Thread: South Padre Island / Precinct One Corruption & Border Wa

The fence is coming, at least in Hidalgo County
May 26th, 2008, 7:56 am by lmartinez
Construction on the controversial border fence will begin in July in Hidalgo County.
It’s something that county officials realized was going to be built and took advantage of the federal government’s offer to pay for a portion of the fence.
Cameron County is still putting together its plan that will serve as an alternative to the fence, but with the deadline fast approaching will the county have its plan it line?
While federal senators and representatives who represent Cameron County have spoken out against the fence, the area’s state Representatives and Senators have not said a word, at least not that I’ve read.
It could be they believe it’s a federal issue and needs to be addressed by the RGV’s federal Representatives and Senators, but they too have families who reside in the Valley and one would think they too would try and represent the RGV on an issue such as this.
Will passing resolutions in the state Legislature against the fence do any good, who knows, but actions speak louder than words and RGV residents are lwatching.
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Official Corruption And The War On Drugs


The Other Casualty In The War On Drugs: Faith In Law Enforcement

For weekly updates on corruption in law enforcement, subscribe to the Drug War Chronicle, which dedicates a section of its newsletter to each week's "Corrupt Cop Stories."
Police Arrested in Connection with Mexican Drug Trafficking

AP Investigation Suggests Border Corruption at All-Time High

According to an investigation conducted by the Associated Press, "U.S. law officers who work the border are being charged with criminal corruption in numbers not seen before, as drug and immigrant smugglers use money and sometimes sex to buy protection, and international investigators crack down." AP investigators combed through Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests, spoke with "sentenced agents," and reviewed court records, ultimately finding "corruption-related convictions against more than 80 enforcement officials at all levels - federal, state, and local - since 2007, shortly after Mexican President Felipe Calderon declared war on [drug] cartels."

The investigation uncovered not only corruption within U.S law enforcement agencies but also found that "[f]our applicants for jobs in federal border enforcement were not hired when polygraph tests and background checks confirmed they were infiltrators from drug trafficking operations;" the articles' writers state that "Such in-depth checks are conducted on only about 10 percent of applicants for border agent jobs," but officials say that the same level of scrutiny now applied only to one in ten applicants will eventually "be made standard for all applicants."

However, readers should be careful not to place all the blame on Mexico. Ignoring for a minute the major cause of corruption in law enforcement - drug prohibition and the massive amounts of money it allows drug operations to collect and disperse where needed - the U.S. should take at least as much responsibility for the problem as should its southern neighbors. As the article states, "U.S. officials have long pointed to Mexico's rampantly corrupt cops and broken judicial system, but Calderon told the AP this isn't just a Mexican problem." The Mexican president told AP reporters that "To get drugs into the United States the one you need to corrupt is the American authority [...] - not the Mexican. [...] I'm waging my battle against corruption among Mexican authorities and we're risking everything to clean our house, but I think there also needs to be a good cleaning on the other side of the border."

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According to an August 2, 2009 Associated Foreign Press report, Mexican "Federal authorities announced the arrest of 34 police officers suspected of corruption, along with 17 drug traffickers, in two major anti-drug operations in Sinaloa and Tabasco states" ("Police Arrested in Mexico Drug Operations"). The Latin American Herald Tribune elaborates ("Drug Bust Nabs 34 Mexico Police and 9 Suspected Traffickers"), stating that "six commanders and several chiefs" were arrested following an investigation that "found evidence of the collaboration of municipal police with the Gulf cartel crime organization." According to the Herald Tribune, "authorities believe that all those implicated in these cases engaged in drug trafficking."

The arrests resulted from a federal police-, army-, and "the state government of Gov. Andres Granier of the Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI"-led investigatory operation, "on of the biggest against state police of any launched recently," that "concluded between July 29-31" with the high profile arrests. According to Mexico's Attorney General's office, also known are PGR, "With coordinated operations like this we let society know that there's no place for organized crime nor will it find paradises of impunity anywhere in the country."

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Massive Police Corruption, Racial Profiling in Texas Traffic Stops

On March 10, 2009, the Chicago Tribune ran a story about an ongoing spate of eggregious seizures conducted by police in the Texan city of Tenaha, which is "situated along a heavily traveled highway connecting Houston with popular gambling destinations in Louisiana" ("Highway Robbert? Texas Police Seize Black Motorists' Cash, Cars"). As the article explains, "police here allegedly have found a way to strip motorists, many of them black, of their property without ever charging them with a crime. Instead, they offer out-of-towners a grim choice: voluntarily sign over your belongings to the town, or face felony charges of money laundering and other serious crimes," including drug trafficking. Indeed, in an attempt to justify their behavior, Tenaha officials - whose police officers convinced "[m]ore than 140 people [to] reluctantly accept [the aforementioned] deal from June 2006 to June 2008" - claim "they are engaged in a battle against drug trafficking and call the search-and-seizure practice a legitimate use of the state's asset-forfeiture law." As Mayor George Bowers told the Tribune, "We try to enforce the law here [...]. We're not doing this to raise money."

But civil rights lawyers disagree. The Tribune reports that "attorneys have filed a federal class-action lawsuit to stop what they contend is an unconstitutional perversion of the law's intent, aimed primarily at blacks who have done nothing wrong." Tribune correspondent Howard Witt writes, "Tenaha officials 'have developed an illegal "stop and seize" practice of targeting, stopping, detaining, searching and often seizing property from apparently non-white citizens,' asserts the lawsuit, which was filed in U.S. District Court in the Eastern District of Texas." David Guillory, one of the attorneys involved in the lawsuit, "said he combed through [...] court records from 2006 to 2008 and discovered nearly 200 cases in which Tenaha police seized cash and property from motorists." Only about 50 of the detained motorists were actually charged with drug offenses. In the remaining cases, Guillory contends that "court records showed [that] police seized cash, jewelry, cell phones, and sometimes even automobiles from motorists but never found any contraband or charged them with any crime." Even when "police used the fact that motorists were carrying large amounts of cash as evidence that they must have been involved in laundering drug money," Guillory found that "each of the drivers[, whom] he contacted[,] could account for where the money had come from and why they were carrying it - such as for a gambling trip to Shreveport, La., or to purchase a used car from a private seller." The lawsuit has yet to be settled.

In addition to the disproportionately black travelers being targeted by Tenaha police, "Hispanics allege that they are being singled out" in a similar way "[i]n southern parts of Texas near the Mexican border." The article further contends that, "According to a prominent state legislator, police agencies across Texas are wielding the asset-forfeiture law more aggressively to supplement their shrinking budgets." Texas Senator John Whitmire, who chairs the Senate's Criminal Justice Committee, stated that he considers the majority of these instances cases of "theft" pure and simple. He went one step further than just condemning the practice: Whitmire, according to the article, "introduced a bill" in early March "that would require police to go before a judge before attempting to seize property under the asset-forfeiture law - and ultimately Whitmire hopes to tighten the law further so that law-enforcement officials will be allowed to seize property only after a suspect is charged and convicted in court."

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Three National Guardsmen Arrested For Smuggling Mexican Citizens Into The US

Three National Guardsmen were arrested in early June near Laredo, TX for smuggling Mexican nationals into the US. The Houston Chronicle reported on June 12, 2007 ("Arrests Of Guardsmen Stir Border Concerns") that "On Monday, Sgt. Julio Cesar Pacheco, 25, and Pfc. Jose Rodrigo Torres, 26, both of Laredo, and Sgt. Clarence Hodge Jr., 36, of Fort Worth, appeared before a federal magistrate on charges of conspiring to transport undocumented aliens. The suspects are being held in a detention facility in Laredo in lieu of $75,000 bail each. Pacheco, who had served in Europe with the Army, was awarded a Purple Heart two years ago for injuries he suffered in Iraq in 2004. All three Guard members were assigned to Operation Jumpstart, a Bush administration initiative launched in July that deployed 6,000 National Guard troops along the Southwest border to support Border Patrol agents. Meanwhile, one federal source confirmed there is a 'very good chance' the ongoing criminal investigation could result in more arrests."

According to the Chronicle, "ICE agents said Hodges and Torres told them that Pacheco recruited and paid them for the smuggling operation. According to documents, Pacheco allegedly sent Torres a text Thursday afternoon offering $3,500 for taking 24 people. '24 will be tuff 2 fit but ill try,' Torres allegedly replied. Hodge told ICE investigators he helped Torres get the van with the two dozen immigrants past a Border Patrol highway checkpoint. Hodge walked up to the van and made it appear they were conducting National Guard business, the complaint alleges."

The Chronicle noted that "Critics of the border troop deployment, including Laredo mayor Raul C. Salinas, a retired FBI agent, said the incident shows that National Guard troops need more training. 'Before these people are sent and placed in position ... they should be given a very tough course on ethics,' said Salinas. T.J. Bonner, a Border Patrol agent in San Diego who is president of the 11,000-member National Border Patrol Council, said he was 'not shocked' by the arrests. 'You just don't send people down there without the proper training and the proper background checks,' Bonner said. 'It's a big temptation. Smugglers are waiving a lot of money in the faces of these guys.'

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FBI Arrests Six Guards At Federal Prison – Shootout Leaves Two Dead

An FBI investigation into corruption and abuse of power by guards in a federal prison in Florida resulted in several arrests and two deaths. The Tallahassee Democrat reported on June 22, 2006 ( "Two Die In Shootout At Federal Prison") that "At 7:42 a.m. Wednesday, shots rang out at the prison after agents with the FBI and the Department of Justice's Office of the Inspector General arrived to arrest six correctional officers. The officers were indicted Tuesday on multiple charges. The allegations against them include giving contraband to inmates in exchange for sex and intimidating inmates in an effort to cover up the scandal. Five of the guards were arrested and taken into custody, but a sixth, Ralph Hill, used his personal handgun and shot at the agents, according to Scott Middlebrooks of the federal Bureau of Prisons. More gunfire ensued, and Hill was killed. William 'Buddy' Sentner, an agent with the Office of the Inspector General, also was killed. Sentner, in his mid-40s, was based in Orlando. He had a career spanning about 15 years, Folmar said. A lieutenant with the Federal Bureau of Prisons was injured in the shooting and was taken to Tallahassee Memorial Hospital. He was listed in stable condition and is expected to recover. Officials said they were not releasing his name because not all family members had been notified."

