"3 men with military ties arrested in murder-for-hire sting, DEA says."

Here's an excerpt from Mariano Castillo's article on CNN.com:

"It would have been one of the most audacious plots between a Mexican drug cartel and American conspirators: a murder-for-hire in South Texas. But the men who allegedly were prepared to use their U.S. military training to carry out a mission in Laredo, Texas, for the
Zetas drug cartel were not actually making arrangements with drug traffickers. They had walked into a Drug Enforcement Administration sting operation, and were plotting with undercover agents who recorded their every move for months. Their alleged criminal plans fell apart on Saturday, the day they were to carry out a contract killing. The agents had the evidence they needed and arrested three men in Laredo. A fourth was killed by agents as the arrests were being made. Two more arrests were made in South Carolina. A sixth man also was arrested, the DEA said... There is no evidence the Zetas have considered escalating their reach to include hiring Army-trained Americans to carry out killings. But these arrests show it is not beyond the realm of possibility that there are U.S. citizens willing to do such work. The three men accused of being at the center of the operation -- Kevin Corley, Samuel Walker and Shavar Davis -- had military experience and training they were willing to use on behalf of a drug cartel, prosecutors say... According to the complaint, Corley promised the undercover agents that weapons could be easily stolen from military posts, and that he could train 40 cartel members in two weeks. He mailed an Army tactical book to the agents, the court document says. The investigation appears to have risen to another level when Corley said he could assemble a team to carry out cartel dirty work." Link to Full Article

Analysis: Many of you may remember the plot by a crack team of two Iranian men (and yes, I do say that with some sarcasm) to hire TCO members to assassinate the Saudi Ambassador to the US in Washington, DC. In both cases, the actual TCO in question was never aware of either plot, and in the first case, we don't know what TCO the DEA was masquerading as. It's plausible they had their informant posing as a member of Los Zetas, but we don't know for sure from publicly available information.

But to me, there are several significant differences in the two cases. The Iranian plot was outlandish at best, scheming to use a drug cartel to conduct a terrorist attack not only on US soil, but in the capital, for the bargain-basement price of $1.5 million. Why a TCO would do the dirty work of a foreign government or a foreign terrorist organization for pocket change was, an is, beyond me. But in this case, we're talking about three African-American, non-Hispanic Americans, all with some level of military training, who were more than willing to do the dirty work on behalf of the cartels on US soil. 

It's nothing new that there's a long line of people willing to work for TCOs because of the sheer volume of money, perks, and goodies involved. TCOs rarely have to work too hard to recruit young Mexicans to kill their rivals or snitches in Mexico; many times it only takes a few hundred dollars, or some fancy electronic gadgets. On the US side, however, it's a different story due to the risks involved. US-based gangs like the Mexican Mafia, Texas Syndicate, Hermanos de Pistoleros Latinos, and Mara Salvatrucha are usually the ones tapped for contracted hits or drug distribution. From the article, it doesn't sound like any of the men involved in the sting had any gang ties.

Another thing we have to consider is how realistic the offers of assistance were that the men were making. Is it really that easy to steal weapons from a military post? When I was on active duty, I rarely went into the armory on base, but I know they're usually manned/guarded 24-7. Maybe it's possible if the guard on duty is on the take, but in my eight years of active duty as a Special Agent, I can recall one case of Security Forces reporting that weapons had been stolen or were missing from the armory. Maybe the Army is different about gun counting than the Air Force, but I doubt they're so careless to where someone could say guns were easy to steal from a military post.

Then there's the claim by Corley that he could train 40 cartel members in two weeks. Maybe. But to do what, exactly? He mentioned tactics including approaches, room clearing, security and convoy security. Based on what I know of US military pre-deployment training, this is possible, but would provide only a minimal level of expertise, unless the TCO members being trained were former military or police themselves.

