Latest news with #ProjectPortero
The Herald Scotland
10 hours ago
- The Herald Scotland
6 human heads found in Mexico near Puebla and Tlaxcala
The severed heads were discovered on a road between the Mexican states of Puebla and Tlaxcala. The area is east of Mexico City in the country's central region. According to the release, police officers and experts with the Institute of Forensic Sciences responded to the scene to investigate the deaths, which involved all males. The victims' ages and where they lived were not provided. Prosecutors did not share the date or exact location where the remains were discovered but said, "It should be noted that the location corresponds to the discovery, not the actual incident." Local outlet La Jornada reported someone called 911 about 6:45 a.m. local time about "what appeared to be a human head, on the side of the road." According to information from the outlet and the BBC, one head was found with a banner with a name attributed to a criminal group: "La Barredora." Translated from Spanish to English, it means "the sweeper." Indian to be deported after fatal wreck: Truck driver charged in crash that killed 3 on Florida Turnpike Who do the human heads found in Mexico belong to? As of Aug. 20, local authorities had not released the victims' identities. A motive in the case was not immediately known. Prosecutors said they are working to determine who killed the victims, clarify what happened and hold accountable those found responsible. Under pressure from Trump: Mexico sends 26 cartel members to US 'A bold bilateral initiative' launched by DEA The announcement came the same day Mexico's President Claudia Sheinbaum announced the country's government did not have an agreement with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) over an operation called "Project Portero," Reuters reported. Sheinbaum's announcement, according to the outlet, came one day after the DEA said in a statement it was launching a "bold bilateral initiative with Mexico aimed at dismantling drug smuggling corridors." "The DEA issued this statement; we do not know on what basis. We have not reached any agreement through any of the security agencies with the DEA," Sheinbaum said during a news conference. "We do not know why they put out this statement." The move also came the same day Boxer Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. was deported to a jail in Mexico after his arrest by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. He was being held at a prison in the northern Mexican state of Sonora, according to the country's national arrest registry. Chavez Jr. is facing allegations that he acted as a henchman for the Sinaola cartel, a recently U.S.-designated terrorist organization. His arrest came four days after losing a boxing match to celebrity boxer Jake Paul. The discovery of the heads also came after Mexico, last week, shipped 26 suspected cartel members to the United States amid a push from President Donald Trump to dismantle the country's powerful drug organizations. Authorities sent prisoners wanted in the United States in connection with drug-trafficking ties, according to Mexico's attorney general's office. Country leaders said the U.S. Department of Justice had requested their extradition and would not seek the death penalty for the charged cartel members. It was not the first time Mexican authorities sent prisoners to the United States for similar reasons. In February, officials sent more than two dozen alleged cartel members over the border. Contributing: Josh Meyer, USA TODAY; and Reuters Natalie Neysa Alund is a senior reporter for USA TODAY. Reach her at nalund@ and follow her on X @nataliealund.
Qatar Tribune
18 hours ago
- Politics
- Qatar Tribune
Mexican president denies deal with US
Mexico CITY: Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum denied that her government has any agreement with Washington on a bilateral project to dismantle drug cartels. On Monday, the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) announced a 'bold bilateral initiative' with Mexico to fight drug cartels, an operation initiative named 'Project Portero.' However, Sheinbaum said that Mexico had not been consulted on the matter. 'The DEA issued this statement, we don't know on what basis,' Sheinbaum said during her daily press briefing. 'We have not reached any agreement, there is no deal between our security institutions and the DEA.' Sheinbaum added that Mexico's Foreign Ministry and the US State Department had been working for months on a security agreement that is 'about to be signed.' 'This deal is fundamentally based on sovereignty, mutual trust, and territorial respect ... and coordination without subordination,' she said. (DPA)
USA Today
a day ago
- USA Today
6 human heads found in central Mexico, state prosecutors announce
Mexican authorities are investigating after six human heads were located near the border between two states in the country this week. The Tlaxcala State Attorney General's Office, the agency investigating the case, announced the discovery on Aug. 19 in a news release. The heads were discovered on a road between the Mexican states of Puebla and Tlaxcala. The area is east of Mexico City in the country's central region. According to the release, police officers and experts with the Institute of Forensic Sciences responded to the scene to investigate the deaths, which involved all males. The victims' ages and where they lived were not provided. Prosecutors did not share the date or exact location where the remains were discovered but said, "It should be noted that the location corresponds to the discovery, not the actual incident." Local outlet La Jornada reported someone called 911 about 6:45 a.m. local time about "what appeared to be a human head, on the side of the road." According to information from the outlet and the BBC, one head was found with a banner with a name attributed to a criminal group: "La Barredora." Translated from Spanish to English, it means "the sweeper." Indian to be deported after fatal wreck: Truck driver charged in crash that killed 3 on Florida Turnpike Who do the human heads found in Mexico belong to? As of Aug. 20, local authorities had not released the victims' identities. A motive in the case was not immediately known. Prosecutors said they are working to determine who killed the victims, clarify what happened and hold accountable those found responsible. Under pressure from Trump: Mexico sends 26 cartel members to US 'A bold bilateral initiative' launched by DEA The announcement came the same day Mexico's President Claudia Sheinbaum announced the country's government did not have an agreement with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) over an operation called "Project Portero," Reuters reported. Sheinbaum's announcement, according to the outlet, came one day after the DEA said in a statement it was launching a "bold bilateral initiative with Mexico aimed at dismantling drug smuggling corridors." "The DEA issued this statement; we do not know on what basis. We have not reached any agreement through any of the security agencies with the DEA," Sheinbaum said during a news conference. "We do not know why they put out this statement." The move also came the same day Boxer Julio César Chávez Jr. was deported to a jail in Mexico after his arrest by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. He was being held at a prison in the northern Mexican state of Sonora, according to the country's national arrest registry. Chávez Jr. is facing allegations that he acted as a henchman for the Sinaola cartel, a recently U.S.