Post: #1

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2013/08/01/mex...z2an8m2WJn



Mexican cartels are recruiting hit men from the U.S. military, offering big money to highly-trained soldiers to carry out contract killings and potentially share their skills with gangsters south of the border, according to law enforcement experts.

The involvement of three American soldiers in separate incidents, including a 2009 murder that led to last week’s life sentence for a former Army private, underscore a problem the U.S. military has fought hard to address.

"We have seen examples over the past few years where American servicemen are becoming involved in this type of activity," said Fred Burton, vice president for STRATFOR Global Intelligence. "It is quite worrisome to have individuals with specialized military training and combat experience being associated with the cartels."

"It is quite worrisome to have individuals with specialized military training and combat experience being associated with the cartels."

- Fred Burton, STRATFOR Global Intelligence.

The life sentence handed down in El Paso District court July 25 to an Army private hired by the Juarez Cartel to be the triggerman in a 2009 hit in this border city is the most recent case.

Michael Apodaca, 22, was a private first-class stationed at nearby Fort Bliss Army Base and was attached to the 11th Air Defense Artillery Brigade when he was recruited and paid $5,000 by the Juarez Cartel to shoot and kill Jose Daniel Gonzalez-Galeana, a cartel member who had been outed as an informant for Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Apodaca, who was the triggerman in the May 15, 2009, hit, was sentenced in El Paso District Court July 25.

Last September, Kevin Corley, 29, a former active-duty Army first lieutenant from Fort Carson in Colorado, pleaded guilty in federal court in Laredo, Texas, to conspiracy to commit murder-for-hire for the Los Zetas Cartel after being arrested in a sting operation. Ironically, that cartel was itself founded by Special Forces deserters from the Mexican Army.

Arrested with Corley in connection with the case was former Army Sgt. Samuel Walker, 28. He was convicted of committing a murder-for-hire in November 2012 and sentenced to 15 years in prison June 21.

Walker served in Afghanistan with Corley’s 4th Brigade Combat Team of the 4th Infantry Division platoon between 2010-2011. Shortly after their return, they made contact with the undercover DEA agent they thought was a member of Los Zetas.

According to his plea agreement, Corley was introduced to undercover agents posing as members of Los Zetas cartel in September 2011; he admitted to being an active-duty officer in the U.S. Army responsible for training soldiers. He told his contact he could provide tactical training for members of the cartel and purchase weapons for them. In later meetings, Corley discussed stealing weapons from military posts and military tactics. On Dec. 23, 2011, he agreed to perform a contract killing for the cartel in exchange for $50,000 and cocaine.

Burton said some soldiers become corrupted by gangs after joining, while others are gang members who enlist specifically for the training they can get.

“There has been a persistent gang problem in the military for the past six to eight years,” Burton said, adding that cartels greatly value trained soldiers from the U.S., Mexico and Guatemala as sicarios – hit men.

More recently, the May 22 murder of Juan Guerrero-Chapa, 43, a former lawyer for the Gulf Cartel, in a mall parking lot in an affluent suburb of Fort Worth has raised concerns due to the military precision with which it was carried out.

"Obviously, the nature of this homicide, the way it was carried out indicates –– and I said indicates –– an organization that is trained to do this type of activity," Southlake Police Chief Stephen Mylett said following the attack. "When you're dealing with individuals that operate on such a professional level, certainly caution forces me to have to lean toward that this is an organized criminal activity act.”

While Mylett acknowledged the murder was a “targeted affair conducted by professional killers,” he would not confirm or deny suspicions that current or previous military was involved.

“The case is still being investigated,” Mylett said.

A task force consisting of the Southlake Police Department, Texas Department of Public Safety, FBI, DEA, and Department of Homeland Security is investigating the case.

But an expert on Mexican cartels, who declined to be identified, said the “operation was brilliant and disciplined.”

“I would be asking the question -- if military was involved -- if I was leading the investigation based on the MO, geography and precision,” said the expert. “I don't have any information to confirm, but we know that a hit team came in and out and there was also a stand-alone recon team.”

Using American servicemen could make it easier to carry out a murder in the U.S. since they can more easily move across the border. And the lure of quick money has proven tempting for theses soldiers given the dismal military pay scale.

Apodaca’s fee for killing Galaena was nearly three times his monthly pay. A sergeant like Walker makes around $2,500 per month, and Corley $4,500. Both hoped for $50,000 each and drugs from their “Los Zetas” connection.

Growing ties between U.S.-based gangs, which have long infiltrated the military, and the Mexican cartels could be making American soldiers even more readily available to the cartels south of the border. The FBI National Gang Intelligence Center reports its concern with gang members with military training poses a unique threat to law enforcement personnel because of their distinctive weapons and combat training skills and ability to transfer these skills to fellow gang members. As of April 2011, the NGIC has identified members of at least 53 gangs whose members have served in or are affiliated with U.S. military.

