Mexican drug cartels are being armed with weapons supplied by the U.S., leaked documents show.

The WikiLeaks files, written by U.S. military chiefs, reveal that grenades and light anti-tank weapons seized from drug traffickers in Mexico and Colombia were from the U.S.

A cable entitled ‘Honduras: Military weapons fuel black market in arms’ states that the serial numbers of arms taken from drug gangs coincide with those supplied by the U.S. to the Honduran Armed Forces.


U.S. arms: WikiLeaks file claims weapons seized from Mexican drug gangs were made in America

According to the Defense Intelligence Agency file, the brands and serial numbers seized equipment are the same as a shipment sent to the Second Infantry Battallion in Honduras.

‘The [U.S. Government] has become aware that light anti-tank weapons (LAWs) and grenades supplied to Honduras under the Foreign Military Sales program were recovered in Mexico and Colombia,’ the cable said.

 

‘According to the [Defense Intelligence Agency] report, three light anti-tank weapons (LAWs) were recovered in Mexico City in January 2008, and one was recovered in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico in April 2008.’

‘Over 50 per cent of the military-type weapons that are flowing throughout the region have a large source between Central American stockpiles, if you will, left over from wars and conflicts in the past,’ said General Douglas Fraser, the head of the U.S. Southern Command in the memo.

According to the report, in April 2008, an investigation by the Honduran Armed Forces showed that the battalion did not know the whereabouts of 26 pieces of military equipment supplied by the U.S. for training.

The weapons had been sent in 1992 as a part of U.S. military sales to foreign armies.
The leaked cable comes as Mexico explores lawsuits against U.S. gun makers to stem flow of illegal arms.

Gun stores on the border between the U.S. have Mexico have been criticised for their firearms ending up in the hands of drug cartels.

Spreading drug gang violence has claimed more than 34,600 lives in Mexico over the past four years with more than 15,000 deaths last year.

The drug wars have prompted foreign governments, including the U.S., to issue a number of travel warnings for parts of Mexico.

The mother of a 16-year-old Outlook girl who was killed when she answered a knock on the door Thursday night says her daughter was not involved in gangs.

She tells the Yakima Herald-Republic that Diana Lopez was an aspiring veterinarian who liked school, though one of her brothers had served time in jail. The teen was also a mother herself of a 2-year-old girl.

Authorities say the mobile home where Lopez lived was rife with gang activity. Dispatchers have fielded 21 calls involving the residence since 1998, five of them weapons offenses.

Investigators say four people dressed in blue with bandanas over their faces pulled up at the home Thursday night. Lopez was shot once in the side and died on her way to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle.

21-year-old man was rushed to hospital with a lower body gunshot wound after a shooting on Belisle Street off McArthur Avenue near St. Laurent Boulevard on Saturday afternoon

21-year-old man was rushed to hospital with a lower body gunshot wound after a shooting on Belisle Street off McArthur Avenue near St. Laurent Boulevard on Saturday afternoon, police said. Sgt.

Seth Curtis of the guns and gangs unit said the shooting happened at about 3: 30 p.m. outside of a home on the small dead-end street, and that a warrant was being sought to enter that now-empty home to search for possible evidence. Curtis said the home could have links to the victim, the suspects, or both. No suspects had yet been identified, and the victim, who is known to police, was not co-operating, Curtis said. The victim was in stable condition in hospital on Saturday.

19-year-old woman who was shot in the head in a drive-by shooting late Monday night in south Minneapolis will likely die

19-year-old woman who was shot in the head in a drive-by shooting late Monday night in south Minneapolis will likely die Tuesday, according to her aunt.

Tameka Swoop is in critical condition at Hennepin County Medical Center following the shooting, which happened shortly before 10 p.m. at 3232 Columbus Ave. S.

Swoop was driven to Abbott Northwestern before she was transferred to HCMC.

In an exclusive interview with FOX 9 News, Swoop’s aunt, Lori Madison, said her niece was outside her house when the drive-by shooting occurred. She said Swoop was an innocent bystander and does not know who the shooter was or who the intended target was.

Madison said about five bullets sprayed the house, one hitting Swoop in the head.

Minneapolis police Sgt. Bill Palmer said there is conflicting information in the police report as to what happened.

