UT Article on Baja Muggings

[Pompal 09.]

I finally received a reply from Anna Cearley, she is the Union-Tribune writer who specializes in border issues for her paper, and has written about four stories in the roll about mugging taking place to surfers, and others on the Highways along Baja Calif. I basically asked her does she even verify the stories, if so how, or does she depend on reports from sites like our here? I also told her I belong to sites like the surfer sites she reads, except we are whore mongers concerned about shakedowns in Tijuana, and would provide her some things if she needed.

Here is her email back to me. I of course changed my real name to "Fireballs" everything else is her writing:

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Hi, Fireballs, Sorry for the long delay in my response. I had an email pile-up.

We do the best we can to try and verify information like this, but it's difficult when people don't report the crimes to authorities. We obviously prefer to base our information on a filed report with U.S. or Mexican authorities and in some of these cases we talked to the victims.

The issue with these recent stories was that the reports were springing up all over the Internet The reason why we mentioned that some of the alleged incidents were things being passed on from person to person is to indicate that the bare number verified was probably smaller than the actual numbers. We didnt' go into details on those alleged incidents because we weren't able to verify them. We were able to speak directlywith four victims representing four different incidents: the surfers, one of the fishermen, the family that was robbed as well as the couple that were near cuatro casas.The stories ran sporadically and you may not have seen all of them. Two of those filed formal complaints and the other two may have limited their complaints to the robbery of their cars.

So I hope that answers your questions. Thanks for the note. Sincerely, Anna

 

[Gerik]

escierto wrote:

Yes I know all about the Zeta's that's not exactly a cut and paste job I did below that was me reseaching the Zeta's looking at many articles and mergeing the current thinking people have of the Zeta's and making my own article on the zetas except where I highlighted it.

I wanted to let the people who know were the Zeta's as it hasn't really been covered very well on these sex forums that have a Mexican section.

Now what I'm wondering about is the more sensational aspects of the Zetas. I'm wondering if these guys were really trained as 'Special force" similar to the US "Army Rangers" or were they just invited to Fort Benning as a PR stunt, and perhaps watched firms and got very little training, and then later turned to work for the Mexican drug cartels.

I wondering if Herbierto Lazcano( El Verdugo) the "Executioner" really fed human victims to lions and tigers on his ranch or is this another reporters sensationalized view trying to write a good story playing loose with facts and just reporting rumors. Now do I believe if 'El Verdugo' has people blindfolded and shot? Hell yes I believe that! I believe Drug Cartels have professional killers and real bad guys working for them. But unlike Burt I don't think the Zetas are bothering anyone in the zona, or walking ART 123? If the Zetas are in Tijuana, most of the killing is done away from the zona, and involves others in the drug trade and TJ cops involved with them too.......not mongers trying to pick up providers in TJ.

You guys kidding I know what's going on with the Drug Lords, I watch movies and seen 'Scareface" with Al Pacino's as Tony Montana at least 10 times.

The Zetas remind me of past stories about Brazilian Killer Bees and the Mara Salvatruchad gangs a few years ago. We use to read how the killer bees were moving north to the US and were going to do all kinds of killings. The scare never really materialized although the 'Killer Bees killed a few cows, dogs, and even a few people in the US. The Killer bees turned out to be more hype then reality, now that's not to say I wouldn't be scared shitless if I saw a hive of pissed off bees on a bike trail I was riding or walking.

The Zetas I'm sure are real, but I also believe what I also read about them: They say any kid that puts black paint on their face, and shoots beer cans with BB guns also claim they are Zeta.

 

[blackcat]

Yeah Fire likes to downplay the violence in Mexico.....
But like anything in life there are no rewards without risk.

 

[lilly of the valley]

Do you really expect Fireballs to believe in the Zetas when he doesn't believe:
--that there is a problem with police corruption in Baja
--that suffers are getting mugged/carjacked while driving back to the US
--that there are "death trains" on Mexico's southern boarder
--that mongers get mugged and shakendown on Articulo 123
--that it is even possible for somebody to get mugged in front of AB
--that cab drivers, meseros, store clerks, etc. try to scam gringos
--Etc. Etc. Etc.

