A chilling message from the
cartels: Billboards with hanging mannequins warning cops to choose 'silver over
lead' appear in Texas
·
Two billboards along highways in El Paso,
Texas were vandalized and had mannequins hanging off of them
·
One reads 'silver or lead' in Spanish which
is taken to mean that police and business owners can either take drug cartels'
bribes or die
·
Worries spreading that cartels that have
ruled Mexican border towns with violence may be headed north
Two frightening incidents of
vandalism in El Paso near the Mexican border in Texas have been interpreted as
warnings from drug cartels.
In both
instances, a mannequin wearing a suit and tie was tied to a billboard with a
noose and messages were scrawled over the placards.
Local
station KHOU reports
that one of the signs reads 'Plata o Plombo' which translates to 'silver or
lead', a threat used commonly against police officers effectively warning that
if they do not accept the cartel's bribes then they will be shot.
+3
Threat: The translation of the
painted vandalism means 'silver or lead' which is meant to mean that police
officers and business owners should either accept bribes or expect gunshots
+3
Scary: A mannequin wearing a suit
and tie was seen hanging from a noose from the El Paso billboard
'This
symbol has historically been used by Mexican drug cartels to threaten or
intimidate Mexican citizens, business owners and government officials; however,
we have never experienced this in El Paso,' local police said in a press
release about the vandalism.
The fear
now for many is that the 'warnings' shows that the drug cartels- which have not
been identified by name- are willing to bring the violence from Mexican border
towns into Texas.
More...
'Maybe the
problems in Juarez are coming over here,' El Paso resident Javier Padilla told
KHOU.
Mr Padilla
and his wife Maria Ramos know the terror of drug cartels on a personal level
after two relatives were murdered in the area of Juarez in 2009.
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Second incident: The second
message was written over an existing Drug Enforcement Agency billboard calling
for the capture of drug lord Rafael Caro Quintero
The second
instance of vandalism had a more obtuse warning, but the theme ran through
since the message was written on an existing Drug Enforcement Agency billboard.
The
message was different this time, as the paint read: 'Dying for drugs' was
written over a wanted poster calling for the capture of drug lord Rafael Caro
Quintero.
This
second mannequin was dressed in jeans rather than the suit and tie from the
other instance.
The
mannequins were a particularly jarring image for many familiar with the drug
war, as some of the most violent drug lords south of the border regularly hang
offenders off highway overpasses.
While a
warning from drug lords seems like one of the most likely prospects, KHOU reports
that prosecutors have another theory that the vandalism also could have been
caused by activist groups working against the war on drugs.
Thu May
22 21:11:45 PDT 2014
Border
residents fear message on mysterious billboards
Police
investigate hanging mannequins and mysterious messages on border billboards
vandalized in El Paso. view full article
