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FBI says attacks on Border Patrol agents are connected
Friday, January 20, 2006 Posted: 06:35 PM
The FBI and it’s Mexican equivalent, the PGR, are working together to solve an increasingly violent problem

BROWNSVILLE – The FBI has determined the two recent attacks on Border Patrol agents are connected.

Two separate attacks occurred on two separate nights. One boat patrol near Brownsville was shot at, and days later agents driving along the river banks were attacked.

The shots came from across the Rio Grande River. The FBI says it’s all about drug and human trafficking. The Border Patrol is making headway toward shutting down these types of operations by cutting off the routine routes for smugglers.

Border Patrol spokesman Salvador Zamora said, "It's a direct result of our gaining operation patrol in those areas where human traffickers and drug smugglers have been confident and comfortable operating in those areas."

If traffickers expected the patrols to end, they were wrong. They have been met, instead, with a resolve to step up agency efforts.

Border attacks are increasing. There have been six within the last three months. That’s more than double the attacks in all of 2005. So the FBI wants help from the other side of the river. The FBI and its Mexican equivalent, the PGR, are working together to solve an increasingly violent problem.

Supervisory Special Agent Jorge Cisneros said, “They've been very helpful. Certainly we don't have any suspects, but they'll support us when we find those people. Or when they find out who did it."

The FBI also says the two attacks in Brownsville are connected. But they are not linked to attacks on Border Patrol agents in other parts of the country.