AZMEX UPDATE 4 APR 2014
Note: most such incidents are never reported.
U.S. Officials Confirm Illegal Border Incursion By Mexican Soldiers Allegedly Pursuing Smugglers
Published April 02, 2014Fox News Latino
http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/news/2014/04/02/us-officials-confirm-illegal-border-incursion-by-mexican-soldiers-allegedly/
After a series of denials, Mexican authorities have finally admitted that two heavily-armed and camouflaged soldiers crossed over the border into Arizona and drew their weapons in an edgy standoff with U.S. Border Patrol agents in January.
According to documents obtained by the Los Angeles Times, the Jan. 26 showdown was confirmed in a Border Patrol foreign military incursion report and confirmed in a separate letter from R. Gil Kerlikowske, commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the Border Patrol's parent agency.
The report describes that in the incident, the two Mexican soldiers – who accidentally misidentified themselves to U.S. border agents – claimed to be pursuing drug traffickers and only went back south of the border once U.S. border agents called for backup.
U.S. officials said that this is one of the most serious territorial incursions in recent memory and even though weapons were not fired, the standoff highlights growing tensions between Washington and Mexico when it comes to patrolling the border regions. U.S. officials added that the recent incursion was one of nearly two dozen by Mexican soldiers into southern Arizona over the last four years.
Mexican officials from the Embassy in Washington D.C. confirmed early Tuesday to journalists that the two men were soldiers, after previously claiming that the men were drug smugglers in military uniforms. The soldiers purportedly were tracking two men carrying backpacks full of drugs and after retrieving the backpacks the soldiers found themselves on the U.S. side of the border.
"Those individuals were part of a counter-narcotics operation, which had taken place a few minutes prior on the Mexican side of the border," said Ariel Moutsatsos, spokesman for the Mexican Embassy, according to the Los Angeles Times. "The two members of the Mexican army did not see any sign notifying them that they were crossing the border."
Moutsantos also added that Mexican authorities have run into U.S. border agents crossing the border into the U.S.'s southern neighbor, a claim previously made by Mexico on other occasions but usually denied by the U.S. government.
"Both U.S. and Mexican agents have sporadically and accidentally crossed our common border during their patrols," he added. "Both countries understand that this is something that happens as part of normal activities."
The U.S. government has so far chalked up the incident as an unfortunate but unintentional event, seemingly downplaying any negative political ripple effect.
"We have raised the issue of incursions onto U.S. territory with Mexican authorities both in Washington and in Mexico," a U.S. Embassy official in Mexico City told the Los Angeles Times. "We will continue to do so. There have been incursions by the Mexican military but they were unintentional. U.S. border officials work closely with their Mexican counterparts to ensure respect for the border and to return them quickly to Mexican territory. The bilateral collaboration in these incidents testifies to the strength of our security cooperation."
While the Mexican government's confirmation appears to rule out any official misconduct, some border security experts said that drug smugglers have been known to hire soldiers to assist in their trafficking operations – luring in military members with promises of quick money.
"It's pretty easy to co-opt them," said James Phelps, a border and homeland security professor at Angelo State University in San Angelo, Texas. "Many are essentially a functional asset of the cartels."
end
Note: The local terrain favors tunnels
Federal authorities in Arizona and Mexico shut down an incomplete drug-smuggling tunnel Friday in Nogales.
By Associated Press
Originally published: Apr 4, 2014 - 6:32 pm
http://ktar.com/22/1720250/Federal-authorities-in-Arizona-and-Mexico-shut-down-an-incomplete-drugsmuggling-tunnel-Friday-in-Nogales
NOGALES, Ariz. -- Federal authorities in Arizona and Mexico shut down an incomplete drug-smuggling tunnel Friday in Nogales.
A task force developed information that a tunnel was being constructed inside a residence located in Nogales, Sonora.
That's just a few yards south of the international border fence near the Mariposa Port of Entry in Nogales, Ariz.
Task force members notified Mexican authorities and they subsequently discovered the tunnel entrance in a backyard shed at the residence.
The tunnel is approximately 449 feet long with about 60 feet in Mexico and 389 feet in the U.S.
The tunnel is roughly 4 feet tall and ends underneath a canyon just east of the Mariposa port.
Authorities say no people or drugs were found inside the passageway and no arrests have been made in the case.
end
Note: AZMEX UPDATE usually just covers Mexico and the U.S. Interesting that not more tunnels found north of the Mexican mining center of Cananea, Son.
Two drug tunnels, with rail systems, found at U.S.-Mexico border
Reuters By Dan Whitcomb
Federal agents secure 2 tunnels at the border
http://news.yahoo.com/two-drug-tunnels-rail-systems-found-u-mexico-163343844--finance.html
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - U.S. federal agents have uncovered two drug-smuggling tunnels underneath the U.S.-Mexico border, both surfacing in San Diego-area warehouses and equipped with rail systems for moving contraband, officials said on Friday.
The discovery led to the arrest of a 73-year-old woman accused of running one of the warehouses connected to a drug smuggling operation, according to a joint news release by four federal agencies.
The tunnels were discovered as part of a five-month investigation by the so-called San Diego Tunnel Task Force.
Federal law enforcement officials said the first tunnel, which connects a warehouse in Tijuana, Mexico, with one in an industrial park in the border community of Otay Mesa, is about 600 yards long and is furnished with lighting, a crude rail system and wooden trusses.
The passageway is accessed via a 70-foot shaft secured by a cement cover and includes a pulley system on the U.S. side apparently intended to hoist contraband up into the warehouse.
The second tunnel was even more sophisticated, built with a multi-tiered electric rail system and an array of ventilation equipment.
"Here we are again, foiling cartel plans to sneak millions of dollars of illegal drugs through secret passageways that cost millions of dollars to build," U.S. Attorney Laura Duffy said in a statement.
"Going underground is not a good business plan. We have promised to locate these super tunnels and keep powerful drug cartels from taking their business underground and out of sight, and once again, we have delivered on that promise," Duffy said.
The two tunnels are the sixth and seventh cross-border passageways discovered in the San Diego area in less than four years, according to the task force.
Since 2006, federal authorities have detected at least 80 cross-border smuggling tunnels, most of them in California and Arizona, and seized some 100 tons of narcotics associated with them.
end
Note: next two local, computer english
In armed attack on ex-cop riddled in Bácum Dies
Posted by Regional
on April 4, 2014 in police
http://www.elregionaldesonora.com.mx/noticia/40102
This is a former policeman , who went by the name of Edgar Alexis Ureta Beltran, and had his domicile at Aguila number 350 Colony Villa del Rey, and in the scuffle an active police were fired upon being of Eladio name Jesus Alcaraz Alcántar wounded in the left leg, the place came the MP agent .
Rolando Castañeda
Bácum , Son - . A new armed attack in this district left a toll of a former police officer dead and an active police injured as this attack occurred at 20:30 am yesterday , in street Base and the T in this municipality.
Police authorities confirmed that the dead cop by the name of Edgar Alexis Eureta Beltran , 21 , residing at No. 350 Aguila Street in the Villas del Rey colony and who received at least four impacts of 9 mm caliber bullet .
While the injured policeman by the name of Jesus Alcaraz Eladio Salazar, active police, Bácum , which was diagnosed with a wound in and out of the left leg
He said the crime took place when two men on a motorcycle shot at the occupants of a black colored Rodeo wagon which escaped after the attack , but also the driver of the vehicle l where allegedly the victims were traveling .
Meanwhile other officers ; Pedro Pablo Ibarra Santillanes , 25 and Jesus Alberto Grijalva Calderon , 29 , escaped injury , authorities went to the place of the three levels and MPFC agent who ordered the removal of the body of law for autopsies .
END
Ensures PFP two shipments of drugs
Federal Police seized 5.7 kilograms of "crystal " to intercept a car with double bottom Sonoyta road . They arrested the driver and passenger for investigation.
Tribune San Luis
April 3, 2014
By Fredy Mejia
http://www.oem.com.mx/tribunadesanluis/notas/n3344963.htm
San Luis Rio Colorado, Sonora. - In surveillance operations carried out on the road stretch Sonoyta -San Luis officials Federal- Regional Security Division Police intercepted a car loaded with the drug "crystal " and found abandoned next to the border fence United States to Mexico three packages of marijuana.
The incident occurred last Monday at 500 meters 145 kilometers and 24, at 11.30 am , when officers intercepted a Honda 1998 , green and VNR- 6053 Sonora plates , manned by Filiberto Olivas Felix , 45 , who was accompanied by Gregorio Verdugo Lopez, 47 .
When requesting documents auto driver and passenger noticed that they were nervous , cause for which they asked them to come down for a inspection.
When nearly completed inspection they had noticed irregularities at the height of the board , so they noticed the packages containing 5,700 kilograms of "crystal " .
Immediately arrested Olivas Felix and Verdugo Lopez , who revealed that they left Culiacan to Tijuana , Baja California.
Hours later, officers of the Federal Police in Sonoyta resident involved in operating in coordination with the Border Patrol and the United States who were aware of suspicious persons at kilometer24 500 meters
Because it was not detected any person for the Mexican side , the officers patrolled the side of the metal fence being found lying three polyethylene packages with 31.5 pounds of marijuana .
Those arrested for methamphetamine were moved to this town for submission to the Office of the Public Prosecutor's Office and the packages of marijuana available to the social representative of the Federation residing in Sonoyta for investigations.
end
Thursday, April 10, 2014
Wednesday, April 9, 2014
AZMEX I3 9-4-14
AZMEX I3 9 APR 2014
Note: In Altar valley, a few miles south of border, between Nogales & El Sasabe
Unknown at this time if Mex. govt. will return them or let them continue north.
Ref. also AZMEX I3 6-4-14
Army releases 162 people in El Saric
Details Published on Sunday April 6, 2014 ,
Written by Editor / The Journal
http://www.eldiariodesonora.com.mx/nota.php?nota=29425
Saric
Mexican Army conducted the release of 162 people of different nationalities who were deprived of their liberty in camps near Saric .
The Ministry of National Defense through the Commander of the 45th Military Zone , said that among those released 97 Mexicans, 60 Guatemalans, three Hondurans and two Salvadorans were , who had a good health and that they were made available to the relevant authorities.
With these actions, the Mexican Army and Air Force contribute to the efforts of the Government of the Republic of Mexico for a peaceful , confirming its commitment to ensure the safety and security of citizens
The Department of Defense recognizes the cooperation of the public for their strong support to denounce criminal acts , so it provides the phone number and email address below : 45 / a . Military Zone (631) 3521252 and complaint. 45zm@mail.sedena.gob.mx .
end
Note: the answer.
Migrants ' released ' in Sonora , continue their path to EU
The 162 migrants were liberating Saric , Sonora, received humanitarian assistance and then continued their route to the United States
04/09/2014 15:53 Daniel Sánchez Dorame / Correspondent
http://www.excelsior.com.mx/nacional/2014/04/09/953248
The 162 migrants were liberating Saric , Sonora, received humanitarian assistance and then continued their route to the United States. Photo: Archive
Hermosillo, Son. April 9 - . The 162 migrants were allegedly released by the Mexican army in the border community of Saric , Sonora, received humanitarian assistance and then continued their route to the United States, which have entered illegally their fate is unknown.
This was confirmed by both the Secretary of Public Safety in Sonora, Munro Ernesto Palacios, as the state delegate of the National Migration Institute ( INM ), Enrique Iberri Claussen , officials made it clear that , contrary to reports by the Department of National Defence ( Department of Defense ) , migrants of different nationalities were not deprived of their liberty .
It was last April 3 , when a press release the Mexican Army reported that members of the 45 / Military Zone detected four camps nestled in the desert close to the international line, where there were 162 migrants " deprived of liberty " among them there were 97 Mexicans, 60 Guatemalans, three Hondurans and two Salvadorans.
On April 4, the Army contacted the Beta Group is one of the two sides of the INM , one is the Beta and the other agents are operating ; in this case the Beta Group immediately moved 50 kilometers from the town of Sasabe and the ranch 'La Sierrita ' 162 people located in a camp , fully complying with Article 70 of the Migration Act , regardless of their nationality , people attended in order to ensure their human rights.
In this case, people interviewed , were offered food, water and only 17 of them, all Mexicans, asked to be moved to a town to contact their families; that was the intervention of the INM Group Beta , no children among them , there were three women and said they would continue their way to the United States, "said the delegate of migration in Sonora.
Although it was initially reported that migrants were deprived of their liberty , the official newsletter of the Department of Defense consigned not arrest anyone suspected of trafficking, while the INM also detected the presence of ' smugglers ' among 162 interviewed migrants.
According to the statements of immigrants , they had 15 days sleeping in Sasabe desert , near the international line between Sonora and Arizona, the camp had brought water for drinking and cooking with charcoal grills , were waiting for the best time to cross to the United States and according to the authorities after his 'rescue' continued their journey in search of the American dream .
Among the risks faced by people attempting to enter the United States illegally are inclement weather and organized crime groups who kidnap people for use as couriers to smuggle drugs.
On 1 April, in a chase and armed aggression were two dead migrants and seven injured when the victims began their transit to the United States through the desert and were intercepted by armed men who tried to hold them and to resist , they fired bursts of heavy caliber.
on 20 March, gunmen ambushed a group of ' burreros ' returning from a drug delivery in the border region between Sonora and Arizona , leaving seven people dead and four wounded in the town of Caborca, but until time the authorities have clarified the crime or arrested suspects .
jgl
AZMEX I3 6-4-14
AZMEX I3 6 APR 2014
Note: from LA Times. Mexico could, if it wanted to, easily stop use of the trains.
But it is a victim rich environment.
Central American amputees, once migrants, seek help in Mexico
A group of men who lost limbs to La Bestia, the freight train migrants ride to the U.S., want Mexico to protect others.
By Richard Fausset
April 5, 2014, 8:00 a.m.
TAPACHULA, Mexico — The last time Norman Varela made an unauthorized crossing into Mexico, he was headed to the United States, in search of a job, riding atop the infamous northbound freight train known as La Bestia — the Beast.
Mexican policemen robbed the Honduran of his savings en route, he said. Later, on the night of Oct. 29, 2005, a rumor spread that more bad men were coming. As Varela made his escape, he ducked under a freight car. It rolled over his right leg, severing it at the knee.
This week Varela, 42, was back in Mexico, this time with crutches and a wobbly prosthesis, accompanied by 14 countrymen whom the Beast had similarly mangled. These hobbled men in sweat-stained T-shirts were no longer in search of the American Dream. For them it was too late.
"Our American Dream has turned into a nightmare," said Jose Luis Hernandez, who was missing his right leg and arm and three fingers on his left hand.
They were seeking safe passage for the thousands of migrants who keep making the trip.
On March 22, the men had floated across the Suchiate River, the dividing line between Mexico and Guatemala, on inner-tube rafts and promptly demanded a meeting with Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto. They hoped to persuade him to guarantee U.S.-bound Central American migrants unmolested passage along Mexico's highways, so they would no longer have to sneak onto the roof of La Bestia, and hang on for dear life.
Peña Nieto has not agreed to a meeting with the ragtag crew. But he addressed the issue this week during a meeting in Honduras with President Juan Orlando Hernandez by saying that every migrant passing through Mexico would receive "absolute respect for their human rights."
Like the United States, Mexico regularly detains migrants who have entered the country illegally. Its southern border, however, passes through territory too rough and wild to be closely monitored. Many migrants manage to make their way to major roads and highways, only to end up arrested at roadblocks. To avoid that fate, some head for the train.
Varela and the others made no secret this week of their presence in Tapachula, a city in Chiapas state near the border with Guatemala, and they benefited from the spotty enforcement of immigration law in Mexico, freely visiting the municipal government headquarters in search of help. A government employee, however, told them that a meeting with the president was "impossible."
"What's impossible," Varela said, "is regrowing a hand or an arm or a leg. It is not impossible to arrange a meeting with a fellow human being."
The grisly toll in limbs is only one of the prices that unlucky Central Americans pay on their migration through Mexico. Armed gangs rob, rape, kidnap and kill, as do some authorities along La Bestia's tracks. Thousands of migrants disappear each year. Some who resist their attackers are thrown from the moving train. Other common hazards include misjudging a leap onto the Beast, or falling off while asleep.
La Bestia, also known among migrants as "The Train of Death," is actually a series of freight trains that run on a network of rails extending north and south throughout Mexico. In Chiapas, many migrants climb aboard in the city of Arriaga. If they make it to Lecheria, on the outskirts of Mexico City more than 400 miles away, they might continue on tracks that lead to the border states of Baja California, Sonora, Chihuahua or Tamaulipas.
From Lecheria, the Pacific rail route extends more than 2,500 miles and the journey can take two weeks or more, as migrants wait for the right northbound train or slip away for days at a time to hide from authorities.
The risks are well-known in countries like Honduras. But so, too, is misery at home: According to the World Bank, 3 in 5 Hondurans were living below the poverty line in 2010.
And so the migrants, including women and children, continue to float across the Suchiate and jump the train, dreaming of San Diego or San Antonio or Denver. The Mexican government estimates that 300,000 Central Americans attempt the trip each year.
Among those, the Mexican government recorded 373 cases of amputations from 2002 to 2011. But many people believe the number is higher. Varela is the spokesman for a group called the Assn. of Returned Migrants With Disabilities, based in El Progreso, Honduras. The group estimates that 450 to 500 amputee migrants live in Honduras.
Once injured, the migrants are usually shipped back to their countries, where they had struggled to find work when they were able-bodied and, they say, social services are scant.
Varela, a former golf caddy, said he occasionally gets hired to remove untreated wastewater with a bucket in his northern Honduran municipality of San Manuel. He said he was five months behind on rent. It's difficult for him to face his wife and four children without being able to properly provide for them, he said.
He acknowledged that it was desperation more than common sense that drove him back across the border to Mexico.
Varela and his companions turned to Tapachula's Shelter of Jesus the Good Shepherd of the Poor and the Migrant, a spartan building dedicated to sick and injured travelers, as they tried to decide whether to press on and make their voices heard amid the din of Mexico City.
All of the men had been disfigured on trips in search of work in the United States. Hernandez, the double amputee, a handsome, athletically built 28-year-old who serves as president of the disabled migrants group, said his parents were supporting him in Honduras, but just barely. He said he had been attacked by a gang on La Bestia while traveling through Mexico in 2005. Later, exhausted, he fell from the train and onto the tracks, where his limbs were caught by the wheels of the train.
"We came here," he said, "to demand that we not be mistreated."
Benito Murillo, 43, said his wife left him when he returned to Honduras eight years ago missing his right arm and leg. "We want the Mexican authorities to know the reality we're living," he said.
Murillo added that there was also a spiritual reason for the trip. "We left parts of our bodies here. I buried my leg and my arm here."
