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Reporter's Notebook: Bill Conroy

FBI claims narcos want to nab cops?

Posted by Bill Conroy - January 29, 2005 at 6:50 pm
The FBI has now weighed into the “drug cartel” problem along the U.S.-Mexico border by issuing a bulletin claiming there is an “immediate threat to law-enforcement personnel,” according to a front page story in today’s San Antonio Express-News.

From the story:

MEXICO CITY — The FBI warned all federal agents Friday that a Mexican drug cartel has 250 armed men on the border near Matamoros and is planning to kidnap two federal agents in the United States and smuggle them into Mexico where they will be murdered.

The FBI office in San Antonio declined to discuss the source of the information, but issued a written bulletin warning of an "immediate threat to law-enforcement personnel."

The bulletin goes on to say the "extremely violent" drug-smuggling organization known as the Gulf Cartel already sent a contingent that are believed to have valid visas to enter the United States.

"Due to the nature of this immediate threat, all law-enforcement personnel are being cautioned to ensure appropriate measures are taken as well as to keep a high degree of vigilance," the bulletin states.

Rene Salinas, a spokesman for the FBI in San Antonio, said the information is "uncorroborated," but that federal agents and police are being told to use extra caution.

Salinas stresses that “the FBI bulletin ‘is law-enforcement sensitive’ and not intended for the public,” the Express-News reports.

Well, someone leaked the bulletin to the media. Coming on the heels of the orchestrated narco-paranoia stories published earlier this week by the New York Times and Washington Post and the travel advisory issued in the wake of the newspaper stories by the U.S. State Department, it sure does sound like someone might be unleashing a media propaganda campaign.

Why would narco-traffickers hatch a plot to randomly kidnap and murder federal agents? The same question was raised with respect to why narco-traffickers would kidnap and murder innocent American citizens, without seeking ransom, in a story Al Giordano and I penned earlier this week.

What possible gain is there in such a cockeyed scheme? All it would do is bring more heat down on the dopers' operations. Even a narco-trafficking organization has the common sense not to commit an act of open war against the military might of the U.S. government.

But could there be another explanation for the warning. Maybe the FBI itself is trying to drum up a media frenzy to legitimatize actions it wants to take in Mexico, or to open the door for more direct interference in Mexican affairs by the White House?

There is ample precedent for such FBI manipulation of the U.S. media. Documents obtained through a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and detailed in a story by a weekly newspaper in Texas shine a light on the practice. The story tracks the history of a national FBI operation targeting alleged insurance fraud related to staged auto accidents.

From the story:

The FOIA documents show the FBI operation was designed from the start to exploit media coverage. The operation was conceived and implemented over a one-and-a-half-year period (November 1993 to May 1995) and was structured to culminate in a single media event on a single day, referred to as a "national takedown" day, the FOIA documents show. Takedown day involved the coordination of 41 FBI field offices nationwide in executing Operation Sudden Impact-related raids, warrants, indictments and press announcements on May 24, 1995. A Dec. 1, 1993, memo from FBI headquarters to the field offices concerning Operation Sudden Impact states the following:

"It is recognized that (FBI) field offices will be at various stages of their investigation at the takedown date. It is believed that each office will most likely still be in a position to contribute significantly to the takedown event. At the culmination of this initiative, field offices may choose to participate by executing arrests or search warrants, announcing indictments, or announcing recorded convictions. Prior to this event, the media packages will be prepared by (FBI headquarters) and distributed to field office media representatives."

The coordinated media push planned for takedown day involved the distribution of a boiler-plate press release drafted at FBI headquarters and provided to the local field offices.

"Field offices are encouraged to prepare their own media release and as a guide, the FBI National Press Office has prepared the following draft copy of a media release for the May 24 takedown," states a May 19, 1995, memo from FBI headquarters to the field offices.

The boiler-plate press release outlined the details of Operation Sudden Impact and included figures on the number of individuals targeted as well as pre-packaged quotes from the director of the FBI, Louis Freeh.

The local field offices also were encouraged to coordinate "local press conferences with their respective United States Attorney's Office and participating state and local agencies," according to a May 4, 1995, memo from FBI headquarters to the field offices.

