By Mario Andrade
The failed ambush that took place last week on two CIA agents in Mexico continues to raise questions by both people in Mexico and in the U.S. The Mayor of Mexico City is asking the federal government to clarify what the exact role of the CIA is in the so-called drug war. In the United States, some Republicans are beginning to ask the Obama Administrations for answers about this recent incident, which parallels the shooting of ICE Agent Jaime Zapata when he was ambushed and killed by Los Zetas almost two years ago. Last Friday August 24 at approximately 8:30 in the morning, a Toyota SUV with two CIA agents, one Mexican Marine Captain, and a drug cartel informant onboard was ambushed by cartel members and the Mexican Federal Police.
Fortunately, no one inside the Toyota SUV was critically injured because it was bullet-proof. During the chase, which lasted only a few minutes, the Mexican Marine Officer called the nearby Navy base in El Capulin for assistance. When the Mexican Marines arrived at the location, the Federales and the cartel members fled the scene. Hours later, a crime scene investigation team from the U.S. State Department arrived. The investigators were guarded by what appeared to be armed private security contractors and a platoon of fully-equipped Mexican Marines. Some of the first things they discovered at the crime scene were two different sets of bullet shell casings, one of 5.56mm caliber (for AR-15 rifles), which is used by the federal police; the other set of shell casings was of 7.62mm caliber (for AK-47 rifles), which is used by the drug cartels. Despite disinformation and multiple versions of the story that mentioned that the Americans were attacked by mistake, this was key evidence that showed without a doubt that the Federales and the cartel members were working together.
Mexican Government sources told DeadlineLive.info that there were no mistakes about this assassination attempt. When crime scene investigators took a closer look at the bullet-riddled SUV, and they noticed that most of the bullet holes showed that the shots were precisely placed on parts of the vehicle where the armor is more vulnerable. Furthermore, most of the shots were placed targeting the two front passengers of the vehicle, which sources say the two CIA Agents were sitting. The drug cartel that has the most expertise in this type of ambushes on armored vehicles is Los Zetas, the same organization that ambushed Jaime Zapata. Two years ago and in a similar fashion, Los Zetas also ambushed the would-be governor of the Mexican State of Tamaulipas, Rodolfo Torre Cantu, just two days before the 2010 elections. During the ambush that lasted minutes, Los Zetas also wiped out the entire convoy of SUVs carrying the candidate’s security team. The attack was so swift and precise that no one saw them come in and no one saw them leave. It’s no surprise that Los Zetas can carry out attacks like this; after all, some of them are special forces defectors that were trained by the U.S. Military in Fort Benning, Georgia. Los Zetas have several motives to carry out an attack like this against the CIA. The U.S. and Mexican Governments have chased them out of Nuevo Laredo -their biggest border smuggling route into the U.S. The U.S. Government has also sent at least 200 U.S. Marines to Guatemala to intercept their cocaine shipments coming from Colombia. Their backs are against the wall, so we may expect more similar incidents like this one.
Just hours after the shooting, Mexican and U.S. Officials were misleading the public, stating that the two Americans shot near the city of Cuernavaca were ‘State Department Employees.’ However, the Mexican Navy issued a statement mentioning that the Americans had just left a shooting range with Mexican Marines, and that they were driving to the nearby naval installation in El Capulin. The Mexican media began to investigate just what exactly takes place in El Capulin. What kind of training does the Mexican military receive at that facility? And just what are American citizens are doing there? The recent reports coming out of the Mexican wires are nothing less than astounding. The naval installations in the heavily wooded and mountainous area of the El Capulin not only provide special operations training; it is also a joint Mexico-U.S. intelligence facility, where covert operations planning takes place to infiltrate, track, and subsequently go after drug cartels and other criminal organizations. It was then when both Mexican and U.S. Government Officials finally admitted that the two Americans shot near Cuernavaca were CIA Agents.
The Mexican press learned that the two CIA Agents had just arrived from Afghanistan a few days earlier. They also learned that they entered the country illegally, using fake identities. The names they used were Stan Dove Boss and Philip P. Quincannon. After the incident, they were transported to a hospital in Cuernavaca. However, the Mexican Navy picked them up and took them to a nearby Naval Hospital, where they later helped them get out of the country without notifying the authorities investigating the case. They left the same way they came in -secretly.
McHale’s Navy – The Defense Information Security Agreement of 2008 turns the Mexican Navy into a quasi-branch of the U.S. Military
Credible news sources in Mexico, such as Milenio have uncovered the framework used by U.S. Intelligence Agencies to work with the Mexican Military, particularly the navy. The framework used by the U.S. Government and the Mexican Navy is included in what’s known as the Defense Information Security Agreement of 2008. Since the early 1980′s, U.S. Government Agencies, like the CIA,DoD, and the DEA have used the Mexican Navy’s collaboration. In 2008, Mexican Secretary of the Navy, Admiral Francisco Saynez and Assistant U.S. Secretary of Defense Paul McHale signed the Defense Information Security Agreement in which the Mexican Navy would follow the same framework as the U.S. Government when it comes to intelligence and ‘sensitive information’ handling. Till this day, the Mexican Navy is the only military branch in Mexico that uses this framework; as a result, it is the preferred agency in which the CIA participates in joint operations in Mexican territory.
In exchange, as a result of signing the Defense Information Security Agreement, the Mexican Navy would also have access to sensitive information from the Pentagon and other U.S. Government Agencies. They would receive sophisticated U.S. military communications encryption equipment; they would also follow U.S. Military protocols for the dissemination and destruction of U.S. information and encrypting equipment. In essence, the Mexican Navy is now playing the role of another U.S. Military branch, under the supervision of the CIA, DoD, DEA and other U.S. Government Agencies.
Two years ago, when the Mexican Navy killed the leader of the South Pacific Drug Cartel, Arturo Beltran Leyva in Cuernavaca, U.S. Government Agencies, such as the DEA took credit for playing the role of ‘advisors’ during the operation. Several Mexican media outlets reported that it was a joint U.S.-Mexico operation, in which Defense Information Security Agreement protocols were followed. Mexican Magazine Proceso is reporting that the CIA Agents that were ambushed last week were tracking and making preparations to capture Hector Beltran Leyva, Arturo’s brother and successor as the leader of the cartel. It is also a well-known fact that Hector Beltran Leyva’s stomping ground is the City of Cuernavaca -not very far from where the CIA Agents were shot. Were the federales involved in the ambush working for Hector Beltran Leyva? Were they protecting him from the CIA and the Mexican Navy? Perhaps it was an act of revenge by Hector Beltran Leyva for the killing of his brother Arturo. The information is still pouring out and the full details are still unknown. The federales are still testifying in court and there will be more information coming out very soon.
Perhaps now the question on everyone’s mind is this: What’s going to happen when a high ranking Mexican Admiral with access to secret Pentagon information gets bribed by the drug cartels? Before Los Zetas built their criminal organization, they used to be loyal special forces soldiers in the Mexican Army. Then in the 1990′s, the Gulf Drug Cartel offered these soldiers an offer they couldn’t refuse by asking them the proverbial question: ‘Silver or lead?’ This is when a drug cartel asks a government official, a police officer or a member of the military if they want to work for them. If they decline, then they die. If they accept, they receive lots of money and protection from the cartels in exchange for information. The drug cartels speak the universal language of money. With a $20 billion-dollar a year drug trafficking industry, they are more powerful than the Mexican Government. In fact, many members of the Mexican Government work for them already. So when are we going to learn our lesson?