AZMEX UPDATE 31 MAR 2016
Note: In line with existing sentencing guidelines. BTW, they are illegal immigrant rights activists, as legal immigrants have no need for them.
Ariz. Gov. Doug Ducey signs bill enforcing longer sentences on convicted immigrants
ASSOCIATED PRESS |
March 31, 2016 @ 5:26 pm
http://ktar.com/story/992495/ariz-gov-doug-ducey-signs-bill-enforcing-longer-sentences-on-convicted-immigrants/
PHOENIX — Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey signed a bill Thursday that would require some immigrants who are in the country illegally and convicted of crimes to serve longer sentences.
The Republican proposal is the first to hit the governor's desk in a series of immigration proposals introduced this session. The measure is a muted version of a similar bill backed by anti-illegal immigration Republicans that garnered national attention but has since lost traction.
Lawmakers have largely avoided legislating immigration since the 2010 law, SB 1070, sparked national controversy, led to a lengthy court fight and rattled the business community.
Ducey said the bill is about holding everyone to the same standard of justice.
"While some have tried to play politics with this law enforcement issue, the reality is this is a sensible public safety measure that ensures we have one justice system that applies to all," he said in a signing statement on the measure.
Rep. Darin Mitchell, R-Litchfield Park, sponsored House Bill 2451 that requires immigrants who are in the country illegally and are in prison to serve 85 percent of their sentences before they are released to the federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency.
Most low- and mid-level felons are affected, while people convicted of murder and other serious felonies were never eligible for early release.
U.S. Department of Homeland Security policy directs federal immigration officials to prioritize the deportation of immigrants who are in the country illegally and have committed a felony in most cases.
Mitchell's proposal would repeal current law that allows federal immigration officials to pick up prisoners who entered in the country illegally after serving half of their sentence.
Rep. John Kavanagh, R-Fountain Hills, said current law unfairly allows immigrants who are in the country illegally to serve less time than other prisoners.
"The current law is an absurd law and this creates a terrible injustice in our system," Kavanagh said during a committee hearing on the bill.
Democratic Sen. Martin Quezada, D-Phoenix, said the measure could cost the state more money to incarcerate the affected prisoners for longer periods of time.
"This is another example of a bill where our zeal to be harsh on immigrants and criminals doesn't necessarily translate into good public policy," he said during a Senate vote.
Police arrested five immigrant-rights activists for trespassing after they chained themselves to the front entrance of the executive tower at the Capitol to demand that Ducey veto what protesters call anti-immigrant legislation on Wednesday.
Organizing director for Puente Francisca Porchas said about 30 protesters took over the entrance.
"We want to send a very strong message to the governor that we are not going to allow this kind of legislation to become law in this state," Porchas said.
Earlier in the legislative session, Sen. Steve Smith, R-Maricopa, sponsored a bill that would essentially make it impossible for immigrants in the country illegally to receive any leniency in the courts when they commit serious crimes.
end
Suspected smugglers caught on video scaling US border fence
ASSOCIATED PRESS |
March 31, 2016 @ 4:23 pm
http://ktar.com/story/992440/suspected-smugglers-caught-on-video-scaling-us-border-fence/
TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) — A Mexican journalist got the scoop of a lifetime when she spotted two suspected drug smugglers scaling a tall border fence from Mexico into the U.S. and then promptly climbing back after they realized they were being filmed.
Journalist Carolina Rocha of Azteca Noticias in Mexico City was in Nogales, Arizona, reporting on the U.S. Border Patrol's use of force March 16 when she spotted two young men in black t-shirts and jeans climbing down the fence in daylight. Footage shows them carrying large backpacks that were likely holding drugs, walking while hunched over and then hiding behind some bushes and talking on what appears to be a phone before realizing the camera was recording.
"Don't record," one of the men says.
But Rocha was already rolling and not willing to stop. She told the men she was just doing her job.
"It was shocking. This is happening in front of me? And we didn't' stop recording," Rocha said in Spanish during an interview with The Associated Press.
The cameras rolled for about three minutes before the men climbed back up the fence and returned to Mexico.
Rocha said she was stunned at how quickly they scaled the fence, which is over 20 feet high. The men were gone within seconds.
She was also struck by the fact that there were three U.S. Border Patrol trucks within yards of the incident. No agents approached the men.
Border Patrol spokesman Mark Landess said it's not uncommon for smugglers to scale the steel fence, especially around Nogales, which is a busy drug smuggling corridor.
Landess said it's impossible to know why the agents didn't respond or whether they even saw the men.
"They might be waiting for something else to happen. There's no way to make an educated comment on that," Landess said.
END
Thursday, March 31, 2016
Wednesday, March 30, 2016
AZMEX UPDATE 28-3-16
AZMEX UPDATE 28 MAR 2016
Phoenix man pleads guilty to trafficking heroin
abc15.com staff , Associated Press
1:21 PM, Mar 26, 2016
http://www.abc15.com/news/region-phoenix-metro/central-phoenix/phoenix-man-pleads-guilty-to-trafficking-heroin
Two Mexican nationals are facing time in federal prison after pleading guilty to charges stemming from a heroin trafficking case.
Prosecutors say Bryan Gabriel Marquez-Flores Jr., a 19-year-old resident of Phoenix, and 22-year-old Ignacio Nieblas Jr., who was living in southern New Mexico, entered their pleas in the federal court in Albuquerque on Friday.
The two men each face a minimum sentence of 20 years in prison. Sentencing hearings have yet to be scheduled.
Nieblas and Marquez-Flores were arrested in February after federal agents seized more than 10 pounds of heroin from them at a train station in Albuquerque.
Authorities said the heroin was concealed inside the men's luggage.
Nieblas and Marquez-Flores admitted to authorities that they conspired with others to deliver the heroin to an undisclosed destination.
END
2 migrants killed, 3 injured in I-8 collision
The Associated Press
1:46 PM, Mar 29, 2016
3 hours ago
http://www.kgun9.com/news/local-news/2-migrants-killed-3-injured-in-i-8-collision
YUMA, Ariz. (AP) - Two immigrants died and three others were seriously injured when a car they were being smuggled in collided with a large vehicle hauler near the Arizona-California border last week.
The Border Patrol says an agent tried to pull the sports utility vehicle over when it fled, colliding with an empty car hauler on Interstate 8 near the state border.
Agent Richard Withers says the incident began on March 23 when agents spotted the men coming out of the desert and getting into the vehicle. An agent later tried pulling the vehicle over, but it fled after initially puling over.
Two Mexican men were killed and three others hospitalized. Their condition is unknown. The driver, a 30-year-old woman who is a U.S. citizen, suffered minor injuries and has been arrested.
end
Note: as with all of the reports, numbers are questionable. Several graphics at link.
BREAKDOWN: How many unauthorized immigrants live in Maricopa County?
Courtland Jeffrey
4:02 PM, Mar 28, 2016
56 mins ago
http://www.abc15.com/news/state/breakdown-how-many-unauthorized-immigrants-live-in-maricopa-county
PHOENIX - The total number of immigrants in our state continues to rise, according to a new national demographic analysis.
The Center for Immigration Studies recently released an analysis on immigrants in the United States, and Arizona saw an increase to the immigrant population of almost 460,000 from 2000 to 2015.
What's interesting is that these numbers differ from data produced by the Migration Policy Institute, which calculated lower immigrant percentages.
Take a look at the charts below to see both CIS's and MPI's immigrant data that spans over the past 40 years. For a full-screen view, click here.
AZ Immigration Demos1
The MPI also conducted a four-year research analysis (2009-2013) on who they deem "unauthorized immigrants" in the nation, and Arizona had some significant statistics.
According to the MPI's analysis, the state's unauthorized immigrant population is at 264,000, putting us at 9th out of the 41 states included in the study.
The same study also looked at counties in the nation and Maricopa County totaled 190,000 unauthorized immigrants. That number is 72 percent of the state's total count of unauthorized immigrants.
For a detailed breakdown of MPI's national, state and county unauthorized immigrant data, click on the charts below. For a full-screen view, click here.
AZ Immigration Demos
The Center for Immigration Studies describes itself as an independent, nonpartisan, nonprofit, research organization that looks to provide information on the consequences of legal and illegal immigration into the United States. CIS states on their website that funding for their work comes from private foundation grants, as well as donations.
The Migration Policy Institute describes itself as an independent, nonpartisan, nonprofit think tank dedicated to the analysis of the movement of people worldwide. On their site, they state that their funding primarily comes from research grants, as well as donations.
end
Note: nine alleged cartel associates arrested near Caborca - spanish
http://www.elimparcial.com/EdicionEnLinea/Notas/Nacional/27032016/1064782-Detienen-en-Sonora-a-presuntos-integrantes-del-Cartel-de-Sinaloa.html
end
Phoenix man pleads guilty to trafficking heroin
abc15.com staff , Associated Press
1:21 PM, Mar 26, 2016
http://www.abc15.com/news/region-phoenix-metro/central-phoenix/phoenix-man-pleads-guilty-to-trafficking-heroin
Two Mexican nationals are facing time in federal prison after pleading guilty to charges stemming from a heroin trafficking case.
Prosecutors say Bryan Gabriel Marquez-Flores Jr., a 19-year-old resident of Phoenix, and 22-year-old Ignacio Nieblas Jr., who was living in southern New Mexico, entered their pleas in the federal court in Albuquerque on Friday.
The two men each face a minimum sentence of 20 years in prison. Sentencing hearings have yet to be scheduled.
Nieblas and Marquez-Flores were arrested in February after federal agents seized more than 10 pounds of heroin from them at a train station in Albuquerque.
Authorities said the heroin was concealed inside the men's luggage.
Nieblas and Marquez-Flores admitted to authorities that they conspired with others to deliver the heroin to an undisclosed destination.
END
2 migrants killed, 3 injured in I-8 collision
The Associated Press
1:46 PM, Mar 29, 2016
3 hours ago
http://www.kgun9.com/news/local-news/2-migrants-killed-3-injured-in-i-8-collision
YUMA, Ariz. (AP) - Two immigrants died and three others were seriously injured when a car they were being smuggled in collided with a large vehicle hauler near the Arizona-California border last week.
The Border Patrol says an agent tried to pull the sports utility vehicle over when it fled, colliding with an empty car hauler on Interstate 8 near the state border.
Agent Richard Withers says the incident began on March 23 when agents spotted the men coming out of the desert and getting into the vehicle. An agent later tried pulling the vehicle over, but it fled after initially puling over.
Two Mexican men were killed and three others hospitalized. Their condition is unknown. The driver, a 30-year-old woman who is a U.S. citizen, suffered minor injuries and has been arrested.
end
Note: as with all of the reports, numbers are questionable. Several graphics at link.
BREAKDOWN: How many unauthorized immigrants live in Maricopa County?
Courtland Jeffrey
4:02 PM, Mar 28, 2016
56 mins ago
http://www.abc15.com/news/state/breakdown-how-many-unauthorized-immigrants-live-in-maricopa-county
PHOENIX - The total number of immigrants in our state continues to rise, according to a new national demographic analysis.
The Center for Immigration Studies recently released an analysis on immigrants in the United States, and Arizona saw an increase to the immigrant population of almost 460,000 from 2000 to 2015.
What's interesting is that these numbers differ from data produced by the Migration Policy Institute, which calculated lower immigrant percentages.
Take a look at the charts below to see both CIS's and MPI's immigrant data that spans over the past 40 years. For a full-screen view, click here.
AZ Immigration Demos1
The MPI also conducted a four-year research analysis (2009-2013) on who they deem "unauthorized immigrants" in the nation, and Arizona had some significant statistics.
According to the MPI's analysis, the state's unauthorized immigrant population is at 264,000, putting us at 9th out of the 41 states included in the study.
The same study also looked at counties in the nation and Maricopa County totaled 190,000 unauthorized immigrants. That number is 72 percent of the state's total count of unauthorized immigrants.
For a detailed breakdown of MPI's national, state and county unauthorized immigrant data, click on the charts below. For a full-screen view, click here.
AZ Immigration Demos
The Center for Immigration Studies describes itself as an independent, nonpartisan, nonprofit, research organization that looks to provide information on the consequences of legal and illegal immigration into the United States. CIS states on their website that funding for their work comes from private foundation grants, as well as donations.
The Migration Policy Institute describes itself as an independent, nonpartisan, nonprofit think tank dedicated to the analysis of the movement of people worldwide. On their site, they state that their funding primarily comes from research grants, as well as donations.
end
Note: nine alleged cartel associates arrested near Caborca - spanish
http://www.elimparcial.com/EdicionEnLinea/Notas/Nacional/27032016/1064782-Detienen-en-Sonora-a-presuntos-integrantes-del-Cartel-de-Sinaloa.html
end
Tuesday, March 29, 2016
AZMEX EXTRA 28-3-16
AZMEX EXTRA 28 MAR 2016
Note: don't miss the 6k grenades.
The Secretariat of National Defense receives and destroys more than 75,000 firearms that have been exchanged throughout the country.
http://www.gob.mx/sedena/prensa/la-secretaria-de-la-defensa-nacional-recibe-y-destruye-mas-de-75-000-armas-de-fuego-que-han-sido-canjeadas-en-todo-el-pais
Lomas de Sotelo, Mexico City, 20 March 2016.- The National Defense Secretariat informs that in coordination with the State Governments, the private sector and society in general, within the framework of the Federal Firearms Act fire and Explosives and its implementing regulations, as part of actions for the benefit of Mexican families, it has retired from households during this administration, more than 75,000 firearms, exchanged for civilians.
This important result was obtained thanks to the implementation of the "campaign of exchange of firearms" implementation throughout the national territory, under the coordination of the Mexican Army and Air Force, in order that the civilian population delivered, voluntarily, firearms, grenades and ammunition they have in their homes, and seeking to reduce risks and violence in the environment of Mexican families.
Standing out for their interest and participation level of Mexico City, the State of Mexico, Sinaloa, Coahuila and Nuevo Leon.
It is stated that 75,009 weapons, 6,312 grenades and s 2,043,916 cartridges were destroyed immediately, thus avoiding the possibility of damage to Mexican households, which are added to the 23.457 weapons, 2,836 grenades and cartridges 3,666,156 seized the present administration in support activities to public safety carried out by the Armed Forces of land and air.
The Secretariat of National Defense gratefully acknowledges the confidence and active participation of society and governments, adding efforts to achieve and maintain a Mexico in peace.
fin
Note: report on arms sales in Mexico. Unable to copy due to computer problem, so all in spanish.
http://www.elimparcial.com/EdicionEnLinea/Notas/Nacional/27032016/1064820-Se-dispara-venta-legal-de-armas-en-el-pais.html
http://www.frontera.info/EdicionEnLinea/Notas/Nacional/27032016/1064820-Se-dispara-venta-legal-de-armas-en-el-pais.html
http://www.eluniversal.com.mx/articulo/periodismo-de-investigacion/2016/03/27/se-dispara-venta-legal-de-armas-en-el-pais
END
Note: UN Summary ( english ) of arms imports to Mexico in 2014.
http://www.un-register.org/SmallArms/CountrySummary.aspx?type=0&CoI=mx
U.S. exports to MX
http://www.un-register.org/SmallArms/CountrySummary.aspx?type=0&CoI=US
END
Note: don't miss the 6k grenades.
The Secretariat of National Defense receives and destroys more than 75,000 firearms that have been exchanged throughout the country.
http://www.gob.mx/sedena/prensa/la-secretaria-de-la-defensa-nacional-recibe-y-destruye-mas-de-75-000-armas-de-fuego-que-han-sido-canjeadas-en-todo-el-pais
Lomas de Sotelo, Mexico City, 20 March 2016.- The National Defense Secretariat informs that in coordination with the State Governments, the private sector and society in general, within the framework of the Federal Firearms Act fire and Explosives and its implementing regulations, as part of actions for the benefit of Mexican families, it has retired from households during this administration, more than 75,000 firearms, exchanged for civilians.
This important result was obtained thanks to the implementation of the "campaign of exchange of firearms" implementation throughout the national territory, under the coordination of the Mexican Army and Air Force, in order that the civilian population delivered, voluntarily, firearms, grenades and ammunition they have in their homes, and seeking to reduce risks and violence in the environment of Mexican families.
Standing out for their interest and participation level of Mexico City, the State of Mexico, Sinaloa, Coahuila and Nuevo Leon.
It is stated that 75,009 weapons, 6,312 grenades and s 2,043,916 cartridges were destroyed immediately, thus avoiding the possibility of damage to Mexican households, which are added to the 23.457 weapons, 2,836 grenades and cartridges 3,666,156 seized the present administration in support activities to public safety carried out by the Armed Forces of land and air.
The Secretariat of National Defense gratefully acknowledges the confidence and active participation of society and governments, adding efforts to achieve and maintain a Mexico in peace.
fin
Note: report on arms sales in Mexico. Unable to copy due to computer problem, so all in spanish.
http://www.elimparcial.com/EdicionEnLinea/Notas/Nacional/27032016/1064820-Se-dispara-venta-legal-de-armas-en-el-pais.html
http://www.frontera.info/EdicionEnLinea/Notas/Nacional/27032016/1064820-Se-dispara-venta-legal-de-armas-en-el-pais.html
http://www.eluniversal.com.mx/articulo/periodismo-de-investigacion/2016/03/27/se-dispara-venta-legal-de-armas-en-el-pais
END
Note: UN Summary ( english ) of arms imports to Mexico in 2014.
http://www.un-register.org/SmallArms/CountrySummary.aspx?type=0&CoI=mx
U.S. exports to MX
http://www.un-register.org/SmallArms/CountrySummary.aspx?type=0&CoI=US
END
Monday, March 28, 2016
AZMEX EXTRA 26-3-17
AZMEX EXTRA 26 MAR 2016
Note: Believe there may be much more to this story than we are seeing so far.
Also not to forget that many of the weapons have come directly to NGCO's
( non govt. criminal organizations ) via a U.S. agency, or indirectly, from U.S. aid to Mex. and central American governments.
Border agents break up Arizona gun smuggling ring
Posted: Friday, March 25, 2016 2:34 pm
http://www.trivalleycentral.com/casa_grande_dispatch/arizona_news/border-agents-break-up-arizona-gun-smuggling-ring/article_54697b70-f2d1-11e5-93e7-bf05cfea69b2.html
TUCSON (AP) — Federal authorities say they've busted a firearms trafficking ring that tried to smuggle weapons and ammunition from Arizona to Mexico.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement says it worked with another federal law enforcement agency and has identified 21 suspects in the southern Arizona ring.
Authorities arrested 19 of the suspects in the past week and are looking for the rest of them.
The investigation began last year after the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives obtained information following a firearms seizure in Mexico. The agency learned that a group was fraudulently buying firearms and then smuggling them into Mexico.
Mexico has strict gun control laws and a majority of weapons and ammunition come from the United States.