"Field offices are reminded to include in their media release those investigative agencies that have supported the FBI in this initiative," the memo states. "The National Insurance Crime Bureau has been instrumental to many of these cases and NICB (a private, insurance-industry funded investigative group) has for distribution material and video tapes that may be of value to field offices during preparation of media statements and/or live media coverage."

The field offices also were told to time searches for the takedown day to the hour (11:00 a.m. Eastern Standard Time). Mention is also made in the FOIA documents of important pending legislation that would benefit the FBI and of the desire of the FBI to establish itself as a major player in the investigation of health care fraud.

"This initiative (Sudden Impact) through the diligent efforts of the participating field offices has served to further establish the FBI as a law enforcement agency actively involved in combating health care fraud," states the May 4, 1995, memo. "Congressional leadership also recognizes the bureau's capabilities in investigating complex health care fraud cases and legislation has been introduced that would provide the FBI and all law enforcement with improved investigative tools, better criminal statutes and investigative resources."

The chest thumping is also evident in an Aug. 31, 1994, memo directed from FBI headquarters to the field offices:

"Only the FBI has the capacity of approaching a serious crime problem as identified in Operation Sudden Impact in such a comprehensive and effective manner."

As a result of the propaganda blitzkrieg orchestrated by the FBI, the nation's media were played like the keys of a grand piano on takedown day, May 24, 1995. At least 20 major daily newspapers across the country -- from USA Today, the Wall Street Journal and the Los Angeles Times to the San Antonio Express-News, the San Francisco Chronicle and the Philadelphia Inquirer -- ran with the story as the FBI intended, according to a ... search of electronic news archives; much of the coverage involved little more than rewritten versions of the boiler-plate FBI press release, according to a ... content analysis of the articles. In San Antonio, five local TV stations aired a total of eight separate segments on the raids ....

So, is the recent narco “bulletin” issued by the FBI for real, or is it just another attempt to play the grand piano for the benefit of yet another inaugural gala? According to the Express-News story, U.S. Embassy spokesman Jim Dickmeyer assures us it is the former:

"People do not do this for political reasons, they do it for security reasons," Dickmeyer said. "No one is trying to be alarmist."

Well, if it is really about security, why issue a bulletin (that is subsequently leaked to the press) announcing that there is a plot afoot to kidnap and murder federal agents along the border – a plot the FBI became aware of based on an “uncorroborated” source?

Now if you really wanted to find out if that source was right, and get at the people behind the supposed plot, would you announce to the world that you were looking for the perpetrators? Or might you do some real police work first, to investigate who’s behind the alleged plot (so the perps don’t have the chance to scurry back into the shadows, to hatch the plot on another day)?

I think we all know the answer to that question.

About Bill Conroy

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Comments

One thing this has done is killed tourism

Submitted January 31, 2005 - 7:38 pm by Don Henry Ford Jr.
I went to the dentist today in Ciudad Acuna. Very few American tourists. The taxi driver that took me back across the bridge to the US say he is only making about three trips a week as opposed to two or three a day before all of this propoganda began.

The fare is $12. He has to spend $2 to get back across the border and split the remaining $10 with the owner of the cab.

Not much money for a guy trying to support a wife and three kids.

FBI admits 'cartel plot' to nab agents is baloney

Submitted February 1, 2005 - 1:29 am by Bill Conroy
EXTRA! EXTRA!

FBI recants warning about “drug cartel” plot to nab federal agents.

The San Antonio Express News reported the following yesterday:

MEXICO CITY -- The FBI today did an about-face after relaying a warning to all federal agents that a Mexican drug cartel had massed 250 armed men on the border and was plotting to kidnap and murder two U.S. federal agents.

The FBI’s San Antonio office issued the bulletin to other law-enforcement personnel Friday, but backed away from it after a weekend investigation couldn’t find evidence to support the plot.

“Information was received, and after intense efforts to corroborate it, it was determined the information was not viable,” said Rene Salinas, FBI spokesman in San Antonio.

Salinas would not comment on how agents learned of the alleged plot or what actions they took to verify it.

“When the information was received, we wanted to make sure our brethren knew about it,” he said.

Well, one of those “brethren,” former FBI agent Lok Lau, who worked for the Bureau as a spy in China during the 1980s, claims the bulletin was never legitimate to begin with, adding, “There is some very deep agenda going on.”

