AZMEX UPDATE 30 DEC 2012
Note: Interesting that legislators in Mexico realize that signs are
useless in preventing crime. And so many north of the border don't.
Chihuahua officials want to get rid of "No More Weapons" billboard at
Juárez international bridge
By Marisela Ortega Lozano / El Paso Times
Posted: 12/30/2012 11:18:10 PM MST
http://www.elpasotimes.com/juarez/ci_22282617/chihuahua-officials-
want-get-rid-no-more-weapons
A state representative from Juárez wants the huge "No More Weapons"
billboard taken down from its spot on the Mexican side of the Bridge
of Americas because it scares tourists.
The state representative, Gerardo Hernández Ibarra, has a filed a
bill in Chihuahua with the state legislature asking for permission to
tear the sign down.
The state legislature must approve the removal of the billboard
because the sign sits on government property.
"That sign (No More Weapons!) is useless to stop the influx of
weapons to Mexico," Hernández Ibarra said in a statement posted on
his Facebook page. "That billboard only discourages visitors from El
Paso, Texas, and Las Cruces, New Mexico."
In February 2011,
then Mexican President Felipe Calderón came to Juarez to unveil the
"No More Weapons!" billboard on the Mexican side of the international
bridge.
The billboard was part of Calderón's effort to reassure Juarez
residents, and tourists, that the drug cartel war and the violence
that accompanied it was being battled and controlled.
"We are sending a clear message from this border region: no more
weapons to México," Calderón said during the unveiling ceremony.
But according to Hernández Ibarra, that sign leaves the wrong message
in the minds of visitors, and that message is: "There is still
violence going on in Mexico."
The weapons cross into Mexico by other means, not only through the
international bridge, Ibarra Hernández said. "The authorities know
where the weapons are being smuggled into our country," Hernández
Ibarra said in the statement.
Hernández said he supports the fight against the weapons trafficking
into Mexico, but he stressed that the billboard does nothing to deter
weapons from coming into the country.
Chihuahua Gov. César Duarte said he supports the bill to remove the
billboard. Instead of "No More Weapons!," the sign should read
"Welcome," Duarte said in a statement.
"The billboard (No More Weapons!) spreads a feeling of lack of
safety, even though Chihuahua is no longer an unsafe region," Duarte
told Juárez reporters during a press conference on Friday. "It is a
better idea to welcome the visitors."
Calderón, who left office in early December, blamed the U.S.
government for not doing its part to stop the flow of weapons across
the border.
Since 2008, Juarez has been in the midst of a violent drug cartel war
and thousands of weapons used in some of the slayings have been
traced back to the United States.
Marisela Ortega Lozano maybe reached at mortega@elpasotimes.com;
542-6077.
Note: more sadness from the Sierra Tarahumara. What happens when
good people loose their rights and means to an effective self defense.
Narco kidnappers to rape women in the mountains of Chihuahua, alert
DECEMBER 30, 2012 · 12 Comment S
http://www.proceso.com.mx/?p=329151
Chihuahua, Chih. (Proceso.com.mx.) - Two weeks after the murders of
four professional women in the Sierra Tarahumara, the president of
the association Justice for Our Daughters, Norma Ledezma Ortega
warned that this may be a crime because of gender no history in that
region and called it "stupid" to only investigate the case of vehicle
theft.
"It's stupid to say that it was a robbery when women were tortured
and met with the coup de grace, which speaks only of the position and
the control they the drug cartels have in the mountains and collusion
of some authorities" he said Ledezma.
The victims were two sisters and two teachers engineers, also sisters.
Marisa Diaz Aidé Peinado, 32, was head of the Department of
Technology Management and Liaison Cuauhtémoc Institute of Technology
and her sister Mayra Lorena, 39, was production manager at a
maquiladora, Josefina Diaz was Rempening piano teacher and Elisa Diaz
Martinez, retired high school teacher.
Ledezma said that last year there was the case of two sisters who
were deprived of freedom and then murdered, which can not be isolated
from what is happening today in the mountains.
This is Nancy and Daisy Caraveo, who were 20 and 26 when they were
victimized, in August 2011.
The two were found Bahuichivo originating in the municipality in a
narcofosa (grave) at the town of Bocoyna.
They were employees of a Conasupo and left their home to go out
shopping. The father of a friend offered ride, but to get to San
Juanito, Bocoyna Township, the three were abducted. The man was
Gonzalo Díaz Molina, 52, and his body was found five days later.
The family reported the disappearance in Cuauhtemoc and to see that
the authorities acted, went to Justice for Our Daughters, who found
the inactive file, Ledezma Ortega recalled.
The women were found more than a month later. Justice for Our
Daughters collaborated with finding them, alongside family and
authorities.
Ledezma Ortega felt that this is a case of two girls who were totally
innocent in the wrong place and day.
Since October 2011, the activist has alleged that criminal groups
settled in the Sierra have created concentration camps where they
recruit women of that region to sexually abuse them.
Job opportunities and student in the Sierra are few, "the narcos come
to the villages for food, look in the squares, in the streets and
take them because they are usually isolated," he added.
Ledezma called on families to come to the city to make a report, but
said it also requires a general alert the authorities have not
activated, arguing that they kill both men than women, without
recognizing that the vulnerability for women in that region is greater.
Since last year the proposal of the activist is to support families
with missing daughters so they can find them, because we often do not
know where they are and are resigned to maybe "married" or "went by
her will" but organized crime is a reality that stalks women, he said.
The priest Javier El Pato Avila said the killing of the four women
has generated a strong discomfort between the highlanders, and even
said it was "", the claim is that until now have not been given to
know neither mobile nor responsible.
He noted that statistics and deaths, do not lie, but added:
"It seems that today the dead buried with the past and no one
remembers the past, but should they should be stacked horizontally,
to remember, to see them."
The authorities claim, again, is impunity, he said, because it only
involved say that violence is down when it is not.
Monday, December 31, 2012
AZMEX EXTRA 30-12-12
AZMEX EXTRA 30 DEC 2012
Note: SEDENA is Mexican DOD. Interesting numbers on drugs and
weapons to analyze. Like most govt. agencies, they can get the info
out quickly, if they want to. Unlike the reports to the UN on
weapons imported for past couple years.
Refer also to AZMEX F&F EXTRA 27-12-12
Sedena detained in six years 50,000 people linked to narco
At November 30, 2012 were 9,516 apprehensions nationwide.