The volunteer-run Shelter of Jesus the Good Shepherd was founded in 1990 and serves about 700 immigrants per year. Some of the men in Varela's group had recuperated there after their injuries and were returning for the first time in years.
The rules of the place, tacked to a wall near the entrance, illustrate the perils of the migrants' journey: If you are discovered to be a coyote — a human trafficker — you will be kicked out, says one sign. Another says to check your weapons with the administration: "They will keep it for you and return it to you when you leave."
Varela, Hernandez and the other men mingled with men who had only recently become amputees. Josue Romero Diaz, 20, listened to the older men talk as he lounged on a beat-up sofa, the stump of his right leg wrapped in bandages. He had been riding on La Bestia just a few days earlier when he dozed off and fell. It could have been worse: His father, Armando Romero, who was traveling with him, showed a folded-up newspaper with a photo of two men dead by the tracks. They had been traveling with these men, the elder Romero said.
The article said authorities in Veracruz thought the men had been pushed from the moving train.
Varela's group had had some success this week in Tapachula, holding a news conference and generating some coverage in the Mexican press, but they were restless.
Some of them hailed two dilapidated cabs Tuesday afternoon and headed to the local offices of the Mexican government's immigration department. They wanted to see whether an arrangement could be made for the group to travel to the capital without being arrested for violating Mexican immigration law.
At the security gate, Varela related his story to a baffled security guard, who told him to wait.
And so he waited in the Chiapan heat, balancing on his crutches. If the men couldn't be guaranteed safe passage to Mexico City, Varela said, with an official government letter allowing them to ride the bus, they might try to get to the capital the way they knew best.
They would ride there on La Bestia.
richard.fausset@latimes.com
Cecilia Sanchez of The Times' Mexico City bureau contributed to this report.
http://www.latimes.com/world/mexico-americas/la-fg-mexico-honduras-amputees-20140405,0,1103788.story#ixzz2y5AjSpw6
Note: from LA Times. Mexico could, if it wanted to, easily stop use of the trains.
But it is a victim rich environment.
Central American amputees, once migrants, seek help in Mexico
A group of men who lost limbs to La Bestia, the freight train migrants ride to the U.S., want Mexico to protect others.
By Richard Fausset
April 5, 2014, 8:00 a.m.
TAPACHULA, Mexico — The last time Norman Varela made an unauthorized crossing into Mexico, he was headed to the United States, in search of a job, riding atop the infamous northbound freight train known as La Bestia — the Beast.
Mexican policemen robbed the Honduran of his savings en route, he said. Later, on the night of Oct. 29, 2005, a rumor spread that more bad men were coming. As Varela made his escape, he ducked under a freight car. It rolled over his right leg, severing it at the knee.
This week Varela, 42, was back in Mexico, this time with crutches and a wobbly prosthesis, accompanied by 14 countrymen whom the Beast had similarly mangled. These hobbled men in sweat-stained T-shirts were no longer in search of the American Dream. For them it was too late.
"Our American Dream has turned into a nightmare," said Jose Luis Hernandez, who was missing his right leg and arm and three fingers on his left hand.
They were seeking safe passage for the thousands of migrants who keep making the trip.
On March 22, the men had floated across the Suchiate River, the dividing line between Mexico and Guatemala, on inner-tube rafts and promptly demanded a meeting with Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto. They hoped to persuade him to guarantee U.S.-bound Central American migrants unmolested passage along Mexico's highways, so they would no longer have to sneak onto the roof of La Bestia, and hang on for dear life.
Peña Nieto has not agreed to a meeting with the ragtag crew. But he addressed the issue this week during a meeting in Honduras with President Juan Orlando Hernandez by saying that every migrant passing through Mexico would receive "absolute respect for their human rights."
Like the United States, Mexico regularly detains migrants who have entered the country illegally. Its southern border, however, passes through territory too rough and wild to be closely monitored. Many migrants manage to make their way to major roads and highways, only to end up arrested at roadblocks. To avoid that fate, some head for the train.
Varela and the others made no secret this week of their presence in Tapachula, a city in Chiapas state near the border with Guatemala, and they benefited from the spotty enforcement of immigration law in Mexico, freely visiting the municipal government headquarters in search of help. A government employee, however, told them that a meeting with the president was "impossible."
"What's impossible," Varela said, "is regrowing a hand or an arm or a leg. It is not impossible to arrange a meeting with a fellow human being."
The grisly toll in limbs is only one of the prices that unlucky Central Americans pay on their migration through Mexico. Armed gangs rob, rape, kidnap and kill, as do some authorities along La Bestia's tracks. Thousands of migrants disappear each year. Some who resist their attackers are thrown from the moving train. Other common hazards include misjudging a leap onto the Beast, or falling off while asleep.
La Bestia, also known among migrants as "The Train of Death," is actually a series of freight trains that run on a network of rails extending north and south throughout Mexico. In Chiapas, many migrants climb aboard in the city of Arriaga. If they make it to Lecheria, on the outskirts of Mexico City more than 400 miles away, they might continue on tracks that lead to the border states of Baja California, Sonora, Chihuahua or Tamaulipas.
From Lecheria, the Pacific rail route extends more than 2,500 miles and the journey can take two weeks or more, as migrants wait for the right northbound train or slip away for days at a time to hide from authorities.
The risks are well-known in countries like Honduras. But so, too, is misery at home: According to the World Bank, 3 in 5 Hondurans were living below the poverty line in 2010.
And so the migrants, including women and children, continue to float across the Suchiate and jump the train, dreaming of San Diego or San Antonio or Denver. The Mexican government estimates that 300,000 Central Americans attempt the trip each year.
Among those, the Mexican government recorded 373 cases of amputations from 2002 to 2011. But many people believe the number is higher. Varela is the spokesman for a group called the Assn. of Returned Migrants With Disabilities, based in El Progreso, Honduras. The group estimates that 450 to 500 amputee migrants live in Honduras.
Once injured, the migrants are usually shipped back to their countries, where they had struggled to find work when they were able-bodied and, they say, social services are scant.
Varela, a former golf caddy, said he occasionally gets hired to remove untreated wastewater with a bucket in his northern Honduran municipality of San Manuel. He said he was five months behind on rent. It's difficult for him to face his wife and four children without being able to properly provide for them, he said.
He acknowledged that it was desperation more than common sense that drove him back across the border to Mexico.
Varela and his companions turned to Tapachula's Shelter of Jesus the Good Shepherd of the Poor and the Migrant, a spartan building dedicated to sick and injured travelers, as they tried to decide whether to press on and make their voices heard amid the din of Mexico City.
All of the men had been disfigured on trips in search of work in the United States. Hernandez, the double amputee, a handsome, athletically built 28-year-old who serves as president of the disabled migrants group, said his parents were supporting him in Honduras, but just barely. He said he had been attacked by a gang on La Bestia while traveling through Mexico in 2005. Later, exhausted, he fell from the train and onto the tracks, where his limbs were caught by the wheels of the train.
"We came here," he said, "to demand that we not be mistreated."
Benito Murillo, 43, said his wife left him when he returned to Honduras eight years ago missing his right arm and leg. "We want the Mexican authorities to know the reality we're living," he said.
Murillo added that there was also a spiritual reason for the trip. "We left parts of our bodies here. I buried my leg and my arm here."
The volunteer-run Shelter of Jesus the Good Shepherd was founded in 1990 and serves about 700 immigrants per year. Some of the men in Varela's group had recuperated there after their injuries and were returning for the first time in years.
The rules of the place, tacked to a wall near the entrance, illustrate the perils of the migrants' journey: If you are discovered to be a coyote — a human trafficker — you will be kicked out, says one sign. Another says to check your weapons with the administration: "They will keep it for you and return it to you when you leave."
Varela, Hernandez and the other men mingled with men who had only recently become amputees. Josue Romero Diaz, 20, listened to the older men talk as he lounged on a beat-up sofa, the stump of his right leg wrapped in bandages. He had been riding on La Bestia just a few days earlier when he dozed off and fell. It could have been worse: His father, Armando Romero, who was traveling with him, showed a folded-up newspaper with a photo of two men dead by the tracks. They had been traveling with these men, the elder Romero said.
The article said authorities in Veracruz thought the men had been pushed from the moving train.
Varela's group had had some success this week in Tapachula, holding a news conference and generating some coverage in the Mexican press, but they were restless.
Some of them hailed two dilapidated cabs Tuesday afternoon and headed to the local offices of the Mexican government's immigration department. They wanted to see whether an arrangement could be made for the group to travel to the capital without being arrested for violating Mexican immigration law.
At the security gate, Varela related his story to a baffled security guard, who told him to wait.
And so he waited in the Chiapan heat, balancing on his crutches. If the men couldn't be guaranteed safe passage to Mexico City, Varela said, with an official government letter allowing them to ride the bus, they might try to get to the capital the way they knew best.
They would ride there on La Bestia.
richard.fausset@latimes.com
Cecilia Sanchez of The Times' Mexico City bureau contributed to this report.
http://www.latimes.com/world/mexico-americas/la-fg-mexico-honduras-amputees-20140405,0,1103788.story#ixzz2y5AjSpw6
Tuesday, April 8, 2014
AZMEX I3 8-4-14
AZMEX I3 8 APR 2014
Note: First this one
Phoenix agency helping victims, educating public on sex trafficking
By: David Hensley/Special contributor to KTAR.com
Originally published: Apr 7, 2014 - 5:05 pm
http://ktar.com/22/1721040/Phoenix-agency-helping-victims-educating-public-on-sex-trafficking
PHOENIX -- Over 200 girls are expected to be forced into sex trafficking this year, according to StreetLightUSA, a Phoenix organization that aims to put an end to child rape.
"In 2012 we served 41 girls. In 2013 we served 131," StreetLightUSA Public Awareness Manager Norma Salas said. "In 2014 we are estimating that we will serve 260."
StreetLightUSA helps victims who have been forced into sex trafficking readjust to normal life.
"Our mission is to transition adolescents from trauma to triumph," Salas said. "We provide a variety of programs so that girls can build better futures and become strong, independent women."
Among the programs offered are art, music, writing, coping skills development, therapy and other activities to help overcome trauma.
Aside from helping girls after they have experienced the world of sex trafficking, StreetLightUSA educates law enforcement and community organizations on how to handle sex trafficking.
"We regularly train first responders, probation offices, COPS caseworkers and court personnel on recognizing the signs of trafficking," Salas said, adding the organization also offers training to members of the public, church groups, civic clubs and university organizations.
In an attempt to stop the spread of sex trafficking, Phoenix Police have also begun holding seminars in schools and other community settings so that citizens will know how to identify the crime, according to Police Sgt. Chris Bray.
"There is education going out to a broader group of people," Bray said. "They might be able to recognize or report on it unlike before."
The seminars are generally briefings on what sex trafficking around the nation looks like, ranging from traditional methods to the use of certain websites such as Arizona-owned Backpage.com, which markets both prostitutes and victims.
"It manifest itself in so many ways," he said. Because of its various propagation, Bray believes that "you really can't say this area or that area," when it comes to narrowing down sex trafficking concentration to one part of the city, he said.
Phoenix is high on the list of cities with instances of sex trafficking. The Federal Bureau of Investigation is hoping to get the Valley to drop off the list, documents showed.
end
Note: and then reality
UNSECURED BORDER ENCOURAGES CHILD VICTIMIZATION, SAYS FORMER BORDER PATROL ORG
by KRISTIN TATE 31 Mar 2014 24
http://www.breitbart.com/Breitbart-Texas/2014/03/31/Former-Border-Patrol-Agent-Weak-Borders-Cause-Child-Victimization
During one week in March, Mexican authorities discovered over 370 children abandoned by individuals attempting to illegally enter the United States. According to a foreign wire report, 163 of the recovered minors were "dumped" because they were not traveling with an adult guardian.
The Mexican National Institute of Migration said in a recent press release that children entering the U.S. alone have recently "increased significantly." Some experts assert that this figure has increased because U.S. border security has been weakened by left-wing efforts.
Zack Taylor, Chairman of the National Association of Former Border Patrol Officers (NAFBPO), said it is not uncommon for children to be abandoned during the smuggling process. While he was a Border Patrol agent, Taylor encountered many children left by traffickers in the U.S. after a smuggler had successfully gotten them into the country.
In most cases, Mexican parents will pay a smuggler $5,000-6,000 to transport their child across the border, according to Taylor. Once the child successfully enters the U.S., a trafficker then typically holds them until a second payment is received from the parents. Once the subsequent payment is made, the trafficker takes the child to their destination city. Taylor told Breitbart Texas, "Now the parents have a child, or several children, here in the U.S. This compels them to follow their children and enter the country as well."
Children may be abandoned during the smuggling process for various reasons, Taylor added. In some cases, the smuggler decides it is too dangerous to take the child across the border—in other instances the parents cannot afford the second round of payments once the child is inside the U.S.
Discarded children often become victims of human trafficking or other forms of slavery, Taylor said.
"The U.S. is partly responsible for foreign nationals taking extreme measures that risk the lives of their children," Taylor said. "Our government is encouraging foreign nationals to come into our country illegally and stay." He argued foreign nationals are compelled to enter the U.S. illegally because the Obama Administration pushes a narrative which victimizes immigrants--while demonizing Border Patrol Agents. That narrative is subsequently trumpeted and intensified by the left-leaning media.
The U.S. continues to embolden the horrors of illegal immigration by not shining a light on it, Taylor continued.
"Many of the crimes committed by aliens are so great, that to not to speak out against it shows you are complicit in it," Taylor said. He noted that in Dallas, Texas instead of focusing on the many issues facing the city due to illegal immigration, the media chooses to focus on issues of lesser importance. "All they're talking about right now is the plastic bag ban in Dallas," Taylor said. "That's deflecting attention away from what really matters."
"The media, and in some circumstances the government, plants environmental issues in front of the various heinous crimes happening simultaneously," Taylor said. "They are actively diverting scrutiny away from what is eroding the family in the U.S. and Mexico... the important thing to remember about border issues is that nothing is ever as it seems."
END
Note: First this one
Phoenix agency helping victims, educating public on sex trafficking
By: David Hensley/Special contributor to KTAR.com
Originally published: Apr 7, 2014 - 5:05 pm
http://ktar.com/22/1721040/Phoenix-agency-helping-victims-educating-public-on-sex-trafficking
PHOENIX -- Over 200 girls are expected to be forced into sex trafficking this year, according to StreetLightUSA, a Phoenix organization that aims to put an end to child rape.
"In 2012 we served 41 girls. In 2013 we served 131," StreetLightUSA Public Awareness Manager Norma Salas said. "In 2014 we are estimating that we will serve 260."
StreetLightUSA helps victims who have been forced into sex trafficking readjust to normal life.
"Our mission is to transition adolescents from trauma to triumph," Salas said. "We provide a variety of programs so that girls can build better futures and become strong, independent women."
Among the programs offered are art, music, writing, coping skills development, therapy and other activities to help overcome trauma.
Aside from helping girls after they have experienced the world of sex trafficking, StreetLightUSA educates law enforcement and community organizations on how to handle sex trafficking.
"We regularly train first responders, probation offices, COPS caseworkers and court personnel on recognizing the signs of trafficking," Salas said, adding the organization also offers training to members of the public, church groups, civic clubs and university organizations.
In an attempt to stop the spread of sex trafficking, Phoenix Police have also begun holding seminars in schools and other community settings so that citizens will know how to identify the crime, according to Police Sgt. Chris Bray.
"There is education going out to a broader group of people," Bray said. "They might be able to recognize or report on it unlike before."
The seminars are generally briefings on what sex trafficking around the nation looks like, ranging from traditional methods to the use of certain websites such as Arizona-owned Backpage.com, which markets both prostitutes and victims.
"It manifest itself in so many ways," he said. Because of its various propagation, Bray believes that "you really can't say this area or that area," when it comes to narrowing down sex trafficking concentration to one part of the city, he said.
Phoenix is high on the list of cities with instances of sex trafficking. The Federal Bureau of Investigation is hoping to get the Valley to drop off the list, documents showed.
end
Note: and then reality
UNSECURED BORDER ENCOURAGES CHILD VICTIMIZATION, SAYS FORMER BORDER PATROL ORG
by KRISTIN TATE 31 Mar 2014 24
http://www.breitbart.com/Breitbart-Texas/2014/03/31/Former-Border-Patrol-Agent-Weak-Borders-Cause-Child-Victimization
During one week in March, Mexican authorities discovered over 370 children abandoned by individuals attempting to illegally enter the United States. According to a foreign wire report, 163 of the recovered minors were "dumped" because they were not traveling with an adult guardian.
The Mexican National Institute of Migration said in a recent press release that children entering the U.S. alone have recently "increased significantly." Some experts assert that this figure has increased because U.S. border security has been weakened by left-wing efforts.
Zack Taylor, Chairman of the National Association of Former Border Patrol Officers (NAFBPO), said it is not uncommon for children to be abandoned during the smuggling process. While he was a Border Patrol agent, Taylor encountered many children left by traffickers in the U.S. after a smuggler had successfully gotten them into the country.
In most cases, Mexican parents will pay a smuggler $5,000-6,000 to transport their child across the border, according to Taylor. Once the child successfully enters the U.S., a trafficker then typically holds them until a second payment is received from the parents. Once the subsequent payment is made, the trafficker takes the child to their destination city. Taylor told Breitbart Texas, "Now the parents have a child, or several children, here in the U.S. This compels them to follow their children and enter the country as well."
Children may be abandoned during the smuggling process for various reasons, Taylor added. In some cases, the smuggler decides it is too dangerous to take the child across the border—in other instances the parents cannot afford the second round of payments once the child is inside the U.S.
Discarded children often become victims of human trafficking or other forms of slavery, Taylor said.
"The U.S. is partly responsible for foreign nationals taking extreme measures that risk the lives of their children," Taylor said. "Our government is encouraging foreign nationals to come into our country illegally and stay." He argued foreign nationals are compelled to enter the U.S. illegally because the Obama Administration pushes a narrative which victimizes immigrants--while demonizing Border Patrol Agents. That narrative is subsequently trumpeted and intensified by the left-leaning media.
The U.S. continues to embolden the horrors of illegal immigration by not shining a light on it, Taylor continued.
"Many of the crimes committed by aliens are so great, that to not to speak out against it shows you are complicit in it," Taylor said. He noted that in Dallas, Texas instead of focusing on the many issues facing the city due to illegal immigration, the media chooses to focus on issues of lesser importance. "All they're talking about right now is the plastic bag ban in Dallas," Taylor said. "That's deflecting attention away from what really matters."
"The media, and in some circumstances the government, plants environmental issues in front of the various heinous crimes happening simultaneously," Taylor said. "They are actively diverting scrutiny away from what is eroding the family in the U.S. and Mexico... the important thing to remember about border issues is that nothing is ever as it seems."
