Narcoland: The Mexican Drug Lords and Their Godfathers (51 page)

42.
Milenio
, November 16, 2008.

43.
Author’s interview with Mario López Valdez,
Reporte Índigo
, July 8, 2010.

44.
Syndicated column by Jesús Blancornelas, May 30, 2006.

45.
Noroeste
, July 10, 2009.

46.
Noroeste
, July 7, 2008.

47.
El
Norte
, May 19, 2007.

48.
Ibid.

49.
Conagua, concession no. 03SIN116508/10ABGR02.

50.
Proceso
, no. 1744, April 4, 2010.

51.
“Godmother,” or unofficial assistant to a corrupt member of the judicial police; see chapter 4. [
Trans. note
]

52.
Intelligence reports obtained for this book.

53.
It was in this capacity that General Álvarez accompanied the handover of El Chapo by Guatemala in 1993, and heard his first, now vanished, statement on that flight from Tapachula. See Chapter 1. [
Trans. note
]

54.
SSP/Cisen file on Ignacio Coronel Villarreal, of which the author has a copy.

55.
Information confirmed directly by one of the DEA officers in charge, in May 2006.

56.
US State Department Narcotics Rewards Program file.

57.
Ibid.

58.
SSP/Cisen file on Juan José Esparragoza Moreno, of which the author has a copy.

59.
SSP/Cisen file on Juan José Esparragoza Moreno.

60.
Proceso
, no. 1746, April 18, 2010.

61.
El
Universal
, June 6, 2005.

62.
Case filed in the New York Eastern District Court, F. no. 2009RO1035/NYNYE614.24/07/2009.

63.
Proceso
, no. 1682, January 25, 2009.

64.
Alfredo Corchado, “Cartel figure lashes out,”
Dallas Morning News
, October 15, 2006.

65.
Ibid.

66.
Ibid.

67.
Ibid.

68.
Declarations given to the author by a senior DEA officer in Mexico.

69.
Corchado, “Cartel figure lashes out.”

70.
US Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, case no. 08-2657, March 10, 2009.

71.
Ibid.

9. NARCO WARS

1.
“Zeta” is the Spanish word for the letter “Z.”
[Trans. note]

2.
SSP/Cisen file on Heriberto Lazcano, of which the author has a copy.

3.
This information was requested of Sedena on September 4, 2009. The Secretariat replied on October 5 that it had found no record of Heriberto Lazcano’s enrolment in the Heroico Colegio Militar.

4.
This information was provided directly by Irma Pérez Ochoa’s lawyer.

5.
Secretariat of National Defense, public information request no. 0000700083405, December 22, 2005.

6.
SSP/Cisen file on Heriberto Lazcano.

7.
FBI Report drawn up by the Criminal Investigative Division & San Antonio Field Intelligence Group, July 15, 2005, of which the author has a copy.

8.
SSP/Cisen file on Heriberto Lazcano.

9.
This information comes from interviews with staff attached to the PJF who witnessed these measures.

10.
SSP/Cisen file on Heriberto Lazcano.

11.
Ibid.

12.
Ibid.

13.
Ibid.

14.
FBI Report drawn up by the Criminal Investigative Division & San Antonio Field Intelligence Group, July 15, 2005.

15.
Ibid.

16.
Ibid.

17.
Ibid.

18.
Ibid.

19.
Ibid.

20.
Revealed by members of the Centro de Derechos Humanos Fray Francisco in Victoria, at the meeting “Construyendo acciones: presente y futuro de las víctimas de la delincuencia organizada,” held on July 30, 2011 in Mexico City.

21.
Proceso
, no. 1746, April 18, 2010.

22.
Sworn statement by Miguel Ángel Beltrán Olguín, preliminary investigation pgr/siedo/ueidcs/111/2004.

23.
The Zetas recount this in a letter they sent to a senior government official at the beginning of the Calderón presidency, of which the author has a copy.

24.
Ricardo Ravelo,
Osiel
.
Vida y tragedia de un capo
, Mexico City: Grijalbo, 2009.

25.
SSP/Cisen file on Edgar Valdez Villarreal, of which the author has a copy.

26.
Star protected witness for the PGR in the case known as Operation Cleanup, against officials of the PGR itself accused of links to the Beltrán Leyva clan, Jennifer was also La Barbie’s attorney.

27.
This story features in a confidential report entitled “The Footballer Case,” of which the author has a copy. It was corroborated directly by people who worked in the AFI at the time.

28.
Sworn statement by the protected witness called
Karen
, October 5, 2005, penal case 15/2008-IV, of which the author has a copy. Thanks to this statement, it has been possible to reconstruct an account of what happened in Acapulco and Ixtapa-Zihuatanejo.

29.
Proceso
, no. 1763, August 15, 2010.

30.
El
Universal
, December 8, 2005.

31.
Communiqué from the Presidential Office, June 11, 2005.

32.
Ibid.

33.
See Chapter 8.

34.
This version was given by The Zetas in a letter sent to a senior government official at the beginning of Felipe Calderón’s presidency, of which the author has a copy.