Photo: File / El Sol de Mexico
Organización Editorial Mexicana
December 30, 2012
Claudia Rodriguez / El Sol de Mexico
http://www.oem.com.mx/elsoldemexico/notas/n2824945.htm
Mexico City. - In the fight against organized crime and drug
trafficking, the Ministry of National Defense (SEDENA) managed to
detain in six years more than 50,000 people linked to these activities.
According to information posted on its website, only in the past
year, from 1 January to 30 November, the armed forces captured nine
thousand 516 people, while from 1 December 2006 to 31 December 2011
the figure was 41,318.
In the graphs indicates that as of December 2006, the number of
detainees reached only 193 and in 2007 increased to 3,687, in 2008,
were 6,428, in 2009 were captured 9,302; in 2010 were 9,137,
however, the year 2011 was remarkable because it arrested 12 thousand
624 people, so far in 2012 the number amounted to 9,516.
In a balance that agency makes available to all Mexicans, through its
website, it is stressed that the capture of criminals linked to drug
trafficking, confiscation of weapons, drugs and ammunition, among
others, was held in the framework of operations personnel of the
Ministry of National Defense held in different states against
organized crime.
It also reports on the seizure of drugs such as cocaine and
marijuana, that during the period of December 1, 2006 to November 31,
2011 was 9,287,185 kilograms, while that from 1 January to 30
November this year seized just over a 1,145,000 kilos of drugs.
It was in the years 2010 and 2012, when the institution achieved the
greatest seizures of drugs, in 2010 was 866 thousand 236 kilograms,
while in 2012 there were more than one million kilos of "cannabis".
Regarding the seizure of cocaine, the Department of Defense said that
during the period 1 December 2006 to 31 December 2011 was achieved
34,621 tons of cocaine, while from January 1 to November 30 this
year , seized 1,744 tons of heroin.
In their graphs, notes that the military was in 2007 and 2011, when
it achieved the largest seizures of cocaine, since in 2007 was 18,461
kilos, while in 2011 the number was 5,982 kg. In 2006 there was not
an ounce seized and in 2012 only 1,744 kilograms.
Regarding the seizure of weapons, the Secretariat reported that the
December 1, 2006 to December 31, 2011, secured 106,070 long and short
arms, while January 1 to November 30, 2012 only seized 19,484 weapons
in several raids in the country.
The years which made the greatest seizures were: 2008, 14,956
weapons, 2009, 24,447; 2010, with 28,128 weapons, and 2011, with
32,499. In 2006, only 211.
And finally, the vehicles seized by the military forces were 40,633,
of December 1, 2006 to December 31, 2011, while from 1 January to 30
November 2012, the figure was 12,788.
It was 2011, the year that the number of insured vehicles was higher,
reaching 16,012, while in 2006 only 109 were seized.
Detuvo Sedena en seis años a 50 mil personas ligadas al narco
Al 30 de noviembre de 2012 fueron 9 mil 516 aprensiones en todo el
país. Foto: Archivo / El Sol de México
Organización Editorial Mexicana
30 de diciembre de 2012
Claudia Rodríguez / El Sol de México
http://www.oem.com.mx/elsoldemexico/notas/n2824945.htm
Ciudad de México.- En la lucha contra la delincuencia organizada y el
narcotráfico, la Secretaría de la Defensa Nacional (Sedena) logró
detener en seis años a más de 50 mil personas ligadas a dichas
actividades.
De acuerdo con información difundida en su página web, sólo en el año
que termina, del 1 de enero al 30 de noviembre pasado, la institución
armada capturó a nueve mil 516 personas, mientras que del 1 de
diciembre de 2006 al 31 de diciembre de 2011 la cifra fue de 41 mil 318.
En las gráficas se señala que a diciembre de 2006, el número de
detenidos sólo llegaba a 193; en 2007 aumento a 3 mil 687; en 2008,
fue de 6 mil 428; para 2009 ya se logró la captura de 9 mil 302; en
2010, fueron 9 mil 137; sin embargo, el año 2011 fue extraordinario
ya que se detuvieron a 12 mil 624 personas; en lo que va de 2012 el
número asciende a 9 mil 516.
En un balance que la dependencia pone al alcance de todos los
mexicanos, mediante su página web, se destaca que la captura de
delincuentes ligados al narcotráfico, el decomiso de armas, droga y
parque, entre otros, se realizó en el marco de las operaciones que
personal de la Secretaría de la Defensa Nacional lleva a cabo en
diferentes entidades federativas en contra de la delincuencia
organizada.
También se informa sobre el aseguramiento de droga como la cocaína y
la mariguana, que durante el periodo comprendido del 1 de diciembre
de 2006 al 31 de noviembre de 2011 fue de 9 millones 287 mil 185
kilogramos, mientras que del 1 de enero al 30 de noviembre de este
año incautó poco más de un millón 145 mil kilos del enervante.
Fue en los años 2010 y 2012, cuando la institución logró los mayores
aseguramientos del enervante; en 2010 fue de 866 mil 236 kilogramos,
mientras que en 2012 fueron más de un millón de kilos de "cannabis".
En cuanto al decomiso de cocaína, la Sedena añadió que durante el
periodo del 1 de diciembre de 2006 al 31 de diciembre de 2011 se
logró el aseguramiento de 34 mil 621 toneladas del alcaloide,
mientras que del 1 de enero al 30 noviembre de este año, se
aseguraron mil 744 toneladas de esa droga.
En sus gráficas, la institución castrense destaca que fue en los años
2007 y 2011, cuando se lograron los mayores aseguramientos del
alcaloide, ya que en 2007 fue de 18 mil 461 kilos, mientras que en
2011 la cantidad fue de 5 mil 982 kilogramos. En 2006 no hubo ni un
gramo asegurado y en 2012 sólo mil 744 kilogramos.
Por lo que respecta al decomiso de armas, la Secretaría informa que
del 1 de diciembre de 2006 al 31 de diciembre de 2011, se aseguraron
106 mil 70 armas largas y cortas, mientras que del 1 de enero al 30
de noviembre de 2012 sólo incautaron 19 mil 484 armas en diversos
operativos realizados en el territorio nacional.
Los años donde se lograron los mayores aseguramientos fueron: 2008,
con 14 mil 956 armas; 2009, 24 mil 447; 2010, con 28 mil 128 armas, y
2011, con 32 mil 499. En 2006, sólo 211.
Y, finalmente, los vehículos incautados por las fuerzas castrenses
fueron 40 mil 633, del 1 de diciembre de 2006 al 31 de diciembre de
2011, mientras que del 1 de enero al 30 de noviembre de 2012, la
cifra fue de 12 mil 788.