Fireballs typically denies/downplays any statement that negatiavely reflects on Mexico/Mexicans. Frequently he also calls the speaker a racist. That is why people like Tom say things like Fireballs is a "self-appointed agent for the Mexican Ministry of Propaganda."

 

[hislittleprincess]

You don't think the Zetas are for real? They're for real all right. You can search the web for news stories on their exploits all over Mexico and the border area of Texas. You can watch Mexican TV documentaries on them on youtube complete with bloody bodies.

 

[Jitter]

I sent Anna Cearley a e-mail asking her a few questions about the stories she has been writing such as did her sources file any type of complaint with either the authorities in either Mexico or San Diego? I also asked her does she get a lot of her stories from forums like ours here? I also told her about lot of guys concerned about the reported shakedowns at the taxi drop off, and would she be interested in doing a story about that, because I had lot of sources for her? She of course didn't answer me, and I'm still wondering why we suddenly got a rash of robbery reports from surfers and Baja racers, and Anna Cearly is doing the stories on all of them?

Here is something I wrote somewhere else about the Los Zetas as there has been a few rumors of the Zetas being responsible for the robberies, and other major crimes in Tijuana. I don't know what to make of the Zetas. I'm sure Mexico has a few professional crazy killers running around loose working for the Drug Cartels, but I'm not sure I buy into the story these are the same special force guys trained at Ford Benning, Georgia as Special force guys?

The following is some stuff I pulled from different articles about the Zetas, but the stuff about killer bees and Rambo is from me.

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I want to talk about the Los Zetas the elite 'special forces' of the Mexican military, some trained in the U.S. at Fort Benning, Georgia. The goal was to train these elite killers, and then turn them loose to wipe out the Drug Lords, and their drug cartels in Mexico. But something happened, these Mexican commandos weren't like the US commandos, willing to take order and work for peanuts fighting the US 'War on Drugs.' Hell no these guys weren't stupid. Instead the the 'Zetas' switched sides and went to work for the drug cartels, who happened to pay more the the Mexican government, a lot more with fringe benefits of killing bonuses.( some say the bonus is as high as $30,000 to $50,000 if they get a US border patrol agent?)

The group was founded by Arturo Guzman Decena, known as Zeta 1 in the 90's. He reportedly received training from the Israeli military. His first job was to wrest control from the Sinoloa cartel. He used counterinsurgency and psychological warfare to torment his enemies believing if you paralyze your adversaries with fear, you've won half the battle. Decena later died in a bloody shootout, but other leaders quickly picked up the slack.

Heriberto Lazcano, is another leader, not sure if he is still alive or in jail, but I think he is still out there. Lazcano worked in Tijuana, and some say he was responsible for the shoot out in Tijuana where they blindfolded, handcuffed and shot six employees in the head, and fired rocket-propelled grenades at the TJ cops. Lazcano is so violent he is purported to have fed human victims to lions and tigers that he keeps at his ranch like Hank Rhon. Lazcano's nickname is "El Verdugo"--the Executioner.

You know these Zeta's remind me of a deadly combination of "Killer Bees and Rambo, because like the Killer bees if was an experiment gone bad, training these guys how to be ruthless killers, and then turning them loose on Mexico, and even the US as the Zetas have been in the US mainly in Texas, however the official US government response is the Zeta's are not making excursions into US, but everybody in the know, knows that's bullshit. They are also like Rambo is because like Rambo I, these Zeta's have popped a gasket, and went crazy with killing anybody in their way, and they can't be stopped!

It get worst too. I understand the Zeta's are forming alliances with get this: Al-Qaeda, Mara Salvatrucha(MS-13) the macheta-wielding gang from Central America, and even our finest that we love so much the corrupt TJ cops!

Now if these stories are to be believed about the surfer dudes and desert racers.......then things are only going to get worst as more Zeta's make their way to Tijuana looking for a girlfriend, perhaps the lady siting with some of you? Beast could be right, the muggings that took place could be the work of the Zeta's with a friend in the TJ police department.......out having some fun?