END
Saturday, April 5, 2014
AZMEX UPDATE 2-4-14
AZMEX UPDATE 2 APR 2014
Note: Busy AZMEX night & day between Lukeville and Nogales. Security situation continues to deteriorate . Especially the area between Lukeville (Sonoyta) and Sasabe (El Sasabe). Operational control of area still being disputed.
Note: Approx. few miles south of Ali Chuk on the Tohono O'odham Res. "Migrants"? Doubtful. Or "Burreros" (guys who carry the drugs) ? Have heard the victims were wearing mil. type camo, not confirmed. Body count may be rising.
'Armed group "hunts" migrants two dead
Details Published on Wednesday April 2, 2014 ,
Written by Editor / El Diario
http://www.eldiariodesonora.com.mx/nota.php?nota=29201
Sonoyta, Sonora
Traveling in two vehicles which were reported injured seven people.
A group of migrants who were traveling in two vehicles were " hunted " by heavily armed men who shot them on a local road that is north of Caborca, as a result leaving two people dead and seven injured .
According to reports from the State Police Investigating registered overturning around 05:40 am on Monday , was recorded in the 32 kilometer stretch Sonoyta - Lead , where a person was injured by gun fire .
Those killed were identified with the names of Ricano Lorenzo Hernandez, 30 -year- old native of Chihuahua; and Omar Aguilar Morales, 26 years old, from the state of Puebla , who passed away at the height of Santa Ana, when he was taken by a unit of the Red Cross for medical care .
The injured are: Venancio Quintana Saldaña, 49-year- old native of Guerrero; Noe Cruz, 32 years old, and Francisco Rodríguez Torres , both originating in the Federal District; Gerardo Rangel Ruiz , 32 years old Trinidad and Pablo Gutierrez , 35 years old, both originating in Guadalajara , Jalisco ; Misael Romero Sandoval, 18 years old , originally from Puebla ; Lares and Homero Rodriguez, 30 -year- old native of Zacatecas.
Also injured was Fernando Núñez Rodríguez , 53-year- old native of Guadalajara , Jalisco, who had a bullet wound in the right femur . All the injured were taken to hospitals in Caborca and Puerto Peñasco for medical care .
According to the statements of the victims, all aboard a vehicle brand Dodge Durango, blue , 2001 model , with Arizona plates and a vehicle Chevrolet Tahoe, white, 1996 model , without license plates circulation, when they encountered two more high pick-up type vehicles , and by not obeying the indication to halt, they were fired on.
Because aggression, Tahoe vehicle left the road and later tipped over, both vehicles with bullet wounds on their bodies .
END
Note: mucho ammo
Caught with weapons and tactical gear
Details Published on Wednesday April 2, 2014 ,
Written by Editor / El Diario
http://www.eldiariodesonora.com.mx/nota.php?nota=29202
Nogales
State and Municipal officers detain them during a raid on a hotel in this border.
Four people, including a woman, were arrested in possession of firearms and tactical gear , during a joint operation conducted by State and City Managers in a hotel in this border.
According to reports from the Attorney General of the State , the arrested were identified as Alejandro Cervantes Lopez, 33 years old, Aaron Gabriel Aguilar Soto 32; Manuel de Jesus and / or Francisco Javier Olivas Mota, 37, and Rosa María Félix Apipilhuasco , 32 , all from Nogales , Sonora.
According to the authorities the arrest of the above took place around 13:00 pm at a hotel in the city located on Calle Jesús García Ruiz Cortines and the Lomas de Nogales colony.
In this place the police officers in coordination with the Public Ministry Agent First Common Law , located a vehicle Sedan Totoya line Camry, 1997 model , golden color with Arizona plates , which was addressed by today arrested.
After inspection they found two rifles caliber 7.62 x 39 mm; 9mm pistol with its own magazine supplied with ten rounds of ammunition ; nine magazines for rifle 7.62 x 39 mm cartridges supplied with 30 rounds each; 373 rounds of ammunition of the same caliber and 14 .45 caliber rounds of ammunition.
They were also found 15 cell phones of different brands and models ; a tactical vest black, backpack, boots and carrying several keys for different car brands .
These authorities stressed that the arrest of this criminal gang was possible after several investigations and the arrest of two persons riding in a stolen , same car were arrested hours before the operation .
The detainees, vehicle , firearms , chargers, cartridges and other objects were made available to the Deputy Public Prosecutor's Office based in this city and it is he who defined the legal status of the above .
END
Military find safe house ' narcotúnel ' into Idependencia
Details Published on Wednesday April 2, 2014 ,
Written by Editor / El Diario
http://www.eldiariodesonora.com.mx/nota.php?nota=29203
Nogales
In coordination with U.S. authorities was that made the discovery .
Elements of the Secretary of Defense on this border secured a home located in Del Rosario colony, where there is a presumed narco tunnel leading to U.S. territory.
Since last night the staff of 45th Military Zone in this city, kept guard at the address marked with the number 714 located in Independence and the streets Granados end of that sector.
Could be in the scene to establish that military personnel managed the discovery of the tunnel in coordination with the U.S. authorities , who reported them to the possible construction of this at such address.
The authorities assume that within the home in what could be a garage is an excavation that could measure more than 200 meters long in the direction of Nogales Arizona.
Military forces will be noted that the Federal Public Ministry who perform a search warrant in the building so that this information is confirmed.
The home is located about 25 meters from the International online and in the back of the house , buckets , various tools and a wheelbarrow as were used for the construction of the tunnel were observed.
Note that in the garage of the home pick up a car , GMC, white from behind, with Sonora plates , plus soldiers claimed that when taking the house there was no one inside.
Up to press time the military forces remained guarded home awaiting the arrival of the appropriate federal authorities for official inspection .
END
Note: Busy AZMEX night & day between Lukeville and Nogales. Security situation continues to deteriorate . Especially the area between Lukeville (Sonoyta) and Sasabe (El Sasabe). Operational control of area still being disputed.
Note: Approx. few miles south of Ali Chuk on the Tohono O'odham Res. "Migrants"? Doubtful. Or "Burreros" (guys who carry the drugs) ? Have heard the victims were wearing mil. type camo, not confirmed. Body count may be rising.
'Armed group "hunts" migrants two dead
Details Published on Wednesday April 2, 2014 ,
Written by Editor / El Diario
http://www.eldiariodesonora.com.mx/nota.php?nota=29201
Sonoyta, Sonora
Traveling in two vehicles which were reported injured seven people.
A group of migrants who were traveling in two vehicles were " hunted " by heavily armed men who shot them on a local road that is north of Caborca, as a result leaving two people dead and seven injured .
According to reports from the State Police Investigating registered overturning around 05:40 am on Monday , was recorded in the 32 kilometer stretch Sonoyta - Lead , where a person was injured by gun fire .
Those killed were identified with the names of Ricano Lorenzo Hernandez, 30 -year- old native of Chihuahua; and Omar Aguilar Morales, 26 years old, from the state of Puebla , who passed away at the height of Santa Ana, when he was taken by a unit of the Red Cross for medical care .
The injured are: Venancio Quintana Saldaña, 49-year- old native of Guerrero; Noe Cruz, 32 years old, and Francisco Rodríguez Torres , both originating in the Federal District; Gerardo Rangel Ruiz , 32 years old Trinidad and Pablo Gutierrez , 35 years old, both originating in Guadalajara , Jalisco ; Misael Romero Sandoval, 18 years old , originally from Puebla ; Lares and Homero Rodriguez, 30 -year- old native of Zacatecas.
Also injured was Fernando Núñez Rodríguez , 53-year- old native of Guadalajara , Jalisco, who had a bullet wound in the right femur . All the injured were taken to hospitals in Caborca and Puerto Peñasco for medical care .
According to the statements of the victims, all aboard a vehicle brand Dodge Durango, blue , 2001 model , with Arizona plates and a vehicle Chevrolet Tahoe, white, 1996 model , without license plates circulation, when they encountered two more high pick-up type vehicles , and by not obeying the indication to halt, they were fired on.
Because aggression, Tahoe vehicle left the road and later tipped over, both vehicles with bullet wounds on their bodies .
END
Note: mucho ammo
Caught with weapons and tactical gear
Details Published on Wednesday April 2, 2014 ,
Written by Editor / El Diario
http://www.eldiariodesonora.com.mx/nota.php?nota=29202
Nogales
State and Municipal officers detain them during a raid on a hotel in this border.
Four people, including a woman, were arrested in possession of firearms and tactical gear , during a joint operation conducted by State and City Managers in a hotel in this border.
According to reports from the Attorney General of the State , the arrested were identified as Alejandro Cervantes Lopez, 33 years old, Aaron Gabriel Aguilar Soto 32; Manuel de Jesus and / or Francisco Javier Olivas Mota, 37, and Rosa María Félix Apipilhuasco , 32 , all from Nogales , Sonora.
According to the authorities the arrest of the above took place around 13:00 pm at a hotel in the city located on Calle Jesús García Ruiz Cortines and the Lomas de Nogales colony.
In this place the police officers in coordination with the Public Ministry Agent First Common Law , located a vehicle Sedan Totoya line Camry, 1997 model , golden color with Arizona plates , which was addressed by today arrested.
After inspection they found two rifles caliber 7.62 x 39 mm; 9mm pistol with its own magazine supplied with ten rounds of ammunition ; nine magazines for rifle 7.62 x 39 mm cartridges supplied with 30 rounds each; 373 rounds of ammunition of the same caliber and 14 .45 caliber rounds of ammunition.
They were also found 15 cell phones of different brands and models ; a tactical vest black, backpack, boots and carrying several keys for different car brands .
These authorities stressed that the arrest of this criminal gang was possible after several investigations and the arrest of two persons riding in a stolen , same car were arrested hours before the operation .
The detainees, vehicle , firearms , chargers, cartridges and other objects were made available to the Deputy Public Prosecutor's Office based in this city and it is he who defined the legal status of the above .
END
Military find safe house ' narcotúnel ' into Idependencia
Details Published on Wednesday April 2, 2014 ,
Written by Editor / El Diario
http://www.eldiariodesonora.com.mx/nota.php?nota=29203
Nogales
In coordination with U.S. authorities was that made the discovery .
Elements of the Secretary of Defense on this border secured a home located in Del Rosario colony, where there is a presumed narco tunnel leading to U.S. territory.
Since last night the staff of 45th Military Zone in this city, kept guard at the address marked with the number 714 located in Independence and the streets Granados end of that sector.
Could be in the scene to establish that military personnel managed the discovery of the tunnel in coordination with the U.S. authorities , who reported them to the possible construction of this at such address.
The authorities assume that within the home in what could be a garage is an excavation that could measure more than 200 meters long in the direction of Nogales Arizona.
Military forces will be noted that the Federal Public Ministry who perform a search warrant in the building so that this information is confirmed.
The home is located about 25 meters from the International online and in the back of the house , buckets , various tools and a wheelbarrow as were used for the construction of the tunnel were observed.
Note that in the garage of the home pick up a car , GMC, white from behind, with Sonora plates , plus soldiers claimed that when taking the house there was no one inside.
Up to press time the military forces remained guarded home awaiting the arrival of the appropriate federal authorities for official inspection .
END
Friday, April 4, 2014
AZMEX SPECIAL 4-4-14
AZMEX SPECIAL 4 APR 2014
Note: Local story, no spillover here or there. For sure.
Man killed in Sonora was witness in Arizona home invasion
Eduardo Hernandez is facing eight felony charges stemming from an alleged home invasion on Jan. 25.
Posted: Friday, April 4, 2014 8:19 am | Updated: 9:06 am, Fri Apr 4, 2014.
By Jonathan Clark
Nogales International
http://www.nogalesinternational.com/news/man-killed-in-sonora-was-witness-in-arizona-home-invasion/article_78de76fc-bc0c-11e3-91d3-0019bb2963f4.html
A local man who was shot and killed in Nogales, Sonora last month was the alleged victim of a home invasion in late January in Nogales, Ariz. in which two men reportedly assaulted him with a handgun and machete while accusing him of informing police about a drug load.
Antonio Miguel Coronado, 22, was found shortly after noon on March 16 sprawled in a street in Nogales, Sonora alongside his brother, 20-year-old Adrian Alejandro Coronado. Both men had been shot dead, the Sonora State Police said.
The brazen killings of the Coronados, former students at Nogales High School who had had only minor scrapes with the law, puzzled many in the local community. The Sonoran police did not suggest a possible motive and have offered no further information about the case since releasing a pair of news bulletins on March 16 and 17.
Now, through information gleaned from court documents and sources with knowledge of a separate criminal case in Arizona, the NI has learned that Antonio Coronado was the alleged target of a home invasion on Jan. 25 that may have been due to mistaken identity or erroneous information. What's more, he and another witness to the crime had allegedly been badgered in the days leading up to the murders to stop cooperating with law enforcement.
The Nogales Police Department declined to release its report of the Jan. 25 incident, citing the ongoing investigation. But other court documents in which the victims are identified only by descriptive terms or initials (law enforcement sources confirmed that the victim identified as "A.C." is Antonio Coronado) allege that two men burst into a Nogales home and held Coronado and a woman hostage. Two children were reportedly present as well.
During the alleged kidnapping, the documents say, 25-year-old Eduardo Hernandez of Nogales and another unidentified suspect held the victims at gunpoint and threatened to kill Coronado for snitching.
According to a narrative written by Nogales Police Det. David Batt on Hernandez's jail booking form, as Hernandez interrogated Coronado, his accomplice cut Coronado on the leg with a machete. An eight-count charging document at Santa Cruz County Superior Court also accuses Hernandez of hitting Coronado on the head with a firearm.
Coronado denied the allegations of snitching, and shortly after the home invasion, Hernandez reportedly called to say he had mistakenly accused him. Even so, the victims gave statements to police and Hernandez was arrested on Jan. 29 in Nogales on 11 felony charges. Three of the charges were later dropped, and Hernandez currently stands accused at Santa Cruz County Superior Court of one count of burglary, two counts of kidnapping and five counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.
Hernandez was released from custody on Feb. 14 after posting a $20,000 cash bond. At that point, police allege, he began a campaign to persuade Coronado and the female adult victim to not testify against him. The victims were allegedly contacted on Feb. 22, March 3 and March 5, and then again on March 14, two days before Coronado was murdered. According to another booking document, people acting on Hernandez's behalf offered the witnesses "money, cars and more" to back off the allegations.
In the early afternoon of March 16, Coronado and his brother Adrian were found dead on a street approximately one mile south of the U.S-Mexico border. Adrian was lying between two cars – a black Dodge Charger with Arizona plates and a white Buick sedan with Sonora plates – that appeared to have collided head-on. Antonio was next to the Buick. The Sonora State Police said investigators recovered "various" shell casings at the scene from bullets fired from a handgun.
The Coronado brothers appeared to be unlikely candidates for a gangland-style hit. Neither of their names show up in a federal criminal court database, and neither appear to have any convictions at a state superior court. In 2011, Antonio was found guilty at Nogales Municipal Court of shoplifting, and in 2013 he was convicted at Nogales Justice Court of a misdemeanor drug paraphernalia charge – a conviction that a judge later set aside. Adrian's only conviction came at City of Maricopa traffic court, where he was found guilty of driving without a valid license, online records show.
On the night after the Coronados were killed, Hernandez was booked back into the county jail on a charge that he had obstructed a criminal investigation. An amended complaint filed April 2 at Nogales Justice Court accuses him of four counts of the Class 5 felony offense – one each for the alleged victim-influencing incidents on Feb. 22, March 3, March 5 and March 14. His bond was initially set at $200,000, and then dropped to $100,000 on March 19. He remains in custody.
Sources with knowledge of the case say that Antonio Coronado may have been lured into Mexico on the day of the murders by a woman who was familiar to him. Adrian Coronado may have simply made the unwitting mistake of giving his brother a ride to an ambush. And in the days after their murders, those sources say, the woman who allegedly lured Antonio to the ambush arrived at a Nogales port of entry to say that she had been forced into doing it.
After the NI provided U.S. Customs and Border Protection with a last name and potential dates that the woman might have come to the port, the agency issued the following statement: "On March 18, a female 41-year-old U.S. citizen applied for entry into the United States at the Nogales Port of Entry. At the time of her inspection, the woman made allegations of possible criminal activity in Mexico and that she was victimized. CBP immediately notified the Mexican Consulate and the Nogales Police Department who took over the case. At this time no further information is available."
Lt. Carlos Jimenez, spokesman for NPD, said he recognized the incident, though he suggested the woman had come to the port on March 19. However, he declined to comment on the nature of her allegations and their possible connection to the Coronado murders.
"We do have a current active investigation that may possibly tie into the homicides that occurred in Nogales, Sonora, Mexico, but cannot elaborate any further being that it is currently active," Jimenez said in an emailed statement.
Deputy County Attorney Liliana Ortega, the lead prosecutor in the home invasion case against Hernandez, said she was aware that Antonio Coronado had been murdered, but declined to connect Hernandez to his death. Asked if she had expected Coronado to be a cooperating witness against Hernandez, she said: "Yes."
As for the second suspect who allegedly aided Hernandez in the home invasion, Ortega said: "We're still investigating – we don't have a suspect in custody."
The woman witness against Hernandez has reportedly gone into hiding.
'Nothing to do with it'
Hernandez's lawyer Matthew Davidson said he had heard that one of his client's alleged victims had been killed, but denied Hernandez's involvement.
"I had heard that, I don't know the circumstances surrounding that, but my client has nothing to do with it, period," Davidson said of the murder.
Asked if investigators had tried to talk to Hernandez about the Coronado kilings, he said: "No one, either police or a county attorney, has approached me to discuss that issue with him." Davidson said he doesn't want to try the kidnap-assault case in the media, but noted that Hernandez "has 100-percent declared himself not guilty and he intends to fight those charges."
The charges of obstructing a criminal investigation are still pending a preliminary hearing at Nogales Justice Court. Davidson said he's awaiting more disclosure from the state that would explain the specific nature of the allegations.
"We're looking forward to getting the information and piecing this thing together about what they're saying happened," he said, while also expressing skepticism that a defendant who was on intensive probation supervision at the time could have been out cajoling witnesses.
In an apparently unrelated case, the County Attorney's Office charged Hernandez on March 17 with two DUI offenses and a drug possession charge stemming from an alleged incident on Feb. 2, 2013. The DUI charges were dismissed after Davidson raised a one-year statute of limitations issue, and Hernandez is scheduled for a preliminary hearing on the drug charge on April 9.
More Coverage
Victims in Nogales, Sonora double murder were brothers who attended NHS
END
Note: Local story, no spillover here or there. For sure.
Man killed in Sonora was witness in Arizona home invasion
Eduardo Hernandez is facing eight felony charges stemming from an alleged home invasion on Jan. 25.
Posted: Friday, April 4, 2014 8:19 am | Updated: 9:06 am, Fri Apr 4, 2014.