Fue 2011, el año en que el número de vehículos asegurados fue mayor,
llegando a los 16 mil 12, mientras que en 2006 sólo se incautaron 109.
Note: SEDENA is Mexican DOD. Interesting numbers on drugs and
weapons to analyze. Like most govt. agencies, they can get the info
out quickly, if they want to. Unlike the reports to the UN on
weapons imported for past couple years.
Refer also to AZMEX F&F EXTRA 27-12-12
Sedena detained in six years 50,000 people linked to narco
At November 30, 2012 were 9,516 apprehensions nationwide.
Photo: File / El Sol de Mexico
Organización Editorial Mexicana
December 30, 2012
Claudia Rodriguez / El Sol de Mexico
http://www.oem.com.mx/elsoldemexico/notas/n2824945.htm
Mexico City. - In the fight against organized crime and drug
trafficking, the Ministry of National Defense (SEDENA) managed to
detain in six years more than 50,000 people linked to these activities.
According to information posted on its website, only in the past
year, from 1 January to 30 November, the armed forces captured nine
thousand 516 people, while from 1 December 2006 to 31 December 2011
the figure was 41,318.
In the graphs indicates that as of December 2006, the number of
detainees reached only 193 and in 2007 increased to 3,687, in 2008,
were 6,428, in 2009 were captured 9,302; in 2010 were 9,137,
however, the year 2011 was remarkable because it arrested 12 thousand
624 people, so far in 2012 the number amounted to 9,516.
In a balance that agency makes available to all Mexicans, through its
website, it is stressed that the capture of criminals linked to drug
trafficking, confiscation of weapons, drugs and ammunition, among
others, was held in the framework of operations personnel of the
Ministry of National Defense held in different states against
organized crime.
It also reports on the seizure of drugs such as cocaine and
marijuana, that during the period of December 1, 2006 to November 31,
2011 was 9,287,185 kilograms, while that from 1 January to 30
November this year seized just over a 1,145,000 kilos of drugs.
It was in the years 2010 and 2012, when the institution achieved the
greatest seizures of drugs, in 2010 was 866 thousand 236 kilograms,
while in 2012 there were more than one million kilos of "cannabis".
Regarding the seizure of cocaine, the Department of Defense said that
during the period 1 December 2006 to 31 December 2011 was achieved
34,621 tons of cocaine, while from January 1 to November 30 this
year , seized 1,744 tons of heroin.
In their graphs, notes that the military was in 2007 and 2011, when
it achieved the largest seizures of cocaine, since in 2007 was 18,461
kilos, while in 2011 the number was 5,982 kg. In 2006 there was not
an ounce seized and in 2012 only 1,744 kilograms.
Regarding the seizure of weapons, the Secretariat reported that the
December 1, 2006 to December 31, 2011, secured 106,070 long and short
arms, while January 1 to November 30, 2012 only seized 19,484 weapons
in several raids in the country.
The years which made the greatest seizures were: 2008, 14,956
weapons, 2009, 24,447; 2010, with 28,128 weapons, and 2011, with
32,499. In 2006, only 211.
And finally, the vehicles seized by the military forces were 40,633,
of December 1, 2006 to December 31, 2011, while from 1 January to 30
November 2012, the figure was 12,788.
It was 2011, the year that the number of insured vehicles was higher,
reaching 16,012, while in 2006 only 109 were seized.
Detuvo Sedena en seis años a 50 mil personas ligadas al narco
Al 30 de noviembre de 2012 fueron 9 mil 516 aprensiones en todo el
país. Foto: Archivo / El Sol de México
Organización Editorial Mexicana
30 de diciembre de 2012
Claudia Rodríguez / El Sol de México
http://www.oem.com.mx/elsoldemexico/notas/n2824945.htm
Ciudad de México.- En la lucha contra la delincuencia organizada y el
narcotráfico, la Secretaría de la Defensa Nacional (Sedena) logró
detener en seis años a más de 50 mil personas ligadas a dichas
actividades.
De acuerdo con información difundida en su página web, sólo en el año
que termina, del 1 de enero al 30 de noviembre pasado, la institución
armada capturó a nueve mil 516 personas, mientras que del 1 de
diciembre de 2006 al 31 de diciembre de 2011 la cifra fue de 41 mil 318.
En las gráficas se señala que a diciembre de 2006, el número de
detenidos sólo llegaba a 193; en 2007 aumento a 3 mil 687; en 2008,
fue de 6 mil 428; para 2009 ya se logró la captura de 9 mil 302; en
2010, fueron 9 mil 137; sin embargo, el año 2011 fue extraordinario
ya que se detuvieron a 12 mil 624 personas; en lo que va de 2012 el
número asciende a 9 mil 516.
En un balance que la dependencia pone al alcance de todos los
mexicanos, mediante su página web, se destaca que la captura de
delincuentes ligados al narcotráfico, el decomiso de armas, droga y
parque, entre otros, se realizó en el marco de las operaciones que
personal de la Secretaría de la Defensa Nacional lleva a cabo en
diferentes entidades federativas en contra de la delincuencia
organizada.
También se informa sobre el aseguramiento de droga como la cocaína y
la mariguana, que durante el periodo comprendido del 1 de diciembre
de 2006 al 31 de noviembre de 2011 fue de 9 millones 287 mil 185
kilogramos, mientras que del 1 de enero al 30 de noviembre de este
año incautó poco más de un millón 145 mil kilos del enervante.
Fue en los años 2010 y 2012, cuando la institución logró los mayores
aseguramientos del enervante; en 2010 fue de 866 mil 236 kilogramos,
mientras que en 2012 fueron más de un millón de kilos de "cannabis".
En cuanto al decomiso de cocaína, la Sedena añadió que durante el
periodo del 1 de diciembre de 2006 al 31 de diciembre de 2011 se
logró el aseguramiento de 34 mil 621 toneladas del alcaloide,
mientras que del 1 de enero al 30 noviembre de este año, se
aseguraron mil 744 toneladas de esa droga.
En sus gráficas, la institución castrense destaca que fue en los años
2007 y 2011, cuando se lograron los mayores aseguramientos del
alcaloide, ya que en 2007 fue de 18 mil 461 kilos, mientras que en
2011 la cantidad fue de 5 mil 982 kilogramos. En 2006 no hubo ni un
gramo asegurado y en 2012 sólo mil 744 kilogramos.
Por lo que respecta al decomiso de armas, la Secretaría informa que
del 1 de diciembre de 2006 al 31 de diciembre de 2011, se aseguraron
106 mil 70 armas largas y cortas, mientras que del 1 de enero al 30
de noviembre de 2012 sólo incautaron 19 mil 484 armas en diversos
operativos realizados en el territorio nacional.
