The Masked US Marshals Who Nabbed Chapo Guzmán

In the middle of a story about a masked US Marshal who was injured in an operation against the cartels in Mexico in July, Devlin Barrett reveals what was obvious, but never confirmed, at the time. US Marshals (and other US personnel) were involved in the operation that nabbed Chapo Guzmán.

The Marshals Service operations in Mexico are carried out by a small group sent for short, specific missions. The goal is to help Mexico find and capture high-value cartel targets.

One operation yielded a great success: The capture of cartel boss Joaquin Guzman Loera, known as “ El Chapo, ” earlier this year. It is unclear whether U.S. Marshals personnel were disguised as Mexican military men on the day he was caught.

Sometimes the Marshals Service targets a person Mexico would like to apprehend but who isn’t wanted by U.S. authorities, the people familiar with the work said.

Marshals personnel on the ground dress in local military garb to avoid standing out and are given weapons to defend themselves.

The reason I was pretty certain at the time Americans were involved was because all of the “Mexican Marines” involved in the operation — at least the ones that showed up in pictures — were fully masked, so fully that they likely hid light hair as often as faces that might get people targeted by the cartels.

Barrett also makes clear that the toys the Marshals are using in the US under Pen Register authority are also being deployed when they work under cover in Mexico.

The Marshals Service works closely with the Mexican Marines because the U.S. agency has expertise at finding fugitives, in part through technology that detects cellphone signals and other digital signatures. That includes airplane flights operated by the agency carrying sophisticated devices that mimic cellphone towers, as reported last week by The Wall Street Journal. That technology works better with a ground presence.

[snip]

The people familiar with the matter described the Marshals Service as a police agency affected by mission creep. More than five years ago, the Service flew small planes along the border to detect cell signals and locate suspects inside Mexico. About four years ago the flights crossed deep into Mexican airspace, the people said.

They added that, more recently, some flights have been conducted in Guatemala.

I would bet that the tech deployed against Chapo was even niftier than what the Marshals use here. That would allow them to test nifty new technologies against the most hardened targets, and do so without any legal niceties required, before they start conniving judges to authorize the same technologies against easier targets here. So if we look closely at the Chapo operation, we might learned what exotic new technologies are only beginning to be used here in the US.

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24 replies
  1. wallace says:

    What???????????????? US MARSHALLS..operating outside of US territory.. pursuing criminals on behalf of other governments??????

    ummm, something definately stinks here. Under what legal jurisdictions do US law enforcement, especially the US Marshals have to do this? Is this type work authorized under some law? I mean, there’s the CIA, FBI, DEA, ICE, ATF, DHS and probably a shitload more operating in foreign nations. Why is the US Marshals involved. I thought they were completely domestic. SheeezusHfuckingcrist..how many agencies do we need running amok around the planet?

  2. galljdaj says:

    New Technologies headed Our Way! Why? What’s the purpose? The need that has shown its presence and is requiring the new technologies?

    It not sufficient to merely tell us, ‘to fight terrorists’. Or, ‘for our protection’!

    Our interests are in ‘imminent’ danger! Therefore under Our Administration we have the Right of Self-Defense! Now that is the problem! The Govt and the Corporations see a threat coming from the Peoples, due to the interests of the Peoples being subjugated to the stealing of those elected and employed to Protect Our Interests!

    Look at the agenda! take aways here there and everywhere! Workers and retirees are being stolen from via Our Govt and Our Legal System. And the smoke screen is terrorism, and the method is ‘prevent the gathering of the opposition!

  3. bmaz says:

    US agents being involved in the Guzman operation is the least surprising thing ever. But the DEA would be involved too. First off, they are all up in the Sinaloans, and have been for a very long time, and secondly, DEA makes the Marshals look like pikers with tech deployable in Mexico.

    • wallace says:

      quote”US agents being involved in the Guzman operation is the least surprising thing ever.”unquote

      ummm, tell us something new bmaz. otherwise, your condenscending attitude pisses me off. Like you know what even a fucking caveman knows. But you STILL didn’t answer my question regarding jurisdictition of the US Marshalls.

      btw, for readers who aren’t as informed as bmaz…

      http://narcosphere.narconews.com/notebook/bill-conroy/2013/06/fbi-director-candidate-comey-complicit-dark-chapter-us-history

      • bmaz says:

        You know, you can cram it where the sun doesn’t shine jackass. You don’t bring squat to this forum besides contempt and bile. You are basically a parasite.

        • wallace says:

          Vs one who’s main concern is to weekly comment on adolescent halfwits masquerading as adults while wearing uniforms to identify one imbecilic corporate or educational institution gang from another while competing on a field to see how many points they can gain while throwing, carrying or kicking a ball. On a National Security analysis blog Marvelous.