The Democrat noted that "In addition to Hill, those named in the indictment were Alfred Barnes, Gregory Dixon, Vincent Johnson, Alan Moore and E. Lavon Spence. All of the remaining guards except for Johnson were in the Wakulla County Jail. Johnson's location was unknown as of late Wednesday night."
According to the Democrat, "The guards, with the exception of Johnson, were alleged to have had sex with inmates in exchange for contraband, according to the indictment. Johnson allegedly counseled an inmate not to cooperate with the investigation. It wasn't the first time guards at the facility have been accused of having sex with an inmate. In 2000, K.P. Price was sentenced to probation in connection with charges that he had sex with and impregnated an inmate. The inmate later sued Price. The Federal Correctional Institution in Tallahassee is along Capital Circle Northeast about 3 miles east of downtown. It is a low-security facility housing females. There is an adjacent Federal Detention Center that houses males who are awaiting trial or awaiting transportation to another prison. About 1,445 inmates are housed at both facilities."

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US Military Personnel Stationed In Colombia Plead Guilty On Drug Smuggling Charges

Some US military personnel stationed in Colombia appear to have fallen prey to the temptations posed by the cocaine trade. The El Paso Times reported on Sept. 16, 2005 ( "Soldier Admits Drug Smuggling") that "Army Staff Sgt. Kelvin Irizarry-Melendez pleaded guilty Thursday to drug charges and was sentenced by a military judge to six years of confinement, reduction to private, forfeiture of pay and a dishonorable discharge. Irizarry-Melendez, 26, an exemplary soldier who rose rapidly in the enlisted ranks, was accused of conspiring with others to smuggle cocaine from Colombia and of transporting money in connection with the scheme."

According to the Times, "Two other soldiers, Staff Sgts. Daniel Rosas and Victor J. Portales, are awaiting military judicial proceedings in the case. Rosas is to go on trial later this month. On Aug. 12, Spc. Francisco Rosa, pleaded guilty to drug charges and was sentenced to five years of confinement, reduction to private, forfeiture of pay and a bad conduct discharge. All the soldiers belonged to the same unit."

The Times noted that "According to testimony, Irizarry-Melendez had a government top-secret clearance, was a substance-abuse coordinator in his unit and belonged to the 204th Military Intelligence Battalion, which performed drug-interdiction duties in Colombia. Irizarry-Melendez was among the soldiers assigned to the 204th at Fort Bliss who traveled to Colombia as part of his work for the unit. The unit helped process intelligence about drug activities from intercepted communications in other countries."

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'Most Corrupt Cop In City's History': Chicago Cop Loses Federal Appeal

A former Chicago police officer, convicted on federal charges of running a cocaine ring, had his appeal denied in late June 2005. The Chicago Tribune reported on June 22, 2005 ( "Ex-City Cop Loses Appeal Of Conviction In Federal Drug Case") that "Former Chicago police officer Joseph Miedzianowski, whom prosecutors called the most corrupt cop in the city's history, has lost his legal fight to overturn his 2001 racketeering conviction on charges that he used his badge to run a Miami-to-Chicago drug ring. The 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals also upheld the convictions of two of Miedzianowski's co-defendants--Omar Feliciano, a drug customer of the ring, and Alina Lis, a drug courier and Miedzianowski's former mistress."

The decision did however still leave the three some possibility of a change in their sentences. As the Tribune noted, " The appeals court, however, did offer Miedzianowski and the other two a sliver of hope for reduced sentences. That hope flows from a U.S. Supreme Court decision in January that drastically changes how defendants are sentenced in federal courts. The Supreme Court ruled that federal sentencing guidelines, which have provided judges with rigid formulas to calculate sentences, were not mandatory and that judges were not required to follow them. In the wake of the high court's ruling, the appeals court in Chicago crafted a new approach and is applying it to appeals cases here. The court ruled that Miedzianowski and his co-defendants were entitled to a limited remand, placing the sentencing issue back before the trial judge, U.S. District Judge Blanche Manning. Manning, like other judges in the 7th Circuit, is being asked whether she would have handed out lower sentences if the sentencing guidelines had been advisory rather than considered mandatory. If Manning rules she would have handed out lower sentences, Miedzianowski and the others could be granted new sentencing hearings."

The chances of a changed sentence for the former cop seem slim, however. The Tribune reported that "Manning had sentenced Miedzianowski to life in prison and sentenced Lis and Feliciano to 30 years each. In all, 23 people were convicted in the case, but most had pleaded guilty and cooperated against Miedzianowski. As she sentenced Miedzianowski, Manning told him that he betrayed society by dealing drugs and arming street gang members, who were part of his conspiracy to distribute crack cocaine on the streets he swore to protect. 'There comes a time in every person's life to embrace what he or she has become, to check the compass of his heart, to remember paths traveled,' Manning said. 'I'm afraid to discover, Mr. Miedzianowski, what you are now, sir. You used your powers to infect a trusting society.""

A low-level defendant in a case related to the Miedzianowski case made the news in early July 2005 when a member of Congress complained to the sentencing judge that a sentence was too low. The Chicago Tribune reported on July 10, 2005 ( "Lawmaker Prods Court, Raises Brows") that "In an extraordinary move, the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee privately demanded last month that the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago change its decision in a narcotics case because he didn't believe a drug courier got a harsh enough prison term. Rep. James Sensenbrenner ( R-Wis. ), in a five-page letter dated June 23 to Chief Judge Joel Flaum, asserted that a June 16 decision by a three-judge appeals court panel was wrong. He demanded 'a prompt response' as to what steps Flaum would take 'to rectify the panel's actions' in a case where a drug courier in a Chicago police corruption case received a 97-month prison sentence instead of the at least 120 months required by a drug-conspiracy statute."

The judge seemed more than merely unconvinced by the Congressman's reasoning. The Tribune noted that "Flaum declined comment on the situation, saying he does not publicly discuss matters pending before the court. He sent a letter back to Sensenbrenner saying it was inappropriate to comment on a pending case. But the panel amended its ruling to cite a Supreme Court case that showed Sensenbrenner was wrong."

The faulty reasoning may not have been entirely the fault of the Congressman. The Tribune reported that "Jay Apperson, the congressional counsel who brought the ruling to Sensenbrenner's attention, added: 'We can't have judges violating the law.'"

According to the Tribune, "Apperson, who is chief counsel of a House Judiciary subcommittee, argues that Sensenbrenner is simply exercising his judicial oversight responsibilities. But some legal experts believe the action by the Judiciary Committee chairman, who is an attorney, is a violation of House ethics rules, which prohibit communicating privately with judges on legal matters, as well as court rules that bar such contact with judges without contacting all parties. Further, the letter may be an intrusion on the Constitution's separation-of-powers doctrine, or, at least, the latest encroachment by Congress upon the judiciary, analysts said."

The controversy relates to the sentence given a convicted courier in the drug operation. Beyond the fact that the Congressman's letter violated court rules, there is also the question of appearances. The Tribune reported that "Apperson, who is chief counsel of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism and Homeland Security, insisted the request for the court to change its ruling was 'appropriate. . . . This is the committee with oversight of the judiciary--that's exactly what we are supposed to do.' At issue was the court's decision to uphold a 97-month prison term for Lissett Rivera, who was convicted for her role as a courier in a drug ring headed by former Chicago Police Officer Joseph Miedzianowski. Sensenbrenner said in his letter to Flaum that federal law required the sentence to be 120 months. Contrary to court rules, Sensenbrenner's letter was not sent to Rivera's appellate attorney, Steve Shobat, who received a copy only after the letter was placed in the official court file. 'To try to influence a pending case is totally inappropriate,' Shobat said. 'My client had a very small role in this case, and to think that she is the focus of the head of the House Judiciary Committee? It is intimidating.'"

Not only was the letter inappropriate, the courier's involvement was quite limited so a lesser sentence seemed correct even to the prosecutor in the case. According to the Tribune, "Rivera was convicted, along with other defendants, of participating in a conspiracy to distribute more than 5 kilograms of cocaine--a charge that carries a mandatory minimum sentence of 120 months in prison. Miedzianowski and more than 20 others, including street gang leaders, were convicted of taking part in the distribution of 350 kilograms of cocaine. Evidence at the trial showed that Rivera, who had no criminal record, was personally involved in handling less than 5 kilograms. At sentencing, U.S. District Judge Blanche Manning imposed the 97-month term, citing a 1993 court ruling that allowed that the drug quantity that relates to an individual be taken into account in imposing a sentence less than the minimum required. At the time, federal prosecutor Brian Netols told Manning, 'I think that would be the appropriate sentence.' Shobat appealed, contending the sentence still was too high. The U.S. attorney's office did not appeal the sentence as a violation of the 120-month minimum."

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Former Brownsville, TX Sheriff Faces Criminal Charges

Former Cameron County Sheriff Conrado Cantu was indicted by the US Justice Department on drug, corruption and related charges in June, 2005. The Brownsville Herald reported on June 10, 2005 ( "Former Sheriff Faces Drug Trafficking, Other Charges") that "Former Sheriff Conrado Cantu faces drug trafficking, money laundering, extortion and other charges listed in a federal indictment unsealed Thursday. Cantu and four others, including a former captain and a former jail vendor, are accused of using the Cameron County sheriff's office to protect drug traffickers in exchange for payments. Court records show the former sheriff acted as the leader of a three-man ring that allegedly extorted and accepted bribes totaling nearly $50,000 from suspected drug traffickers, money launderers and undercover sources."
According to the Herald, "A 10-count, 45-page federal indictment unsealed Thursday lists more than a dozen examples of Cantu and the others abusing his office to protect smugglers, money launderers, illegal video gamblers and political supporters. The indictment shows that Cantu faces numerous charges of racketeering, extortion, money laundering, obstructing justice and conspiracy to distribute more than 5 kilograms of cocaine. Cantu also allegedly covered up a kidnapping charge for an undisclosed political supporter."

The Herald noted that "Federal authorities arrested the former sheriff in a Wednesday-morning traffic stop near his home outside Olmito. Cantu's former captain Rumaldo Rodriguez is facing racketeering and extortion charges. Armed agents arrested him at his place of work as a deputy constable in Port Isabel at 11 a.m. Wednesday. Former jail commissary vendor Geronimo 'Jerry' Garcia faces racketeering, extortion, money laundering and conspiracy charges. According to the indictment, Brownsville plumber Reynaldo Uribe is accused of transporting laundered money. Both Uribe and Garcia were arrested Wednesday in a raid at Garcia's Brownsville home."

