Pubdate: Sat, 22 Jan 2005
Source: San Antonio Express-News (TX)
Copyright: 2005 San Antonio Express-News
Contact:  http://www.mysanantonio.com/expressnews/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/384
Author: Jesse Bogan and Dane Schiller

BORDER SLAYINGS WERE A SETUP

MATAMOROS, Mexico - The killers of six prison employees here dressed
in black and used a fake roadblock to seize their victims, authorities
said Friday.

The Thursday attack, believed to have been ordered by organized crime
leaders, prompted Mexican President Vicente Fox and his Cabinet to
prepare to overhaul the nation's prison system, from which jailed drug
cartel leaders still run their enterprises.

The government said it has deployed troops to guard the perimeters of
every maximum-security prison in the nation.

"We already located some witnesses - we don't want to mention them by
name for security reasons - that gave us the possible description of
the vehicles the attackers used and their modus operandi," said Marco
Antonio Ramirez Cabrera, the top federal prosecutor in the state of
Tamaulipas.

Ramirez said the victims - all men - were targeted after working
24-hour shifts at the maximum-security federal prison on the outskirts
of this city across the Rio Grande from Brownsville.

They left the prison in three vehicles between 9:44 a.m. and 10:25
a.m. during a time that several other vehicles left, using the same
road. The others weren't stopped. Ramirez wouldn't say how many gunmen
were involved in the slayings but said two white vehicles were used
for the roadblocks.

The victims included camera technicians and a supervisor. They were
shot several times, heaped in a white Ford Explorer that belonged to
the supervisor and dumped a half-mile from the prison. All were
blindfolded and some had their hands bound.

The killings capped a violent week on the U.S.-Mexico border and came
on the heels of a government shakedown of La Palma prison in Mexico
City, home to some of the nation's most hardened drug criminals.

Miguel Angel Caro Quintero, a high-profile drug trafficker and alleged
member of the Sinaloa Cartel, was transferred here from La Palma just
days before the attack. Leaders of the Sinaloa Cartel reportedly are
vying for control of Matamoros and other border cities long considered
the turf of the Gulf Cartel, whose alleged leader, Osiel Cardenas, is
in prison.

A well-placed Mexican government official, who asked not to be
identified, said crime bosses continue to run their empires from
within prisons. He made the comment after a special meeting of Fox's
Cabinet to address the latest wave of killings.

"The drug bosses continue to operate. That is the reality. They have
not lost control," said the official, who also defended the
administration's efforts to combat drug traffickers.

Fox has vowed to fight "the mother of all wars" against the cartels
and said his administration will do whatever it takes to ensure law
and order.

The official wouldn't discuss specifics of the Cabinet meeting, but
said it focused on prison security. He said a complete overhaul of the
nation's prison system was in the works.

Among the challenges the government faces is the ability of defense
lawyers to meet for hours at a time with their clients and relay
messages to the outside world.

Under current law, defendants are entitled to one lawyer for each
criminal charge they face. They can meet with each of those lawyers up
to three hours a week.

"It opens a space, like grease, that allows (bosses and underlings) to
interact," he said. "It is ridiculous."

He said prisoners facing trial now would be housed separately from
those who already have been convicted. Under the Mexican legal system,
people who have yet to be tried are housed in the same places as those
who have been sentenced.

The Associated Press reported that Mexico's federal prisons were
placed on a red alert Friday. The "maximum alert" temporarily suspends
all visits by relatives, allowing inmates to see only their lawyers or
government human rights workers.

Meanwhile, Tamaulipas Gov. Eugenio Hernandez Flores, who met with Fox
on Thursday, said more federal help is on the way to fight the cartels.

"He said he will immediately give orders to mobilize federal security
forces so that we can work together to combat crime," the governor
said, adding that he believed Fox wanted to take action to ensure the
state's residents feel safer.

Tamaulipas shares a border with most of South Texas. The state's
attorney general also sounded the alarm, saying he needs more support
to fortify non-maximum-security prisons, such as those on the border
in Reynosa and Nuevo Laredo.

Meanwhile, friends of the six who were killed dropped by a morgue
where the bodies were covered with white sheets.

The victims had been shot several times, including in the face, said a
morgue assistant guarding the bodies.

A man making inquiries at the morgue about one of the deceased said he
worked with all the victims. He said the men didn't have contact with
inmates and worked with surveillance.

"They were easygoing workers," he said, declining to give his name.
"Good people."
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MAP posted-by: Derek