Regardless, the biggest concern stems from the ultimate end of the operation: the men set a date with the undercover DEA agents raid a rival cartel's ranch near Laredo, Texas and recover 20 kilos of stolen cocaine, all on behalf of Los Zetas. Corley arrived in Laredo with his cousin, Jerome Corley, Walker (an active duty Army sergeant) and Davis (a former private in the Army reserves), along with two AR-15 assault rifles, a training rifle, and five allegedly stolen ballistic vests. According to the complaint, "Corley told the undercover agent he had bought a new Ka-Bar knife to carve a 'Z' into the victim's chest and was planning on buying a hatchet to dismember the body," per the CNN.com article. It further quotes the complaint as stating that, on the day the supposed hit was to take place, the agents had the four confirm they understood they were about to accept money and drugs in exchange for a killing.

Again, part of me isn't surprised because American gang members have been doing this sort of thing for a while, but it's disturbing in a different way when you hear that active duty and former military members are involved in this sort of thing. It's also out of the realm of what we would assume when thinking about the players involved in drug trafficking and violent TCO activity on this side of the border. It's a stark reminder that no one is immune from the allure of drug money, and no one is beyond suspicion of association with TCOs just because they're not Mexican or Hispanic or a current/former gang member.

Comments

[Scott Stewart]

Hi Sylvia,

You might want to check out the mug shots of those arrested. They are certainly not caucasian.

Cheers,
~s

[Sylvia Longmire]

@Scott - Ha ha! Wow, did my brain hit a speed bump this morning, or what? That's what I get for blogging before my morning caffeine dose :). It's been corrected to say "African-American non-Hispanic." Thanks!

[Chris]

Sylvia,

The claim that the SGT could train 40 men in a few weeks is obviously a bit "hopeful" at best; but I wouldn't doubt his ability to carry out the task in general. We've had members of our military working with Iraqi and Afghan forces for nearly a decade now taking them through everything from individual tasks such as basic marksmanship to squad level training in room clearing procedures and L shaped ambushes.

As a former security NCO who inspected arms rooms (for a decade) I can tell you for a fact that if units are following the regulations then those arms are under basically 3 levels of lock and key control procedures to prevent any one person from having sole access to those weapons. Not easy to plan or accomplish, although it is plausable in certain circumstances such as during a field rotation or excercise etc.

[Sylvia Longmire]

A friend of mine sent me this interesting press release today; guess it's not THAT hard to steal military weapons after all...

26 Stolen Military Machineguns Lead To Indictments And Convictions In Fresno Federal Court
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Lauren Horwood

April 3, 2012

PHONE: (916) 554-2706

www.usdoj.gov/usao/cae

[email protected]

Docket #: 1:11-cr-298 AWI

FRESNO, Calif.-- United States Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner announced today that Chief United States District Judge Anthony W. Ishii sentenced Mark Nino de Rivera, 22, of Fresno, California to 30 months imprisonment for making false statements to federal agents. That sentence is the latest in a series of indictments, convictions, and sentencings resulting from an intensive investigation by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

According to court documents, on or about July 15, 2011, twenty six fully automatic AK-74 machineguns were stolen from the Fort Irwin Military base. Thirteen of the stolen machineguns were recovered and thirteen defendants have been charged in the Fresno division of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of California with a variety of charges related to this theft. The U.S. Army soldiers accused of conspiring to steal the weapons are currently being prosecuted under the Uniform Code of Military Justice.

In this case, Nino de Rivera was convicted of making false statements to federal agents. He admitted that on August 31, 2011, he lied when he told ATF Special Agents that he had never owned a cell phone, had not spoken with a co-defendant in years, and did not know anything about the stolen firearms. In fact, about a month earlier, Nino de Rivera discussed firearms that had been stolen from the military base with that co-defendant, and the defendant did own a cell phone.

Several of Nino de Rivera’s co-defendants have already pleaded guilty and been sentenced. Several await sentencing and six await trial. As to the individuals who are under indictment, the charges against them are only allegations and all the defendants are presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

[Dan]

Considering the money Z has at their disposal, purchasing weapons would make more sense then attempting to steal them from an armory, unless of course we're talking about automatic weapons. And then, smuggling out a bunch of M249/M240/M2's? That would be a feat.

If these guys had any training, I could bet it isn't anything more than regular entry level training. Sure, maybe they were on a MTT team, but you could get that same level of training by watching Black Hawk Down a couple times. These guys weren't operators. We're not facing an exodus of our best trained and lethal like the Zetas did in Mexico, not yet anyway.