The Herald also reports that "Federal officials also arrested Brownsville business owner Hector Solis on Thursday morning at his restaurant, Pepe's Tacos To Go, 3850 Paredes Line Road. Solis allegedly ran an illegal video gambling casino and faces an obstruction of justice charge. A federal investigation shows that Cantu agreed to tip off Solis about county task force raids against his casino and on one occasion told deputies not to raid it. Solis is expected to appear in federal court today. Cantu, Rodriguez, Garcia and Uribe appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge Felix Recio Thursday morning. At the prosecution's request, Recio ordered that Cantu, Rodriguez, Garcia and Uribe be held in federal custody without bond until a Monday afternoon hearing. U.S. Marshals spokesman Gene Diaz said the men are expected to be held at a federal detention center in Willacy County but would be kept isolated from the prison's general population for their protection. It was not clear Thursday if Cantu and the others would be kept separate from each other, but defense attorneys said they could be freed on bond after the Monday afternoon hearing. Cantu's attorney Alberto Pullen said Cantu plans to plead innocent to the charges. 'These are charges we can fight,' Pullen said Thursday outside the courthouse. 'Based on what my client has told me, he believes that he is innocent.' Pullen replaces Cantu's long-time attorney Ernesto Gamez who reportedly had a conflict of interest in the case. Neither attorney would elaborate on that conflict."

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Mexican Drug War Turns Uglier: Troops Called In To Remove Corrupt Police Force, Take Over City On US Border

Federal troops have moved into Nuevo Laredo, a Mexican city on the US border, to try and restore order after the most of the police force was taken into custody for questioning on suspicion of corruption and other crimes relating to drug trafficking. The San Jose Mercury News reported on June 14, 2005 ( "Troops Take Over Violent Mexican City") that "Residents of this besieged city awoke Monday to find their police force gone, replaced by Mexican special forces troops who took over this border community stung by drug violence. After a gradual buildup over the weekend, Mexican troops -- some of whom were trained by the U.S. military -- swept into the city before daybreak and took control of a number of strategic operations, including city hall, the communications tower and police installations. They also detained hundreds of local police officers suspected of being in cahoots with drug traffickers."

According to the Mercury News, "Most of the 1,200-member police force underwent drug tests and background checks, local officials here said on the condition of anonymity. More than 700 officers were loaded onto trucks and detained for further questioning here and in Mexico City. Some U.S. law enforcement officials praised Mexico for the action, but said, 'We have sent them addresses, photographs of suspects. Let's see if they really mean business or if it's just a show.' In Mexico City, officials of President Vicente Fox's administration called on the U.S. government to assist in stopping the entry of illegal weapons into Mexico that have contributed to widespread bloodshed. Many of those weapons -- assault rifles, Uzis and AK-47s -- are purchased at gun shows throughout Texas, U.S. and Mexican intelligence officials say."

The Mexican government reponded to concerns that this was an escalation of the drug war. "Presidential spokesman Ruben Aguilar denied the government was militarizing the border and said the operation has been in the planning stages for weeks. 'There are very clear signs of a relationship between elements of the Nuevo Laredo police and drug smuggling, hence the decisive action,' Aguilar said. Nuevo Laredo represents the largest hub for land trade and a key transshipment point for South American cocaine and Mexican-produced marijuana and other narcotics heading for the United States."

Nuevo Laredo had already been known as a home for the Zetas, a former military anti-drug unit which had switched sides and gone to work for drug traffickers. The Dallas Morning News reported on March 8, 2005 ( "Fear Runs High In Mexico Town") that "Authorities on both sides of the Rio Grande say the bloodshed is happening now because rival drug traffickers are fighting for control of the city, a key corridor for Texas-bound cocaine, marijuana and heroin. The bodies of two unidentified men killed Saturday night showed signs of torture, police said. Local newspapers splashed color photos of their bodies across the front pages Monday. 'One victim's head blown off by a machine gun blast,' La Tarde said. But many Nuevo Laredo residents say they aren't interested in such gruesome details. And many would rather not get involved or even talk about the violence. They're understandably afraid, said Arturo A. Fontes, a special agent for the FBI. 'People across the border live life with a gun pointed to their head,' he said. Everyday fears are evident in the police officer who still doesn't know how to use a gun and constantly looks over his shoulder, the businessman who's had enough of Mexico's mayhem and is moving across the border to Laredo with his family, the reporter who 'limits' himself in what he writes for fear of retaliation from a shadowy hit squad known as the Zetas. 'We're all selling our houses and moving across the border to Texas,' said Alicia Anaya, 76, a retired vendor who sat Monday with her son and daughter in the shade of a Nuevo Laredo newspaper stand.

The violence in Nuevo Laredo has reportedly already far north across the US border. As the Dallas Morning News reported on Feb. 19, 2005 ( "Mexican Zetas Extending Violence Into Dallas"), "A team of rogue Mexican commandos blamed for dozens of killings along the U.S.-Mexico border has carried out at least three drug-related slayings in Dallas, a sign that the group is extending its deadly operations into U.S. cities, two American law enforcement officials say. The men are known as the Zetas, former members of the Mexican army who defected to Mexico's so-called Gulf drug cartel in the late 1990s, other officials say. 'These guys run like a military,' said Arturo A. Fontes, an FBI special investigator for border violence based in Laredo, in South Texas. 'They have their hands in everything and they have eyes and ears everywhere. I've seen how they work, and they're good at what they do. They're an impressive bunch of ruthless criminals.'

According to the Morning News, "Concern over the Zetas' activities in Dallas comes at a time of increased violence along the border and a crackdown on drug cartels by Mexico that President Vicente Fox has dubbed 'the mother of all battles.' In the first seven weeks of this year, about 135 people have been killed in drug violence in Mexico, mostly in northern states, including Tamaulipas and Chihuahua - which border Texas -and Sonora and Sinaloa. In Nuevo Laredo, in Tamaulipas state, about 300 people have been reported missing in recent months, including 27 Americans, some of whom are believed to have been victims of the Zetas-sponsored drug violence. The Americans included two abducted this week and released Thursday after a ransom was paid, a U.S. law enforcement official said."

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"Some of these people don't have the ability to say no": US Soldiers, National Guard Troops, Law Enforcement Officers Charged In FBI Drug Sting Plead Guilty

Sixteen US soldiers and law enforcement officers pleaded guilty to drug charges in one of the "largest public corruption cases along the US-Mexico border in recent years." The Los Angeles Times reported on May 13, 2005 ( "US Soldiers, Law Officers Snared In Border Drug Sting") that "A brazen conspiracy among U.S. law enforcement officers and soldiers to smuggle cocaine from Mexico was disclosed Thursday by the Justice Department, adding to concerns that public corruption north of the border was growing. Wearing uniforms and even driving U.S. military vehicles, 16 suspects were caught in a sting run by an FBI-led task force. Eleven entered guilty pleas Thursday in Tucson; the other five have agreed to do so soon."

According to the Times, "Justice Department officials describe the case as a 'widespread bribery and extortion conspiracy.' It is one of the largest public corruption cases along the U.S.-Mexico border in recent years. The defendants 'used their color of authority to prevent police stops, searches and seizures of narcotics as they drove the cocaine shipments on highways that passed through checkpoints,' the Justice Department said in a statement. The defendants pleaded guilty to transporting 1,232 pounds of cocaine and accepting $222,000 in cash for their activities. The 16 defendants are or have been employed by a variety of agencies, including the U.S. Army, the Arizona Army National Guard, the U.S. Bureau of Prisons, the Arizona Department of Corrections, the local police department in Nogales, Ariz., and the immigration and naturalization service."

The Times noted that "U.S. Atty. for Arizona Paul Charlton has been sounding alarms about the problem of public corruption for several years, and the latest arrests seem to confirm what he and others have been saying. 'It is a problem along the whole border,' Charlton said in an interview more than a year ago. 'Along the port of entries, custom officials have been paid to assist with smuggling. Some of these people don't have the ability to say no.' In the last several years, almost every segment of the U.S. border with Mexico has had cases of law enforcement, customs and immigration officials, local police and U.S. military personnel prosecuted for bribery, drug trafficking and other federal crimes. In the last three years, a border patrol agent and his wife were convicted of smuggling illegal immigrants in San Diego, an immigration officer pleaded guilty to charges of helping drug dealers smuggle narcotics in Texas and two Forest Service rangers were convicted of marijuana trafficking along the Arizona border. As the convictions have mounted, concerns that well-financed drug and smuggling organizations in Mexico could corrupt the U.S. civil service and military along the border has been growing. The FBI set up a public corruption squad in its Phoenix office in 2003. Last year, federal authorities organized a joint meeting to step up efforts to combat corruption."

Could this be the tip of the iceberg? As the Times reported, "One of the biggest emerging concerns is that a corrupted southern border could leave the nation more vulnerable to terrorists who could more easily pass through undetected and possibly join forces with drug interests. 'It is not just the threat of drugs, but the possibility that terrorists will slip through,' said Douglas C. McNabb, a criminal defense lawyer who has represented government officials charged with corruption. 'We have a huge problem along the border.' Rumors about Operation Lively Green have been circulating among law enforcement officials in Arizona for years, said one federal agent who spoke on condition of anonymity. 'The big question in the field was why these guys weren't being prosecuted,' he said. 'Now, it looks like they were flipped.' Justice Department spokesmen confirmed that the defendants had cooperated with the investigation, which is continuing. The defendants were appearing before Magistrate Judge Charles R. Pyle in Tucson. Each conspiracy charge carries a maximum five years in prison and a $250,000 fine."

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'Dedicated To A Career In Law Enforcement' -- Candidate For Sheriff, A Former Deputy, Accused Of Taking Thousands In Cash From Undercover FBI Informants

A former Forsyth County, GA deputy running for sheriff in that county "is accused of accepting thousands of dollars in cash last week from undercover FBI informants with the promise of contracts, kickbacks and other special treatment if elected," according to the Macon (GA) Telegraph ( "Forsyth County Candidate Says He Will Still Run For Post," July 16, 2004).

