As the Trans-Border Institute reports, Reforma, one of Mexico City’s most prominent daily newspapers, counted 7,443 organized crime-related murders between January 1 and July 25, a 20 percent rise from the same period last year.
The federal government hasn’t released its totals for this year, but the number of organized-crime related murders reported by the authorities has for the last couple of years been significantly higher than most media counts. For example, Reforma counted 11,583 in 2010, while the government later said there had been 15,273.
The Trans-Border report implies that the pattern of divergence between the two scores will repeat itself. Looking at last year's figures, this could mean that the government would count more than 20,000 drug killings in 2011 -- an extremely high number. However, the difference between the media and government figures has never been properly explained, so there is no real reason to assume that it will continue; the two counts may simply end up closer together in 2011, for any number of possible reasons.
A more nefarious possibility is that the government might intentionally massage the numbers downward. Organized crime is a vague designation, and the line between this and street delinquency is not always clear. A government intent on demonstrating that violence has plateaued could adopt a stricter definition for organized crime-related killing, and therefore point to a drop in drug violence.
Beyond the numbers themselves, the distribution of the killings is also striking. As Trans-Border stated (and as InSight Crime has noted in the past), the level of violence in Juarez has dropped off substantially in 2011: while 350 people were killed in October 2010, the figure dropped to a two-year low of 150 in May. (The figures have since rebounded, though with 216 murders in July, Juarez is still far less violent today than last year.)
But despite the substantial drop in killings in the city, sometimes referred to as the most dangerous on earth, violence in Mexico as a whole appears to be on the upswing. In particular, the murder rates have spiked in Guerrero, the southern Pacific state where a number of different gangs are gunning for control; Nuevo Leon and Tamaulipas, where the Zetas and the Gulf Cartel have been engaged in a battle for territory since early 2010; and Durango, where internecine battles among different Sinaloa Cartel factions are thought to be behind the discovery of hundreds of bodies in clandestine graves around the state capital.
Such increases count against the government’s assertion that the violence is strictly limited to a few geographic regions.
The Trans-Border report comes days after a report from INEGI, Mexico’s governmental statistical agency, which put the final total of all murders in Mexico in 2010 at 24,374. This represents a nearly 25 percent jump from 2009, in which 19,803 people were murdered across the country, including in killings unrelated to organized crime.
This continues a worrying trend past several years; after a low of 8,867 homicides in 2007, the number of murders has nearly tripled. The increase in violence related to organized crime is the biggest reason for the rise in overall murders -- according to the government data, the number of murders not related to organized crime actually declined in 2010 by roughly 1,000.
The increase in violence, while more severe in some regions than others, is widespread, further undermining the government’s argument that the drug violent is concentrated in a handful of hotspots. According to INEGI, only three of the country's 31 states witnessed a decline in the murder rate from 2005 through 2010.
Sunday, 30 October 2011
KSK-- KSK Kommando Spezialkräfte (Special Forces Command, KSK or Kampfschwimmer ("Combat Swimmers") or Verwendungsgruppe 3402 (Usage Group 3402)
We are actively seeking former SF personnel from Germany who have served in these units for private security Special Forces operations.
Friday, 28 October 2011
Maritime Piracy from an experienced perspective and pirate infested areas.
We reproduce an article by Capt Fredrik C Jonsson here on maritime counter-terrorism and piracy threats.
Note tactics and disposition of pirates.
Click here for a the article.
Note tactics and disposition of pirates.
Click here for a the article.
Thursday, 27 October 2011
Citadels NOT a cure for piracy prevention....
fom SomaliaReport.com
No Room for Complacency
Citadels Must Be Appropriately Set Up to Work
By GLEN FORBES 10/12/2011
Glen Forbes is a former Royal Naval officer who runs our partner organization OCEANUSLive.org, a website aimed at promoting better communication between maritime vessels in dangerous environments.
MV Montecristo
Safe rooms, safety zones, safe muster points or citadels; whatever the viewpoint, they are becoming the de facto reaction to pirate attacks off Somalia in East Africa and the Gulf of Guinea in West Africa.
Military authorities and shipping associations have resolutely stated that citadels - let’s stick with that moniker - “should be complimentary to, rather than a replacement for, all other Ship Protection Measures set out in the eponymous Best Management Practice (version 4), BMP4” booklet.
The recent successes in the use of citadels have only gone to further endorse their reputation. Italian vessel, MV Montecristo, almost hijacked by Somali pirates, which was then rescued by UK and US Special Forces under NATO command, is one such good example. The other noteworthy case is the Norwegian product tanker, Northern Bell, which was boarded off Cotonou in Benin. The crew locked themselves in the engine room and contacted the Company Security Officer. The pirates left the ship and the crew were able to regain control the following day.
