Post by west-texan on Mar 31, 2009 23:31:53 GMT -5
This is getting scary....
Ran across a mention of this story here... www.ticklethewire.com/
And the main story comes from here www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/6351629.html
Cartel uses bogus 'FBI' vests for disguise
By DANE SCHILLER Copyright 2009 Houston Chronicle
March 31, 2009, 7:46PM
Mexican drug traffickers could be disguising themselves as U.S. federal agents to trick their rivals, a new law-enforcement advisory indicates.
Mexico’s Gulf Cartel may have 40 bullet-proof vests emblazoned with “FBI” and “DEA,” according to the advisory, which is circulating among local, state and federal law officers this week.
Baseball caps and T-shirts with the agencies’ names have long been a fad among everyday citizens, but ballistic armor raises the stakes and concerns, officials said.
“It is believed the Gulf Cartel intended to use the vests as a distraction while they were conducting enforcement activities against their victims,” reads the advisory from an FBI intelligence coordinator.
The warning comes as Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano plans to travel the border and visit Mexico this week to discuss taking on drug cartels.
The Gulf Cartel is based in Northern Mexico and its reputed former leader, Osiel Cardenas, is jailed in the United States and awaits trial later this year in Houston.
Federal officials declined to comment on the credibility of the source of the information.
Drug Enforcement Administration spokesman Michael Sanders said that during his nearly 20-year career, he’s only heard of a handful of times when criminals imitated agents, but never by wearing vests.
“It is a big concern,” he said.
“We know the traffickers wear ballistic vests, there is no doubt about it,” he said. “But with them saying FBI or DEA on it; we don’t know what they are going to use them for,” he said of the prospect of cartel members wearing the vests.
“We don’t know if they are using them in home invasions on this side (of the border) or will use them on the south side of border to throw off any military or law enforcement action.”
No indication of U.S. use
The FBI’s San Antonio office was apparently the first to receive information the cartel acquired the equipment in January.
The advisory to law enforcement officers notes that there is no indication the cartel intended to use the vests in the United States.
While impersonating U.S. law enforcement officers would seem unusual in Mexico, cartel operatives there have long disguised themselves as Mexican federal agents, police and soldiers to carry out attacks or kidnap rivals.
Erik Vasys, a spokesman for the FBI in San Antonio, said that information shared among law enforcement officers can be misinterpreted by the general public.
“The primary purpose of the intel is always officer safety first,” said Vasys, who explained that some shared information is raw, or has only partially been validated, at the time it is disseminated.
dane.schiller@chron.com
Ran across a mention of this story here... www.ticklethewire.com/
And the main story comes from here www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/6351629.html
Cartel uses bogus 'FBI' vests for disguise
By DANE SCHILLER Copyright 2009 Houston Chronicle
March 31, 2009, 7:46PM
Mexican drug traffickers could be disguising themselves as U.S. federal agents to trick their rivals, a new law-enforcement advisory indicates.
Mexico’s Gulf Cartel may have 40 bullet-proof vests emblazoned with “FBI” and “DEA,” according to the advisory, which is circulating among local, state and federal law officers this week.
Baseball caps and T-shirts with the agencies’ names have long been a fad among everyday citizens, but ballistic armor raises the stakes and concerns, officials said.
“It is believed the Gulf Cartel intended to use the vests as a distraction while they were conducting enforcement activities against their victims,” reads the advisory from an FBI intelligence coordinator.
The warning comes as Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano plans to travel the border and visit Mexico this week to discuss taking on drug cartels.
The Gulf Cartel is based in Northern Mexico and its reputed former leader, Osiel Cardenas, is jailed in the United States and awaits trial later this year in Houston.
Federal officials declined to comment on the credibility of the source of the information.
Drug Enforcement Administration spokesman Michael Sanders said that during his nearly 20-year career, he’s only heard of a handful of times when criminals imitated agents, but never by wearing vests.
“It is a big concern,” he said.
“We know the traffickers wear ballistic vests, there is no doubt about it,” he said. “But with them saying FBI or DEA on it; we don’t know what they are going to use them for,” he said of the prospect of cartel members wearing the vests.
“We don’t know if they are using them in home invasions on this side (of the border) or will use them on the south side of border to throw off any military or law enforcement action.”
No indication of U.S. use
The FBI’s San Antonio office was apparently the first to receive information the cartel acquired the equipment in January.
The advisory to law enforcement officers notes that there is no indication the cartel intended to use the vests in the United States.
While impersonating U.S. law enforcement officers would seem unusual in Mexico, cartel operatives there have long disguised themselves as Mexican federal agents, police and soldiers to carry out attacks or kidnap rivals.
Erik Vasys, a spokesman for the FBI in San Antonio, said that information shared among law enforcement officers can be misinterpreted by the general public.
“The primary purpose of the intel is always officer safety first,” said Vasys, who explained that some shared information is raw, or has only partially been validated, at the time it is disseminated.
dane.schiller@chron.com