$1.5 Billion, the Sex-Trafficking House and Its Investigator's Murder

BorderReporter.com

Arturo Beltrán Leyva’s become the new narco non grata
and the Mexican government is trying to tie him to the murder of the
acting federal police chief last week. But a year-old case involving another murdered high-level official raises some questions about this latest hit.

There is some reason to believe that a
high-level murder last year in Mexico City was an inside job. And the
murders bear some exploring this week as Congress is set to decide on
the first of a $1.5 billion payment to Mexico.

The Mexican Feds tell El Universal that
Beltrán, “El Barbas,” managed to escape a gunbattle with federal police
more than a week ago. Plausible, except for the timing of it. They
released this information about six days after the fact.

Now, they’re painting a portrait of one man versus another: The assassinated acting federal police chief, Edgar Millán against the current narco non grata Beltrán Leyva.

They say the military and federal police
were alerted to a convoy that was passing through the state of Morelos
and a firefight broke out. Somehow, Beltrán managed to escape.

The next day, the Feds say, Millán was betrayed by one of his own men, allegedly, security chief Javier Herrera,
and a killer lay in wait for him inside his house. The gunman used two
guns; only one had a silencer. He shot Millán eight times.

What we’re told is this all happened as a result of Millán’s stalwart efforts against Beltrán and the Sinaloans.

Go back a year.

Last May, the chief of intelligence for
the Mexican CIA, Jose Nemesio Lugo, was murdered in Mexico City. Two
men on a motorcycle approached Nemesio in his SUV and shot him as he
started to roll down his window.

The intelligence community on both sides
of the border was outraged. Then an informant came to the U.S. He told
investigators that Nemesio had been investigating a house in northern
Mexico used for sex-trafficking young women; the children of migrants
heading toward the U.S. The informant told investigators that the girls
were being used by government officials. Nemesio’s investigation, the
informant told U.S. authorities, was the reason for his murder.

Granted, these are informants we’re talking about. Their motives for talking can be extremely self-serving at times.

But occasionally, they’re also correct.

Nemesio’s murder was never solved; as usual, the intellectual author behind the killing has never been found.

Nemesio’s murder makes me think of motives
behind Millán’s killing a week ago. Is it truly as simple as a revenge
hit by a narco on the run? Or was Millán onto something nobody wants to
talk about?

I would find it very, very useful if the
United States Congress asked more questions about Nemesio’s and
Millán’s killings before they sign off on the first $500 million
payment to Mexico. Congress is set to vote on the Merida Initiative
this week.

Before they go cutting that check, I’d like them to ask a few intelligent questions first.