VZCZCXRO1195
RR RUEHCD RUEHGD RUEHHO RUEHNG RUEHNL RUEHRD RUEHRS RUEHTM
DE RUEHMC #0095/01 0382321
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 072321Z FEB 07
FM AMCONSUL MONTERREY
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 1672
RUEHME/AMEMBASSY MEXICO 2481
INFO RUEHXC/ALL US CONSULATES IN MEXICO COLLECTIVE
RUEFHLC/DEPT OF HOMELAND SECURITY WASHINGTON DC
RHMFIUU/DEPT OF JUSTICE WASHINGTON DC
RUEABND/DEA WASHINGTON DC
RUEHMC/AMCONSUL MONTERREY 6727

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 MONTERREY 000095 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: SNAR KCRM KCOR KHLS KJUS PINS PGOV MX
SUBJECT: MONTERREY LAW ENFORCEMENT UPDATE: JANUARY 2007 
 
REF: A) MONTERREY 058, B) MONTERREY 073, C) MONTERREY 055, D) MONTERREY 067 
 
MONTERREY 00000095  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY.  The Consulate continued its outreach efforts 
with state and local authorities as the level of violence and 
drug-related killings increased.  In the month of January, five 
police officers were killed and three others wounded, prompting 
the resignation of over 300 local police officers and the 
installation of military check points in the state of Nuevo 
Leon.  The Consul General met with a local police chief and 
regional military commander to discuss the situation and to 
offer the Consulate's support in fighting the wave of killings 
against security personnel.  In addition, the CG helped 
facilitate the signing of an agreement between the Governor of 
Nuevo Leon and the American NGO Culture of Lawfulness to provide 
training for incoming police cadets on the rule-of-law. 
Consulate law enforcement agencies worked with local authorities 
to return an American fugitive back to the U.S., and worked with 
Mexican immigration authorities when eleven Iraqi nationals were 
detained in Monterrey on their way to the U.S.  In response to 
local concern about the Overseas Security Advisory Council 2007 
Crime and Safety report for Monterrey, the CG clarified the 
report in an interview with Monterrey's leading newspaper and 
reiterated the Consulate's primary obligation to protect U.S. 
citizens living in the consular district.  END SUMMARY. 
 
¶2. (SBU)  After a 38-day stretch with no killings in Nuevo Leon, 
a State Public Security Department Commander was shot and killed 
and another was seriously wounded in Monterrey on January 8.  On 
January 13, a local police commander from Santa Catarina, a 
suburb of Monterrey, was kidnapped, along with his 
brother-in-law.  To date, neither the family nor local 
investigators have received proof-of-life from the commander's 
captors.  Three days later on January 16, a group of armed 
assailants shot and injured two Santa Catarina police officers 
when they were headed to the work to begin their shift.  Two 
additional on-duty Santa Catarina police officers were shot and 
killed while helping a stranded motorist on January 17, only 
hours after President Felipe Calderon spoke in Monterrey about 
the need to combat organized crime.  On January 18, an off-duty 
local police officer was wounded during a shoot-out with 
unidentified armed gunmen in Cumbres, greater metropolitan 
Monterrey.  The presumed target was a local lawyer who had 
allegedly been working for drug traffickers.  Another three days 
later on January 21, a local police officer for San Pedro, the 
Monterrey suburb where all Consulate families reside, was shot 
and killed.  He was guarding a traffic checkpoint near Consulate 
houses when gunmen opened fired with automatic rifles.  Finally, 
a Nuevo Leon State Police Officer was killed in Monterrey on 
January 29 when gunmen opened fire on his pickup truck during 
rush hour while he was driving to work.  Assailants opened fire 
with automatic rifles while the officer was driving on one of 
Monterrey's busiest avenues.  Local newspapers have reported 
that the wave of police killings has prompted over 300 officers 
to resign from several municipal police forces in the state of 
Nuevo Leon (ref A). 
 