By Jonathan Clark
Nogales International
http://www.nogalesinternational.com/news/man-killed-in-sonora-was-witness-in-arizona-home-invasion/article_78de76fc-bc0c-11e3-91d3-0019bb2963f4.html
A local man who was shot and killed in Nogales, Sonora last month was the alleged victim of a home invasion in late January in Nogales, Ariz. in which two men reportedly assaulted him with a handgun and machete while accusing him of informing police about a drug load.
Antonio Miguel Coronado, 22, was found shortly after noon on March 16 sprawled in a street in Nogales, Sonora alongside his brother, 20-year-old Adrian Alejandro Coronado. Both men had been shot dead, the Sonora State Police said.
The brazen killings of the Coronados, former students at Nogales High School who had had only minor scrapes with the law, puzzled many in the local community. The Sonoran police did not suggest a possible motive and have offered no further information about the case since releasing a pair of news bulletins on March 16 and 17.
Now, through information gleaned from court documents and sources with knowledge of a separate criminal case in Arizona, the NI has learned that Antonio Coronado was the alleged target of a home invasion on Jan. 25 that may have been due to mistaken identity or erroneous information. What's more, he and another witness to the crime had allegedly been badgered in the days leading up to the murders to stop cooperating with law enforcement.
The Nogales Police Department declined to release its report of the Jan. 25 incident, citing the ongoing investigation. But other court documents in which the victims are identified only by descriptive terms or initials (law enforcement sources confirmed that the victim identified as "A.C." is Antonio Coronado) allege that two men burst into a Nogales home and held Coronado and a woman hostage. Two children were reportedly present as well.
During the alleged kidnapping, the documents say, 25-year-old Eduardo Hernandez of Nogales and another unidentified suspect held the victims at gunpoint and threatened to kill Coronado for snitching.
According to a narrative written by Nogales Police Det. David Batt on Hernandez's jail booking form, as Hernandez interrogated Coronado, his accomplice cut Coronado on the leg with a machete. An eight-count charging document at Santa Cruz County Superior Court also accuses Hernandez of hitting Coronado on the head with a firearm.
Coronado denied the allegations of snitching, and shortly after the home invasion, Hernandez reportedly called to say he had mistakenly accused him. Even so, the victims gave statements to police and Hernandez was arrested on Jan. 29 in Nogales on 11 felony charges. Three of the charges were later dropped, and Hernandez currently stands accused at Santa Cruz County Superior Court of one count of burglary, two counts of kidnapping and five counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.
Hernandez was released from custody on Feb. 14 after posting a $20,000 cash bond. At that point, police allege, he began a campaign to persuade Coronado and the female adult victim to not testify against him. The victims were allegedly contacted on Feb. 22, March 3 and March 5, and then again on March 14, two days before Coronado was murdered. According to another booking document, people acting on Hernandez's behalf offered the witnesses "money, cars and more" to back off the allegations.
In the early afternoon of March 16, Coronado and his brother Adrian were found dead on a street approximately one mile south of the U.S-Mexico border. Adrian was lying between two cars – a black Dodge Charger with Arizona plates and a white Buick sedan with Sonora plates – that appeared to have collided head-on. Antonio was next to the Buick. The Sonora State Police said investigators recovered "various" shell casings at the scene from bullets fired from a handgun.
The Coronado brothers appeared to be unlikely candidates for a gangland-style hit. Neither of their names show up in a federal criminal court database, and neither appear to have any convictions at a state superior court. In 2011, Antonio was found guilty at Nogales Municipal Court of shoplifting, and in 2013 he was convicted at Nogales Justice Court of a misdemeanor drug paraphernalia charge – a conviction that a judge later set aside. Adrian's only conviction came at City of Maricopa traffic court, where he was found guilty of driving without a valid license, online records show.
On the night after the Coronados were killed, Hernandez was booked back into the county jail on a charge that he had obstructed a criminal investigation. An amended complaint filed April 2 at Nogales Justice Court accuses him of four counts of the Class 5 felony offense – one each for the alleged victim-influencing incidents on Feb. 22, March 3, March 5 and March 14. His bond was initially set at $200,000, and then dropped to $100,000 on March 19. He remains in custody.
Sources with knowledge of the case say that Antonio Coronado may have been lured into Mexico on the day of the murders by a woman who was familiar to him. Adrian Coronado may have simply made the unwitting mistake of giving his brother a ride to an ambush. And in the days after their murders, those sources say, the woman who allegedly lured Antonio to the ambush arrived at a Nogales port of entry to say that she had been forced into doing it.
After the NI provided U.S. Customs and Border Protection with a last name and potential dates that the woman might have come to the port, the agency issued the following statement: "On March 18, a female 41-year-old U.S. citizen applied for entry into the United States at the Nogales Port of Entry. At the time of her inspection, the woman made allegations of possible criminal activity in Mexico and that she was victimized. CBP immediately notified the Mexican Consulate and the Nogales Police Department who took over the case. At this time no further information is available."
Lt. Carlos Jimenez, spokesman for NPD, said he recognized the incident, though he suggested the woman had come to the port on March 19. However, he declined to comment on the nature of her allegations and their possible connection to the Coronado murders.
"We do have a current active investigation that may possibly tie into the homicides that occurred in Nogales, Sonora, Mexico, but cannot elaborate any further being that it is currently active," Jimenez said in an emailed statement.
Deputy County Attorney Liliana Ortega, the lead prosecutor in the home invasion case against Hernandez, said she was aware that Antonio Coronado had been murdered, but declined to connect Hernandez to his death. Asked if she had expected Coronado to be a cooperating witness against Hernandez, she said: "Yes."
As for the second suspect who allegedly aided Hernandez in the home invasion, Ortega said: "We're still investigating – we don't have a suspect in custody."
The woman witness against Hernandez has reportedly gone into hiding.
'Nothing to do with it'
Hernandez's lawyer Matthew Davidson said he had heard that one of his client's alleged victims had been killed, but denied Hernandez's involvement.
"I had heard that, I don't know the circumstances surrounding that, but my client has nothing to do with it, period," Davidson said of the murder.
Asked if investigators had tried to talk to Hernandez about the Coronado kilings, he said: "No one, either police or a county attorney, has approached me to discuss that issue with him." Davidson said he doesn't want to try the kidnap-assault case in the media, but noted that Hernandez "has 100-percent declared himself not guilty and he intends to fight those charges."
The charges of obstructing a criminal investigation are still pending a preliminary hearing at Nogales Justice Court. Davidson said he's awaiting more disclosure from the state that would explain the specific nature of the allegations.
"We're looking forward to getting the information and piecing this thing together about what they're saying happened," he said, while also expressing skepticism that a defendant who was on intensive probation supervision at the time could have been out cajoling witnesses.
In an apparently unrelated case, the County Attorney's Office charged Hernandez on March 17 with two DUI offenses and a drug possession charge stemming from an alleged incident on Feb. 2, 2013. The DUI charges were dismissed after Davidson raised a one-year statute of limitations issue, and Hernandez is scheduled for a preliminary hearing on the drug charge on April 9.
More Coverage
Victims in Nogales, Sonora double murder were brothers who attended NHS
END
AZMEX POLICY 4-4-14
AZMEX POLICY 4 APR 2014
Note: Of most local interest:
The agency's fiscal 2014 budget includes funding to hire 2,000 additional officers, in order to expedite trade by reducing congestion at ports of entry. CBP plans to have recruited, vetted, hired and trained all 2,000 by the end of fiscal 2015. ( ends Sept. 30, 2015 )
1. Border Patrol pursues body-worn cameras for officers
By Zach Rausnitz
http://www.fiercehomelandsecurity.com/story/border-patrol-pursues-body-worn-cameras-officers/2014-04-03?utm_medium=nl&utm_source=internal
The new head of Customs and Border Protection said Wednesday he believes in the merits of body-worn video cameras for Border Patrol officers, but technology and privacy challenges have stood in the way of implementation.
Gil Kerlikowske, who became CBP commissioner in March, told the House Appropriations homeland security subcommittee that when he was Seattle's police chief, his department put video cameras in every officer's car.
"We found that with the video cameras in particular, and the audio, it worked far more to the officer's advantage when there were complaints that came forward," he said at the hearing.
The American Civil Liberties Union has been pushing for body-worn cameras since last year. Kerlikowske said the Border Patrol is exploring possible devices, but hurdles remain.
The devices themselves must be able to function in all types of weather conditions, including winter in North Dakota and summer in the Arizona desert, and CBP has to store all the data they generate. Additionally, body-worn cameras bring privacy concerns.
"Is the camera on when the [officer] is talking to a person who's the victim of domestic violence or sexual assault?" Kerlikowske said.
Kerlikowske discussed a range of topics in his first appearance before the subcommittee as CBP commissioner, including the significant task ahead of his agency as it works to hire thousands of additional customs officers.
The agency's fiscal 2014 budget includes funding to hire 2,000 additional officers, in order to expedite trade by reducing congestion at ports of entry. CBP plans to have recruited, vetted, hired and trained all 2,000 by the end of fiscal 2015.
"It's a huge mistake if you hire too many people too quickly without doing the proper steps," Kerlikowske said.
In its fiscal 2015 budget request, CBP proposed hiring another round of 2,000 officers, which it wants to fund by charging higher fees.
For more:
- go to the hearing webpage (prepared testimony and webcast available)
Note: Armed citizens, a nightmare to corrupt governments and other criminal groups everywhere. Remember also the draconian gun control laws of the 1970's were to prevent a successful revolution. Nothing to do with crime, other than enabling it. Mostly computer english
Related to main story at the link
Weapon that killed the mayor of Tanhuato , self-defense : Cocoa
Castillo takes stock with senators on Michoacán
Confrontation is recorded in Michoacan
Should be limited to self-defense groups in Michoacán : Morera
Michoacán , a red focus area of opportunity : Osorio Chong
PHOTOGALLERY : AUC monitor municipalities
Weapon that killed the mayor of Tanhuato , self-defense : Cocoa
Disarmament of the self-defense groups will be in the coming weeks
http://www.excelsior.com.mx/nacional/2014/04/03/952187
Alfredo Castillo census reported that in the community , it was agreed to removed the barricades that remain in some municipalities
04/03/2014 18:13 NOTIMEX
Alfredo Castillo census reported that in the community , it was agreed to removed the barricades remain in some municipalities.
MORELIA , April 3 - . During the coming weeks we will disarm the self-defense groups in Michoacán today announced the Commissioner of Safety and Integral Development, Alfredo Castillo Cervantes.
The official said , along with disarmament , removal of the barricades , in full agreement with community
In a press conference after attending the meeting with young people led by the interior minister , Miguel Angel Osorio Chong, Castillo Cervantes said that during the next 43 days the Military Zone resume registration of guards for rural people .
The commissioner noted that once the disarmament and abide to the new record , the authorities shall arrest all armed civilian they locate.
This would be leading the disarmament would have to be over the coming weeks and remove the barricades , and there is already a consensus that these elements from those that are found with weapons will be brought before the authorities, "he said .
Also, the Commissioner highlighted the progress made towards the establishment of the unified command in the state.
He said that to date he has met with mayors, deputies and leaders of the main political parties, who have achieved consensus.
He recalled that this restructuring will include the creation of a rural police who would be in the community self-defenses and to register with the military authority would be inserted .
jpg
They will not disarm us Mireles Valverde
The leader of community guards said that " if they see that the people are united and protect your community , we will never disarm "
SHARE 04/03/2014 20:21 Editor
http://www.excelsior.com.mx/nacional/2014/04/03/952215
The leader of community guards said that " if they see that the people are united and protect your community , we will never disarm ."
MORELIA , April 3 - . José Manuel Mireles Valverde, leader of the AUC , said the government will seek to disarm them , if the people are united and protect their community , the will never disarm .
During a tour of Coahuayana , manager of community guards said the government should see they are united , because otherwise " they never going to help us , we will never provide any support , and always, always , always, always , they will seek disarm us, but if they see that the people are united and protect our communites , we will never disarm . "
We have seen from experience , if the government wants to disarm us in our fight ( in ) that took more than a year when the people unite and come to support us, we will not give back our weapons , "he said .
Note that Alfredo Castillo reported that during the coming weeks they will be disarming self-defense groups in Michoacan
The official said , along with disarmament , removal of the barricades , in full agreement with community.
jpg
Note: Of most local interest:
The agency's fiscal 2014 budget includes funding to hire 2,000 additional officers, in order to expedite trade by reducing congestion at ports of entry. CBP plans to have recruited, vetted, hired and trained all 2,000 by the end of fiscal 2015. ( ends Sept. 30, 2015 )
1. Border Patrol pursues body-worn cameras for officers
By Zach Rausnitz
http://www.fiercehomelandsecurity.com/story/border-patrol-pursues-body-worn-cameras-officers/2014-04-03?utm_medium=nl&utm_source=internal
The new head of Customs and Border Protection said Wednesday he believes in the merits of body-worn video cameras for Border Patrol officers, but technology and privacy challenges have stood in the way of implementation.
Gil Kerlikowske, who became CBP commissioner in March, told the House Appropriations homeland security subcommittee that when he was Seattle's police chief, his department put video cameras in every officer's car.
"We found that with the video cameras in particular, and the audio, it worked far more to the officer's advantage when there were complaints that came forward," he said at the hearing.
The American Civil Liberties Union has been pushing for body-worn cameras since last year. Kerlikowske said the Border Patrol is exploring possible devices, but hurdles remain.
The devices themselves must be able to function in all types of weather conditions, including winter in North Dakota and summer in the Arizona desert, and CBP has to store all the data they generate. Additionally, body-worn cameras bring privacy concerns.
"Is the camera on when the [officer] is talking to a person who's the victim of domestic violence or sexual assault?" Kerlikowske said.
Kerlikowske discussed a range of topics in his first appearance before the subcommittee as CBP commissioner, including the significant task ahead of his agency as it works to hire thousands of additional customs officers.
The agency's fiscal 2014 budget includes funding to hire 2,000 additional officers, in order to expedite trade by reducing congestion at ports of entry. CBP plans to have recruited, vetted, hired and trained all 2,000 by the end of fiscal 2015.
"It's a huge mistake if you hire too many people too quickly without doing the proper steps," Kerlikowske said.
In its fiscal 2015 budget request, CBP proposed hiring another round of 2,000 officers, which it wants to fund by charging higher fees.
For more:
- go to the hearing webpage (prepared testimony and webcast available)
Note: Armed citizens, a nightmare to corrupt governments and other criminal groups everywhere. Remember also the draconian gun control laws of the 1970's were to prevent a successful revolution. Nothing to do with crime, other than enabling it. Mostly computer english
Related to main story at the link
Weapon that killed the mayor of Tanhuato , self-defense : Cocoa
Castillo takes stock with senators on Michoacán
Confrontation is recorded in Michoacan
Should be limited to self-defense groups in Michoacán : Morera
Michoacán , a red focus area of opportunity : Osorio Chong
PHOTOGALLERY : AUC monitor municipalities
Weapon that killed the mayor of Tanhuato , self-defense : Cocoa
Disarmament of the self-defense groups will be in the coming weeks
http://www.excelsior.com.mx/nacional/2014/04/03/952187
Alfredo Castillo census reported that in the community , it was agreed to removed the barricades that remain in some municipalities
04/03/2014 18:13 NOTIMEX
Alfredo Castillo census reported that in the community , it was agreed to removed the barricades remain in some municipalities.
MORELIA , April 3 - . During the coming weeks we will disarm the self-defense groups in Michoacán today announced the Commissioner of Safety and Integral Development, Alfredo Castillo Cervantes.
The official said , along with disarmament , removal of the barricades , in full agreement with community
In a press conference after attending the meeting with young people led by the interior minister , Miguel Angel Osorio Chong, Castillo Cervantes said that during the next 43 days the Military Zone resume registration of guards for rural people .
The commissioner noted that once the disarmament and abide to the new record , the authorities shall arrest all armed civilian they locate.
This would be leading the disarmament would have to be over the coming weeks and remove the barricades , and there is already a consensus that these elements from those that are found with weapons will be brought before the authorities, "he said .
Also, the Commissioner highlighted the progress made towards the establishment of the unified command in the state.
He said that to date he has met with mayors, deputies and leaders of the main political parties, who have achieved consensus.
He recalled that this restructuring will include the creation of a rural police who would be in the community self-defenses and to register with the military authority would be inserted .
jpg
They will not disarm us Mireles Valverde
The leader of community guards said that " if they see that the people are united and protect your community , we will never disarm "
SHARE 04/03/2014 20:21 Editor
http://www.excelsior.com.mx/nacional/2014/04/03/952215
The leader of community guards said that " if they see that the people are united and protect your community , we will never disarm ."
MORELIA , April 3 - . José Manuel Mireles Valverde, leader of the AUC , said the government will seek to disarm them , if the people are united and protect their community , the will never disarm .
During a tour of Coahuayana , manager of community guards said the government should see they are united , because otherwise " they never going to help us , we will never provide any support , and always, always , always, always , they will seek disarm us, but if they see that the people are united and protect our communites , we will never disarm . "
We have seen from experience , if the government wants to disarm us in our fight ( in ) that took more than a year when the people unite and come to support us, we will not give back our weapons , "he said .
Note that Alfredo Castillo reported that during the coming weeks they will be disarming self-defense groups in Michoacan
The official said , along with disarmament , removal of the barricades , in full agreement with community.
jpg
Thursday, April 3, 2014
AZMEX POLICY 3-4-14
AZMEX POLICY 3 APR 2014
Note: Today's reality: Keep in mind government doctrine; If it's not documented / reported, it didn't happen. When an agency wants more, or less, arrests, it will happen.
Updated 21 minutes ago.
Border Patrol sends agents from Arizona to help in South Texas
Source: Arizona News
Originally published: Apr 2, 2014 - 1:30 pm
http://ktar.com/22/1719441/Border-Patrol-sends-agents-from-Arizona-to-help-in-South-Texas
McALLEN, Texas (AP) -- The U.S. Border Patrol has shifted more than 100 agents from California and Arizona to the southernmost tip of Texas, its busiest sector for illegal immigration.
The agency announced Wednesday that the temporarily assigned agents had arrived to the Rio Grande Valley this week.
While arrests of immigrants entering the country illegally have stabilized or fallen at other parts of the Southwest border, they've soared in South Texas. Last year, the Border Patrol made more than 154,000 arrests in the sector, an increase of 58 percent from the previous year.
The sector has already made more than 95,000 arrests midway through this fiscal year and seized more than 300,000 pounds of marijuana. The agents from Arizona and California join those already sent from the neighboring Laredo sector.
END
Note: ? Hasta Quando? Someday? Another question is where are they coming from?
