Thread: American agents shot in Mexico, UPDATE 1 Dead

I.C.E. News Release

February 16, 2011
Washington, DC

ICE special agents brutally attacked; suspects sought by authorities

WASHINGTON - U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Special Agent Jaime Zapata was shot and killed in the line of duty Tuesday afternoon after he was attacked by unknown assailants while driving between Monterrey, Mexico, and Mexico City. During the attack, a second ICE special agent was shot twice in the leg. He has been transported back to the United States and is in stable condition. Both special agents were assigned to ICE's attaché office in Mexico City.

"Our thoughts and prayers are with the Zapata family for their tragic loss," said ICE Director John Morton. "May the work we continue to do as an agency be worthy of a sacrifice as great as the one made by Special Agent Zapata."

Special Agent Zapata joined ICE in 2006. He was assigned to the Office of the Deputy Special Agent in Charge in Laredo, Texas, where he served on the Human Smuggling and Trafficking Unit as well as the Border Enforcement Security Task Force. He most recently was detailed to ICE's attaché office at the U.S. Embassy in Mexico City.

Special Agent Zapata began his federal law enforcement career with the Department of Homeland Security as a member of the U.S. Border Patrol in Yuma, Arizona. A native of Brownsville, Texas, Special Agent Zapata graduated from the University of Texas at Brownsville in 2005 with a Bachelor of Science in Criminal Justice.

U.S. law enforcement agencies continue to work closely with Mexican authorities who are investigating the shooting to ensure the perpetrators of this unconscionable crime are captured as quickly as possible. The full resources of the Department of Homeland Security are at the disposal of our Mexican partners in this investigation.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is the largest investigative arm of the Department of Homeland Security.

ICE is a 21st century law enforcement agency with broad responsibilities for a number of key homeland security priorities. For more information, visit www.ICE.gov . To report suspicious activity, call 1-866-347-2423.

U.S. Dept of Homeland Security

http://www.ice.gov/news/releases/1102/1 ... gtondc.htm

Originally Posted by JohnDoe2

I.C.E. News Release



Special Agent Zapata joined ICE in 2006. He was assigned to the Office of the Deputy Special Agent in Charge in Laredo, Texas, where he served on the Human Smuggling and Trafficking Unit as well as the Border Enforcement Security Task Force.

He most recently was detailed to ICE's attaché office at the U.S. Embassy in Mexico City.

==================================

The 'Kiss Of Death?'

First the embassy employees being murdered, now this?

Is it still safe to vacation down there?

Michelle Obama Declares it Safe to Travel to Mexico
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qBwf5Z4FfQo

Originally Posted by NoBueno

Placing the military on our southern border would solve many problems, including much of the drugs entering this country. But our government refuses to do so because (choose best answer):
(a) They have no intentions of stopping the drugs and illegals entering this country.
(b) Terrified of offending mexico (we all know what a "proud" people they are) with such action.
(c) Afraid of displacing millions of new voters flowing across the border who are heavily dependent upon government entitlements to survive and raise their anchor babies. You can decide which party they might prefer, but it has something to do with "hope and change" I suspect.
(d) All of the above.

ALL OF THE ABOVE!

Department of Justice
Office of Public Affairs
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Wednesday, February 16, 2011

Joint Task Force to Assist Mexico’s Investigation into Yesterday’s Shooting of Two ICE Agents in Mexico

WASHINGTON—Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano and Attorney General Eric Holder today met to discuss the shooting by unknown assailants of two U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) special agents in the line of duty yesterday while driving in Mexico.

During their meeting, Secretary Napolitano and Attorney General Holder decided to establish a joint task force between the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Justice, which will be led by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and will leverage the investigative capabilities of both agencies to work with Mexico in tracking down the perpetrators and swiftly bring them to justice.

“This joint task force reflects our commitment to bring the investigatory and prosecutorial power of the U.S. Government to bear as we work with the Mexican Government to bring these criminals to justice,â€

Originally Posted by jamesw62

Zapata was a graduate of the university of texas at brownsville and is a former Border Patrol Agent, as well

And these liberal U.S. congressional knotheads wanted to, via the dream act, grant citizenship and continue to educate how many more hundreds of thousands of these illegals ? ? ?

I find it amusing that Mexican officials are going to "investigate" this murder. Are you kidding me??! Does anyone believe that Mexican officials will launch any honest, concerted effort to get to the bottom of this and convict the murderers?? If so, you are living in the twilight zone and I am Rod Serling

I predict that Mexico will find those responsible and at least half of them will be killed in the shoot-out arrest. (Maybe all of them.)

