*Updated May 2*
Guadalajara -
A Mexican journalist claims that during the administration of former president Felipe Calderón, the United States offered to capture or kill Joaquín El Chapo Guzmán, the world's most wanted drug lord, in a "quick, easy surgical strike of 15 minutes. But the plan was rejected by Mexican military leaders, because only American personnel would have been allowed to participate in the operation."
Jesús Esquivel, a U.S. based writer for the Mexican paper Proceso, makes those allegations in his new book, The DEA in Mexico. One of Esquivel's main sources was José Baeza, a former Drug Enforcement Administration agent.
A summary of the story has been widely reported in the Mexican press in recent days, on the eve of president Obama's visit to the country this week. But the claims took on added significance after The Washington Post reported over the weekend that officials of Enrique Peña Nieto's administration have given notice to their U.S. counterparts that they intend to abandon the hunt for top drug cartel bosses, a decision which allegedly worries American officials.
Targeting those bosses was a key and much publicized strategy of Calderón. About a month before his term ended on Nov. 30, Calderón officials said that 25 of the 37 most wanted cartel kingpins had been captured or killed. The former PAN president was so determined to decommission the biggest fish that he reportedly begged George W. Bush for overflights by armed drones, much like the United States has used in recent years in Afghanistan and Yemen. But Bush refused Calderón's request.
"U.S. intelligence services had located Guzmán, they knew where he was and they were ready to trap him," writes Esquivel about the operation. Calderón was anxious to take down the elusive leader of the Sinaloa Cartel, who escaped from a Mexican prison in 2001 and remains at large more than 12 years later. Together Mexico and the U.S. have offered more than $7 million for his capture, and Guzmán is under indictment in several American courts (El Chapo Guzmán indicted in El Paso). But the top brass in Mexico's army and marines were opposed because their units would not be allowed to participate, according to the journalist, so the operation was nixed.
Under the plan described by Esquivel in his book, U.S. special forces dressed as Mexican Federal Police would arrive by helicopter at Guzmán's undisclosed hideaway in northern Mexico. They would be "in and out in 15 minutes," with the entire operation being "directed in real time" from the Pentagon and the National Security Council war room in the White House.
Baeza allegedly told Esquivel that on other occasions the DEA had given Mexico "all the information necessary" to get Guzmán. But twice he managed to escape into the country's remote Sierra Madre Occidental mountain range, vanishing in the vast wilderness. According to the former DEA agent, as quoted by Esquivel, Guzmán "remains free with the help of numerous Mexican politicians."
Esquivel claims that Mexico knows where Guzmán is. They have that information, together with a list of his bank accounts and properties around the world, courtesy of the DEA and other U.S. agencies, says the journalist.
"Washington has prepared a plan to get Guzmán, much like the operation used to take out Osama bin Laden. And they haven't abandoned it; in fact they intend to propose it to Enrique Peña Nieto," writes Esquivel. Quoting American officials, the journalist says capturing or killing Guzmán "would be like taking candy from a baby."
Whether Mexico will have any interest in such a plan - assuming Esquivel's claims are accurate - is another question altogether. The Post's article suggests otherwise, reporting that when secretary of government Miguel Ángel Osorio Chong met with U.S. officials two weeks ago to prepare for Obama's May 2 arrival, he left no doubt that the days of narco boss hunting were a thing of the past, much to the Americans' distress. U.S. role at a crossroads in Mexico’s intelligence war on the cartels.
El Chapo's sleepless nights may be over, at least while the new PRI administration holds Los Pinos.
Updates
5:00 p.m.: Mexico's Secretary of Government has called an "urgent national security press conference" for 7:00 p.m., apparently to announce an important arrest. News sources say that it is Guzmán's father-in-law, Inés Coronel Barrera, who was taken into custody in Sonora state. Coronel Barrera, described as a key operative of the Sinaloa Cartel, is the father of Emma Coronel Aispuro, Guzmán's third wife. In the late summer of 2011, Emma, who holds dual U.S.-Mexican citizenship, traveled to a Los Angeles hospital to give birth to twin girls - presumably Guzmán's. Emma is 24.
7:00 p.m. - SEGOB has confirmed that Inés Coronel Barrera, 45, was arrested early this morning in Agua Prieta, just across the border from Douglas, Arizona. The government alleges he was a major grower and trafficker of marijuana in Sonora and Durango states. He was detained together with four confederates, "without a shot being fired." A weapons cache, drug warehouse and vehicles were also seized. Asked whether Coronel Barrera's capture might lead to The Man himself, the spokesman was noncommittal. He said an intelligence operation focusing on marijuana trafficking into Arizona which began in late January led to today's event. The arrests were carried out by Federal Police, who flew all the suspects to Mexico City immediately. Prefect timing - 36 hours before Obama touches down.
May 2 - Prosecutors in Mexico's Procuraduría General de la República today opined that Guzmán alternates between residences in Michoacán, Coahuila, Chihuahua, Veracruz and Tamaulipas states.
Another recent story by journalist Jesús Esquivel: Apr. 29 - 56% of Mexicans blame the U.S. for narco violence in their country.
Mar. 26 - Mexico's Sinaloa Cartel has 90% market domination in U.S., licensing territories to others
Feb. 14 - Chicago calls El Chapo Guzmán "Public Enemy # 1"
Feb. 11 - The Chicago Connection: Sinaloa Cartel moves cocaine from Windy City to Australia
Feb. 10 - Mexican marines arrest chief executioner for El Chapo Guzmán in Sinaloa state
More on El Chapo Guzmán
Guzmán women head north to deliver - kids, not drugs
Routine traffic stop in Mérida yields Sinaloa Cartel "Boss of the Plaza" in Cozumel, Playa del Carmen
What do business magnate Carlos Slim and El Chapo Guzmán have in common?
Is Mexico closing in on El Chapo Guzmán?
U.S. confirms: El Chapo Guzmán is world's biggest drug trafficker - and # 1 target
Key aid to El Chapo Guzmán arrested - an underboss of the powerful Sinaloa Cartel
World's most wanted man - "El Chapo" Guzmán - makes Forbes top list again
El Chapo Guzmán: "Dead or Alive"
"El Chapo" Guzmán must be in United States, says Felipe Calderón
Sinaloa Cartel of "El Chapo" Guzmán dominates U.S. drug trade, says DOJ
Wife of Mexican drug lord "El Chapo" Guzmán delivers twin girls in U.S. hospital
© MGRR 2013. All rights reserved. This article may be cited or briefly quoted with proper attribution or a hyperlink, but not reproduced without permission.
Not as good timing as the Zetas sabotaging that plane in Zacatecas...
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