MV Arrilah I was boarded by 10 pirates earlier this year. The crew had withdrawn to the safe room. One crew member was slightly injured when a grenade was thrown down the funnel, which was connected to the safe room; smoke was used but the crew had breathing apparatus. They were able to control the ship from the safe room and continued to navigate the ship towards UAE waters with a coalition aircraft guiding them from nearby. What followed was a 30-hour siege until UAE and US forces stormed the ship on Saturday, April 2.
Hurrah! However, there are cases to demonstrate that successful employment of a citadel is not guaranteed. Returning to BMP4, a key point to bear in mind, even having applied the criterion stated is that, “the use of a citadel cannot guarantee a naval/military response.”
Cases in point – the Beluga Nomination was attacked in January this year approximately 390nm North of the Seychelles. The German owners described attempts to rescue the crew as a "disaster".
"The crew spent two and a half days in a reinforced room but nobody came to help them," they said.
Pirates had the time to break into the citadel, which called into question its positioning, but more importantly, whether the enforcement of the area was adequately prepared in light of the distance from any naval force.
Somali pirates hit the 22,600-dwt Pacific Express on September 20, and it was feared the ship had been taken. The crew had retreated to the citadel and were later rescued by an Italian warship. The vessel was abandoned approximately 87nm southeast of the hijack attempt location. In frustration at not getting their prey, the pirates set fire to the ship. The vessel was eventually towed into Mombasa, and the damage clearly
demonstrates the danger to the crew’s safety if rescue was not at hand.
There you have it; citadels in a nut ‘shell’ are good if they are appropriately prepared, fitted out with communications and sufficient provisions for a engthy stay. They are bad if they are not appropriately prepared, sighted and provisioned, and can become a tomb for the frightened crew. More mportantly, and following a combination of circumstances which are entirely possible, if a naval unit is unable to reach the target vessel in good
time (suggest 2 days maximum), and the pirates have access to flammable materials, be it already on board as they have freedom of the remainder of the ship, or they decide to utilize the fuel they carry on skiffs and
NATO/OTAN
motherships, then the fate of the crew does not bear thinking about.
Following recent comments that naval assets are likely to become more scarce in the region as austerity policies and other commitments take hold in 2012, the ‘go to’ response of citadels will become another aspect that the seafaring community will have to re-evaluate. There is no room for complacency.
Pacific Express on fire OCEANUSLive gave fair warning of the possibility as long ago as November 2010.
Assignments in Colombia and how to contact us
"Colombia is the kidnap capital of the world, a country in the grip of a civil war and
savaged by feuding drug gangs." says the Daily Mail of the UK
We are also offering PSD or Protective Security Details for Argentina and Colombia...
Also offered are estate hardening and security
contact us at
StormoRochalie (at) Gmail.com
savaged by feuding drug gangs." says the Daily Mail of the UK
We are also offering PSD or Protective Security Details for Argentina and Colombia...
Also offered are estate hardening and security
contact us at
StormoRochalie (at) Gmail.com
Wednesday, 26 October 2011
kidnapping of American in Somalia-- where was the Protective Security Detail
PSDs are important. More so in lawless Somalia where one cannot trust
NGOs as well as non-NGOs who are in Somalia without supplying some sort of security details to their staff and management in addition to their convoys are simply irresponsible and naive.
The American in this case was identified as
Jessica Buchanan of Rosslyn Virginia, USA
We do hostage rescues in Africa.
Call on us.
~~~
Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/world/2011/10/26/state-department-confirms-kidnapping-us-citizen-in-somalia/?test=latestnews#ixzz1bxgE1fzS
- the Federal Government
- Pirates
- Rebel Fighters
- Just about anybody, with or without a gun
NGOs as well as non-NGOs who are in Somalia without supplying some sort of security details to their staff and management in addition to their convoys are simply irresponsible and naive.
The American in this case was identified as
Jessica Buchanan of Rosslyn Virginia, USA
We do hostage rescues in Africa.
Call on us.
~~~
State Department Confirms Kidnapping of U.S. Citizen in Somalia
Published October 26, 2011
| FoxNews.com
- APAfrican Union peacekeepers are seen in the Deynile district of the capital Mogadishu, Somalia Thursday, Oct. 20, 2011.
A U.S. citizen has been kidnapped in northern Somalia, the U.S. State Department confirmed Wednesday.
