Courts/closely affiliated with al-Shabaab) and
the AL-BARRAKAT, he moved at least seven committed Jihadists, most of
them over the U.S. southwestern border.
-- Total amount of Operation Border Star seizures from 2006 to present
have an estimated street value of $7,939,824,739.23 (see Exhibit 1).
-- The Texas Department of Public Safety has seen an increase in Cartel
related seizures occurring beyond the check points and along the ten
major corridors in Texas.
Cocaine 28% increase
Marijuana 124% increase
Heroin 2,493% increase
Methamphetamine 135% increase
Bulk Cash 168% increase
Weapons 155% increase
When the U.S./Mexico border is finally secured the Mexican Cartels will
no longer have access to the billions of dollars they use to undermine
the domestic security of Mexico and the safety and security of the
citizens of Texas and the nation. Border security can be accomplished
with the sufficient will and resources of the federal government working
as a team with local and state law enforcement agencies.
On Oct 27, 2011, at 8:02 PM, Colby Martin wrote:
First, I think you need to remember how pieces are published.
Personally, I do not care one way or another if this ever makes it on
site. That is not my job. Part of my job as I understand it is to
find subjects that interest me and to present them, which I did a week
ago. 4000 words worth of thoughts. There were no comments. Then, I
was told by OpCenter they were interested in turning into a piece, and
so I did. They asked to split it in to two pieces, and so this is the
first installment. I personally don't see where exactly you are
saying what details need to be added, you are making a subjective
decision on whether or not this piece is relevant to our readers,
again not your call or mine. I personally believe it is something
that is valuable, because I don't believe it is common knowledge as to
WHY cartels move into human smuggling, and how many factors lead to
that decision.
On 10/27/11 7:43 PM, Sean Noonan wrote:
This doesn't answer any of the questions many other analysts have
been asking. You can try and answer those questions with the detail
and explanation of a stratfor analysis, or you can settle with a
piece that everyone is telling you is not good enough. your call.
here's that media for you:
http://tinyurl.com/3r9p2aj
----------------------------------------------------------------------
From: "Colby Martin" <colby.martin@stratfor.com>
To: analysts@stratfor.com
Sent: Thursday, October 27, 2011 7:39:24 PM
Subject: Re: FORCOMMENT- Cartels and Human Smuggling/Trafficking
On 10/27/11 7:35 PM, Sean Noonan wrote:
You don't explain why. See my comments in the other one I sent.
Here's what you have:
Cartels need more revenue streams [who, why exactly?] increased
operational costs, simple
Human smuggling/trafficking uses similar methods as drug
trafficking [ok, but it's intuitively not exactly the same,
specifying the tactics would add value]intuitive? exactly, ok i
can tone that down, but i am telling you it is very similar.
cartels do not differentiate between a human being a cocaine, its
all cargo
Profits for human smuggling/trafficking have increased due to US
border enforcement [hasn't this changed in last couple years,
what are the precise shifts]this is in the piece about when it
started changing. profits went up, needs of cartels for new
revenue streams increased, and so they entered into human
smuggling and trafficking
Thus, cartels are now moving humans.
I had read all of that before in our own analysis with the
exception of the changes on the US border (which very well
could've been in older analysis that I haven't read). Very little
in the way of tactics or nuance was added to any of those points.
the US border changes are a major point, and it is not typically
made in mainstream media. Americans typically dont ask why
migrants now go through the desert and stay, nor do they want to
hear that it is because of US policies that cause this.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
From: "Colby Martin" <colby.martin@stratfor.com>
To: analysts@stratfor.com
Sent: Thursday, October 27, 2011 7:24:22 PM
Subject: Re: FORCOMMENT- Cartels and Human Smuggling/Trafficking
the sentences made in cartel updates are just assertions. this is
an explanation for those assertions. please explain how saying
cartels are no longer simply drug trafficking organizations and
then explaining why is just an assertion?
On 10/27/11 7:19 PM, Sean Noonan wrote:
Because they are just assertions. We've said as much as this in
a few sentences in different cartel updates. Why do we need a
whole piece for that?
----------------------------------------------------------------------
From: "Colby Martin" <colby.martin@stratfor.com>
To: analysts@stratfor.com
Sent: Thursday, October 27, 2011 7:09:54 PM
Subject: Re: FORCOMMENT- Cartels and Human Smuggling/Trafficking
why is it important to do the how first? why can't i make
assertions of cartels impact on human smuggling before
explaining how humans are smuggled or trafficked. there is a
second piece that will be focused just on that point.
the point of this piece is to explain drug cartels are involved
in human smuggling. we are currently working on smuggling
operations all over the world, and this is one of those pieces.
We spend a lot of time talking about drug cartels and what they
are and this piece explains there move into other types of
smuggling and trafficking. This is important for understanding
cartels as more than drug trafficking organizations, but as
international businesses that operate as such.
