New Mexico cops still on the job after performing illegal anal probes

Reuters / Jose Luis Gonzalez

Police officers in a New #Mexico town who forced suspects to undergo multiple, forced anal cavity searches are still on the job despite their questionable behavior, according to Watchdog.org.

In January, the town of Deming and Hidalgo County settled a lawsuit for $1.6 million over the case of David Eckert. Pulled over for a minor traffic violation, Eckert was flagged for holding drugs by a K-9 unit, which would later be found to be operating under expired certification. Police suspected Eckert was carrying drugs in his anal cavity and sought out a search warrant, but then transported the man to a hospital outside of the warrant’s jurisdiction when the first establishment refused to conduct the search on ethical grounds.

At Gila Regional Medical Center, however, doctors performed eight separate medical procedures against Eckert’s protests, including two rectal finger examinations, three enemas and a colonoscopy. He was also forced to defecate in front of doctors and police officers. None of these procedures uncovered any drugs.

According to Eckert’s lawyer Shannon Kennedy, not only was the issued search warrant overly broad and lacking in probable cause, but it was also only valid in Luna County, where Deming is located and Eckert was arrested.

After the first hospital refused to perform the anal search, police took Eckert to Gila, which is located in a separate county altogether. If that is the case, then doctors performed all eight of the

To make matters worse, the search warrant expired at 10 p.m. while doctors didn’t even begin prepping Eckert for the colonoscopy until 1 a.m. the next morning, when the warrant had been expired for hours.

But Eckert’s story wasn’t an isolated incident. According to police reports, a man named Timothy Young was also stopped by police after a minor traffic violation. The same unlicensed K-9 dog, Leo, sniffed drugs on his seat, causing police to seek a warrant to search Young’s body for illegal substances, KOB TV reported.

Just like Eckert, Young was taken to Gila Regional Medical Center, located in a county not covered by the search warrant, where doctors performed medical procedures, including finger exams of his anus and an X-Ray of his stomach. Young did not consent to the examinations. Again, no drugs were discovered in his body.

The Eckert lawsuit listed three Deming Police Department officers, three members of the Hidalgo County Sheriff’s Office, as well as the doctors and the hospital involved. The three city cops are still listed as active duty, New Mexico Watchdog reported.

In a phone interview with NM Watchdog, Deming Police Chief Brandon Gigante wouldn’t say why they are still active or if they were disciplined. “That is a personnel matter,” he said. (After the Eckert incident, he told KOB, "We follow the law in every aspect and we follow policies and protocols that we have in place.”)

The Hidalgo County sheriff did not return NM Watchdog’s phone calls, and the status of the three officers is unclear.

Hildalgo County Commissioner Darr Shannon told NM Watchdog, “I don’t know [about the status of the officers]. I hate to admit it, but I don’t know anything … A county commissioner cannot have anything to do with personnel matters.”

The county commission chair, Ed “Bim” Kerr wouldn’t speak with NM Watchdog, referring questions to the county manager, Jose Salazar. Salazar then referred questions to the county’s attorney, Damian Martinez, who also refused to comment. RT

Mexican troops kill Zetas cartel founder Mellado

The city of Reynosa in Tamaulipas state has seen a spike in violence with more than 20 killed over the past weeks

#Mexican security officials say one of the founders of the #Zetas #drug cartel has been killed in a gun battle in the north-eastern state of Tamaulipas.

Galindo Mellado Cruz is accused of being one of the original members of the Zetas, which first emerged as a group of enforcers for the Gulf cartel.
The two groups later split and became bitter rivals, their fights accounting for much of the violence in the area.

He is believed to be among five gunmen shot dead by the army on Friday.
A Tamaulipas state official told the Associated Press news agency that while Mellado no longer held a command position within the Zetas, he had been one of the 30 ex-special forces members to found the group.

Powerful adversaries

Analysts say the Zetas now control more territory than any other criminal gang in Mexico.
They are infamous for their extremely violent methods, routinely decapitating rivals and hanging their bodies from bridges.
The war between the Zetas and their former paymasters, the Gulf cartel, has turned Tamaulipas into one of Mexico's most violent states.
Mellado was on the run after escaping from prison where he had been jailed after being accused of armed robbery, rape and murder, the official said.
He was killed in a raid on his hideout in the city of Reynosa along with four other armed men. One soldier also died in the fire fight.
It is not clear how the security forces tracked him down.
The security forces have recently landed a series of heavy blows against Mexico's drug cartels.

The arrest of Joaquin "Shorty" Guzman was a big coup for Mexico's security forces

Earlier this year, they arrested the world's most wanted drug lord, Joaquin "Shorty" Guzman. And last year they killed the leader of the Zetas, Miguel Angel Trevino.
But a number of high-ranking security officials have also been killed, including the Tamaulipas state intelligence chief, who was shot dead along with his bodyguards in Reynosa last week.
Source: BBC News