170 Additional CBP Officers Assigned To Busy Arizona Ports Of Entry
By: Anthony Kimery, Executive Editor
04/02/2014 ( 8:57pm)
http://www.hstoday.us/single-article/170-additional-cbp-officers-assigned-to-busy-arizona-ports-of-entry/a4ffe0d6f6fcd1b6da0d3325e3ababbd.html
Rep. Ron Barber (D-Ariz.) announced Wednesday that 170 additional Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers have been assigned to Ports of Entry (PoE) in Southern Arizona – a build-up he sought a month ago.
Barber had told Department of Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson in a March 4 letter that undermanned Arizona PoEs needed additional CBP field operations officers to improve security and improve the smooth flow of cross-border commerce.
Barber was joined by seven of his colleagues in Arizona's congressional delegation – Republicans and Democrats – in urging Johnson to authorize additional CBP officers for Arizona.
"They noted that drugs cartels have been increasing smuggling through ports because of a build-up of Border Patrol officers elsewhere along the border," Barber's office said in a press release.
"Without adequate resources at Arizona's ports of entry, increased attention of cartels may result in lengthy delays of shipment inspections, thus causing economic damage to small businesses operating at the border," Barber and his colleagues wrote in their letter to Johnson. "This threat would also likely increase wait times for legitimate tourists, whether crossing by foot or vehicle."
In their letter, they asked to "receive an adequate share of [CBP] officers for [Arizona's] Ports of Entry, including the revamped Mariposa Port of Entry in Nogales." He said "It is estimated that Arizona needs an additional 500 customs officers to effectively run its Ports of Entry, and that the Mariposa PoE alone requires an additional 250 Customs officers."
"In recent years," the Arizona lawmakers told Johnson, "the emphasis by Border Patrol on interdiction efforts between the Ports of Entry has caused cartels to look for weaker locations to conduct illicit activity. As you know, CBP recently seized a record 20,000 pounds of marijuana in a shipment of fresh produce sent through the Mariposa PoE in Nogales. This brazen attempt of drug smuggling indicates just how weak the cartels consider the Ports of Entry.
When this reporter spent time at the Nogales PoE in the Fall of 2010, CBP officers discovered six hay-bale-sized bundles of marijuana [see photo] wrapped in lead sheets (the first time such bundles of
pot had been found at the Nogales PoE encased in lead) that were artfully hidden among cars that were trying to be imported into the United States on one of the many freight trains that pass through the port. The bundles were estimated to be worth hundreds of thousands of dollars.
"Without adequate resources at Arizona's Ports of Entry, increased attention of cartels may result in lengthy delays of shipment inspections, thus causing economic damage to small businesses operating at the border. This threat would also likely increase wait times for legitimate tourists, whether crossing by foot or vehicle," the legislators told Johnson.
Barber, a member of the House Committee on Homeland Security, said Wednesday 120 additional CBP officers will be assigned to the two border crossings in Nogales, and that 25 will be assigned to the Douglas port and 25 to the San Luis port near Yuma.
In the federal spending plan Congress approved in January, funding was appropriated for an additional 3,300 CPB officers, including 2,000 for the busiest ports of entry. Barber and his colleagues had asked Johnson to assign 500 of them to southern Arizona.
"I am disappointed that Arizona did not receive the full 500 officers because that means the ports still will not be able to operate at full capacity," Barber said. "But 170 is a good start, and I will continue working on the Committee on Homeland Security to ensure that southern Arizona ports receive the resources they need."
"Customs and Border Protection officers are essential to the smooth flow of legal goods and commerce across the border," Barber said.
The Mariposa PoE is nearing completion of a $200 million expansion that will increase both cargo lanes and passenger vehicle capacity.
"The need for increased personnel is acute," Barber said. "Currently, only 1,600 trucks enter the country each day through the PoE. With full staffing in the expanded cargo lanes, CBP predicts capacity would be more than 4,000 trucks per day. This represents a huge opportunity to boost trade between Mexico and all of Arizona."
For more about the Nogales, Arizona Port of Entry, read the Homeland Security Today report, "A Day In the Life of Nogales."
end
Note: Today's reality: Keep in mind government doctrine; If it's not documented / reported, it didn't happen. When an agency wants more, or less, arrests, it will happen.
Updated 21 minutes ago.
Border Patrol sends agents from Arizona to help in South Texas
Source: Arizona News
Originally published: Apr 2, 2014 - 1:30 pm
http://ktar.com/22/1719441/Border-Patrol-sends-agents-from-Arizona-to-help-in-South-Texas
McALLEN, Texas (AP) -- The U.S. Border Patrol has shifted more than 100 agents from California and Arizona to the southernmost tip of Texas, its busiest sector for illegal immigration.
The agency announced Wednesday that the temporarily assigned agents had arrived to the Rio Grande Valley this week.
While arrests of immigrants entering the country illegally have stabilized or fallen at other parts of the Southwest border, they've soared in South Texas. Last year, the Border Patrol made more than 154,000 arrests in the sector, an increase of 58 percent from the previous year.
The sector has already made more than 95,000 arrests midway through this fiscal year and seized more than 300,000 pounds of marijuana. The agents from Arizona and California join those already sent from the neighboring Laredo sector.
END
Note: ? Hasta Quando? Someday? Another question is where are they coming from?
170 Additional CBP Officers Assigned To Busy Arizona Ports Of Entry
By: Anthony Kimery, Executive Editor
04/02/2014 ( 8:57pm)
http://www.hstoday.us/single-article/170-additional-cbp-officers-assigned-to-busy-arizona-ports-of-entry/a4ffe0d6f6fcd1b6da0d3325e3ababbd.html
Rep. Ron Barber (D-Ariz.) announced Wednesday that 170 additional Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers have been assigned to Ports of Entry (PoE) in Southern Arizona – a build-up he sought a month ago.
Barber had told Department of Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson in a March 4 letter that undermanned Arizona PoEs needed additional CBP field operations officers to improve security and improve the smooth flow of cross-border commerce.
Barber was joined by seven of his colleagues in Arizona's congressional delegation – Republicans and Democrats – in urging Johnson to authorize additional CBP officers for Arizona.
"They noted that drugs cartels have been increasing smuggling through ports because of a build-up of Border Patrol officers elsewhere along the border," Barber's office said in a press release.
"Without adequate resources at Arizona's ports of entry, increased attention of cartels may result in lengthy delays of shipment inspections, thus causing economic damage to small businesses operating at the border," Barber and his colleagues wrote in their letter to Johnson. "This threat would also likely increase wait times for legitimate tourists, whether crossing by foot or vehicle."
In their letter, they asked to "receive an adequate share of [CBP] officers for [Arizona's] Ports of Entry, including the revamped Mariposa Port of Entry in Nogales." He said "It is estimated that Arizona needs an additional 500 customs officers to effectively run its Ports of Entry, and that the Mariposa PoE alone requires an additional 250 Customs officers."
"In recent years," the Arizona lawmakers told Johnson, "the emphasis by Border Patrol on interdiction efforts between the Ports of Entry has caused cartels to look for weaker locations to conduct illicit activity. As you know, CBP recently seized a record 20,000 pounds of marijuana in a shipment of fresh produce sent through the Mariposa PoE in Nogales. This brazen attempt of drug smuggling indicates just how weak the cartels consider the Ports of Entry.
When this reporter spent time at the Nogales PoE in the Fall of 2010, CBP officers discovered six hay-bale-sized bundles of marijuana [see photo] wrapped in lead sheets (the first time such bundles of
pot had been found at the Nogales PoE encased in lead) that were artfully hidden among cars that were trying to be imported into the United States on one of the many freight trains that pass through the port. The bundles were estimated to be worth hundreds of thousands of dollars.
"Without adequate resources at Arizona's Ports of Entry, increased attention of cartels may result in lengthy delays of shipment inspections, thus causing economic damage to small businesses operating at the border. This threat would also likely increase wait times for legitimate tourists, whether crossing by foot or vehicle," the legislators told Johnson.
Barber, a member of the House Committee on Homeland Security, said Wednesday 120 additional CBP officers will be assigned to the two border crossings in Nogales, and that 25 will be assigned to the Douglas port and 25 to the San Luis port near Yuma.
In the federal spending plan Congress approved in January, funding was appropriated for an additional 3,300 CPB officers, including 2,000 for the busiest ports of entry. Barber and his colleagues had asked Johnson to assign 500 of them to southern Arizona.
"I am disappointed that Arizona did not receive the full 500 officers because that means the ports still will not be able to operate at full capacity," Barber said. "But 170 is a good start, and I will continue working on the Committee on Homeland Security to ensure that southern Arizona ports receive the resources they need."
"Customs and Border Protection officers are essential to the smooth flow of legal goods and commerce across the border," Barber said.
The Mariposa PoE is nearing completion of a $200 million expansion that will increase both cargo lanes and passenger vehicle capacity.
"The need for increased personnel is acute," Barber said. "Currently, only 1,600 trucks enter the country each day through the PoE. With full staffing in the expanded cargo lanes, CBP predicts capacity would be more than 4,000 trucks per day. This represents a huge opportunity to boost trade between Mexico and all of Arizona."
For more about the Nogales, Arizona Port of Entry, read the Homeland Security Today report, "A Day In the Life of Nogales."
end
Wednesday, April 2, 2014
AZMEX F&F EXTRA 2-4-14
AZMEX F&F EXTRA 2 APR 2014
Note: Excellent column by Katie Pavlich follows. As we keep reminding all, many hundreds of innocent Mexicans (Hispanics) are still dead. Not one of the people behind the bloody scheme has yet been brought to justice.
ATF chief: No one canned over Fast & Furious
Agent killed in botched gun sting
By Kellan Howell-The Washington Times Wednesday, April 2, 2014
B. Todd Jones, nominated to head the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, faces a claim that he retaliated against a whistleblower. (Associated Press)
The director of the government agency responsible for the Fast & Furious sting operation that allowed weapons to flow across the Mexican border confirmed Wednesday that no one involved in the botched gun-running project has been fired.
Todd Jones, the director of the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco Firearms and Explosives told a House Government Reform and Oversight Committee hearing that some employees involved in the Fast and Furious operation were disciplined and others resigned with pensions, but no one was terminated.
Committee Chairman Darrell Issa questioned whether the ATF and Mr. Jones had demonstrated full accountability for the operation after an inspector general's report revealed deep flaws with the plan and its execution.
Mr. Jones responded that "everyone involved in the ATF in the chain of command has either been disciplined or is no longer working with the agency."
Mr. Issa pressed, "But the answer of fired is no. Is that correct?"
Mr. Jones replied, "As a result of the inspector general's report, the answer is no."
The Justice Department's inspector general recommended the ATF terminate the special agent in charge of the Fast and Furious Operation, William Newell, but Mr. Newell was merely demoted in a settlement, according to the news website theblaze.com.
Mr. Issa called the fallout "certainly less than what the American people would expect."
Between 2006 and 2011, the ATF allowed licensed firearms dealers to sell 2,000 guns illegal straw buyers in an effort to track weapons flow to Mexican drug cartels, however, the government lost track of many of the weapons and in December 2010, one of the guns was found at the scene of murdered U.S. Border Patrol agent Brian Terry.
Read more:
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/apr/2/atf-chief-no-one-canned-over-fast-furious/#ixzz2xmiBt4Nr
Comment: As we keep reminding all, many hundreds of innocent Mexicans (Hispanics) are still dead. Facilitated by weapons directly supplied to the drug gangs by the Obama administration. In addition to the tens of thousands more dead who were involved in the drug/human trafficking trade. Not one of the people behind the bloody scheme has yet been brought to justice. BTW, just what we have come to expect from the "Arizona" Repulsive. The state bar usually shares the same esteem.
Dennis Burke Should Be Further Sanctioned, Not Celebrated For Lying to Brian Terry's Family
Katie Pavlich | Apr 02, 2014
http://townhall.com/columnists/katiepavlich/2014/04/02/brian-terry-family-dennis-burke-should-be-further-sanctioned-not-celebrated-n1817768/page/full
Earlier this week the Arizona Republic editorial board published an opinion piece titled, "Dennis Burke should've been celebrated, not sanctioned." The board portrays the former U.S. Attorney and Operation Fast and Furious ring-leader as a whistleblower and victim rather than holding him accountable for his extensive and reckless actions during his time in office. Consider the following a direct response.
Between 2009 and 2011 when Operation Fast and Furious was active, Dennis Burke and his Assistant U.S. Attorney Emory Hurley refused to prosecute nearly every straw purchaser case handed to them citing "no probable cause." One of those straw purchasers was Jaime Avila, a man who purchased hundreds of AK-47s on behalf of Mexican drug cartels under ATF surveillance for an entire year. Burke never bothered to stop him.
On December 15, 2010, Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry was murdered in Peck Canyon just outside of Rio Rico, Arizona. The guns left at the scene were traced back to Operation Fast and Furious and were purchased by Avila just a few months prior at Lone Wolf Trading Company in Glendale, Arizona. Less than 24 hours after Terry was killed, at 5:19 p.m., Burke learned of this connection.
Burke wrote to his staff mentioning two of the guns seized at the murder scene were connected to an ongoing investigation out of the ATF Phoenix Field Office, an investigation he had helped green-light from Phoenix with the approval of Justice Department officials in Washington.
"The guns tie back to Emory's Fast and Furious case," he said.
He also sent email to Attorney General Eric Holder's Chief of Staff Monty Wilkinson saying, "The guns found near the murdered BP officer connect back to the investigation we were going to talk about—they were AK-47s purchased at a Phoenix gun store."
Burke may have informed his staff, but had no plans to inform the Terry family about the connection between Fast and Furious and Brian Terry's murder.
"He was the main person who should have brought that information to the family and he kept that in the dark," Chairman of the Brian Terry Foundation Robert Heyer said in a phone conversation yesterday.
It wasn't until March of 2011 that Burke flew to Michigan to meet the Terry family. He showed up shortly after the family learned through a CBS News report by Sharyl Attkisson that ATF was allowing guns to walk and that the guns left at Terry's murder scene were part of a government operation. ATF Whistleblower John Dodson was featured in the report and publicly stated for the record that his Bureau, under guidance from the Department of Justice, had walked thousands of guns into Mexico and into the hands of violent criminals. Those same criminals took Brian Terry's life.
"Even after this information surfaced, no one from the Justice Department came forward to explain to our family what Operation Fast and Furious was or its connection to Brian's murder," Brian Terry's sister Kelly Terry-Willis wrote in a recent letter to Deputy Chief Bar Counsel for the State Bar of Arizona Amy Rehm. "In March 2011, then U.S. Attorney Dennis Burke traveled to Michigan and updated us on the progress of Brian's murder investigation. Much to our confusion, Mr. Burke provided my family with inaccurate information about Brian's shooting. On March 10, 2011 my mother Josephine Terry, Sister Michelle Balogh and Brother Kent Terry and I sat with Mr. Burke at my mother's home in Flat Rock, Michigan. When we asked where the assault weapons came from and how they were put into the hands of Mexican Cartels. Mr. Burke replied to us that the weapons found at my brother's murder scene were sold out of a Texas shop, not an Arizona shop."
According to Terry-Willis, Burke also told the family that gunwalking never occurred.
An ATF briefing paper, dated January 8, 2010 about the ATF unit responsible for carrying out the operation, demonstrated that the U.S. Attorney's Office in Phoenix led by Burke was well aware that thousands of guns were being illegally purchased, trafficked and transferred.
"Currently our strategy is to allow the transfer of firearms to take place, albeit at a much slower pace, in order to further the investigation and allow for identification of additional co-conspirators who continue to operate illegally to traffic firearms to Mexican drug trafficking organizations which are perpetrating armed violence along the Southwest Border," the paper stated. "This investigation was briefed to United States Attorney Dennis Burke, who concurs with the assessment of his line of prosecutors and fully supports the continuation of the investigation. Furthermore, Phoenix Special Agent in Charge Newell has repeatedly met with U.S. Attorney Burke regarding the on-going status of this investigation and both are in full agreement with the current investigative strategy."
That "investigative strategy" detailed in the memo meant allowing guns to walk to Mexico.
"We believe that Mr. Burke knowingly, willingly and intentionally mislead us regarding the facts and evidence surrounding the murder of our son and brother," Terry-Willis says. "We believe that Mr. Burke was fully engaged in the conspiracy to conceal the truth regarding the death of Brian and active in the attempt to cover up the facts. We believe that his conduct rises to the level of obstruction of justice."
Burke lied to the Terry family, including to Brian Terry's mother as a guest in her home, in order to avoid responsibility and bad press for the lethal operation. Further, through inappropriate document leaks, Burke viciously smeared John Dodson for telling the truth about an operation that should have never been implemented or approved in the first place. He has never apologized to Dodson for his actions.
"We're strong believers in the attempt to keep this information public," Heyer says. "If it wasn't for John Dodson, they may have been successful."
It is no mystery why the State Bar of Arizona has pursued sanctions (albeit pathetic sanctions) against Dennis Burke, but it is a mystery that the editorial board of Arizona's largest newspaper would defend him, going so far as saying he should be "celebrated." The facts surrounding Burke's involvement in Fast and Furious and its cover-up aren't "murky," but instead perfectly clear. Dennis Burke is a liar, not a truth teller, "whistleblower" or victim. With blood on his hands, Dennis Burke is hardly someone to celebrate.
END
Note: Excellent column by Katie Pavlich follows. As we keep reminding all, many hundreds of innocent Mexicans (Hispanics) are still dead. Not one of the people behind the bloody scheme has yet been brought to justice.
ATF chief: No one canned over Fast & Furious
Agent killed in botched gun sting
By Kellan Howell-The Washington Times Wednesday, April 2, 2014
B. Todd Jones, nominated to head the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, faces a claim that he retaliated against a whistleblower. (Associated Press)
The director of the government agency responsible for the Fast & Furious sting operation that allowed weapons to flow across the Mexican border confirmed Wednesday that no one involved in the botched gun-running project has been fired.
Todd Jones, the director of the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco Firearms and Explosives told a House Government Reform and Oversight Committee hearing that some employees involved in the Fast and Furious operation were disciplined and others resigned with pensions, but no one was terminated.
Committee Chairman Darrell Issa questioned whether the ATF and Mr. Jones had demonstrated full accountability for the operation after an inspector general's report revealed deep flaws with the plan and its execution.
Mr. Jones responded that "everyone involved in the ATF in the chain of command has either been disciplined or is no longer working with the agency."
Mr. Issa pressed, "But the answer of fired is no. Is that correct?"
Mr. Jones replied, "As a result of the inspector general's report, the answer is no."
The Justice Department's inspector general recommended the ATF terminate the special agent in charge of the Fast and Furious Operation, William Newell, but Mr. Newell was merely demoted in a settlement, according to the news website theblaze.com.
Mr. Issa called the fallout "certainly less than what the American people would expect."
