7 Shot in Less Than 3 Hours

Seven Riddled In Under Three Hours

These cases of border violence are highlighted with the murder of another transit officer of Ciudad Juárez.

This article appeared in El Ágora de Chihuahua on August 11, 2008. This translation is rendered as closely as possible to the original wording. (See the orginal article here).

Ciudad Juárez – August 11, 2008 – Within less than three hours, seven men have been executed with bullets and two more have been wounded seriously in this city, including a traffic officer and a teenager.

The traffic officer identified as Rogelio Vargas Lee, along with three other individuals, was mortally wounded at 8:00 in the evening outside his home at Iguala Valley Street and Tenayuca Street front of Technical Secondary School 64.

In the attack by heavily armed commando, a teenager of 12 years by the name of Ricardo Martínez was wounded, who saved his own life by hiding underneath a car, but had to be hospitalized in critical condition.

Rogelio Vargas Lee had already survived a similar attack a month ago, but on that occasion the hitman's weapon jammed and the officer miraculously survived.

For the moment, the crime against the traffic officer is a complete mystery to police agencies, especially since the assassination of the Chief Investigator of the PGJE (Attorney General's Justice Office) that happened this afternoon in Chihuahua.
(See referenced article here)

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The Killing Continues in the State

Killing Continues in Chihuahua State

Former Municipal Policeman Dies in Fierce Shooting Between Gangs In Delicias; Two more Killed in Chihuahua.

This article appeared in El Ágora de Chihuahua on August 5, 2008. This translation is rendered as closely as possible to the original wording. (See the orginal article here).

Ciudad Juárez – August 6, 2008 – A former agent of the Municipal Police of Chihuahua died today during a clash between gangs of drug traffickers in the city of Delicias, while in the meantime the owner of a lot of cars and his assistant were executed in Chihuhua when they were within their office.

The event in Delicias occurred in the afternoon when Luis Rodriguez Pacheco, who was a ex-police officer of the municipality of Chihuahua, died in a clash between gangs of drug traffickers. Additionlly, another person named Eloy Renteria was reported injured.

The execution occurred at South San Pedro River Street and Second Street in the downtown area, generating an intense police mobilization ending in the detection of an abandoned Suburban truck, inside which were found weapons and traces of blood.

Moments before in Chihuahua, two men including the owner of a car lot called ''Bravo Automotive,'' which is located on Technological Street at Walnut Street, was found murdered.

So far the names of those killed have not been released, but unofficially it was learned they were the owner of the place and his assistant.

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Yearly Narco Death Record Broken

Narco Death Record Broken

In Durango, Chihuahua and Sinaloa, war between cartels.

This article appeared in El Ágora de Chihuahua on May 21, 2008. This translation is rendered as closely as possible to the original wording. (See the orginal article here).

No Location Provided – May 21, 2008 – Yesterday the country experienced 34 executions, the most violent day of 2008, starring the narcotraffickers.

Chihuahua and Sinaloa, the entities with the greatest number of assassinations of the year, registered

together 14 executions; meanwhile Tamaulipas and Guerrero reported two assassinations in each state.

The nine assassinations in Chihuahua placed the state at 400 victims of organized crime. In Juarez, on the U.S. Border, there were six murders.

The violent acts were combined with a gunfight in Durango that left at least 16 fatalities, according to mayors, and one wounded, which brought the total to 1,356 executions in 141 days.

The North, especially, is the scene of a bloody war between the drug cartels. Chihuahua, Sinaloa and Durango have been converted in recent hours into the operations of a battle for control of territories.

These three states, together with Baja California, Coahuila, Nuevo León, Zacatecas, and San Luis Potosí accounted for 980 of the 1,356 victims so far this year.

The federal government maintains that the blows to the financial and operational structures of the cartels have forced the reshuffling of the same, which has generated violence and even executions of relatives of the leaders themselves.

For the Solicitor Justice of the state of Sinaloa, Luis Cardenas Fonseca, his state is experiencing a rise in executions and explains that this is due to two causes: one that responds to the reaction of criminal groups operating in the running in tandem the Federation and the states, and one that has to do with the rearranging of the cartels.

Given this scenario the government restructured its local commanders and police and put career military leaders at the head of the three major police organizations. In Ciudad Juarez a retired military officer assumed leadership of public security, after his predecessor was assassinated nine days ago.

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