According to the National Drug Intelligence Center, Hispanic prison gangs along the Southwest border region are strengthening their ties with cartels to acquire wholesale quantities of drugs. There are also strong indications that in exchange for a consistent drug supply, gangs smuggle and distribute drugs, collect drug proceeds, launder money, smuggle weapons, commit kidnappings, and serve as lookouts and enforcers on behalf of the cartels, according to law enforcement sources.

The NDIC has also found that gang-related activity and violence has increased along the Southwest border region, as U.S.-based gangs seek to prove their worth to the drug cartels, compete with other gangs for favor, and act as U.S.-based enforcers for cartels which involves home invasions, robbery, kidnapping and murder.

Army officials have sought to address the issue of gang and cartel influence within their ranks with tighter recruiting standards. A spokesman told FoxNews.com that current recruiting efforts are much more stringent than even four years ago, and that anyone sporting a gang-related tattoo is no longer accepted for enlistment.

“A person like Michael Apodaca would not even be allowed to enlist today,” Army Maj. Joe Buccino, spokesman for the Fort Bliss Army Base in El Paso, told FoxNews.com. “We’re more selective than during the height of Iraq.”

Post: #2

Doesn't surprise me. I always thought doing something like this would be my last-last-last ditch effort to support myself should I find myself unemployable post-military. It'd be difficult to argue whether the US government or a Mexican drug cartel would be the greater evil.

Post: #3

Uncle Sam hatin because that shit was under the table and he was'nt going to get a cut of the fee. Besides that's his racket they were intruding on.

Post: #4

I'm just wondering when the U.S. is going to openly try to "help" he beleaguered Mexicans fix a problem that the American government helped to create

Post: #5

(08-02-2013 05:15 PM)Kingsley Davis Wrote:  Uncle Sam hatin because that shit was under the table and he was'nt going to get a cut of the fee. Besides that's his racket they were intruding on.

Precisely. I find it incredibly hypocritical of the US government to openly oppose this when considering how many resources we dedicated to protecting the CIA's poppy fields in Afghanistan.

Post: #6

(08-02-2013 05:31 PM)A War You Cannot Win Wrote:  Precisely. I find it incredibly hypocritical of the US government to openly oppose this when considering how many resources we dedicated to protecting the CIA's poppy fields in Afghanistan.

If anyone here thinks that this is just the ramblings of a drunk, half crazy ex-combat veteran - United States government drug trafficking is well documented in "The Politics of Heroin: CIA Complicity in the Global Drug Trade" by Prof. Alfred McCoy. The book also covers earlier French and British Empire opium monopolies.

The two main routes for drug smuggling were Florida by sea and Texas across the border. And just by sheer coincidence the governors of these two states were the son's of former Pres and CIA director Daddy Bush.

Does the War on Drugs make sense now?

Post: #7

(08-02-2013 11:06 PM)PoosyWrecker Wrote:  The two main routes for drug smuggling were Florida by sea and Texas across the border. And just by sheer coincidence the governors of these two states were the son's of former Pres and CIA director Daddy Bush.

Does the War on Drugs make sense now?

Reagan's Star Wars Program was a series of weather controlling satellites to optimize opium growth and keep the seas calm for smuggling. And just by sheer coincidence his vice president was the father of the father of the governors of the two states where the satellites were pointing.

Post: #8

I dont get why would you kill anyone for 5k..... its 3 mpnths of minimum wage.... and you risking your entire life over it. If you get offer to kill someone at least take so much money it will last for your children....

Post: #9

(08-02-2013 11:46 PM)Malekhit Wrote:  I dont get why would you kill anyone for 5k..... its 3 mpnths of minimum wage.... and you risking your entire life over it. If you get offer to kill someone at least take so much money it will last for your children....

I agree, that was the disturbing part. Interesting that the foxnews reporter took a moment to editorialize...

Michael Apodaca, 22, was a private first-class... when he was recruited and paid $5,000 by the Juarez Cartel to shoot and kill Jose Daniel Gonzalez-Galeana

the lure of quick money has proven tempting for theses soldiers given the dismal military pay scale.... Apodaca’s fee for killing Galaena was nearly three times his monthly pay.

Post: #10

(08-02-2013 11:06 PM)PoosyWrecker Wrote:  

(08-02-2013 05:31 PM)A War You Cannot Win Wrote:  Precisely. I find it incredibly hypocritical of the US government to openly oppose this when considering how many resources we dedicated to protecting the CIA's poppy fields in Afghanistan.

