Crime

Mexican Authorities Capture Police Officer Turned Gang Leader Who Claims He Ordered 1,500 Murders

Mexican Authorities Capture Violent Gang Leader Jose Antonio Acosta Hernandez Who Ordered 1,500 Murders

Gang Leader Jose Antonio Acosta Hernandez

MEXICO CITY (The Blaze/AP) — A former police officer who allegedly admits ordering 1,500 killings during a campaign of terror as a drug gang chieftain along the U.S. border has been captured in northern Mexico, federal officials said Sunday. According to The El Paso Times, Jose Antonio Acosta Hernandez is a violent criminal with an immensely disturbing track record:

Mexican authorities said Acosta…claims he ordered the killings…mainly in Juárez and Chihuahua City. Among those killed were local, state and federal police officers, members of rival criminal groups and members of his own organization who had lost his trust.

Acosta also is a suspect in last year’s slaying of a U.S. consulate employee near a border crossing in Ciudad Juarez.

Mexican President Felipe Calderon said through his Twitter account that Acosta’s capture is “the biggest blow” to organized crime in Ciudad Juarez since he sent about 5,000 federal police to the city in April 2010 to try to curb violence in one of the world’s most dangerous cities.

Acosta, 33, was caught Friday in the northern city of Chihuahua along with his bodyguard, said Ramon Pequeno, head of the federal police anti-drug unit. According to Sky News:

There was a $1.2m…bounty on offer for the 33-year-old’s capture, which came after a gun battle between police and gang members.

Without offering details on the capture, he said the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration helped by providing information. Acosta’s arrest was not confirmed until Sunday, just before officials displayed him to journalists in Mexico City. Below, watch an Al Jazeera report that explains Acosta’s crimes:

Wearing a long-sleeve dress shirt, the short man with a cleft chin and thick eyebrows limped as he was escorted by two masked federal police officers to stand before the cameras.

Pequeno said at the news conference that Acosta, nicknamed “El Diego,” told federal police he ordered 1,500 killings. Investigators believe he was the mastermind of an attack last year that killed a U.S. consulate employee, her husband and the husband of another consulate worker in Ciudad Juarez, he said.

U.S. prosecutors also want to try him in that case. A federal indictment filed in the western district of Texas says Acosta and nine others conspired to kill the three.

Pequeno said he expects an extradition request from the U.S. government.

Mexican authorities have identified Acosta as head of La Linea, a gang of hit men and corrupt police officers who act as enforcers for the Juarez Cartel.

Acosta acknowledged he ordered the most notorious crimes such as the detonation of a July 2010 car bomb and a massacre that killed 15 people, mostly teenagers, at a birthday party, both in Ciudad Juarez, Pequeno said.

A former state police officer, Acosta built a criminal empire, not only leading a gang of contract killers for the Juarez Cartel but also extorting businesses and kidnapping for large ransoms, said Tony Payan, an expert on the drug war at the University of Texas-El Paso.

“This is an enforcer and the financial arm of the Juarez Cartel,” said Payan, whose research comes from both newspaper accounts and people living in Ciudad Juarez.

Payan said Acosta’s law enforcement past explains how the cartel could gather intelligence using informants within local police forces.

Payan also said Acosta’s arrest could reduce the number of murders in Juarez, where more than 3,000 homicides were recorded last year.

“He was a very hands-on manager that was practically involved in the management and organization, personally brokering every single activity and every single murder,” Payan said. “This may be the break that we have all been waiting for.”

It may also weaken an already shattered Juarez Cartel, he said.

The cartel, allegedly led by Vicente Carrillo Fuentes, has been losing ground to the Sinaloa drug trafficking organization, headed by Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman in a three-year battle over the border city’s smuggling corridors. But Carrillo Fuentes and alleged top lieutenant Juan Pablo Ledezma remain at large.

Comments (39)

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  • I_Object
    Posted on August 1, 2011 at 1:04pm

    Scapegoat. They’ll say they executed him after he was held in solitary and he will be relocated. Then they will have drawn some heat from the public at large away from themselves. Set up. In my (conspiracy theory) opinion.

    Report Post » I_Object  
    • Secret Squirrel
      Posted on August 1, 2011 at 10:57pm

      .
      1500 killings!
      I think there will be an opening on the Canton, Ohio police department.
      You’ll fit right in.

      Report Post » Secret Squirrel  
  • Texas woman56
    Posted on August 1, 2011 at 12:29pm

    The Mexican gov. does not kill anyone for crimes done. In fact, they will not give us a criminal unless we tell them the person will not get capital pun. But, the arrested person is tortured until he admits to commiting the list of crimes they need taken care of. Something like 5 % of the crimes are solved in Mexico. There are several cartels in Juarez, I doubt this man is over all the crimes they say. If you live on the border you know never to believe what the Mexican press or Mexican gov. tells you.

    Report Post »  
  • rodeo_clown13
    Posted on August 1, 2011 at 11:30am

    If “Fast & Furious”, i.e., aiding and abetting a criminal activity on foreign soild is not grounds for high crimes, none exist.