Between 2006 and 2011, the ATF allowed licensed firearms dealers to sell 2,000 guns illegal straw buyers in an effort to track weapons flow to Mexican drug cartels, however, the government lost track of many of the weapons and in December 2010, one of the guns was found at the scene of murdered U.S. Border Patrol agent Brian Terry.
Read more:
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/apr/2/atf-chief-no-one-canned-over-fast-furious/#ixzz2xmiBt4Nr
Comment: As we keep reminding all, many hundreds of innocent Mexicans (Hispanics) are still dead. Facilitated by weapons directly supplied to the drug gangs by the Obama administration. In addition to the tens of thousands more dead who were involved in the drug/human trafficking trade. Not one of the people behind the bloody scheme has yet been brought to justice. BTW, just what we have come to expect from the "Arizona" Repulsive. The state bar usually shares the same esteem.
Dennis Burke Should Be Further Sanctioned, Not Celebrated For Lying to Brian Terry's Family
Katie Pavlich | Apr 02, 2014
http://townhall.com/columnists/katiepavlich/2014/04/02/brian-terry-family-dennis-burke-should-be-further-sanctioned-not-celebrated-n1817768/page/full
Earlier this week the Arizona Republic editorial board published an opinion piece titled, "Dennis Burke should've been celebrated, not sanctioned." The board portrays the former U.S. Attorney and Operation Fast and Furious ring-leader as a whistleblower and victim rather than holding him accountable for his extensive and reckless actions during his time in office. Consider the following a direct response.
Between 2009 and 2011 when Operation Fast and Furious was active, Dennis Burke and his Assistant U.S. Attorney Emory Hurley refused to prosecute nearly every straw purchaser case handed to them citing "no probable cause." One of those straw purchasers was Jaime Avila, a man who purchased hundreds of AK-47s on behalf of Mexican drug cartels under ATF surveillance for an entire year. Burke never bothered to stop him.
On December 15, 2010, Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry was murdered in Peck Canyon just outside of Rio Rico, Arizona. The guns left at the scene were traced back to Operation Fast and Furious and were purchased by Avila just a few months prior at Lone Wolf Trading Company in Glendale, Arizona. Less than 24 hours after Terry was killed, at 5:19 p.m., Burke learned of this connection.
Burke wrote to his staff mentioning two of the guns seized at the murder scene were connected to an ongoing investigation out of the ATF Phoenix Field Office, an investigation he had helped green-light from Phoenix with the approval of Justice Department officials in Washington.
"The guns tie back to Emory's Fast and Furious case," he said.
He also sent email to Attorney General Eric Holder's Chief of Staff Monty Wilkinson saying, "The guns found near the murdered BP officer connect back to the investigation we were going to talk about—they were AK-47s purchased at a Phoenix gun store."
Burke may have informed his staff, but had no plans to inform the Terry family about the connection between Fast and Furious and Brian Terry's murder.
"He was the main person who should have brought that information to the family and he kept that in the dark," Chairman of the Brian Terry Foundation Robert Heyer said in a phone conversation yesterday.
It wasn't until March of 2011 that Burke flew to Michigan to meet the Terry family. He showed up shortly after the family learned through a CBS News report by Sharyl Attkisson that ATF was allowing guns to walk and that the guns left at Terry's murder scene were part of a government operation. ATF Whistleblower John Dodson was featured in the report and publicly stated for the record that his Bureau, under guidance from the Department of Justice, had walked thousands of guns into Mexico and into the hands of violent criminals. Those same criminals took Brian Terry's life.
"Even after this information surfaced, no one from the Justice Department came forward to explain to our family what Operation Fast and Furious was or its connection to Brian's murder," Brian Terry's sister Kelly Terry-Willis wrote in a recent letter to Deputy Chief Bar Counsel for the State Bar of Arizona Amy Rehm. "In March 2011, then U.S. Attorney Dennis Burke traveled to Michigan and updated us on the progress of Brian's murder investigation. Much to our confusion, Mr. Burke provided my family with inaccurate information about Brian's shooting. On March 10, 2011 my mother Josephine Terry, Sister Michelle Balogh and Brother Kent Terry and I sat with Mr. Burke at my mother's home in Flat Rock, Michigan. When we asked where the assault weapons came from and how they were put into the hands of Mexican Cartels. Mr. Burke replied to us that the weapons found at my brother's murder scene were sold out of a Texas shop, not an Arizona shop."
According to Terry-Willis, Burke also told the family that gunwalking never occurred.
An ATF briefing paper, dated January 8, 2010 about the ATF unit responsible for carrying out the operation, demonstrated that the U.S. Attorney's Office in Phoenix led by Burke was well aware that thousands of guns were being illegally purchased, trafficked and transferred.
"Currently our strategy is to allow the transfer of firearms to take place, albeit at a much slower pace, in order to further the investigation and allow for identification of additional co-conspirators who continue to operate illegally to traffic firearms to Mexican drug trafficking organizations which are perpetrating armed violence along the Southwest Border," the paper stated. "This investigation was briefed to United States Attorney Dennis Burke, who concurs with the assessment of his line of prosecutors and fully supports the continuation of the investigation. Furthermore, Phoenix Special Agent in Charge Newell has repeatedly met with U.S. Attorney Burke regarding the on-going status of this investigation and both are in full agreement with the current investigative strategy."
That "investigative strategy" detailed in the memo meant allowing guns to walk to Mexico.
"We believe that Mr. Burke knowingly, willingly and intentionally mislead us regarding the facts and evidence surrounding the murder of our son and brother," Terry-Willis says. "We believe that Mr. Burke was fully engaged in the conspiracy to conceal the truth regarding the death of Brian and active in the attempt to cover up the facts. We believe that his conduct rises to the level of obstruction of justice."
Burke lied to the Terry family, including to Brian Terry's mother as a guest in her home, in order to avoid responsibility and bad press for the lethal operation. Further, through inappropriate document leaks, Burke viciously smeared John Dodson for telling the truth about an operation that should have never been implemented or approved in the first place. He has never apologized to Dodson for his actions.
"We're strong believers in the attempt to keep this information public," Heyer says. "If it wasn't for John Dodson, they may have been successful."
It is no mystery why the State Bar of Arizona has pursued sanctions (albeit pathetic sanctions) against Dennis Burke, but it is a mystery that the editorial board of Arizona's largest newspaper would defend him, going so far as saying he should be "celebrated." The facts surrounding Burke's involvement in Fast and Furious and its cover-up aren't "murky," but instead perfectly clear. Dennis Burke is a liar, not a truth teller, "whistleblower" or victim. With blood on his hands, Dennis Burke is hardly someone to celebrate.
END
AZMEX EXTRA 2-4-14
AZMEX EXTRA 2 APR 2014
Note: These details seldom get out anymore. Stolen or sold?
Plus possibly a couple AK clones, a few pistols, and ballistic vests also said to have been recovered.
Guaymas in SW Sonora
They used stolen firearms
WEDNESDAY 02 APRIL 2014 7:00
WRITTEN BY CMENDIVIL Tribuna del Yaqui
http://www.tribuna.info/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=625381:n2p6&catid=72:seguridad&Itemid=132
They were stolen from the Mexican Navy ; the PGR moved them to Mexico City
Editorial Staff
LA VOZ DEL PUERTO
GUAYMAS - Alleged crimes of racketeering and theft to the Secretary of the Navy of Mexico crime, five gunmen who early Monday executed Daniel Espinoza Alvarez, south of the city , were transferred to the City of Mexico , in custody of elements of the Attorney General's Office (PGR) .
Of the various arms secured from the group , a powerful G -3, AR- 15 and a grenade launcher had been stolen from the premises of the Eighth Infantry Battalion stationed fronting the Military Hospital Naval de Guaymas , sources said .
Moreover , the family of Daniel Espinoza late today clarified that he "only" received four bullets and was not linked to any criminal group or event ; however, they declined to further details for fear of reprisals .
Apparently a native of Guaymas, recently returned from Tijuana, Baja California, where he worked as a security guard .
Also security guards, but a enterprise here , were two of the gunmen who ambushed , chased through several neighborhoods and shot him to death .
Although he has no criminal record in Sonora , according to results of forensic tests carried out by the Attorney General of the State , was positive to the test " Harrison" ( paraffin ); this indicates that he repelled the assault , although not stated what type of weapon.
Detainees transferred to the capital by the PGR, are Oswaldo Manuel Franco Garcia, from Emplame, 21 years old; Ernesto Sadoc Gonzalez Garcia - Las Golondrinas - , 38 ; Francisco Javier Barcelo Orozco also Empalme , 24 ; Abraham Trinidad Mungia Villegas - Esperanza , Sonora - , 32 and Carlos David Belman Leyva , 32 .
The authorities stated that Barceló Orozco and Ernesto Sadoc González and were imprisoned for drug crimes ; the last , a former policeman who resigned after testing positive to drug use , was also involved in the robbery and residences of San Carlos , when released , tried to rejoin the force, via demanding reinstatement.
END
Note: These details seldom get out anymore. Stolen or sold?
Plus possibly a couple AK clones, a few pistols, and ballistic vests also said to have been recovered.
Guaymas in SW Sonora
They used stolen firearms
WEDNESDAY 02 APRIL 2014 7:00
WRITTEN BY CMENDIVIL Tribuna del Yaqui
http://www.tribuna.info/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=625381:n2p6&catid=72:seguridad&Itemid=132
They were stolen from the Mexican Navy ; the PGR moved them to Mexico City
Editorial Staff
LA VOZ DEL PUERTO
GUAYMAS - Alleged crimes of racketeering and theft to the Secretary of the Navy of Mexico crime, five gunmen who early Monday executed Daniel Espinoza Alvarez, south of the city , were transferred to the City of Mexico , in custody of elements of the Attorney General's Office (PGR) .
Of the various arms secured from the group , a powerful G -3, AR- 15 and a grenade launcher had been stolen from the premises of the Eighth Infantry Battalion stationed fronting the Military Hospital Naval de Guaymas , sources said .
Moreover , the family of Daniel Espinoza late today clarified that he "only" received four bullets and was not linked to any criminal group or event ; however, they declined to further details for fear of reprisals .
Apparently a native of Guaymas, recently returned from Tijuana, Baja California, where he worked as a security guard .
Also security guards, but a enterprise here , were two of the gunmen who ambushed , chased through several neighborhoods and shot him to death .
Although he has no criminal record in Sonora , according to results of forensic tests carried out by the Attorney General of the State , was positive to the test " Harrison" ( paraffin ); this indicates that he repelled the assault , although not stated what type of weapon.
Detainees transferred to the capital by the PGR, are Oswaldo Manuel Franco Garcia, from Emplame, 21 years old; Ernesto Sadoc Gonzalez Garcia - Las Golondrinas - , 38 ; Francisco Javier Barcelo Orozco also Empalme , 24 ; Abraham Trinidad Mungia Villegas - Esperanza , Sonora - , 32 and Carlos David Belman Leyva , 32 .
The authorities stated that Barceló Orozco and Ernesto Sadoc González and were imprisoned for drug crimes ; the last , a former policeman who resigned after testing positive to drug use , was also involved in the robbery and residences of San Carlos , when released , tried to rejoin the force, via demanding reinstatement.
END
AZMEX UPDATE 1-4-14
AZMEX UPDATE 1 APR 2014
Mostly Local interest.
Note: Don't forget the 7 dead last week after dropping off a load on the res.
Border Patrol agent shoots 2 tribal members after attack in Sells
By Associated Press
Originally published: Mar 31, 2014 - 6:21 pm
http://ktar.com/22/1718832/Border-Patrol-agent-shoots-2-tribal-members-after-attack-in-Sells
TUCSON, Ariz. -- Authorities say a U.S. Border Patrol agent working on the Tohono O'odham Nation in southern Arizona has shot and wounded two tribal members.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials say the agent was standing outside his marked vehicle when the driver of a truck tried to ram him early Monday near the San Miguel Gate in Sells.
Tucson TV station KVOA reported two of the three people inside the truck were wounded. Their names haven't been released yet.
CBP officials say the unidentified agent suffered non-life threatening injuries when the truck struck his driver's side door. The tribal members were taken to a hospital and the agent was put on paid administrative leave.
The FBI and the tribal police are investigating the incident and authorities say charges are pending.
END
Note: the first english language news on this. Just south of Yuma. Many local folks and snowbirds go there for the dental clinics.
First reported: http://www.oem.com.mx/tribunadesanluis/notas/n3339559.htm
Three dead in Algodones shooting
Posted: Monday, March 31, 2014 6:10 pm | Updated: 8:07 pm, Mon Mar 31, 2014.
By James Gilbert @YSJAMESGILBERT
Posted on Mar 31, 2014by Amy Crawford
http://www.yumasun.com/news/three-dead-in-algodones-shooting/article_c9fe171a-b93a-11e3-94ba-0017a43b2370.html
UPDATED 8:04 p.m. -- Details are still emerging about a shooting in Los Algodones, Baja Calif., that left three people dead Friday.
Officials at the U.S. Port of Entry at Andrade, Calif., say they did take extra precautions Friday evening following reports of the shooting, but the port was not closed.
Tracey's Dental 25111 300 x 250
Port Director David Sarrasin said Mexican authorities notified the port at about 6 p.m. that evening about a shooting at a nearby dentist office in which three men were killed execution style.
"That is basically all the information we received," Sarrasin said. "We did increase our security posture."
According to the website radiopatrulla.com, four men armed men wearing hoods over their heads entered the office of Samaniego Dental Lab, located between Third Street and Y alley, and shot the three men inside multiple times at close range with pistols, killing them.
The victims were identified as Francisco Javier Samaniego Martinez, Isaias Lizarraga Borquez, and Pedro Eduardo Ibarra Robles, according to David Alberto Lozano Blancas, coordinator for the organized crime division in Mexicali, Baja California. Blancas provided this information during an interview with Fox KECY-TV in Yuma.
"I want to mention that the three bodies have been identified and returned to their families," the official said.
Blancas added that Martinez had been wanted on murder charges.
"We have received testimonies, made tests and we are advancing with the investigation," he said.
Alex Romero, who lives near the town of Pachuca, was on his way home shortly after the shooting and stopped at a gas station to ask what had happened.
"There were police all over the city and streets were blocked off," Romero said.
He said he was shocked after hearing what had happened.
"Nothing like this ever happens in Algodones," he said. "It is a quiet little town."
The four suspects were last seen leaving the area in a blue or green colored 1994 Honda with Arizona plates, according to the web site.
Algodones Municipal Police said the shooting is drug-related and could be in response to a killing in February at a ranch in the neighboring town of Pachuca in which another man was murdered.
END
Note: Interesting local event / story at 0200. Sasabe / El Sasabe ?
Tucson teen says he was shot by Mexican soldiers
8 hours ago • By Perla Trevizo
http://azstarnet.com/news/local/border/tucson-teen-says-he-was-shot-by-mexican-soldiers/article_abf2f1ab-f334-5d79-9588-c28ad1a7f96d.html
José Javier Rodrigues Amaya is recovering in Tucson from two gunshot wounds he received while visiting his parents in the border town of Sasabe, Sonora, late last month.
The 19-year-old Tucson native and two other American friends were driving around town past 2 a.m. after drinking at a local bar, when he said two men, who they believe were Mexican soldiers dressed in beige military outfits, started shooting at them.
First the men shot one of the car's rear tires, then a bullet hit Rodrigues Amaya in his right arm and another came through his back and shattered, damaging part of his liver and lung, and breaking a rib.
U.S. officials have requested that Mexican authorities conduct a full investigation into the incident, said Mark Johnson, a spokesman with the U.S. Embassy in Mexico. Johnson said he couldn't comment on the state of that investigation.
The Mexican federal police in Sonora have not said whether they are investigating the incident, which took place on March 22.
From his aunt's home in South Tucson, Rodrigues Amaya said he wants justice.
He lost his job washing cars at a local dealership, which was helping support his family back in Sasabe, and he knows the medical bills will start coming.
His mother, Julia Amaya, said the white pickup truck with Arizona license plates that the teen was driving is riddled with more than a dozen bullet holes.
After Rodrigues Amaya was shot, he opened the driver's door of the truck and fell down. He asked his friends to find his father, who then took him to the Sasabe Port of Entry. There, Customs and Border Protection officers performed first aid until the helicopter arrived.
Later, the soldiers told police the teens had sped past a checkpoint, Rodrigues Amaya said. "But I live there, and there's never been checkpoints in the middle of the town," he said.
He said he did not speed past anything, since he was just learning how to drive stick shift and could not go very fast. There were also no indication they were going through a checkpoint, he said.
END
Man gets probation for drug run
Posted: Tuesday, April 1, 2014 8:28 am
http://www.nogalesinternational.com/news/man-gets-probation-for-drug-run/article_3c08a01a-b9b2-11e3-8e4a-0019bb2963f4.html
A 21-year-old man caught trying to smuggle 344 pounds of marijuana through Santa Cruz County was sentenced to three years of probation, including 60 days in jail.
Asrian Millan Mata, a U.S. citizen who resides in Nogales, Sonora, was sentenced by Judge James A. Soto on March 24 at Santa Cruz County Superior Court after he pleaded guilty to one count of solicitation/unlawful possession of marijuana for sale, a Class 4 felony.
According to his pre-sentence report, at around 10 a.m. on April 9, 2013, a U.S. Border Patrol agent tried to stop a white Jeep Cherokee on State Route 82 near Nogales. The driver, later identified as Millan, abandoned the vehicle at Sierra del Sol and tried to flee on foot. He was caught, and agents discovered the pot load in the SUV.
During an interview with an agent from the HIDTA Task Force, Millan reportedly said that he had pulled off the roadway near Kino Springs, and a group of backpackers came out of the nearby woods and began loading up his SUV. Meanwhile, Millan remained in contact via telephone with a man he knew only as "Mochale," who instructed him to drop off the pot load at the K-Mart parking lot.
At one point, Millan reportedly said he expected to be paid $3,000 for the drug run, while at another he said the amount was $1,000.
END
Note: interdictions seem to have picked up quite a bit in past month or so.
Marijuana found in vehicle's tires at Douglas port
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/A/AZ_MARIJUANA_TIRES_AZOL-?SITE=AZCAS&SECTION=STATE&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT
DOUGLAS, Ariz. (AP) -- Customs and Border Patrol says a smuggling attempt was thwarted when 213 pounds of marijuana were found inside the tires of a vehicle at the Douglas port of entry.
CBP says the marijuana with an estimated street value of $106,500 was found in all five of the vehicles' tires during an inspection Friday.
A 31-year-old man from the Mexican border city of Agua Prieta who was driving the vehicle was arrested. The man's identity was not released.
END
END
Mostly Local interest.
Note: Don't forget the 7 dead last week after dropping off a load on the res.