"We remain concerned about the individual's safety and well-being. We are working with contacts in Kenya and Somalia to ascertain further information and have been in contact with the individual's family to provide appropriate consular assistance. The United States condemns kidnappings of any kind, and we call for the immediate release of all of the victims involved. Due to the privacy laws, we have no further information at this time," the department said in a statement.
Gunmen have abducted a 32-year-old female American aid worker in northern Somalia along with a Danish and a Somali colleague as their convoy headed to the airport. The kidnappings come only weeks after four Europeans were seized by suspected Somali gunmen in neighboring Kenya.
A self-proclaimed Somali pirate said that pirates had captured the three on Tuesday. The captors would not harm the three but will want a ransom for their release, he said. The claim could not be independently verified.
The three employees work for the Danish Demining Group, whose experts have been clearing mines and unexploded ordnance in conflict zones in Africa and the Middle East.
"As a first priority, we have been concentrating on the ongoing investigations. We are keeping close contact with the family members, who are deeply concerned, just as we are," said Ann Mary Olsen, head of the Danish Refugee Council's international department.
Activities of the Danish Refugee Council, which runs the Danish Demining Group, have been suspended in the area. The group provided no other details and asked media outlets "to respect the need for confidentiality as investigations are ongoing."
A Nairobi-based security official said the demining group was traveling in a three-car convoy, including one vehicle of armed guards, but that the guards did not resist the kidnapping.
The three are believed to be on their way to a former pirate stronghold on the Somali coast, said the official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to speak to the media.
Ahmed Mohamed, a police officer in the Somali town of Galkayo, said the aid workers had been heading to the airport when they crossed into a southern section of the city that is under clan control. The northern section of Galkayo is under the control of the semiautonomous region of Puntland.
Two Nairobi-based officials said the American woman is 32 and the Danish man is 60. The woman is a former school teacher, one official said.
Bile Hussein, the self-proclaimed pirate, said the three were abducted with the help of "insiders." Hussein has provided reliable information about pirate activities in Somalia to The Associated Press in the past. He said that capturing ships off East Africa is becoming harder -- ships are using stronger self-defense measures -- so pirates are looking for other ways to earn ransoms.
"They are now on the way to Gan town, and we shall treat them humanely and kindly. Our aim is all about a ransom, not harming them," Hussein said.
Christian Friis Bach, Denmark's minister for development cooperation, told Danish broadcaster DR that the demining group was working to help Somalis.
"That's why it's both sad and tragic that they have been struck by this kidnapping, and I hope their strong network and a collected effort also by the Foreign Ministry can resolve the situation quickly.," he said.
The kidnapping comes only weeks after the seizure of two women working for Doctors Without Borders from a refugee camp in neighboring Kenya, as well as the kidnappings of two European tourists from Kenya's coast -- one of whom later died. Somali gunmen were suspected in those attacks.
Kenya has sent at least 1,600 forces into southern Somalia to attack Al Qaeda-linked militants in response to those kidnappings, though it's not clear whether the al-Shabab fighters were responsible for the abductions.
The northern semiautonomous province of Puntland is generally considered more stable than most of the rest of Somalia, which is riven between pirate gangs, Islamist insurgents and militias and the weak U.N.-backed government in the capital. It has not had a functioning central government for the last 20 years.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/world/2011/10/26/state-department-confirms-kidnapping-us-citizen-in-somalia/?test=latestnews#ixzz1bxgE1fzS
SuperMax Tanker attacked... Pirates Getting More "Sophisticated"-- likely source of sophistication is increased ransoms
The Somalia Report article at
http://www.somaliareport.com/index.php/post/1101
says there is a possibility that the pirates are using night vision equipment in their attack on the tanker Brilliante Virtuoso-- these -- the older generation ones, can be bought over the internet.
The attack did not end up in a capture of the ship as the pirates hoped-- but it sure achieved the effect of setting the tanker on fire and a possibility of an ecological diasaster, which was avoided
It is not that the tanker was attacked with RPGs that alarms shipowners most. It is the fact that armed security was not posted. Armed security backed up by night vision scopes who will fire warning shots when suspicious boats come into the 300-400 metre range. It is recommended that security team be backed up by an infra-red (IR) system to cover any and all blindspots. We recommend IR systems from Zeiss Optronics. These systems are all weather, can track a moving target and have a high degree of resolution.
The installation of hard and soft security measures could have saved the tanker mentioned here a lot of grief and insurance premiums.
again-- if any tanker owner or ship manager wants to avoid trouble to their shipfarers, call us
stormorochalie (at) gmail.com
We would be more than pleased to hear from you.
