Now this story is barely getting any notice out there and this is stuff we need to be watching along the border. To me, this is just another sign of the drug war in Mexico, spilling over the border into the US.
The other part that I am curious about, is if it is easier for Los Zetas to operate on the US side of the border, versus the Mexico side? Of course the cartels will play the border regions to their advantage, but will there be a point where the battlefield will expand to the US side at an increased level? I say this, because the cartels are fighting over territory in Mexico, and it makes sense that the battle for territory would extend into the US. And will US authorities even be a deterrent to that fight over territory in the US?
I think another thing to watch is the consolidation of power, and the taking of territory by the cartels. What I am getting at here is what happens when a cartel wins the territory they are fighting over? If a cartel wins and consolidates the border regions on the Mexican side, then the logical battlefield that is next, would be the US side. Meaning the competitors of that cartel will have to go to the US side to get in on controlling the flow of drugs/money/people to make money. That dominate cartel will also have to win that US side of the border in order to fully exploit the territory it has won on the Mexican side. Interesting stuff and something to watch. –Matt
Edit: 11/26/2011- Dr. Bunker just wrote a Tactical Note about this incident. Check it out here.
Zetas blamed for shootout in Houston
By Dane Schiller
Wednesday, November 23, 2011
HOUSTON — The mission was supposed to be a textbook “controlled delivery” — a routine trap by law enforcement officers using a secret operative posing as a truck driver to bust drug traffickers when their narcotics are delivered to a rendezvous point.
Instead, things spun out of control. Shortly before the marijuana delivery was to be made Monday, three SUVs carrying alleged Zetas Cartel gunmen seemingly came out of nowhere and cut off the tanker truck as it rumbled through northwestern Harris County, sources told the Houston Chronicle.
They sprayed the cab with bullets, killing the civilian driver, who was secretly working with the government. An undercover sheriff’s deputy, who was driving nearby in another vehicle, was wounded, possibly by friendly fire from officers arriving at the scene.
“We are not going to tolerate these types of thugs out there using their weapons like the Wild, Wild West,” said Javier Pena, the new head of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration’s Houston Division. “We are going after them.”
“Everybody is surprised at the brazenness,” Pena continued as he stressed a full court press by the DEA, the sheriff and police. “We haven’t seen this type of violence, which concerns us.”