If anyone here thinks that this is just the ramblings of a drunk, half crazy ex-combat veteran - United States government drug trafficking is well documented in "The Politics of Heroin: CIA Complicity in the Global Drug Trade" by Prof. Alfred McCoy. The book also covers earlier French and British Empire opium monopolies.

The two main routes for drug smuggling were Florida by sea and Texas across the border. And just by sheer coincidence the governors of these two states were the son's of former Pres and CIA director Daddy Bush.

Does the War on Drugs make sense now?

It should also be noted the CIA gained a massive profit from drug trafficking during the Vietnam War too.

Post: #11

(08-02-2013 11:46 PM)Malekhit Wrote:  I dont get why would you kill anyone for 5k..... its 3 mpnths of minimum wage.... and you risking your entire life over it. If you get offer to kill someone at least take so much money it will last for your children....

You gotta get your foot in the door before you get the big contracts.

Post: #12

Honestly, what the hell do they expect? We grow up in a society that forsakes any type of moral code because teaching any type of right and wrong always offends some twisted sense of politically correct behavior, and on top of that we glorify gang culture and, above all else, money.

Then young dudes join the military and rather than be taught they are doing something for some type of moral purpose (as their leaders know that would never stand up over time), they are brainwashed to believe that they enjoy killing people, to never ask questions about why, and to believe that they're just part of a long lineage of warriors who live and die by the gun.

Then you act surprised when the men from this culture and background become murderers for hire?

Please...

You create these people, so again, what the hell do you expect?

Post: #13

My favorite book on the subject is Smedley Butler's War is a Racket. He served in the Marines and eventually went on to become America's most decorated General. He knew war was a business since WW1.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_is_a_Racket

1. Making war unprofitable. Butler suggests that the owners of capital should be "conscripted" before other citizens are: "It can be smashed effectively only by taking the profit out of war. The only way to smash this racket is to conscript capital and industry and labour before the nation's manhood can be conscripted. … Let the officers and the directors and the high-powered executives of our armament factories and our steel companies and our munitions makers and our ship-builders and our airplane builders and the manufacturers of all other things that provide profit in war time as well as the bankers and the speculators, be conscripted — to get $30 a month, the same wage as the lads in the trenches get"


A quote

"I spent 33 years and four months in active military service and during that period I spent most of my time as a high class muscle man for Big Business, for Wall Street and the bankers. In short, I was a racketeer, a gangster for capitalism. I helped make Mexico and especially Tampico safe for American oil interests in 1914. I helped make Haiti and Cuba a decent place for the National City Bank boys to collect revenues in. I helped in the raping of half a dozen Central American republics for the benefit of Wall Street. I helped purify Nicaragua for the International Banking House of Brown Brothers in 1902-1912. I brought light to the Dominican Republic for the American sugar interests in 1916. I helped make Honduras right for the American fruit companies in 1903. In China in 1927 I helped see to it that Standard Oil went on its way unmolested. Looking back on it, I might have given Al Capone a few hints. The best he could do was to operate his racket in three districts. I operated on three continents"

When people try to thank me for my service I never know quite what to say. It makes me feel uncomfortable and makes me want to eject from the conversation. I'm one of the bad guys. I don't have the heart to explain this to my family and total strangers, even if they are being insincere and just offering me obligatory lip service.

Post: #14

(08-03-2013 12:49 AM)Nolecbo Wrote:  

(08-02-2013 11:46 PM)Malekhit Wrote:  I dont get why would you kill anyone for 5k..... its 3 mpnths of minimum wage.... and you risking your entire life over it. If you get offer to kill someone at least take so much money it will last for your children....

I agree, that was the disturbing part. Interesting that the foxnews reporter took a moment to editorialize...

Michael Apodaca, 22, was a private first-class... when he was recruited and paid $5,000 by the Juarez Cartel to shoot and kill Jose Daniel Gonzalez-Galeana

the lure of quick money has proven tempting for theses soldiers given the dismal military pay scale.... Apodaca’s fee for killing Galaena was nearly three times his monthly pay.

Military pay isn't "dismal," it's actually pretty good for a high school grad when you add up the benefits.

Sure a PFC (E-3) gets $1899 a month, but can also either live in the barracks in a two or three man room and eat in the dining hall, or collect around another $1000 or more per month in housing and subsistence allowances. Plus possibly other incentive pays.

I was never short of cash when I was a PFC and lived in the barracks in Germany. Had a used BMW, traveled, went to clubs, partied a lot.

The main problem, as Beyond Borders says, is that we have created a whole bunch of highly trained killers, especially since the training and spirit of elite forces like Delta and SEALs have filtered down through the Rangers and USMC Force Recon to line infantry units. These guys are good, and they are going to miss the adrenaline of 3am raids in Ramadi and Kandahar.