END
Note: Believe there may be much more to this story than we are seeing so far.
Also not to forget that many of the weapons have come directly to NGCO's
( non govt. criminal organizations ) via a U.S. agency, or indirectly, from U.S. aid to Mex. and central American governments.
Border agents break up Arizona gun smuggling ring
Posted: Friday, March 25, 2016 2:34 pm
http://www.trivalleycentral.com/casa_grande_dispatch/arizona_news/border-agents-break-up-arizona-gun-smuggling-ring/article_54697b70-f2d1-11e5-93e7-bf05cfea69b2.html
TUCSON (AP) — Federal authorities say they've busted a firearms trafficking ring that tried to smuggle weapons and ammunition from Arizona to Mexico.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement says it worked with another federal law enforcement agency and has identified 21 suspects in the southern Arizona ring.
Authorities arrested 19 of the suspects in the past week and are looking for the rest of them.
The investigation began last year after the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives obtained information following a firearms seizure in Mexico. The agency learned that a group was fraudulently buying firearms and then smuggling them into Mexico.
Mexico has strict gun control laws and a majority of weapons and ammunition come from the United States.
END
Saturday, March 26, 2016
AZMEX UPDATE 25-3-16
AZMEX UPDATE 25 MAR 2016
Note: Drug trade a primary source of funding for many terror groups.
Arizona ranked among worst in nation for auto theft, contributes to border crime
BY CLARISSA COOPER/CRONKITE NEWS |
March 24, 2016 @ 9:08 pm
http://ktar.com/story/982316/arizona-ranked-among-worst-in-nation-for-auto-theft-contributes-to-border-crime/
PHOENIX — Arizona ranked No. 8 in the nation for overall vehicle thefts, according to reports from the Arizona Automobile Theft Authority.
"Auto theft has increasingly become a transnational crime, featuring very sophisticated organizations stealing vehicles in Arizona to conduct illicit activities on both sides of the border," the 2015 report said. "Stolen vehicles are destined for foreign countries; crossing the Mexico border to the south or in shipping containers sent out of state from/to port cities."
Vehicle theft a crime that fueled drug and human trafficking across the Mexican border as well as cost the state $86 million in economic losses.
INTERPOL also has identified vehicle theft and related criminal activity, including insurance fraud, as one of the primary funding sources for international terrorism.
More than 17,000 vehicles were stolen in Arizona in 2014, with the most auto thefts occurring in Maricopa County.
The state ranks No. 11 in the country for vehicle thefts per capita, just behind the District of Columbia, Washington, California, Nevada and New Mexico, according to the report.
"It's a border issue, we have the same issues as well as California, as well as Texas," Capt. Sean Carney of the Arizona Department of Public Safety said. DPS has about a 38 to 40 percent recovery rate for the stolen vehicles it investigates, he added.
During fiscal year 2015, the AATA Vehicle Theft Task Force reported the recovery of 1,023 stolen vehicles valued at over $11 million.
The task force reported 241 auto theft-related arrests, investigated 15 stolen automobile chop shops and found 152 cases of altered or switched Vehicle Identification Numbers.
"People buy their cars and park it someplace and it gets stolen…It upsets your life, your day-to-day activities, your job," said Alberto Gutier, director of the Governor's Office of Highway Safety.
The 1997 Honda Accord, 1998 Honda Civic, 2006 Chevrolet Pickup, 2003 Ford Pickup and 2005 Dodge Pickup were the most frequently stolen automobiles in Arizona, according to the AATA report.
"The biggest thing when we are talking about the Phoenix area and stolen vehicles is that a lot of these newer homes, you can't fit these big trucks in the garage," said Fred Zumbo, AATA executive director.
Zumbo said the big trucks are often used as vehicles for smuggling by cartels because of their storage space.
Experts said one of the best ways to prevent theft is to pay attention to where a vehicle is parked.
"You know if there's a car thief out there and they look in a vehicle and they see an alarm, they're going to pick the next car," said Lt. Mike Pooley, spokesman for the Tempe Police Department. "If they see a vehicle that's parked in the dark compared to a car that's parked underneath a lot of light at night, they're going to pick the car that's in the dark so they don't get caught."
Measures such as buying a car alarm, putting a locking mechanism on the steering wheel or parking closer to businesses in parking lots can help prevent theft, he said.
END
Posted: Mar 25, 2016 4:50 AM MST
Updated: Mar 25, 2016 4:50 AM MST
Officials: Owner of Drug Tunnel House in Calexico is Tucson resident
Written By Steve Nunez
http://www.kvoa.com/story/31564325/officials-owner-of-drug-tunnel-house-in-calexico-is-tucson-resident
HSI Special Agents photographing tunnel exit point during Calexico Tunnel Operation on March 23, 2016.
TUCSON (KVOA) -- The owner of a house in Calexico where federal agents discovered a drug tunnel that stretched the length of four football fields across the border into Mexico was arrested in Tucson on Thursday.
Augustin Enrique Cruz, also known as "Tinky," was taken into custody by agents from the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Homeland Security and is being charged with five counts drug trafficking, money laundering and tunnel-related crimes.
Cruz, the central figure in the tunnel case, is expected to be arraigned in federal court on Friday before he is extradited to Southern California.
News 4 Tucson has also learned Cruz lives in Tucson and is a U.S. Citizen.
Agents arrested Cruz one day after about 100 federal, state and local law enforcement officials seized the tunnel at a newly built house on east Third Street in Calexico. The 415-yard tunnel originated in El Sarape restaurant across the border in Mexicali, Baja Calfornia. Calexico is located about 122 miles east of San Diego.
According to the criminal complaint, Cruz purchased the property in January 2014. Prosecutors said Cruz and his associates arranged cash pickups in California and Arizona to pay for the land. Based on federal wiretaps, the construction of the house was expected to cost $86,000.
Cruz then hired local contractors to build the house. Prosecutors said Cruz's boss then directed contractors to leave a space in the foundation for a floor safe, which was intended to be the exit point for the tunnel.
Unbeknownst to the alleged drug traffickers, the construction of the home and tunnel were immediately under the watchful eye of Homeland Security agents who learned through surveillance and court-authorized wiretaps that Cruz and his associates began smuggling drugs through the tunnel on or after February 28, 2016.
In total, agents have arrested five people and have nabbed 3,000 pounds of marijuana that allegedly moved through the tunnel.
On March 23, 2016, two other men, Joel Duarte Medina and Manuel Gallegos Jiminez, were also arrested in connection with the tunnel. They were arraigned in a federal court in El Centro, California and charged with conspiracy to import marijuana, conspiracy to distribute marijuana and conspiracy to maintain drug premises.
Another defendant, Eva Duarte De Medina, was also arrested in Arizona in connection to the drug tunnel and faces charges for conspiracy to import marijuana and conspiracy to maintain drug premises.
Each of the drug charges for all of the defendants carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison.
END
Note: an example of the small fish, obviously not cartel associates.
Seize weapons and arrest four people
By: Writing ElImparcial | 24/03/2016 12: 1
Hermosillo, Sonora (GH)
http://www.elimparcial.com/EdicionEnLinea/Notas/Policiaca/24032016/1064344-Aseguran-armas-y-detienen-a-cuatro-personas.html
During the tours of surveillance by the State Public Security Police he carried out the arrest of persons with firearms in different events in the state.
In response to reports of people with a firearm in the municipality of Sonoyta, he managed to secure three men, among them a minor.
The fact was raised in the calle Obregon end on the dirt road when they saw a pick up which was driven without lights and with three people.
During the review, they realized that the copilot Roberto R., 31 years old, had between his legs a firearm, caliber .12mm. Therefore, it was secured with a minor and Jose M., 23, who was driving the car, so they were transferred to the appropriate authority.
In other developments in Navojoa, the PESP in coordination with the Navy arrested Jesus Y., 30 years old, while driving on the boulevard Alvaro Obregon and Calle Vicente Guerrero aboard a motorcycle without license plates. When requesting stop, he accelerated trying to evade the authority, however, to be intercepted for review found on him a revolver, caliber .38 special supplied with three rounds of ammunition.
The detainee was turned over to the Federal Public Ministry to continue with the investigations.
Coordinated operation in SLRC
In San Luis Rio Colorado, operation composed of members of the State Public Security Police, State and Municipal Research, to conduct searches in abandoned places, securing a revolver, .32 caliber and 19 cartridges.
The gun was found in the fractionation Chula Vista, and was made to be available to the Public Ministry.
end
Marijuana destroyed around Agua Blanca & Agua Caliente Son.
(Spanish)
http://www.elimparcial.com/EdicionEnLinea/Notas/Noticias/25032016/1064461-Destruyen-3597-toneladas-de-mariguana.html
end
Aseguran armas y detienen a cuatro personas
Por: Redacción ElImparcial | 24/03/2016 12:1
HERMOSILLO, Sonora(GH)
http://www.elimparcial.com/EdicionEnLinea/Notas/Policiaca/24032016/1064344-Aseguran-armas-y-detienen-a-cuatro-personas.html
Durante los recorridos de vigilancia que realiza la Policía Estatal de Seguridad Pública llevó a cabo el arresto de personas con armas de fuego en diferentes hechos en el Estado.
En atención a reportes de personas con arma de fuego en el Municipio de Sonoyta, se logró asegurar a tres hombres, entre estos un menor de edad.
El hecho se suscitó en la calle Obregón final sobre el camino de terracería cuando vieron un pick up que era conducido sin luces y lo abordaban tres personas.
Durante la revisión, se percataron que el copiloto Roberto R., de 31 años de edad, tenía entre sus piernas un arma de fuego, tipo escopeta, calibre .12mm.
Por lo anterior, fue asegurado junto a un menor de edad y José M., de 23 años, quien conducía el automóvil, por lo que fueron trasladados ante la autoridad correspondiente.
En otros hechos en Navojoa, la PESP en coordinación con la Secretaría de Marina detuvieron a Jesús Y., de 30 años de edad, cuando circulaba sobre el bulevar Álvaro Obregón y calle Vicente Guerrero a bordo de una motocicleta sin placas de circulación.
Al solicitar detener la marcha, aceleró velocidad intentando evadir a la autoridad, sin embargo, al ser interceptado para la revisión le encontraron un arma de fuego, tipo revolver, calibre .38 especial abastecida con tres cartuchos útiles.
La persona detenida quedó a disposición del Ministerio Público Federal para continuar con las averiguaciones correspondientes.
Operativo Coordinado en SLRC
En San Luis Río Colorado, el operativo conformado por elementos de la Policía Estatal de Seguridad Pública, Estatal Investigadora y Municipal, al realizar revisiones en lugares abandonados, llevaron a cabo el aseguramiento de un arma tipo revólver, calibre .32mm y 19 cartuchos.
El arma la encontraron en el fraccionamiento Chula Vista, por lo que tomando las medidas correspondientes se hizo el aseguramiento para quedar a disposición del Ministerio Público.
end
Marijuana destroyed around Agua Blanca & Agua Caliente Son.
(Spanish)
http://www.elimparcial.com/EdicionEnLinea/Notas/Noticias/25032016/1064461-Destruyen-3597-toneladas-de-mariguana.html
end
Note: Drug trade a primary source of funding for many terror groups.
Arizona ranked among worst in nation for auto theft, contributes to border crime
BY CLARISSA COOPER/CRONKITE NEWS |
March 24, 2016 @ 9:08 pm
http://ktar.com/story/982316/arizona-ranked-among-worst-in-nation-for-auto-theft-contributes-to-border-crime/
PHOENIX — Arizona ranked No. 8 in the nation for overall vehicle thefts, according to reports from the Arizona Automobile Theft Authority.
"Auto theft has increasingly become a transnational crime, featuring very sophisticated organizations stealing vehicles in Arizona to conduct illicit activities on both sides of the border," the 2015 report said. "Stolen vehicles are destined for foreign countries; crossing the Mexico border to the south or in shipping containers sent out of state from/to port cities."
Vehicle theft a crime that fueled drug and human trafficking across the Mexican border as well as cost the state $86 million in economic losses.
INTERPOL also has identified vehicle theft and related criminal activity, including insurance fraud, as one of the primary funding sources for international terrorism.
More than 17,000 vehicles were stolen in Arizona in 2014, with the most auto thefts occurring in Maricopa County.
The state ranks No. 11 in the country for vehicle thefts per capita, just behind the District of Columbia, Washington, California, Nevada and New Mexico, according to the report.
"It's a border issue, we have the same issues as well as California, as well as Texas," Capt. Sean Carney of the Arizona Department of Public Safety said. DPS has about a 38 to 40 percent recovery rate for the stolen vehicles it investigates, he added.
During fiscal year 2015, the AATA Vehicle Theft Task Force reported the recovery of 1,023 stolen vehicles valued at over $11 million.
The task force reported 241 auto theft-related arrests, investigated 15 stolen automobile chop shops and found 152 cases of altered or switched Vehicle Identification Numbers.
"People buy their cars and park it someplace and it gets stolen…It upsets your life, your day-to-day activities, your job," said Alberto Gutier, director of the Governor's Office of Highway Safety.
The 1997 Honda Accord, 1998 Honda Civic, 2006 Chevrolet Pickup, 2003 Ford Pickup and 2005 Dodge Pickup were the most frequently stolen automobiles in Arizona, according to the AATA report.
"The biggest thing when we are talking about the Phoenix area and stolen vehicles is that a lot of these newer homes, you can't fit these big trucks in the garage," said Fred Zumbo, AATA executive director.
Zumbo said the big trucks are often used as vehicles for smuggling by cartels because of their storage space.
Experts said one of the best ways to prevent theft is to pay attention to where a vehicle is parked.
"You know if there's a car thief out there and they look in a vehicle and they see an alarm, they're going to pick the next car," said Lt. Mike Pooley, spokesman for the Tempe Police Department. "If they see a vehicle that's parked in the dark compared to a car that's parked underneath a lot of light at night, they're going to pick the car that's in the dark so they don't get caught."
Measures such as buying a car alarm, putting a locking mechanism on the steering wheel or parking closer to businesses in parking lots can help prevent theft, he said.
END
Posted: Mar 25, 2016 4:50 AM MST
Updated: Mar 25, 2016 4:50 AM MST
Officials: Owner of Drug Tunnel House in Calexico is Tucson resident
Written By Steve Nunez
http://www.kvoa.com/story/31564325/officials-owner-of-drug-tunnel-house-in-calexico-is-tucson-resident
HSI Special Agents photographing tunnel exit point during Calexico Tunnel Operation on March 23, 2016.
TUCSON (KVOA) -- The owner of a house in Calexico where federal agents discovered a drug tunnel that stretched the length of four football fields across the border into Mexico was arrested in Tucson on Thursday.
Augustin Enrique Cruz, also known as "Tinky," was taken into custody by agents from the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Homeland Security and is being charged with five counts drug trafficking, money laundering and tunnel-related crimes.
Cruz, the central figure in the tunnel case, is expected to be arraigned in federal court on Friday before he is extradited to Southern California.
News 4 Tucson has also learned Cruz lives in Tucson and is a U.S. Citizen.
Agents arrested Cruz one day after about 100 federal, state and local law enforcement officials seized the tunnel at a newly built house on east Third Street in Calexico. The 415-yard tunnel originated in El Sarape restaurant across the border in Mexicali, Baja Calfornia. Calexico is located about 122 miles east of San Diego.
According to the criminal complaint, Cruz purchased the property in January 2014. Prosecutors said Cruz and his associates arranged cash pickups in California and Arizona to pay for the land. Based on federal wiretaps, the construction of the house was expected to cost $86,000.
Cruz then hired local contractors to build the house. Prosecutors said Cruz's boss then directed contractors to leave a space in the foundation for a floor safe, which was intended to be the exit point for the tunnel.
Unbeknownst to the alleged drug traffickers, the construction of the home and tunnel were immediately under the watchful eye of Homeland Security agents who learned through surveillance and court-authorized wiretaps that Cruz and his associates began smuggling drugs through the tunnel on or after February 28, 2016.
In total, agents have arrested five people and have nabbed 3,000 pounds of marijuana that allegedly moved through the tunnel.
On March 23, 2016, two other men, Joel Duarte Medina and Manuel Gallegos Jiminez, were also arrested in connection with the tunnel. They were arraigned in a federal court in El Centro, California and charged with conspiracy to import marijuana, conspiracy to distribute marijuana and conspiracy to maintain drug premises.
Another defendant, Eva Duarte De Medina, was also arrested in Arizona in connection to the drug tunnel and faces charges for conspiracy to import marijuana and conspiracy to maintain drug premises.
Each of the drug charges for all of the defendants carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison.
END
Note: an example of the small fish, obviously not cartel associates.
Seize weapons and arrest four people
By: Writing ElImparcial | 24/03/2016 12: 1
Hermosillo, Sonora (GH)
http://www.elimparcial.com/EdicionEnLinea/Notas/Policiaca/24032016/1064344-Aseguran-armas-y-detienen-a-cuatro-personas.html
During the tours of surveillance by the State Public Security Police he carried out the arrest of persons with firearms in different events in the state.
In response to reports of people with a firearm in the municipality of Sonoyta, he managed to secure three men, among them a minor.
The fact was raised in the calle Obregon end on the dirt road when they saw a pick up which was driven without lights and with three people.
During the review, they realized that the copilot Roberto R., 31 years old, had between his legs a firearm, caliber .12mm. Therefore, it was secured with a minor and Jose M., 23, who was driving the car, so they were transferred to the appropriate authority.
In other developments in Navojoa, the PESP in coordination with the Navy arrested Jesus Y., 30 years old, while driving on the boulevard Alvaro Obregon and Calle Vicente Guerrero aboard a motorcycle without license plates. When requesting stop, he accelerated trying to evade the authority, however, to be intercepted for review found on him a revolver, caliber .38 special supplied with three rounds of ammunition.
The detainee was turned over to the Federal Public Ministry to continue with the investigations.
Coordinated operation in SLRC
In San Luis Rio Colorado, operation composed of members of the State Public Security Police, State and Municipal Research, to conduct searches in abandoned places, securing a revolver, .32 caliber and 19 cartridges.
The gun was found in the fractionation Chula Vista, and was made to be available to the Public Ministry.
end
Marijuana destroyed around Agua Blanca & Agua Caliente Son.
(Spanish)
http://www.elimparcial.com/EdicionEnLinea/Notas/Noticias/25032016/1064461-Destruyen-3597-toneladas-de-mariguana.html
end
Aseguran armas y detienen a cuatro personas
Por: Redacción ElImparcial | 24/03/2016 12:1
HERMOSILLO, Sonora(GH)
http://www.elimparcial.com/EdicionEnLinea/Notas/Policiaca/24032016/1064344-Aseguran-armas-y-detienen-a-cuatro-personas.html
Durante los recorridos de vigilancia que realiza la Policía Estatal de Seguridad Pública llevó a cabo el arresto de personas con armas de fuego en diferentes hechos en el Estado.
