20 year old linked to 79 killings in Mexico - business as usual for cops

[Syt]

http://edition.cnn.com/2013/10/25/world/americas/mexico-killings-arrest/index.html?sr=fb102613youngmankillings12p

Young man linked to 79 killings in Mexico

(CNN) -- The most shocking thing about the arrest of a man linked to 79 killings may be that authorities don't find it shocking.

At 20 years old, Juan Pablo Vazquez is accused of killing rivals, a policeman, a stripper and other innocent bystanders.

But you won't find authorities in the northern economic hub of Monterrey, Mexico, using any superlatives to describe the alleged killer. Not the worst they've ever seen, not the most ruthless, not the youngest or most prolific.

That's because Monterrey and its surroundings are an area disputed by rival drug cartels. From 2010 to the present, an average of 108 people have been killed each month in the state of Nuevo Leon, according to official statistics. Monterrey, the capital, has recorded 223 homicides so far this year.

Vazquez's arrest, then, merited a press conference, but no celebration as if an alleged serial killer had been brought down.

"We are witnessing a very severe crisis because of the war between cartels," one Mexican official said.

Vazquez was caught on October 8, but the arrest was not announced until Thursday.

He was arrested together with a woman, Nancy Ortiz, who police said was selling drugs with Vazquez. The pair was caught with 35 baggies of weed and 22 packets of cocaine, the state's security secretariat said.

The young man confessed to 45 killings, security officials said, and has been implicated in 34 other slayings between 2011 and this year.

Fear of reprisals from the warring cartels means that officials keep details to a minimum, not even revealing what gang a suspect belongs to.

The Mexican official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, told CNN that Vazquez is a member of the Gulf cartel.

The Gulf cartel is fighting with the Zetas cartel for lucrative smuggling routes to the United States.

The official scoffed at the idea that Vazquez was any more dangerous or deadly than other alleged cartel hit men. He described Vazquez simply as the latest member of a large cell of assassins to be caught.

Vazquez was not necessarily the shooter in all the cases, but was a witness or otherwise involved in the killings, the official said. Sometimes he was just one of several shooters who aimed at their targets. Cartel members who were arrested before him fingered him in connection with the 34 killings he did not confess to, the official said.

And if the thought of a 20-year-old having a hand in 79 deaths sounds like an exaggeration, authorities released a list of dates and victims' names.

Among the killings he is accused of:
-- A transit officer who pulled him over on March 13.
-- An exotic dancer who had been kidnapped from a strip club on July 30.
-- A woman who happened to be accompanying a member of a rival cartel on January 16.
-- A group of eight rivals who were at a bar on August 13.

The list goes on and on. It is just a small fraction of the number of homicides committed in Nuevo Leon, the official said.

[DGuller]

Wow, selling drugs as well?     What a psycho.

[Razgovory]

I wonder is this one of those people that would just go back to honest day's work if drug laws were repealed.

[grumbler]

That's a weird story. The lead isn't that some guy got arrested for multiple murders, but rather that the police didn't react to the arrest the way the reporter expected them to.

[Siege]

Look at it from the bright side, this guy took care of 79 Mexicans who we now don't have to worry about crossing the border into the states.

The Dems must be angry for losing 79 undocumented Democrats.

[jimmy olsen]

That's a weird story. The lead isn't that some guy got arrested for multiple murders, but rather that the police didn't react to the arrest the way the reporter expected them to.

I think the fact that a murder who has killed 79 people is viewed as nothing special or unusual says a lot about current Mexican society and is thus in itself newsworthy.

[grumbler]

That's a weird story. The lead isn't that some guy got arrested for multiple murders, but rather that the police didn't react to the arrest the way the reporter expected them to.

I think the fact that a murder who has killed 79 people is viewed as nothing special or unusual says a lot about current Mexican society and is thus in itself newsworthy.

Except, of course, that he hasn't killed 79 people.  Maybe you should read the article before commenting. 

[DGuller]

Yeah, just 45 for sure.  That's average at best for Mexican teens.

[grumbler]

Yeah, just 45 for sure.  That's average at best for Mexican teens.

Well, 45 that they have beaten out of him so far.  He still has 161 unbroken bones, though, so the final tally will depend on how many open cases the police have.

[DGuller]

Not sure why there has to be a 1-1 relationship between broken bones and murders confessed to.  I would imagine that once you go above 20-30 murders, the marginal bone cost of further confessions goes down to nearly zero.

[Neil]

If you're going to confess to 45, why not all of them?  The only place where a body count that big would result in you ever getting out of prison would be Europe.

[grumbler]

Not sure why there has to be a 1-1 relationship between broken bones and murders confessed to.  I would imagine that once you go above 20-30 murders, the marginal bone cost of further confessions goes down to nearly zero.

You are thinking like an economist, not a cop.  Cops can't count to big numbers like "forty-five," so they need to keep the one-to-one ratio intact so the doctor can tell them how many confessions the kid made.

[Zanza]

I wonder is this one of those people that would just go back to honest day's work if drug laws were repealed.

Could be. I guess the situation in parts of Mexico is akin to war right now and once rule of law and civil society are reestablished, people like this guy could theoretically go back to honest day's work. That happens with war criminals in normal wars too, so it should be possible for this drug war. Unless of course the guy is a psychopath and not just a cold-blooded, rational killer.

[The Brain]

If you're going to confess to 45, why not all of them?

Maybe he already had love.

[Razgovory]

I wonder is this one of those people that would just go back to honest day's work if drug laws were repealed.

Could be. I guess the situation in parts of Mexico is akin to war right now and once rule of law and civil society are reestablished, people like this guy could theoretically go back to honest day's work. That happens with war criminals in normal wars too, so it should be possible for this drug war. Unless of course the guy is a psychopath and not just a cold-blooded, rational killer.

He could also theoretically be elected Pope as well, but I doubt it.