The Telegraph reported that "Federal authorities released the video and audio tapes of Beebe's meetings with informants. The video clips are partially obscured and appear to be shot in a poorly lit office. Beebe is sitting behind a desk in all the videos. It appears the camera was in place before Beebe and the informants entered the room. On one of the audio tapes of a July 8 meeting between Beebe and an informant, Beebe is heard saying he will 'run roadblock' so the informant and his henchmen can destroy methamphetamine labs in Forsyth County. He also tells the informant to keep any cash or drugs he procures and suggests making it look like a turf war. 'Lady Justice is blind. I'm not blind,' Beebe says, referencing the tendency of some criminals being able to skirt the law on technicalities. Later, the informant asks about exacting revenge on a man who once testified against him. Beebe first responds that if the informant lures the man to Forsyth County, 'We can send him away for a long time . and I tell you what, I'd rather be dead than go to prison.' The informant then suggests shooting the individual. 'I figure that's the right way,' he says. Beebe says something about the murder going unsolved and when the informant asks Beebe to repeat himself, he says firmly, 'If it happens in Forsyth, it will go unsolved. That's what's important.'"

According to the Telegraph, "His court-appointed attorney said Thursday that Beebe is not dropping out of the sheriff's race. Beebe is the only challenger to incumbent Ted Paxton. Both are Republicans, so voters will choose the sheriff next week. 'Mr. Beebe remains a candidate for the sheriff of Forsyth County with considerable support,' Attorney Natasha Perdew Silas said in a prepared statement. This, despite evidence that includes video and audio tapes depicting Beebe making cash deals with informants at undisclosed locations. His attorney said Beebe is dedicated to a career in law enforcement. Beebe has 15 years of police work with agencies in Forsyth County, Brunswick and Palmetto."

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Toronto Police Force Rocked By Drug Squad Investigation

An elite drug squad in Toronto has been the target of a major investigation into police corruption. The Toronto Star reported on Jan. 20, 2004 ( "New Drug Case Bombshell") that "Stunning new allegations in the drug squad scandal that has rocked the Toronto police force were unsealed by the province's highest court yesterday. A series of sworn affidavits from a task force that probed the central field command drug squad allege that police officers charged a "tax" on drug dealers to ply their trade in certain areas of Toronto. Other allegations against the officers are that they: Took up to $479,000 from safety deposit boxes, though charges filed later mention only $34,000. Beat up a drug dealer for information. Pocketed jewellery, narcotics and cash while doing searches. Lied in court to get convictions against drug traffickers. Some drug squad officers had suspiciously large bank balances while working with the squad, the documents stated."

According to a report in the Calgary Sun on Jan. 20, 2004 ( "Cop Probe Widens"), "Information contained in police affidavits suggests allegations go far beyond criminal charges laid against six former drug cops 13 days ago and also appears to contradict Chief Julian Fantino's statement that the scandal is 'isolated' and has been dealt with appropriately. The affidavits, released by the Ontario court of appeal, contain a statement by RCMP Chief Supt. John Neily, head of the probe, that 'evidence of criminal activity exists against 17 members' of the Central Field Command. In another affidavit, Neily stated 12 were involved in 'serious criminal behaviour.' 'I am attempting to identify only those who are alleged to have committed the most serious offences,' Neily wrote. The affidavits contain allegations officers were involved in the theft of 'large quantities of drugs and the later resale of drugs' to 'significant drug criminals and organized crime figures, including outlaw motorcycle gang associates.' One officer is alleged to have been 'actively involved' in drug trafficking in recent months."

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Killings Of Candidates In Two KY Sheriff Races Point Toward 'Infiltration Of Drugs Into Legitimate Government'

The murders of candidates in two county sheriff races in Kentucky has led to charges of drug-related corruption. According to the Louisville Courier-News on April 21, 2002, ( "Killing Raises Fears Of Drug Corruption"), "Police believe Pulaski County Sheriff Sam Catron was killed April 13 to help a rival candidate with ties to a known drug dealer. A few days earlier, Harlan County's sheriff said an alleged drug dealer was seen on a videotape giving $2,500 to Paul Browning Jr., a former Harlan sheriff who was running for the office again until he was murdered last month."

Though the US Attorney for Kentucky's Eastern District, Greg Van Tatenhove, told the Courier-News that he was reluctant to draw any conclusions based on the two cases, others were not as reticent. According to the article, "Tom Handy, commonwealth's attorney for Laurel and Knox counties, said the cases reflect 'the infiltration of drugs into legitimate government' that has occurred for years. Catron, a tough-on-drugs lawman who was seeking a fifth term as sheriff, was shot to death last weekend at a fish fry and political rally. Jeff Morris, one of Catron's rivals in the May 28 Republican primary, and two of Morris' supporters -- one of them a known drug dealer -- were charged in the case. Browning, seeking a political comeback after being convicted in 1982 of plotting to kill two Harlan County officials, was found burned in his pickup truck in late March. No one has been charged, but a videotape released after Browning's death showed him taking $2,500 from a man who current Sheriff Steve Duff said is a drug dealer."

The Courier-News continued:
"The cases point to ongoing efforts by drug traffickers to gain a toehold among the people charged with bringing them to justice, experts say.
"'The sad thing is, this type of corruption is analogous to a Third World country. But it happens everywhere,' said Terry Cox, an Eastern Kentucky University criminal justice professor.
"From organized crime buying protection in Chicago during Prohibition to dope dealers in cahoots with Lexington police in the 1970s, Cox said people who break the law have always looked for ways to control the system.
"During the 1990s, federal investigators charged 10 Eastern Kentucky lawmen with protecting or assisting drug dealers.
"Duff said the region's long-standing illegal drug problem has taken on a new and more dangerous dimension with the growing importance of OxyContin and methamphetamines, which yield 'huge profits' for dealers.
"'The profits are higher and the drugs are more accessible,' Duff said. 'If ( drug dealers ) have the opportunity to find someone who's corruptible, they will.'"

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Charges Dropped Against Tulia Resident; Evidence Proves Defendant Was Miles Away At Time Of Alleged Offense

Charges were dropped against one of the last remaining defendants yet to stand trial on charges arising from the infamous Tulia drug sting. As the Amarillo Globe-News reported on April 10, 2002 ( "Newly Uncovered Evidence Frees Defendant In Tulia Drug Sting"), "One of the last defendants from the controversial 1999 Tulia drug sting was freed Tuesday on newly uncovered evidence that put her in Oklahoma City at the time she allegedly sold illegal drugs."

According to the Globe-News, "Tonya Michelle White, 33, was expected to go on trial Tuesday for allegedly selling cocaine to an undercover agent Tom Coleman. That won't happen after an emergency grand jury took one hour to decide not to indict White. The hearing came after District Attorney Terry McEachern received new evidence that showed White made bank transactions and phone calls within hours of the alleged 10:15 a.m. Oct. 9, 1998, drug deal with Coleman."

The Globe-News noted that "White was one of 46 defendants - 39 of whom are black - who were indicted in July 1999 after an 18-month undercover investigation that sparked a firestorm of controversy. White was not arrested until last year, when she turned herself over to authorities, and she was later released on a $25,000 bond. Fellow defendant Zury Bossett remains to be tried in the case." According to the Globe-News, "White's attorney, Jeff Blackburn of Amarillo, said the evidence proved it was more than a minor inconsistency. 'Now we know it's ( the case ) a total lie,' he said. 'To say it's an inconsistency is like saying the Empire State Building is kind of big.'"

Blackburn was able to elaborate on the case in an article in the New York Times on April 12, 2002 ( "Drug Charge Dropped In Case Criticized By Rights Groups"): "Jeff Blackburn, a lawyer for Ms. White, said the charge against her that was dismissed on Tuesday further undermined the credibility of the undercover agent in the Tulia operation, Tom Coleman. In nearly every case, Mr. Coleman was the lone witness and provided the only evidence in winning convictions. One case has been dropped because of false identification. Critics say Mr. Coleman operated with almost no oversight. Former colleagues described him in documents in a dispute over custody of his children as a compulsive liar. Mr. Coleman has also been charged with misdemeanor theft of gas from a government pump while he was a sheriff's deputy. 'This is the first time that we have proven through direct evidence that he made up an accusation against someone,' Mr. Blackburn said of the White case. Last year, state lawmakers passed legislation known as the Tulia law that prohibits convicting a defendant solely on the testimony of an undercover agent."

People involved with the Tulia defendants are hopeful for more positive outcomes. As the Times reported, "Mr. Blackburn said the White case could provide grounds to overturn other convictions. Already, national groups like the William Moses Kunstler Fund for Racial Justice and the American Civil Liberties Union have gotten involved. Vanita Gupta, a spokeswoman for the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund Inc., said her group was representing two defendants in their appeals and had found lawyers in Washington or New York for the other 18 defendants who are in prison."

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Informant Sold Fake Drugs; Dozens Of Cases To Get Thrown Out, Two Undercover Officers Put On Administrative Leave

A police scandal in Dallas, TX has resulted in at least two dozen criminal cases being suspended, according to the New York Times on Jan. 16, 2002 ( "Fake Drugs Force An End To 24 Cases In Dallas"). The Times reported that "Nearly half of the cocaine and nearly a quarter of the methamphetamine that the Dallas police seized last year have turned out to be gypsum from wallboard, a discovery that has led to the suspension of two dozen criminal cases, local officials say. All the cases involve a single unidentified informer who has received at least $200,000 from the Dallas Police Department over the last two years, officials confirmed last week. The supposed drugs tested positive in field tests after the arrests, they said, but more sophisticated testing done later in preparation for trial found no more than traces of drugs."

The scale of the case is rather large. According to the Times, "Investigators have found more than 660 pounds of fake cocaine and at least 22 pounds of fake methamphetamine. Some of those arrested have already spent up to six months in jail and at least four have been deported on charges that could have resulted in sentences from five years to life in prison." A great number of cases may be affected. The Times again: "Janice Houston, a spokeswoman for the police department, said today that at least 70 drug purchases associated with the unnamed informer over the past two years would be reviewed. But Ms. Houston would not comment on the possibility that the evidence in question might have been tampered with while under police custody. 'We have an investigation under way,' she said, 'and it's just too early to speculate on where the problem might be.'"

Additionally, allegations have arisen of racial bias in this case. According to the Times, "All 18 people named in the two dozen suspended prosecutions have Hispanic surnames, prompting accusations of racial profiling from the Mexican Consulate here and Hispanic organizations." According to a report in the Rocky Mountain News on January 22, 2002 ( "Hispanics Were Targets In Drug Cases, Attorneys Say"), "Outrage in the legal community appears to be growing, as District Attorney Bill Hill announced that his office is working to dismiss 59 cases, some involving two Dallas police undercover narcotics officers who are on administrative leave and at least one paid confidential informant who no longer works for the department. Thirty-nine people had been arrested as a result of the 59 cases."

