Military checks at Mexican border cause traffic delays
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Military checks at Mexican border cause traffic delays
BROWNSVILLE, Texas Mexican soldiers have been searching vehicles crossing the border into Texas.
Mexican officials say it's part of a program to stop drugs and weapons trafficking.
Car checks will affect motorists attempting to leave Mexico across the bridges from Reynosa into Pharr and Hidalgo, as well as the three bridges to Brownsville and each bridge to Progreso, Rio Grande City and Roma. They will also affect both of Laredo's international crossings.
Some motorists say they were delayed up to an hour yesterday as soldiers posted at 11 bridges between Brownsville and Laredo searched each car.
The Mexican consul in Brownsville says agents from Mexico's Department of Firearms and Controlled Explosives were conducting the searches.
Officials say a pilot program for motorists willing to pay to forego the lines will be set up at Laredo checkpoints.
Military checks at Mexican border cause traffic delays
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Military checks at Mexican border cause traffic delays
BROWNSVILLE, Texas -- Mexican soldiers have started searching vehicles crossing the border into Texas as part of a program to stop drugs and weapons trafficking, officials said.
Some motorists said they were delayed up to an hour Tuesday as soldiers posted at 11 bridges between Brownsville and Laredo searched each car.
"These measures were done in order to protect and put at ease visitors to Mexico," said Alberto Gonzalez Karam, the director of Mexico's federal road and bridge department.
The searches are part of a new program launched Tuesday that resulted from discussions last year at the Conference of the Americas in Monterrey, Mexico, Gozalez told The (McAllen) Monitor for Wednesday editions.
Agents from Mexico's Department of Firearms and Controlled Explosives were conducting the searches, Victor Manuel Trevino Escudero, the Mexican consul in Brownsville, told The Brownsville Herald for its Wednesday edition.
Car checks will affect motorists attempting to leave Mexico across the bridges from Reynosa into Pharr and Hidalgo, as well as the three bridges to Brownsville and each bridge to Progreso, Rio Grande City and Roma. They will also affect both of Laredo's international crossings.
Mexican President Vicente Fox informed President Bush about the checkpoints during a Monday phone conversation, Gonzalez said.
Officials on the U.S. side of the border said they didn't learn about the program until they arrived to work Tuesday. They noticed the slow traffic and heard reports from motorists, said Jesse Medina, director of the Pharr-Renosa International Bridge.
At the Free Trade Bridge in Los Indios, Houston resident Ronnie Hebrick said he supported the extra security.
"It stops a lot of bad stuff from going back and forth," he said.
Juan Manuel Ramon, who had been visiting family in Matamoros, said he was frustrated with the delay as he returned to Brownsville to pick up his children from school.
"It bothers me a lot," he said. "They stop us over there, then they stop us over here."
A pilot program to test an express lane for motorists willing to pay to forego the lines will be set up at Laredo checkpoints, Gonzalez.