-designated terrorist organization. His arrest came four days after losing a boxing match to celebrity boxer Jake Paul. The discovery of the heads also came after Mexico, last week, shipped 26 suspected cartel members to the United States amid a push from President Donald Trump to dismantle the country's powerful drug organizations. Authorities sent prisoners wanted in the United States in connection with drug-trafficking ties, according to Mexico's attorney general's office. Country leaders said the U.S. Department of Justice had requested their extradition and would not seek the death penalty for the charged cartel members. It was not the first time Mexican authorities sent prisoners to the United States for similar reasons. In February, officials sent more than two dozen alleged cartel members over the border. Contributing: Josh Meyer, USA TODAY; and Reuters
Yahoo
a day ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Mexico says there's no agreement with DEA for new border enforcement collaboration
MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexico's president denied on Tuesday that her administration had an agreement with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, a day after the U.S. agency announced 'a major new initiative' to collaborate in the fight against drug cartels. President Claudia Sheinbaum was referring to 'Project Portero,' an effort announced Monday by the DEA, which called it a "flagship operation' against smuggling routes that move drugs, guns and money across the border. 'The DEA put out a statement yesterday saying that there is an agreement with the Mexican government for an operation called Portero,' Sheinbaum said during her morning news briefing. 'There is no agreement with the DEA," she stressed. "The DEA puts out this statement, based on what we don't know. We have not reached any agreement, none of the security institutions (have) with the DEA.' Sheinbaum said the only thing that was happening was a workshop in Texas attended by four members of Mexico's police force. Later, without addressing Sheinbaum's criticism, the DEA said coordination with its Mexican counterparts on the training was 'a significant step forward in advancing and strengthening law enforcement and intelligence sharing with partners regarding an issue that has positive implications on both sides of the border.' Monday's DEA statement mentioned that workshop, saying it had brought Mexican investigators to one of its intelligence centers to train with U.S. prosecutors, law enforcement, defense officials and members of the intelligence community. Mexico's visibly annoyed president made her comments just days after generally positive exchanges between the two governments following another extension to ward off threatened U.S. tariffs and another shipment of 26 drug cartel figures to the United States from Mexico. Mexico had seemed to be repairing the security relationship with the U.S. after six years of tension under Sheinbaum's predecessor, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, who had reined in DEA agents operating in Mexico and accused the agency of wholesale fabrication when it arrested Mexico's former defense secretary. Sheinbaum's administration had taken a more aggressive stance toward pursuing Mexico's drug cartels and sent dozens of cartel figures sought by prosecutors to the U.S. Sheinbaum did say that members of her administration had been working for months with U.S. counterparts on a broader security agreement that was practically finished. She said that agreement was based on four principles her administration has stressed for months: sovereignty, mutual trust, territorial respect and coordination without subordination. The thing that seemed to have her bristling Tuesday was the DEA sending out a statement without proper coordination. Sheinbaum said she asked the DEA to respect Mexico, to follow agreed-upon protocols for such announcements, and emphasized that Mexico only signs agreements with the U.S. government, not with individual agencies. The DEA statement included a comment from agency administrator Terry Cole, who was recently tapped to lead the Trump administration takeover of the Washington D.C. police. 'Project Portero and this new training program show how we will fight — by planning and operating side by side with our Mexican partners, and by bringing the full strength of the U.S. government to bear,' Cole said in the Monday statement. ___ Associated Press writer Alanna Durkin Richer in Washington contributed to this report. ___ Follow AP's coverage of Latin America and the Caribbean at Solve the daily Crossword
Barnama
a day ago
- Politics
- Barnama
Mexican President Denies Deal With US To Target Drug Cartels
MEXICO CITY, Aug 20 (Bernama-dpa) -- Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum on Tuesday denied that her government has any agreement with Washington on a bilateral project to dismantle drug cartels, German Press Agency (dpa) reported. On Monday, the United States (US) Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) announced a "bold bilateral initiative" with Mexico to fight drug cartels named "Project Portero." However, Sheinbaum said that Mexico had not been consulted on the matter. bootstrap slideshow "The DEA issued this statement, we don't know on what basis," Sheinbaum said during her daily press briefing. "We have not reached any agreement, there is no deal between our security institutions and the DEA." Sheinbaum added that Mexico's Foreign Ministry and the US State Department had been working for months on a security agreement that is "about to be signed." "This deal is fundamentally based on sovereignty, mutual trust, and territorial respect ... and coordination without subordination," she said, adding that the only other ongoing bilateral security activity was a group of Mexican police officers attending a workshop in Texas. "That is all there is. There is nothing else," the president continued, adding, "We do not know why they issued this statement." "The only thing we will always ask for is respect. Always. If you are going to report something related to Mexico that is part of the security issue, we ask that it be done within the framework of the collaboration we have." -- BERNAMA-dpa