    Report Post »  
  • rodeo_clown13
    Posted on August 1, 2011 at 11:28am

    The Columbian “pepes” need to be developed in MX.

    Report Post »  
  • rodeo_clown13
    Posted on August 1, 2011 at 11:25am

    Gross as it may sound, his circle of friends and close family need to taken down. Check out the Pepes in Columbia a few years ago. Until they went after those vicious thugs using the same tactics on the thugs that the thugs use, it will take too much time and expense to correct this problem. Hang him in the town square.

    Report Post »  
  • affinnity
    Posted on August 1, 2011 at 10:47am

    This is what happens when people join groups and allow a one or a few leaders to control their lives. He should be placed in a stadium, tied to a pole, and all of the family members of his victims should be invited to punch him in the face once. If he lives give him a trial. This guy‘s got millions of dollars and there’s no way the Mexican government is going to give the families justice.

    Report Post » affinnity  
  • elosogrande
    Posted on August 1, 2011 at 10:32am

    Water board him and get all possible information. Execute him.

    Report Post »  
    • blazingaway
      Posted on August 1, 2011 at 11:26am

      Yes, Water board him and get all the information you can. The drug situation in Mexico is just as alarming as any other terrorist activity. It should be fought as such, it is beyond a police action

      Report Post » blazingaway  
  • Texas woman56
    Posted on August 1, 2011 at 10:08am

    What is it that keeps the American people from getting information about the Mexican cartel, gunrunning, etc.? Well for one the Main Stream Media is not reporting it. Another one is Americans are not reading about it. Look how few commets are on this article. It appears that the U.S. gov. is arming several different cartels. How many people know about ??? Az- ATF, El Paso and Nm.- State Department, Dallas and Houston, ATF or FBI, Florida to Honduras- I am not sure about the agency( although a Texas cong. brought it up at the Cong. hearings.) This country is next to us, it is a ditch away in El Paso. The cartel have 50 caliber rifles that can shoot aprox. 2 miles. They are getting more and more explosives. What is going on??The head of AFT in AZ said at the cong. invest. that they sent aprox. 2500 guns and rifles to the drug cartel south of Az. Two Felons were given around 300 guns to carry to the cartel. The FBI and AFT told the gun shops to sell them to these men.
    We have got to get the news out there. The debt ceiling will come and go, the guns are here to stay.
    The information about “fast and furious” in AZ. is testimony given under oath to the cong. committee.
    It is not a internet theory or lies ,it is the truth. Please take the time to read all the information or read the Congressional information from Sen. Issa. Please get the information out there! We have to find out what really happened and why!

    Report Post »  
  • martinrnelson
    Posted on August 1, 2011 at 10:06am

    If he’s found guilty..KILL HIM!!

    Report Post » martinrnelson  
  • oneshiner
    Posted on August 1, 2011 at 10:03am

    I’ve always heard how corrupt the Mexican police were. I wouldn’t go there anymore. 20-30 years ago it was marginal, but today it’s asking for trouble. And these people come across our border bringing with them all the crime and gang related activities. How scary we keep allowing this.

    Report Post »  
  • Ron_WA
    Posted on August 1, 2011 at 9:59am

    One down, millions to go. As long as the US demand for drugs remains so high there will be an endless supply of these thugs willing to supply the dope by any means.

    Report Post » Ron_WA  
    • Truthbeliever2
      Posted on August 1, 2011 at 2:46pm

      @Ron_Wa. As long as the US demand for drugs remains so high there will be an endless supply of these thugs willing to supply the dope by any means.

      The U.S. demand for drugs!!!!

      The U.S. has no higher demand for drugs than anyone else. Human beings demand drugs you moron, and nobody will ever get rid of either. (humans & drugs)

      Legalize drugs and cut the the legs out from under the cartels. People will always find a way to get what they want. It’s each individuals right to choose what they do with their own body.

      Your comment makes it seem it is the fault of the U.S. that people want drugs.
      Like this is all happening over there b/c of the U.S.
      Totally stupid!
      But most liberal arguments always find a way to blame the U.S.A.

      Report Post » Truthbeliever2  
  • Hemingway in Cuba
    Posted on August 1, 2011 at 9:48am

    Mexican cop to gang leaders…not a huge career change.

    Report Post » Hemingway in Cuba  
  • TXWildfire
    Posted on August 1, 2011 at 9:36am

    Yeeeaaaaahhh…….. our borders are fine.

    Report Post » TXWildfire  
  • I_Hate_Libs
    Posted on August 1, 2011 at 9:12am

    Those Democrats are some sick people.

    The horror of the Democrat mind.

    Report Post »  
  • Joan Of Argghh
    Posted on August 1, 2011 at 9:06am

    .
    When we the FBI/CIA ‘fess up to training him and dozens of others? Because one has already confessed to that.