~~~
~~~~~~~~~~
UPDATE: Oil Tanker Fire Off Yemen Extinguished After Attack
Image by Dmitrios
LONDON (Dow Jones)–A fire that broke out on an oil tanker after a pirate attack off the Yemeni coast has now been extinguished, an official at the company managing the ship said Wednesday.
Though a large-scale oil disaster appears to have been avoided, news of the fire on the 1 million barrels tanker will revive security fears on a shipping route that has suffered increasingly bold attacks from Somali pirates.
The fire “was extinguished,” said Andreas Louka, a legal adviser at Athens’ Central Mare Inc., the company managing the Brillante Virtuoso tanker.
Asked if the tanker, which was on its way from Ukraine to China, could still deliver its cargo, Louka said “they are going to assess” the damage first.
“The crew is safe, the vessel is safe. There is no pollution,” the official has previously said.
http://www.somaliareport.com/index.php/post/1101
says there is a possibility that the pirates are using night vision equipment in their attack on the tanker Brilliante Virtuoso-- these -- the older generation ones, can be bought over the internet.
The attack did not end up in a capture of the ship as the pirates hoped-- but it sure achieved the effect of setting the tanker on fire and a possibility of an ecological diasaster, which was avoided
It is not that the tanker was attacked with RPGs that alarms shipowners most. It is the fact that armed security was not posted. Armed security backed up by night vision scopes who will fire warning shots when suspicious boats come into the 300-400 metre range. It is recommended that security team be backed up by an infra-red (IR) system to cover any and all blindspots. We recommend IR systems from Zeiss Optronics. These systems are all weather, can track a moving target and have a high degree of resolution.
The installation of hard and soft security measures could have saved the tanker mentioned here a lot of grief and insurance premiums.
again-- if any tanker owner or ship manager wants to avoid trouble to their shipfarers, call us
stormorochalie (at) gmail.com
We would be more than pleased to hear from you.
~~~
~~~~~~~~~~
UPDATE: Oil Tanker Fire Off Yemen Extinguished After Attack
Image by Dmitrios
LONDON (Dow Jones)–A fire that broke out on an oil tanker after a pirate attack off the Yemeni coast has now been extinguished, an official at the company managing the ship said Wednesday.
Though a large-scale oil disaster appears to have been avoided, news of the fire on the 1 million barrels tanker will revive security fears on a shipping route that has suffered increasingly bold attacks from Somali pirates.
The fire “was extinguished,” said Andreas Louka, a legal adviser at Athens’ Central Mare Inc., the company managing the Brillante Virtuoso tanker.
Asked if the tanker, which was on its way from Ukraine to China, could still deliver its cargo, Louka said “they are going to assess” the damage first.
“The crew is safe, the vessel is safe. There is no pollution,” the official has previously said.
-By Benoit Faucon, Dow Jones Newswires
Tuesday, 25 October 2011
Mexico
We have had a lot of requests for Mexico City protective details so we are offering them.
Hiring us as foreign professionals is a bonus... we can assure clients that we are not as corrupt as the many Government officials and even Army and Police in Mexico are.
We will protect you from druglords, illegal checkpoints, advise on the best travel routes, and get you anywhere in Mexico as safely as possible and as quiet as possible without undue attention to you so you can go about your business with ease.
We will work with legit businessmen, politicians, and Government officials to provide for professional and discreet protective armed security details to provide for security convoys and even air security to hop from one point of the city to another by helicopter.
Read below for how dangerous Mexico is and can be. The Worst is not over yet.
~~~
Monday, 01 August 2011 10:52
Hiring us as foreign professionals is a bonus... we can assure clients that we are not as corrupt as the many Government officials and even Army and Police in Mexico are.
We will protect you from druglords, illegal checkpoints, advise on the best travel routes, and get you anywhere in Mexico as safely as possible and as quiet as possible without undue attention to you so you can go about your business with ease.
We will work with legit businessmen, politicians, and Government officials to provide for professional and discreet protective armed security details to provide for security convoys and even air security to hop from one point of the city to another by helicopter.
Read below for how dangerous Mexico is and can be. The Worst is not over yet.
~~~
Monday, 01 August 2011 10:52
Mexico Murder Reports Reveal Sharp Rise in Killings
Written by Patrick Corcoran According to one newspaper account, Mexico is on pace to surpass last year’s record-breaking tally of murders, though the regional distribution of bloodshed is shifting significantly.
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