Now we also have to tell you what the other side is saying. The Mexicans government downplays the existence of the Zetas, as nothing more then a few rogue Mexican military guys that went bad, who have already been killed or jailed.

]Michael Chertoff, head of Homeland Security, has gone on the record to dismiss reports of armed incursions by a uniformed military force as "navigational mistakes", claiming that the Mexican soldiers were "lost.

READ ONE OF US SPECIAL FORCE GUY SAID ABOUT THE ZETAS TRAINED IN THE US:

"The training lasted a mere three months in the sweltering North Carolina heat. In total, 300 Mexican agents and army officers participated in the summer long exercise. Years later, unsealed documents revealed that the training proved to be no more than an extended boot camp. "It was more a media and propaganda effort then it was for actual tactical training that could be used in combat," one of the US Special Forces Officers that participated in the effort stated. "They brought them [sic] boys here, and most of them could fire a gun already, so we just showed them a lot of video of Special Forces training from the early 70's. We were not about to teach or display tactics that make Special Forces what they are. That's why when I read that these boys that are 'Zetas' were Special Forces trained, I almost wet myself with laughter.'"

HERE IS AN ARTICLE FROM WORLD NET DAILY ABOUT THE ZETAS:

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=44486

 

[Iris]

I don't know if these stories are true or not but I'm sure some people are being mugged in Baja California? However, I'm starting to wonder about Anna Cearley, the San Diego Union-Tribune writer who is writing up all these stories. Why only her? And why doesn't she get more facts as many of her reports are tabloid style as she gets her information from word or mouth, and surfer and Desert racing fourms similar to our prostitution fourms.

Some of these stories seem true, but others seem 'over-the-top' like the story about guys dragged from their cars at gun point and they thinking they were going to die! Now that part I might believe, but then the story went on and on, how everyone they met after the robbery also wanted to rob them too. C'mon not everyone in Tijuana could be out to get you? Surely they have some decent folks living in working in Tijuana?

Almost all these stories involve guys loosing thousands of dollars in money, this one lost $70,000 ( where is the Mexican insurance?) another lost $60,000 in equipment, again someone lost $10,000 dollars, and his age 50 something girlfriend who looks a bit like a man, claims she was raped by two black hooded Mexican gunman who took turns with her! ( hey guys your near TJ, you can do a lot better than that for only $200 pesos) The lady actually went on TV and told the world she was raped by these two Mexican gunmen!

A few of these reports were never reported to officials in either Mexico or the US. You can file a police report in San Diego and they foward it to the Mexican consulate in Tijuana, however the Mexican consulate said they never heard from the victims in some of these cases?

While seaching Anna Clearley name, I came accross her on the race-dezert.com forums seking information about one of the cases she was writing about. Looking at the date it seems like she wrote the story first, and then went searching for infomation, I'm not sure, I think I'll send her an email and ask her about it?

CHECK THIS OUT FROM THE RACE-DEZERT.COM FORUM. BELOW THE WEBSHIT IS ANNA CEARLEY'S BIO IF ANYONE IS INTERESTED AS SHE COVERS OUR AREA:

http://www.race-dezert.com/forum/showthread.php?p=365339

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Anna Cearley
Rookie

Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: San Diego, Calif.
Posts: 3
Rep Power: 0 Hello my name is Anna - SD reporter

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I am a reporter with the San Diego Union-Tribune trying to reach the family that was abducted and robbed over the weekend. Please contact me at : [email protected]
Thanks.

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Anna's bio:

Anna Cearley has covered the border for almost four years as a staff reporter with The San Diego Union-Tribune, based out of Tijuana. Her primary expertise is border crime, specifically drug trafficking. In 1996 she received a grant through the Inter-American Press Association to freelance stories from Nicaragua and El Salvador. During that time, she attended a summer program at the Mexico City-based Colegio de Mexico. Cearley has traveled extensively through other parts of Latin America, including Peru. She is a graduate of Northwestern University.

 

[Kes]

did this actually occur on the toll road?

