InSight Crime Special: Mining and Organized Crime...

Weekly InSight | 18 December 2015 InSight Crime Special: Mining and Organized Crime A Seizure, a Lawsuit and Illegal Gold From Peru In January 2014, InSight Crime reported on a record seizure of suspected illegal gold in Peru. Since then, that case has snowballed; marking a turning point in the modus operandi of illegal gold exports, uncovering what is believed to be a major criminal network, and threatening to land InSight Crime in court. How Illegal Diamond Mining Threatens Indigenous Communities Colombia: From Coca Cultivation to Gold Mining and Back News Analysis

Why Are So Many Honduras Soccer Bosses Involved in Crime? Going to the Border in Tamaulipas, Mexico? Get a Police Escort Has Guatemala's Long-Awaited Spring Finally Arrived? Confidential Informants: a 'Double Edged Sword' for Law Enforcement

News US to Indict Top Level Venezuela Officials: Reports Criminal Groups Infiltrated El Salvador Security Forces: Official Gunmen Kill Nephew of Powerful Mexico Crime Boss Mexico's Peña Nieto Sets Sights on Disappearances, Torture Sinaloa Cartel-Urabeños Money Laundering Network Discovered in Colombia US Sanctions Newspapers Linked to Mysterious Mexico Cartel More News Multimedia A chart of Mexico's Los Cuinis criminal network and media outlets recently sanctioned by the United States. Read More A video of a news report regarding investigations into Peru's illegal gold trade.  Read More

More Lies from Abbas about The "Intifada" by Bassam Tawil  •  December 17, 2015 at 5:00 am We still have never encountered even one case where a terrorist complained about the absence of a two-state solution. Also, contrary to Abbas's claim, none of the terrorists has ever complained about checkpoints or settlements. This latest wave of terrorism is not about "despair," unemployment, poor living conditions or freedom of movement. Instead, it is another attempt by Palestinian "youths" to eliminate Israel, again using the false excuse that Jews are "desecrating" and "destroying" Islamic holy sites. A review of the Facebook accounts of most of the terrorists shows that their main intention was to murder as many Jews as possible in order to become "martyrs" -- to impose a reign of terror Jews, to force them to leave Israel. Abbas is well aware that the "youths" are not complaining about the "occupation." The "occupation" these " youths" have a problem with is the one that began with the creation of Israel in 1948. A new generation of Palestinians has once again been deceived into believing that the Jews are plotting to destroy the Al-Aqsa Mosque. The Al-Aqsa Mosque stands, as always, unharmed in its place. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas now wants us to believe that the Palestinian "youths," who are sent out to murder Jewish soldiers and civilians, are acting out of "despair." He wants us to believe that these "youths" decided to murder Jews because their dream of a two-state solution has not been realized. Abbas is also trying to convince us that these "youths" are upset about Israeli checkpoints, construction in settlements, and visits by Jews to the Noble Sanctuary (Temple Mount). Continue Reading Article