En atención a reportes de personas con arma de fuego en el Municipio de Sonoyta, se logró asegurar a tres hombres, entre estos un menor de edad.
El hecho se suscitó en la calle Obregón final sobre el camino de terracería cuando vieron un pick up que era conducido sin luces y lo abordaban tres personas.
Durante la revisión, se percataron que el copiloto Roberto R., de 31 años de edad, tenía entre sus piernas un arma de fuego, tipo escopeta, calibre .12mm.
Por lo anterior, fue asegurado junto a un menor de edad y José M., de 23 años, quien conducía el automóvil, por lo que fueron trasladados ante la autoridad correspondiente.
En otros hechos en Navojoa, la PESP en coordinación con la Secretaría de Marina detuvieron a Jesús Y., de 30 años de edad, cuando circulaba sobre el bulevar Álvaro Obregón y calle Vicente Guerrero a bordo de una motocicleta sin placas de circulación.
Al solicitar detener la marcha, aceleró velocidad intentando evadir a la autoridad, sin embargo, al ser interceptado para la revisión le encontraron un arma de fuego, tipo revolver, calibre .38 especial abastecida con tres cartuchos útiles.
La persona detenida quedó a disposición del Ministerio Público Federal para continuar con las averiguaciones correspondientes.
Operativo Coordinado en SLRC
En San Luis Río Colorado, el operativo conformado por elementos de la Policía Estatal de Seguridad Pública, Estatal Investigadora y Municipal, al realizar revisiones en lugares abandonados, llevaron a cabo el aseguramiento de un arma tipo revólver, calibre .32mm y 19 cartuchos.
El arma la encontraron en el fraccionamiento Chula Vista, por lo que tomando las medidas correspondientes se hizo el aseguramiento para quedar a disposición del Ministerio Público.
end
Marijuana destroyed around Agua Blanca & Agua Caliente Son.
(Spanish)
http://www.elimparcial.com/EdicionEnLinea/Notas/Noticias/25032016/1064461-Destruyen-3597-toneladas-de-mariguana.html
end
Thursday, March 24, 2016
AZMEX SPECIAL 24-3-16
AZMEX SPECIAL 24 MAR 2016
Note: in response to testimony before joint subcommittee in House? Have to go to link for audio.
Trump to give NBPC a say in Border Policy
http://www.local2544.org/trump-to-give-nbpc-a-say-in-border-policy/
Trump to give NBPC a say in Border Policy
imageine a remarkable interview on Sirius XM's Breitbarts News Daily, Trump's Senior Policy Advisor Stephen Miller stated "The NBPC will never again have a back seat in our nation's border policy"
This would be an absolute first for any Union within the United States. For years, the National Border Patrol Council has been the foremost outspoken critic of lax immigration laws. As the Local 2544 President and National Vice-President, I can say that having this type of access to the White House will go a long way in securing the border and finally getting the Agent's needs ahead of political correctness.
As the current Obama's political appointees, within DHS, do everything they can to weaken border security and destroy Agent morale. We are pleased that some are finally is listening to the real border security experts.
Read more below:
Trump to Work 'Closely, Directly' with National Border Patrol Council' to Set U.S. Border Policy
NBPC PodcastBreitbart Texas/Brandon Darby
by BREITBART TEXAS23 Mar 20162128
http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2016/03/23/trump-to-work-closely-with-national-border-patrol-council/
Stephen Miller, the senior policy adviser for the Trump campaign, minced no words in stating that Border Patrol agents will have a "direct line" to the White House if Donald Trump becomes President of the United States. Miller stated, "I am here today to say that we are going to work closely, directly, and intimately with the National Border Patrol Council (NBPC) to develop a border policy for this nation." He continued, "The NBPC will never again have a back seat in our nation's border policy."
The comments were made today, March 23, on Sirius XM's Breitbart News Daily. Breitbart Texas' managing director, Brandon Darby, was on air and directly asked the senior Trump policy adviser, "What attitude and what role can we expect the NBPC to play in a Trump administration?" Darby praised the NBPC and explained Breitbart's historic support for Border Patrol agents and their union.
The abridged transcript follows:
Darby:
We've made no qualms about the fact that we are here to be voices for Border Patrol agents and to bring their voices to the American public. They are out there risking their lives and they're often the most attacked group of law enforcement in the country. We've found the NBPC, which is a union, and yeah that's a bad word in conservative circles, but it isn't a bad word if you know about the union. They represent between 16,000-17,000 of our nation's Border Patrol agents and they've been the only voice for those agents in the face of Obama appointees who've done nothing but attack and denigrate them. So I'd like to ask Mr. Miller, as the senior policy adviser to the Trump campaign, what attitude can we expect and what role can we expect the NBPC to play in a Trump administration?"
Miller:
Great question. First of all, Brandon, I want to say to you in front of everybody listening today, what extraordinary work you've done in exposing the cartels and exposing the gang violence and criminal activity on our border. And also making the point that our open border, by financing cartels, also finances misery for the people of Mexico. There's nothing compassionate for anybody about an open border. The open border creates misery for everybody and certainly it creates misery for the American people.
To your second question, we understand the importance of a law enforcement union. It's the only voice for the agents. It's the only voice to learn the truth. It's the only way to know what's really happening. It's the only way agents can protect themselves from political appointees and special interests.
I am here today to say that we are going to work closely, directly, and intimately with the NBPC to develop a border policy for this nation. We are going to make sure they have the resources they need to get this job done. They are going to be sitting with us to craft a policy that works for America and for them. We are going to protect the Border Patrol agents. We are going to protect their mission. We are going to make sure that we secure the border once and for all. The NBPC will never again have a back seat in our nation's border policy.
Darby:
Whoa, whoa, whoa whoa, whoa. Let me get this straight. You're saying in a Trump administration, as a senior policy adviser, that the actual agents in the NBPC, are not going to be sitting behind a door and having, they're going to be playing an active role in determining border security policy? Am I reading that correct, am I hearing that?
Miller:
Absolutely. The day is over when people with political agendas are going to write policies that work for the special interests but not for the agents. The agents are going to be the voice that we go to to hear what's really happening on the border and what we are going to do about it. We are going to work with the NBPC, and not just in a token way. But in depth, on a regular basis, they are going to have a direct line into our policy making on a routine basis. We are going to sit down with them and figure out how to secure this border and how to make life better for their agents and for the country. It will be a new day in America for the NBPC.
Readers can hear the interview in full.
(Disclosure: Breitbart Texas sponsored the Green Line podcast for the NBPC in an effort to provide a platform for agents to inform the public about the realities on the border and what Border Patrol agents face. Director Brandon Darby received an award from the Laredo chapter of the NBPC for his work in helping to defend and bring a voice to Border Patrol agents. Breitbart News assisted in covering funeral costs for a slain Border Patrol agent previously.)
end
Note: in response to testimony before joint subcommittee in House? Have to go to link for audio.
Trump to give NBPC a say in Border Policy
http://www.local2544.org/trump-to-give-nbpc-a-say-in-border-policy/
Trump to give NBPC a say in Border Policy
imageine a remarkable interview on Sirius XM's Breitbarts News Daily, Trump's Senior Policy Advisor Stephen Miller stated "The NBPC will never again have a back seat in our nation's border policy"
This would be an absolute first for any Union within the United States. For years, the National Border Patrol Council has been the foremost outspoken critic of lax immigration laws. As the Local 2544 President and National Vice-President, I can say that having this type of access to the White House will go a long way in securing the border and finally getting the Agent's needs ahead of political correctness.
As the current Obama's political appointees, within DHS, do everything they can to weaken border security and destroy Agent morale. We are pleased that some are finally is listening to the real border security experts.
Read more below:
Trump to Work 'Closely, Directly' with National Border Patrol Council' to Set U.S. Border Policy
NBPC PodcastBreitbart Texas/Brandon Darby
by BREITBART TEXAS23 Mar 20162128
http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2016/03/23/trump-to-work-closely-with-national-border-patrol-council/
Stephen Miller, the senior policy adviser for the Trump campaign, minced no words in stating that Border Patrol agents will have a "direct line" to the White House if Donald Trump becomes President of the United States. Miller stated, "I am here today to say that we are going to work closely, directly, and intimately with the National Border Patrol Council (NBPC) to develop a border policy for this nation." He continued, "The NBPC will never again have a back seat in our nation's border policy."
The comments were made today, March 23, on Sirius XM's Breitbart News Daily. Breitbart Texas' managing director, Brandon Darby, was on air and directly asked the senior Trump policy adviser, "What attitude and what role can we expect the NBPC to play in a Trump administration?" Darby praised the NBPC and explained Breitbart's historic support for Border Patrol agents and their union.
The abridged transcript follows:
Darby:
We've made no qualms about the fact that we are here to be voices for Border Patrol agents and to bring their voices to the American public. They are out there risking their lives and they're often the most attacked group of law enforcement in the country. We've found the NBPC, which is a union, and yeah that's a bad word in conservative circles, but it isn't a bad word if you know about the union. They represent between 16,000-17,000 of our nation's Border Patrol agents and they've been the only voice for those agents in the face of Obama appointees who've done nothing but attack and denigrate them. So I'd like to ask Mr. Miller, as the senior policy adviser to the Trump campaign, what attitude can we expect and what role can we expect the NBPC to play in a Trump administration?"
Miller:
Great question. First of all, Brandon, I want to say to you in front of everybody listening today, what extraordinary work you've done in exposing the cartels and exposing the gang violence and criminal activity on our border. And also making the point that our open border, by financing cartels, also finances misery for the people of Mexico. There's nothing compassionate for anybody about an open border. The open border creates misery for everybody and certainly it creates misery for the American people.
To your second question, we understand the importance of a law enforcement union. It's the only voice for the agents. It's the only voice to learn the truth. It's the only way to know what's really happening. It's the only way agents can protect themselves from political appointees and special interests.
I am here today to say that we are going to work closely, directly, and intimately with the NBPC to develop a border policy for this nation. We are going to make sure they have the resources they need to get this job done. They are going to be sitting with us to craft a policy that works for America and for them. We are going to protect the Border Patrol agents. We are going to protect their mission. We are going to make sure that we secure the border once and for all. The NBPC will never again have a back seat in our nation's border policy.
Darby:
Whoa, whoa, whoa whoa, whoa. Let me get this straight. You're saying in a Trump administration, as a senior policy adviser, that the actual agents in the NBPC, are not going to be sitting behind a door and having, they're going to be playing an active role in determining border security policy? Am I reading that correct, am I hearing that?
Miller:
Absolutely. The day is over when people with political agendas are going to write policies that work for the special interests but not for the agents. The agents are going to be the voice that we go to to hear what's really happening on the border and what we are going to do about it. We are going to work with the NBPC, and not just in a token way. But in depth, on a regular basis, they are going to have a direct line into our policy making on a routine basis. We are going to sit down with them and figure out how to secure this border and how to make life better for their agents and for the country. It will be a new day in America for the NBPC.
Readers can hear the interview in full.
(Disclosure: Breitbart Texas sponsored the Green Line podcast for the NBPC in an effort to provide a platform for agents to inform the public about the realities on the border and what Border Patrol agents face. Director Brandon Darby received an award from the Laredo chapter of the NBPC for his work in helping to defend and bring a voice to Border Patrol agents. Breitbart News assisted in covering funeral costs for a slain Border Patrol agent previously.)
end
AZMEX UPDATE 15-3-16
AZMEX UPDATE 15 MAR 2016
Note: Way late with this one, of mostly local interest.
SONORA READY FOR EASTER HOLIDAY
15 / Mar / 2016
Hermosillo, Sonora
http://www.nuevodia.com.mx/Nota.aspx?p=11231
Sonora is ready to receive thousands of tourists who will enjoy the various tourist destinations that the entity has announced Jesus Antonio Berumen Preciado, General Coordinator of the Commission of State Tourism (COFETUR).
In fulfilling the instruction of the Governor Claudia Pavlovich Arellano, to increase tourism in the state and that this is a new engine of economic development and generating jobs for Sonora, said, working in coordination with different agencies, so safe holiday for visitors.
"This is the presentation of what the. governor has instructed us to the three levels of government, the tourism sector of the state, tell all our visitors that we are ready for Easter, are ready to receive them in our beaches and our peoples, the Rio Sonora route, the Magical towns "he said.
Adolfo Garcia Morales, Secretary of Public Security, said his job will be to protect and assist the population, especially vacationers visiting the busiest tourist areas, there will be actions of monitoring and crime prevention, as well as in risky situations.
Among the actions that they perform will be to work in coordination with the three levels of government and various corporations of public security command centers to be located in the various tourist destinations, will work 400 elements and 80 units to provide public safety, a strategically distributed presence.
For his part, Undersecretary of Health, Luis Becerra Hurtado, reported that one of the actions undertaken during this holiday period, will offer a 24 hour service in 18 hospitals in the state, providing care with 411 doctors and 356 nurses, health promotion will be conducted and information for accident prevention will be provided.
Alberto Flores Chong, coordinator of the State Civil Protection Unit, said that will focus on work in places of great conglomeration of people in 22 municipalities, which are the most visited by tourists also said, will work in coordination between the different agencies of government, the municipal civil protection units, emergency and safety bodies.
The UEPC said, be aware of weather warnings and will be providing information to the population for the prevention of accidents, whether in crowded places or on the road, among others, adding that will run the line 01800 2PROTEGE, or 119 directly from cell, in case of an emergency.
The Director General of the SCT Center in Sonora, Javier Hernández Armenta said that due to the reconstruction and repairs being made on the road four lanes, from Station Don to Magdalena, there are 14 departures equivalent 120 kilometers of detours, two-way movement, which he said is necessary to hold to 60 kilometers per hour.
In these sections, he said, it is important to avoid passing, to avoid a car accident, adding that each of the 14 deviations represents 5 minutes of time travel on the repaired sections.
Meanwhile, Alfredo Martinez Olivas, Director General of Roads Board, said that since February began repairing and actions patching on feeder roads in different municipalities, benefiting vacationers and inhabitants of the region.
On behalf of the various mayors, Heliodoro Soto Holguin, of Huatabampo, announced that it is working in coordination with the three levels of government, clean tourist destinations will remain and different activities will be undertaken to attract tourists to the magical towns and different rural areas in the state.
Antonio Berumen Preciado said that it is expected that half million tourists visit the various settled beaches in the state and 500,000 more come to the magical towns, the route of the Rio Sonora, among other tourist points of the entity, so, reiterated, Sonora is ready, as the Governor of Sonora wants to make Sonora a new tourist destination.
During the presentation of Operational Family Easter in 2016, was attended by directors of various state and municipal agencies, presidents of OCV, tourist offices, Mexican Red Cross, Federal Police, Ministry of Defence and mayors, among others.
END
Note: and then this:
PGR Dismantles false checkpoint.
Details Published on Friday March 18, 2016,
Written by Editorial Staff
http://www.eldiariodesonora.com.mx/notas.php?nota=68644
Navojoa.
Arrested 24 men who were posing as agents to screen drivers.
Derived from joint actions between the Attorney General's Office (PGR) and the Secretariat of National Defense (SEDENA), an illegal roadblock that was located at km 92 + 500 of the federal highway 15 Los Mochis-Navojoa was dismantled in the state of Sonora.
After a thorough investigation was initiated following a citizen tip, the General Inspectorate of the PGR with the support of the Mexican Army caught in flagrante delicto 24 civilians, who posed as elements of the Attorney General of the Republic, performed inspections to private and cargo vehicles traveling around the place, all under the supervision of an effective element of the Federal Ministerial Police.
At the checkpoint, were PGR logos announcing an "operation", mounted for this purpose with various tents and road signs, as well as enable a plant light that allowed them to perform these actions during the early morning.
The element of the Ministerial Federal Police and 24 civilians who were posing as police personnel were made available to the appropriate authority, for legal purposes that may be required
finish
Note: Way late with this one, of mostly local interest.
SONORA READY FOR EASTER HOLIDAY
15 / Mar / 2016
Hermosillo, Sonora
http://www.nuevodia.com.mx/Nota.aspx?p=11231
Sonora is ready to receive thousands of tourists who will enjoy the various tourist destinations that the entity has announced Jesus Antonio Berumen Preciado, General Coordinator of the Commission of State Tourism (COFETUR).
In fulfilling the instruction of the Governor Claudia Pavlovich Arellano, to increase tourism in the state and that this is a new engine of economic development and generating jobs for Sonora, said, working in coordination with different agencies, so safe holiday for visitors.
"This is the presentation of what the. governor has instructed us to the three levels of government, the tourism sector of the state, tell all our visitors that we are ready for Easter, are ready to receive them in our beaches and our peoples, the Rio Sonora route, the Magical towns "he said.
Adolfo Garcia Morales, Secretary of Public Security, said his job will be to protect and assist the population, especially vacationers visiting the busiest tourist areas, there will be actions of monitoring and crime prevention, as well as in risky situations.
Among the actions that they perform will be to work in coordination with the three levels of government and various corporations of public security command centers to be located in the various tourist destinations, will work 400 elements and 80 units to provide public safety, a strategically distributed presence.
For his part, Undersecretary of Health, Luis Becerra Hurtado, reported that one of the actions undertaken during this holiday period, will offer a 24 hour service in 18 hospitals in the state, providing care with 411 doctors and 356 nurses, health promotion will be conducted and information for accident prevention will be provided.
Alberto Flores Chong, coordinator of the State Civil Protection Unit, said that will focus on work in places of great conglomeration of people in 22 municipalities, which are the most visited by tourists also said, will work in coordination between the different agencies of government, the municipal civil protection units, emergency and safety bodies.
The UEPC said, be aware of weather warnings and will be providing information to the population for the prevention of accidents, whether in crowded places or on the road, among others, adding that will run the line 01800 2PROTEGE, or 119 directly from cell, in case of an emergency.
The Director General of the SCT Center in Sonora, Javier Hernández Armenta said that due to the reconstruction and repairs being made on the road four lanes, from Station Don to Magdalena, there are 14 departures equivalent 120 kilometers of detours, two-way movement, which he said is necessary to hold to 60 kilometers per hour.
In these sections, he said, it is important to avoid passing, to avoid a car accident, adding that each of the 14 deviations represents 5 minutes of time travel on the repaired sections.
Meanwhile, Alfredo Martinez Olivas, Director General of Roads Board, said that since February began repairing and actions patching on feeder roads in different municipalities, benefiting vacationers and inhabitants of the region.
On behalf of the various mayors, Heliodoro Soto Holguin, of Huatabampo, announced that it is working in coordination with the three levels of government, clean tourist destinations will remain and different activities will be undertaken to attract tourists to the magical towns and different rural areas in the state.
