By Michael Webster: Investigative Reporter Aug 24, 2:30 PM PDT

Mexican drug cartel gangs and their surrogates terror is believed to have reached Shelby County Alabama in a Birmingham suburb. Authorities released few details in the case of five men who were found slain in a apartment. They say the men appear to have been bound with duct tape and their throats were slashed. Very similar to known tactic’s used by Mexican drug cartel gangs and their American gang surrogates.

The three victims who have been identified at this point are: Ezequiel Rebollar-Perrban, 23 years of age, Jaime Echeverria, 30 years of age, Armando Lopez, 20-30 years of age. Two other victims remain unidentified.

These ruthless drug gangs according to DEA operative who wants to remain anonymous says, “investigators close to the Shelby county murders of five Mexican males was carried out by Mexican drug gangs or their surrogates and is very likely related to drugs and cash.” DEA agents say that the cartels’ incursions into the United States are spurring more secondary crimes, such as shootings, kidnapping, and murders.

If this case proves to be Mexican drug cartel related this as well as many other case’s show the dangerous reach of the Mexican drug cartels now goes very deep into middle America and are now reported to be killing, robbing, torturing, kidnapping, and threatening Americans and others at an alarming rate.

These gang members are known to be attacking Americans all over the U.S. Recently it came to light that a gang operation of this type was uncovered operating on the east coast from New York to Florida robbing known drug dealers of both their drugs and cash. These attacks were pulled off all up and down the East Coast, federal investigators said. Similar tactics are being used in Mexico’s violence. Police say this type of crime is happening on both sides of the U.S Mexican border.

A horrifying story describes a little girl who, after being taken to the Florida panhandle from Mexico, resisted while being raped, and was subsequently made an example of, by being beheaded in front of other girls who were being held to be raped. The girls then were made to watch by being left in the room with the little girl’s body for several hours.

The Mexican and American gangs watch and fellow other drug dealing gangs watch known drug dealing competitors and rob them in their so called safe houses or pull them over in their automobiles and steel their drugs and money. Often to get to higher-ups, they torture their victims to give up there bigger drug connections and the gang would then go rob them and repeat the scenario till they reached the bigger drug dealers then put them out of business and sell the stolen drugs back on the streets at full profits.

U.S Attorney Benton Campbell said the suspects would conduct surveillance on their victims for weeks at a time. 

Investigators said the suspects used terrorist tactics of simulated drowning techniques (water bordering) as well as pliers applied to the male victim’s genitals to learn where and when millions in cash and drugs shipments were being made.

The same source claims that physical evidence, such as drugs, cash, firearms, knifes, handcuffs, police scanners, and other crime scene evidence, such as shell casings and fingerprints were not found at the murder scene by law enforcement officers as are found at Mexican drug cartel other murder scenes. The murdered victims could have been murdered somewhere else and brought to this location one officer said. But they have requested more search warrants and are developing more leads including confiscating several vehicles related to some of the victims and possibly to the culprits.

US federal officials have reported that the Mexican drug cartels are operating in dozens of US cities, and have consolidated their control of the entire corridor of the supply chain of illegal drugs from deep in Mexico north to the U.S. border and beyond.

Mexican drug cartels are the dominant distributors of wholesale quantities of cocaine, heroin, methamphetamines and marijuana in the United States. 

Mexican drug cartels through their segregate organizations control the lucrative methamphetamine trade, as the arrival of purer Mexican ice methamphetamine has replaced locally produced powder meth, according to the US Department of Justice.

Glen Beck of the popular show of the same name said,” Atlanta has become the latest battleground for Mexican drug cartels.”

“Their idea is to control the whole economic process of production and distribution,” said Georgina Sanchez, an independent security consultant in Mexico and executive director of a public safety policy institute.

In many areas of the United States the cartels have entered into partnerships with local gangs, in others they have directly assumed control of local drug distribution, analysts say.

Gwinnett County, Georgia, where Atlanta is located is over 1,000 miles from our U.S. – Mexico border. They have already had nine drug-related kidnappings this year. DEA agents raided a home and charged three men, all illegal aliens, with kidnapping and conspiracy to distribute cocaine after finding that they had bound and chained the victim to a wall in a basement in the town of Lilburn and beat him for nearly a week in an effort to collect $300,000 in drug debt.

Google: Mexican Cartel Zetas Attack and Kill an America.

“The violence in [American] cities has a direct cause and effect related to what is taking place in Mexico,” said Fred Burton, vice president for counterterrorism at Stratfor, an Austin-based private intelligence company.

“The farther north you go from the border, the less that is understood,” said Burton, who is a member of the Texas Border Security Council, which focuses on homeland security and economic development along the Texas-Mexico border.

The biggest worry for local law enforcement groups is that the cartels will bring with them violent methods honed during furious cartel wars in Mexico that have left thousands dead since 2006. In recent years, Mexican drug violence has reached new heights, with beheadings, videotaped executions broadcast on the Internet, and the targeting and killings of top Mexican law enforcement officials.  We’re seeing younger individuals being deployed by Mexican cartel leadership up into the United States to work for these cartels.

Gwinnett D.A. said this is not a blip. This is significant in what’s going on here. U.S. Attorney for the northern part of Georgia said, we are about to see the extreme violence that is happening south of the border happen here in America.

It’s more violent there than it is in Baghdad or Afghanistan. They’re beheading people said Benson.

Mexican cartel Los Zetas paramilitary surrogates allegedly attacked and slaughtered an American in Phoenix Ariz. Police say the attackers were dressed in black military like combat uniforms very similar to known Mexican cartel paramilitary gangs.

Phoenix papers reported that 6 Mexicans killed a Phoenix man who was found dead by police in a local neighborhood home riddled with more than 100 bullets.

“We have seen an increasing amount of these types of violent crimes in the past five months,” Phoenix Police Sgt. Joel Tranter said. “We want the public to realize that these types of crimes will not be tolerated in Phoenix.”

Daniel Garcia-Saenz, 24, Manual Garcia-Trejom, 25, and Rodolfo Madrigal Lopez, 19, each wore tactical clothing and Kevlar helmets and other weapons were found in the vehicle.

Police believe the hit was drug-related and are looking for three more suspects in the case.

For related articles on the war on drugs and terror Google:  

www.lagunajournal.com –  Mexican Drug cartels terror reaches deep into the U.S.