[Scan-DC] Secure Kenwoods used by Mexican Drug Cartel; DMR?

[Alan Henney]

El Paso Times (Texas)

February 11, 2014 Tuesday

US Consulate trial: DEA source set up secure network for Juarez cartel

BYLINE: By Diana Washington Valdez / El Paso Times

SECTION: NEWS

LENGTH: 686 words

A telecommunications specialist from Mexico testified Monday that he helped set up a secure radio network for the Barrio Azteca and La Linea members in 2010 that was used to relay orders to kill and abduct people, burn houses, transport drugs and firearms and set up a car bomb.

The government witness, identified only as "E.Q.," testified that he became an informant for the Drug Enforcement Administratiion, which paid him more than $125,000 for his help and to buy radio equipment. He testsified Monday in the federal court trial of Arturo Gallegos Castrellon, alias "El Farmero" and "51." 

Gallegos, an alleged Barrio Azteca leader, has pleaded innocent to various charges, including that he played a role in the March 2010 killing of three people with ties to the U.S. Consulate in Jucrez.

"E.Q" testified that there came a time when he decided to tell Mexican authorities what he knew, from the radio transmissions he had listened to about the crimes of the Barrio Azteca gang.

He testified that he went to the Mexican Federal Attorney General's Office first and then to the Mexican Army, but both institutions brushed him off.

"The PGR didn't want to hear what I had to tell them," "E.Q." testified, and the Army did not express any interested in his information.

He testified that he did not go to the Jucrez city police or the Chihuahua state police because, based on the radio transmissions he was familiar with, he suspected that they were compromised.

Finally, he testified, he turned to the U.S. Consulate in Jucrez, lying initially to get past the front door, by saying that a car bomb was going to be used against the consulate.

After taking a polygraph test with U.S. officials, he became a paid confidential source for the DEA in July 2010.

He agreed to monitor and record the radio calls between La Linea and Barrio Azteca, and set up a Kenwood radio system for the DEA to listen to the radio transmissions.

The witness also testified about radio calls regarding a failed car-bombing aimed at federal police for not cooperating with the criminals.

He testified that "Diego" (La Linea radio number 1) gave "El Farmero" (Barrio Azteca radio number 51) the "green light" to carry out the failed car-bombing, and that radio 51 passed on the instructions to the other Aztecas. This particular car bomb did not detonate as planned.

Josc Antonio Acosta Herncndez, alias "Diego," was the leader of La Linea in Chihuahua state before his arrest. Acosta pleaded guilty in 2012 to various charges, including for his role in the deaths of three people with links to the consulate, and was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Kathleen Cardone to 10 life terms.

"E.Q" also testified that he heard on the radio network about the arrest November 2010 of "El Farmero" (aka radio 51). The defendant in the trial is alleged to be the same "El Farmero."

Under cross-examination, the witness said he never met "El Farmero" personally, and only saw an image of him when Mexican officials presented him as a suspect before the Mexican news media.

It is customary in Mexico to parade suspects in front of the media before they are tried in court.

"E.Q." testified that he set up the radio network (beginning in May 2010) that used a new digital technology that made it diffult for regular scanners to pick up the calls. He said a total of 60 push-to-talk radios were given to Barrio Azteca and La Linea; the two groups had 30 radios each.

The witness testified that he set up the network, including repeaters and antennas on the Cerro Bola (hill) in Jucrez, at the request of Jaime Bon Arreola, alias "Inge," whom he knew as a friend since around 2005 or 2006.

Chihuahua state authorities reported that Bon Arreola, then 28 years old, was shot to death on Sept. 4, 2011, south of the Juarez city limits. Three men were arrested later in connection with the death.

"E.Q." testified that he listened to about 7,000 hours combined of live and recorded radio communications involving La Linea, the enforcement arm of the Carrillo Fuentes drug cartel, and Barrio Azteca members.

Testimony resumes today.

Diana Washington Valdez may be reached at 546-6140.