Texas heightens border patrols amid Mexico violence
Posted on Wednesday, March 17 @ 01:32:33 EDT
Topic: Illegal Immigrant Gangs Terrorists
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 WASHINGTON (AFP) – Texas has heightened border patrols in the wake of escalating violence in northern Mexico, the governor's office said Tuesday.
"With the growing threat of violence in Mexico spilling over the border, we have taken important measures to increase the law enforcement presence along the Texas border and have placed additional resources on standby to combat any potential situation," Governor Rick Perry said in a statement.
Subjects: Texas-Mexico border violence, Governor Rick Perry, National Guardsmen, porous border, cartels, terrorists, gangs
March 16, 2010
Yahoo! Inc.
Perry has a standing request with the federal government for 1,000 National Guardsmen to support civilian law enforcement efforts and has also asked for predator drones to monitor the Texas-Mexico border.
He said the porous border puts both Texas and the nation at risk from organized crime cartels, international terrorists and transnational gangs.
"It is imperative that the federal government immediately provide additional resources to prevent spillover violence, but with the safety of Texans on the line, we can't afford to wait," Perry said.
Perry activated the first stage of the state's "spillover violence contingency plan" which increases ground, air and maritime patrols and places various strike teams on standby for rapid deployment.
President Felipe Calderon headed to Mexico's most violent city Tuesday after deadly attacks on US consular staff and their families upped the ante in his battle against drug gangs.
Mexican authorities blamed the murders on "the Aztecas," a gang linked to the powerful Juarez drug cartel, as US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Drug Enforcement Administration and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms agents rushed to Ciudad Juarez.
The border city of 1.3 million sits across the river from El Paso, Texas and is at the heart of Calderon's controversial clampdown on organized crime, which has seen some 50,000 troops deployed countrywide.
More than 15,000 people have died in the surge in drug-related violence since Calderon took office at the end of 2006, including more than 2,600 last year alone in Ciudad Juarez.
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