Iran Taking Over Latin America by Joseph Humire  •  December 16, 2015 at 5:00 am "This is a matter of life or death. I need you to be an intermediary with Argentina to get help for my country's nuclear program. We need Argentina to share its nuclear technology with us. It will be impossible to advance with our program without Argentina's cooperation." – Iran's former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to the late Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez. According to Venezuelan informants, whitewashing Iran's accused from the AMIA attack was only a secondary objective in its outreach to Argentina. The primary objective was to gain access to Argentina's nuclear technology and materials -- a goal Iran has for more than three decades. During the last 32 years, Iran has achieved a resounding success in promoting an anti-US and anti-Israel message in Latin America. Its state-owned television network, HispanTV, broadcasts in Spanish 24 hours a day, seven days a week in at least 16 countries throughout the region. The lifting of sanctions and influx of billions of dollars as a result of Iran's nuclear deal will undoubtedly help Iran in Latin America, where many countries face economic turmoil and can use an Iranian "stimulus." While Latin America is often regarded as a foreign policy backwater for the United States, it is the geopolitical prize for the Islamic Republic of Iran. "I need you to be an intermediary with Argentina to get help for my country's nuclear program. We need Argentina to share its nuclear technology with us. It will be impossible to advance with our program without Argentina's cooperation." – Iran's former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (far left) to the late Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez (hugging Ahmadinejad). Shown at right is Chávez with Argentina's former President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner. During the last couple months, Iran and Saudi Arabia have been playing a political tug of war over Latin America. On November 10, 2015, Iran's deputy foreign minister held a private meeting with ambassadors from nine Latin American countries to reaffirm the Islamic Republic's desire to "enhance and deepen ties" with the region. This was followed by similar statements from Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei at the Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF) in Tehran later that month. The same day, the Saudi Foreign Minister, Adel al-Jubeir, presided over a South American-Arab world summit in Riyadh. FM al-Jubeir, while Ambassador to the United States in 2011, had himself been the target of an Iranian-Latin American assassination plot. The message of the Saudi summit was clear: An Arab rapprochement with South American countries will increase Iran's isolation in the world. Continue Reading Article

Indigenous Supreme Council of Michoacán Demands Release of Cemeí Verdía...

Borderland Beat

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Indigenous Supreme Council of Michoacán Demands Release of Cemeí Verdía Posted: 09 Dec 2015 06:30 PM PST By: Francisco Castellanos J. | Translated by Valor for Borderland Beat The Indigenous Supreme Council of Michoacán demands the “immediate and unconditional” release of the leader of the autodefensas of the Nahua Community Police (PCN), Cemeí Verdía Zepeda, “imprisoned for defending his community according to their practices and customs.” In a statement, the Council also demands the cancellation of existing arrest warrants against other members of the PCN and of the 52 normalistas and purépecha villagers arrested on Monday “for demanding access to a decent job and striving to ensure the right to public education.” The first were apprehended while maintaining control of a toll both of Zirahuén and the second were arrested for clashing with authorities as they were going to support the normalistas. The Council, made up of 29 indigenous towns, warned that if their demands are disregarded, “we reserve our constitutional right to demonstrate, self-determination, and political action at all levels.” Likewise, they called on all native peoples of the state to unite in the struggle for self-government and autonomy in general, and for the liberation of the political prisoners. Source: Proceso

CHICAGO POLICE MISCONDUCT: RAHM EMANUEL PULLS AN OBAMA TO SAVE A CLOSE RE-ELECTION BID ...

One Citizen Speaking...

