Mexican Commandos Just Took Down This Secret Drug Cartel Radio Grid [Video]

Mexico is fighting a war. A brutal, inexhaustible war against rich, powerful, merciless drug cartels. The rich part is key, as they're able to afford nice toys like a completely private communications network—until government commandos destroyed it.

As much as cartels like the might Zetas rule parts of Mexico, taking illegal drug talkin' (and war plannin') off the network is smart. So the Zetas built their own: solar-powered microwave radio towers that spanned distributed across ten Mexican cities in Veracruz, allowing completely encrypted, covert chatter.

But months of intel gathering by Mexican Navy commandos tipped them off to the network, and they were able to dismantle it entirely. Now the Zetas are without an important chunk of their country-wide strategy—but are still spray blood and bullets all over Mexico. It's tough to fight the bad guys when the bad guys are as well-equipped as you are—this is a hell of a leap beyond barely-floating cocaine subs. [Borderland Beat via DefenseTech]

Related Stories

View the original article here

This post was made using the Auto Blogging Software from WebMagnates.org This line will not appear when posts are made after activating the software to full version.

Mexican Drug Terrorists Torture and Murder Online Critics [Mexico]

By Kelly Hodgkins and Sam Biddle Sep 15, 2011 1:15 AM 25,932 122

We know the Zetas drug cartel can be as sophisticated as any modern government. But the rest of the time, they're as mercilessly savage as the lowest criminal thugs. And now they're aiming the horrific bloodshed at online opponents.

A CNN report describes a gruesome double murder in which two young people in their 20s were disemboweled, mutilated and hung publicly beneath a bridge for all to see—all after being extensively tortured. The dispatch notes the bodies were so brutalized, their innards were visibly hanging out. Why? To send a message: next to their bodies sat a crudely-drawn sign denouncing the pair's use of social media: "This is going to happen to all of those posting funny things on the Internet. You better (expletive) pay attention. I'm about to get you." The narcoterrorist poster board was signed with a Z, pointing to the notorious (and notoriously bloodthirsty) Zetas cartel.

Mexicans have increasingly turned to the internet as a last safe, anonymous place to discuss the drug war raging inside their country. Cops are corrupt. Local government's corrupt. Often, their ISPs are one of the few places not in the pocket of a drug criminal. But it's clear this safe haven was no such thing, and either through sloppiness or some online detective work, cartel killers have been able to track down dissenting citizens by their online outcries. And unfortunately, the grizzly killings seem to already be working: popular message board Al Rojo Vivo—listed by name on the Zetas sign—is no longer accepting public comments in the wake of the lynching, With fewer places to share their fear and report cartel crimes, drug terrorists tighten a fascistic grip on Mexico. [CNN]

File photo of cartel crime scene by Spencer Platt/Getty

Related Stories

View the original article here

This post was made using the Auto Blogging Software from WebMagnates.org This line will not appear when posts are made after activating the software to full version.