Los años donde se lograron los mayores aseguramientos fueron: 2008,
con 14 mil 956 armas; 2009, 24 mil 447; 2010, con 28 mil 128 armas, y
2011, con 32 mil 499. En 2006, sólo 211.
Y, finalmente, los vehículos incautados por las fuerzas castrenses
fueron 40 mil 633, del 1 de diciembre de 2006 al 31 de diciembre de
2011, mientras que del 1 de enero al 30 de noviembre de 2012, la
cifra fue de 12 mil 788.
Fue 2011, el año en que el número de vehículos asegurados fue mayor,
llegando a los 16 mil 12, mientras que en 2006 sólo se incautaron 109.
AZMEX SPECIAL 30-12-12
AZMEX SPECIAL 30 DEC 2012
Note: Have just now started plowing though the new BP strategic
plan All of the following gives the reader a great opportunity to
work on their government speak.
(Despite surveillance systems projects, among others, paying your
correspondents bills over past few years, surveillance only shows
what is or happened. By itself, it doesn't stop anything.)
As with most strategic plans of most agencies, recommend knee high
boots.
http://www.cbp.gov/xp/cgov/border_security/border_patrol/bp_strat_plan/
http://nemo.cbp.gov/obp/bp_strategic_plan.pdf
Note: Mr. Barry gives a somewhat different "progressive" perspective
on border issues. But does point out some interesting things. For
example the low reported crime rates in border towns north of the
line. Maybe because of the saturation of law enforcement?
http://truth-out.org/opinion/item/13504-the-border-security-muddle-
post-9-11
Border Patrol's New Strategy Highlights Agency's Lack of Clear Direction
Saturday, 29 December 2012 00:00
By Tom Barry, Truthout | News Analysis
http://truth-out.org/news/item/13603-border-patrols-new-strategy-
highlights-agencys-lack-of-clear-direction
Increasing segments of the public are more frequently condemning anti-
immigrant policies and practices, and states and communities are
rejecting harsh federal drug laws. Yet the border security buildup -
which is almost exclusively focused on stemming immigration and on
drug enforcement - continues.
The US Border Patrol is one of the few US agencies that is rushing
ahead with vast new spending programs, including a $1.5 billion
revived virtual fence project and a new half-billion project to more
than double its drone fleet.
Pressed by politicians and border security hawks to demonstrate how
it intends to "secure the border," the Border Patrol recently
released its 2012-2016 Strategic Plan for border security. The
document, only the third such plan in the agency's history, stresses
that border security operations will be "risk-based, intelligence-
driven."
In its new strategy, the Border Patrol appears to be out of step with
political and social trends in the homeland, where society and the
political community are adopting less one-dimensional, less
restrictive and less fear-based policies regarding immigrants and
marijuana - the two main targets of the agency's border security
programs.
Also see: The Border Security Muddle Post 9/11
Rather than signaling a new commitment to more cost-effective and
strategic operational directions, the new strategy statement serves
to highlight the agency's stunning lack of strategic direction.
A New Strategy Based on Risk Assessments and Intelligence
The Border Patrol describes the new strategy - the third in the
agency's history - as a "risk-based, intelligence-driven" plan to
secure the border.
The release of the new strategic plan came on the heels of intense
criticism of the Border Patrol's failure to ensure "operational
control" over large sections of the United States' Southwestern
border. "Operational control" was the stated goal of the 2004
strategic plan, which defined the concept as "the ability to detect,
respond, and interdict border penetrations in areas deemed as high
priority for threat potential or other national security objectives."
The new Border Patrol strategy makes not a single reference to the
former goal of operational control, and the plan doesn't include any
performance measures. The 2012-2016 strategy also suffers from a
failure to specify on what grounds risks will be assessed, how
threats will be evaluated and how new spending will be determined.
In his introduction to the new strategic plan, former Border Patrol
chief and current acting Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Deputy
Commissioner David Aguilar explained:
The resource base built and the operations conducted over the past
two decades have enabled the Border Patrol to focus on developing and
implementing a Strategic Plan based on risk: identifying high risk
areas and flows and targeting our response to meet those threats.
This risk-based approach is reflected in the core pillars of the
Strategic Plan - Information, Integration and Rapid Response. These
pillars are central to the 21st century Border Patrol we continue to
build. Information and intelligence will empower Border Patrol
leadership and agents to get ahead of the threat and to be predictive
and proactive.
In his introductory note, Border Patrol Acting Chief Michael Fisher
promised: "We will build upon an approach that puts the Border
Patrol's greatest capabilities in place to combat the greatest
risks." The slim 30-page, graphic-laden strategy statement includes
44 uses of the word "risk" and 64 references to "threats." The Border
Patrol promises to "apply the principles of risk-management to its
mission set."
In its new strategic plan, the Border Patrol gives no indication how
it will rank or prioritize risks and threats. Instead, it merely
describes the new bureaucratic apparatus that will make these risk
assessments - graphically illustrating this bureaucratic process with
a complex and confusing flow chart.
The Border Patrol claims that it has created the following risk-
assessment process:
Integrated Mission Analysis (IMA) uses a systematic and comprehensive
methodology to track, assess, and forecast vulnerabilities,
consequences, and capabilities of CBP (and, by extension, the US
Border Patrol) and matches these with known or potential threats. The
resulting Border Assessment Level (BAL) helps CBP answer the
question: Is our capability commensurate with the threat?
The IMA process supports the Border Patrol's risk-based approach to
border security by integrating operational and threat-condition
assessments. Once harnessed, these operational statistics, threat
indicators, and warnings will be used to estimate risk. Outputs from
the IMA process will aid security stakeholders in determining
operational gaps and critical threats, vulnerabilities and risks.
Whether the proposed IMA and BAL become firmly established and useful
processes within CBP remains to be seen. According to the strategic
plan, the analysis and assessment process will allow the agency to
evaluate whether the Border Patrol's "capability [is] commensurate
with the threat." It is unclear, however, how the Border Patrol is
defining and evaluating the threats against which its capacities are
deployed.
Evolving Strategy: Numbers and Threats
Rather than clarifying the border security strategy, the 2012-2016
Border Patrol Strategic Plan highlights the difficulty that the
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has had in defining what the
newest federal bureaucracy means by "border security." The new
strategy sheds little light on what it will cost the nation to
"secure the border" and how threats to border security are assessed
and prioritized.