Post: #15

(08-03-2013 05:49 AM)Sp5 Wrote:  

(08-03-2013 12:49 AM)Nolecbo Wrote:  

(08-02-2013 11:46 PM)Malekhit Wrote:  I dont get why would you kill anyone for 5k..... its 3 mpnths of minimum wage.... and you risking your entire life over it. If you get offer to kill someone at least take so much money it will last for your children....

I agree, that was the disturbing part. Interesting that the foxnews reporter took a moment to editorialize...

Michael Apodaca, 22, was a private first-class... when he was recruited and paid $5,000 by the Juarez Cartel to shoot and kill Jose Daniel Gonzalez-Galeana

the lure of quick money has proven tempting for theses soldiers given the dismal military pay scale.... Apodaca’s fee for killing Galaena was nearly three times his monthly pay.

Military pay isn't "dismal," it's actually pretty good for a high school grad when you add up the benefits.

Sure a PFC (E-3) gets $1899 a month, but can also either live in the barracks in a two or three man room and eat in the dining hall, or collect around another $1000 or more per month in housing and subsistence allowances. Plus possibly other incentive pays.

I was never short of cash when I was a PFC and lived in the barracks in Germany. Had a used BMW, traveled, went to clubs, partied a lot.

The main problem, as Beyond Borders says, is that we have created a whole bunch of highly trained killers, especially since the training and spirit of elite forces like Delta and SEALs have filtered down through the Rangers and USMC Force Recon to line infantry units. These guys are good, and they are going to miss the adrenaline of 3am raids in Ramadi and Kandahar.

The only time i've been satisfied with my pay was when I was collecting per diem, overseas, and imminent danger pay. Even then I was still working 18-20 hours a day and risking my life for chump change.

Post: #16

I watched a documentary on YouTube recently about the infiltration of gangs like MS-13, the bloods as crips into the US military.

Apparently, in the past they would not have allowed gang members in or the gang members would have been expected to renounce their membership.

However because of constant deployment of the US military in multiple warzones - their personnel is becoming depleted and they turn a blind out to the gang affiliation. The problem is the gang members are loyal to their gang first and not the US military.

Many gangs now see joining the military as a type of apprenticeship to learn military tactics, then take them onto the streets when their service is up.

Post: #17

(08-03-2013 08:20 AM)dk902 Wrote:  I watched a documentary on YouTube recently about the infiltration of gangs like MS-13, the bloods as crips into the US military.

Apparently, in the past they would not have allowed gang members in or the gang members would have been expected to renounce their membership.

However because of constant deployment of the US military in multiple warzones - their personnel is becoming depleted and they turn a blind out to the gang affiliation. The problem is the gang members are loyal to their gang first and not the US military.

Many gangs now see joining the military as a type of apprenticeship to learn military tactics, then take them onto the streets when their service is up.

They address this in the article, last 2 paragraphs:


Army officials have sought to address the issue of gang and cartel influence within their ranks with tighter recruiting standards. A spokesman told FoxNews.com that current recruiting efforts are much more stringent than even four years ago, and that anyone sporting a gang-related tattoo is no longer accepted for enlistment.

“A person like Michael Apodaca would not even be allowed to enlist today,” Army Maj. Joe Buccino, spokesman for the Fort Bliss Army Base in El Paso, told FoxNews.com. “We’re more selective than during the height of Iraq.”

Post: #18

All the military types in the US that I've talked to recently have been telling me about how hard it is to get in right now. They are evidently reducing the number of soldiers in the military with things sizing down in Iraq.

The desperation for more troops from the last few years definitely seems to be over.

Post: #19

delete

Post: #20

(08-03-2013 06:04 AM)A War You Cannot Win Wrote:  The only time i've been satisfied with my pay was when I was collecting per diem, overseas, and imminent danger pay. Even then I was still working 18-20 hours a day and risking my life for chump change.

Right, for the kind of duty you have to pull in Iraq or Afghanistan, you are underpaid. There's not enough money in the world to make rolling out of the gate everyday with IEDs and RPGs waiting worthwhile. Well, private security contractors get $150 - 300K a year, it's worth it to them, I guess.

I was a clerk in Cold War Germany, myself. Good times.

But military pay and allowances themselves are more than enough to live OK on.

Post: #21

(08-02-2013 05:15 PM)Kingsley Davis Wrote:  Uncle Sam hatin because that shit was under the table and he was'nt going to get a cut of the fee. Besides that's his racket they were intruding on.

And this is also the reason behind the ephedrine regulations, why you can only buy a certain amount OTC allergy meds every month. Crank demand increases steadily while the ability of domestic underground labs and home cooks to supply is curtailed, leaving the demand filled by cartels to smuggle it in with everything else. Same reason Pres Obama has attacked marijuana cultivation more than Bush ever did, to increase the profit margins of their friends in the cartels.

http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/meth...r-crossing