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CHICAGO POLICE MISCONDUCT: RAHM EMANUEL PULLS AN OBAMA TO SAVE A CLOSE RE-ELECTION BID ... Posted: 10 Dec 2015 12:09 AM PST A policeman, now under a suspicious last-minute indictment for murder, shoots a black teenage suspect allegedly wielding a knife – 16 times and mostly in the back after the suspect is down – while the suspect is walking away from the officer. The police department puts out a false and misleading narrative and hides the police dash-cam video for a year. When the video surfaces, due to a persistent journalist and an intrepid judge, it appears that the police officer, not immediately in danger, simply unloads his weapon into a barely-alive suspect that is already on the ground and presenting no threat to the officer or his companions. No other officer fires their weapons. And, there is a significant delay in providing prompt medical attention to the suspect. OUTRAGEOUS CONDUCT! So why did the administration immediately pay $5 million of the taxpayer’s money to the family without any formal complaint or lawsuit?  So why did the administration demand a non-disclosure agreement?  So why did the administration go to court to fight against releasing the dash-cam video?  Was it because the video of the outrageous video would ignite the town in the same way black activists blew up Ferguson, Missouri? OR WAS IT THAT RAHM EMANUEL PULLED AN OBAMA: FACING A TIGHT RE-ELECTION RACE, HE BURIED THE TRUTH LEST IT DISRUPT HIS CAMPAIGN MUCH IN THE SAME MANNER THAT BARACK OBAMA BURIED THE TRUTH ABOUT BENGHAZI BEING A TERRORIST ATTACK? There is little doubt that Chicago, and Cook County, are the gold-standard for political corruption … Chicago mayor apologizes, protesters urge he resign Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, under heavy criticism for his handling of a police shooting that resulted in the death of a black teen, gave an emotional apology on Wednesday hours before angry crowds closed city streets while demanding his resignation. In a special address to the City Council, the mayor said "I'm sorry" and promised "complete and total reform of the system." Among the systemic problems with police, Emanuel aimed particular criticism at the "code of silence" that keeps police officers from reporting misconduct by fellow officers. He also has criticized the agency that investigates police misconduct for finding almost all police shootings justified. "We have a trust problem," said Emanuel, who stated last week that he had no plans to resign. Source: Chicago mayor apologizes, protesters urge he resign The pattern of the Chicago progressive socialist democrats is crystal clear: delay, obfuscate, throw someone under the bus, promise an investigation and reform, and wiggle, wiggle, wiggle like a snake in the grass until the crisis passes and you can answer media inquiries with the comment “that’s old news, move on.” We do have a trust problem … Simply put, we cannot trust our elected officials to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. Everything is seen through the lens of self-serving politics, the public be damned. It is all about power, money, and staying in office as long as possible to maximize the perks, privileges, and profits. Chicago is the hub of corrupt party-machine politics. It has given us a host of corrupt individuals, among them President Barack Obama and his puppet-master Valerie Jarrett. It is home to black thuggery, outrageous slaughter of innocents, and racism as typified by Obama’s neighbor Louis Farrakhan and the Nation of Islam – you know, the purveyors of the peace-loving religion.  So Rahm where’s the money? Rahm Speech to City Council On Laquan Case: 'I'm Sorry' "One young man asked me a simple question that gets to the core of what we're talking about. He said, 'Do you think the police would ever treat you the way they treat me?'  "And the answer is no," Emanuel said. "And that is wrong. And that has to change in this city. That has to come to an end now. No citizen is a second-class citizen in the city of Chicago." <Source> Instead of the left’s use of personal stories and questions that seem to materialize just in time for a speech, perhaps the young man should have asked where the billions of taxpayer’s dollars meant to improve conditions in the inner cities go? Why police unions were allowed to hide institutionalized police brutality for decades? Why Chicago’s teachers’ unions have destroyed education? Why Chicago is one of the most historically politically corrupt city in the nation? Why Chicago’s politicians appear to be part of an organized crime crime family plundering the city? No apology is necessary, just resign and allow a conservative to start the repair process. Bottom line … Enough is enough. We need to purge the progressive socialist democrats and their “coalition of hate” before they fundamentally transform America into crapistan – a nation led by corrupt oligarchs and corrupt unions. -- steve

