Mexican drug cartels fight turf battles in Chicago
By Armen Keteyian
(CBS News) CHICAGO - Gun violence is out of control in Chicago. Just last
night, there were eight shootings, two of them deadly.
That pushes the total so far in 2012 to 351 shooting deaths -- up 30 percent
from last year. Drug gangs are a big reason.
In an afternoon drive on Chicago's southwest side, Jack Riley sees signs of
what he calls the "toxic" drug war laying waste to this city.
Riley is special agent in charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration
Office in Chicago and in four neighboring states.
DEA Special Agent in Charge Jack Riley told CBS News that
turf battles over drugs are turning parts of Chicago into a Mexican border
town.
Daily turf battles over drugs and distribution, he said, are turning parts of
this Midwest city into a Mexican border town.
"One of the hardest jobs I've had in the past couple of years is to convince
our law enforcement partners that we need an enforcement mentality as if we're
on the border," Riley said.
Miles away, Riley says, Mexican cartels have a significant influence in
Chicago's gang violence problem.
"Let's take the gloves off on that," he said. "We know that the majority of
the drugs here in Chicago, cartels are responsible for. We know that the
majority of the murders are gang related. So it is very clear to see the
connection and the role."
As it stands now, at least three major Mexican cartels are battling over
control of billions of dollars of marijuana, cocaine and -- increasingly --
heroin in this city. That includes the ultra-violent Zetas and the powerful
Sinaloa cartel, run by its shadowy leader Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman.
Mexican drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman
(Credit: AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)"The most dangerous criminal across all crime in the world is Chapo Guzman
and this is one of his hubs," Riley said.
It's not surprising why Guzman operates in Chicago: the city's location and
easy access to a wide variety of transportation.
"You've got to look at Chicago from really a perspective of logistics, of
business logistics. It's an ideal spot to set up shop."
To fight back, Riley has taken lessons he learned five years ago as agent in
charge of the DEA's EL Paso office. He's formed a 25-agency strike force
featuring state and federal prosecutors, FBI, ATF, and local police that began
operation in January. Its focus: shutting down "choke points" where gang
leadership meets cartel lieutenants.
The same strategy he used, he said, led to several major arrests on the Texas
border. A new border in Chicago is an even greater challenge.
"I'm telling you, I'm taking this personally." Riley said. "We're going to do
something about it. Now this is a marathon, it's not a sprint, and our changes
here with the strike force and the way we look at drug enforcement is going to
take time. But it's going to have a lasting effect."
More than ever, Chicago's problem is turning into a Midwest problem. Cartel
operations are also spreading to Milwaukee, St. Louis and Detroit.
Immigration policy to be discussed
MUSCATINE, Iowa — Charles Pratt, community relations officer for the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service, will meet with the public twice on Tuesday, Aug. 28, to discuss President Obama’s new deferred action immigration policy for young people ages 15-31.
Pratt will speak at 1 p.m. and again at 6 p.m. at the Muscatine Center for Nonprofits, 129 W. Second St., Muscatine.
For more information, phone the Diversity Service Center of Iowa, 563-264-8883.
Comprehensive plan meeting will be presented in 2 languages
MUSCATINE, Iowa — As the city works to prepare a better comprehensive plan, city officials are looking to get input from the Latino population for guidance.
On Tuesday, a bilingual (English and Spanish) town hall meeting on the comprehensive plan will be held from 6-8 p.m. in the Community Room at Fellowship United Methodist Church, 1001 Oregon St.
Andrew Fangman, Muscatine’s city planner, said community members Carlos Duran of the Muscatine Center for Nonprofits and Father Joseph Sia of the Ss. Mary and Mathias Catholic Parish are spearheading the meeting.
“We were approached by them on ways for the community to be more involved in the city’s comprehensive planning and it grew from there,” Fangman said.
He added the meeting will be essentially the same as the previous plan meetings this summer, but with slight differences.
“We’ll have a translator present to help with non-English speaking community members,” Fangman said. “We’re looking for all members of the community to help teach us and help build a plan for the next 10 years.”
Fangman said part of what the city is doing with the comprehensive plan is looking at where the city is heading. From the 2000 to the 2010 census, Muscatine had an increase of 1,003 people in the Hispanic community. Currently, about 16.6 percent, or roughly 3,794 people, in Muscatine are Hispanic. This was the largest growth in people of any racial or ethnic group in Muscatine over the last 10 years.
“That’s a fairly significant proportion,” Fangman said.
The agenda for Tuesday’s meeting includes:
A brief introduction and presentation on what the comprehensive plan is, what topics the plan will address, how the plan will shape the future of Muscatine and the process to create a new plan.
Community members who attend will be invited to serve on one of the four Community Member Advisory Groups, which will work with the city staff in drafting a new comprehensive plan.
Four facilitated discussions on the strengths, weaknesses, challenges, and opportunities that community members feel are facing Muscatine and their neighborhood, and what future improvements to their neighborhood and Muscatine they desire to see. There will be a facilitated discussions on land use, infrastructure, economic development and quality of life.
For more information on the meetings, visit www.muscatineiowa.gov/