According to the News, "'The majority of defendants involved are Mexican nationals, which to me looks like they were targets,' attorney Cynthia Barbare said. Dallas attorney Tony Wright was more pointed, calling the cases "the epitome of racial profiling.' 'The police knew they were picking on people that would be deported,' he said. '( Hispanics ) need to be marching on City Hall,' Wright said. 'They're upset. They just don't know what to do about it. They came from a country where corruption is the standard. Now they just don't know who to trust.'"

The informant in this case has run into other troubles in the since the story broke. As the Rocky Mountain News reported on Feb. 8, 2002 ( "Ex-Informant Lied, Indictment Says"), "A judge has ordered the key confidential informant in the fake drug cases handled by the Dallas Police Department held on charges of lying about being a U.S. citizen. Enrique Martinez Alonso, 44, appeared in federal court in Dallas after being indicted on two felony counts of misrepresenting himself as a U.S. citizen while applying for a Social Security card. Alonso was a paid police informant in a series of major drug seizures in which, lab tests later showed, the evidence contained finely ground gypsum, flour or only trace amounts of illicit substances."

Meanwhile, another confidential informant for the Dallas police has charged that police "encouraged" him to lie. The News reported, again on Feb. 8:
"Also Thursday, a former confidential informant of a third undercover Dallas narcotics officer accused that officer of encouraging him to lie to help obtain probable cause for raids on suspected drug houses.
"The officer denied the allegations.
"The ex-informant's lawyer said she contacted federal authorities this week about the allegations and is awaiting word on when the man can talk to the FBI.
"The former informant, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told the Dallas Morning News for its Friday editions he signed a contract to work as the officer's snitch and make seven cases against other suspected drug dealers so that he could get probation rather than prison time.
"The 34-year-old man, who has felony convictions for theft and drug possession, said he helped police make several cases but recently ended his work after lab tests in his case revealed fake drugs.
"'I come out of the house and I said, 'No, there's no dope in there,'' the ex-informant said. 'He kind of got upset. He goes, 'No, that's the wrong answer. Read between the lines.' And ... I said, 'OK, there is dope in there,' and he goes, 'That's better.' ... He never told me plain-out lie; he just said read between the lines.'"

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Even The Guards Bring It In: Media Examines Drug Smuggling And Trafficking In Prisons

Some in the news media have taken notice of the problem of drug trafficking inside prisons. The Oklahoma City, OK Oklahoman reported on Nov. 11, 2001 ( "Oklahoma Prisons Battling Drug Smuggling") that "The state Department of Corrections is using sniffing dogs, random shakedowns, drug tests and strict visitation policies to crack down on drugs use in prisons. But illegal substances still are making their way behind bars in Oklahoma, said officials and former prisoners." According to the Oklahoman, "During fiscal year 2000, the most recent period for which complete information was available, the department reported conducting 16,442 random drug tests systemwide with 1,423 or 8.7 percent positive results. Marijuana was detected in 74 percent of the positive tests. Cocaine was the second most detected drug."

Drug smuggling into prisons can be particularly difficult to track and stop because often, prison staff are involved. Once again from the Oklahoman:
"William Foster, 43, who served about five years for cultivating marijuana in Tulsa County, laughs when asked how drugs get into prisons.
"'The guards,' he said. 'I mean, come on. Let's be realistic. We are in a fenced environment and have to go through three fences, with numerous checks. Who do you think brings it in? Who are the only people that can walk through those check points and not be searched?'
"He said visitors also bring drugs into prisons, but on a limited basis.
"'It is very, very hard to bring in any type of dope that way,' he said. 'It is very small quantities, usually for personal use.'
"Some visitors pass drugs to an inmate by swallowing a balloon or condom filled with drugs and regurgitating it in the restroom, officials said. But the larger quantities of drugs come in through staff, Foster said.
"'When you can match the money they are going to make for 15 minutes of work for as much as they are going to make in two weeks, why wouldn't they?' Foster asked."

Hutchinson: No Punishment For Agents Over Snitch's 16-Year Long Career Of Lying In Court

According to DEA Administrator Asa Hutchinson, no DEA agents will be disciplined for use of career informant Andrew Chambers, whose lies under oath went unchecked for 16 years. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch on Sept. 30, 2001 ( "DEA Won't Punish Agents Who Failed To Disclose Lying By Informer Chambers") reported that "Beginning in 1984, when Chambers was recruited at the agency's Clayton (MO) office, he helped arrest more than 400 drug suspects in 31 cities. He also lied under oath at least 16 times, but the DEA says its agents either didn't know or, if they did, didn't tell their colleagues elsewhere."

The Post-Dispatch asked, in its story, "How could no one be punished after years of courtroom lying?
"The DEA's own records show that senior officials at headquarters fought a two-year court fight to keep secret Chambers records: that he repeatedly lied in court when he claimed he had never been arrested or convicted, inflated his educational background and claimed he paid taxes on his DEA earnings - more than $1.8 million.
"The DEA spent months investigating itself. The report of that investigation, obtained by the Post-Dispatch in May, concluded that at least one DEA supervisor in the field should have done more to report Chambers' courtroom lying.
"In July, a DEA spokesman said two employees were under investigation. They are now identified only as an agent and a supervisor.
"'A thorough investigation was done, and there was no finding that would result in a disciplinary action,' DEA spokesman Michael Chapman said Friday."

Administrator Hutchinson defended the use of snitches in the Post-Dispatch interview, saying "'You've got to use informants. . . . Otherwise, you can't get the job done.'" The Post-Dispatch continues: "He said the DEA won't use Chambers again in any capacity - despite accolades from dozens of agents who considered him the best. Here's how the DEA investigation describes Chambers: '. . . Motivated by money, thrill, camaraderie and a sense of self-righteousness.'" Critics are not pleased. The Post-Dispatch spoke with the attorney who led an effort to stop the snitch Andrew Chambers career of deceit. According to their story, "'I'm stunned that so much government wrongdoing meant so little to the government,' said Dean Steward. He's a former federal public defender in California who led a three-year effort to make the Justice Department disclose the extent of Chambers' lying - and the Justice Department's complicity. 'Had this been a major corporation, heads would roll,' Steward added."

Miami Vice Redux: Thirteen Current And Former Officers Indicted

The Los Angeles Times reported on Sept. 9, 2001 ( "Miami Cops Accused Of Cover-Up") that "In the city's worst police scandal since the days of 'Miami Vice,' 13 current and former officers were accused by federal prosecutors Friday of planting guns, lying to investigators and otherwise trying to cover up four shootings in which three people died." The Times continued:
"In one of the shootings, a SWAT team fired 123 bullets into an apartment during a 1996 drug raid and then lied about finding a gun in the hand of the dead 73-year-old man inside, the FBI said.
"The investigation also involved the deaths of two young black men who were shot in the back by officers after stealing purses on a highway ramp. All of those charged were veterans assigned to SWAT teams, narcotics units or special crime-suppression teams in the late 1990s.
"Prosecutors said that in at least three cases, police planted guns at the scene to justify shootings by officers."

Federal Report Describes Endemic Corruption Related To War On Drugs, Infects All Levels Of Enforcement

"Wherever there is a well-organized, illicit drug industry, there is also the danger of police corruption," that according to the United Nations Drug Control Programme. It is already widely known that such corruption exists in other countries, such as Colombia. Unfortunately corruption is also a problem here in the United States, though not at the same scale. As noted in Drug War Facts, the US General Accounting Office in a 1998 report to Congress cited recent examples of drug-related police corruption in Atlanta, Chicago, Cleveland, Detroit, Los Angeles, Miami, New Orleans, New York, Philadelphia, Savannah, and Washington, DC. More recent reports only reveal more problems. Most police are good officers, but considerable damage is done to the public trust as a result of the few who go bad.

Los Angeles: City Of Fallen Angels

In Los Angeles, a growing scandal in the department's Rampart Division has resulted in several indictments and even prison terms for ex-LA police officers ( "Perez's Ex-Partner Reaches Plea Deals"). In San Antonio, TX, a number of police have been indicted as a result of a sting operation, in which an FBI agent posed as a cocaine trafficker. As the Dallas Morning News reported on March 27, 2001 ( "Drug-Sting Videos Cast Straight-Arrow Officers In Ugly Light"):
"Most don't drink or smoke. They coach youth baseball teams. They are praised as the kind of police officers any community could be proud of. According to federal prosecutors, however, they were also willing to protect drug deals and escort loads of cocaine for a price.
"During a lengthy detention hearing Monday, federal prosecutors provided samples of video surveillance that showed some of San Antonio's finest offering a drug dealer they knew only as 'Ricardo' from Chicago their services as bodyguards and escorts for cocaine shipments and receiving payments for their efforts."
Rick Casey of the San Antonio Express-News wrote a great column on this subject, "Good Cop, Bad Cop - They're Not Always Two."

More Information And Related Resources

Other communities are experiencing their own troubles with drug-related official corruption, though not on the same scale as Los Angeles. For example, the Fresno (CA) Bee reported on March 8, 2001 ( "Sheriff's Officer, Friend Booked On Drug Counts" ) that a Fresno County sheriff's deputy assigned to the department's crime-prevention program was recently "arrested on two counts of sale of narcotics, was placed immediately on administrative leave and booked into the Fresno County jail." Farther north, in Washington state, the indictment of a police forensic chemist on misdemeanor charges of evidence tampering has created problems for prosecutors. On March 31, 2001, the Snohomish County (WA#&041; Daily Herald reported that "A convicted drug trafficker was allowed to withdraw a guilty plea Friday as part of the expanding legal turmoil surrounding a former Washington State Patrol chemist's admission that he pilfered drugs sent to his lab for tests." ( "WSP Drug Lab Taint Lets Felon Withdraw Guilty Plea" )

Sometimes police use of informers also leads to trouble. For example, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported on April 8, 2001 ( "Informer's Lies Free Another Drug Dealer") that a DEA report of an internal investigation documents how "the agency's most celebrated supersnitch -- Andrew Chambers, formerly of University City -- lied in court over 15 years while sending hundreds of people to prison." According to the Post-Dispatch:
"The DEA report remains secret. Described as only 157 pages long, it is believed to document a cover-up by drug agents. They watched as Chambers perjured himself by claiming over and over that he had never been arrested or convicted. The agents knew he was lying. Some of them had even helped get him out of trouble when he was arrested.
Senior officials in the DEA also knew Chambers was lying. They waged a two-year court fight to keep his history of lies a secret.
Since the DEA scandal broke last year, prosecutors across the country have dropped charges against at least 14 accused drug dealers rather than risk putting Chambers on the witness stand again."

http://www.csdp.org/news/news/corruption.htm

A border wall will not protect us from the corrupt politicians and law enforcement on our side of the border who have sold America out by opening the floodgates to illegal immigration and drugs--these two issues must be recognized as being indistinguishable for America to understand how we have failed to protect our sovernty;

The only sollution is threefold: Drug prohibition reform, double law enforcement wages along the border combined with doubling the penalties for corruption--marketplace rules can solve our problems in this failed war on drugs.

