Full-Auto AK-47's for Sale

Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generacion has been under a lot of pressure. Ruben Osegevera Cervabtes) (El Mencho) joined with Gonzalo Inzunza Insunza (Macho Prieto) to fight -- just about everyone else. Macho Prieto lost all of M1's crew to the new Arellano Felix Cartel (managed by Joaquin Guzman Loera's sons and Fernando Sanchez Arellano jointly) so he has lost control of his border plazas. 

Based on what I have heard, even though San Luis Río Colorado has fallen to the new Arellano Felix Organization, Macho Prieto still has the stroke to smuggle loads across to the US side of the fence (Yuma). That infrastructure usually involves complicit US Customs officials and sometimes ICE Agents to grease the skids. 

AK-47

While there is profit in narcotics, the shelves of gun stores in America are empty and Macho Prieto will be moving many of the excess firearms that El Mencho has amassed over the past three years. Even though Nicolas Balcazar Lopez (El Bronco) remains in the custody of the PGR, awaiting trial in Mexico City, some of the weapons that his network purchased from the US Government through straw buyers (BATFE-Operation Fast and Furious) may be headed back north. If you buy something for X and you can sell it for X times twenty, it's time to sell. They're American market firearms anyway. Almost all of them are semi-automatic and not of much use to the cartels, which practice spray-and-pray tactics.

In addition to selling the US their firearms back, they are also going to be moving full-automatic AK-47's (mostly NORINCO manufacture), and magazines. They bought them from the Chinese for $3.00 per magazine and Senator Dianne Feinstein, President Obama and Vice President Biden have been bidding them up on the marketplace to $75.00 per high capacity magazine. The NORINCO AK-47's, purchased by container load for under $300.00 each will sell on the street in the USA for $8,000.00 each. It's a good business for the cartels, which have been accused of taking arms from the USA. As one cynical narco told me --  it's time to give back. 

It's a whole new market. In the past, selling drugs meant that the narcos needed to deal with unreliable users. The thriving arms consumption in the US is driven by "Ma and Pa" on the farm who fear their government. Dealing with generally honest people with jobs is something that Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generacion is trying to get accustomed to, but they expect the pressure from the newly re-innaugurated President Obama to be kept up, thus the demand will only increase for new - still in the packing grease AK-47's. Sadly, there are only about 1,200 firearms sold by BATF to sell back, but the profit is there, so why not sell?

With over 300 million firearms in private hands in the US, the cartel-smuggled weapons will amount to a mere drop in the bucket in terms of numbers, but US policy is helping to keep the cartels employed. For Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generacion, it means a lot because they have fallen on hard times and need all the help that they can get to keep the operation funded.

Rumor only: The Russians and Palestinians are both dumping container loads of SKS style weapons on the cartels to be sold to US consumers. They're effective but dated. They'll sell like hotcakes in the US.

I'm not selling or offering to sell these illegal firearms. I'm just the blogger keeping you readers updated on current trends.

Decapitation Count in Mexico (2008-2012)

>> WARNING <<    

Some people may find this disturbing.

Before

The US policy that pushes that the drug war be fought (down there) to the last Mexican, has been disastrous and it will be felt in the new Mexican policy toward the United States. 

The United States fueled the fire through their Operation Gunwalker Scandal. We now know that the Obama Administration plans to keep Attorney General Eric Holder, architect of the Gunwalker Scandal wherein USGOV agents sold firearms through straw buyers to drug cartels without tracking them. Arming the cartels directly may not play on MSNBC, but the Mexicans take note.

After

There may be more this year so these are not final numbers, but you can use them as a fair guess. These numbers do not include decapitations where the heads were NOT displayed to the public for public relations value.

During the first five years of the Calderon administration, 1,443 decapitation cases were reported. 

Between January and November 2011, 493 cases were reported. 

-Chihuahua leads the pack with 171 reported decapitations since the start of the Calderon administration 

-Guerrero comes in second at 140. 

-Tamaulipas with 119 reported cases since the start of the Calderon administration  

-Durango almost tied for third with 115 reported decapitations. 

-Sinaloa came in fifth, which may surprise some people, with a mere 89 reported decapitations. (What happened to Sinaloa? There were a lot of murders in Sinaloa, but it would seem that the people in that area are less inclined to decapitate their victims.)

-Mexico State, Baja California Norte, Jalisco, Coahuila and Veracruz finished behind the pack.

The cost of Mexican President's US-Sponsored and funded drug war can be balanced by the embarrassingly low number of decapitations before he and his American allies "got the heads lopping". 

There were only 37 reported decapitations in all of Mexico in 2007.

During the first three years of the Calderon administration, 10.3 large-scale massacres were reported per month. During the second three years, an average of 23 were reported on a monthly basis. 

English Source: US Department of Justice, Drug Enforcement Administration
Spanish Source: El Universal

Operation Fast and Furious - Does Anyone Remember That?

