http://www.themonitor.com/articles/home ... allen.html

This is what lies in store for America, if we don't build a fence and deport ALL illegal aliens and stop attracting them with all the social freebies. This is how they plan to run OUR country when THEY take over. Looks great, doesn't it?

Authorities raid former Mexican mayor's McAllen home
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September 2, 2008 - 7:24PM
Jeremy Roebuck
McALLEN -- State and federal authorities searched the home Tuesday of a former Mexican mayor and federal police commander.

RaĂşl Antonio RodrĂ*guez Barrera, who once held Ciudad Miguel Alemán's top political seat, is now one of many targets in an ongoing narcotics smuggling investigation, law enforcement officials said.

Agents descended upon his McAllen house, near the intersection of First Street and Nolana, just before 3 p.m. and holed up inside for nearly three hours.

RodrĂ*guez, 48, entered the home briefly but declined to comment as he left minutes later with two small dogs under his arm.

So far, authorities have released little information regarding the case, saying only that the investigation is ongoing and RodrĂ*guez has cooperated with agents.

He had not been charged with a crime as of Tuesday evening, but this is not the first time his name has been linked to alleged drug smuggling.

In 2002, Mexican journalist FĂ©lix Alonso Fernández GarcĂ*a publicly accused the ex-mayor of working with Gulf Cartel lieutenant Gilberto GarcĂ*a Mena. Fernández died days later in a hail of bullets only feet from Miguel Alemán's municipal building.

Although his killers were never caught, investigators later said they found cocaine in the reporter's vehicle and suggested he may have also been linked to smuggling, according to Reporters Without Borders, a Paris-based press freedom advocacy group.

Two years later, authorities discovered 1,500 pounds of marijuana at a hotel RodrĂ*guez owned in Pharr.

Several of his associates, including his brother-in-law and the police chief who worked under his administration, were arrested in connection with that case and have since served time in federal prison.

At the time of their arrests, RodrĂ*guez denied having any connection to their illegal activities.

"I cannot be held responsible for the actions of my family and friends," he told El Mañana del Nuevo Laredo for a February 2004 article.

RodrĂ*guez served as mayor of Ciudad Miguel Alemán - across the Rio Grande from Roma - from 1999 to 2001, earning the nickname "El ChupĂłn" while in office. Translated literally, the term refers to a baby's pacifier, but it is also a Spanish slang term for a leech or a swindler.

Prior to his election, RodrĂ*guez had worked as a federal police commander in the area.

His name has recently emerged as a possible candidate on the federal congressional slate of the opposition Institutional Revolutionary Party, known by its Spanish acronym PRI.

In addition to his McAllen home, RodrĂ*guez owns several properties in Pharr and Hidalgo.

Tuesday's raid was conducted by members of the South Texas High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area task force, a joint state and federal operation charged with combating narcotics smuggling.

Officials with the organization did not return after-hours calls for comment.

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La Frontera staff writer Martha Leticia Hernández contributed to this report.

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Jeremy Roebuck covers courts and general assignments for The Monitor. You can reach him at (956) 683-4437.