 

[gretcho]

Race crewman reports latest Baja robbery

By Anna Cearley and Bill Center
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITERS
November 22, 2007

The violent robbery of an American family in Baja California early Monday morning is adding to concerns about safety south of the border.

The latest attack began about 1 a.m. when Chris Hall, his wife, Debra, and their 16-year-old son and 21-year-old daughter where driving home to El Cajon from the SCORE Baja 1000 off-road auto race, which ended Friday in Cabo San Lucas.

Hall said their 2007 Ford F-250 was pulled over by a black car with flashing red and blue lights and a siren as they traveled on the coastal road just south of the Playas de Tijuana toll booth. A second car blocked the path in front of them.

Hall, 42, is a truck driver and crewman who supports off-road racers. He was pulling an empty car trailer after assisting the race team of Andy McMillin, whose family is one of San Diego County's biggest home developers. The trailer was identified with McMillin's race insignia.

“I think they knew what they were doing,” Hall said of the assailants. “If I had been a McMillin, I think they would have kidnapped me.”

The assailants took the wheel of the Halls' truck, held the family at gunpoint for two hours, and then released them at a secluded spot on a mountain, Hall said.

The men stole the truck and all of the family's belongings, Hall said. It took the Halls more than an hour to walk down the mountain and find help. Mexican police took them immediately to the border.

The Halls filed a report yesterday with Mexican authorities. Chris Hall estimated the family's personal loss at $70,000. “But we're alive and I didn't think we were going to be . . . I'm counting my blessings.”

The attack was the latest in a series that has put frequent Baja travelers on edge.

Stories of at least six armed assaults have been shared by travelers through the Internet and by word of mouth. Some, but not all, of the cases have been determined by authorities as credible.

One widely publicized attack Aug. 31 involved a group of North County surfers who were stopped by a convoy of armed men who used flashing lights to pull them over on the road between the San Ysidro border crossing and Playas de Tijuana.

The surfers were forced out of their vehicles at gunpoint, and one was ordered to kneel and crawl as if he were going to be executed. The gunmen took the surfers' two trucks and other equipment.

In another publicized case, Pat Weber of Encinitas and his girlfriend were robbed Oct. 23 by two men wearing military clothing and ski masks at Cuatro Casas, a surfing spot about 200 miles south of the border. The assailants shot at his motor home and sexually assaulted his girlfriend before stealing $10,000 worth of computers, video cameras and other gear.

Baja California tourism officials didn't return phone calls yesterday asking about Monday's attack. But last month officials with the state attorney general's office in Baja California said they were working with other agencies to beef up patrols along the roads tourists often use to get to and from the border.

They urged victims to report such crimes immediately, but some victims have been afraid of file reports because they don't trust Mexican law enforcement officers.

Three people recently contacted The San Diego Union-Tribune to report being robbed by Tijuana police officers near the San Ysidro border crossing over the past six weeks.

Their complaints come amid speculation in the Mexican media that extortion and other misdeeds by police have increased recently because of an anticipated crackdown once Tijuana's new mayor, Jorge Ramos, takes office Dec. 1.

Authorities are unsure whether the latest accounts about attacks against tourists reflect an increase in attacks or that more people are sharing their stories with reporters or on Internet sites.

Robert Fishman, director of administration for the Mainly Mozart Festival in San Diego, said he was robbed of more than $500 in cash by a group of Mexican police officers Oct. 13 after leaving a Caliente sports gaming site. He said the officers stopped him on a dark section of the pedestrian bridge that leads to the San Ysidro border crossing around 10 p.m. and searched his wallet and pockets. After they let him go, he realized the money was missing.

Fishman filed a report with the San Diego Police Department, which forwards the information to the U.S. Consulate in Mexico. However, he said the case appeared stymied because he couldn't see the officers' faces.

Fishman said he does not plan to go back to Baja California.
Hall is more adamant.

“I'm the person who has always dispelled the rumors about being hassled in Baja California,” he said. “I have always loved the country and the people. . . . Before this year, we had never had a problem, only great memories. But I'm never going back.”
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Anna Cearley: (619) 542-4595; [email protected]