Originally Posted by JohnDoe2

I predict that Mexico will find those responsible and at least half of them will be killed in the shoot-out arrest. (Maybe all of them.)

Agree.

Official: Gunmen knew ICE agents were law officers
KATHERINE CORCORAN,Associated Press
Posted: 02/16/2011 08:41:06 PM MST

MEXICO CITY (AP) - Gunmen who shot up an SUV carrying two U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, killing one, knew they were attacking law enforcement officers, according to U.S. officials.

But details of the attack that emerged Wednesday indicate the two agents were not targeted ahead of time, rather stopped in the wrong place at the wrong time in a blue Suburban - a vehicle coveted by drug cartels.

Special Agent Jaime Zapata, 32, died and a second agent, Victor Avila, was wounded Tuesday when they were attacked after being stopped on a four-lane federal highway in northern Mexico.

They were returning to Mexico City from a meeting with other U.S. personnel in the state of San Luis Potosi, according to an ICE statement, which also said the Mexican government does not authorize U.S. law enforcement personnel to carry weapons.

Some reports said the two were stopped at a roadblock, while others said they were run off the road by other vehicles.

Texas Congressman Michael McCaul, who was briefed on the incident as chairman of the Homeland Security Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee, the gunmen opened fire after the agents indentified themselves as U.S. diplomats.

An U.S. law enforcement official told The Associated Press that the gunmen made comments before they fired indicating they knew who their targets were. The official was not authorized to discuss the case publicly.

"This was an intentional ambush against two United States federal agents," McCaul said in a statement. "This tragic event is a game changer. The United States will not tolerate acts of violence against its citizens or law enforcement and I believe we must respond forcefully."

U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and Attorney General Eric Holder announced a joint task force led by the FBI to help Mexico find the killers.

The State Department also expressed confidence in the ability of President Felipe Calderon's government to pursue the case.

"The Calderon government has stepped forward very courageously in recent years. They are, with the United States' help, taking aggressive action against the perpetrators of this kind of violence," State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley told reporters in Washington.

Zapata and Avila, both assigned to the ICE attache office in Mexico City, were attacked in an area where violence is on the rise from drug cartels fighting for territory. Avila was shot twice in the leg and has been discharged from the hospital, according to an ICE statement Wednesday.

Al Pena, a senior ICE official until he retired in December, said the agents arranged to meet Monterrey-based ICE agents midway between Mexico City and Monterrey to pick up equipment. They were returning south to Mexico City when attacked. He didn't know what equipment the ICE agents exchanged.

Pena, who was the Homeland Security attache in Mexico City in 2008 and 2009, said the ICE office in Mexico works on many issues - from training customs investigators to investigating drug and human trafficking, gun running and money laundering.

Avila "was working on many, many issues," said Pena, who knows him well. "There's not much specialization when you have an office that small."

San Luis Potosi Gov. Fernando Toranzo told W Radio in Mexico that he has seen a dramatic rise in organized crime in his state, which borders two northern states where the Gulf and Zetas cartels have waged bloody battles over territory.

"It's had a major impact that we hadn't see before," Toranzo said. "Right now we're waging a direct fight with all our state resources to restore order."

Since Calderon launched a crackdown on organized crime shortly after assuming the presidency in December 2006, almost 35,000 people have been killed in drug-related violence.

Zapata was on temporary assignment to Mexico from the Laredo, Texas office. He joined Homeland Security in 2006, served on the Human Smuggling and Trafficking Unit as well as the Border Enforcement Security Task Force. He also was a member of the U.S. Border Patrol in Yuma, Arizona.

Though Mexico is seeing record rates of violence, it is rare for U.S. officials to be attacked. The U.S. government, however, has become increasingly concerned about the safety of its employees in the country.

In March, a U.S. employee of the American consulate in Ciudad Juarez, her husband and a Mexican tied to the consulate were killed when drug gang members fired on their cars after they left a children's party in the city across from El Paso, Texas.

The U.S. State Department has taken several measures over the past year to protect consulate employees and their families. It has at times authorized the departure of relatives of U.S. government employees in northern Mexican cities.

