Pablo Escobar

Pablo Emilio Escobar Gaviria (December 1, 1949 – December 2, 1993) was a Colombian drug lord and trafficker. His cartel, at the height of his career, supplied an estimated 80% of the cocaine smuggled into the United States.Often called “The King of Cocaine”, he was the wealthiest criminal in history, with an estimated known net worth of US $30 billion by the early 1990s.He was also one of the 10 richest men in the world at his prime and lived in his self-built Hacienda Nápoles.

Escobar was born in Rionegro, Colombia and grew up in nearby Medellín. After briefly studying at Universidad Autónoma Latinoamericana of Medellín, he left without a degree and began to engage in criminal activity that involved selling contraband cigarettes along with fake lottery tickets, and grand theft auto. In the 1970s he began to work for various contraband smugglers often kidnapping and holding people of interest for ransom. In 1975 Escobar began distributing powder cocaine himself and began the first smuggling routes into the United States. His infiltration to the drug market of the U.S. expanded exponentially due to the rising demand for cocaine, and by the 1980s it was estimated that 70 to 80 tons of cocaine were being shipped from Colombia to the U.S. on a monthly basis. His drug network was commonly known as the “Medellín Cartel” and often competed with rival cartels domestically and abroad resulting in high-rate massacres and the deaths of police officers, judges, locals and prominent politicians.

In 1982, Escobar was elected as an alternate member of the Chamber of Representatives of Colombia as part of the Colombian Liberal Party. Escobar was responsible for the construction of many hospitals, schools and churches in western Colombia, which gained him popularity inside the local Roman Catholic Church and the locals of the towns he frequented. However he was seen as an enemy of the Colombian and American governments and his political exploits resulted in Colombia becoming the murder capital of the world.Escobar was shot and killed by Colombian National Police, in his hometown 24 hours after his 44th birthday.

Joaquín Archivaldo Guzmán Loera (Chapo)

Joaquín Archivaldo Guzmán Loera ; Sinaloa, 25 December 1954 or 4 April 1957)is a Mexican drug lord who heads the Sinaloa Cartel, a criminal organization named after the Mexican Pacific coast state of Sinaloa where it was formed. Known as “El Chapo Guzmán” for his 168 cm (5 ft 6 in) stature, he became Mexico’s top drug kingpin in 2003 after the arrest of his rival Osiel Cárdenas of the Gulf Cartel, and is considered the “most powerful drug trafficker in the world” by the United States Department of the Treasury.

Each year from 2009 to 2011 Forbes magazine ranked Guzmán as one of the most powerful people in the world, ranking 41st, 60th, and 55th respectively. He was thus the second most powerful man in Mexico, after Carlos Slim. He was named as the 10th richest man in Mexico (1,140th in the world) in 2011, with a net worth of roughly US$1 billion.The magazine also calls him the “biggest drug lord of all time”,and the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) estimates he has surpassed the influence and reach of Pablo Escobar, and now considers him “the godfather of the drug world”.In 2013, the Chicago Crime Commission named Guzmán “Public Enemy Number One” for the influence of his criminal network in Chicago, though there is no evidence that Guzmán has ever been in that city.The last person to receive such notoriety was Al Capone in 1930.

Guzmán’s Sinaloa Cartel transports multi-ton cocaine shipments from Colombia through Mexico to the United States, the world’s top consumer,and has distribution cells throughout the U.S.The organization has also been involved in the production, smuggling and distribution of Mexican methamphetamine, marijuana, ecstasy (MDMA) and heroin across both North America and Europe.By the time of his 2014 arrest, Guzmán had exported more drugs to the United States than anyone else: more than 500 tons (450,000 kg) of cocaine in the U.S. alone.

Guzmán was first captured in 1993 in Guatemala, extradited and sentenced to 20 years in prison in Mexico for murder and drug trafficking.After bribing prison guards, he was able to escape from a federal maximum-security prison in 2001. He was wanted by the governments of Mexico, United States, and by INTERPOL. The U.S. offered a US$5 million reward for information leading to his capture, and the Mexican government offered a reward of 60 million pesos (approximately US$3.8 million).He was arrested for second time by Mexican authorities in Mexico on 22 February 2014. He was found inside a fourth-floor condominium in Mazatlán, Sinaloa,and was captured without any gunshots fired.Guzmán escaped from prison again on 11 July 2015 by exiting through a 1.5 km (0.93 mi) tunnel that led to a construction site. He was recaptured by Mexican marines and Federal Police following a shootout on 8 January 2016.