Could someone please send me the reports that explain this
dynamic that I seem to have missed?
On 10/27/11 6:05 PM, Karen Hooper wrote:
I am not sure this is ready to go. I think we need to
establish our baseline analysis of HOW people are smuggled and
trafficked before going into assertions about the impact of
this logistically on the drug cartels. This is a heavily
studied issue, i think we can get a lot of relevant info.
Karen Hooper
Latin America Analyst
o: 512.744.4300 ext. 4103
c: 512.750.7234
STRATFOR
www.stratfor.com
On 10/27/11 4:26 PM, Colby Martin wrote:
the conclusion could be made stronger i think but wanted to
get it out before everyone checked out
The cartel war currently underway in Mexico has forced Mexican
cartels to look for alternative sources of capital outside of
the trafficking of narcotics. I would suggest more
straightforward language like "One of the ways that cartels
make money outside of drug smuggling is.... Now more than
ever, cartels need money to pay for weapons, enforcers, and
bribes necessary for fighting the drug war. Because of the
increased operational costs incurred by the cartels fighting
each other and fighting state security forces, alternative
[nix 'alternative'... it's just a revenue stream] it is an
alternative to there main source of income, drugs, its
metioned belowrevenue streams of all types - including human
smuggling and trafficking, piracy, extortion, kidnapping, oil
theft, money laundering and arms smuggling are valuable
business operations for the cartels. Narcotics' trafficking
remains the cartel's primary source of income because the
profit margins are much higher for drugs than other types of
illicit cargo, however, Mexican cartels are no longer just
drug trafficking organizations, but are now international
criminal organizations.
Two enterprises the Mexican cartels have easily absorbed into
their corporate structure are human smuggling and trafficking
operations. you said this many times in the preceding
paragraph Human smuggling (the transportation of people from
one place to another for an agreed upon fee) and trafficking
(the exploitation sale? of people through forced prostitution,
slavery, or bonded servitude) has become much more lucrative
in the past 20 because of the increased difficulty and danger
involved in moving migrants over the Mexican border and into
the United States.
Cartel involvement in human smuggling is not a new
phenomenon. In the 1990's cartels were content with
collecting taxes paid by alien omg there are extra
terrestrials in mexico?! I knew it! smuggling organizations
for use of cartel smuggling routes through the borderlands
into the United States. However, as profits increased and
alternative revenue streams were needed, the cartels realized
they had no reason or desire to share profits with traditional
alien smuggling organizations. In fact, cartels now typically
kidnap or kill any smugglers who do not have approval to
operate in their territory.
The infrastructure used for narcotics smuggling is also used
for human smuggling, with very little if any modifications
made to routes, safe houses (called drop houses), and modes of
transportation er, on this last part I have to imagine there's
a difference. A boxcar or semi outfitted with food, water, air
vents and some sort of waste disposal mechanism (read:
Buckets) is different from stuffing bags of coke into car
compartments. Not to mention the VAST difference in getting
higher end people smuggled across the border which requires
getting faked passports, and securing immediate
buyers/safehouses in the united states. In fact, I really
think you should start with the logistics of what it takes to
smuggle humans. no, there isn't much of a difference.
migrants aren't given food, water, or air vents very often
they just have what they can carry. These existing networks
have allowed cartels to seamlessly incorporate human smuggling
into their normal smuggling operations.
Cartels are also able to use human smuggling operations to
protect loads of narcotics because migrants will be used as a
diversion for drug shipments by moving the people through one
location at the same time the drugs are moved through a
different entry point. This draws border patrol resources
away from the drug smuggling operations and makes it much
easier to get drug load into the United States.
Illegal migrants are also sometimes forced to become drug
mules and carry drugs into the United States, although it is
not as common as sometimes reported in main stream media.
speaking of incidence rates, how many people are smuggled
every year? where are they smuggled from? how many are
economic refugees? How many are from Mexico? Central America?
South Asia? Europe? Eastern Europe?this isnt the point of the
piece. Sometimes the migrant could ask to be a mule in order
to pay off some of the debt incurred for being brought across
the border, or are forced to carry it for unknown reasons.
However, using scared, inexperienced migrants who do not know
there way through the desert or mountains is not a good way to
insure safe transport of the most drug load. It also isn't
necessary for the cartels to rely heavily on illegal migrants
to mule drugs because paying a professional is inexpensive
(wasn't it like, 300 US a load or less?) and they are better
trained to deal with anything that goes wrong.
Starting in 1993-94 with Operation Hold-the-Line in El Paso
and Operation Gatekeeper in San Diego anti-smuggling
operations and increased numbers of border patrol agents, from
about 8000 in 1998 to around 17,000 in 2010(victoria do you
have 2011 numbers?), have forced migrants away from urban
crossing points into increasingly desolate areas.