Antonio Berumen Preciado said that it is expected that half million tourists visit the various settled beaches in the state and 500,000 more come to the magical towns, the route of the Rio Sonora, among other tourist points of the entity, so, reiterated, Sonora is ready, as the Governor of Sonora wants to make Sonora a new tourist destination.
During the presentation of Operational Family Easter in 2016, was attended by directors of various state and municipal agencies, presidents of OCV, tourist offices, Mexican Red Cross, Federal Police, Ministry of Defence and mayors, among others.
END
Note: and then this:
PGR Dismantles false checkpoint.
Details Published on Friday March 18, 2016,
Written by Editorial Staff
http://www.eldiariodesonora.com.mx/notas.php?nota=68644
Navojoa.
Arrested 24 men who were posing as agents to screen drivers.
Derived from joint actions between the Attorney General's Office (PGR) and the Secretariat of National Defense (SEDENA), an illegal roadblock that was located at km 92 + 500 of the federal highway 15 Los Mochis-Navojoa was dismantled in the state of Sonora.
After a thorough investigation was initiated following a citizen tip, the General Inspectorate of the PGR with the support of the Mexican Army caught in flagrante delicto 24 civilians, who posed as elements of the Attorney General of the Republic, performed inspections to private and cargo vehicles traveling around the place, all under the supervision of an effective element of the Federal Ministerial Police.
At the checkpoint, were PGR logos announcing an "operation", mounted for this purpose with various tents and road signs, as well as enable a plant light that allowed them to perform these actions during the early morning.
The element of the Ministerial Federal Police and 24 civilians who were posing as police personnel were made available to the appropriate authority, for legal purposes that may be required
finish
Wednesday, March 23, 2016
AZMEX SPECIAL 23-3-16
AZMEX SPECIAL 23 MAR 2016
Note: working on getting the full transcripts or links of the hearing.
Border Patrol Union Chief Says Arrests Of Afghans And Pakistanis Have Skyrocketed This Year
CHUCK ROSS Reporter
11:35 AM 03/23/2016
http://dailycaller.com/2016/03/23/border-patrol-union-chief-says-arrests-of-afghans-and-pakistanis-have-skyrocketed-this-year/
Two men are taken into custody by the U.S. Border Patrol near Falfurrias, Texas March 29, 2013. Brooks County has become an epicentre for illegal immigrant deaths in Texas. In 2012, sheriff Two men are taken into custody by the U.S. Border Patrol near Falfurrias, Texas March 29, 2013. Brooks County has become an epicentre for illegal immigrant deaths in Texas. In 2012, sheriff's deputies found 129 bodies there, six times the number recorded in 2010. Most of those who died succumbed to the punishing heat and rough terrain that comprise the ranch lands of south Texas. Many migrants spend a few days in a "stash house", such as the Casa del Migrante, in Reynosa, Mexico, and many are ignorant of the treacherous journey ahead. Picture taken March 29, 2013. REUTERS/Eric Thayer ∧
The number of arrests made at the border of people from Afghanistan and Pakistan is up significantly this year compared to last, the president of the National Border Patrol Council said when he testified during a House hearing on Tuesday.
Brandon Judd, who has also served as a Border Patrol agent for nearly 20 years, also told the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee's Subcommittee on National Security that he has witnessed U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officials fudge alien apprehension statistics by low-balling the number of "got aways" — illegal border-crossers who enter the country but avoid being apprehended by border agents.
Judd began by denying what he says is the Obama administration's claim that "the border is more secure today than it's ever been."
The Obama administration fails "to give the American public key indicators such as the number of arrests of persons from countries with known terrorist ties or from countries that compete economically with our interests," he added.
To support his claim, Judd pointed to statistics showing that in all of fiscal year 2015, Border Patrol arrested five people from Afghanistan, 57 from Pakistan and 1,327 from China.
But that number has surged this year, according to Judd.
"Already in the first five months of this fiscal year, the United States Border Patrol has arrested 18 from Afghanistan…79 from Pakistan and 619 from the Peoples Republic of China," the union chief said.
"Those numbers should alarm everyone and we are seeing a similar trend from other key countries like Albania, Bangladesh and Brazil," he continued.
Judd also pointed to what he said is evidence that drug cartels "are winning."
He said that during a visit to a station in the Del Rio Border Patrol sector in south Texas, resource-strapped agents were only able to arrest 47 percent of known border-crossers.
He said that out of 157 known entries that week, 74 were arrested, 54 evaded arrest and entered the U.S., 17 evaded arrest and returned to Mexico, and 12 were still unaccounted for.
"That's a 47 percent arrest rate," said Judd. "That's not very good."
He also highlighted the gaps in border security by citing an email he received on Tuesday from a Border Patrol agent in Arizona pointing to a 10-mile stretch of the border that was unmanned for two days.
"Criminal cartels were able to go to the fence, cut a hole in the fence, drive two vehicles through that hole and escape. They were able then to put the fence back up and try to hide the cuts that were made," Judd said.
"The scariest part of those vehicles entering the United States is we don't know what was in those vehicles," he explained. And of the border-crossers who have not been apprehended, Judd said "we don't know where they were from."
Florida Rep. Ron DeSantis , who chairs the national security subcommittee, also asked Judd whether CBP "might be fudging" its apprehension data.
"Not only have I heard similar reports, I've actually seen it," Judd said, recalling a previous stint as an intelligence officer working at a station on the southern border.
He said he received a note from a high-ranking watch commander ordering him to remove numbers from a "got-away" report.
"There's no entry point, and therefore if there's no entry point then we can't say where they entered and therefore we can't reconcile the numbers," Judd said, recalling the commander's rationale.
"The question that was posed to this watch commander was 'well, we know that they got away, where are we going to report that they got away?'" Judd said. "He says, 'well, if there was no entry point there were no got-aways.'"
"And we said, 'but we have the evidence that they got away,'" Judd continued. "He says 'Nope, there's no got-aways, remove it.'"
Read more: http://dailycaller.com/2016/03/23/border-patrol-union-chief-says-arrests-of-afghans-and-pakistanis-have-skyrocketed-this-year/#ixzz43leGX9jS
Note: working on getting the full transcripts or links of the hearing.
Border Patrol Union Chief Says Arrests Of Afghans And Pakistanis Have Skyrocketed This Year
CHUCK ROSS Reporter
11:35 AM 03/23/2016
http://dailycaller.com/2016/03/23/border-patrol-union-chief-says-arrests-of-afghans-and-pakistanis-have-skyrocketed-this-year/
Two men are taken into custody by the U.S. Border Patrol near Falfurrias, Texas March 29, 2013. Brooks County has become an epicentre for illegal immigrant deaths in Texas. In 2012, sheriff Two men are taken into custody by the U.S. Border Patrol near Falfurrias, Texas March 29, 2013. Brooks County has become an epicentre for illegal immigrant deaths in Texas. In 2012, sheriff's deputies found 129 bodies there, six times the number recorded in 2010. Most of those who died succumbed to the punishing heat and rough terrain that comprise the ranch lands of south Texas. Many migrants spend a few days in a "stash house", such as the Casa del Migrante, in Reynosa, Mexico, and many are ignorant of the treacherous journey ahead. Picture taken March 29, 2013. REUTERS/Eric Thayer ∧
The number of arrests made at the border of people from Afghanistan and Pakistan is up significantly this year compared to last, the president of the National Border Patrol Council said when he testified during a House hearing on Tuesday.
Brandon Judd, who has also served as a Border Patrol agent for nearly 20 years, also told the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee's Subcommittee on National Security that he has witnessed U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officials fudge alien apprehension statistics by low-balling the number of "got aways" — illegal border-crossers who enter the country but avoid being apprehended by border agents.
Judd began by denying what he says is the Obama administration's claim that "the border is more secure today than it's ever been."
The Obama administration fails "to give the American public key indicators such as the number of arrests of persons from countries with known terrorist ties or from countries that compete economically with our interests," he added.
To support his claim, Judd pointed to statistics showing that in all of fiscal year 2015, Border Patrol arrested five people from Afghanistan, 57 from Pakistan and 1,327 from China.
But that number has surged this year, according to Judd.
"Already in the first five months of this fiscal year, the United States Border Patrol has arrested 18 from Afghanistan…79 from Pakistan and 619 from the Peoples Republic of China," the union chief said.
"Those numbers should alarm everyone and we are seeing a similar trend from other key countries like Albania, Bangladesh and Brazil," he continued.
Judd also pointed to what he said is evidence that drug cartels "are winning."
He said that during a visit to a station in the Del Rio Border Patrol sector in south Texas, resource-strapped agents were only able to arrest 47 percent of known border-crossers.
He said that out of 157 known entries that week, 74 were arrested, 54 evaded arrest and entered the U.S., 17 evaded arrest and returned to Mexico, and 12 were still unaccounted for.
"That's a 47 percent arrest rate," said Judd. "That's not very good."
He also highlighted the gaps in border security by citing an email he received on Tuesday from a Border Patrol agent in Arizona pointing to a 10-mile stretch of the border that was unmanned for two days.
"Criminal cartels were able to go to the fence, cut a hole in the fence, drive two vehicles through that hole and escape. They were able then to put the fence back up and try to hide the cuts that were made," Judd said.
"The scariest part of those vehicles entering the United States is we don't know what was in those vehicles," he explained. And of the border-crossers who have not been apprehended, Judd said "we don't know where they were from."
Florida Rep. Ron DeSantis , who chairs the national security subcommittee, also asked Judd whether CBP "might be fudging" its apprehension data.
"Not only have I heard similar reports, I've actually seen it," Judd said, recalling a previous stint as an intelligence officer working at a station on the southern border.
He said he received a note from a high-ranking watch commander ordering him to remove numbers from a "got-away" report.
"There's no entry point, and therefore if there's no entry point then we can't say where they entered and therefore we can't reconcile the numbers," Judd said, recalling the commander's rationale.
"The question that was posed to this watch commander was 'well, we know that they got away, where are we going to report that they got away?'" Judd said. "He says, 'well, if there was no entry point there were no got-aways.'"
"And we said, 'but we have the evidence that they got away,'" Judd continued. "He says 'Nope, there's no got-aways, remove it.'"
Read more: http://dailycaller.com/2016/03/23/border-patrol-union-chief-says-arrests-of-afghans-and-pakistanis-have-skyrocketed-this-year/#ixzz43leGX9jS
AZMEX EXTRA 23-3-16
AZMEX EXTRA 23 MAR 2016
CBP seizes ammo load headed for Mexico
Nogales International Updated 21 hrs ago (0)
CBP photo (of the ammo boxes )
http://www.nogalesinternational.com/news/cbp-seizes-ammo-load-headed-for-mexico/article_f9862602-f07a-11e5-a4ab-4f54bedbc907.html
CBP officers in Nogales seized more than 5,000 assorted rounds of ammunition from a vehicle headed for Mexico.
A Mexican teenager was busted at a local port of entry Tuesday while trying to drive into Mexico with 5,560 rounds of ammunition.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection said officers were performing outbound inspections at an unspecified Nogales port when they referred an 18-year-old Mexican male for a secondary inspection of his GMC SUV. During the search, officers found the assorted ammunition hidden throughout the vehicle.
The vehicle, ammunition and suspect were turned over to federal investigators, CBP said.
"This interception is a direct result of the hard work and continued vigilance of our CBP officers," said Guadalupe Ramirez, the agency's port director in Nogales. "Keeping ammunition out of the hands of drug traffickers disrupts their operations and reduces violence along the border."
On Jan. 8, Nogales police arrested a 16-year-old male a few blocks from the Dennis DeConcini Port of Entry after they stopped the car he was driving and found 10 assault rifles, 10 large boxes of 7.62 caliber ammunition and rifle magazines inside.
And in August 2015, CBP arrested a 23-year-old Phoenix woman at the Mariposa Port of Entry after she allegedly tried to smuggle 16 high-powered firearms and various ammunition magazines into Mexico.
end
Also of interest:
http://www.cbs5az.com/story/31542790/border-agents-watch-smugglers-cross-on-horseback
end
CBP seizes ammo load headed for Mexico
Nogales International Updated 21 hrs ago (0)
CBP photo (of the ammo boxes )
http://www.nogalesinternational.com/news/cbp-seizes-ammo-load-headed-for-mexico/article_f9862602-f07a-11e5-a4ab-4f54bedbc907.html
CBP officers in Nogales seized more than 5,000 assorted rounds of ammunition from a vehicle headed for Mexico.
A Mexican teenager was busted at a local port of entry Tuesday while trying to drive into Mexico with 5,560 rounds of ammunition.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection said officers were performing outbound inspections at an unspecified Nogales port when they referred an 18-year-old Mexican male for a secondary inspection of his GMC SUV. During the search, officers found the assorted ammunition hidden throughout the vehicle.
The vehicle, ammunition and suspect were turned over to federal investigators, CBP said.
"This interception is a direct result of the hard work and continued vigilance of our CBP officers," said Guadalupe Ramirez, the agency's port director in Nogales. "Keeping ammunition out of the hands of drug traffickers disrupts their operations and reduces violence along the border."
On Jan. 8, Nogales police arrested a 16-year-old male a few blocks from the Dennis DeConcini Port of Entry after they stopped the car he was driving and found 10 assault rifles, 10 large boxes of 7.62 caliber ammunition and rifle magazines inside.
And in August 2015, CBP arrested a 23-year-old Phoenix woman at the Mariposa Port of Entry after she allegedly tried to smuggle 16 high-powered firearms and various ammunition magazines into Mexico.
end
Also of interest:
http://www.cbs5az.com/story/31542790/border-agents-watch-smugglers-cross-on-horseback
end
Tuesday, March 22, 2016
AZMEX SPECIAL2 21-3-16
AZMEX SPECIAL2 21 MAR 2016
Posted: Mar 21, 2016 4:37 PM MST
Updated: Mar 21, 2016 4:37 PM MST
Donald Trump's wall plan draws mixed reactions on the border
http://www.kvoa.com/story/31523200/donald-trumps-wall-plan-draws-mixed-reactions-on-the-border
(AP Photo/Brian Skoloff). In this Tuesday, March 15, 2016 photo, Jim Chilton poses for a photo on the front porch of his home on his 50,000 acre ranch along the U.S-Mexico border in Arivaca, Ariz. Donald Trump's ambitious plan to build a giant wall on ...
(AP Photo/Astrid Galvan). This Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2015 photo shows a part of the border fence near Naco, Ariz., during a tour of the border hosted by the Cochise County Sheriff's Office. Ranchers in this area say the border needs a wall to keep out d...
(AP Photo/Brian Skoloff). In this Tuesday, March 15, 2016 photo, Jim Chilton shows off what are known as "carpet shoes" that he has collected from his sprawling property over the years in Arivaca, Ariz. The makeshift slip-on shoes with carpet on the so...
By ASTRID GALVAN and BRIAN SKOLOFF
Associated Press
NOGALES, Ariz. (AP) - Donald Trump's ambitious plan to build a giant wall on the border hits close to home for people like Berenice Andrews.
The front door of her family's home is just feet away from a fence separating the U.S. and Mexico. The home is so close to Mexico that the sounds of schoolchildren at play south of the border can be heard. So can buses along a main thoroughfare on the Mexico side.
As the presidential contest shifts to Arizona and its Tuesday primary, Trump's wall stirs up a range of emotions among border-area residents like Andrews. For some, nothing short of a wall will do. For her, the fence that currently divides the U.S. and Mexico is a good enough barrier.
"For him to even propose something like that is complete insanity," Andrews said.
Trump has not provided specifics about the wall but says it would cost between $10 billion and $12 billion. He has said he would make Mexico pay for it. Mexico has scoffed at the idea.
There are already about 650 miles of fencing, including the steel fence that divides the sister cities of Nogales in Arizona and Mexico and ranges from 18 feet to 26 feet tall. Much of the border fence was built in the last 15 years as immigration surged. The cost has been in the billions.
The Associated Press interviewed people who live on the border to get their perspective on Trump's border wall plan:
___
GUNS AT THE READY
Everywhere Jim Chilton goes on his sprawling cattle ranch along the Mexican border in Arizona, he has a gun at the ready. Guns at his front door. Guns in his pickup truck. Guns on his horse's saddle.
For Chilton, illegal immigration and drug smuggling isn't just something he hears about on the news. He lives with it every day as smugglers routinely cross the border on his property. He supports just about anything to stop it, including Trump's plan to build a wall from one end of the border to the other.
"We need a wall. We need forward operation bases. We need Border Patrol to be down there all the time," Chilton said. "We just need to secure that international boundary at the border, period."
While Chilton has not decided who he will vote for in the presidential election, he certainly supports the idea of building a wall.
"I'm tired of having thousands of people coming through my ranch. I worry about running into a guy with an AK-47 and a bunch of druggers behind him," Chilton said. "The United States needs to secure its international boundary."
___
BOTHERED IN BISBEE
Artist Kate Drew-Wilkinson lives in Bisbee, Arizona, where she owns a gallery a few miles north of the border. Drew-Wilkinson opposes Trump and his wall proposal, saying he's a bully who is dangerous to the United States.
With her shop so close to the border, Drew-Wilkinson sees the Mexican people as neighbors and not enemies. She also views Trump's plans to forcibly remove immigrants and build a wall as not only preposterous but impossible to carry out.
"I don't think he has a real understanding of the geography or the sheer difficulty of building a wall of that kind," said, Drew-Wilkinson, an England native who moved to the U.S. in the late 1960s. "And it's ugly. The whole thing is really ugly."
___
RANCHER WANTS A WALL, TRUMP
John Ladd is a cattle rancher whose roughly 15,000-acre ranch abuts the border near Naco, Arizona. Immigrants and drug smugglers frequently sneak into the country on his property, cutting his barbed-wire fences and leaving behind garbage.
He is sick of politics as usual and finds Trump's lack of political correctness refreshing. He isn't bothered by Trump's lack of specifics about how he would build a wall.
Ladd simply likes that Trump has been talking about illegal immigration since the beginning of his campaign.
"That really rang a bell with me and a lot of the ranchers, that finally we had somebody in the political arena that wasn't worried about being politically correct and talked about the problem that is actually happening," he said.
Ladd said he isn't sure the wall will ever actually be built but said he believes Trump will enforce immigration laws.
___
CONFLICTED REPUBLICAN
Hector Orozco has a unique perspective on the border debate because of his occupation and past party affiliation.
He manages a manufacturing company south of the border with offices on the American side, making campaign debates about foreign trade especially relevant. He is also an immigrant from Mexico who became a U.S. citizen and traditionally voted Republican.
As of late, though, Orozco said he can't get behind the party and its ideology. To him, America's biggest challenge is the deficit and the economy, not illegal immigration.
"It's like they're trying to distract us from the bigger problems," he said. "(Illegal immigration) is a problem, but it's not the biggest problem."
And he said a wall wouldn't resolve immigration problems in any way.
