Mexican drug cartel leader Ignacio “Nacho” Coronel Villareal, a top kingpin and, one of the three leaders of Mexico’s most powerful drug cartel, was killed during a gunbattle with soldiers Thursday.
Nacho Coronel is considered as the founder of the country’s massive methamphetamine trade. He was killed during a gunfight near the city of Guadalajara. This is the biggest strike against the Sinaloa cartel which is led by Joaquin (El Chapo) Guzman and this could mean more violence as factions fight for the cocaine and methamphetamine empire that the founder left behind.
Coronel was the No. 3 of the gang led by El Chapo who is also a Mexico’s most wanted drug lord. The major hit to one of the world’s most powerful drug cartel is the latest since President Felipe Calderon launched a military offensive against drug traffickers is late 2006.
Coronel, who had a $5 million U.S. bounty on his head was believed to be the “forerunner in producing massive amounts of methamphetamine in clandestine laboratories in Mexico, then smuggling it into the U.S.” according to the FBI.
The 56-year-old Coronel, controlled meth and cocaine trafficking routes that was said to extend from Mexico’s Pacific Coast and inland up to Arizona.
An army raid was closing in one of Coronel’s safehouses in an upscale suburb of the Western City of Guadalajara, when the drug lord opened fire on soldiers.
“Nacho Coronel tried to escape and fired on military personnel, killing on soldier and wounding another,” Villegas said at a news conference in Mexico City. “Responding to the attacks, this Capo died.”
Coronel’s downfall came amid persistent allegations that Calderon’s administration appeared to be favouring the Sinaloa Cartel, or not hitting it as hard as other drug gangs.
The army operation happened as it challenges a long-held notion that the Mexican government officials were supporting the Sinaloa cartel to win the drug war.
After a month of intelligence work, the Mexican army zeroed in on Coronel at his mission in a ritzy suburb of Guadalajara.
“I absolutely believe that this will have an impact on… the Sinaloa federation’s capability to move their drugs, at least in the short term,” said Dave Gaddis, deputy chief of operations that the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. “They will require time to rebuild”
Category : World
DELL Inc. is said to pay $100 million to settle civil charges and its founder who bears the same of the company, Michael Dell will also be personally paying $4m to settle charges that he misled investors by hiding the real source of Dell’s profits over several years in the last decade.
The civil charges that Dell Inc. is facing is due to fraudulently used payments from Intel to pump up its profits to meet Wall Street targets over five years, according to government’s announcement on Thursday.
Securities and Exchange Commission charged Michael Dell together with two of his most senior former lieutenants with violating disclosure rules when Dell was relying heavily on secret rebate payments from Intel, the maker of computer computer chips, to meet Wall Street profit forecasts.
Charges has been settled without admitting or denying the allegations by both the computer maker Dell Inc. and its founder Michael Dell.
“We are pleased to have resolved this matter,” Michael Dell said in a statement. “We are committed to maintaining clear and accurate reporting of our periodic results, supporting our customers, and executing our growth strategy.”
Michael Dell and the company did agree to refrain from future violations of the securities laws and the company also agreed to improve its disclosure process by hiring an outside consultant and expanding its training of employees.
The SEC says that all of the financial results of Dell between 2002 and 2006 were tainted by the deception, first because Mr. Dell along with his lieutenants failed to disclose the company’s reliance on Intel’s rebates and then by failing to explain the real cause of the profit warnings that ensued when the rebates stopped.
“Dell manipulated its accounting over an extended period to project financial results that the company wished it had achieved but could not,” according to associate director of the SEC’s enforcement division, Christopher Conte. “Dell was only able to meet Wall Street targets consistently during this period by breaking the rules. The financial results that public companies communicate to the investing public meet reflect reality.”
The company said last Friday that it was getting closer to settling the SEC’s investigation and they had proposed settlement terms to the agency’s enforcement staff.