IS SAUDI ARABIA DECLARING ECONOMIC WAR ON AMERICA? Posted: 08 Dec 2015 09:00 PM PST There is little or no doubt in my mind that the Saudis are not our friends. In fact, they may be complicit in the 9/11terrorist attack on the Twin Towers and if not for the efforts of President Bush to keep the evidence hidden, the chances are that the American public would have demanded retribution for Saudi Arabia’s treachery. 9/11 -- an act of war?  Following the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, Congress set up a joint committee to investigate.  After nearly 6 months, the joint committee released its report – but the Bush administration redacted 28 pages of the report, citing the damage the information could do to our relationships with foreign governments. Why the secrecy?  It's believed that the 28 pages detail the assistance by Saudi nationals given to the terrorists.  Speculation has centered on some members of the House of Saud who may have given cash and other aid to the terrorists, and a faction in Saudi intelligence that may have also helped the attackers. The people who may be "protected" by keeping the information classified could include President Bush himself, who authorized several flights immediately after 9/11 of Saudi nationals – including, reportedly, members of the bin Laden family.  It's possible that some of the names that show up in those 28 missing pages were on one or more of those flights out of the country. Some of those names must be real eye-openers – people very close to the throne.  Releasing the names may destabilize the Saudi government at a time when they are coming under attack from ISIS and al-Qaeda.  It is definitely not in the interest of the U.S. to cause the fall of the House of Saud – not when even more radical Islamists are waiting in the wings. <Source There is little doubt that Saudi Arabia also finances and administers radical mosques worldwide using their “petrodollars” … For more than two centuries, Wahhabism has been Saudi Arabia's dominant faith. It is an austere form of Islam that insists on a literal interpretation of the Koran. Strict Wahhabis believe that all those who don't practice their form of Islam are heathens and enemies. Critics say that Wahhabism's rigidity has led it to misinterpret and distort Islam, pointing to extremists such as Osama bin Laden and the Taliban. Wahhabism's explosive growth began in the 1970s when Saudi charities started funding Wahhabi schools (madrassas) and mosques from Islamabad to Culver City, California. <Source> It would be troublesome but perhaps acceptable for the House of Saud to promote the intolerant and extremist Wahhabi creed just domestically. But, unfortunately, for decades the Saudis have also lavishly financed its propagation abroad. Exact numbers are not known, but it is thought that more than $100 billion have been spent on exporting fanatical Wahhabism to various much poorer Muslim nations worldwide over the past three decades. It might well be twice that number. By comparison, the Soviets spent about $7 billion spreading communism worldwide in the 70 years from 1921 and 1991. <Source> And now we find that Saudi Arabia appears to be waging an economic war on America and trying to reduce our growing energy independence …   OPEC bid to kill off US shale sends oil price down to 2009 low  Oil falls by $2 a barrel with energy shares as OPEC refusal to stop flooding the market with cheap oil and likely US rate hike sends Brent crude tumbling   Oil prices have slumped by 5% after the latest attempt by Saudi Arabia to kill off the threat from the US shale industry sent crude to its lowest level since the depths of the global recession almost seven years ago. Signs of disarray in the OPEC oil cartel prompted fears of a global glut of oil, wiping $2 off the price of a barrel of crude on Monday and leading to speculation that energy costs could continue tumbling over the coming weeks. Shares in energy companies lost ground as the impact of the drop in oil prices rippled through European stock markets. Prices of other commodities also weakened following disappointment among traders that OPEC had decided late last week to keep flooding the global market with cheap oil. <Source> Donald Trump had it right … Like Donald Trump has said, it was stupid to free Iraq, Kuwait, and Libya and then simply return the oil to the rulers without exacting a toll for liberating their country and expending billions in assisting to rebuild critical infrastructure with American dollars. Paying for our grievously wounded soldiers with their oil revenues and reimbursing our Treasury for our costs – plus a profit. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump said that former President George W. Bush should have “kept the oil” after invading Iraq. “And, I said, keep the oil,” Trump said during the Republican presidential debate Tuesday night. “And we should have kept the oil, believe me. We should have kept the oil.” <Source> Bottom line … The Saudis are not our “friends” and it is time that we pursued all avenues (oil, gas, coal, and nuclear) to make the United States energy independent and a net exporter of oil to Europe and other places now held in thrall by their energy demands. But most of all, we must eliminate or curtail the type of political corruption that sees a Clinton, Bush, or Obama making decisions on behalf of themselves and their cronies – the special interests who fund their foundations and employ their friends and relatives. Enough is enough. -- steve

CDG Plaza Boss commits suicide rather than be taken alive ...

