Warning issued about Nogales due to credible threat information
On Sunday, May 25, 2014, the U.S. Consul issued a warning to U.S. citizens “due to credible threat information.” The consulate urged US citizens to “take highest precautions regarding personal safety in and around Nogales.”
The warning was issued at 8 p.m. after three people were shot in the parking lot of a KFC (Kentucky Fried Chicken) restaurant in the El Greco (Greco cologne) area of Nogales, Mexico, which is near the Consulate. The shootings occurred at 3 p.m. It is unclear if the warning was issued as a result of the shootings. The Consul did not respond to email or telephone inquiries.
The armed attack left Francisco Javier Marquez Balderrama, age 39 old, from the city of Hermosillo, Sergio David Avila Núñez and / or Pedro Ávila Nunez, age 46, the driver of the vehicle from the Lomas de Fatima neighborhood in Nogales, and the third person, who has not yet been identified dead or wounded, according to sources.
Avila Núñez appeared to be the driver of a 2007 Volkswagen without license plates involved in the incident. His unidentified passenger was found with a .38 handgun and two magazines.
The attack came from a minivan type vehicle, according to El Diario.
Crime scene crews with the Attorney General of the State of Sonora said 24 shell casings from a 9 mm handgun were collected from the scene.
A cartel violence in Agua Prieta, earlier this year, forced those crossing the border illegally to alter their normal routes further to the west. The violence was used as a rationale for U.S.D.A inspectors to shut down cattle inspections at the Port of Entry in Douglas.
KHOU, out of Houston reported this week that “El Paso police are investigating two mysterious billboards that appeared just off I-10, each with a mannequin hanging from a noose.”
According to their report, “The first vandalized billboard off I-10 had Plata o Plomo in large black letters which translates into silver or lead. It is usually a warning targeting police or government officials in Mexico. The warning: work with a cartel and take a bribe or get a bullet. The hanging mannequin was dressed in a suit and tie.”
El Paso Police released a statement noting that “this symbol has historically been used by Mexican drug cartels to threaten or intimidate Mexican citizens, business owners and government officials.” They advise that they had “never experienced this in El Paso,” before.
While Pinal and Maricopa counties have been open about the cartel violence in their communities, reports of violence elsewhere in Arizona have been spun by officials. An example is the June 2010 execution of 39 year-old Tucson resident Thomas S. Piazza. His murder is believed to be a cartel hit job by authorities, but officials offered speculation to the media that that the execution might have something to do with a mortgage fraud scheme.
According to sources, Piazza had rented properties as drug stash houses to cartels, and had taken some of their products for his own personal benefit. He was executed on the early morning of June 10, 2010, in a Chik-fil-A while sitting with members of Christian group. His murderer got up from a table he was sitting at, walked over to Piazza’s table and fatally shot him with a handgun. The shooter then rode off on a bicycle.
According to sources, cartel members use bicycles as get-away vehicles because they have more maneuverability and do not have to use streets. They can disappear quickly down alleys and other alternative routes.
Border violence continues to escalate while U.S. politicians continue to fight for an amnesty bill that does little to increase actual security on the border.
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