Mexico Offered U.S. Help In Battle With Drug Cartels

The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said the United States could help with equipment and intelligence techniques after returning from a six-day trip to Latin America punctuated by news of beheadings and intimidation by Mexican drug cartels.

Mexico could borrow from U.S. tactics in the fight against terrorism as it battles a crisis of drug-related violence along the U.S.-Mexico border, the top U.S. military officer said Friday.

Returning from a six-day trip to Latin America punctuated by news of beheadings and intimidation by Mexican drug cartels, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said the United States could help with equipment and intelligence techniques.

Adm. Mike Mullen would not be specific about what kind of intelligence or surveillance help the United States might offer, but said he saw ways to employ experience the United States has gained in the ongoing hunt for extremists and terrorists.

He would not say whether there may already be U.S. drones flying over bloodstained cities such as Ciudad Juarez, where 17 bodies came into the morgue on one day recently, including the city police force’s second-in-command and three other officers.

“Obviously it affects us because of the relationship between the two countries,” Mullen said during a telephone news conference as he flew to Washington following meetings in Mexico, his last stop.

Source

US Anti-kidnapping Expert Kidnapped In Mexico

A U.S. anti-kidnapping expert was abducted by gunmen in northern Mexico last week, a sign of just how bold this nation’s kidnapping gangs have become.

U.S. security consultant Felix Batista was in Saltillo in Coahuila state to offer advice on how to confront abductions for ransom when he himself was seized, local authorities said.

Unknown assailants grabbed him on Dec. 10, said Charlie LeBlanc, the president of the Houston, Texas-based security firm ASI Global LLC., where Batista is a consultant.

“We have notified the FBI and Mexican authorities, and they are working on the case,” LeBlanc said Monday. “What we are doing is we’re offering our support to the family and hoping for the best.”

The U.S. Embassy in Mexico City said it would not comment on the case, and LeBlanc declined to say whether a ransom demand had been received.

LeBlanc said Batista had his own security business and that “he was in Mexico for business that wasn’t associated with our company.”

“Part of that could be or may involve negotiations with kidnappers,” Leblanc said. ASI Global’s Web site advertises “kidnap and ransom response” and says the company has worked for major insurance companies.

A woman who answered a phone number listed under Batista’s name in Miami, Florida said she did not wish to comment on the case.

Batista was frequently cited as an anti-kidnapping expert at conferences and in the press.

A story in the December issue of the trade magazine Security Management describes how Batista organized relatives’ response to a kidnapping in Mexico, even cooking the family at times. He advised the family during months-long negotiations that eventually reduced the ransom request to about a third of the original amount the kidnappers had demanded. The victim was eventually released.

Local media reported that Batista was 55 years old, but his age was not included on his professional profile.

via Source.