No suspects are in custody. It’s unknown whether or not the suspect and victims knew each other or if the shooting was gang-related.

Police blocked off streets and called in K-9 units as they searched for a shooting suspect Tuesday night in Washington

Police blocked off streets and called in K-9 units as they searched for a shooting suspect Tuesday night in Washington.
A man was shot on Sycamore Street around 7:30 p.m., police said. A witness described multiple shots being fired.
The shooter fled the scene in a white SUV, which was abandoned a few blocks away, according to investigators. That's where police closed several streets and set up a perimeter as they searched for the suspect. The search was called off shortly before 10 p.m.
The victim was flown to a Pittsburgh hospital.

Police have arrested a second suspect for a murder on Houston's south side in March, but are still looking for additional shooters.

Levelle Dequan Vigne, 18, is in custody and charged with murder. One other suspect, Anthony R. Jenkins, 21, was arrested on April 12 and is also charged with murder in the same court.
Police say officers responded to a shooting call in the parking lot of the Sunflower Terrace Apartments and found a vehicle that had collided with two other vehicles parked in the lot. Officers approached the vehicle and found Craig Robertson, 18, slumped over in the front passenger's seat. Robertson was pronounced dead at the scene.
Witnesses reported seeing a truck drive by them and someone firing shots at them. Moments later, a car drove by and someone from inside fired shots at Robertson's vehicle. The suspects in both vehicles then fled the scene. The pickup truck used in the shooting was recovered a day after the shooting in the 6700 block of Dumble.
The investigation developed information on Jenkins being one suspect in the case and he was arrested two weeks ago. Further investigation identified Vigne as a second suspect in this case. He was arrested on April 25 without incident. He has admitted to investigators his involvement in this incident.
Investigators believe there are other unidentified suspects involved in the shooting.

Minneapolis man convicted of murder in drive-by shooting

jury convicted a Minneapolis man of murder on Tuesday as part of a prosecution credited largely to the city's ShotSpotter camera system.

After deliberating about two hours, the Hennepin County jury convicted Christopher James Hayes, 24, of first-degree murder in a drive-by shooting and of second-degree intentional murder. The jury acquitted him of first-degree premeditated murder.

The first-degree murder conviction carries a mandatory life sentence. Hayes was sentenced after the verdict.

He was charged in the September 2010 shooting death of Christopher Roy de Ronde, 21, of Bloomington, whose body was found on a sidewalk in north Minneapolis.

The victim was shot in broad daylight at Colfax and 30th Avenues N.. Authorities said Hayes' actions and those of another man speeding from the scene were recorded by the city's ShotSpotter system of cameras and microphones that detects and records video of the scenes of gunshots.

 

Police arrested three suspects of an April 16 drive-by shooting

Police arrested three suspects of an April 16 drive-by shooting — two after they fled from a wrecked car Tuesday and a third at a school in northeast Oklahoma City.

Oklahoma City police take two suspects into custody near NE 102 and Broadway after a short foot chase. The pair were wanted in connection with a drive-by shooting in northeast Oklahoma City on April 16, and a third was arrested at a northeast Oklahoma City school. Steve Gooch - The Oklahoman


Officers arrest 2 drive-by shooting suspects

Tyrel James, 17, was arrested at Justice Alma Wilson SeeWorth Academy on a warrant of using a vehicle to facilitate a drive-by shooting, Oklahoma City police Sgt. Jennifer Wardlow said.
Johnathan Bledsoe, 19, was arrested on a felony complaint of eluding an officer, possession of a controlled dangerous substance on school property and possession of a firearm of school property.
Elijah Crutcher, 18, was arrested on complaints of possession of a firearm on school property and possession of a controlled dangerous substance on school property.
Wardlow said investigators are determining whether an assault on an officer complaint will added since Bledsoe, who was driving the car that wrecked, may have attempted to hit an officer with the car.
She said all three are students at the academy, and that's where police went to find them.
Bledsoe and Crutcher drove away from the school and then fled on foot after wrecking the car near Hefner and Kelley, Wardlow said. They were apprehended about 1:45 p.m. near NE 102 and Broadway Extension with the help of a K9 unit and police helicopter.
They drive-by shooting happened April 16 in the 200 block of NW 83. Witnesses said the driver fired a semi-automatic weapon from the driver's side window while the front passenger was firing over the roof of the westbound car in a southeasterly direction, according to the police report.
Several shell casings were found near NW 84 and Harvey Avenue.
The victim, identified only as Adrian Thomas, arrived at a hospital with gunshot wounds and was taken into surgery, the report states.