If Barack Obama is re-elected President, it is doubtful that Eric Holder will continue on as Attorney General. Whether he is imprisoned for lying to Congress or not still has not been adjudicated. 

Yes, I understand that Attorney General Eric Holder denied that he knew anything about Operation Fast and Furious. If he lied, he should be fired for lying. If he truly didn't know, he should be fired for incompetence. Read a little further and decide for yourself.

Based on the Congressional record (prior to the conclusion of the investigation by Congressman Issa R-CA) "No one at Justice Department headquarters has been able to provide answers to the (Brian) Terry family. During their respective transcribed interviews, Monty Wilkinson stated 38 times that he “did not recall” or “did not know.” In a similar fashion, Gary Grindler did so 29 times, and Ed Siskel 21 times. In two different transcribed interviews, Dennis Burke said he “did not recall” or “did not know” a combined total of 161 times." (Congressional Report)

 Who in the Obama Justice Department did what with Operation Fast and Furious? 

Based on the Joint Staff Report prepared for Rep. Darrell Issa, Chairman, US House of Representatives Committee on Oversight and Government Reform and Senator Charles Grassley, Ranking member of the US Senate Committee on the Judiciary -- 112th Congress October 29, 2012 

Office of the Attorney General

Eric H. Holder, Jr. - Attorney General

After taking office, Holder delivered a series of speeches touting a new strategy to combat Mexican drug cartels. These speeches formed the basis of a new Department strategy.

Robert “Monty” Wilkinson - Deputy Chief of Staff

Monty Wilkinson read weekly reports discussing Operation Fast and Furious, yet failed to act on the information. He believed that it was not the responsibility of the Attorney General’s office to manage or supervise the Department’s components. Before Agent Brian Terry was murdered, Wilkinson inquired about the Attorney General’s participation in announcing the Fast and Furious take-down.

Gary Grindler - Acting Deputy Attorney General

Gary Grindler attended detailed briefings on Operation Fast and Furious in 2010. He had a passive management style, waiting for staff to bring issues to him instead of seeking them out. In January 2011, Grindler became the Chief of Staff to Attorney General Holder, a position he currently holds.

Edward Siskel - Associate Deputy Attorney General

Edward Siskel was responsible for the ATF portfolio in the Office of the Deputy Attorney General during Operation Fast and Furious, even though he had no prior training or experience with ATF. He also attended detailed briefings on Fast and Furious. Siskel is currently an Associate Counsel at the White House.

Lanny Breuer - Assistant Attorney General

Led by Lanny Breuer, zDOJ's Criminal Division decided to resurrect the prosecution of Operation Wide Receiver even though the case had used the reckless and misguided tactic of gunwalking. Breuer dedicated staff resources to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Arizona to help in Operation Fast and Furious. His staff also authorized at least six wiretap applications on his behalf in support of Fast and Furious.

Jason Weinstein - Deputy Assistant Attorney General 

Jason Weinstein authorized wiretap applications for Operation Fast and Furious. He knew about the gunwalking tactics used in Operation Wide Receiver. He failed to connect the dots between the two cases. Weinstein resigned on September 19, 2012.

Kenneth Blanco - Deputy Assistant Attorney General

Kenneth Blanco authorized at least two wiretap applications in Operation Fast and Furious.

James Trusty - Acting Chief, Gang Unit

James Trusty was a key liaison between Criminal Division leadership and prosecutors sent by the Criminal Division to Arizona.

U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Arizona

Dennis Burke - U.S. Attorney

Dennis Burke was the U.S. Attorney for the District of Arizona during Operation Fast and Furious. He frequently met with ATF and received updates on the case. In the early stages of Fast and Furious, Burke wanted to hold out for a bigger case instead of arresting the straw purchasers and closing the investigation. Burke resigned on August 30, 2011.

ATF Headquarters

Kenneth Melson - Acting Director

Kenneth Melson was instrumental in starting a new initiative between ATF and the Criminal Division, whereby Criminal Division attorneys assisted ATF with firearms investigations and prosecutions. Melson retired on September 19, 2012.

William Hoover - Deputy Director

Realizing that Fast and Furious had become an enormous case, William Hoover ordered an exit strategy for the investigation. The Department of Justice never implemented it. Hoover was also instrumental in briefing personnel at Department of Justice headquarters about the status of Fast and Furious, providing frequent updates to the Deputy Attorney General’s office. Hoover retired from ATF on August 1, 2012.

William McMahon - Deputy Assistant Director for Field Operations—West

McMahon authorized the wiretap applications on behalf of ATF before they were sent to the Department of Justice’s Office of Enforcement Operations for review and approval.

William Newell - Special Agent in Charge, Phoenix Field Division

William Newell had a history of using reckless tactics during his investigations. He believed he had the full support of senior Justice Department officials in creating and executing Fast and Furious.

When you look at the list above of who did what, it's apparent that he was correct.