35.
The initial investigation into the executions in Acapulco was recorded as pgr/siedo/ueidcs/106/2005.

36.
Bulletin no. 071 of the Sistema Penitenciario del Distrito Federal.

37.
Information obtained from the Civil Service Secretariat.

38.
Anabel Hernández,
Fin de fiesta en
Los
Pinos
, Mexico City, Grijalbo, 2007.

39.
In 2008 a request was made through the Federal Law on Transparency and Access to Public Information to reveal the number of initial investigations opened against García Luna between 1990 and 2008. In January 2009 the IFAI ruled on our complaint that the PGR had refused to supply the information. It ordered the Attorney General’s Office to hand over the list. But by the time this book went to press, the PGR had still not complied with the order.

40.
Based on direct testimony from sources with first-hand experience of these events.

41.
Confidential AFI internal affairs report, of which the author has a copy.

42.
Ibid.

43.
Ibid.

44.
Ibid.

45.
Ibid.

46.
El
Universal
, December 22, 2012.

47.
Confidential AFI internal affairs report, of which the author has a copy.

48.
Ibid.

49.
Ibid.; the author was also able to talk directly to Igor Labastida’s lawyer.

50.
Confidential AFI internal affairs report, of which the author has a copy. The information was corroborated by first-hand sources, the testimony of one of whom is on tape.

51.
Anabel Hernández, Los
cómplices del presidente
, Mexico City: Grijalbo, 2008.

52.
In December 2008 the author revealed the content of these case files in
Reporte Índigo
.

53.
Information based on an official document of the Federal District Public Security Department on Khouri’s arrest, of which the author has a copy.

54.
Information from sources involved in the investigation, who confirmed these details.

55.
Testimony related by their attorney, José Antonio Ortega, in Hernández, Los
cómplices d
el
presidente
.

56.
Reporte Índigo
, September 25, 2009, researched by Isela Lagunas.

57.
Bulletin no. 438/05 of the PGR, May 3, 2005.

58.
Classified FBI report, July 15, 2005.

59.
FBI report drawn up by the Criminal Investigative Division and San Antonio Field Intelligence Group, July 15, 2005, of which the author has a copy.

60.
The Obama administration closed down the NDIC in June 2012. [
Trans. note
]

61.
“National Drug Threat Assessment,” NDIC, April 2004.

62.
“National Drug Threat Assessment,” NDIC, January 2006.

10. FREEDOM IS PRICELESS

1.
Given the implications of this first-hand account we have decided to leave out the general’s name.

2.
Bulletin no. 058/01 of the PGR, February 1, 2001.

3.
Today Tello works for the Mexican cement giant, Cemex.

4.
The 2006 elections were won by the PAN amid widespread accusations of fraud
. [Trans. note]

5.
Communiqué of the Presidential Office, December 4, 2006.

6.
Wikileaks Cable 06, Mexico 6871.

7.
The author carried out an extensive investigation of García Luna’s properties, published in
Reporte Índigo
in 2009 and 2010, which demonstrated wealth that is difficult to explain for a public servant. These reports led to the illegal detention of two journalists from the TVC television company in 2009, and of three employees of
Reporte Índigo
in 2010. To try to make the origin of his property appear legitimate, García threatened to sue
Reporte Índigo
and the journalist, but he never did.

8.
Letter sent on November 18, 2008, by a group of AFI officers to the then President of the Public Security Committee of the lower house of congress, and to forty-nine other lawmakers.

9.
Communiqué of the Mexican Presidential Office, April 27, 2007.

10.
The son of Ismael El Mayo Zambada.

11.
The author has copies of the files from both institutions, which show they were drawn up in Cisen, the Interior Secretariat, and the Public Security Secretariat.

12.
Information obtained from the files drawn up by the SSP, of which the author has copies.

13.
Ibid.

14.
The author has a copy of this document.

15.
Edgardo Buscaglia, in his capacity as Adviser to the UN on Corruption and Organized Crime, has taken part in missions to Colombia, Italy, and Afghanistan. In February 2010, he gave the author an exclusive interview for this book.

16.
From the beginning of July 2007, the author heard accounts of the union between El Chapo Guzmán and Emma Coronel from some of those present. At the same time, the magazine
Proceso
published a report of the event by journalist Patricia Dávila on September 3, 2007. All the accounts have much in common. It remains uncertain whether she is a relative of Nacho Coronel.

17.
These events are recounted by Los Zetas in a letter sent to a senior government official at the beginning of Felipe Calderón’s presidency, of which the author has a copy.

18.
On April 27, 2007, the author wrote an exclusive report in
Reporte Índigo
on the attempts to negotiate a truce between the two cartels.

19.
Dispatch of January 21, penal case 15/2008-IV, of which the author has a copy.

20.
Reporte Índigo
, February 7, 2008, researched by the author.

21.
The author spoke directly to Igor Labastida’s attorney after his execution.

22.
The author met tradespeople and community leaders in Tepito to learn more about the background to Edgar Millán and his family.

23.
Pitufo, a former member of the Gulf Cartel, gave his statement on March 9, 2009. The author has a copy.