Border Patrol agent shoots 2 tribal members after attack in Sells
By Associated Press
Originally published: Mar 31, 2014 - 6:21 pm
http://ktar.com/22/1718832/Border-Patrol-agent-shoots-2-tribal-members-after-attack-in-Sells
TUCSON, Ariz. -- Authorities say a U.S. Border Patrol agent working on the Tohono O'odham Nation in southern Arizona has shot and wounded two tribal members.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials say the agent was standing outside his marked vehicle when the driver of a truck tried to ram him early Monday near the San Miguel Gate in Sells.
Tucson TV station KVOA reported two of the three people inside the truck were wounded. Their names haven't been released yet.
CBP officials say the unidentified agent suffered non-life threatening injuries when the truck struck his driver's side door. The tribal members were taken to a hospital and the agent was put on paid administrative leave.
The FBI and the tribal police are investigating the incident and authorities say charges are pending.
END
Note: the first english language news on this. Just south of Yuma. Many local folks and snowbirds go there for the dental clinics.
First reported: http://www.oem.com.mx/tribunadesanluis/notas/n3339559.htm
Three dead in Algodones shooting
Posted: Monday, March 31, 2014 6:10 pm | Updated: 8:07 pm, Mon Mar 31, 2014.
By James Gilbert @YSJAMESGILBERT
Posted on Mar 31, 2014by Amy Crawford
http://www.yumasun.com/news/three-dead-in-algodones-shooting/article_c9fe171a-b93a-11e3-94ba-0017a43b2370.html
UPDATED 8:04 p.m. -- Details are still emerging about a shooting in Los Algodones, Baja Calif., that left three people dead Friday.
Officials at the U.S. Port of Entry at Andrade, Calif., say they did take extra precautions Friday evening following reports of the shooting, but the port was not closed.
Tracey's Dental 25111 300 x 250
Port Director David Sarrasin said Mexican authorities notified the port at about 6 p.m. that evening about a shooting at a nearby dentist office in which three men were killed execution style.
"That is basically all the information we received," Sarrasin said. "We did increase our security posture."
According to the website radiopatrulla.com, four men armed men wearing hoods over their heads entered the office of Samaniego Dental Lab, located between Third Street and Y alley, and shot the three men inside multiple times at close range with pistols, killing them.
The victims were identified as Francisco Javier Samaniego Martinez, Isaias Lizarraga Borquez, and Pedro Eduardo Ibarra Robles, according to David Alberto Lozano Blancas, coordinator for the organized crime division in Mexicali, Baja California. Blancas provided this information during an interview with Fox KECY-TV in Yuma.
"I want to mention that the three bodies have been identified and returned to their families," the official said.
Blancas added that Martinez had been wanted on murder charges.
"We have received testimonies, made tests and we are advancing with the investigation," he said.
Alex Romero, who lives near the town of Pachuca, was on his way home shortly after the shooting and stopped at a gas station to ask what had happened.
"There were police all over the city and streets were blocked off," Romero said.
He said he was shocked after hearing what had happened.
"Nothing like this ever happens in Algodones," he said. "It is a quiet little town."
The four suspects were last seen leaving the area in a blue or green colored 1994 Honda with Arizona plates, according to the web site.
Algodones Municipal Police said the shooting is drug-related and could be in response to a killing in February at a ranch in the neighboring town of Pachuca in which another man was murdered.
END
Note: Interesting local event / story at 0200. Sasabe / El Sasabe ?
Tucson teen says he was shot by Mexican soldiers
8 hours ago • By Perla Trevizo
http://azstarnet.com/news/local/border/tucson-teen-says-he-was-shot-by-mexican-soldiers/article_abf2f1ab-f334-5d79-9588-c28ad1a7f96d.html
José Javier Rodrigues Amaya is recovering in Tucson from two gunshot wounds he received while visiting his parents in the border town of Sasabe, Sonora, late last month.
The 19-year-old Tucson native and two other American friends were driving around town past 2 a.m. after drinking at a local bar, when he said two men, who they believe were Mexican soldiers dressed in beige military outfits, started shooting at them.
First the men shot one of the car's rear tires, then a bullet hit Rodrigues Amaya in his right arm and another came through his back and shattered, damaging part of his liver and lung, and breaking a rib.
U.S. officials have requested that Mexican authorities conduct a full investigation into the incident, said Mark Johnson, a spokesman with the U.S. Embassy in Mexico. Johnson said he couldn't comment on the state of that investigation.
The Mexican federal police in Sonora have not said whether they are investigating the incident, which took place on March 22.
From his aunt's home in South Tucson, Rodrigues Amaya said he wants justice.
He lost his job washing cars at a local dealership, which was helping support his family back in Sasabe, and he knows the medical bills will start coming.
His mother, Julia Amaya, said the white pickup truck with Arizona license plates that the teen was driving is riddled with more than a dozen bullet holes.
After Rodrigues Amaya was shot, he opened the driver's door of the truck and fell down. He asked his friends to find his father, who then took him to the Sasabe Port of Entry. There, Customs and Border Protection officers performed first aid until the helicopter arrived.
Later, the soldiers told police the teens had sped past a checkpoint, Rodrigues Amaya said. "But I live there, and there's never been checkpoints in the middle of the town," he said.
He said he did not speed past anything, since he was just learning how to drive stick shift and could not go very fast. There were also no indication they were going through a checkpoint, he said.
END
Man gets probation for drug run
Posted: Tuesday, April 1, 2014 8:28 am
http://www.nogalesinternational.com/news/man-gets-probation-for-drug-run/article_3c08a01a-b9b2-11e3-8e4a-0019bb2963f4.html
A 21-year-old man caught trying to smuggle 344 pounds of marijuana through Santa Cruz County was sentenced to three years of probation, including 60 days in jail.
Asrian Millan Mata, a U.S. citizen who resides in Nogales, Sonora, was sentenced by Judge James A. Soto on March 24 at Santa Cruz County Superior Court after he pleaded guilty to one count of solicitation/unlawful possession of marijuana for sale, a Class 4 felony.
According to his pre-sentence report, at around 10 a.m. on April 9, 2013, a U.S. Border Patrol agent tried to stop a white Jeep Cherokee on State Route 82 near Nogales. The driver, later identified as Millan, abandoned the vehicle at Sierra del Sol and tried to flee on foot. He was caught, and agents discovered the pot load in the SUV.
During an interview with an agent from the HIDTA Task Force, Millan reportedly said that he had pulled off the roadway near Kino Springs, and a group of backpackers came out of the nearby woods and began loading up his SUV. Meanwhile, Millan remained in contact via telephone with a man he knew only as "Mochale," who instructed him to drop off the pot load at the K-Mart parking lot.
At one point, Millan reportedly said he expected to be paid $3,000 for the drug run, while at another he said the amount was $1,000.
END
Note: interdictions seem to have picked up quite a bit in past month or so.
Marijuana found in vehicle's tires at Douglas port
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/A/AZ_MARIJUANA_TIRES_AZOL-?SITE=AZCAS&SECTION=STATE&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT
DOUGLAS, Ariz. (AP) -- Customs and Border Patrol says a smuggling attempt was thwarted when 213 pounds of marijuana were found inside the tires of a vehicle at the Douglas port of entry.
CBP says the marijuana with an estimated street value of $106,500 was found in all five of the vehicles' tires during an inspection Friday.
A 31-year-old man from the Mexican border city of Agua Prieta who was driving the vehicle was arrested. The man's identity was not released.
END
END
Tuesday, April 1, 2014
AZMEX F&F EXTRA 1-4-14
AZMEX F&F EXTRA 1 APR 2014
Note: Mr. Burke was a long time "right hand man" to former DHS Secy. Napolitano during her several government posts. Including AZ Atty. Gen., U.S. Atty. for AZ, AZ Governor, etc. etc.
After serving her in that capacity for many years, he got the U.S. Atty. for AZ job.
He was also a key staffer in U.S. Senate back when the semi-auto rifle and standard capacity magazine ban was introduced and passed.
None of those behind the scheme which has resulted in the deaths of many hundreds of Mexicans (Hispanics) have been brought to justice.
Former US Attorney Censured For Fast And Furious Leak
By Nick Blumberg
March 28, 2014
http://kjzz.org/content/23840/former-us-attorney-censured-fast-and-furious-leak
The former United States Attorney for Arizona has been reprimanded and fined by the state bar for leaking confidential information.
Dennis Burke resigned in August 2011 in connection with the Fast and Furious gun-walking operation. The botched ATF investigation allowed criminals to smuggle weapons into Mexico so the agency could track them. But agents lost track of the majority of the guns involved
Fast and Furious came to light after Border Patrol agent Brian Terry was killed in a shootout and two of the missing weapons were found at the scene.
The U.S. Attorney's office came under fire for its role in the program. Burke was accused of releasing information to two news organizations to take the heat off his office and make the investigation more transparent.
This week, he was reprimanded by the Arizona State Bar and sent a bill for $1,200 in expenses. In his first public comment on the matter, Burke told the Arizona Republic it's a fair resolution.
End
Note: Mr. Burke was a long time "right hand man" to former DHS Secy. Napolitano during her several government posts. Including AZ Atty. Gen., U.S. Atty. for AZ, AZ Governor, etc. etc.
After serving her in that capacity for many years, he got the U.S. Atty. for AZ job.
He was also a key staffer in U.S. Senate back when the semi-auto rifle and standard capacity magazine ban was introduced and passed.
None of those behind the scheme which has resulted in the deaths of many hundreds of Mexicans (Hispanics) have been brought to justice.
Former US Attorney Censured For Fast And Furious Leak
By Nick Blumberg
March 28, 2014
http://kjzz.org/content/23840/former-us-attorney-censured-fast-and-furious-leak
The former United States Attorney for Arizona has been reprimanded and fined by the state bar for leaking confidential information.
Dennis Burke resigned in August 2011 in connection with the Fast and Furious gun-walking operation. The botched ATF investigation allowed criminals to smuggle weapons into Mexico so the agency could track them. But agents lost track of the majority of the guns involved
Fast and Furious came to light after Border Patrol agent Brian Terry was killed in a shootout and two of the missing weapons were found at the scene.
The U.S. Attorney's office came under fire for its role in the program. Burke was accused of releasing information to two news organizations to take the heat off his office and make the investigation more transparent.
This week, he was reprimanded by the Arizona State Bar and sent a bill for $1,200 in expenses. In his first public comment on the matter, Burke told the Arizona Republic it's a fair resolution.
End
AZMEX UPDATE 27-3-14
AZMEX UPDATE 27 MAR 2014
Border Patrol rescues man forced into well for not helping smugglers
By Associated Press
Originally published: Mar 27, 2014 - 12:46 pm
http://ktar.com/22/1717739/Border-Patrol-rescues-man-forced-into-well-for-not-helping-smugglers
TUCSON, Ariz. — Responding to an immigrant's cries for help, Border Patrol agents pulled the man from a 40-foot-deep dry water well that he'd been forced into by smugglers in the southern Arizona desert near the U.S.-Mexico border.
The Border Patrol said the 41-year-old Guatemalan man told them he'd been forced to slide down a pipe into the well on Sunday after he refused to carry drugs while crossing the border near Sells.
Border Patrol spokesman Peter Bidegain said agents used a rope to pull the man out of the well.
Bidegain said the man was OK despite being without water for about 24 hours. Bidegain said the man is being processed for removal from the United States.
end
Note: and how many in AZ?
ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS RELEASED INTO TEXAS TO EASE OVER-CROWDING OF DETENTION CENTERS
by LOGAN CHURCHWELL 26 Mar 2014
http://www.breitbart.com/Breitbart-Texas/2014/03/26/Illegal-Aliens-Released-to-Curb-Over-Crowding-of-Texas-Detention-Centers
U.S. Border Patrol agents, in conjunction with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) recently disclosed the increasing practice of releasing "low threat" illegal immigrant detainees to address the over-crowding of immigration detention centers in south Texas, according to official confirmation of local reports.
One south Texas television station, KRGV, recently reported instances of women and minors claiming to have been recently released from immigration officials with "documents that allow [them] to travel anywhere in the United States." Released individuals claimed their federal instructions stated they were not legally allowed to work and could be subject to further immigration hearings. The report claimed that most individuals interviewed and released were of Central and South American origins other than Mexico.
A spokesperson for the U.S. Border Patrol recently confirmed such anecdotal evidence to be part of a larger strategy to focus resources away from individuals "posing no threat to national security."
"In an effort to maximize resources and focus on the uptick in apprehensions, RGV Border Patrol Sector has begun implementing several steps," a Border Patrol statement read. "These efforts include, transporting detainees to other sectors within the South Texas Campaign AOR, temporary reassignment of agents from other sectors into RGV and temporarily issuing a notice to appear for immigration hearings to family units posing no threat to national security."
Breitbart Texas' Contributing Editor and border security expert Sylvia Longmire described this development as emblematic of a continuing trend where "band-aid policies" are being instituted in lieu of a functioning federal immigration system.
"While ICE is only releasing individuals it deems to be non-threats to national security, most of them will abscond and never show up for their immigration hearings," Longmire said. "Immigration reform means different things to different people, but the inconsistency in how these band-aid policies are being applied is incredibly frustrating for people who want to see real change--and improvement--in one direction or another."
Longmire cautions that the recent development could largely prove a waste of resources entirely.
"Thanks to the lack of a standardized and smoothly functioning immigration policy, agents are wasting their time on processing non-threats--and rounding them up later--instead of going after violent drug smugglers and terrorist sympathizers who do pose real threats."
Breitbart Texas' Managing Director Brandon Darby recently reported on a related issue where an American Border Patrol Agent, Robert Rosas Jr., was killed in an altercation with an illegal immigrant who had been placed on "supervised release" by federal immigration officials in 2013.
END
Border Patrol rescues man forced into well for not helping smugglers
By Associated Press
Originally published: Mar 27, 2014 - 12:46 pm
http://ktar.com/22/1717739/Border-Patrol-rescues-man-forced-into-well-for-not-helping-smugglers
TUCSON, Ariz. — Responding to an immigrant's cries for help, Border Patrol agents pulled the man from a 40-foot-deep dry water well that he'd been forced into by smugglers in the southern Arizona desert near the U.S.-Mexico border.
The Border Patrol said the 41-year-old Guatemalan man told them he'd been forced to slide down a pipe into the well on Sunday after he refused to carry drugs while crossing the border near Sells.
Border Patrol spokesman Peter Bidegain said agents used a rope to pull the man out of the well.
Bidegain said the man was OK despite being without water for about 24 hours. Bidegain said the man is being processed for removal from the United States.
end
Note: and how many in AZ?
ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS RELEASED INTO TEXAS TO EASE OVER-CROWDING OF DETENTION CENTERS
by LOGAN CHURCHWELL 26 Mar 2014
http://www.breitbart.com/Breitbart-Texas/2014/03/26/Illegal-Aliens-Released-to-Curb-Over-Crowding-of-Texas-Detention-Centers
U.S. Border Patrol agents, in conjunction with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) recently disclosed the increasing practice of releasing "low threat" illegal immigrant detainees to address the over-crowding of immigration detention centers in south Texas, according to official confirmation of local reports.
One south Texas television station, KRGV, recently reported instances of women and minors claiming to have been recently released from immigration officials with "documents that allow [them] to travel anywhere in the United States." Released individuals claimed their federal instructions stated they were not legally allowed to work and could be subject to further immigration hearings. The report claimed that most individuals interviewed and released were of Central and South American origins other than Mexico.
A spokesperson for the U.S. Border Patrol recently confirmed such anecdotal evidence to be part of a larger strategy to focus resources away from individuals "posing no threat to national security."
"In an effort to maximize resources and focus on the uptick in apprehensions, RGV Border Patrol Sector has begun implementing several steps," a Border Patrol statement read. "These efforts include, transporting detainees to other sectors within the South Texas Campaign AOR, temporary reassignment of agents from other sectors into RGV and temporarily issuing a notice to appear for immigration hearings to family units posing no threat to national security."
Breitbart Texas' Contributing Editor and border security expert Sylvia Longmire described this development as emblematic of a continuing trend where "band-aid policies" are being instituted in lieu of a functioning federal immigration system.
"While ICE is only releasing individuals it deems to be non-threats to national security, most of them will abscond and never show up for their immigration hearings," Longmire said. "Immigration reform means different things to different people, but the inconsistency in how these band-aid policies are being applied is incredibly frustrating for people who want to see real change--and improvement--in one direction or another."
Longmire cautions that the recent development could largely prove a waste of resources entirely.
"Thanks to the lack of a standardized and smoothly functioning immigration policy, agents are wasting their time on processing non-threats--and rounding them up later--instead of going after violent drug smugglers and terrorist sympathizers who do pose real threats."
Breitbart Texas' Managing Director Brandon Darby recently reported on a related issue where an American Border Patrol Agent, Robert Rosas Jr., was killed in an altercation with an illegal immigrant who had been placed on "supervised release" by federal immigration officials in 2013.
END
AZMEX EXTRA 27-3-14
AZMEX EXTRA 27 MAR 2014
Note: Across the fence from Douglas, AZ. Photo showed 3 long guns & 4k rounds of ammo
Between calle 34 & 35 and avenida 24 & 25
Published March 27, 2014 , 1:55 a.m.
Federal agents seized more than a ton of marijuana, in Agua Prieta , Sonora.
Alfonso CAMPOS- RUBIO
Hermosillo , Sonora - Nuevo Dia
http://www.nuevodia.com.mx/estado/decomisan-mas-de-una-tonelada-de-marihuana/
After busting a "safe house " of crime on the border in Agua Prieta , elements of the General Attorney of the Republic , led by an official of the Public Prosecutor's Office seized just over a ton of marihuana well as a "goat horn " a " blackbird " , Grenade 40 mm , four thousand cartridges, military-style uniforms and paraphernalia.
In the state delegation of the PGR added that the previous house search was conducted in the Buenos Aires neighborhood , having brought about by the Federal Criminal Court and Intervention Communications respective order.
Immediately after officials Ministerial Federal Police took over 1,043 kilos of marijuana, in 170 packets, an AK- 47 machine gun, 7.62 × 39 mm caliber , better known as "goat horn ", a AR -15 caliber .223 , identified by the thugs as " chanates " two 9 mm caliber pistols and a practice grenade, caliber 40 mm, low-speed, model M212 .
Likewise also twenty magazines of different capacities and different calibers , two plastic loaders for machine guns, four thousand, seven rounds of ammunition of different diameters, two complete military uniforms , green jacket, seven steel ammo boxes, four green Camouflage vests, and two ballistic panels, then starting the respective investigations .
END
Note: Across the fence from Douglas, AZ. Photo showed 3 long guns & 4k rounds of ammo
Between calle 34 & 35 and avenida 24 & 25
Published March 27, 2014 , 1:55 a.m.
Federal agents seized more than a ton of marijuana, in Agua Prieta , Sonora.