Busts of Corrupt U.S. Border Police Rise
By MARTHA MENDOZA and CHRISTOPHER SHERMAN Associated Press Writers8/9/09, 9:54 PM EDT

Drug and immigrant smugglers use money and sometimes sex to buy protection.
Corruption along the U.S.-Mexican border takes many forms. It can start as simply as a smuggler's $50 gift to the child of a reluctant federal agent, quickly escalating to out-and-out bribes. "Everyone does it," the agent, now in prison, recalls telling himself. Other times, county sheriffs greedily grab thousands from drug dealers. In a few instances, traffickers even place members in the applicant pool for sensitive border protection jobs.

An Associated Press investigation has found U.S. law officers who work the border are being charged with criminal corruption in numbers not seen before, as drug and immigrant smugglers use money and sometimes sex to buy protection, and internal investigators crack down.

Based on Freedom of Information Act requests, interviews with sentenced agents and a review of court records, the AP tallied corruption-related convictions against more than 80 enforcement officials at all levels — federal, state and local — since 2007, shortly after Mexican President Felipe Calderon declared war on the cartels that peddle up to $39 billion worth of drugs in the United States each year.

U.S. officials have long pointed to Mexico's rampantly corrupt cops and broken judicial system, but Calderon told the AP this isn't just a Mexican problem.

"To get drugs into the United States the one you need to corrupt is the American authority, the American customs, the American police — not the Mexican. And that's a subject, by the way, which hasn't been addressed with sincerity," the Mexican president said. "I'm waging my battle against corruption among Mexican authorities and we're risking everything to clean our house, but I think there also needs to be a good cleaning on the other side of the border."

In fact, U.S. prosecutors have been taking notice. Drug traffickers look "for weaknesses in the armor," said former prosecutor Yolanda de Leon in Cameron County, Texas.

One such weakness was her own county's Sheriff Conrado Cantu. With his thick mustache, ample belly and Western hat, Cantu was a backslapping natural in the political machine of Cameron County, population 335,000. The county includes Brownsville, Texas, directly across the Rio Grande from Matamoros, Mexico.

In no time, Cantu rose from constable to sheriff, a job he later acknowledged he was unqualified to hold. In 2005, he pleaded guilty to federal charges of running a criminal enterprise involved in extortion, drug trafficking and bribery. He's now serving a 24-year sentence for extorting money from drug traffickers and illegal gambling operations.

"If the opportunity came along he would take it," said de Leon.

Not all corruption charges that turned up in AP's checks were related to drug trafficking. The researched cases involve agents helping smuggle immigrants, drugs or other contraband, taking wads of money or sexual favors in exchange — or simply allowing entry to someone whose paperwork isn't up to snuff, all part of the daily border traffic that has politicians demanding that the U.S.-Mexico border be secured.

Court records show corrupt officials along the 2,100-mile U.S.-Mexico border have included local police and elected sheriffs, and officers with such U.S. Department of Homeland Security agencies as Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection, which includes Border Patrol. Some have even been National Guardsmen temporarily called in to help while the Border Patrol expanded its ranks.

As Calderon sent thousands of soldiers to northern Mexico to stop the gruesome cartel violence and clean out corrupt police departments, CBP, the largest U.S. law enforcement agency, boosted its border forces by 44 percent or 6,907 additional officers and agents on the southwest border.

At the same time, CBP saw the number of its officers charged with corruption-related crimes nearly triple, from eight cases in fiscal 2007 to 21 the following year — and began to crack down.

"Day in, day out, someone in our agency is approached and says no, but we operate in this high-threat environment," said James Tomsheck, assistant commissioner for internal affairs at CBP. "The reality of it is we are deeply concerned."

In the past 10 months, 20 agents from CBP alone have been charged with a corruption-related crime. At that pace, the organization will set a new record for in-house corruption; 90 employees have been charged with corrupt acts since October 2004. Agency officials expect those cases to continue to climb: There are 63 open criminal investigations — including corruption cases — against CBP employees.

At least as unsettling were the prospective agents who never got to commit their crimes: Four applicants for jobs in federal border law enforcement were not hired when polygraph tests and background checks confirmed they were infiltrators from drug trafficking operations, authorities said.

Such in-depth checks are conducted on only about 10 percent of applicants for border agent jobs, though such scrutiny will eventually be made standard for all applicants, according to Tomsheck. Meantime, officials are left to wonder: Are other gangsters working undercover for agencies charged with protecting the U.S. border?

CBP had more than 2,000 in-house discipline cases during the past three years, according to records obtained by the AP under the Freedom of Information Act. Most were minor, but about 100 reflected more serious, corruption-related incidents, many of which were later prosecuted.

The jump in corruption cases comes as CBP has increased its team of internal investigators from five three years ago to 220 today.

CBP's own investigation of corruption cases showed little correlation between minor disciplinary problems and the more serious instances of bribery and malfeasance.

"Virtually none of the employees arrested for corruption are employees that have serious misconduct issues," Tomsheck said. "Actively corrupt employees do everything they can to stay below the radar screen."

It can be heartbreaking to see agents switch sides for small amounts of money, said U.S. Attorney Tim Johnson, whose turf covers a long stretch of border from the Gulf of Mexico to Laredo, Texas. But, Johnson and other federal prosecutors say, "these cases will always have a priority" and must be prosecuted "to the fullest extent," to emphasize that corruption will not be tolerated.

"You can't allow people who work within the law enforcement community to compromise our mission. We would just lose control of everything down there," he said.

It's a lesson Mexico learned the hard way, ignoring for years corrupt police until Calderon began to replace them with military personnel.

In Texas, which has more than half the U.S. border with Mexico, the commission that oversees state and local law enforcement officers reported that criminal misconduct cases were opened against 515 officers in fiscal 2007 and 550 officers in fiscal 2008. Some form of disciplinary action was lodged against 324 and 331 peace officer licenses, respectively, in those years.

"The cartels increasingly recruit law enforcement officers on both sides of the border," Steve McCraw, then Texas's homeland security chief, told state lawmakers earlier this year. "It's not just a Mexico problem because of the amount of money involved. And as we've increased presence between the ports (of entry), there's an increased desire to recruit law enforcement personnel to move across the bridge or use them between the ports."

In-house CBP data shows corrupt agents fall into two categories — recent hires who are charged very quickly, indicating they took the jobs intending to break the law, and veteran agents who have worked for the agency for a decade or more before succumbing to the offers.

"From the Mexican cartels' point of view, it is cheaper to pay an official several thousand dollars to allow a load of narcotics to pass by than it is to risk having the shipment seized," Scott Stewart and Fred Burton, vice presidents of global intelligence firm Stratfor, wrote in a recent report. "Such bribes are simply part of the cost of doing business — and in the big picture, even a low-level agent can be an incredible bargain."

One such officer, a CBP agent convicted of taking money to smuggle illegal immigrants, was over his head with credit card debt, behind on child-support payments, about to lose his truck. His 10-year-old, whom he had taken to the mall for the day, wanted a football he couldn't afford.

That's when a friendly, familiar Mexican man pulled a $50 bill from a thick wallet and handed it to the agent's son, who snatched the money and dashed off to the Dallas Cowboys Pro Shop.

The father related the story in the visiting room of a federal prison in California where he is serving a four-year term.

"I was like, 'Wait son, hang on!' but he was gone, so happy with that money," said the former agent, whom prison officials allowed the AP to interview on condition of anonymity because convicted law enforcement officers are considered potential targets.

That was how it began, the ex-agent continued. A few weeks later, the Mexican man suggested that the officer let a man through his pedestrian checkpoint early one morning without asking questions. He'd get $5,000 for his trouble.

"I thought, 'Naaah, I can't do that.' Then I thought, 'Hell, my life's a mess. Everyone does it. If I'm caught I'll just say the guy got past me. I'll do it once. I could use the money,'" he recalled.

The cash came in handy. He bought clothes for his kids, jerseys for a youth team he coached; he made his truck payment, caught up on credit card bills.

The next time was easier, if less lucrative: $1,500 a person.

Nervously smoothing his prison-green scrubs, he said, "I really planned to stop." But then another offer came, even while colleagues warned him the FBI was snooping around. And then a woman he had illegally passed through named him when she was caught by an honest agent.

He was convicted for passing one person through. He paid $5,000 in fines in addition to the prison term.

"You want to know how many times I did this?" he asked. "Sixty-six. I kept a tally."

The men and women who were caught described their jobs as prestigious and well paid for the small border towns where they grew up. An entry-level CBP officer earns $37,000 a year in Laredo, and within a year is likely paid $41,000, well above the local average annual income of $25,000.

In border communities, the demarcation between countries is insignificant. People live on one side, work on the other; have a favorite barber on one side, but buy groceries on the other. The traffic is heavy, and constant.

Some of the border authorities were born in Mexico or are related to Mexican nationals. So do you let a colleague's Mexican aunt cross the border without a visa for a family birthday party? Or wave through a loaded truck that belongs to your bosses' brother-in-law without looking inside? Some agents said yes.

And so did some state and local officers. The deputy commander of a narcotics task force was caught in a sting operation protecting what he believed were loads of drugs moving through Zapata County; others have shaken down drug traffickers moving product through their turf.

In October, FBI agents arrested Starr County Sheriff Reymundo Guerra at his office as part of a sweep dubbed "Operation Carlito's Weigh." Guerra, the chief law enforcement officer for the border county of 62,000 people, had spent a decade as sheriff.