Borderland Beat

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CDG Plaza Boss commits suicide rather than be taken alive Posted: 07 Dec 2015 02:33 PM PST Translated by Otis B Fly-Wheel for Borderland Beat from a Milenio article [ Subject Matter: Ignacio Zuniga Sanchez Recommendation: No prior subject matter knowledge required] Reporter: Ruben Mosso Ignacio Zuniga Sanchez, alleged plaza chief for the Cartel del Golfo in Pueblo Viejo, Veracruz, responsible for the coordination of kidnapping, murder of a businessman and his son from Tamaulipas, killed himself in the municipality of Tampico, Tamaulipas, when he was about to be detained by elements of the Federal Police. Zuniga ordered the kidnapping and assassination of Juan Manuel Gomez Fernandez and his son Juan Manuel Gomez Monteverde, father and brother of film maker Alejandro Gomez Monteverde. The businessmen were kidnapped on 4th of September of this year and their bodies were found on 19th of September with torture wounds, even though the family of the men had paid the ransom. Information gathered by the Coordination Group of Tamaulipas signalled that intelligence work by personnel of the Federal Police in coordination with the Army, garnered the location in Tampico of Ignacio Zuniga Sanchez, 39 years old, with an existing arrest warrant for organized crime. When the deceased realised that the Federal Police had discovered his location on Calle Coyolitos, in the Naranjal Colonia, North Tampico, he fled with a weapon concealed in his jacket and ran into the dwelling that he shared with his partner. When the Federal elements were close to the property and proceeding to form up to breach the building to detain Sanchez, they heard a gun shot inside the house. Shortly after the woman  who shared the house with the kidnapper, left the property and informed the Federal forces that Zuniga Sanchez had shot himself. The Federal Police gave information that Ignacio Zuniga operated as Plaza Boss of the Cartel del Golfo criminal organization in Pueblo Viejo, the place where on the 19th of September the bodies of the Restaurateur and his son were found. Zuniga was also responsible for heading diverse criminal cells dedicated to robbing auto buses, kidnapping of undocumented migrants and extortion, as well as being in charge of Halcones. In two actions before this, the Federal Police detained 10 alleged members of this criminal group. Original article in Spanish at Milenio

Russian Airstrikes in Syria: November 30 - December 6, 2015...

Russian Airstrikes in Syria     November 30 - December 6, 2015         By Genevieve Casagrande and Jodi Brignola   Russia resumed its air campaign in Southern Syria in support of regime ground operations against the FSA-affiliated Southern Front from December 3-6. Russia's renewed effort follows a December 3 declaration by FSA-affiliated Southern Front factions, including tribal fighters who claim to receive funding from Jordan, of a new offensive to seize the regime-held Judayyah artillery battalion in the northwestern countryside of Dera'a province. Russian airstrikes targeted areas along the nearby frontline surrounding the battalion, an area primarily held by Southern Front-affiliated factions. The shift comes just two weeks after Russian President Vladimir Putin vowed to avoid hitting "healthy," non-terrorist rebel groups in Syria and to focus air operations against ISIS. While talks between members of the Syrian opposition and the Syrian regime are tentatively scheduled for January 1, 2016, Russia's continued aggression makes the prospects of a mutually agreeable political transition unlikely. The Syrian Foreign Ministry accused the U.S.-led coalition of conducting an airstrike against a regime military position in the town of Ayyash in Deir ez-Zour province on December 6 killing four Syrian Arab Army (SAA) soldiers and wounding thirteen others. The ministry sent a letter to the U.N. Security Council in protest of "flagrant aggressionby the U.S.-led coalition forces." Operation Inherent Resolve Spokesman Colonel Steve Warren denied that the Coalition carried out the attack, stressing that the nearest coalition strikes targeted an ISIS-held oil field 35 miles away from the incident. Anonymous Pentagon officials stated that radar data indicated that the bombing had been a 'friendly fire' incident committed by a Russian bomber. Local sources have previously reported on alleged Russian strikes against regime positions along frontlines in both Homs and Latakia Provinces.    The following graphic depicts ISW's assessment of Russian airstrike and cruise missile locations based on reports from local Syrian activist networks, Syrian state-run media, and statements by Russian and Western officials. This map represents locations targeted by Russia's air campaign, rather than the number of individual strikes or sorties.  High-Confidence reporting. ISW places high confidence in reports corroborated both by official government statements reported through credible channels and documentation from rebel factions or activist networks on the ground in Syria deemed to be credible.   Low-Confidence reporting. ISW places low confidence in secondary sources that have not been confirmed or sources deemed likely to contain disinformation.