VZCZCXYZ0001
OO RUEHWEB

DE RUEHMC #0066/01 0592147
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O R 282146Z FEB 10
FM AMCONSUL MONTERREY
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 0059
INFO RHMFIUU/DEPT OF HOMELAND SECURITY WASHINGTON DC
RHMFIUU/FBI WASHINGTON DC
RUEABND/DEA HQS WASHINGTON DC
RUEHCD/AMCONSUL CIUDAD JUAREZ
RUEHGD/AMCONSUL GUADALAJARA
RUEHHO/AMCONSUL HERMOSILLO
RUEHMC/AMCONSUL MONTERREY
RUEHME/AMEMBASSY MEXICO
RUEHNG/AMCONSUL NOGALES
RUEHNL/AMCONSUL NUEVO LAREDO
RUEHRD/AMCONSUL MERIDA
RUEHRS/AMCONSUL MATAMOROS
RUEHTM/AMCONSUL TIJUANA

UNCLAS MONTERREY 000066 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
DS/IP/WHA, DS/IP/DEAV, AND DS/PSP/DEAV 
WHA/MEX 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ASEC KCRM SNAR CASC PGOV MX
SUBJECT: Grenade Attacks Against Monterrey Police; Feb. 26 and 28th 
EACs 
 
REF: 10 NUEVO LAREDO 56 
 
¶1.    (SBU).   Late in the evening of February 27, hooded men 
conducted simultaneous grenade attacks against the facilities of 
five municipal police forces within the Monterrey metro area.  At 
police stations in the working class suburbs of San Nicolas and 
Cadereyta, the grenades exploded, injuring two and causing 
significant property damage;  in Guadalupe, Escobedo, and Apodaca 
the devices did not detonate.  Law enforcement sources, but not the 
press, report a sixth attack in the city of Santiago, south of 
Monterrey, and there are sketchy indications of a seventh attack in 
Sabinas-Hidalgo, about an hour north of Monterrey.  The authorities 
have arrested two attackers and recover three unexploded grenades 
and one grenade spoon.  ATF Monterrey is in the process of 
obtaining access to the recovered physical evidence.  Although 
there were civilian witnesses to the San Nicolas explosion, no one 
is likely to come forward to present evidence or testify.  Law 
enforcement sources report that the police present when the 
stations were attacked fled their posts.  It is now clear that the 
ongoing war between the Gulf and Zeta drug trafficking 
organizations (DTOs) has reached Monterrey. 
 
 
 
Nuevo Leon Spin Control 
 
------------------------------ 
 
¶2.  (SBU).  While Nuevo Leon Secretary General Javier Trevino Cantu 
has characterized the coordinated attacks as a reaction by 
organized crime to the state government's security efforts, this 
explanation is not persuasive as the state's programs are still 
notional at best.  Neither the recently-announced 
military/federal/state plan to install roadblocks (68 checkpoints 
in 19 cities) along the Monterrey to Reynosa, Tamaulipas corridor 
nor the state's new plan to install checkpoints in 11 Monterrey 
metro area municipalities to stem car theft have begun.  Given the 
thorough penetration by the Zetas of the police forces in those 
municipalities that were hit, a much more likely explanation is 
that the attacks were a signal from the Gulf cartel to the police 
to cease/desist their support of the Zetas and switch sides.  Other 
plausible theories exist as well -- such as the attack was an 
attempt to "heat up" the Monterrey plaza -- but none involve 
organized crime responding to "effective" state government 
enforcement efforts. 
 
 
 
Public Worried and Distrustful 
 
------------------------------------ 
 
¶3.  (SBU)  Locally, the Monterrey public is worried as citizens 
fear that if the war between the cartels were to hit the city in 
earnest, Monterrey could experience the rampant violence seen at 
the border.   The continuing wave of car-jackings/car thefts -- the 
DTOs appear to be using the stolen cars to fulfull their 
transportation needs -- has many on edge.  Citizens are curtailing 
trips to the border, and several bus companies are cancelling runs 
to outlying cities in the state.  Indeed, if high-value targets 
fleeing Tamaulipas take up residence in Monterrey and nearby 
Saltillo, Coahuila, violence here between the cartels and between 
the cartels and the military (both army and navy) will increase. 
During the previous week reliable witness reported carloads of 
gunmen, with automatic weapons hanging out the window, retreating 
to Monterrey along the highways linking the city to Reynosa. 
Indeed, DEA confirms a rolling confrontation between the military 
and retreating Zetas on February 27 in the Nuevo Leon 
municipalities of Zuazua and Pesqueria, both to the north and east 
of Monterrey. 
 
 
 
¶4.  (SBU).  A recent poll done by the Monterrey-based Grupo Reforma 
 
 
-- publishers of the influential local daily "El Norte" -- revealed 
that 58 percent of Tamaulipas respondents had seen or heard gun 
battles or violent acts that the media/government had not made 
public.  From here, it looks as if Nuevo Leon residents share this 
view.  Indeed, post law enforcement has learned that six died 
during the Zuazua/Pesqueria shoot-out, an incident which has not 
been reported in the local press. The rumor that Tamaulipas 
Governor Eugenio Hernandez had been kidnapped flew around among 
Monterrey elites at light speed on February 26.  The comparative 
silence of Nuevo Leon Governor Rodrigo Medina on security issues in 
general has only heightened suspicions. 
 
 
 
February 26 EAC Meeting and February 28 Follow-up 
 
--------------------------------------------- ------------------- 
 
¶5.  (SBU) Prior to the grenade attacks, Consulate General 
Monterrey's Emergency Action Committee (EAC) met on February 26, 
2010 to discuss the current wave of narco-related violence and its 
potential impact on Consulate security and operations.  The EAC was 
chaired by Consul General with the presence of MGT, RSO, CONS, POL, 
CLO, FBI, ATF, DEA, ICE, PD and OPAD.  Among items discussed was 
the continued increase in car-jackings and stolen cars.  During the 
previous evening, a local car lot was hit by a DTO and as many as 
10 SUVs were taken.  The group also kidnapped the owner and two 
other family members.  It was reported that local police seen in 
the area did not respond to distress calls from the family. 
 
 
 
¶6.  (SBU) RSO relayed Unclass reporting that the Los Zetas leader, 
Miguel Heriberto Lazcano-Lazcano is believed to be hiding in 
Monterrey and was planning for counter-offensive strikes against 
the Gulf Cartel in Tamaulipas.  This information dovetailed with 
reporting from other sources and the members of post's Law 
Enforcement Working Group elaborated that Saltillo, Coahuila would 
likely be considered a safehaven by the Zetas. 
 
 
 
¶7.  (SBU)  The CG and RSO discussed obtaining further protective 
equipment for the Local Guard Force.  RSO will submit a request for 
an emergency shipment of ballistic helmets and rifle grade body 
armor from DS/PSP/DEAV. 
 
¶8.  (SBU) At a February 28 follow-up session of the Law Enforcement 
Working Group, committee members discussed the probabilities of 
further Gulf Cartel retributions against Zeta controlled police 
departments in the Monterrey area.  Various EAC members believe 
that the next targets of attack by the Gulf cartel might  be the 
Monterrey and Santa Catarina police or Nuevo Leon state police 
facilities.  On February RSO office distributed a security notice 
to Consulate employees reminding them of the need to remain 
vigiliant. 
WILLIAMSON