There was little public pressure for his ouster after his arrest and since he was running unopposed, Guerra was re-elected weeks later. County Judge Eloy Vera said the day of his arrest that Guerra, a mustachioed bear of man, was a "very good sheriff." He resigned only as a condition of his release pending trial.

In May, Guerra pleaded guilty to a drug trafficking charge for accepting thousands of dollars in exchange for passing information to a former Mexican law enforcement contact who he knew was working for Mexico's Gulf Cartel. Guerra once even gave false documents to one of his own deputies to close a drug trafficking investigation, prosecutors said.

Guerra could face up to life in prison when he is sentenced later this month.

———

Martha Mendoza reported from San Jose, Calif.

[PDF] Root Out Law Enforcement Corruption
allegations that he helped the Gulf Cartel to smuggle drugs across the border. Since 2005,Â*… return for protecting illegal gambling operations; 2 former Laredo police officersÂ*… Brownsville, December 2005: a Cameron County sheriff was convicted ofÂ*…
www.aclutx.org/files/Border Sta... - Options

Border Sheriffs Face Decisions On Immigration Law

Monday, August 31st, 2009
American law enforcers inÂ*border cities are facing difficult decisions about immigration enforcement in light of the government’sÂ*decision toÂ*to press intoÂ*use a provision of theÂ*federalÂ*Immigration and Nationality Act through whichÂ*63 local law enforcement agencies throughout the country partner with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to designate officers who can enforce federal immigration laws, reports the McAllen, Texas, Monitor. Agencies can allocate officers to work on an enforcementÂ*task forceÂ*or assign jail officers who focus on identifying illegal immigrants already in jail.

For the sheriffs in the Rio Grande Valley’s two most populous counties,Â*rounding up illegal immigrants on the street has never been a priority. Cameron County Sheriff Omar Lucio said he would not participateÂ*because his agency lacks the manpower and jail space to round up illegals.Â*And Hidalgo County Sheriff LupeÂ*Treviño said his agency will continue to target the “criminal illegal immigrantâ€

http://thecrimereport.org/2009/08/31/bo ... w/#respond

Know your enemy:



Â*
Â*Frontera NorteSur
2006


SECURITY & LAW ENFORCEMENT
Violent Surge Signals End of Fox Era

Blood flowed generously on the streets of Mexican border and other cities during the last days of President Vicente Fox's term. From Ciudad Juarez to Acapulco , and from Reynosa to Toluca , gang-land style ambushes, executions and kidnappings jolted society and filled the press with more gruesome headlines. Standing out in the latest bout of bloodletting was the professional affiliations of many victims. Entertainers, politicians, law enforcement agents, lawyers, and former government officials ranked high in the list of the apparent targets.

Easily grabbing the most attention was the early-morning November 25 murder of singer Valentin Elizalde minutes after he finished a concert in Reynosa across from McAllen , Texas . Known as the "Golden Rooster," the 27-year-old Elizalde was a rising star in the "Grupero" genre of popular music. Horrified fans witnessed the entertainer's vehicle ambushed by two car loads of killers as Elizalde was leaving the concert grounds; two of Elizalde's companions were also killed. Provoking revulsion -and vows of revenge- Elizalde's wake and funeral in Sinaloa state were attended by crowds estimated from 10-20,000 people.

Two days after Elizalde was slain, Reynosa was the scene of more violence when almost two dozen bullets were fired into 32-year-old lawyer Cynthia Indira Castro Gonzalez. The young attorney was killed near the very spot where her brother was murdered last March.

In Tijuana , the city was once again shaken on November 28, when three local enforcement officers, including Gerardo Santiago Prado, the chief the Mesa de Otay division, were killed in yet another attack bearing the signs of organized crime. In Guerrero state on the Pacific Coast , at least 10 men have been killed and as a many as 6 people have been kidnapped in separate, gangland-style incidents reported in various regions of the state since November 24.

Among the victims were two men previously associated with local and state intelligence and police agencies. Identified as Horacio Gutierrez and Fidel Sanguillan, the pair fell in a burst of AK-47 rifle fire in Acapulco on Tuesday, November 28, during mid-day, rush hour traffic only yards from the city's police headquarters and near an Estrella Blanca bus station that serves large numbers of tourists. The next day, November 29, Acapulco was the scene of an afternoon shootout between gunmen and police. The gun battle left three people wounded.

To the north, in Michoacan state, gun battles and executions continued without any let-up. By November 28, at least 471 people have been killed in narco-tainted violence in Michoacan during 2006.

Individuals from Ciudad Juarez who were formerly or currently associated with the Office of the Federal Attorney General (PGR) have also been among recent victims. Jose Hernandez Aguirre, a former PGR who was dismissed last year over corruption allegations, was shot to death in broad daylight on November 28 in Ciudad Juarez . Antonio Sanchez Medina, a PGR prosecutor who recently served in Ciudad Juarez before being assigned to Nuevo Leon state, was murdered on November 25 in Monterrey .

In another high-profile crime, federal Deputy David Figueroa Ortega, a member of incoming President Felipe Calderon's National Action Party (PAN), was shot and wounded November 27 while driving on the highway between Toluca and Mexico City . The former mayor of Agua Prieta , Sonora , Figueroa was Calderon's campaign coordinator for Sonora state during the presidential campaign. The federal deputy has been mentioned as a possible Sonora gubernatorial candidate.

Accompanying Figueroa was another PAN federal deputy, Maria Mercedes Corral, who was apparently uninjured in the shooting attack. Figueroa, Corral and others had just deplaned at the Toluca airport and were headed back to Mexico City after returning from a trip to Sonora when they were attacked. Figueroa's father, 62-year-old David Figueroa Coronado, was shot and wounded in another mysterious ambush in Agua Prieta last May.

Located on the Arizona border, Agua Prieta is a known hot-bed of narco-traffickers and immigrant smugglers. The Figueroa attack is but the latest in a growing list of violent incidents involving elected officials or persons close to them. Spanning the political spectrum, the victims have included persons associated with the PAN, PRI and PRD political parties. In mid-November, for instance, a business belonging to the PAN mayor of Nogales , Sonora , Marco Antonio Martinez Dabdoub, was firebombed.

In Veracruz , Cirilio Vazquez Lagunes, a prominent rancher, was ambushed and killed November 17. Vazquez was the boyfriend of Deisi Valencia , the mayor of San Juan Evangelista , Veracruz . Two days before the Vazquez murder, on November 15, Walter Herrera, the PRD mayor of Huimanguillo , Tabasco , was shot to death outside his ranch. Reportedly, Herrera had been investigated by the PGR during the governorship of former PRI presidential candidate Roberto Madrazo for drug trafficking and abetting prisoner escape.

Earlier, on September 9, Omar Alberto Amaya Nunez, the former mayor of Guadalupe Bravo, Chihuahua , was shot to death. Days prior to Amaya's murder, an armed commando of about 15 men kidnapped four men from the rural municipality bordering Texas . South of Ciudad Juarez, Guadalupe Bravo has the reputation for being a narco's no-man's land. Guadalupe Bravo was the scene of a well-publicized, international incident between Mexico and the US after Border Patrol agents allegedly crossed into Mexico without in permission on November 10 while in hot pursuit of suspected drug traffickers. Employing only 18 policemen to patrol 99 rural communities with a population of about 15,000 people, Guadalupe Bravo was occupied November 19 by Mexican soldiers and Chihuahua state policemen, who set up highway checkpoints.

No suspects have been reported in the latest wave of suspected narco violence that marred the final days of Vicente Fox's presidency. A recent tally of narco-killings in Mexico by the El Universal newspaper put the toll at 2,012 victims for the period from January 1 to November 29 of this year. According to the newspaper, 1,395 people were murdered gangland-style during the same period in 2005.

Sources: Enlineadirecta.info, November 29, 2006. Univision, November 28, 2006. El Sur, November 28 and 29, 2006. Proceso/Apro, November 28, 2006. Article by Ricardo Ravelo. La Jornada/Notimex, November 28, 2006. Frontera/SUN, November 28, 2006. El Imparcial/SUN, November 28, 2006. El Diario de Juarez, November 15, 26 and 28, 2006. Articles by Cecilia Guerrero Ortiz, Notimex and the SUN news agency. El Universal, November 15, 27, 28, 29, 2006. Articles by Roberto Barboza Sosa, Javier Cabrera Martinez, Julieta Martinez, and other correspondents. Lapolaka.com, November 25, 2006.

Mayors Mobilize Against Border Walls

Mayors in Texas and the northern Mexican border state of Coahuila are mobilizing their opposition to the new series of border walls planned by the Bush Administration. Supported by Mexican mayors and representatives of non-governmental organizations, a 3-day march against the walls commenced November 7 in the Coahuila border city of Ciudad Acuna . Evaristo Lenin Perez Rivera, the mayor of Ciudad Acuna, said the action was directed against both Washington and Mexico City because of the two national governments' "incapacity to resolve common problems while trying to divide a community of neighbors with a mud wall."

Drawing the support of Coahuila state labor, educational and commercial groups like the Canacintra and Canaco business associations, the march is expected to culminate at a November 10 rally in Piedras Negras, which is also on the Mexico-US border. The Coahuila anti-border wall march moved forward as incoming Mexican President Felipe Calderon flew to Washington this week for meetings with US Latino leaders and President Bush. A critic of the border wall plan, Calderon has called for "bridges for progress and not walls that isolate and divide."

Back on the protest march, meanwhile, Mayor Perez, who was joined by Mayor Francisco Trujillo of Jimenez, Coahuila, said he was uplifted by the results of the November 7 election in the United States that saw President Bush's Republican Party lose control of Congress. Mayor Perez said he was confident the new US Congress would cut the budget for the planned series of walls that will extend 700 miles along Mexico 's northern border.

On the US side of the border, Richard F. Cortez, the mayor of McAllen, Texas, said in a recent interview with the Mexican press that he and other Texas mayors from "El Paso to Brownsville" hope to meet soon in Laredo, Texas, with United States Department of Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff in order to convey their rejection of the fencing plans.

" Washington politicians should understand that for us, the citizens of Texas , crossing the Rio Grande is like crossing the Potomac . We have friends and cousins on the other side.." Cortez said. "The people of the United States are uninformed. They think that immigrants come to carry out crimes."