"People will find a way to improve their lives," Orozco said. "Regardless of how big the wall is, they're gonna look for a way because they're gonna want to make a better life for their family. Not all who cross are criminals."
Posted: Mar 21, 2016 4:37 PM MST
Updated: Mar 21, 2016 4:37 PM MST
Donald Trump's wall plan draws mixed reactions on the border
http://www.kvoa.com/story/31523200/donald-trumps-wall-plan-draws-mixed-reactions-on-the-border
(AP Photo/Brian Skoloff). In this Tuesday, March 15, 2016 photo, Jim Chilton poses for a photo on the front porch of his home on his 50,000 acre ranch along the U.S-Mexico border in Arivaca, Ariz. Donald Trump's ambitious plan to build a giant wall on ...
(AP Photo/Astrid Galvan). This Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2015 photo shows a part of the border fence near Naco, Ariz., during a tour of the border hosted by the Cochise County Sheriff's Office. Ranchers in this area say the border needs a wall to keep out d...
(AP Photo/Brian Skoloff). In this Tuesday, March 15, 2016 photo, Jim Chilton shows off what are known as "carpet shoes" that he has collected from his sprawling property over the years in Arivaca, Ariz. The makeshift slip-on shoes with carpet on the so...
By ASTRID GALVAN and BRIAN SKOLOFF
Associated Press
NOGALES, Ariz. (AP) - Donald Trump's ambitious plan to build a giant wall on the border hits close to home for people like Berenice Andrews.
The front door of her family's home is just feet away from a fence separating the U.S. and Mexico. The home is so close to Mexico that the sounds of schoolchildren at play south of the border can be heard. So can buses along a main thoroughfare on the Mexico side.
As the presidential contest shifts to Arizona and its Tuesday primary, Trump's wall stirs up a range of emotions among border-area residents like Andrews. For some, nothing short of a wall will do. For her, the fence that currently divides the U.S. and Mexico is a good enough barrier.
"For him to even propose something like that is complete insanity," Andrews said.
Trump has not provided specifics about the wall but says it would cost between $10 billion and $12 billion. He has said he would make Mexico pay for it. Mexico has scoffed at the idea.
There are already about 650 miles of fencing, including the steel fence that divides the sister cities of Nogales in Arizona and Mexico and ranges from 18 feet to 26 feet tall. Much of the border fence was built in the last 15 years as immigration surged. The cost has been in the billions.
The Associated Press interviewed people who live on the border to get their perspective on Trump's border wall plan:
___
GUNS AT THE READY
Everywhere Jim Chilton goes on his sprawling cattle ranch along the Mexican border in Arizona, he has a gun at the ready. Guns at his front door. Guns in his pickup truck. Guns on his horse's saddle.
For Chilton, illegal immigration and drug smuggling isn't just something he hears about on the news. He lives with it every day as smugglers routinely cross the border on his property. He supports just about anything to stop it, including Trump's plan to build a wall from one end of the border to the other.
"We need a wall. We need forward operation bases. We need Border Patrol to be down there all the time," Chilton said. "We just need to secure that international boundary at the border, period."
While Chilton has not decided who he will vote for in the presidential election, he certainly supports the idea of building a wall.
"I'm tired of having thousands of people coming through my ranch. I worry about running into a guy with an AK-47 and a bunch of druggers behind him," Chilton said. "The United States needs to secure its international boundary."
___
BOTHERED IN BISBEE
Artist Kate Drew-Wilkinson lives in Bisbee, Arizona, where she owns a gallery a few miles north of the border. Drew-Wilkinson opposes Trump and his wall proposal, saying he's a bully who is dangerous to the United States.
With her shop so close to the border, Drew-Wilkinson sees the Mexican people as neighbors and not enemies. She also views Trump's plans to forcibly remove immigrants and build a wall as not only preposterous but impossible to carry out.
"I don't think he has a real understanding of the geography or the sheer difficulty of building a wall of that kind," said, Drew-Wilkinson, an England native who moved to the U.S. in the late 1960s. "And it's ugly. The whole thing is really ugly."
___
RANCHER WANTS A WALL, TRUMP
John Ladd is a cattle rancher whose roughly 15,000-acre ranch abuts the border near Naco, Arizona. Immigrants and drug smugglers frequently sneak into the country on his property, cutting his barbed-wire fences and leaving behind garbage.
He is sick of politics as usual and finds Trump's lack of political correctness refreshing. He isn't bothered by Trump's lack of specifics about how he would build a wall.
Ladd simply likes that Trump has been talking about illegal immigration since the beginning of his campaign.
"That really rang a bell with me and a lot of the ranchers, that finally we had somebody in the political arena that wasn't worried about being politically correct and talked about the problem that is actually happening," he said.
Ladd said he isn't sure the wall will ever actually be built but said he believes Trump will enforce immigration laws.
___
CONFLICTED REPUBLICAN
Hector Orozco has a unique perspective on the border debate because of his occupation and past party affiliation.
He manages a manufacturing company south of the border with offices on the American side, making campaign debates about foreign trade especially relevant. He is also an immigrant from Mexico who became a U.S. citizen and traditionally voted Republican.
As of late, though, Orozco said he can't get behind the party and its ideology. To him, America's biggest challenge is the deficit and the economy, not illegal immigration.
"It's like they're trying to distract us from the bigger problems," he said. "(Illegal immigration) is a problem, but it's not the biggest problem."
And he said a wall wouldn't resolve immigration problems in any way.
"People will find a way to improve their lives," Orozco said. "Regardless of how big the wall is, they're gonna look for a way because they're gonna want to make a better life for their family. Not all who cross are criminals."
AZMEX SPECIAL 21-3-16
AZMEX SPECIAL 21 MAR 2016
Stop Trump Movement Gets Boost From Mexico's Efforts in U.S.
Eric Martin
EMPosts
Nacha Cattan
nncattan
March 20, 2016 — 2:10 PM MST Updated on March 20, 2016 — 2:13 PM MST
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-03-20/stop-trump-movement-gets-boost-from-mexico-s-efforts-in-u-s
Consulates in U.S. Promote Citizenship For Immigrants
Charm Offensive Seeks to bolster Image of Mexico in U.S.
Mexico is mounting an unprecedented effort to turn its permanent residents in the U.S. into citizens, a status that would enable them to vote -- presumably against Donald Trump.
Officially, Mexico says it respects U.S. sovereignty and has no strategy to influence the result of the presidential race. Yet Mexican diplomats are mobilizing for the first time to assist immigrants in gaining U.S. citizenship, hosting free workshops on naturalization.
"This is a historic moment where the Mexican consulate will open its doors to carry out these types of events in favor of the Mexican community," Adrian Sosa, a spokesman for the consulate in Chicago, said before an event on March 19. In Dallas, about 250 permanent residents attended the consulate's first "citizenship clinic" in February and another 150 in its second in March. In Las Vegas, the turnout topped 500.
Underscoring the fine line that separates participation from interfering in another country's election, Sosa noted that the consulate only hosts the event but it's community organizations who offer the advice.
Mexico may have the most at stake but it's not alone among U.S. allies bewildered by -- and worried about -- the reality-television star's success in the Republican primaries. Trump, who launched his campaign with invective directed at Mexico and a promise to build a border wall (with a "big beautiful door"), identified himself last week as his own top foreign-policy adviser.
"I'm speaking with myself, number one, because I have a very good brain and I've said a lot of things," Trump said on MSNBC when asked who he speaks with consistently on foreign policy. "My primary consultant is myself and I have a good instinct for this stuff."
With even senior U.S. Republicans, such as 2012 presidential candidate Mitt Romney, pledging to contest Trump's nomination to the end, views from other major capitals comprise both concern and calm. An official close to Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe who asked not be named because he was not authorized to speak publicly said a Trump presidency would be a risk for the global economy and security. Trump has targeted Japan, along with Mexico and China, as nations where the U.S. is "getting absolutely crushed on trade."
The government in China still believes it's too early to focus on Trump given that he hasn't yet won the Republican nomination, according to a Foreign Ministry official who asked not to be named. The sentiment is shared in France, where President Francois Hollande's administration says that the U.S. election takes a backseat to addressing migrant crisis, the war in Syria and terrorism threats.
Right to Vote
Joel Diaz doesn't want to wait to see how it all turns out. The Mexican-American, who has been a permanent resident of the U.S. for six years, arrived at the Mexican consulate in Chicago on Saturday with his wife and four adult sons to register all of them as U.S. citizens in order to vote against Trump.
"We're very worried," Diaz, 47, an evangelical pastor, said. "If he wins there will be a lot of damage against a lot of people here, and to us as Hispanics, as Mexicans."
Laura Espinosa, deputy consul in Mexico's consulate in Las Vegas, said the main goal of the program is citizenship, and while that includes the right to vote, the government doesn't press people to do so. "Those who use this to vote, that's up to each individual," said Espinosa, who confirmed that most consulates have begun citizenship campaigns. "We don't have any opinion on that, because that would be totally interfering in internal affairs of the country."
The government in Mexico City is holding off on engaging the Trump campaign directly until he becomes the nominee, said Francisco Guzman, chief of staff to Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto. Speaking with reporters on March 1, Guzman said the government plans to communicate with the campaigns of the nominees once they're chosen and try to dispel what it considers misinformation about Mexico and Mexicans.
Campaign Rhetoric
The public-relations offensive now under way includes using news outlets and social media to highlight the strides Mexicans have made in business, the arts and academia in the U.S., said Paulo Carreno, the former spokesman of Citigroup Inc.'s Mexico unit who oversees the country's international branding strategy.
Promoting Mexico in the U.S., from its scholars to artists, is meant "not to influence an election, but a whole generation and those that follow," Carreno said in an e-mailed response to questions. "The strategy will be an important anchor in our consular network in the country."
While Guzman said the administration understands the difference between campaign rhetoric and governing proposals, Pena Nieto this month in an interview with newspaper El Universal compared Trump's rhetoric to that of Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini.
The urgency and their numbers underscore why Mexican-Americans can have an impact.
About 12 million Mexicans live in the U.S. and almost half lack legal status, according to a November study by the Pew Research Center. About 2.7 million legal Mexican permanent residents of the U.S. are eligible to apply to become citizens, according to The New Americans Campaign, a nonpartisan group that helps people access naturalization services.
Ali Noorani, executive director of National Immigration Forum, a non-partisan Washington-based policy group that advocates on behalf of immigrants, said Trump's rhetoric and proposals have spurred interest in registering to vote among Mexican immigrant communities, particularly in Nevada, Colorado and Virginia.
Boosting turnout among immigrant voters could help tip the scale in the election, said Julian Zelizer, a professor of history and public affairs at Princeton University.
"Trump is exactly the kind of Republican who could mobilize legalized immigrant voters and others sympathetic to liberalized immigration policy," Zelizer said in an e-mailed response to questions. "This has been one issue where he has not been very vague and taking an extremely tough and aggressive stance. I suspect that if he was the nominee you could see very high turnout in certain states for Democrats as a result of this issue."
end
Stop Trump Movement Gets Boost From Mexico's Efforts in U.S.
Eric Martin
EMPosts
Nacha Cattan
nncattan
March 20, 2016 — 2:10 PM MST Updated on March 20, 2016 — 2:13 PM MST
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-03-20/stop-trump-movement-gets-boost-from-mexico-s-efforts-in-u-s
Consulates in U.S. Promote Citizenship For Immigrants
Charm Offensive Seeks to bolster Image of Mexico in U.S.
Mexico is mounting an unprecedented effort to turn its permanent residents in the U.S. into citizens, a status that would enable them to vote -- presumably against Donald Trump.
Officially, Mexico says it respects U.S. sovereignty and has no strategy to influence the result of the presidential race. Yet Mexican diplomats are mobilizing for the first time to assist immigrants in gaining U.S. citizenship, hosting free workshops on naturalization.
"This is a historic moment where the Mexican consulate will open its doors to carry out these types of events in favor of the Mexican community," Adrian Sosa, a spokesman for the consulate in Chicago, said before an event on March 19. In Dallas, about 250 permanent residents attended the consulate's first "citizenship clinic" in February and another 150 in its second in March. In Las Vegas, the turnout topped 500.
Underscoring the fine line that separates participation from interfering in another country's election, Sosa noted that the consulate only hosts the event but it's community organizations who offer the advice.
Mexico may have the most at stake but it's not alone among U.S. allies bewildered by -- and worried about -- the reality-television star's success in the Republican primaries. Trump, who launched his campaign with invective directed at Mexico and a promise to build a border wall (with a "big beautiful door"), identified himself last week as his own top foreign-policy adviser.
"I'm speaking with myself, number one, because I have a very good brain and I've said a lot of things," Trump said on MSNBC when asked who he speaks with consistently on foreign policy. "My primary consultant is myself and I have a good instinct for this stuff."
With even senior U.S. Republicans, such as 2012 presidential candidate Mitt Romney, pledging to contest Trump's nomination to the end, views from other major capitals comprise both concern and calm. An official close to Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe who asked not be named because he was not authorized to speak publicly said a Trump presidency would be a risk for the global economy and security. Trump has targeted Japan, along with Mexico and China, as nations where the U.S. is "getting absolutely crushed on trade."
The government in China still believes it's too early to focus on Trump given that he hasn't yet won the Republican nomination, according to a Foreign Ministry official who asked not to be named. The sentiment is shared in France, where President Francois Hollande's administration says that the U.S. election takes a backseat to addressing migrant crisis, the war in Syria and terrorism threats.
Right to Vote
Joel Diaz doesn't want to wait to see how it all turns out. The Mexican-American, who has been a permanent resident of the U.S. for six years, arrived at the Mexican consulate in Chicago on Saturday with his wife and four adult sons to register all of them as U.S. citizens in order to vote against Trump.
"We're very worried," Diaz, 47, an evangelical pastor, said. "If he wins there will be a lot of damage against a lot of people here, and to us as Hispanics, as Mexicans."
Laura Espinosa, deputy consul in Mexico's consulate in Las Vegas, said the main goal of the program is citizenship, and while that includes the right to vote, the government doesn't press people to do so. "Those who use this to vote, that's up to each individual," said Espinosa, who confirmed that most consulates have begun citizenship campaigns. "We don't have any opinion on that, because that would be totally interfering in internal affairs of the country."
The government in Mexico City is holding off on engaging the Trump campaign directly until he becomes the nominee, said Francisco Guzman, chief of staff to Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto. Speaking with reporters on March 1, Guzman said the government plans to communicate with the campaigns of the nominees once they're chosen and try to dispel what it considers misinformation about Mexico and Mexicans.
Campaign Rhetoric
The public-relations offensive now under way includes using news outlets and social media to highlight the strides Mexicans have made in business, the arts and academia in the U.S., said Paulo Carreno, the former spokesman of Citigroup Inc.'s Mexico unit who oversees the country's international branding strategy.
Promoting Mexico in the U.S., from its scholars to artists, is meant "not to influence an election, but a whole generation and those that follow," Carreno said in an e-mailed response to questions. "The strategy will be an important anchor in our consular network in the country."
While Guzman said the administration understands the difference between campaign rhetoric and governing proposals, Pena Nieto this month in an interview with newspaper El Universal compared Trump's rhetoric to that of Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini.
The urgency and their numbers underscore why Mexican-Americans can have an impact.
About 12 million Mexicans live in the U.S. and almost half lack legal status, according to a November study by the Pew Research Center. About 2.7 million legal Mexican permanent residents of the U.S. are eligible to apply to become citizens, according to The New Americans Campaign, a nonpartisan group that helps people access naturalization services.
Ali Noorani, executive director of National Immigration Forum, a non-partisan Washington-based policy group that advocates on behalf of immigrants, said Trump's rhetoric and proposals have spurred interest in registering to vote among Mexican immigrant communities, particularly in Nevada, Colorado and Virginia.
Boosting turnout among immigrant voters could help tip the scale in the election, said Julian Zelizer, a professor of history and public affairs at Princeton University.
"Trump is exactly the kind of Republican who could mobilize legalized immigrant voters and others sympathetic to liberalized immigration policy," Zelizer said in an e-mailed response to questions. "This has been one issue where he has not been very vague and taking an extremely tough and aggressive stance. I suspect that if he was the nominee you could see very high turnout in certain states for Democrats as a result of this issue."
end
AZMEX UPDATE 12-3-16
AZMEX UPDATE 12 MAR 2016
Former Mexican Mayor sentenced to over 21 years in prison for operating Arizona based drug trafficking organization
7 hrs ago 0
On March 7, 2016, Arturo Reyes Trujillo, 43, of Agua Prieta, Sonora, Mexico, was sentenced to 262 months in prison by U.S. District Judge Neil V. Wake.
http://www.douglasdispatch.com/news/former-mexican-mayor-sentenced-to-over-years-in-prison-for/article_a047248c-e7ac-11e5-b59c-bb49ec66d9b5.html
Trujillo was elected municipal president (mayor) in Fronteras, Sonora, Mexico in 2012. He was arrested on Sept. 6, 2012, and previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine and conspiracy to commit money laundering. In total, Trujillo was involved in sending approximately 1,000 kilograms of cocaine throughout the United States and laundered approximately $20 million.
According to the plea agreement, from about Jan. 1, 2003, to July 28, 2007, the defendant (who was then living in Tucson) was the head of the drug trafficking organization that hired a network of individuals to deliver multi-hundred kilogram shipments of cocaine, using passenger cars and tractor-trailer trucks, throughout the United States. The organization also brought back to Arizona millions of dollars in proceeds from cocaine sales. Law enforcement authorities seized over 77 kilograms of cocaine and over $490,000 in drug proceeds.
"The lengthy sentence in this case reflects our office's commitment to aggressively prosecute cross-border drug trafficking," stated Acting U.S. Attorney Elizabeth Strange. "The underlying investigation also exemplifies the fine work that is routinely done by our law enforcement partners on the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force."
"Arturo Reyes Trujillo preyed upon the addiction of American citizens to enrich himself and his friends by selling cocaine and laundering the illegal proceeds gained from these crimes," said DEA Special Agent in Charge Doug Coleman. "His lengthy sentence shows that DEA and our partners will never relent in our mission to protect the American people from the scourge of drug trafficking and abuse, and bring those responsible to face justice in United States court rooms."
"The defendant operated a transnational organized criminal group that was responsible for the laundering of millions of dollars in drug proceeds. IRS-CI is proud to work with the DEA and our other law enforcement partners to dismantle these drug organizations by tracing, disrupting, and seizing the flow of their money," stated IRS-Criminal Investigation Special Agent in Charge Ismael Nevarez Jr.
The investigation in this case was conducted by agencies participating in the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force. The lead agencies were the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation.