    Report Post »  
  • Texas woman56
    Posted on August 1, 2011 at 8:56am

    Maybe he will tell the Mexican gov.which U.S. Group he got his guns from. ATF, FBI, STate dept.
    Just remember they will do whatever they need to do to get information true or false. So it is interesting that this one man had everything done and no other cartel did anything.
    There is no capital punishment in Mexico.
    Also, it looks like this really helps the Sineola cartel which it’s seems like they may be the cartel that received the. ATF guns if you watched the congressional hearing last week. Also El Paso TImes reported that the State department is selling military grade equipment and guns through El Paso and Columbus, N M. to a front company that is giving them to the Los zeta.
    As one of the ATF officers said at the hearing: It looks like we, AFT, have given enough guns to the Sineola drug cartel to fight a war.

    Report Post »  
  • windycitywoman
    Posted on August 1, 2011 at 8:53am

    Hello Beck friends! I have started a prayer group for Glenn and his endeavors on educating our youth and his mission in Israel. This group also posts news articles and videos on topics Glenn has covered on his show. Many others and I are members of GBTV and will be discussing his show daily and posting what he shares on the Internet. This is a great way to stay in the loop if you do not have GBTV!. We have also been doing wonderful fast and prayers on Wednesdays for Israel! If you are a “like minded” Christian, Conservative Glenn Beck fan please join us (220 of us and growing rapidly and without the TROLLS)! Find me on Facebook under Sharon Grek Papucci and send me a friend request! Men may spurn our appeals, reject our message, oppose our arguments, despise our persons, but they are helpless against our prayers.” -Sidlow Baxter

    Report Post » windycitywoman  
  • Iman Barak Hussein
    Posted on August 1, 2011 at 8:41am

    i once had a friend in the 80′s, arrested in cancun for possession of a single joint.
    the police called the family in NY, and shook them down for $10k in cash
    for his release from a dirt floor, no roof, no plumbing prison.

    Report Post » Iman Barak Hussein  
    • sissykatz
      Posted on August 1, 2011 at 8:54am

      Iman them story you are telling is the reason I have never been to Mexico. I have always been afraid to
      go because of people that were held for ransom. Long before what is happening now.The stories I read where people had car wrecks and had to pay cash before they could even go to the Hospital.The people would die before they could ever get help.

      I have been many places around the world and was never afraid but I have always refused to go to Mexico. It is the most corrupt place I know of.

      This man should be tortured for what he has done. I can’t even imagine.

      Report Post »  
  • Fina Biscotti
    Posted on August 1, 2011 at 8:30am

    These are the types needed for OBAMA INC.

    Report Post »  
  • Fina Biscotti
    Posted on August 1, 2011 at 8:25am

    And this is while our country refuses to control, close and enforce our US Borders – w these types of animals – able to gain illegal entry.

    Thanks Usurper Obama!

    Report Post »  
  • teddrunk
    Posted on August 1, 2011 at 8:21am

    When will they capture members of the Obama gang? The Mexican gun runner organization.

    Report Post »  
  • grandmaof5
    Posted on August 1, 2011 at 8:02am

    That is terrific news but just the tip of the ice berg. I’m sure they are lined up for miles to take his place and continue the murders so please continue the good work. Don’t send him here to be prosecuted: Try him, prosecute him and execute him down there. We don’t need anymore extreme influences in our prison systems.

    Report Post »  
    • starman70
      Posted on August 1, 2011 at 8:40am

      It‘s too bad that he can’t be executed 1500 times. That way the punishment would fit the crimes.

      Report Post »  
  • SpankDaMonkey
    Posted on August 1, 2011 at 7:56am

    .
    We gonna need a big ass wall, not a cheesy lil’ fence……………

    Report Post » SpankDaMonkey  
    • Your Name Here
      Posted on August 1, 2011 at 8:54am

      Amen!
      I say we need a slurry wall 150‘ deep with embeded sensors that also goes 50’ above ground the total length of the border.
      This includes Falcon Lake and the Rio Grande.
      We wouldn’t need a dual fence or as many patrols if we has a real and substantial barrier.
      This would also negate the need to take private land along the border for the dual fence.

      Report Post » Your Name Here  
    • ProbIemSoIver
      Posted on August 1, 2011 at 1:54pm

      A fence that would actually keeps illegals out?? Things are going just as planned for the politicians.
      They want an open border because their REAL constituents are the Global Elite that want America Destroyed. They can then go full-steam-ahead towards AGENDA 21. The United States would only be a memory. It would now be called the “North American Union”. America, Canada, and Mexico. Bush Signed a treaty in regards tothis. It is part of the NWO agenda. This is NO conspiracy theory. This is as real as it gets.

      Report Post » ProbIemSoIver  
  • kralspaces
    Posted on August 1, 2011 at 7:55am

    That’s yesterdays news on Al Jazeera. That why I listen/read it too. I wonder if Hillary knows this news yet?

    Report Post » kralspaces  
  • biohazard23
    Posted on August 1, 2011 at 7:55am

    Janet Napolitano and Eric Holder would welcome this bottom feeder to the US with open arms.

    Report Post » biohazard23  
    • affinnity
      Posted on August 1, 2011 at 10:49am

      She probably already does business with him and his Cartel.

      Report Post » affinnity  
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