While criticizing Washington , Mayor Cortez also scored Mexico City for not doing enough to curb emigration. Calling on both countries to seek the "path" of dialogue, Mayor Cortez said that the Texas border economy depends on the dollars spent by Mexican consumers who shop in McAllen and other cities. "Between 35-45 percent of the sales of businesses in McAllen depend on Mexican customers," Mayor Cortez added. "This is a very serious situation," Mayor Cortez said. "As neighboring countries we should not be just cousins," he added. We should get along as brothers."

Sources: Zocalo.com.mx, November 9, 2006. Article by Enrique Gonzalez Correa. El Universal, November 6, 2006. Articles by Juan Cedillo and Hilda Fernandez Valverde. Albuquerque Journal/Associated Press, November 9, 2006. Article by George Gedda.

The Battle for Mexico 's Narco Jewel

Long viewed as the gleaming jewel of Mexico 's industrialized north, the city of Monterrey and the state of Nuevo Leon have joined the list of locales bloodied by narco-violence. Since the beginning of the year, at least 40 murders attributed to organized crime feuds have been logged in the border state, while brazen kidnappings, popularly known as "levantones," have shaken the peace. As in other regions of Mexico , policemen, businessmen and lawyers figured high on the list of victims. Marco Garza, the commander of the State Agency of Investigations (AEI), was one of the prominent victims slain this year.

A purported report from the Office of the Federal Attorney General (PGR) blames the violent upsurge in part on the breaking of old narco-rules that respected the lives of traffickers' family members.

Like other places hard-hit by narco-violence, all evidence indicates that law enforcement authorities are either infiltrated or overwhelmed by well-armed and organized criminal bands. "The advance of drug trafficking can't be understood without the complicity of some persons invested with authority," said Roman Catholic Archbishop Francisco Robles Ortega of Monterrey.

Monterrey 's security climate has deteriorated to such an extent that police and gang members imitate each other in order to cover their tracks. For instance, three active-duty or former policemen were recently arrested by the AEI for allegedly passing themselves off as members of the Zetas paramilitary group and extorting highway travelers on their way to the Monterrey International Airport .

Persistent reports place Nuevo Leon state as the meeting site of a a reported 2001 "narco-summit" that united the Sinaloa Cartel with other crime organizations, but Monterrey largely escaped the episodes of violence that have torn apart cities like Tijuana or Ciudad Juarez for many years, though different drug trafficking gangs reputedly used the city for money laundering in real estate and other economic sectors and as a safe haven for family members.

In mid-October, personnel from the elite SIEDO anti-organized crime squad of the PGR searched a Monterrey-area branch of the Body Works Gym in a money-laundering investigation with possible ramifications in the Guadalajara region and in the United States . Four persons were reportedly detained as a result of the raid in an upscale neighborhood.

Various reports now point to Nuevo Leon 's strategic location along drug-smuggling corridors; the growth of the street-level narco business, and the importance of arms trafficking in the northern border state.

Four main groups-the Zetas, Gulf Cartel, Sinaloa Cartel and Valdez family-are widely believed to be involved in the violent war for the Nuevo Leon "plaza." More than 12 men were reported kidnapped during the month of October in Monterrey and the municipalities of Marin and Allende. Lately, public "levantones" from restaurants are in fashion.

In one incident registered on the morning of October 24, a group of 10 armed men burst into the Pirate's Island dining establishment in Monterrey , forcing customers to the ground and making off with three men. In another incident on the weekend of October 28, about a dozen black-clad gunmen invaded the Los Arcos seafood restaurant in an upscale Monterrey neighborhood during the peak dining hour. Invoking terror, they threatened customers and violently snatched 31-year-old Carlos Maldonado who had been dining with two of his sisters. A police mobilization did not succeed in finding Maldonado or his captors.

Reportedly a resident of Allende, Jacinto Catalan, popped up far to the south in the Guerrero state city of Ciudad Altamirano on October 18. In a violent encounter, Catalan was beaten but narrowly escaped would-be kidnappers after finding refuge in a bank. Responding to the chase, the police shot it out with the gunmen, who escaped. Startled tellers, who suffered nervous attacks, were treated by emergency response personnel. After questioning, Catalan was allowed by the police to depart for the neighboring town of Huetamo , Michoacan.

Nuevo Leon's law enforcement authorities and elected officials have announced a series of measures designed to curb the narco-violence, including helicopter over flights and street checkpoints. A bill in the state legislature would prohibit the use of tinted windows in vehicles (a regulation currently in effect in varying degrees in Sinaloa and Michoacan states), develop a data base of hotel guests who stay in Nuevo Leon , create the status of protected witnesses, and offer more protection to judges and officials who act against organized crime interests.

"It's a common practice to bring tinted windows into our region," said state Deputy Gregorio Hurtado Lejia of the PAN party, "but these types of actions must be taken to fight the narco."

Sources: El Universal, October 4, 19, 20, 21, 24, 26, 29, 2006. Articles by Juan Cedillo, Luciano Campos Garza and the Notimex news agency. Proceso/Apro, October 16 and 19, 2006. Articles by Ricardo Ravelo and Luciano Campos Garza. El Sur, October 19, 2006.

War Report

The news reports are graphic: "7 Bodies Found," "Attack with Grenades," "Three Kidnapped and Others Murdered," "Two De-Quartered Bodies Found." Iraq ? Afghanistan ? Guess again. The death toll and motives might be different, but the newspaper headlines in question actually hail from Mexican newspapers that print daily stories about narco-violence that's extended from northern border states to the central and southern parts of the nation. Depending on the estimate, anywhere from 1200 to 1400 Mexicans have been slaughtered in violence connected to organized crime since the beginning of the year, but it is widely suspected by the press and other close observers that the real number of victims is higher. If current murder rates continue, the body count will equal or surpass the figure for 2005.

While much of the recent attention on Mexico has focused on the post-electoral conflict in Mexico City or the popular uprising against Oaxaca Governor Ulises Ruiz, violence attributed to wars between drug cartels and to organized crime shows no signs of abating. Nor does the Mexican state show any new ability or desire to put a halt to the carnage.

"It's an all-out battle that's become more visible, above all because the violence has come to zones where the drug traffickers didn't regularly move around in," said Mexican criminologist Rafael Ruiz Harrell. "Regrettably, we're talking about an all-out war in which the authorities seem only to be witnesses."

Flashpoints include the capital of Mexico City , as well as the states of Baja California , Sonora , Sinaloa , Chihuahua , Tamaulipas, Nuevo Leon , Michoacan, Guerrero, Quintana Roo and Yucatan , among others. The tourist resorts of Cancun, Acapulco and Ixtapa-Zihuatanejo continue being hot spots. Indeed, the major part of the nation is now embroiled in organized crime feuds. Violence is reaching such levels that some "narco-families" are reportedly fleeing their home bases and seeking refuge in the few remaining tranquil spots of the country or attempting to relocate to the United States and Canada .

While certainly not new, gangland violence is evolving in new ways, ranging from the military-style ferocity of the bloodletting to the changing geographic origins and demographic profiles of both the victims and victimizers. Alongside the AK-47 rifle, grenades and bazookas now are popular weapons of choice. Recurring government reports claim that Central Americans, including members of the Mara Salvatrucha gang, have been employed to do the cartels' dirty work. Few, however, have been detained.

A LOST GENERATION?

A review of episodes of suspected narco-violence in recent weeks confirms several trends. More of the victims are young, a growing number are female and a good percentage are somehow connected to the police or military. A disturbing number of the casualties are made up of by-standers who happen to be at the wrong place at the wrong time. A high-noon shoot-out between two gangs on August 31 in Ciudad Altamirano, Guerrero, left two young boys wounded, 11-year-old Daniel Yair Vega Felix and his 6-year-old brother Felix. Other school children were present at the scene of the gun battle but were not injured.

In early August, residents of the Ciudad Juarez neighborhood of Tierra Nueva witnessed the abductions of two teenagers by a band of armed men who were driving a truck with Texas license plates. The youths, 16-year-old Hector Moncayo Gomez and 17-year-old Alonso Prieto, were later found executed and dumped in an empty lot near the city's airport. Shocked and angered neighbors insisted the young men never caused trouble. "We know who is trouble here in the colonia, who takes drugs, one is not blind," said an unidentified woman amid tears. "They didn't take drugs or do bad things. They were just boys!"

Independent of whether or not Moncayo and Prieto were involved in criminal activities, Mexican academic researchers report that more youth are being lured into the fast-money temptations of the narco-world. According to Guillermo Alonso Meneses, a researcher with El Colegio de la Frontera Norte, many youths from marginalized backgrounds do not have problems at all with committing violent crimes if it means earning an income.

"Nowadays, youths say they want to become politicians, work in the United States or get involved in drug trafficking to have money and power," added Luis Garcia, coordinator of the criminology faculty at the Autonomous University of Nuevo Leon.

Another trend involves the increasing number of women who are victims of narco-executions. Since late July, for example, at least 8 women in several states have been kidnapped or murdered in incidents reeking of the involvement of organized crime. Two of the victims, Viviana Mendoza Chavez and Lorena Gallardo Rosiles, were shot to death inside an Internet cafe and cell phone sales outlet in the violence-wracked port of Lazaro Cardenas, Michoacan.

THE PRESS UNDER FURTHER SIEGE

In his last report before leaving office, outgoing President Vicente Fox stated on September 1 that freedom of press is a reality in Mexico . What President Fox did not mention was that Mexico now ranks only second to Colombia in terms of murdered journalists, according to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. For many Mexican journalists, covering the news about organized crime is practically akin to being a Middle Eastern war correspondent.

Just hours before President Fox delivered his upbeat report, a grenade exploded at the offices of the Por Esto! newspaper in Merida , Yucatan , wounding three workers. The attack occurred within 180 feet of a school that had just begun classes for the day. It was the second grenade attack suffered by a branch of the newspaper in recent days. Known for its audacious reporting, recent stories of Por Esto! have discussed the smuggling of undocumented Cubans and the involvement of law enforcement officials in drug trafficking.

Yucatan state law enforcement authorities detained a collaborator of Por Esto!, Ricardo Delfin Quezada, for questioning, but according to Miguel Menendez Camara, the newspaper's assistant editor, serious leads pointed to organized crime. Menendez complained that state and municipal authorities did not immediately contact the newspaper after the explosion to express their concern. “This shows their interest in what's going on in Yucatan and in a city like Merida ,â€

http://www.nmsu.edu/~frontera/Jan-Dec06/secr.html

Is anyone reading this stuff? A lot of it is several years old.