Although the Border Patrol dates back to 1924, it wasn't until 70
years later that the agency issued its first national strategy. The
Border Patrol's first national strategy, released in 1994, came in
response to rising illegal immigration flows through the border's
main urban corridors, mainly north from Juárez and Tijuana. The 1994
so-called "prevention through deterrence" strategy called for
blocking the most frequented immigration corridors with concentrated
deployments of Border Patrol agents and the targeted buildup of new
what is known as "tactical infrastructure" such as border walls,
stadium lighting and other barriers. As a result, illegal immigration
flows would be diverted, it was argued, to more remote and difficult-
to-traverse stretches of the border, thereby creating an effective
disincentive for would-be immigrants.
The central objective of the operations established in accordance
with the first strategic plan - an objective which was only partially
successful - was to diminish illegal border crossings. As intended,
illegal crossings through the targeted sections of the border did
decline, in some areas dramatically. But new major south-north
immigration corridors emerged, confounding the Border Patrol
strategists. As a result, the Border Patrol was pressed to quickly
extend its prevention through deterrence tactics to other regions of
the largely rural areas of the border which had previously seen only
trickles of illegal immigration. Another consequence of the 1994
deterrence strategy was the dramatic increase in horrific deaths as
immigrants seeking to enter the United States illegally attempted to
cross through harsh border landscapes and raging rivers.
Following the 1994 strategic plan, the Border Patrol shifted to
threat-centered strategies. There is no reference to the prevention
through deterrence concept in the latest strategy statements, yet
these deterrence tactics continue to guide Border Patrol operations.
The National Border Patrol Strategy of 2004, which came a year after
the Border Patrol was folded into the DHS, marked the transition from
a border control to a border security framework. While the priority
of the Border Patrol stayed the same - "to establish and maintain
operational control over our Nation's borders" - the focus of that
control expanded to include terrorists and terrorist weapons, in
addition to illegal immigrants. This new counterterrorism mission
tapped military terminology - such as "operational control," "defense-
in-depth," and "situational awareness" - to describe the agency's new
strategic operations.
In introducing the first post-9/11 strategy, then-CBP Commissioner
Robert Bonner in 2004 tied border control goals to the Bush
administration's war against terrorism, stating, "This goal is vital
to national security."
Adopting military jargon, the Border Patrol in 2004 set forth the
strategic concept of operational control of the border. The degree to
which the Border Patrol achieved operational control would be the
metric by which the progress in ensuring border security would be
measured.
Escalating pressure of illegal immigration flows gave rise to the
Border Patrol's first national strategy, while the perceived new
threat environment after 9/11 sparked the formulation of the second
strategy in 2004. In contrast, the Border Patrol has offered no
convincing rationale for formulating its newest national strategy.
What likely precipitated the rather haphazard development of the new
strategy was not any change in what the Border Patrol calls the
"threat environment" or the change in the numbers of apprehension and
seizures. Instead, a political uproar associated with the performance
measures associated with the 2004 report sparked the hurried
production of the new strategic plan.
DHS and other Bush administration officials began referring to the
Border Patrol strategy of instituting operational control over the
border, particularly as part of the 2005 DHS initiative called the
Secure Border Initiative (SBI). In 2006, DHS Secretary Michael
Chertoff said that the range of SBI programs, including the new
border fence and the virtual fence, would result in "operational
control" of the Southwest border by the end of 2010.
Pressed to show its rate of progress in securing the border, DHS and
the Border Patrol in 2004 established a border-security schematic
designed to document the varying degrees of security - descending
from "effective" or full "operational control" to "managed" control,
"monitored," "low-level monitored," and "remote/low activity." The
Border Patrol based the ranking mostly on the degree of presence of
personnel, infrastructure and technological surveillance, although
the subjective evaluations of Border Patrol officials in each sector
were also factored in.
When the Border Patrol began releasing its estimates of the degree of
operational control in early 2010, the figures unleashed a firestorm
of criticism by border security proponents. Only 13 percent of the
8,067 miles under Border Patrol jurisdiction were categorized as
being under full or effective operational control. Along the
Southwest border, only 44 percent of the nearly 2,000 miles were
ranked as being under "effective" or "managed control." Along the
Northern border, just 2 percent was under operational control by 2010.
Border security hawks lambasted the Border Patrol for its failure to
achieve operational control of large stretches of the Southwestern
border and almost the entire Northern border. In turn, they escalated
their demands for more fencing, more drones, more agents, more remote
ground surveillance and more National Guard on the border.
The Border Patrol countered that the areas that were not under
operational control were generally rugged, infrequently crossed
sections of the border. While these areas did not meet the high
standard of operational control - including fencing, high
concentration of agents and an array of electronic surveillance -
they were constantly monitored, explained the Border Patrol.
It should be noted that the 2004 strategic plan did qualify and limit
what the Border Patrol meant by operational control in the 2004
strategy statement defining it as "the ability to detect, respond,
and interdict border penetrations in areas deemed as high priority
for threat potential or other national security objectives." What is
more, the Border Patrol acknowledged that operational control "may be
limited to specific smuggling corridors or other geographically
defined areas" - seemingly contradicting the grand ambition of
operational control over the nation's borders.
The Border Patrol, finding itself in a rhetorical trap of its own
making, had dropped all references to "operational" or "effective"
control by the end of fiscal year 2010. The concept of operational
control is nowhere to be found in the 2012-2016 strategic plan. Nor
is there any official explanation by DHS, CBP or the Border Patrol as
to why this strategic framework was all but erased from official
discourse.
Consternation and Skepticism About Border Security Strategy
Consternation and skepticism have been among the main reactions to
the Border Patrol's new border security strategy. The Border Patrol's
failure to define what was really new about the strategy, the plan's
lack of details and the absence of any metrics to measure the
agency's progress underscored existing concerns about the Border
Patrol's fuzzy strategic focus and lack of accountability.
Since 2010, the Border Patrol has been promising to set forth new
quantitative and qualitative measures of its border security
operations. Yet the new strategy included no performance measures
whatsoever.
Rep. Candice Miller, the Michigan Republican who chairs the Border
and Maritime Security Subcommittee, opened a May 8, 2012, hearing on
border security strategy by pointedly noting, "The 2012 to 2016
strategy lacks a tangible way to measure our efforts on the border."
Echoing Miller, Rebecca Gambler, who directs the Government
Accountability Office's (GAO) Homeland Security and Justice office,
told the subcommittee: "What's really important and really key going
forward is for the Border Patrol and the department [DHS] to move
more toward outcome-oriented measures that would allow the
department, the Congress and the public to really get a sense of how
effective the Border Patrol's efforts are."
