AZMEX UPDATE 10 AUG 2013
Note: Rocks have been lethal for many years now. Also note the second to last sentence.
Feds close probes into 2 Arizona border shootings
By Associated Press
Originally published: Aug 9, 2013 - 4:50 pm
PHOENIX -- Federal authorities announced Friday that they won't pursue criminal charges against U.S. Border Patrol agents involved in separate 2011 fatal shootings in southern Arizona.
Justice Department officials in Washington said the decisions were ``based on the facts developed during an independent and comprehensive investigation'' into both incidents that involved rocks being thrown at agents at the international boundary fence separating the United States from Mexico.
Officials said in a statement that the loss of life ``is regrettable,'' but the facts don't support federal prosecution for criminal civil rights or other federal criminal charges in either case.
Carlos LaMadrid, 19, was shot in Douglas on March 21, 2011, and died hours later at a hospital during surgery.
Douglas police said LaMadrid was seen loading bundles of drugs into a vehicle and failed to stop when pursued by officers.
LaMadrid jumped out of the vehicle, ran to the international fence and climbed a ladder to the top where police said another man was throwing brick-sized rocks at the Border Patrol agent.
Federal authorities said their investigation showed LaMadrid ``was in the line of fire between the rock-throwing male and the agent'' when he was struck by four bullets.''
Investigators recovered several large rocks at the scene, including one that shattered the windshield of the vehicle the agent was ducking behind when he fired five shots. They ruled that the agent acted in self-defense.
In the other incident, 17-year-old Ramses Barron-Torres was fatally shot at the international boundary fence in Nogales in the early-morning hours of Jan. 5, 2011.
Border agents responded to reports that drugs were being moved across the border.
They said Barron-Torres and three other people on the Mexico side of the border fence were throwing rocks at two agents while another person was carrying a bundle of suspected narcotics.
The agents told the people in Spanish to stop throwing rocks, but said Barron-Torres continued to do so, and he was shot once.
Justice Department officials said there was insufficient evidence to disprove the agent's claim that he shot Barron-Torres in self-defense.
They also said the teen was on the Mexico side of the border when he was shot so they lack jurisdiction to prosecute the agent under the federal criminal civil rights statute.
There was no immediate response Friday from either of the victims' families.
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Chihuahua officials: Sinaloa drug cartel lieutenant 'El Ingeniero' killed
By Daniel Borunda / El Paso Times
Posted: 08/10/2013 12:11:29 AM MDT
A reputed narcotrafficker suspected of controlling smuggling routes in the Valley of Juárez for Joaquin "Chapo" Guzman's Sinaloa drug cartel was killed in a shootout on Thursday, Chihuahua officials said Friday.
Gabino Salas Valenciano, known as "El Ingeniero" (the engineer), was reputedly a lieutenant in the Sinaloa cartel and was suspected in a wave of terror in the valley as one of the principal players during the drug cartel war that engulfed the Juárez region.
Salas was reputedly a regional cartel boss who oversaw drug trafficking in the farms and small towns in the Valley of Juárez in a busy smuggling zone across the border from the Fabens and Fort Hancock area.
Authorities said Salas was killed after a chase and shootout with local, state and federal agents near the town of Praxedis G. Guerrero. Four men were arrested and taken to Mexico City.
Juárez police sources told the Norte newspaper that Salas was allegedly directly involved in the recent attacks on Juárez police, which were in
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retaliation for attempts to capture him.
The Sinaloa cartel led by reputed kingpin Guzman is believed to have seized control of the valley southeast of Juárez during the war with the Juárez drug cartel.
Salas was wanted in El Paso by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration on multiple charges, including drug conspiracy, smuggling of cocaine and marijuana, kidnapping and murder.
U.S. federal criminal complaint documents stated that Salas inherited control of the valley drug trafficking organization following the death of his brother, Valente Salas, who was decapitated by rivals.
In vengeance for the deaths of his brother and a cousin, Gabino Salas allegedly ordered the burning of ranches, homes and vehicles in the Valley of Juárez in 2008.
In 2012, Gabino Salas was among two dozen accused members of the Sinaloa cartel indicted by the U.S. government in an indictment that named Guzman down to local bosses accused of running drug warehouses in Juárez.
The indictment stated that Gabino Salas had initially distributed drugs for both the Juárez and Sinaloa cartels. When the cartel war began, he aligned with Guzman and the Sinaloa cartel.
The indictment listed Gabino Salas as a member of the Gente Nueva (new people) group within the Sinaloa cartel and as the "plaza boss" over the Valley of Juárez, where he was responsible for managing drug distribution, drug proceeds, security, weapons procurement and several assassination squads.
Daniel Borunda may be reached at 546-6102.
Times reporter Lorena Figueroa contributed to this report.
Note: and then there this one:
Gaping holes in border fence and a trapped community because of monsoon
By Valerie Cavazos
CREATED AUG. 7, 2013
video
It's been weeks now -- and still no answers for a Cochise County neighborhood trapped after strong storms destroyed their only way in and out. And now there are new concerns. Video by kgun9.com
Border fence fail? Ranchers raise questions
TUCSON (KGUN9-TV) - It's been weeks now, and still no answers for a Cochise County neighborhood trapped after strong storms destroyed their only way in and out.
Now there are new concerns.
Reduced now to a narrow strip of dirt road, only passable by smaller vehicles.
"For the time being, no big trucks can get through. Garbage trucks, FedEx trucks. All of that is cancelled."
Some residents park one of their vehicles on the North side of wash to avoid being trapped.
"They park over there and then they drive a car back. Park on this side walk across get in the other car and go to work."
Robert Stone is the man who moves the dirt to rebuild the road, it took him 5 hours, after the latest overnight storm.
He says he'll eventually run out of material.
"Every time it washes across we lose material and we have to get more. Right now I'm in the process of scooping off other parts of the road that we're not using because we don't have any more material anywhere else. I'm having to dig further and deeper to get it out."
The only temporary solution to get out is questionable.
Neighbors say they are forced to take an hour and a half detour along with border road but they say sometimes this road is impassable after a storm.
And now there are more concerns, safety concerns, down the road.
Take a look at this gaping hole in the border fence, made by agents to prevent the wall from collapsing when water rushes through during a storm.
Folks here tell us they fell trapped from all sides.
"We don't have tons of money to fix the road properly."
To permanently fix the problem, to avoid repeats year after year after year.
The South Paloma trail neighbors know that since this is private land they have to take care of the problem themselves which will cost hundreds of thousands of dollars.
They've organized community meetings to brainstorm and they've opened a bank account to raise money for these make-shift repairs to road.
They're still hoping for help from the county or the state, but nothing yet.
A Cochise County community is bracing for the next big storm to hit their area.
South Paloma Trail residents are trying to figure out how they will get to school and work.
When another storm destroys their only way in and out.
"Every time it washes across we lose material and we have to get more. Right now I'm in the process of scooping off other parts of the road that we're not using because we don't have any more material anywhere else."
Neighbors say the only temporary solution, south of the neighborhood, is questionable.
Residents are still hoping for help from the county, state, or federal government.
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