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| Caribbean-Latin America |
| Mexisniper gunned down by Mexicops |
| 2013-03-27 |
| For a map, click here. For a map of Nuevo Leon state, click here For a map of Monterrey, click here By Chris Covert Rantburg.com A man identified as the shooter of a high ranking police commander in Nuevo Leon state was shot to death by police agents in a Monterrey suburb Saturday, according to Mexican news accounts. According to a news account posted on the website of Milenio news daily, Humberto Victor Galindo AKA El Guacho and another unidentified man said to be an accomplice, were shot to death by Nuevo Leon state ministerial police agents at a farm in Santa Catarina municipality Saturday afternoon. Nuevo Leon state commander of the Agencia Estatal de Investigaciones (AEI), Gustavo Gerardo Garza Saucedo AKA El Jerry, was shot to death early on the morning of February 19th by a sniper using a .50 caliber Barrett brand rifle, presumably a semi automatic rifle ...they presume correctly for once... at a range of about 60 yards, which is a tiny fraction of the range of the weapon. That does seem like 'overkill' but this is Mexico... The police commander was just arriving at his home in the Hacienda del Carmen colony of Apodaca, which is a suburb of Monterrey, the state capital of Nuevo Leon. According to a separate press report posted on the website of El Diario de Coahuila news daily, Victor Galindo was a Mexican Army deserter from Veracruz state who left the army eight years ago, and was the Los Zetas turf commander for Santa Catarina municipality. Santa Catarina is located due west of Monterrey city. The assassination took place after Victor Galindo and another accomplice, identified as Juan Jesús Silva Saenz, threatened security guards at the gated community where Garza Saucedo resided. News accounts say Silva Saenz allegedly acted as a lookout at a nearby convenience store while Victor Galindo shot his victim. According to the news account, Silva Saenz allegedly arranged an armed robbery of the store as a diversion and then he watched at the location, then signalled the shooter. Silva Saenz himself was detained aboard a Ford Aerostar van as he and two other individuals travelling March 14th at a security checkpoint on the Monterrey to Nuevo Laredo highway, where security elements found 34 rifles allegedly in his possession. Among the rifles seized were AR-15 and AK-47 rifles. According to another account which appeared on the Nota Roja Konecho blog, the stop led to a second vehicle with two more AK-47 rifles and 67 weapons magazines inside. Nuevo Leon ministerial police agents began conducting a search of an area in Santa Catarina Saturday in the area where are five abandoned farms. Victor Galindo and other accomplices were found at a farm called Eucalyptus, in the wooded area of Parque La Huasteca colony. According to the translation, VÃctor Galindo cycled his weapon's action to fire but was shot to death by police agents. At then location police agents seized one AR-15 rifle and one AK-47 rifle. An unknown number of other suspects were also in the area with Victor Galindo, but had apparently escaped the police cordon. According to the El Diario de Coahuila account, state police agents did not inform Santa Catarina police about the search operation until it was over. Los Zetas, like their Sinaloa and Gulf cartel rivals like to maintain turf bosses in many municipalities in northern Mexico. Above the municipality level, Los Zetas maintain a regional boss as well. Chris Covert writes Mexican Drug War and national political news for Rantburg.com and Borderland Beat.com |
| Posted by:badanov |
| #8 Badanov, my comment was directed to the inline, which was "and they presume correctly for once". Nothing more than that. |
| Posted by: Whiskey Mike 2013-03-27 17:19 |
| #7 Oops hit the go button too soon. But to continue, the Barrett in its various forms is a highly lethal weapon with no known redeaming social value, you won't go hunting Elk with that sucker, the meat would spoil before you got to the carcass...anyway, the Barrett should be a highly monitored and observed item and for the Narcoterrorists in Mexico to have one means it was purchased in the US for this guy....Fast and Furious? I'd love to see a stink over this one. It's one thing to let a popgun M-16 walk but to let a weapon capable of dismembering a victim at over a MILE is another... |
| Posted by: Bill Clinton 2013-03-27 10:06 |
| #6 Me wonders if this notorious Barrett rifle used by El Guacho has "Fast and Furious" engraved on it anywhere? |
| Posted by: Bill Clinton 2013-03-27 10:03 |
| #5 My favorite pet theory is that Mexican drug gangs retrieve their brass because they are having as difficult a time finding ammo as the rest of us, and that they are reloading their own. Posted by badanov Could be Badanov. May also be a dunnage exchange requirement with the Social Security Administration, Homeland Security, or BATF. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2013-03-27 09:31 |
| #4 Expended brass, one spent shell casing, was left at the scene, and counter forensics is one theory as to why Mexican shooters clear their brass. Why Victor Galindo did not will ever be a mystery. Maybe an oversight, maybe it was deliberate. I s'pect it was an oversight because it makes little sense to clear a bolt action after a round has been fired, but a semiautomatic would pop out the brass. My favorite pet theory is that Mexican drug gangs retrieve their brass because they are having as difficult a time finding ammo as the rest of us, and that they are reloading their own. |
| Posted by: badanov 2013-03-27 08:38 |
| #3 at a range of about 60 yards, which is a tiny fraction of the range of the weapon. That does seem like 'overkill' but this is Mexico... Actual distance to the target was probably irrelevant. Individual Body Armor or vehicular armor penetration was the goal. Badanov can correct me, but I believe picking up expended brass is a Los Zetas or bad guy counter-forensics TTP, not a police TTP. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2013-03-27 07:44 |
| #2 I never said it does. My point was that a single spent cartridge casing was left at the scene by the shooter. I think it was left there not because the shooter cycled the action on a bolt action before he left the scene, but because he was firing a semi automatic. |
| Posted by: badanov 2013-03-27 06:53 |
| #1 Just FYI. Barrett makes two semiautomatic .50 caliber rifles, two or three bolt action .50 caliber rifles, and a few other rifles in .338 Lapua, .416 Barrett and maybe one in 5.56 but I'd have to check. So Barrett doesn't automatically equate to semiautomatic. |
| Posted by: Whiskey Mike 2013-03-27 04:34 |