“Do you remember what they did when (DEA agent) Enrique Camarena was killed (tortured to death in Guadalajara, Mexico, in 1985)?” Lau asks. “They shut down the Mexican border for months. Why would narco-traffickers want that to happen?

“The cartels don’t need another Camarena case. It’s bad for business….”

Lau adds: “They could kill a thousand federal agents, and they would just hire more – just like the Marines in Iraq. You can’t stop it (drug enforcement) by killing the foot soldiers. That is an asinine theory and an insult to one’s intelligence.”

At any rate, Mexican authorities seemed pleased that it turned out to be an “asinine theory” as well.

More from the Express-News:

Agustín Gutiérrez Canet, international spokesman for Mexican President Vicente Fox, said he was relieved the plot was untrue.

“Thank God it was a false alarm,” he said. “As always, we will continue to cooperate with the American authorities.”

I wonder, though, if the FBI’s retraction will be picked up and played as big in the national press as the original "cartel plot" story. A search of Google shows that more than 74 newspaper across the country carried the original story – with blazing headlines like, “FBI warns agents of kidnapping plot along US-Mexico border,” “Alert cancels lawmakers' Mexico visit” and “FBI agents target of murder, kidnap plot.”

Anyway, I guess once you fire up the mighty Wurlitzer that loud, any encore performance will always be a second fiddle. That’s just show-biz hype in the mainstream media.

"Ambassador to Wed Drug Trafficker"

Submitted February 1, 2005 - 10:49 am by Al Giordano
...that's one way to put the headline!

U.S. Ambassador to Mexico Tony Garza is engaged to Mexican billionaire Maria Asuncion Aramburuzabala of the Grupo Modelo brewery... the makers of Corona beer.

Well, alcohol is a drug. And Corona being the fifth-biggest selling beer across the world, that would make her an "international drug trafficker," no?

This Los Angeles Times story about the engagement notes that Ambassador Garza is a drug user too:

He... has been known to break out a bottle of high-grade tequila while chatting with reporters over policy issues.

Could that explain why the reporters so often don't get the facts of their stories straight?

Aw, I'm just havin' some fun here, with the Ambassador. After all, he's marrying up, into a good brand anyway.

More interesting are the continuing reverberations from the (now fracased) State Department "travel advisory" regarding Mexico...

In Mexico, the Ambassador appears to have married into some public relations teflon, as well, as Condoleeza takes the blame. From the same LA Times story:

Before last week's heated exchange over border security, Garza had enjoyed a generally favorable image in the Mexican media. But Humberto Garza, a professor at the College of Mexico who is no relation to the ambassador, said the American envoy shouldn't be blamed for the diplomatic dust-up.

"Ambassador Garza has been impeccable and discreet," the professor said. Referring to last week's events, he said the ambassador was "only following orders" from U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

Meanwhile, the gymnastics are fun to watch as the two governments, Mexico and the U.S., try to smooth relations after this latest attempt at interference from Washington.

According to the State Department-produced "Washington File," officials are claiming victory from the ashes of defeat:

The United States and Mexico have reaffirmed their determination to continue cooperating in the fight against drug trafficking and organized crime.

That assertion emerged from a January 29 meeting between the U.S. Ambassador to Mexico Tony Garza and Mexican Foreign Secretary  Luis Derbez, according to a joint statement, which was issued the same day by the U.S. Embassy in Mexico City...

Garza clarified that the U.S. State Department's public announcement of January 26 reflected the two governments' shared  concern over recent acts of violence along their mutual border.  Garza explained that a letter he sent the same day to Mexican government officials sought to provide fuller context to the public announcement, and "to highlight the fact that  the [recent] wave of border violence is a result of the successful efforts" of Mexican President Vicente Fox's administration  in the fight against organized crime and of Mexico's ongoing commitment on this issue.

Did you catch that, kind reader? What Garza and the U.S. government claim is a "wave of border violence is a result of successful efforts" in the drug war.

In other words, the policy itself is causing the alleged violence.

And not a single major U.S. news correspondent has so far deigned to ask the officials the obvious: If the policy causes such violence as to alarm Washington and provoke such alerts, why continue with the counter-productive policy of imposing drug prohibition on Mexico?

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