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PLAYING SAFE
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Amid anniversary of slain spring breaker, officials say to be cautious
March 13, 2009 - 7:40 PM
By Laura B. Martinez, The Brownsville Herald

Spring Break traffic at the international bridge leading to Mexico is not what it was compared to years past, authorities said.

Two decades ago local law enforcement waited at the Gateway International Bridge in Brownsville in the early hours of the morning for the return of spring breakers, who had been partying across the river in Matamoros, Mexico.

The college students crossed the international bridge linking Brownsville to Matamoros at all hours of the night and in droves carryied liquor bottles and cases of Corona beer.

"It was large numbers" crossing over, said Brownsville City Manager Charlie Cabler, who was a sergeant with the Brownsville Police Department in 1989.

It was also Spring Break 1989 when Mark J. Kilroy, a student at the University of Texas at Austin, walked across the Gateway International Bridge with some friends for a night of fun on March 14. It was that night that the college student vanished.

Kilroy's remains were found on April 11, 1989 at a ranch outside Matamoros. Today marks the 20th anniversary of his disappearance.

Authorities later learned Kilroy had been kidnapped and murdered by a cult of drug traffickers who believed that rituals and sacrifices would protect them from police. Some of those involved were arrested and jailed while two others have not been found.

Twenty years ago spring breakers for the most part only had to worry about obeying the laws of Mexico and trying not to get arrested on drinking related charges, Cabler said.

Local authorities met with Mexico authorities to basically ensure that both were on the same page when it came to patrolling the spring breakers.

"We had special assignments with that and working relations with Mexico" which would allow the spring breakers to contact U.S. authorities if they had trouble in Mexico, Cabler said.

There was never really a big concern about safety in Mexico in 1989 as it is now, Cabler said. It was more about educating them on Mexican law.

Fast forward to today, where fighting among Mexican drug cartels in the city streets has become so violent that Mexican President Felipe Calderon has assigned thousands of additional troops to help patrol the cities along the Mexican border.

Texas Gov. Rick Perry has also requested that some 1,000 troops be placed along the Texas border with Mexico to keep the violence from spilling over to the Lone Star State.

Last month, the U.S. Department of State issued a travel advisory reminding spring breakers about the dangers in Mexico.

The State Department has also encouraged spring breakers to only visit Mexican cities in groups and during daytime hours. Mentioned in the alert were the cities of Matamoros and Progreso.

The advisory urges spring breakers to "exercise common-sense precautions, such as visiting only the well-traveled business and tourism areas of border towns during daylight and early-evening hours."

Cabler said there is a concern that spring breakers could be caught in the crossfire of a gunfight between Mexican authorities and the drug cartels, but added Matamoros isn't experiencing the violence that has been reported in Reynosa.

Just this past weekend, three people were killed after federal police officers and army soldiers reportedly opened fire on gunmen in the streets in Reynosa early Sunday morning, Mexican media reported.

Eduardo G. Perez, supervisory public affairs liaison for U.S. Customs and Border Protection, said customs officers haven't seen the crowds that they saw nearly 20 years ago, but are prepared should large crowds travel across the border.

"It's been different from when you and I remember it," Perez said.

Perez said the change could be attributed to spring breakers choosing other locations to spend their time off and doesn't have anything to do with drug violence in Mexico.

"This year, we don't know what is going to come yet, but we are prepared in case there is an influx," Perez said. "If they show, great and if they don't, well, we were ready anyway."