Alfonso CAMPOS- RUBIO
Hermosillo , Sonora - Nuevo Dia
http://www.nuevodia.com.mx/estado/decomisan-mas-de-una-tonelada-de-marihuana/
After busting a "safe house " of crime on the border in Agua Prieta , elements of the General Attorney of the Republic , led by an official of the Public Prosecutor's Office seized just over a ton of marihuana well as a "goat horn " a " blackbird " , Grenade 40 mm , four thousand cartridges, military-style uniforms and paraphernalia.
In the state delegation of the PGR added that the previous house search was conducted in the Buenos Aires neighborhood , having brought about by the Federal Criminal Court and Intervention Communications respective order.
Immediately after officials Ministerial Federal Police took over 1,043 kilos of marijuana, in 170 packets, an AK- 47 machine gun, 7.62 × 39 mm caliber , better known as "goat horn ", a AR -15 caliber .223 , identified by the thugs as " chanates " two 9 mm caliber pistols and a practice grenade, caliber 40 mm, low-speed, model M212 .
Likewise also twenty magazines of different capacities and different calibers , two plastic loaders for machine guns, four thousand, seven rounds of ammunition of different diameters, two complete military uniforms , green jacket, seven steel ammo boxes, four green Camouflage vests, and two ballistic panels, then starting the respective investigations .
END
AZMEX UPDATE 26-3-14
AZMEX UPDATE 26 MAR 2014
Note: The actual control of the border between Sonoyta (Lukeville) and Nogales remains controversial, with a almost daily body count. This one about 40 miles west of Nogales, near Sasabe/ Buenos Aires NWR. Not clear who is doing what to who, but the the "doing" keeps on. Not paying for the proper permits and tolls is said to be an issue.
Wednesday March 26, 2014 Weather: 4 ° C
Published March 26, 2014 , 5:03 a.m.
THE BODY WAS FOUND AFTER TWO DAYS OF SEARCH
Youth murdered on farm " El Ruido"
Located the body of a young man identified as Jose Efrain Portillo Solano, with bullet wounds in his body. Presumably this was a " burrero " which was shot by alleged " bajadores" to the west of the city
Hiram G. Machi
Nogales , Sonora. - Nuevo Dia
http://www.nuevodia.com.mx/local/asesinan-a-joven-en-predio-el-ruido/
After two days of searching on a property located just over 60 kilometers , west of Nogales, near the ranch known as ¨ El Ruido", authorities found the lifeless body of a young man of 22 years, the body had gunshot wounds , we are told unofficially .
From the facts , it was established that from Sunday report by a person accompanying the victim, who was identified as Jose Efrain Portillo Solano .
According to statements Young made known to the authorities said they both sought to cross narcotics into the United States by the uninhabited area near the International Line when they were stopped by an armed group, who performed shots against them , he achieved the escape and 'reporting site .
Apparently , the boy had more than 40 hours ago passed away and was located in a place near the international fence.
On a tour of several hours by the sector authorities and personnel of Forensic Medicine , accompanied by the public prosecutor finally the location of the young native of Magdalena de Kino.
end
BP agents arrest 12, seize 467 pounds of marijuana
Posted: Tuesday, March 25, 2014 10:30 pm
From staff reports
http://www.yumasun.com/news/bp-agents-arrest-seize-pounds-of-marijuana/article_c5bec3bc-b466-11e3-b5ca-0017a43b2370.html
Yuma Sector Border Patrol agents assigned to Wellton Station arrested 12 suspected drug smugglers and seized 467 pounds of marijuana worth an estimated $210,000 Monday near Gila Bend.
Agents were on patrol when they observed a group of individuals carrying large backpacks walking toward Interstate 8. When approached, the group reportedly attempted to elude agents by running in multiple directions and hiding. Agents tracked and apprehended 12 people and seized 10 backpacks of pot.
The men and marijuana were turned over to the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office.
end
Second drugs-in-underwear smuggling attempt thwarted in less than a week
A 17-year-old girl from Nogales, Sonora was allegedly caught Tuesday with this package of methamphetamine in her underwear.
Posted: Wednesday, March 26, 2014 4:19 pm | Updated: 4:28 pm, Wed Mar 26, 2014.
Nogales International
http://www.nogalesinternational.com/news/second-drugs-in-underwear-smuggling-attempt-thwarted-in-less-than/article_2076459c-b53d-11e3-8e92-0019bb2963f4.html
For the second time in less than a week, a female border-crosser was arrested in Nogales for allegedly trying to smuggle hard drugs into the United States in her underwear.
The latest bust came Tuesday, after U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers selected a 17-year-old girl from Nogales, Sonora for additional inspection at the Morley Avenue pedestrian crossing.
During the inspection, officers discovered a package of methamphetamine in her crotch area.
The meth, worth nearly $18,000 and weighing more than a pound, was seized and the teen was referred to federal investigators.
On March 19, Cristina Luna-Ramos, a 38-year-old Mexican national, was referred for a secondary inspection when she tried to drive into the United States through an unspecified Nogales port in an Oldsmobile sedan.
A subsequent inspection of her person allegedly uncovered two packages of heroin in her bra and two more in her groin area. In all, the heroin weighed nearly 5 pounds and was valued at more than $67,000.
Luna was referred to federal investigators.
end
Sinaloa Update: Not all pharmaceutical business related , and not counting Those killed in Sonora
ALEJANDRO Monjardín
Kill 20 in third week
With 20 intentional homicides , including two teenagers and two policemen , finished the third week of March
COUNT OF DAMAGES
03/24/2014
http://www.noroeste.com.mx/publicaciones.php?id=936441
culiacán._ With 20 intentional homicides , including two teenagers and two policemen , ended the third week of March.
end
Note: in meantime the alleged "trial" of El Vicentillo" Vicente Zambada-Niebla continues in secrecy.
Key 'El Chapo' lieutenant pleads guilty, but not cooperating
BY KIM JANSSEN Federal Courts Reporter March 26, 2014 12:18PM
http://www.suntimes.com/news/26454546-418/key-el-chapo-lieutenant-pleads-guilty-but-not-cooperating.html
One of Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman's key lieutenants pleaded guilty in federal court Wednesday to plotting to deliver heroin to Chicago.
Tomas Arevalo-Renteria, 46, faces a minimum of 10 years in prison but could be jailed for life.
Prosecutors, his lawyer and U.S. District Judge Ruben Castillo all went to great lengths Wednesday to stress that Arevalo-Renteria is not cooperating with prosecutors against El Chapo, who was, until his recent capture in Mexico, the world's most wanted felon.
Authorities are still hopeful that Guzman — the Sinaloa drug cartel's chief, dubbed Chicago's "Public Enemy No. 1 — will eventually be brought to Chicago to face U.S. justice.
But a gaffe by ABC7 news reporter Chuck Goudie earlier this month caused the collapse of a planned guilty plea by Arevalo-Renteria's codefendant Alfredo Vasquez-Hernandez, meaning everyone involved in the case was keen to avoid a repeat Wednesday.
Vasquez-Hernandez withdrew his plan to plead guilty after Goudie erroneously reported that he had "turned against" El Chapo. Vasquez-Hernandez's family in Mexico went into hiding in fear of their lives after untrue rumors about his cooperation spread through the federal prison system following Goudie's report, Vasquez-Hernandez's lawyer, Paul Brayman, said at the time.
ABC7 removed the story from its website, but Goudie declined to admit any mistake was made.
During Wednesday's hearing, Arevalo-Renteria spoke in Spanish, confirming through an interpreter that he was pleading guilty to a single count, and that he has no cooperation deal.
Prosecutor Thomas Shakeshaft said that the only concession the government has given to Arevalo-Renteria is an agreement not to ask for a minimum mandatory sentence of 20 years in his case.
Arevalo-Renteria still faces 10 years to life, and federal guidelines are likely to suggest a sentence of about 30 years is appropriate.
He is due to be sentenced after Vasquez-Hernandez stands trial this summer.
Increased interest in the case was sparked by the recent arrest after a decade-long manhunt of Guzman, who was indicted alongside Arevalo-Renteria and Vasquez-Hernandez in 2009, and is allegedly responsible for smuggling the majority of illegal drugs sold on Chicago's streets.
Prosecutors say Arevalo-Renteria was nabbed with the help of the Flores brothers, two Chicagoans who travelled to Mexico and met with senior Sinaloa figures.
end
Updated Mar 25, 2014 - 4:17 pm
Senate committee approves virtual border fence
By Associated Press
Originally published: Mar 25, 2014 - 3:39 pm
http://ktar.com/22/1717061/Senate-committee-approves-virtual-border-fence
PHOENIX -- A bill that would allow Arizona to create a ``virtual fence'' along the Arizona-Mexico border received bipartisan support Tuesday when a Senate committee approved it.
An amendment to House Bill 2462 would allow the state to place high-technology radar and video sensors on 300 towers along 375 miles of the border to monitor human and drug-smuggling activity. The sensors would send signals to a publicly accessible site and could also be monitored by law enforcement agencies.
The federal government tried to construct a ``virtual fence'' along the border in 2006, but it abandoned the project in 2011 after spending more than $1 billion on a faulty system.
The fence is estimated to cost about $30 million, but the bill approved Tuesday with an 8-1 vote does not appropriate any funds. Instead, it would simply allow for the process to begin and would require the state Legislature to appropriate money next year, said Sen. Bob Worsley, R-Mesa.
Worsely sponsored a similar bill that died in part because of its $30 million price tag.
The amendment that essentially revives that bill was offered by Sen. Don Shooter, R-Yuma.
Both Democratic and Republican members of the committee approved the amended bill 8-1, with one Republican dissenting.
Sen. Chester Crandell, R-Heber, said he didn't feel it was Arizona's role to ensure the border is safe. He has also argued that the state's Congressional delegates should push the federal government to better address border issues.
``My question is, what benefit is the state going to get out of this by spending this kind of money and simply looking at the border and seeing who's coming across and who's not coming across because the federal government does not work with us?'' he asked.
But others said the federal government is not doing enough to secure the border and that Arizona has a responsibility to ensure security.
``I'm really disappointed when I hear people say this is strictly a federal issue. We are a border state. The border leaks like a sieve,'' said Sen. Al Melvin, R-Tucson.
end
Note: The actual control of the border between Sonoyta (Lukeville) and Nogales remains controversial, with a almost daily body count. This one about 40 miles west of Nogales, near Sasabe/ Buenos Aires NWR. Not clear who is doing what to who, but the the "doing" keeps on. Not paying for the proper permits and tolls is said to be an issue.
Wednesday March 26, 2014 Weather: 4 ° C
Published March 26, 2014 , 5:03 a.m.
THE BODY WAS FOUND AFTER TWO DAYS OF SEARCH
Youth murdered on farm " El Ruido"
Located the body of a young man identified as Jose Efrain Portillo Solano, with bullet wounds in his body. Presumably this was a " burrero " which was shot by alleged " bajadores" to the west of the city
Hiram G. Machi
Nogales , Sonora. - Nuevo Dia
http://www.nuevodia.com.mx/local/asesinan-a-joven-en-predio-el-ruido/
After two days of searching on a property located just over 60 kilometers , west of Nogales, near the ranch known as ¨ El Ruido", authorities found the lifeless body of a young man of 22 years, the body had gunshot wounds , we are told unofficially .
From the facts , it was established that from Sunday report by a person accompanying the victim, who was identified as Jose Efrain Portillo Solano .
According to statements Young made known to the authorities said they both sought to cross narcotics into the United States by the uninhabited area near the International Line when they were stopped by an armed group, who performed shots against them , he achieved the escape and 'reporting site .
Apparently , the boy had more than 40 hours ago passed away and was located in a place near the international fence.
On a tour of several hours by the sector authorities and personnel of Forensic Medicine , accompanied by the public prosecutor finally the location of the young native of Magdalena de Kino.
end
BP agents arrest 12, seize 467 pounds of marijuana
Posted: Tuesday, March 25, 2014 10:30 pm
From staff reports
http://www.yumasun.com/news/bp-agents-arrest-seize-pounds-of-marijuana/article_c5bec3bc-b466-11e3-b5ca-0017a43b2370.html
Yuma Sector Border Patrol agents assigned to Wellton Station arrested 12 suspected drug smugglers and seized 467 pounds of marijuana worth an estimated $210,000 Monday near Gila Bend.
Agents were on patrol when they observed a group of individuals carrying large backpacks walking toward Interstate 8. When approached, the group reportedly attempted to elude agents by running in multiple directions and hiding. Agents tracked and apprehended 12 people and seized 10 backpacks of pot.
The men and marijuana were turned over to the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office.
end
Second drugs-in-underwear smuggling attempt thwarted in less than a week
A 17-year-old girl from Nogales, Sonora was allegedly caught Tuesday with this package of methamphetamine in her underwear.
Posted: Wednesday, March 26, 2014 4:19 pm | Updated: 4:28 pm, Wed Mar 26, 2014.
Nogales International
http://www.nogalesinternational.com/news/second-drugs-in-underwear-smuggling-attempt-thwarted-in-less-than/article_2076459c-b53d-11e3-8e92-0019bb2963f4.html
For the second time in less than a week, a female border-crosser was arrested in Nogales for allegedly trying to smuggle hard drugs into the United States in her underwear.
The latest bust came Tuesday, after U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers selected a 17-year-old girl from Nogales, Sonora for additional inspection at the Morley Avenue pedestrian crossing.
During the inspection, officers discovered a package of methamphetamine in her crotch area.
The meth, worth nearly $18,000 and weighing more than a pound, was seized and the teen was referred to federal investigators.
On March 19, Cristina Luna-Ramos, a 38-year-old Mexican national, was referred for a secondary inspection when she tried to drive into the United States through an unspecified Nogales port in an Oldsmobile sedan.
A subsequent inspection of her person allegedly uncovered two packages of heroin in her bra and two more in her groin area. In all, the heroin weighed nearly 5 pounds and was valued at more than $67,000.
Luna was referred to federal investigators.
end
Sinaloa Update: Not all pharmaceutical business related , and not counting Those killed in Sonora
ALEJANDRO Monjardín
Kill 20 in third week
With 20 intentional homicides , including two teenagers and two policemen , finished the third week of March
COUNT OF DAMAGES
03/24/2014
http://www.noroeste.com.mx/publicaciones.php?id=936441
culiacán._ With 20 intentional homicides , including two teenagers and two policemen , ended the third week of March.
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Note: in meantime the alleged "trial" of El Vicentillo" Vicente Zambada-Niebla continues in secrecy.
Key 'El Chapo' lieutenant pleads guilty, but not cooperating
BY KIM JANSSEN Federal Courts Reporter March 26, 2014 12:18PM
http://www.suntimes.com/news/26454546-418/key-el-chapo-lieutenant-pleads-guilty-but-not-cooperating.html
One of Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman's key lieutenants pleaded guilty in federal court Wednesday to plotting to deliver heroin to Chicago.
Tomas Arevalo-Renteria, 46, faces a minimum of 10 years in prison but could be jailed for life.
Prosecutors, his lawyer and U.S. District Judge Ruben Castillo all went to great lengths Wednesday to stress that Arevalo-Renteria is not cooperating with prosecutors against El Chapo, who was, until his recent capture in Mexico, the world's most wanted felon.
Authorities are still hopeful that Guzman — the Sinaloa drug cartel's chief, dubbed Chicago's "Public Enemy No. 1 — will eventually be brought to Chicago to face U.S. justice.
But a gaffe by ABC7 news reporter Chuck Goudie earlier this month caused the collapse of a planned guilty plea by Arevalo-Renteria's codefendant Alfredo Vasquez-Hernandez, meaning everyone involved in the case was keen to avoid a repeat Wednesday.
Vasquez-Hernandez withdrew his plan to plead guilty after Goudie erroneously reported that he had "turned against" El Chapo. Vasquez-Hernandez's family in Mexico went into hiding in fear of their lives after untrue rumors about his cooperation spread through the federal prison system following Goudie's report, Vasquez-Hernandez's lawyer, Paul Brayman, said at the time.
ABC7 removed the story from its website, but Goudie declined to admit any mistake was made.
During Wednesday's hearing, Arevalo-Renteria spoke in Spanish, confirming through an interpreter that he was pleading guilty to a single count, and that he has no cooperation deal.
Prosecutor Thomas Shakeshaft said that the only concession the government has given to Arevalo-Renteria is an agreement not to ask for a minimum mandatory sentence of 20 years in his case.
Arevalo-Renteria still faces 10 years to life, and federal guidelines are likely to suggest a sentence of about 30 years is appropriate.
He is due to be sentenced after Vasquez-Hernandez stands trial this summer.
Increased interest in the case was sparked by the recent arrest after a decade-long manhunt of Guzman, who was indicted alongside Arevalo-Renteria and Vasquez-Hernandez in 2009, and is allegedly responsible for smuggling the majority of illegal drugs sold on Chicago's streets.
Prosecutors say Arevalo-Renteria was nabbed with the help of the Flores brothers, two Chicagoans who travelled to Mexico and met with senior Sinaloa figures.
end
Updated Mar 25, 2014 - 4:17 pm
Senate committee approves virtual border fence
By Associated Press
Originally published: Mar 25, 2014 - 3:39 pm
http://ktar.com/22/1717061/Senate-committee-approves-virtual-border-fence
PHOENIX -- A bill that would allow Arizona to create a ``virtual fence'' along the Arizona-Mexico border received bipartisan support Tuesday when a Senate committee approved it.
An amendment to House Bill 2462 would allow the state to place high-technology radar and video sensors on 300 towers along 375 miles of the border to monitor human and drug-smuggling activity. The sensors would send signals to a publicly accessible site and could also be monitored by law enforcement agencies.
The federal government tried to construct a ``virtual fence'' along the border in 2006, but it abandoned the project in 2011 after spending more than $1 billion on a faulty system.
The fence is estimated to cost about $30 million, but the bill approved Tuesday with an 8-1 vote does not appropriate any funds. Instead, it would simply allow for the process to begin and would require the state Legislature to appropriate money next year, said Sen. Bob Worsley, R-Mesa.
Worsely sponsored a similar bill that died in part because of its $30 million price tag.
The amendment that essentially revives that bill was offered by Sen. Don Shooter, R-Yuma.
Both Democratic and Republican members of the committee approved the amended bill 8-1, with one Republican dissenting.
Sen. Chester Crandell, R-Heber, said he didn't feel it was Arizona's role to ensure the border is safe. He has also argued that the state's Congressional delegates should push the federal government to better address border issues.
``My question is, what benefit is the state going to get out of this by spending this kind of money and simply looking at the border and seeing who's coming across and who's not coming across because the federal government does not work with us?'' he asked.
But others said the federal government is not doing enough to secure the border and that Arizona has a responsibility to ensure security.
``I'm really disappointed when I hear people say this is strictly a federal issue. We are a border state. The border leaks like a sieve,'' said Sen. Al Melvin, R-Tucson.
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