        • bmaz says:

          First off, I have been a contributing partner of this blog since its founding. Secondly, it is not now, nor has it ever been, strictly a “national security” blog, even if much of what we do often impinges, directly or indirectly, on that. Thirdly, I have written thousands of posts over the years, both here and in our prior iteration; yes, some of them involve sports. Fourthly, while football is primary in what we discuss in the trash talk posts, also prominent is Formula One and several other sports as the need arises. You might also want to know that we have been known to do food and recipe posts. Saying football is my “main concern” in writing here is ignorant trolling at its bottom common denominator. My “main concern” is law, it always has been, and that is the majority of what I do, both on the internet and in real life.
          .
          By the way, since you were a total jerk about it, all three of us here love sports, including, predominantly, football. Shortly after we started, many years ago, Marcy suggested we have a regular trash talk post where the two of us, and all our commenter friends, could talk sports and let loose separate from the heavy, and mostly depressing, subjects we normally posted on. Later Jim White joined us, and he is of the same ilk. Yet you, “Wallace”, or “Chronicle”, or whatever your latest duplicitous sock puppet front moniker is, only attack me for liking football.
          .
          What’t the matter Wallace, chronicle, or whoever you are, are your balls so minuscule that you can only take out your ignorant, misplaced, angst on me? Well, if you want a war, you will get it. That is not a sound path for you though. You might want to rethink that.

        • scribe says:

          Could you please ban Wallace? Electrons are dear these days and I’m tired of them being wasted by him and the likes of him.
          .
          Thanks.

        • scribe says:

          On some website platforms, they provide settings marked “ignore” and even “Block”. Sadly, not this platform.

        • scribe says:

          Wallace, you showed up here very recently, uninvited and promptly undertook to act, or try to act, like one of the assholes in the Rolling Stone articles on rapist fratboys at the University of Virginia.
          .
          You aren’t that good.
          .
          As in one of the lines I have stocked up for use in court: “Your Honor, I would never call adversary counsel a son-of-a-bitch. He isn’t that good.”
          .
          That applies to you.
          .
          I won’t bother with rehearsing the respective resumes, on-screen and off, of the various discussion leaders (Emptywheel, BMAz and Jim White) or commenters (myself, a cast of hundreds more). They’re too extensive, distinguished, varied, honored and honorable to spread before you. Half of it, you likely wouldn’t even get. Dealing with the likes of you is, as one philosopher put it: “casting your pearls before swine and not even getting a pork chop in return.”
          .
          So, now that you’ve gotten your thrill of pissing off the management and audience here, and of being yelled at, why don’t you go back to the rock you crawled out from under, get back under it, and stay there. We’ve put up with enough of your shit.

        • galljdaj says:

          Pleased to note your questions and I have one criticism, you asked a person that provides evidence of being employed as the Snowman has documented to waste your time, and change the subject. He’s not here to learn teach or do anything to make peoples lives better safer or any other common good. I appreciate that you care and are working to bake better.

        • galljdaj says:

          Football fields are full of trash talk, Our Country and Our Freedoms are not on the trash talk playground. bmaz has lost the knowledge of communication and dialog needed for problem resolution. Which, wallace originally posted questions to. bmaz was and has been out of line, and has displayed a coward’s mentality and repeated has attempted to cover it up! Thank for bringing the relationship up, I did ignore the source.

        • bmaz says:

          Honestly, I might have responded to your comment at #10 earlier, but it was so incoherent as to appear to be generated by a bot. Oh, and you can take a long walk on a short pier too.

  4. bmaz says:

    In response to the somewhat incoherent demands of “Wallace” and “galljdaj”, I do not know, with certainty, the jurisdiction of the US Marshals in Mexico, nor is it my duty to. If they are such geniuses, perhaps they can enlighten the rest of us.
    .
    That said, there is no way to know with certainty what the relevant jurisdiction claimed for the USM participation in the pertinent Guzman operation was. Also unclear from both of these belligerent questioners is what “jurisdiction” they are ferrying to; i.e. whether it is the authority under US law, or under Mexican law. Under US law, the authority is whatever the government assigns them to do considering the scope of United States v. Verdugo Urquidez and United States v. Alvarez Machain. And, by the way, as a previously indicted drug kingpin, on the loose, El Chapo Guzman would certainly fall within the scope of the US Marshals both domestically and wherever his extradition may be sought from.
    .
    In this instance, however, my guess is the participation was via agreement between operational Mexican authorities, in fact, since they are the ones who took custody of El Chapo, I think you can bet on that, notwithstanding the CYA bleating of the Mexican diplomats for the gullible press.

    • galljdaj says:

      Poor boy is sensitive, I’m sorry I hurt your feelings. Try a lil communication… , given your posts its not likely to make you any better, but you may learn to reflect on what you post and live with it.

      • bmaz says:

        If that is the best you have, you are truly pathetic. As I guessed. Get lost. Are you yet another multiple headed sock puppet of “Wallace” or are you belligerent and ill informed all on your own?

        • P J Evans says:

          I think it’s a different one. Different set of obsession and different writing style.
          Still trolling, though.

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