The Border Patrol's problems were not limited to concerns about the
lack of metrics to evaluate the success of its strategy and border
security operations. During the hearing, Fisher had repeated
difficulty in explaining the strategic thrust of the new plan.
After Fisher finished presenting the strategy, Miller quizzically
paged through the document while expressing her bewilderment:
What is really new in the strategic plan?" she asked Fisher. "I'm
looking at it and everything here. I mean, I agree with everything
that's here. But there wasn't really something that grabbed me as
being really new. Is there anything really new in there that you
would highlight as a marquee component of this new plan?"
Responding, Fisher said: "I'll give you two quick examples: Change-
detection capability and the other one talks about optimizing
capability." By change-detection capability, Fisher explained that it
was referring to the Border Patrol's new high-tech surveillance
operations - both in the air through drones or unmanned aerial
systems, and on the ground by way of the evolving virtual fence project.
In an attempt to explain how these examples related to the "risk-
based, intelligence-driven" attributes of the new strategy, Fisher
added that the new "change-detection capability" of drones allows
Border Patrol "to go out and fly sorties along the border, to confirm
or deny any changes in that threat environment." Elaborating, Fisher
continued, "So that allows us to use technology to be able to
understand where those threats are going to be evolving." He later
notes, "I don't think that we are maximizing to the extent that we
need to all of those capabilities, which is a common theme within our
strategy now."
Following up on Miller's question, Representative Sheila Jackson Lee
(D-Texas) said she had "one straightforward question" for Fisher:
"What do you think is the most important element of that strategy?"
Fisher had a one-sentence response: "It's the focus of - there is a
common theme within that strategy that I certainly see as identifying
and developing and training future leaders of this organization."
Missing Performance Measures and Metrics
Since 2010, the Border Patrol has been in a near-desperate search for
metrics that will measure its success in controlling the border.
After the "operational control" schematic for border security was
summarily dropped, DHS promised that it was developing a new, more
inclusive framework for measuring border security to be called the
Border Conditions Index (BCI).
In addition to the usual numerical indicators of apprehensions of
illegal border crossers and seizures of illegal drugs, the promised
performance index would include statistics about public safety in the
borderland, as well as statistics directly related to Border Patrol
operations. Testifying before the Senate Homeland Security Committee
on May 3, 2011, DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano noted that the BCI
would "comprehensively measure security along the Southwestern border
and the quality of life in the region."
As described, the BCI would include measures of borderland life such
as property values, unemployment rates and crime statistics.
Introducing nontraditional and more varied performance measures would
likely underscore the DHS's messaging that the border is safer, more
secure and better protected than ever before.
Crime levels, traditionally lower on the border than elsewhere in the
nation, particularly in urban areas, have decreased in the
borderlands despite rising population levels. By supporting its
assertions about its border security achievement, the proposed index
would have allowed the Border Patrol to point to unprecedented levels
of cooperation among federal, state and local law enforcement
officers - a product not only of the higher per capita presence of
federal agents, but also of a bounty of border security funding
directed to state and local police and sheriff's deputies. Nowhere
else in the nation is there such a pervasive presence of drug task
forces.
The proposed BCI has apparently been dropped. One obvious problem was
that the index would have been almost completely disconnected from
both the security-centered framework of post-9/11 CBP strategies and
the new emphasis on "risk-based strategy, intelligence-driven"
operations. Another probable reason for the disappearance of BCI is
that it would have likely generated criticism by border security
hardliners that the DHS measures of borderland life incorporate less
tangible factors such as the purported rise of fear of spillover
violence and types of crime not included in crime indices, such as
vandalism by illegal border-crossers.
The Border Patrol is facing increasing pressure to set forth new
measures by which its strategic goals and operational objectives can
be evaluated. At the May 8 hearing, titled "Measuring Border
Security," Rep. Miller asked Fisher: "When we hear terms like 'the
border is more secure than ever,' that may be so, but how do you
measure it?" The GAO testimony at the hearing underscored this
concern about the lack of metrics to evaluate Border Patrol spending,
concluding in its statement about border security measures: DHS has
"reduced information provided to Congress and the public about
program results."
Having apparently ditched "border conditions" as a set of metrics to
gauge its border security achievements, the Border Patrol promises to
issue its new performance measures in early 2013. Meanwhile, it has
issued a new strategic plan that doubles down on its 2004 focus on
threats and risks, while also putting new stress on how its risk-
based operations will be intelligence-driven. Presumably, any new set
of performance measures will necessarily provide a verifiable and
quantitative set of indicators of the progress it is making on
identifying risks, assessing threats and targeting these dangers in
the borderlands the agency patrols and protects. Lacking new
performance measures, the Border Patrol has reverted to what it calls
an "interim metric" of border control, namely the number of illegal
border-crossers apprehended by the agency.
In its new strategic plan, the Border Patrol did include a couple of
new initiatives to achieve border security. It is committed to a
"whole-of-government" approach, and to "community engagement." It is
likely that if new performance measures are issued to accompany the
new strategic plan, they will include metrics that point to the
increasing ways that the Border Patrol is working with other
governmental agencies - federal, state, local and tribal - in its
border security operations, and to how it is becoming newly engaged
with border communities themselves.
Fisher told the hearing that the Border Patrol is shifting from
community relations to community engagement, explaining how the
Border Patrol is increasingly reaching out to borderland residents
and leaders as the agency's eyes and ears. The Border Patrol is
training every agent to "recognize that every individual that they
encounter is a potential source of information."
Without careful consideration, this represents a potentially
dangerous new intrusion of the federal government into civil society.
As is, the principal targets of border security programs are
immigrants (few of whom constitute security threats) and the illegal
drug market (virtually all marijuana between points of entry where
Border Patrol operates). Lacking credible risk-based guidelines for
community engagement, the Border Patrol's new determination to, as it
says, "partner" with borderland "stakeholders" will do nothing to
increase homeland security and will instead empower vigilante anti-
immigrant activism and a culture of snitches.
Strategy Without Definition, Focus or Measurable Objectives
"The Strategic Plan sets a firm foundation for the continued
evolution of the Border Patrol as an integral part of CBP's overall
border management and homeland security enterprise," said Aguilar.
The Border Patrol's new plan states that its strategy and operations
will be "risk-based" and "intelligence-driven." Yet, it does not
include a methodology for assessing risks or for leveraging
intelligence to meet identified threats to homeland security. Nor
does the Border Patrol explain - either in the new strategy or
elsewhere - how risk-management will determine the directional focus
and budgetary specifics of border funding.