END
Ammo stolen from BP vehicle during pursuit
Nogales International Updated Mar 10, 2016 (0)
http://www.nogalesinternational.com/news/ammo-stolen-from-bp-vehicle-during-pursuit/article_c145aa32-e6e4-11e5-a3b3-e7165b9618e3.html
A Border Patrol agent who left a service vehicle unattended Wednesday evening to pursue a group of suspected undocumented border-crossers near Kino Springs returned to discover ammunition and several personal items missing.
Sheriff Antonio Estrada said the theft was reported to his office around 6 p.m., and added that the deputy who investigated the matter did not find any indication that the vehicle was damaged during the break-in, suggesting it may have been unlocked. There was no indication that a firearm was stolen.
Estrada said agents eventually recovered some of the personal items taken from the vehicle, but not the ammo. He had not heard reports that any arrests were made.
"This is not something that happens on a regular basis," Estrada said of the incident.
END
Former Mexican Mayor sentenced to over 21 years in prison for operating Arizona based drug trafficking organization
7 hrs ago 0
On March 7, 2016, Arturo Reyes Trujillo, 43, of Agua Prieta, Sonora, Mexico, was sentenced to 262 months in prison by U.S. District Judge Neil V. Wake.
http://www.douglasdispatch.com/news/former-mexican-mayor-sentenced-to-over-years-in-prison-for/article_a047248c-e7ac-11e5-b59c-bb49ec66d9b5.html
Trujillo was elected municipal president (mayor) in Fronteras, Sonora, Mexico in 2012. He was arrested on Sept. 6, 2012, and previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine and conspiracy to commit money laundering. In total, Trujillo was involved in sending approximately 1,000 kilograms of cocaine throughout the United States and laundered approximately $20 million.
According to the plea agreement, from about Jan. 1, 2003, to July 28, 2007, the defendant (who was then living in Tucson) was the head of the drug trafficking organization that hired a network of individuals to deliver multi-hundred kilogram shipments of cocaine, using passenger cars and tractor-trailer trucks, throughout the United States. The organization also brought back to Arizona millions of dollars in proceeds from cocaine sales. Law enforcement authorities seized over 77 kilograms of cocaine and over $490,000 in drug proceeds.
"The lengthy sentence in this case reflects our office's commitment to aggressively prosecute cross-border drug trafficking," stated Acting U.S. Attorney Elizabeth Strange. "The underlying investigation also exemplifies the fine work that is routinely done by our law enforcement partners on the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force."
"Arturo Reyes Trujillo preyed upon the addiction of American citizens to enrich himself and his friends by selling cocaine and laundering the illegal proceeds gained from these crimes," said DEA Special Agent in Charge Doug Coleman. "His lengthy sentence shows that DEA and our partners will never relent in our mission to protect the American people from the scourge of drug trafficking and abuse, and bring those responsible to face justice in United States court rooms."
"The defendant operated a transnational organized criminal group that was responsible for the laundering of millions of dollars in drug proceeds. IRS-CI is proud to work with the DEA and our other law enforcement partners to dismantle these drug organizations by tracing, disrupting, and seizing the flow of their money," stated IRS-Criminal Investigation Special Agent in Charge Ismael Nevarez Jr.
The investigation in this case was conducted by agencies participating in the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force. The lead agencies were the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation.
END
Ammo stolen from BP vehicle during pursuit
Nogales International Updated Mar 10, 2016 (0)
http://www.nogalesinternational.com/news/ammo-stolen-from-bp-vehicle-during-pursuit/article_c145aa32-e6e4-11e5-a3b3-e7165b9618e3.html
A Border Patrol agent who left a service vehicle unattended Wednesday evening to pursue a group of suspected undocumented border-crossers near Kino Springs returned to discover ammunition and several personal items missing.
Sheriff Antonio Estrada said the theft was reported to his office around 6 p.m., and added that the deputy who investigated the matter did not find any indication that the vehicle was damaged during the break-in, suggesting it may have been unlocked. There was no indication that a firearm was stolen.
Estrada said agents eventually recovered some of the personal items taken from the vehicle, but not the ammo. He had not heard reports that any arrests were made.
"This is not something that happens on a regular basis," Estrada said of the incident.
END
Thursday, March 17, 2016
AZMEX SPECIAL 17-3-16
AZMEX SPECIAL 17 MAR 2016
Note: news to many of us who actually live here.
Updated 38 minutes ago.
Hillary Clinton: US has done a 'really good job' securing Arizona-Mexico border
KTAR.COM | March 17, 2016 @ 10:45 am
http://ktar.com/story/967243/hillary-clinton-us-has-done-a-really-good-job-securing-arizona-mexico-border/
Exclusive: Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton speaks with KTAR News
Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton spoke with KTAR's Lauren Grifo days before the Arizona primary.
Listen:
Exclusive: Presidential candidate Hillary...
PHOENIX — The United States has done a "really good job" of securing the border between Arizona and Mexico, Democratic presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton said in an exclusive interview Thursday.
"I think we've done a really good job securing the border," she said. "I think that those who say we haven't are not paying attention to what was done the last 15 years under President (George W.) Bush and President (Barack) Obama."
Clinton said the federal government has added both border officers and obstructions, while the number of people attempting to cross the border has dropped.
"Immigration from Mexico has dropped considerably," she said. "It's just not happening anymore."
Clinton, the Democratic front-runner, was speaking just days before a campaign event in Phoenix.
She said Arizona has some challenges to overcome. While she would like to work toward comprehensive immigration reform, she said there are more pressing issues in the state.
"I think the No. 1 issue is getting the economy growing again with more good jobs and rising incomes," she said. "I think that goes hand in hand with good education and good health care."
The former secretary of state also touched on gun control. Clinton said she would like to see comprehensive background checks and the closure of several loopholes that allow firearms to fall into the wrong hands.
"We've also got to crack down on reckless and negligent behavior by makers and sellers," she said, adding that there is no reason the industry should not be held accountable.
Clinton will face off against political rival Bernie Sanders in the March 22 Arizona presidential preference election.
end
Note: news to many of us who actually live here.
Updated 38 minutes ago.
Hillary Clinton: US has done a 'really good job' securing Arizona-Mexico border
KTAR.COM | March 17, 2016 @ 10:45 am
http://ktar.com/story/967243/hillary-clinton-us-has-done-a-really-good-job-securing-arizona-mexico-border/
Exclusive: Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton speaks with KTAR News
Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton spoke with KTAR's Lauren Grifo days before the Arizona primary.
Listen:
Exclusive: Presidential candidate Hillary...
PHOENIX — The United States has done a "really good job" of securing the border between Arizona and Mexico, Democratic presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton said in an exclusive interview Thursday.
"I think we've done a really good job securing the border," she said. "I think that those who say we haven't are not paying attention to what was done the last 15 years under President (George W.) Bush and President (Barack) Obama."
Clinton said the federal government has added both border officers and obstructions, while the number of people attempting to cross the border has dropped.
"Immigration from Mexico has dropped considerably," she said. "It's just not happening anymore."
Clinton, the Democratic front-runner, was speaking just days before a campaign event in Phoenix.
She said Arizona has some challenges to overcome. While she would like to work toward comprehensive immigration reform, she said there are more pressing issues in the state.
"I think the No. 1 issue is getting the economy growing again with more good jobs and rising incomes," she said. "I think that goes hand in hand with good education and good health care."
The former secretary of state also touched on gun control. Clinton said she would like to see comprehensive background checks and the closure of several loopholes that allow firearms to fall into the wrong hands.
"We've also got to crack down on reckless and negligent behavior by makers and sellers," she said, adding that there is no reason the industry should not be held accountable.
Clinton will face off against political rival Bernie Sanders in the March 22 Arizona presidential preference election.
end
Wednesday, March 16, 2016
AZMEX F&F EXTRA2 16-3-16
AZMEX F&F EXTRA2 16 MAR 2016
Comment: Mexican Lives Don't Matter?
Not, it would seem, to the Obama regime. Nor, it would also seem, to many of the "Hispanic / Latino" "activists".
No one behind the bloody scheme has been brought to justice.
Fast & Furious guns tracked to police killings, 'El Chapo' hideout, ATF confirms
Published March 16, 2016Fox News Latino
FF Guns Chapo.jpg
http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/news/2016/03/16/fast-furious-guns-tracked-to-police-killings-el-chapo-hideout-atf-confirms/?intcmp=hplnws
The weapons from a botched U.S. firearms investigation are cropping up in anti-cartel operations in Mexico, a Justice Department summary issued Tuesday confirmed.
According to a report compiled for two Republican congressional committee chairmen, a WASR-10 rifle purchased six years before in the U.S. as part of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives' (ATF) Operation Fast and Furious was one of three rifles used in a July 27 attack in the town of Valle de Zaragoza that left three Mexican police officers dead.
Another weapon tied to the operation was uncovered in the hideout where Sinaloa Cartel drug leader, Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán Loera, was arrested in January.
"[The ATF] and the [Justice] Department deeply regret that firearms associated with Operation Fast and Furious have been used by criminals in the commission of violent crimes, particularly crimes resulting the death of civilians and law enforcement officers," assistant attorney general Peter Kadzik said in a Tuesday letter to Senate Judiciary Committee chairman Charles Grassley of Iowa and House Oversight and Government Reform chairman Jason Chaffetz of Utah, according to USA Today.
The letter continued: "ATF accepts full responsibility for the flawed execution of Fast and Furious, and will continue to support Mexican law enforcement in efforts to recover and identify associated firearms."
The department confirmed to Congress that a .50-caliber rifle recovered after El Chapo's arrest in Los Mochis, Mexico, has been traced back to Fast and Furious.
Officials say the weapon was one of 19 firearms recovered from the hideout and was the only one found to be connected. It was bought in 2010 by someone not known to ATF at the time.
Fast and Furious was a botched 2006-2011 operation in which the ATF allowed hundreds of guns to be sold to Mexican drug traffickers in the hope the weapons would lead them to cartel kingpins.
The guns, however, started to turn up at murder scenes along the Arizona-Mexico border, including at the 2010 killing of U.S. Border Patrol agent Brian Terry.
The Justice Department summary comes only a few months after a third gun tied to Fast and Furious was used during a gunfight that took place between Mexican officials and suspected cartel gunmen at a seaside Mexican resort in Puerto Peñasco.
According to the Justice Department, 885 firearms purchased by targets of the ATF operation have been recovered as of January, with 415 being found in the U.S. and 470 that "appear to have been recovered in Mexico."
end
Comment: Mexican Lives Don't Matter?
Not, it would seem, to the Obama regime. Nor, it would also seem, to many of the "Hispanic / Latino" "activists".
No one behind the bloody scheme has been brought to justice.
Fast & Furious guns tracked to police killings, 'El Chapo' hideout, ATF confirms
Published March 16, 2016Fox News Latino
FF Guns Chapo.jpg
http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/news/2016/03/16/fast-furious-guns-tracked-to-police-killings-el-chapo-hideout-atf-confirms/?intcmp=hplnws
The weapons from a botched U.S. firearms investigation are cropping up in anti-cartel operations in Mexico, a Justice Department summary issued Tuesday confirmed.
According to a report compiled for two Republican congressional committee chairmen, a WASR-10 rifle purchased six years before in the U.S. as part of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives' (ATF) Operation Fast and Furious was one of three rifles used in a July 27 attack in the town of Valle de Zaragoza that left three Mexican police officers dead.
Another weapon tied to the operation was uncovered in the hideout where Sinaloa Cartel drug leader, Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán Loera, was arrested in January.
"[The ATF] and the [Justice] Department deeply regret that firearms associated with Operation Fast and Furious have been used by criminals in the commission of violent crimes, particularly crimes resulting the death of civilians and law enforcement officers," assistant attorney general Peter Kadzik said in a Tuesday letter to Senate Judiciary Committee chairman Charles Grassley of Iowa and House Oversight and Government Reform chairman Jason Chaffetz of Utah, according to USA Today.
The letter continued: "ATF accepts full responsibility for the flawed execution of Fast and Furious, and will continue to support Mexican law enforcement in efforts to recover and identify associated firearms."
The department confirmed to Congress that a .50-caliber rifle recovered after El Chapo's arrest in Los Mochis, Mexico, has been traced back to Fast and Furious.
Officials say the weapon was one of 19 firearms recovered from the hideout and was the only one found to be connected. It was bought in 2010 by someone not known to ATF at the time.
Fast and Furious was a botched 2006-2011 operation in which the ATF allowed hundreds of guns to be sold to Mexican drug traffickers in the hope the weapons would lead them to cartel kingpins.
The guns, however, started to turn up at murder scenes along the Arizona-Mexico border, including at the 2010 killing of U.S. Border Patrol agent Brian Terry.
The Justice Department summary comes only a few months after a third gun tied to Fast and Furious was used during a gunfight that took place between Mexican officials and suspected cartel gunmen at a seaside Mexican resort in Puerto Peñasco.
According to the Justice Department, 885 firearms purchased by targets of the ATF operation have been recovered as of January, with 415 being found in the U.S. and 470 that "appear to have been recovered in Mexico."
end
AZMEX F&F EXTRA 16-3-16
AZMEX F&F EXTRA 16 MAR 2016
Note: a update on earlier info from couple weeks ago. Buying a .50 rifle easily runs into four figures.
US: Rifle found at El Chapo hideout tied to Fast and Furious
Wednesday, March 16th 2016, 7:02 am MST
Wednesday, March 16th 2016, 8:37 am MST
By ERIC TUCKER and ALICIA A. CALDWELL
Associated Press
http://www.tucsonnewsnow.com/story/31483699/us-rifle-found-at-el-chapo-hideout-tied-to-fast-and-furious
WASHINGTON (AP) - One of the guns that Mexican officials say was found at the hideout of drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman Loera has been found to be associated with Fast and Furious, a failed "gun-walking" operation, according to the Justice Department.
The department said in a letter to members of Congress that a .50-caliber rifle that Mexican officials sent for tracing after Guzman's arrest in January has been connected to Fast and Furious.
Officials say the weapon was one of 19 firearms that Mexican authorities said was recovered from the hideout and was the only one determined to be associated with the botched sting operation, in which the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives allowed gun-runners to buy weapons in hopes of tracking them and disrupting gun smuggling rungs.
The rifle was bought in July 2010 in a straw purchase by someone not known to ATF at the time. The buyer was later identified and came under investigation but was never indicted. The weapon is not known to be associated with any other crime, the Justice Department says.
As of January, the ATF said it had recovered 885 firearms purchased by targets of Operation Fast and Furious. Several of those have been linked to violent crimes, including a 2010 firefight near the Mexican border during which Border Patrol agent Brian Terry was killed.
"ATF and the department deeply regret that firearms associated with Operation Fast and Furious have been used by criminals in the commission of violent crimes, particularly crimes resulting in the deaths of civilians and law enforcement officials," Assistant Attorney General Peter Kadzik, head of the Justice Department's legislative affairs office, wrote in a March 15 letter to congressional leaders.
After escaping from a Mexican prison last year, Guzman was recaptured in January in the western state of Sinaloa after fleeing a safe house through a storm sewer.
Mexican officials initially submitted eight rifles for tracing that they said were recovered from the home in Sinaloa where Guzman was captured. None of those weapons were found to be linked to Fast and Furious, the Justice Department said.
Later, Mexican officials requested a trace on an additional 11 rifles they said had also been seized from the home, but unlike the others, had been sent to Mexico City prior to submission for tracing.
END
Note: a update on earlier info from couple weeks ago. Buying a .50 rifle easily runs into four figures.
US: Rifle found at El Chapo hideout tied to Fast and Furious
Wednesday, March 16th 2016, 7:02 am MST
Wednesday, March 16th 2016, 8:37 am MST
By ERIC TUCKER and ALICIA A. CALDWELL
Associated Press
http://www.tucsonnewsnow.com/story/31483699/us-rifle-found-at-el-chapo-hideout-tied-to-fast-and-furious
WASHINGTON (AP) - One of the guns that Mexican officials say was found at the hideout of drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman Loera has been found to be associated with Fast and Furious, a failed "gun-walking" operation, according to the Justice Department.
The department said in a letter to members of Congress that a .50-caliber rifle that Mexican officials sent for tracing after Guzman's arrest in January has been connected to Fast and Furious.
Officials say the weapon was one of 19 firearms that Mexican authorities said was recovered from the hideout and was the only one determined to be associated with the botched sting operation, in which the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives allowed gun-runners to buy weapons in hopes of tracking them and disrupting gun smuggling rungs.
The rifle was bought in July 2010 in a straw purchase by someone not known to ATF at the time. The buyer was later identified and came under investigation but was never indicted. The weapon is not known to be associated with any other crime, the Justice Department says.
As of January, the ATF said it had recovered 885 firearms purchased by targets of Operation Fast and Furious. Several of those have been linked to violent crimes, including a 2010 firefight near the Mexican border during which Border Patrol agent Brian Terry was killed.
"ATF and the department deeply regret that firearms associated with Operation Fast and Furious have been used by criminals in the commission of violent crimes, particularly crimes resulting in the deaths of civilians and law enforcement officials," Assistant Attorney General Peter Kadzik, head of the Justice Department's legislative affairs office, wrote in a March 15 letter to congressional leaders.
After escaping from a Mexican prison last year, Guzman was recaptured in January in the western state of Sinaloa after fleeing a safe house through a storm sewer.
Mexican officials initially submitted eight rifles for tracing that they said were recovered from the home in Sinaloa where Guzman was captured. None of those weapons were found to be linked to Fast and Furious, the Justice Department said.
Later, Mexican officials requested a trace on an additional 11 rifles they said had also been seized from the home, but unlike the others, had been sent to Mexico City prior to submission for tracing.
END
Monday, March 14, 2016
AZMEX SPECIAL 12-3-16
AZMEX SPECIAL 12 MAR 2016
Border residents want Washington to listen
Ainslee S. Wittig ainslee.wittig@willcoxrangenews.com 17 hrs ago 0
Changes needed on border
Ainslee S. Wittig ainslee.wittig@willcoxrangenews.com
http://www.willcoxrangenews.com/news/article_2c4455aa-e7d9-11e5-b330-1f29837c1d02.html
"We have experienced a tragedy that has changed our lives and the history of our families forever. Secure the border for my family and your family and our community and our country. We are demanding the right to live free and safe on our own land and in our own homes," Sue Krentz tells those at the Animas School Auditorium for a meeting regarding border security Thursday.
Resounding advice from packed meeting: Put Border Patrol on the Border
More than 500 people attended a meeting Thursday evening in tiny Animas, N.M., located about 45 miles from the border of New and old Mexico. Among them were citizens concerned about the lack of safety and security living near the border and federal and state government and elected officials, looking to learn about their issues.
To sum up the problems the area faces, a video noted that in 2015, 1.6 million pounds of marijuana and cocaine were seized by U.S. Border Patrol. There were 17,500 agents in the Southwest area. About 331,000 Mexican citizens and 143,000 international (other than Mexican) citizens were apprehended.