In July, it temporarily closed the consulate in Ciudad Juarez after receiving unspecified threats. Earlier this month, the consulate in Guadalajara prohibited U.S. government officials from traveling after dark on the road to the airport because of cartel-related attacks in Mexico's second-largest city.

http://www.elpasotimes.com/ci_17399316? ... ost_viewed

Wounded ICE agent from El Paso released from hospital
By Daniel Borunda / El Paso Times
Posted: 02/17/2011 02:15:24 AM MST

An ICE agent from El Paso is recovering in the U.S. after being wounded in a shooting Tuesday that killed another agent on a road in the interior of Mexico.

The Zetas drug cartel is suspected of being behind the attack, which killed U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Special Agent Jaime Zapata, a native of Brownsville, who was assigned to a unit in Laredo.

The agent who survived was identified as Victor Avila by The Associated Press, which relied on unnamed sources. Officials said Avila is from El Paso. The Department of Homeland Security on Wednesday said the agent was shot twice in the leg, has since been released from a hospital and is back in the United States.

Officials said the agents were with the ICE Attaché Office in Mexico City. There are about 30 such agents throughout Mexico, where they assist and share information with Mexican law enforcement on cross-border crime, such as drug and sex trafficking, child exploitation and human smuggling. ICE also has agents in 46 other countries.

ICE officials said the attack occurred Tuesday afternoon while the two agents were driving back to Mexico City after a regular meeting with other U.S. personnel in the state of San Luis Potosi.

The Associated Press reported that the agents might have been fired on at a road checkpoint on Highway 57 between Monterrey and Mexico City. It is not uncommon for drug gangs or robbers to set up checkpoints to snare victims on remote highways in Mexico.

Authorities have not given a motive for the attack and are looking into whether the agents were targeted or were victims of a random crime. The U.S. government created a task force to work with Mexico to find those responsible for the attack.

U.S. Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, said Wednesday he was told by ICE that the shooters knew the men were Americans. McCaul is chairman of the Homeland Security Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee.

McCaul said the agents "were pursued by numerous cartel members and run off the road while driving a U.S. government vehicle with diplomatic license plates.

"When the agents identified themselves as American diplomats, the cartel members responded by opening fire on the officers," McCaul said in a statement. " This tragic event is a game changer. The United States will not tolerate acts of violence against its citizens or law enforcement, and I believe we must respond forcefully."

If that account is true, an ambush on U.S. agents would be a departure from the reluctance Mexican drug gangs have shown in targeting U.S. law enforcement for fear of retaliation. It would be the most serious case since the torture-murder of DEA agent Enrique "Kiki" Camarena in 1985 in Guadalajara.

Sources close to the investigation say the Zetas drug cartel is a suspect in the shooting attacks, said Phil Jordan, former director of the DEA's El Paso Intelligence Center.

The Zetas, who are at war with their former employers in the Gulf cartel, control major corridors in the region where the agents were shot.

The Zetas were formed by highly trained Mexican army defectors hired as enforcers for the Gulf cartel before the Zetas spun off as a separate organization.

Filmmaker Gary "Rusty" Fleming is familiar with the Zetas from his documentary "Drug Wars: Silver or Lead" about narco violence in the Nuevo Laredo area.

Fleming's initial reaction is that the agents might have been mistaken by inexperienced gunmen watching a road for rivals. "These kids are taught this is your stretch of highway and you have to protect it," he said.

The Zetas were known for military-style operations, but discipline has diminished as the gang grew and ex-soldiers were replaced by young civilians, Fleming said.

"They lost a lot of their midlevel lieutenants and generals, and all they are left with are youngsters, and these kids don't always make good choices," Fleming said.

"I think what you have to look at is they aren't the same organization they were five years ago," Fleming said. "Mexican and U.S. agents working on this have done a real good job of taking out the midlevel players."

The Zetas' stronghold is in the states of Nuevo Leon and Tamaulipas in northeast Mexico but they reach into several U.S. cities and Central America. Little Zeta activity has been reported in the El Paso-Juárez region, which is dominated by the Juárez and Sinaloa cartels.

Richard Schwein, a former FBI special agent in charge of the El Paso division, said the United States is in a tough spot responding to the killing of the ICE agent because it occurred on foreign soil.

Schwein started with the FBI in the 1950s, and agents were already in Mexico. Agents, however, are strictly liaisons who share information with Mexico authorities, but they do not investigate or arrest people in Mexico.

"I don't know what you do in a case like this," he said. "Mexico is a sovereign nation, and the U.S. can't do anything there without their permission."

http://www.elpasotimes.com/ci_17405951? ... ost_viewed