¶3. (SBU)  On January 24, the Consul General and RSO met with the 
San Pedro Chief of Police, Rogelio Lozano, to discuss the 
increase in targeted killings in the area and to offer the 
Consulate's support.  Chief Lozano expressed his concern about 
the violence directed against police officers.  The historically 
vocal police chief also confided to the CG that he intended to 
keep a lower profile because he felt threatened and did not want 
to be the next target of any high-level police assassination. 
Lozano said that he would no longer speak to the media about 
particular security incidents for fear of retribution by 
narco-traffickers, and asked for the Consulate's help in getting 
him "out of town for a little while".  To this end, FBI 
Monterrey has secured a week long Police Survival training 
course in El Paso which Lozano will attend in March and the RSO 
is working on getting him into a State Department-sponsored 
Police Management training course in July 2007. 
 
¶4. (SBU)  The Mexican army set-up several checkpoints at key 
intersections in Monterrey's suburbs of San Pedro and Santa 
Catarina on January 25 in response to the recent killings of 
local policemen.  The army units had 30-40 well-armed soldiers 
at each checkpoint and they pulled over and searched passing 
vehicles. This is the first time in a number of years that the 
military has established checkpoints in San Pedro, and even the 
San Pedro police do not know how long the checkpoints will 
continue.  The Consul General met briefly with General Javier 
del Real Magallanes, commander of the 4th Military Region, who 
offered to share intelligence and work together with the 
Consulate's law enforcement agencies (ref B). 
 
¶5. (U)  On January 16, the Consul General, EconOff, and PAO 
attended the signing of an agreement between the state of Nuevo 
Leon, represented by the Prosecutor Luis Carlos Trevino 
 
MONTERREY 00000095  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
Berchelmann and Secretary of Public Security Antonio Garza 
Garcia, and the Culture of Lawfulness NGO (COL), represented by 
its President Dr. Roy Godson.  The parties agreed to present 60 
hours of training to incoming police cadets and professionals in 
the state police and state prosecutor's office.  The COL project 
is designed to foster the rule of law and engender a culture of 
legality by providing education, changing attitudes, and 
discussing real world cases whereby police learn the importance 
of the rule of law and serving as public examples of lawful 
behavior.  The signed agreement culminates a year-long effort 
between the Consulate, the Nuevo Leon government, and the COL 
(ref C). 
 
¶6. (U)  DHS-ICE Monterrey coordinated closely with local 
authorities and Texas law enforcement agents to return an 
American fugitive back to the United States on January 18.  The 
man was wanted on assault charges. 
 
¶7. (U)  On January 20, eleven Iraqi nationals attempted to gain 
entry into Mexico at Monterrey International Airport.  They 
arrived in Monterrey on an Aero Mexico flight from Madrid and 
were en route to the U.S.  The group, who traveled on false 
Cypriot and Polish passports, consisted of nine Iraqi men, one 
Iraqi woman, and one minor Iraqi child.  Each claims to be a 
Chaldean Christian and none appears on a terrorist watch list. 
Mexico's Immigration authorities announced on January 31 that 
the government will not deport or repatriate the eleven Iraqis, 
and may grant them asylum in Mexico  (ref D). 
 
¶8. (U)  On January 30, El Norte, Monterrey's leading newspaper, 
published an article about the Overseas Security Advisory 
Council (OSAC) 2007 Crime and Safety report for Monterrey which 
urged visitors to remain vigilant during their stay in the city. 
  El Norte reported that OSAC outlined the increased killings in 
Monterrey over the last two years, while praising the San Pedro 
police department for its immediate and efficient response.  On 
February 1, El Norte published an interview with the Consul 
General regarding the OSAC report.  He said that while Monterrey 
is one of Mexico's safest cities with respect to common street 
crime, the reality is that organized crime executions, 
especially those targeting security forces, have increased in 
Nuevo Leon.  The CG also reiterated the Consulate's primary 
obligation to protect U.S. citizens living in the consular 
district. 
MORENO