Sue Krentz and her son, Frank Krentz, who live on the Krentz Ranch East of Douglas since1977, spoke on the murder of their husband/father Rob Krentz.
Rob was killed March 27, 2010 by an illegal immigrant who was crossing his ranch. Rob was out checking a motor on the ranch, saw someone and went to see if he could help him in any way, Sue said.
"Fifteen-hundred people have been killed by illegal immigrants since Rob was killed," she said. "My message is we need to secure the border. We don't need to create new laws, we need to enforce the ones we have."
Frank explained that her family used to help groups of immigrants crossing their ranch.
"We approached them as Christians, even after we had our house broken into, out vehicles and things stolen, our waterline broken. But after losing my father, all that has changed. We don't put ourselves in situations where we risk getting hurt."
Sue said, "We are now witnessing brutal mob behavior and many have no intent to assimilate into the community. When we asked for better security on the border, were told security is not to be expected.
"Families on the border – our lives are expendable," she said.
"This is a problem that needs more attention than what is given to it," Frank added.
Lawrence Hurt, a longtime rancher at Hurt Cattle Co. on the New Mexico border with Mexico, said he has "ranched here for 32-plus years and had 200 head of cattle stolen and taken across the border, his house broken into, guns stolen and his brother has been accosted by Mexican police. He wasn't killed, but we've seen the very real possibility."
"We used to see a lot of immigrants looking for a job and we'd give them food and water. But now we keep our distance. Drugs seem to be increasing and there's regular foot traffic and a lot of damage to our ranch.
"Border Patrol does a good job, but need to work more closely with us. They need to be on the border, not 15 to 20 miles inside trying to catch them after they're already in. If we stop them on the line, there are less incidents," he said to the crowd's applause.
Hurt also asked for residents to be notified by Border Patrol when there are incidents with illegal immigrants, as "it exposes our homes when a person is desperate to get away."
Dr. Gary Thrasher, a large animal veterinarian who has provided veterinary services and herd health management services to ranches in Arizona, New Mexico, and West Texas since 1973, spoke on animal health and border relations.
"Border Patrol needs to be on the international boundary, not in the 60 miles trip north of it. There are dozens of diseases that could enter the country and ruin our economy. We've seen Bovine TB transmitted between people and livestock and we had dairies (near the border) that have had to depopulate, sit for several years and repopulate, in order to eradicate the disease," Thrasher said.
"These baby calves are primarily raised by migrants. And we couldn't test these people for TB because it would be discrimination. It (and all the other diseases that can come across the border) is a concern for me and a lot of the country. What's even more concerning is (someone) trying to destroy our economy (by introducing disease). We need to get back to where immigrants come through an open door and we can protect ourselves and our country."
He gave the example of Hoof and Mouth Disease which destroyed the British economy in the 1990s, when an ethnic sausage meal at from Eastern Europe was infected at a restaurant, and "the leftovers were thrown to the hogs to eat. I spread from there. I cost them $20 billion in a year. That's how simple it can be."
Thrasher also said that in 1981 in Arizona, four border (horseback) riders "secured the border better than any other (option)" in border areas away from cities and towns.
Tricia Elbrock spoke on the border's economic impact for are businesses. Elbrock's family owns a water system and septic service company that serves ranchers, farmers and home owners and a mercantile that supples feed and materials in Luna and Hidalgo counties in New Mexico and Cochise County in Arizona.
"We have 20 employees. On Dec. 7, one of our employees was kidnapped by illegal immigrants," she said.
At the time it was reported by the Cochise County Sheriff's Office that a ranch hand from the Animas area was on his employer's ranch when he observed a parked vehicle with two men inside. The ranch hand reported that he stopped to see what was going on, when the men said their vehicle was broken down and they then forced him to drive them to Willcox in his vehicle. The ranch hand was let go in Willcox and told not to report the incident.
Elbrock said, "OSHA says we are to provide a safe environment for our employees. But how can we do that here? In a radio interview, they told me that Sen. Martin Heinrich (NM) thinks the border is safe. I invite him to visit the border and see what happens here."
She added that due to the kidnapping, the business lost the truck and $10,000 worth of tools that were dumped, and will likely face higher workman's comp costs and insurance premiums.
"If the border is not secured, we'll be out of business. And it's not just our problem – it's everybody's problem. Property values will drop, our borrowing power will drop and farmers and ranchers won't be able to sell their property," she said.
"So go to your elected officials and see if they think the border is secure. (If they do) then vote for someone else!" Elbrock said. "We don't need sensors – it takes too long to respond. We need to double the horse patrol and patrol with helicopters and hound dogs to root them out. This is a war on drugs – put the military out there. And work together with Border Patrol and the state police."
After the meeting, Sue Krentz showed a T-shirt she had, that was covered with names and dates of people killed by illegal immigrants.
"Let's never have more names on a Stolen Lives Quilt or the back of a T-shirt. Stop this invasion!" she said.
Solutions from the border residents
• More agents on the border
• Address federal budget cuts – while parts of border security are cut, endangered species are budgeted for a $54 million increase, up from $7 million.
• Congress act within its power with the Posse Comitatus Act of 1878
• Use Playas, N.M. facility (owned by N.M. Tech) for a BP family hub
• Use Roosevelt Easement 60 feet along the border for safety use
END
6 suspects arrested; ton of marijuana seized
El Paso Times 7:17 p.m. MST March 11, 2016
marijuana packs
http://www.elpasotimes.com/story/news/local/new-mexico/2016/03/11/6-suspects-arrested-ton-marijuana-seized/81672482/
U.S. Border Patrol agents seized a ton of marijuana this week after spotting 15 men carrying large backpacks in the desert in Southern New Mexico, officials said.
At about 10 p.m. Tuesday, agents using night-vision equipment saw the group hiking north of the border near Antelope Wells in the Bootheel of New Mexico, Border Patrol officials said in a news release.
After following the group's tracks for three hours, agents arrested six men carrying packs, officials said. Drug-sniffing dogs found another 30 packages hidden in the desert. Agents determined that the other nine smugglers had retreated to Mexico.
The Border Patrol said that the marijuana had a total weight of 2,442 pounds with an estimated street value of nearly $2 million.
In a separate case Monday near Santa Teresa, agents arrested a man wanted on a sexual assault of a child charge out of Fort Collins, Colo. Jose Antonio Garcia Espinoza, 23, of Mexico, was one of four undocumented immigrants arrested in mountainous terrain. Garcia is at an Otero County prison awaiting extradition to Colorado.
— Daniel Borunda
Border residents want Washington to listen
Ainslee S. Wittig ainslee.wittig@willcoxrangenews.com 17 hrs ago 0
Changes needed on border
Ainslee S. Wittig ainslee.wittig@willcoxrangenews.com
http://www.willcoxrangenews.com/news/article_2c4455aa-e7d9-11e5-b330-1f29837c1d02.html
"We have experienced a tragedy that has changed our lives and the history of our families forever. Secure the border for my family and your family and our community and our country. We are demanding the right to live free and safe on our own land and in our own homes," Sue Krentz tells those at the Animas School Auditorium for a meeting regarding border security Thursday.
Resounding advice from packed meeting: Put Border Patrol on the Border
More than 500 people attended a meeting Thursday evening in tiny Animas, N.M., located about 45 miles from the border of New and old Mexico. Among them were citizens concerned about the lack of safety and security living near the border and federal and state government and elected officials, looking to learn about their issues.
To sum up the problems the area faces, a video noted that in 2015, 1.6 million pounds of marijuana and cocaine were seized by U.S. Border Patrol. There were 17,500 agents in the Southwest area. About 331,000 Mexican citizens and 143,000 international (other than Mexican) citizens were apprehended.
Sue Krentz and her son, Frank Krentz, who live on the Krentz Ranch East of Douglas since1977, spoke on the murder of their husband/father Rob Krentz.
Rob was killed March 27, 2010 by an illegal immigrant who was crossing his ranch. Rob was out checking a motor on the ranch, saw someone and went to see if he could help him in any way, Sue said.
"Fifteen-hundred people have been killed by illegal immigrants since Rob was killed," she said. "My message is we need to secure the border. We don't need to create new laws, we need to enforce the ones we have."
Frank explained that her family used to help groups of immigrants crossing their ranch.
"We approached them as Christians, even after we had our house broken into, out vehicles and things stolen, our waterline broken. But after losing my father, all that has changed. We don't put ourselves in situations where we risk getting hurt."
Sue said, "We are now witnessing brutal mob behavior and many have no intent to assimilate into the community. When we asked for better security on the border, were told security is not to be expected.
"Families on the border – our lives are expendable," she said.
"This is a problem that needs more attention than what is given to it," Frank added.
Lawrence Hurt, a longtime rancher at Hurt Cattle Co. on the New Mexico border with Mexico, said he has "ranched here for 32-plus years and had 200 head of cattle stolen and taken across the border, his house broken into, guns stolen and his brother has been accosted by Mexican police. He wasn't killed, but we've seen the very real possibility."
"We used to see a lot of immigrants looking for a job and we'd give them food and water. But now we keep our distance. Drugs seem to be increasing and there's regular foot traffic and a lot of damage to our ranch.
"Border Patrol does a good job, but need to work more closely with us. They need to be on the border, not 15 to 20 miles inside trying to catch them after they're already in. If we stop them on the line, there are less incidents," he said to the crowd's applause.
Hurt also asked for residents to be notified by Border Patrol when there are incidents with illegal immigrants, as "it exposes our homes when a person is desperate to get away."
Dr. Gary Thrasher, a large animal veterinarian who has provided veterinary services and herd health management services to ranches in Arizona, New Mexico, and West Texas since 1973, spoke on animal health and border relations.
"Border Patrol needs to be on the international boundary, not in the 60 miles trip north of it. There are dozens of diseases that could enter the country and ruin our economy. We've seen Bovine TB transmitted between people and livestock and we had dairies (near the border) that have had to depopulate, sit for several years and repopulate, in order to eradicate the disease," Thrasher said.
"These baby calves are primarily raised by migrants. And we couldn't test these people for TB because it would be discrimination. It (and all the other diseases that can come across the border) is a concern for me and a lot of the country. What's even more concerning is (someone) trying to destroy our economy (by introducing disease). We need to get back to where immigrants come through an open door and we can protect ourselves and our country."
He gave the example of Hoof and Mouth Disease which destroyed the British economy in the 1990s, when an ethnic sausage meal at from Eastern Europe was infected at a restaurant, and "the leftovers were thrown to the hogs to eat. I spread from there. I cost them $20 billion in a year. That's how simple it can be."
Thrasher also said that in 1981 in Arizona, four border (horseback) riders "secured the border better than any other (option)" in border areas away from cities and towns.
Tricia Elbrock spoke on the border's economic impact for are businesses. Elbrock's family owns a water system and septic service company that serves ranchers, farmers and home owners and a mercantile that supples feed and materials in Luna and Hidalgo counties in New Mexico and Cochise County in Arizona.
"We have 20 employees. On Dec. 7, one of our employees was kidnapped by illegal immigrants," she said.
At the time it was reported by the Cochise County Sheriff's Office that a ranch hand from the Animas area was on his employer's ranch when he observed a parked vehicle with two men inside. The ranch hand reported that he stopped to see what was going on, when the men said their vehicle was broken down and they then forced him to drive them to Willcox in his vehicle. The ranch hand was let go in Willcox and told not to report the incident.
Elbrock said, "OSHA says we are to provide a safe environment for our employees. But how can we do that here? In a radio interview, they told me that Sen. Martin Heinrich (NM) thinks the border is safe. I invite him to visit the border and see what happens here."
She added that due to the kidnapping, the business lost the truck and $10,000 worth of tools that were dumped, and will likely face higher workman's comp costs and insurance premiums.
"If the border is not secured, we'll be out of business. And it's not just our problem – it's everybody's problem. Property values will drop, our borrowing power will drop and farmers and ranchers won't be able to sell their property," she said.
"So go to your elected officials and see if they think the border is secure. (If they do) then vote for someone else!" Elbrock said. "We don't need sensors – it takes too long to respond. We need to double the horse patrol and patrol with helicopters and hound dogs to root them out. This is a war on drugs – put the military out there. And work together with Border Patrol and the state police."
After the meeting, Sue Krentz showed a T-shirt she had, that was covered with names and dates of people killed by illegal immigrants.
"Let's never have more names on a Stolen Lives Quilt or the back of a T-shirt. Stop this invasion!" she said.
Solutions from the border residents
• More agents on the border
• Address federal budget cuts – while parts of border security are cut, endangered species are budgeted for a $54 million increase, up from $7 million.
• Congress act within its power with the Posse Comitatus Act of 1878
• Use Playas, N.M. facility (owned by N.M. Tech) for a BP family hub
• Use Roosevelt Easement 60 feet along the border for safety use
END
6 suspects arrested; ton of marijuana seized
El Paso Times 7:17 p.m. MST March 11, 2016
marijuana packs
http://www.elpasotimes.com/story/news/local/new-mexico/2016/03/11/6-suspects-arrested-ton-marijuana-seized/81672482/
U.S. Border Patrol agents seized a ton of marijuana this week after spotting 15 men carrying large backpacks in the desert in Southern New Mexico, officials said.
At about 10 p.m. Tuesday, agents using night-vision equipment saw the group hiking north of the border near Antelope Wells in the Bootheel of New Mexico, Border Patrol officials said in a news release.
After following the group's tracks for three hours, agents arrested six men carrying packs, officials said. Drug-sniffing dogs found another 30 packages hidden in the desert. Agents determined that the other nine smugglers had retreated to Mexico.
The Border Patrol said that the marijuana had a total weight of 2,442 pounds with an estimated street value of nearly $2 million.
In a separate case Monday near Santa Teresa, agents arrested a man wanted on a sexual assault of a child charge out of Fort Collins, Colo. Jose Antonio Garcia Espinoza, 23, of Mexico, was one of four undocumented immigrants arrested in mountainous terrain. Garcia is at an Otero County prison awaiting extradition to Colorado.
— Daniel Borunda
AZMEX UPDATE 9-3-16
AZMEX UPDATE 9 MAR 2016
Note: videos at links.
Posted: Mar 08, 2016 6:30 PM MST
Updated: Mar 08, 2016 6:32 PM MST
BP Union leaders, Pinal Co. Sheriff takes a stance on illegal border crossing
Written By Lauren Reimer
http://www.kvoa.com/story/31420591/bp-union-leaders-pinal-co-sheriff-takes-a-stance-on-illegal-border-crossing
Also:
http://www.cbs5az.com/clip/12271233/local-federal-law-enforcement-agencies-blast-obama-administration
PINAL COUNTY -
An Arizona sheriff and a few leaders from the Border Patrol Union held a news conference Tuesday, saying border security is worse than you think. They say agents are not being assigned to high-traffic areas in a calculated effort to mislead you.
The Pinal County Sheriff's Office says drug and human smuggling routes reach far into Arizona. They say it is not just at the border, but as far north as Casa Grande and beyond. The department says those known paths could be better staffed.
A Casa Grande mobile home was once a stopping point for a major human and drug smuggling operation. It was shut down by law enforcement in 2011.
Neighbor Andrew Poor watched it happen. "They brought a lot of people out of that house," said Poor
Neighbors were unaware of the problem before law enforcement came to break it up.
"There was a lot of cops and a lot of noise over there," Poor said.
Often a politically charged topic, PCSO offered its take on illegal border crossing Tuesday morning. It says its encounters with smugglers have gone up in the last few weeks.
"Every time you have a pursuit on one of the county roads, the whole public is put at risk," said PCSO Chief Deputy Steve Henry. "More often than not, they crash and then we're left to pick up the pieces."
Anyone caught is turned over to border patrol.
There, National Border Patrol Labor Council President Brandon Judd says the practice of so-called 'catch and release' of detainees is alive and well.
"It's to manipulates numbers. It's to show that if we don't have many arrests, there aren't many people crossing," said Judd.
The Department of Homeland Security said last month, it prioritizes people who are detained because of financial constraints. Those who have no prior criminal record and are families traveling with children are not high on the list for removal.
This is sparking a nerve with the Sheriff Paul Babeu.
"Consequences Enforcing the law. That's what it's going to take," said Babeu.
Heh Johnson, Secretary of Homeland Security, was at Capitol Hill on Tuesday. He talked about developing better ways to measure border security and asked for 1.6 percent pay raises for DHS employees.
end
Local sheriffs and National Border Patrol Council say government is misleading Americans
Keaton Thomas
6:33 PM, Mar 8, 2016
6:35 PM, Mar 8, 2016
Autoplay:X
310 Pounds Of Marijuana Seized In Traffic Stop
http://www.kgun9.com/news/local-news/local-sheriffs-and-national-border-patrol-council-say-government-is-misleading-americans?autoplay=true
FLORENCE, Ariz. (KGUN9-TV) - No new agents, agents not assigned to high-trafficked areas, and misleading numbers are all concerns for Sheriff Paul Babeu and Brandon Judd, president of the National Border Patrol Council.
According to the Department of Homeland Security, from 2000 to 2015 the number of apprehensions of illegal immigrants on the southern border went down from 1.6 million to about 330,000. Judd says the administration claims if that low numbers mean a safer border, but agents say otherwise.
"The administration and [Gil Kerlikowske, commissioner of Customs and Border Protection] have engaged in a campaign to mislead the American people to believe our border is secure. He has manipulated the data, had agents assigned to low-trafficked areas, and attempted to quiet dissent by calling those who question his approach as misinformed without offering any evidence to support his allegations," said Judd.
Chris Cabrera is an agent in the Rio Grande Valley and says he and fellow agents are kept in lower-trafficked areas of the border.
"Our agents are not assigned to some of those [high-traffic] areas, and they are told to stay in the areas they are assigned," said Cabrera.
He added that if they were to patrol a different area, it would go against orders. Cabrera says he had a former boss who told him "if nobody is there to see them, did they really cross?"
Agents say apprehensions would increase if they patrolled high-traffic areas.
Babeu and Judd also raised concerned over consequences for illegal immigrants when they are arrested. Babeu says, if a Pinal County deputy arrests an illegal immigrant, the county will prosecute for state crimes and then pass them to Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Federally, each time an illegal immigrant is arrested a border patrol agent is supposed to give them a Notice to Appear (NTA). A large portion of those individuals are released and never show up before a judge for the deportation hearing. Now agents release the person without an NTA unless the individual has a previous criminal record according to Judd. Border Patrol will not have a record of the arrest if an NTA is not handed out, Judd says.
"Under the current administration the mission of the border patrol has been altered to meet the amnesty and open border policy being pushed," he said.
Agents say Kerlikowske told them if they did not agree with it's current policy then they could quit. Judd says some agents have already done so, meanwhile they struggle to hire new ones.
"We have agents leaving every day, we can't hire fast enough to handle the attrition," he said.
Nine On Your Side reached out to Customs and Border Protection for comment but they have not yet responded.