Belleville police are investigating four armed robberies and one drive-by shooting

Belleville police are investigating four armed robberies and one drive-by shooting that have occurred in the past week but have resulted in no arrests.
The latest was reported at 12:17 a.m. Tuesday in the 100 block of North High Street near downtown Belleville.
A man's trip to take out the trash took a bad turn when he encountered a 21-year-old acquaintance and an unknown man who were waiting for him. The unknown man pulled out a gun and pointed it at the victim's head. He then ordered the victim to empty his pockets and stole his cell phone.

The armed suspect then told the victim to take him to the victim's "crib." The victim, instead, took the man to a different apartment. When no one answered the door, the suspect shot the victim once in the leg and fled the scene.
The bullet traveled though the bottom of the doorway into another apartment. No other injuries were reported and the shooting victim was treated and released from an area hospital.
No further description of either suspect was released by police.
Meanwhile, a passenger in a white vehicle was spotted shooting out of the passenger side window about 4 p.m. Monday in the area of Bellevue Park. That vehicle had been chasing a silver vehicle around the park.
Witnesses said they heard eight to nine shots fired and described the shooter as a man in a white shirt.
"Fortunately, no injuries or damages were reported to us," Capt. Don Sax said.
Several people in the area of the park were interviewed but no one has been arrested in that case and no further descriptions of the suspect or suspects were released.
Police have released few details about the shootings and the other armed robberies.
Sax did not know of any connections between the cases.
"Obviously (the incidents) put us on edge," Sax said. "(But) the detectives have an incredibly high solvability rate."
The other unsolved cases include:
* April 21: Two men forced a woman into her home at gunpoint in the 1100 block of Lilac and robbed her just before 1 p.m. The suspects were only described as black males, one wearing a jogging suit and another wearing a dark hoodie and blue jeans. They escaped in a Jeep Liberty.
* Saturday: A man was robbed at gunpoint just before midnight while sitting in his gold 2001 Mitsubishi Galant on the east side of McDonald's at 7301 Westfield Plaza Drive. The two suspects were described as males he knew from childhood. They drove off with the victim's car.
* Sunday: A man was robbed at gunpoint by two men between the ages of 18 and 20 while he was parked in Kmart's parking lot at 7230 Westfield Plaza. A cell phone and credit cards were stolen.

Two teenage siblings arrested in the gunshot slaying of a Spokane man remain jailed on $1 million bond after appearing in court Monday.

Breeanna C. Sims, 19, and Justice E. Sims, 18, faces charges of first-degree murder, second-degree arson, first-degree kidnapping and first-degree rendering criminal assistance for the death of 22-year-old Nicholas J. Thoreson, who was found shot to death April 13 in the burning trunk of his 1987 Ford Thunderbird at Forker and Bigelow Gulch roads.

Taylor J. Wolf, 20, who was arrested 22 hours after Thoreson's body was found, is jailed on a second-degree murder charge but expected to soon face the same charges as the Sims, authorities say.

Breeanna Sims was arrested Friday afgter they followed her to Forker and Bigelow Gluch, where she was looking for evidence. A sheriff's dog led detectives to a .38 caliber pistol and a sawed-off 12 gauge shotgun. The pistol is believed to have been used to kill Thoreson.

Justice Sims was arrested after leaving his apartment in north Spokane, where detectives had set up surveillance. He flashed a hand sign at supporters before being led out of District Court after his first appearance Monday.

No motive for the slaying has been released. Wolf has ties to the Hells Angels motorcycle gang and worked briefly at Fessco Fleet & Marine with the gang's enforcer, Ricky Jenks, who is jailed on federal guns charges. Investigators haven't said if Thoreson's murder is related to the Hells Angels.

Affidavits detailing the case remain sealed, though Spokane County sheriff's Sgt. Dave Reagan said there are no other suspects. A status conference for the case is set for April 21.

Thoreson was the father of an 11-month-old baby. Friends say he knew Wolf through a job corps program.

Thoreson's mother, girlfriend and other friends attended Monday's hearing but declined comment.