Edgar Valdez Villarreal (La Barbie)

Edgar Valdez Villarreal (born August 11, 1973) also known as La Barbie (“The Barbie”), is a Mexican-American, born and raised in the United States, who was arrested near Mexico City in August 2010 on charges related to large scale drug trafficking with the Beltrán-Leyva Cartel.

Valdez worked for several years as a cartel lieutenant before rising to a leadership position in an enforcement squad called Los Negros.Following the death of cartel boss Arturo Beltrán Leyva in late 2009, Valdez fought a bloody and protracted gang war for control of the cartel resulting in over 150 deaths. He employed techniques such as videotaped torture and decapitation.

On August 30, 2010, he was arrested by the Mexican Federal Police at a rural house near Mexico City. He faces charges in both Mexico and the United States. His gang known as Los Negros collapsed by 2011.

Security measures across U.S.-Mexico border lead to rise in Hispanic troopers

The effort to increase security measures along the U.S.-Mexico border has led to a rise in the number of state troopers who identify has Hispanic.

An analysis by The Dallas Morning News found that over the last 18 months more than 40 perfect of the 450 people who trained to become a trooper for the Texas Department of Public Safety are Hispanic. It’s the highest percentage the Texas DPS has seen in at least a decade.

Lawmakers have designated $800 million to boost security along the border, and pay incentives were introduced as part of the border package. DPS officials said a larger recruiting budget and greater presence in South Texas have contributed to the rise in Hispanic applicants.

The data analyzed by the newspaper showed a clear increase in Hispanic troopers in the force. In 2006, DPS was 63 percent white, 25 percent Hispanic and 10 percent black. This year, they were 59 percent white, 30 percent Hispanic and 9 percent black.

It’s a trend that is being seen within police agencies across the U.S. as the Hispanic population continues to grow.

Robert Bodisch, DPS’ deputy director of homeland security and services, told the Dallas Morning News that the benefits of having a diverse force are obvious.

“It’s Police 101,” he said. “You want diversity within your force so you can go out into different communities and be able to relate and have people be able to relate back to you.”

Alex Piquero, a criminology professor at the University of Texas at Dallas, told the newspaper that a greater demographic mix at any law enforcement agency does not necessarily reduce the chance of profiling, but that without a doubt it does pay off.

Exclusive: Highway kidnappings in northern Mexico prompt calls for U.S. review of security

In the sometimes tense relationship between the United States and Mexico, security is often a wild card.

That could spell trouble for many people living in this country, including North Texas residents with ties to Mexico.

The recent kidnapping of a Dallas-area couple in the northeastern Mexico state of Tamaulipas illustrates the violent vulnerabilities along the U. S.- Mexico border.

All Mexican border states are under some type of security advisory from the U.S. government. But the strongest alerts are for the states of Tamaulipas and Coahuila, where the U.S. State Department warns against all non-essential travel.

The Dallas-area family was taken in April as they traveled to a funeral in the Mexico state of San Luis Potosí. Three hours from the Texas border, near the Tamaulipas capital of Ciudad Victoria, they became victims of a highway assault that led to 19 days in captivity.

News of a kidnapping is not a surprise to government officials on either side of the border.

“Over the last two years, Tamaulipas has deteriorated horribly,” said U.S. Rep. Filemon Vela, D-Brownsville, a member of the House Homeland Security Committee.

Vela said the emphasis on low homicide rates in border cities such as El Paso, Laredo and Brownsville is misplaced. Instead, the focus should be on the cartel war across the river in Tamaulipas, a state with a long history of smuggling.

A third of the Texas population of 26 million has Mexican ancestry, according to U.S. Census Bureau estimates. Many Texans of Mexican ancestry still travel to northern Mexico, Vela said. But he said his own relatives no longer visit a family grave in Matamoros, across from Brownsville, because of safety concerns.

King Midas, El Chapo’s alleged money man, is arrested in Mexico

Mexican police say they have captured a man identified as the chief financial officer behind drug kingpin Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman’s empire, who they say laundered some $4 billion in the past decade.

“Groups of elite federal police and the Mexican army arrested Juan Manuel Alvarez Inzunza, nicknamed ‘El Rey Midas’ (‘King Midas’) in Oaxaca,” the police said in a statement.

According to investigators, the 34-year-old operated a network of companies and currency exchange centres through which some $300 to $400 million (£210m-£280m) passed each year on behalf of Guzman’s Sinaloa cartel, for a total of more than $4 billion in a decade.

Mr Alvarez Inzunza operated in Sinaloa and Jalisco states, but was in Oaxaca on holiday when he was detained, and was captured without any “need to shoot off firearms and without putting other citizens at risk,” federal police added.

Authorities had put out an order for Mr Alvarez Inzunza’s provisional detention, so that he can be extradited to the United States at the request of a federal court in Washington.