Sheriff Babeu is sending a formal letter to the legislature to investigate.
end
Posted: Mar 09, 2016 3:17 PM MST
Updated: Mar 09, 2016 3:17 PM MST
Ex-Mexican mayor sentenced in Arizona drug trafficking case
Written By Associated Press
http://www.kvoa.com/story/31429582/ex-mexican-mayor-sentenced-in-arizona-drug-trafficking-case
PHOENIX (AP) - The former mayor of a small Mexican town has been sentenced to more than 21 years in prison for operating an Arizona-based drug trafficking organization.
Federal prosecutors say 43-year-old Arturo Reyes Trujillo received a 262-month prison term in U.S. District Court in Phoenix.
Trujillo was the incoming mayor of Fronteras in the Mexican state of Sonora and scheduled to take office in September 2012 when he was arrested.
He pleaded guilty to conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine and conspiracy to commit money laundering.
Prosecutors say Trujillo was involved in sending about 1,000 kilograms of cocaine throughout the U.S. and laundered some $20 million.
They say Trujillo was living in Tucson when he was the head of the drug trafficking organization from January 2003 to July 2007.
end
Cruzan más mujeres ilegales por esta frontera
Detalles Publicado el Martes 08 de marzo de 2016,
Escrito por Redacción / El Diario
http://www.eldiariodesonora.com.mx/notas.php?nota=68059
Al celebrarse este martes el Día Internacional de la Mujer, en México, la violencia contra el género, la falta de oportunidades laborales y los bajos salarios que predominan en el sur del país, ha obligado a miles de mujeres mexicanas a intentar cruzar la frontera en búsqueda de mejores destinos de vida en recientes meses.
Para el fundador y propietario del albergue para migrantes "San Juan Bosco" en Nogales, Francisco Loureiro Herrera, estas problemáticas sociales han obligado a mas féminas a dejar su país de origen y arriesgarse a buscar mejor suerte.
"Ha aumentado el flujo de mujeres, más que hombres en recientes semanas, con el propósito de ingresar de manera ilegal hacia la unión americana y buscar trabajo", comentó.
END
Note: videos at links.
Posted: Mar 08, 2016 6:30 PM MST
Updated: Mar 08, 2016 6:32 PM MST
BP Union leaders, Pinal Co. Sheriff takes a stance on illegal border crossing
Written By Lauren Reimer
http://www.kvoa.com/story/31420591/bp-union-leaders-pinal-co-sheriff-takes-a-stance-on-illegal-border-crossing
Also:
http://www.cbs5az.com/clip/12271233/local-federal-law-enforcement-agencies-blast-obama-administration
PINAL COUNTY -
An Arizona sheriff and a few leaders from the Border Patrol Union held a news conference Tuesday, saying border security is worse than you think. They say agents are not being assigned to high-traffic areas in a calculated effort to mislead you.
The Pinal County Sheriff's Office says drug and human smuggling routes reach far into Arizona. They say it is not just at the border, but as far north as Casa Grande and beyond. The department says those known paths could be better staffed.
A Casa Grande mobile home was once a stopping point for a major human and drug smuggling operation. It was shut down by law enforcement in 2011.
Neighbor Andrew Poor watched it happen. "They brought a lot of people out of that house," said Poor
Neighbors were unaware of the problem before law enforcement came to break it up.
"There was a lot of cops and a lot of noise over there," Poor said.
Often a politically charged topic, PCSO offered its take on illegal border crossing Tuesday morning. It says its encounters with smugglers have gone up in the last few weeks.
"Every time you have a pursuit on one of the county roads, the whole public is put at risk," said PCSO Chief Deputy Steve Henry. "More often than not, they crash and then we're left to pick up the pieces."
Anyone caught is turned over to border patrol.
There, National Border Patrol Labor Council President Brandon Judd says the practice of so-called 'catch and release' of detainees is alive and well.
"It's to manipulates numbers. It's to show that if we don't have many arrests, there aren't many people crossing," said Judd.
The Department of Homeland Security said last month, it prioritizes people who are detained because of financial constraints. Those who have no prior criminal record and are families traveling with children are not high on the list for removal.
This is sparking a nerve with the Sheriff Paul Babeu.
"Consequences Enforcing the law. That's what it's going to take," said Babeu.
Heh Johnson, Secretary of Homeland Security, was at Capitol Hill on Tuesday. He talked about developing better ways to measure border security and asked for 1.6 percent pay raises for DHS employees.
end
Local sheriffs and National Border Patrol Council say government is misleading Americans
Keaton Thomas
6:33 PM, Mar 8, 2016
6:35 PM, Mar 8, 2016
Autoplay:X
310 Pounds Of Marijuana Seized In Traffic Stop
http://www.kgun9.com/news/local-news/local-sheriffs-and-national-border-patrol-council-say-government-is-misleading-americans?autoplay=true
FLORENCE, Ariz. (KGUN9-TV) - No new agents, agents not assigned to high-trafficked areas, and misleading numbers are all concerns for Sheriff Paul Babeu and Brandon Judd, president of the National Border Patrol Council.
According to the Department of Homeland Security, from 2000 to 2015 the number of apprehensions of illegal immigrants on the southern border went down from 1.6 million to about 330,000. Judd says the administration claims if that low numbers mean a safer border, but agents say otherwise.
"The administration and [Gil Kerlikowske, commissioner of Customs and Border Protection] have engaged in a campaign to mislead the American people to believe our border is secure. He has manipulated the data, had agents assigned to low-trafficked areas, and attempted to quiet dissent by calling those who question his approach as misinformed without offering any evidence to support his allegations," said Judd.
Chris Cabrera is an agent in the Rio Grande Valley and says he and fellow agents are kept in lower-trafficked areas of the border.
"Our agents are not assigned to some of those [high-traffic] areas, and they are told to stay in the areas they are assigned," said Cabrera.
He added that if they were to patrol a different area, it would go against orders. Cabrera says he had a former boss who told him "if nobody is there to see them, did they really cross?"
Agents say apprehensions would increase if they patrolled high-traffic areas.
Babeu and Judd also raised concerned over consequences for illegal immigrants when they are arrested. Babeu says, if a Pinal County deputy arrests an illegal immigrant, the county will prosecute for state crimes and then pass them to Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Federally, each time an illegal immigrant is arrested a border patrol agent is supposed to give them a Notice to Appear (NTA). A large portion of those individuals are released and never show up before a judge for the deportation hearing. Now agents release the person without an NTA unless the individual has a previous criminal record according to Judd. Border Patrol will not have a record of the arrest if an NTA is not handed out, Judd says.
"Under the current administration the mission of the border patrol has been altered to meet the amnesty and open border policy being pushed," he said.
Agents say Kerlikowske told them if they did not agree with it's current policy then they could quit. Judd says some agents have already done so, meanwhile they struggle to hire new ones.
"We have agents leaving every day, we can't hire fast enough to handle the attrition," he said.
Nine On Your Side reached out to Customs and Border Protection for comment but they have not yet responded.
Sheriff Babeu is sending a formal letter to the legislature to investigate.
end
Posted: Mar 09, 2016 3:17 PM MST
Updated: Mar 09, 2016 3:17 PM MST
Ex-Mexican mayor sentenced in Arizona drug trafficking case
Written By Associated Press
http://www.kvoa.com/story/31429582/ex-mexican-mayor-sentenced-in-arizona-drug-trafficking-case
PHOENIX (AP) - The former mayor of a small Mexican town has been sentenced to more than 21 years in prison for operating an Arizona-based drug trafficking organization.
Federal prosecutors say 43-year-old Arturo Reyes Trujillo received a 262-month prison term in U.S. District Court in Phoenix.
Trujillo was the incoming mayor of Fronteras in the Mexican state of Sonora and scheduled to take office in September 2012 when he was arrested.
He pleaded guilty to conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine and conspiracy to commit money laundering.
Prosecutors say Trujillo was involved in sending about 1,000 kilograms of cocaine throughout the U.S. and laundered some $20 million.
They say Trujillo was living in Tucson when he was the head of the drug trafficking organization from January 2003 to July 2007.
end
Cruzan más mujeres ilegales por esta frontera
Detalles Publicado el Martes 08 de marzo de 2016,
Escrito por Redacción / El Diario
http://www.eldiariodesonora.com.mx/notas.php?nota=68059
Al celebrarse este martes el Día Internacional de la Mujer, en México, la violencia contra el género, la falta de oportunidades laborales y los bajos salarios que predominan en el sur del país, ha obligado a miles de mujeres mexicanas a intentar cruzar la frontera en búsqueda de mejores destinos de vida en recientes meses.
Para el fundador y propietario del albergue para migrantes "San Juan Bosco" en Nogales, Francisco Loureiro Herrera, estas problemáticas sociales han obligado a mas féminas a dejar su país de origen y arriesgarse a buscar mejor suerte.
"Ha aumentado el flujo de mujeres, más que hombres en recientes semanas, con el propósito de ingresar de manera ilegal hacia la unión americana y buscar trabajo", comentó.
END
AZMEX SPECIAL 11-3-16
AZMEX SPECIAL 11 MAR 2016
Note: A strong sentiment that the people here have been deliberately abandoned by the political hacks in DC. Betrayal, Corruption, incompetence. Both political parties. "We are expendable" . Your correspondent was also in attendance .
Message from border: 'We got problems here'
By Lauren Villagran / Journal Staff Writer - Las Cruces Bureau
Thursday, March 10th, 2016 at 8:24pm
http://www.abqjournal.com/738551/news/ranchers-rally-in-animas-to-decry-border-security.html/attachment/ranchers-03-11-15
Message from border: 'We got problems here'
Sue Krentz speaks to a crowd of more than 600 people in Animas on Thursday about the unsolved 2010 murder of her late husband, Arizona rancher Robert Krentz. Behind her is Robert Krentz's son, Frank Krentz, waiting to speak. (Roberto E. Rosales/Journal)
Edward and Tricia Elbrock share the story of how one of their workers was kidnapped in December, allegedly by drug runners, in Hidalgo County.
Edward and Tricia Elbrock share the story of how one of their workers was kidnapped in December, allegedly by drug runners, in Hidalgo County. They say they want more Border Patrol agents on the borderline — not working 20 or 30 miles in. (Roberto E. Rosales/Journal)
ANIMAS — Several hundred ranchers gathered at a small-town high school in the Bootheel on Thursday to rally against what they described as a broken border.
Also present were members and representatives of New Mexico's congressional delegation and officials from public security agencies, including the Border Patrol, Army, National Guard and sheriffs. More than 600 people showed up at a school auditorium in Animas, population 237.
Ranchers here have been steaming over the reported kidnapping of a ranch hand in December, when drug runners allegedly hijacked the man's vehicle, loaded it with narcotics and drove him to Arizona. He came home "roughed up," his employer Tricia Elbrock said, but he survived the ordeal.
Concerns about border security have simmered for years for those who live among the region's sprawling ranches and rugged mountain ranges. Sometimes, fears boil over, such as after the unsolved 2010 murder of southern Arizona rancher Robert Krentz, who was found shot dead on his property, or after the recent reported kidnapping.
"How many here think your border is secure?" Elbrock asked to laughs. "I say to all our representatives, come down here. Stay with us. Work with us."
Someone in the crowd shouted, "Walk the border!"
"And see what it's like," Elbrock said. "It's not safe. We got problems here. They don't want it known. They don't want people to know."
The Krentz story, too, loomed large Thursday as the meeting opened with a video of old news reports about the crime and his widow, Sue, and son Frank spoke to the crowd.
Ranchers and others begin to fill a school auditorium in Animas on Thursday to discuss border security
Ranchers and others begin to fill a school auditorium in Animas on Thursday to discuss border security. Area ranchers have been angry about the reported kidnapping of a ranch hand in December. (Roberto E. Rosales/Journal)
"Secure the border for your family, our family," Sue Krentz said in prepared remarks that earned a standing ovation. "We're demanding the right to live free and safe on our own land and in our own homes."
Rep. Steve Pearce, a Republican whose southern New Mexico district runs along the Mexican border, met with Elbrock before the meeting. He attended, as did staffers for U.S. Sens. Tom Udall and Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., and for U.S. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz. New Mexico Agriculture Secretary Jeff Witte also attended.
Representatives of the Border Patrol, National Guard and sheriffs from New Mexico and Arizona said they had come to hear the public's concerns.
"My takeaway is that the people along the border recognize a grave threat to themselves and their communities, and the National Guard is ready to respond to help secure the border," Brig. Gen. Andrew Salas said.
Border Patrol has had a hard time keeping its Lordsburg station, tasked with securing the Bootheel, fully staffed. The station is budgeted for 284 agents but has been short about 50 agents for months. A Border Patrol spokesman told the Journal recently that there are candidates in the pipeline to fill those slots.
"We work very hard to secure our borders," Border Patrol spokesman Ramiro Cordero told the Journal at the meeting. "Numbers have dropped. You don't see the type of movement that you saw 10, 20 years ago."
"The increase in the number of people in the area that are smuggling people and drugs seems to be increasing," said Lawrence Hurt, whose Hurt Cattle Co. ranch runs nearly 30 miles along the Mexican border. "We see a lot less of the people who are looking for a job. We have a need for the Border Patrol in our area."
But, Hurt added to a round of applause, "We think they need to be on the border. If we stop them at the line we won't have as many incidences as we have had in the past."
Elbrock and other ranchers say they want to see more agents on horses in the region — the best way to patrol rough terrain, they say — and more helicopters.
In New Mexico, Border Patrol apprehended 11,000 unauthorized border crossers in fiscal 2015 and seized more than 15,000 pounds of marijuana.
"The border isn't secure," said Bill McDonald, co-founder and executive director of the Malpai Borderlands Group, which manages a working cattle ranch and conservation effort on nearly 1 million acres of the Bootheel. "It's like a balloon. When they tamp down in one area, (drug traffickers) move somewhere else. They've got all the technology to move where they see a weakness and right now the weakness is in southwest New Mexico."
END
Note: A strong sentiment that the people here have been deliberately abandoned by the political hacks in DC. Betrayal, Corruption, incompetence. Both political parties. "We are expendable" . Your correspondent was also in attendance .
Message from border: 'We got problems here'
By Lauren Villagran / Journal Staff Writer - Las Cruces Bureau
Thursday, March 10th, 2016 at 8:24pm
http://www.abqjournal.com/738551/news/ranchers-rally-in-animas-to-decry-border-security.html/attachment/ranchers-03-11-15
Message from border: 'We got problems here'
Sue Krentz speaks to a crowd of more than 600 people in Animas on Thursday about the unsolved 2010 murder of her late husband, Arizona rancher Robert Krentz. Behind her is Robert Krentz's son, Frank Krentz, waiting to speak. (Roberto E. Rosales/Journal)
Edward and Tricia Elbrock share the story of how one of their workers was kidnapped in December, allegedly by drug runners, in Hidalgo County.
Edward and Tricia Elbrock share the story of how one of their workers was kidnapped in December, allegedly by drug runners, in Hidalgo County. They say they want more Border Patrol agents on the borderline — not working 20 or 30 miles in. (Roberto E. Rosales/Journal)
ANIMAS — Several hundred ranchers gathered at a small-town high school in the Bootheel on Thursday to rally against what they described as a broken border.
Also present were members and representatives of New Mexico's congressional delegation and officials from public security agencies, including the Border Patrol, Army, National Guard and sheriffs. More than 600 people showed up at a school auditorium in Animas, population 237.
Ranchers here have been steaming over the reported kidnapping of a ranch hand in December, when drug runners allegedly hijacked the man's vehicle, loaded it with narcotics and drove him to Arizona. He came home "roughed up," his employer Tricia Elbrock said, but he survived the ordeal.
Concerns about border security have simmered for years for those who live among the region's sprawling ranches and rugged mountain ranges. Sometimes, fears boil over, such as after the unsolved 2010 murder of southern Arizona rancher Robert Krentz, who was found shot dead on his property, or after the recent reported kidnapping.
"How many here think your border is secure?" Elbrock asked to laughs. "I say to all our representatives, come down here. Stay with us. Work with us."
Someone in the crowd shouted, "Walk the border!"
"And see what it's like," Elbrock said. "It's not safe. We got problems here. They don't want it known. They don't want people to know."
The Krentz story, too, loomed large Thursday as the meeting opened with a video of old news reports about the crime and his widow, Sue, and son Frank spoke to the crowd.
Ranchers and others begin to fill a school auditorium in Animas on Thursday to discuss border security
Ranchers and others begin to fill a school auditorium in Animas on Thursday to discuss border security. Area ranchers have been angry about the reported kidnapping of a ranch hand in December. (Roberto E. Rosales/Journal)
"Secure the border for your family, our family," Sue Krentz said in prepared remarks that earned a standing ovation. "We're demanding the right to live free and safe on our own land and in our own homes."
Rep. Steve Pearce, a Republican whose southern New Mexico district runs along the Mexican border, met with Elbrock before the meeting. He attended, as did staffers for U.S. Sens. Tom Udall and Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., and for U.S. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz. New Mexico Agriculture Secretary Jeff Witte also attended.
Representatives of the Border Patrol, National Guard and sheriffs from New Mexico and Arizona said they had come to hear the public's concerns.
"My takeaway is that the people along the border recognize a grave threat to themselves and their communities, and the National Guard is ready to respond to help secure the border," Brig. Gen. Andrew Salas said.
Border Patrol has had a hard time keeping its Lordsburg station, tasked with securing the Bootheel, fully staffed. The station is budgeted for 284 agents but has been short about 50 agents for months. A Border Patrol spokesman told the Journal recently that there are candidates in the pipeline to fill those slots.
"We work very hard to secure our borders," Border Patrol spokesman Ramiro Cordero told the Journal at the meeting. "Numbers have dropped. You don't see the type of movement that you saw 10, 20 years ago."
"The increase in the number of people in the area that are smuggling people and drugs seems to be increasing," said Lawrence Hurt, whose Hurt Cattle Co. ranch runs nearly 30 miles along the Mexican border. "We see a lot less of the people who are looking for a job. We have a need for the Border Patrol in our area."
But, Hurt added to a round of applause, "We think they need to be on the border. If we stop them at the line we won't have as many incidences as we have had in the past."
Elbrock and other ranchers say they want to see more agents on horses in the region — the best way to patrol rough terrain, they say — and more helicopters.
In New Mexico, Border Patrol apprehended 11,000 unauthorized border crossers in fiscal 2015 and seized more than 15,000 pounds of marijuana.
"The border isn't secure," said Bill McDonald, co-founder and executive director of the Malpai Borderlands Group, which manages a working cattle ranch and conservation effort on nearly 1 million acres of the Bootheel. "It's like a balloon. When they tamp down in one area, (drug traffickers) move somewhere else. They've got all the technology to move where they see a weakness and right now the weakness is in southwest New Mexico."
END
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)