Juarez–18 Kidnappings of Company Executives over a three month period
Thursday, 20 March 2008

Juarez – 18 Kidnappings of Company Executives over a three month period

NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF FORMER BORDER PATROL OFFICERS
Visit our website: http://www.nafbpo.org
Sign up for our report at m3report@yahoo.comThis e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

Foreign News Report
The National Association of Former Border Patrol Officers (NAFBPO) extracts and condenses the material that follows from Mexican and Central and South American on-line media sources on a daily basis. You are free to disseminate this information, but we request that you credit NAFBPO as being the provider.

El universal (Mexico City) and La Jornada 3/20/08

Reflecting Mexico's official attitude toward U.S. immigration policies, a demonstration by Central Americans in Mexico's southern border state of Chiapas also included Mexico in their complaints. Carrying banners that read "Calderon, we are migrants not criminals, respect our human rights" and "The dignity of the migrant has no border," they called for an end to "repression, kidnapping, violaltion and murder," complaining that there is an anti-immigrant attitude in Mexico as well as in the United States.


Norte (Cd. Juarez, Chihuahua) 3/20/08

1. The string of murders continues in the Juarez area. In less than 14 hours, there were 7 homicides including a police officer gunned down near the police station. In response to the recent wave of murders, federal, state and local enforcement agencies are forming an "immediate response unit" to confront the armed groups responsible for the killings.

2. In a follow-up on yesterday's story about the kidnappings of company executives in the Juarez area, an anonymous source close to police operations said that there were not two, but six local business execs in custody of kidnappers and negotiating their release. He added that in the last three months, some 18 such kidnappings have occurred, including those of family members of important people, and that though milions of dollars have been paid in ransom, not one complaint had been filed with the authorities.

--------------------

El Financiero (Mexico City) 3/20/08

Late yesterday, a group of armed men assassinated a Tijuana public official as he was driving in the Otay Mesa section of the Baja California city. The reports said he was intercepted by the occupants of two vehicles who shot him with large caliber weapons and fled.

--------------------

El Imparcial (Hermosillo, Sonora) 3/20/08

The Public Security office in the state of Veracruz confirmed that there was a gun battle between the Mexican Army and an armed group in the north of the state near the border with Tamaulipas. One officer was killed in the encounter and the attackers fled leaving behind their vehicle with 15 weapons that are supposed to be restricted for the exclusive use of the Armed Forces.

--------------------

La Cronica de Hoy (Mexico City) 3/20/08

Federal authorities examined a seized sophisticated armored vehicle used by the Gulf Cartel and found it to be well-equipped for defense and escape. It had armor plating, darkened rear windows to disorient followers and an opening through which a large caliber firearm could be aimed from within. Inside, it had a supply of metal spikes to throw behind to puncture tires of pursuers, bulletproof vests and more than a thousand rounds of ammunition.

--------------------

Cambio de Michoacan (Morelia, Michoacan) 3/20/08

(A slow news day occasions minor items.) In Morelia, a dog discovered a human skull in a vacant lot and carried it home in its mouth, causing the dog's owners and their neighbors great alarm. Authorities sent the remains to a forensic lab for examination.

www.borderfirereport.com