The 2012-2016 Border Patrol Strategic Plan is not a serious document.
The plan includes repeated references to vague tactics such as rapid
response, intelligence, community engagement, whole-of-government
approaches and intergovernmental integration. Full of platitudes,
patriotisms, military jargon and abstractions, the strategy statement
is essentially a public-relations document.
The "firm foundation" that Aguilar sees is manifestly flimsy and
unprofessional. The Strategic Plan has no real plan, no timelines, no
summary of the evolving geopolitical context for border control, no
strategic focus and no baselines or metrics to measure the Border
Patrol's progress in securing the border.
This article is largely excerpted from a new international policy
report, The Border Patrol's Strategic Muddle, published by the Center
for International Policy.
Copyright, Truthout. May not be reprinted without permission.
Note: Have just now started plowing though the new BP strategic
plan All of the following gives the reader a great opportunity to
work on their government speak.
(Despite surveillance systems projects, among others, paying your
correspondents bills over past few years, surveillance only shows
what is or happened. By itself, it doesn't stop anything.)
As with most strategic plans of most agencies, recommend knee high
boots.
http://www.cbp.gov/xp/cgov/border_security/border_patrol/bp_strat_plan/
http://nemo.cbp.gov/obp/bp_strategic_plan.pdf
Note: Mr. Barry gives a somewhat different "progressive" perspective
on border issues. But does point out some interesting things. For
example the low reported crime rates in border towns north of the
line. Maybe because of the saturation of law enforcement?
http://truth-out.org/opinion/item/13504-the-border-security-muddle-
post-9-11
Border Patrol's New Strategy Highlights Agency's Lack of Clear Direction
Saturday, 29 December 2012 00:00
By Tom Barry, Truthout | News Analysis
http://truth-out.org/news/item/13603-border-patrols-new-strategy-
highlights-agencys-lack-of-clear-direction
Increasing segments of the public are more frequently condemning anti-
immigrant policies and practices, and states and communities are
rejecting harsh federal drug laws. Yet the border security buildup -
which is almost exclusively focused on stemming immigration and on
drug enforcement - continues.
The US Border Patrol is one of the few US agencies that is rushing
ahead with vast new spending programs, including a $1.5 billion
revived virtual fence project and a new half-billion project to more
than double its drone fleet.
Pressed by politicians and border security hawks to demonstrate how
it intends to "secure the border," the Border Patrol recently
released its 2012-2016 Strategic Plan for border security. The
document, only the third such plan in the agency's history, stresses
that border security operations will be "risk-based, intelligence-
driven."
In its new strategy, the Border Patrol appears to be out of step with
political and social trends in the homeland, where society and the
political community are adopting less one-dimensional, less
restrictive and less fear-based policies regarding immigrants and
marijuana - the two main targets of the agency's border security
programs.
Also see: The Border Security Muddle Post 9/11
Rather than signaling a new commitment to more cost-effective and
strategic operational directions, the new strategy statement serves
to highlight the agency's stunning lack of strategic direction.
A New Strategy Based on Risk Assessments and Intelligence
The Border Patrol describes the new strategy - the third in the
agency's history - as a "risk-based, intelligence-driven" plan to
secure the border.
The release of the new strategic plan came on the heels of intense
criticism of the Border Patrol's failure to ensure "operational
control" over large sections of the United States' Southwestern
border. "Operational control" was the stated goal of the 2004
strategic plan, which defined the concept as "the ability to detect,
respond, and interdict border penetrations in areas deemed as high
priority for threat potential or other national security objectives."
The new Border Patrol strategy makes not a single reference to the
former goal of operational control, and the plan doesn't include any
performance measures. The 2012-2016 strategy also suffers from a
failure to specify on what grounds risks will be assessed, how
threats will be evaluated and how new spending will be determined.
In his introduction to the new strategic plan, former Border Patrol
chief and current acting Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Deputy
Commissioner David Aguilar explained:
The resource base built and the operations conducted over the past
two decades have enabled the Border Patrol to focus on developing and
implementing a Strategic Plan based on risk: identifying high risk
areas and flows and targeting our response to meet those threats.
This risk-based approach is reflected in the core pillars of the
Strategic Plan - Information, Integration and Rapid Response. These
pillars are central to the 21st century Border Patrol we continue to
build. Information and intelligence will empower Border Patrol
leadership and agents to get ahead of the threat and to be predictive
and proactive.
In his introductory note, Border Patrol Acting Chief Michael Fisher
promised: "We will build upon an approach that puts the Border
Patrol's greatest capabilities in place to combat the greatest
risks." The slim 30-page, graphic-laden strategy statement includes
44 uses of the word "risk" and 64 references to "threats." The Border
Patrol promises to "apply the principles of risk-management to its
mission set."
In its new strategic plan, the Border Patrol gives no indication how
it will rank or prioritize risks and threats. Instead, it merely
describes the new bureaucratic apparatus that will make these risk
assessments - graphically illustrating this bureaucratic process with
a complex and confusing flow chart.
The Border Patrol claims that it has created the following risk-
assessment process:
Integrated Mission Analysis (IMA) uses a systematic and comprehensive
methodology to track, assess, and forecast vulnerabilities,
consequences, and capabilities of CBP (and, by extension, the US
Border Patrol) and matches these with known or potential threats. The
resulting Border Assessment Level (BAL) helps CBP answer the
question: Is our capability commensurate with the threat?
The IMA process supports the Border Patrol's risk-based approach to
border security by integrating operational and threat-condition
assessments. Once harnessed, these operational statistics, threat
indicators, and warnings will be used to estimate risk. Outputs from
the IMA process will aid security stakeholders in determining
operational gaps and critical threats, vulnerabilities and risks.
Whether the proposed IMA and BAL become firmly established and useful
processes within CBP remains to be seen. According to the strategic
plan, the analysis and assessment process will allow the agency to
evaluate whether the Border Patrol's "capability [is] commensurate
with the threat." It is unclear, however, how the Border Patrol is
defining and evaluating the threats against which its capacities are
deployed.
Evolving Strategy: Numbers and Threats
Rather than clarifying the border security strategy, the 2012-2016
Border Patrol Strategic Plan highlights the difficulty that the
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has had in defining what the
newest federal bureaucracy means by "border security." The new
strategy sheds little light on what it will cost the nation to
"secure the border" and how threats to border security are assessed
and prioritized.
