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For mother, border crime problem as plain as day

Mexican officials say U.S. overstating threat of violence in region


07:41 PM CDT on Saturday, May 7, 2005


By TRACEY EATON / The Dallas Morning News


MISSION – Dora Contreras says she never worried much about security along the U.S.-Mexico border until armed men in Piedras Negras, Mexico, grabbed her teenage son, Jerry, a year ago after a minor traffic accident and took him away.

She hasn't seen him since.

As violence continues along the border – more than 43 people have been killed in Nuevo Laredo this year – police, politicians and business leaders in recent weeks have been debating just how perilous life there is.

The U.S. State Department on April 26 reissued a travel alert for the region, calling the security situation "unsettled" as drug lords fight over turf.

In response, Mexican diplomats fired off a statement telling the U.S. government to "avoid inaccuracies and generalizations" that could lessen Mexico's willingness to cooperate in the joint fight against organized crime.

City officials in Nuevo Laredo, a city singled out as particularly hazardous, also protested. They called U.S. officials "ignorant" and said their town is as safe as – or safer than – any in Texas.

This debate over travel to Mexico flares up regularly, although some complain that it does little to help decide whether venturing across the border is safe.

Mexican officials insist border towns are no different from Dallas or Austin. But others call them battle zones.

Dora Contreras adds a finer point to the discussion. She says the problem isn't that every American who crosses the border is going to be kidnapped or killed. The problem is that even the smallest chance encounter can turn deadly in Mexico. The slightest brush with the law – or with the wrong person – can quickly become a nightmare.

"No one in Mexico will help us. Everyone is too afraid," said Ms. Contreras, 50, a San Antonio homemaker. "You don't believe that these things happen until they happen to you."


Fear, frustration

Her troubles began in May 2004 when she and her family made a weekend jaunt into Piedras Negras, about 145 miles west of San Antonio. There was a baby shower for Jerry's sister, Iris Contreras, now 25.

Before it began, Jerry, then 16, and his girlfriend drove to her father's home in Piedras Negras. On the way back to the baby shower, Jerry got into a minor traffic accident, his mother said.

The driver of the other car, a rather large man who looked to be in his 30s, wanted to beat him up, she said.

Frightened, the slightly built, 5-foot-7 teenager drove back to the meeting hall where the baby shower was being held. The other driver followed, got out of his vehicle and threatened everyone at the shower, said Jerry's mother, who witnessed the confrontation.

"My son asked Iris to call the police. She approached the man. He grabbed her by the chest so hard he made her bleed. She was eight months pregnant at the time," she said. "Everyone was scared. The man was so aggressive and strong."

The pregnant woman's husband tried to intervene. A group of armed men showed up. Then Dora Contreras saw several patrol cars arriving. She said she was relieved at first. But then, to her horror, the police didn't stop.

"The armed men got into their cars," she said. "I remember seeing a red Chevrolet Suburban, a red Ford Lobo and a black sports car. They followed the police cars out of the area. It was as if the police were clearing a path for them."

Her son had fled into a nearby mom-and-pop grocery store. But two of the armed men dragged him out of there and took him away, Dora Contreras said.

Mexican police later detained a 23-year-old man who was allegedly part of the gang. He told them that he helped the others beat the teenager with baseball bats and throw his body into the Rio Grande River.

Dora Contreras said she doesn't know whether that's what really happened and has been told that no body has been recovered.

She said her family has gone to Mexican police with the name of the driver from the traffic accident and with photographs of some of his associates. But she said they've done nothing.

Police in Piedras Negras could not be reached for comment.

Ms. Contreras said she thinks her son was simply unlucky. He had an encounter with the wrong person, probably a local drug lord who wields more clout than the police.

"This all started over something that was so insignificant, a minor traffic accident," she said. "Just because of that, you shouldn't be allowed to take someone and make them disappear."


Drug traffickers blamed

Last month's State Department advisory said warring drug traffickers are to blame for much of the violence along the border and especially in Nuevo Laredo.

"Mexico's police forces suffer from lack of funds and training, and the judicial system is weak, overworked and inefficient," the advisory said. "Criminals, armed with an impressive array of weapons, know there is little chance they will be caught and punished."

Mexico City's El Universal newspaper reported on Thursday that there have been 436 drug-related murders in Mexico so far this year. Many have occurred along the border and in such states as Sinaloa, considered the birthplace of the Mexican mafia.

Nuevo Laredo Mayor Daniel Pena Trevino said he had breakfast with city officers in January and warned them not to get involved with unsavory types.

"That was our recommendation, that they dedicate themselves to being genuine police officers...and not have ties to people who aren't connected to their work and much less to organized crime," Mr. Pena said. "Some of them haven't understood the message."

He conceded that Nuevo Laredo has some crime problems. But he said, "These conflicts exist everywhere in the world."

He also called the State Department warning about his city "irresponsible" and unwarranted. Many large U.S. cities have high crime and heavy drug consumption, he said. American officials "should worry about that."

Ms. Contreras said she wonders if criminals – and not local officials – are really running the show in some border towns.

"In Piedras Negras," she said, "a lot of people know who the bad guys are. It's such a small town. But everyone is afraid to get involved. They say they'll be killed if they do."

She says she's scared, too, but remains determined.

"My sadness and pain is greater than my fear," she said. "Months or years can go by, but I'll keep trying to find out what happened to my son."

E-mail teaton@dallasnews.com