His alleged laundering operations extended across Mexico’s border into Colombia, Panama and the United States, authorities said.

The detainee was transferred to Mexico City, where he was handed over to anti-drug prosecutors from the attorney general’s office.

The Sinaloa cartel is considered one of Mexico’s most powerful drug gangs and was led by Guzman, who was captured in January after escaping through a hole in his jail cell’s shower in July.

Guzman has escaped twice from maximum-security prisons.

Drive in Mexico

The first cause of death for foreigners in Mexico is car accidents, not crime. So drive carefully.

Link: https://www.tripadvisor.com/Travel-g150768-c4640/Mexico:Public.Safety.And.Security.html

List of important recommendations

Concerns for safety and security in Mexico have risen steadily over the past decade and various foreign governments have cautioned travelers to Mexico to pay special attention to these matters. Generally standards of security, safety and supervision may not reach those expected by residents of some of the more developed nations. Crime in Mexico remains at high levels (compared to many first-world crime rates) and the rates of apprehension and conviction remain low, factors that contribute to the feelings of insecurity.

The crime pattern in Mexico is similar to that in the U.S. and most countries: big cities generally have higher crime rates than small towns or rural areas.  Practical tips:

1. Use the safety deposit box at your hotel, rather than carrying your valuables with you at all times.

2. Try to keep a low profile, yet appear confident. Walk with a sense of purpose and try not to look lost, even if you are. Don’t flash money or look like you have lots valuables.  The same goes for eye-catching jewelry. The middle class look probably is best;  one gets respect and is respectful, but doesn’t stand out too much. Look people in the eye when passing and say, “Buenos días” or“buenas tardes“; this usually elicits a positive response.

3. Any appearance of weakness may attract attention. Muggers and criminals are looking for are easy targets. That includes anyone who appears intoxicated, weaker in strength, tired, sick, etc

4. Be extra cautious at night or in dark areas.  Anything that gives criminals an advantage may be exploited.

5. Ask about safety, especially if you will be going off the beaten track. If the area is questionable, take a taxi or a tour.  Since the economic crisis in 1994, the crime in Mexico has doubled, but the crime is very rarely violent they will take your money to feed themselves but they very rarely hurt you.

Link: https://www.tripadvisor.com/Travel-g150768-c4640/Mexico:Public.Safety.And.Security.html

RADIO APPEARANCES

On December 23, 2008 at 11:00 AM Security Corner was invited to Nucleo Radio Mil AM, to Buenos Dias Program with the Topic Tips for Safe Travel. A special guest was Mr. Gordon Stuart, a banker from Scotland and Mexico City resident.

Security Corner in Mexico at Mexican Universities via radio

Twice in November 2007, Security Corner in Mexico was the main subject of two radio interviews covering issues about safety and personal protection.The interviews were hosted by Prof. Yahir Garcia and Alejandro Coria. These live transmissions included a vast audience consisting of ISEC’s students, teachers and affiliated organizations in Central America.

Universidad Tecnológica de México (UNITEC)

On November 24, 2007 Mario González-Román, creator of Security Corner in Mexico, was a guest speaker on the issue of Corporate Protection and Human Resources. He  was joined by 1st. Inspector Blas Hernández Martínez Blas, Deputy Director of Operations, Banking, Industrial Division (PBIDF), Mexico City Police Department. This was possible thanks to Licenciado Pablo Robles Varela, Director of Business Liaison at UNITEC, a prestigious, private university in Mexico City. If your university is interested in these topics please click on Security Seminars, above.

Our appreciation goes to Reforma newspaper, Business Section’s reporter Said Pulido for making Security Corner in Mexico the center of attention as a promoter of Culture of Crime and Loss Pevention as shown in a generous article dated September 11, 2007. Reforma again reported on December 11, 2007 a special coverage about Security Corner’s involvement in Mexican private universities through  GIVI, S. A. de C. V.

Link: http://www.securitycornermexico.com/

TOURISTS’ ALERT

If driving to Mexico City

PLEASE CHECK OUT THIS LINK BELOW

No Circula in Mexico City Include SATURDAYS and foreign, non local vehicles

INTRODUCTION TO THE CULTURE OF SAFE TRAVEL, CRIME & LOSS PREVENTION

SecurityCornerMexico.com offers the International Community a unique, versatile NEWS!! Service with the Global Perspective in mind. Mario González-Román -the creator of Security Corner in Mexico- has 35-years’ experience promoting the Culture of SAFE TRAVEL by responsibly addressing issues on Crime Prevention, Public Safety and Personal Protection, at no cost. In addition, a free online professional Security Consultancy is offered to readers.

Link: http://www.securitycornermexico.com/