This dynamic has caused profits for alien smuggling operations
to skyrocket over the past 10 years because the intensified
interdiction efforts have increased the value of the services
coyotes provide. A decade ago, most illegal migrants did not
use a coyote, but now find it almost impossible to cross over
without one. A STRATFOR source that works on the Arizona
border confirmed that only the migrants who have crossed into
the United States illegally multiple times or have fraudulent
documents do not use a coyote.
Prices have gone from $500 a head paid to "mom and pop"
outfits who typically smuggled migrants into the United States
for seasonal work. Many times, the coyote was just a local
who lived near the border and knew how to get across safely.
The illegal migrants would go to the United States to work,
and then return home after they had earned enough money or the
growing season was over. Now, typical prices range from $2000
for Mexicans, $10,000 for Central Americans or Cubans, to
$40,000 or more for a Chinese national or special interest
aliens from countries like Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, and
Pakistan. (it is actually more, victoria?) No way.... there
are plenty of people who get over who can't afford 10,000
bucks. This brings up a separate issue.... of the people who
cross, how many use the services of the cartels? And is that
$10,000 to be escorted from Guat to the US? Or is that a
straight up mark up thanks to racism?i don't quite understand
what you are saying no way to? yes, i have read as high as
75,000 for special interest aliens, there is quite a bit of
literature on this. they do afford it because that is the
going rate. they typically borrow the money from families or
villagers, or they work it off. again, plenty of evidence,
some of it personal, that this is the going rate. yes, it is
racism i suppose.
Mexican cartels also use their control over human smuggling
infrastructure you still haven't told us what this
infrastructure isthere is a second piece that will break down
the infrastructure to increase profits in other areas of their
criminal enterprise. As the economic crisis in the US has
caused a decrease in the numbers of migrants crossing the
border, cartels have increasingly turned to human trafficking,
declared by the Department of Homeland Security as a form of
modern day slavery. Sex trafficking and slavery operations
are a source of income for the cartels long after the migrants
have been brought into the United States, whereas smuggling a
person only nets one payment for services rendered.
Kidnapping, especially of Central Americans, from anywhere
along the migrant routes into the United States is also
extremely lucrative. Mexican train yards are prime locations
because the migrant must stay close to the train tracks in
order to catch a ride north.
It is common for cartels to kidnap migrants, called
"chickens," from other smugglers drop-houses inside the United
States and then hold them for ransom, sometimes thousands of
dollars above the fee agreed upon between the smugglers and
alien. The family members or sponsors will be forced to pay
using the same money wires they use for paying the coyotes.
If payment is not made the illegal migrants are commonly
forced to work off the ransom, or they are killed.
The 2010 National Mexican Human Rights Commission claimed Los
Zetas are the most active criminal organization involved in
human smuggling and trafficking in Mexico, although other
cartels are also involved. In 2008 the Sinaloa cartel were
linked to trafficking minors for prostitution with the
president of Peruvians against child pornography, Dimitri
Senmache Artola, stating that narco-trafficking organizations
were combining drug trafficking and sex trafficking operations
because they were able to utilize the same routes and modes of
operation, including corruption of authorities. A February,
2010 Foreign Policy Research Institute report on the impact of
Arturo Beltran Leyva's death listed the ability to smuggle
humans, promote prostitution, and carry out kidnappings as
part of ABL's assets.
The diversification of capital streams into Mexican Cartels
makes them much stronger institutions because they are less
dependent on one product for their survival. If the drug war
in Mexico subsided, the remaining cartels would be extremely
diverse, strong organizations with multiple sources of income,
territorial control of ports of entry, and a massive
infrastructure for controlling trade flows into the United
States.
Human smuggling and trafficking operations are perfect for
cartels because the demand for cheap labor will never
completely go away. As long as the United States represents a
better life for the thousands of migrants each year, cartels
will be willing to take them, for a price.
--
Colby Martin
Tactical Analyst
colby.martin@stratfor.com
--
Colby Martin
Tactical Analyst
colby.martin@stratfor.com
--
Sean Noonan
Tactical Analyst
Office: +1 512-279-9479
Mobile: +1 512-758-5967
Strategic Forecasting, Inc.
www.stratfor.com
--
Colby Martin
Tactical Analyst
colby.martin@stratfor.com
--
Sean Noonan
Tactical Analyst
Office: +1 512-279-9479
Mobile: +1 512-758-5967
Strategic Forecasting, Inc.
www.stratfor.com
--
Colby Martin
Tactical Analyst
colby.martin@stratfor.com
--
Sean Noonan
Tactical Analyst
Office: +1 512-279-9479
Mobile: +1 512-758-5967
Strategic Forecasting, Inc.
www.stratfor.com
--
Colby Martin
Tactical Analyst
colby.martin@stratfor.com
--
Colby Martin
Tactical Analyst
colby.martin@stratfor.com