Although the Border Patrol dates back to 1924, it wasn't until 70
years later that the agency issued its first national strategy. The
Border Patrol's first national strategy, released in 1994, came in
response to rising illegal immigration flows through the border's
main urban corridors, mainly north from Juárez and Tijuana. The 1994
so-called "prevention through deterrence" strategy called for
blocking the most frequented immigration corridors with concentrated
deployments of Border Patrol agents and the targeted buildup of new
what is known as "tactical infrastructure" such as border walls,
stadium lighting and other barriers. As a result, illegal immigration
flows would be diverted, it was argued, to more remote and difficult-
to-traverse stretches of the border, thereby creating an effective
disincentive for would-be immigrants.
The central objective of the operations established in accordance
with the first strategic plan - an objective which was only partially
successful - was to diminish illegal border crossings. As intended,
illegal crossings through the targeted sections of the border did
decline, in some areas dramatically. But new major south-north
immigration corridors emerged, confounding the Border Patrol
strategists. As a result, the Border Patrol was pressed to quickly
extend its prevention through deterrence tactics to other regions of
the largely rural areas of the border which had previously seen only
trickles of illegal immigration. Another consequence of the 1994
deterrence strategy was the dramatic increase in horrific deaths as
immigrants seeking to enter the United States illegally attempted to
cross through harsh border landscapes and raging rivers.
Following the 1994 strategic plan, the Border Patrol shifted to
threat-centered strategies. There is no reference to the prevention
through deterrence concept in the latest strategy statements, yet
these deterrence tactics continue to guide Border Patrol operations.
The National Border Patrol Strategy of 2004, which came a year after
the Border Patrol was folded into the DHS, marked the transition from
a border control to a border security framework. While the priority
of the Border Patrol stayed the same - "to establish and maintain
operational control over our Nation's borders" - the focus of that
control expanded to include terrorists and terrorist weapons, in
addition to illegal immigrants. This new counterterrorism mission
tapped military terminology - such as "operational control," "defense-
in-depth," and "situational awareness" - to describe the agency's new
strategic operations.
In introducing the first post-9/11 strategy, then-CBP Commissioner
Robert Bonner in 2004 tied border control goals to the Bush
administration's war against terrorism, stating, "This goal is vital
to national security."
Adopting military jargon, the Border Patrol in 2004 set forth the
strategic concept of operational control of the border. The degree to
which the Border Patrol achieved operational control would be the
metric by which the progress in ensuring border security would be
measured.
Escalating pressure of illegal immigration flows gave rise to the
Border Patrol's first national strategy, while the perceived new
threat environment after 9/11 sparked the formulation of the second
strategy in 2004. In contrast, the Border Patrol has offered no
convincing rationale for formulating its newest national strategy.
What likely precipitated the rather haphazard development of the new
strategy was not any change in what the Border Patrol calls the
"threat environment" or the change in the numbers of apprehension and
seizures. Instead, a political uproar associated with the performance
measures associated with the 2004 report sparked the hurried
production of the new strategic plan.
DHS and other Bush administration officials began referring to the
Border Patrol strategy of instituting operational control over the
border, particularly as part of the 2005 DHS initiative called the
Secure Border Initiative (SBI). In 2006, DHS Secretary Michael
Chertoff said that the range of SBI programs, including the new
border fence and the virtual fence, would result in "operational
control" of the Southwest border by the end of 2010.
Pressed to show its rate of progress in securing the border, DHS and
the Border Patrol in 2004 established a border-security schematic
designed to document the varying degrees of security - descending
from "effective" or full "operational control" to "managed" control,
"monitored," "low-level monitored," and "remote/low activity." The
Border Patrol based the ranking mostly on the degree of presence of
personnel, infrastructure and technological surveillance, although
the subjective evaluations of Border Patrol officials in each sector
were also factored in.
When the Border Patrol began releasing its estimates of the degree of
operational control in early 2010, the figures unleashed a firestorm
of criticism by border security proponents. Only 13 percent of the
8,067 miles under Border Patrol jurisdiction were categorized as
being under full or effective operational control. Along the
Southwest border, only 44 percent of the nearly 2,000 miles were
ranked as being under "effective" or "managed control." Along the
Northern border, just 2 percent was under operational control by 2010.
Border security hawks lambasted the Border Patrol for its failure to
achieve operational control of large stretches of the Southwestern
border and almost the entire Northern border. In turn, they escalated
their demands for more fencing, more drones, more agents, more remote
ground surveillance and more National Guard on the border.
The Border Patrol countered that the areas that were not under
operational control were generally rugged, infrequently crossed
sections of the border. While these areas did not meet the high
standard of operational control - including fencing, high
concentration of agents and an array of electronic surveillance -
they were constantly monitored, explained the Border Patrol.
It should be noted that the 2004 strategic plan did qualify and limit
what the Border Patrol meant by operational control in the 2004
strategy statement defining it as "the ability to detect, respond,
and interdict border penetrations in areas deemed as high priority
for threat potential or other national security objectives." What is
more, the Border Patrol acknowledged that operational control "may be
limited to specific smuggling corridors or other geographically
defined areas" - seemingly contradicting the grand ambition of
operational control over the nation's borders.
The Border Patrol, finding itself in a rhetorical trap of its own
making, had dropped all references to "operational" or "effective"
control by the end of fiscal year 2010. The concept of operational
control is nowhere to be found in the 2012-2016 strategic plan. Nor
is there any official explanation by DHS, CBP or the Border Patrol as
to why this strategic framework was all but erased from official
discourse.
Consternation and Skepticism About Border Security Strategy
Consternation and skepticism have been among the main reactions to
the Border Patrol's new border security strategy. The Border Patrol's
failure to define what was really new about the strategy, the plan's
lack of details and the absence of any metrics to measure the
agency's progress underscored existing concerns about the Border
Patrol's fuzzy strategic focus and lack of accountability.
Since 2010, the Border Patrol has been promising to set forth new
quantitative and qualitative measures of its border security
operations. Yet the new strategy included no performance measures
whatsoever.
Rep. Candice Miller, the Michigan Republican who chairs the Border
and Maritime Security Subcommittee, opened a May 8, 2012, hearing on
border security strategy by pointedly noting, "The 2012 to 2016
strategy lacks a tangible way to measure our efforts on the border."
Echoing Miller, Rebecca Gambler, who directs the Government
Accountability Office's (GAO) Homeland Security and Justice office,
told the subcommittee: "What's really important and really key going
forward is for the Border Patrol and the department [DHS] to move
more toward outcome-oriented measures that would allow the
department, the Congress and the public to really get a sense of how
effective the Border Patrol's efforts are."
The Border Patrol's problems were not limited to concerns about the
lack of metrics to evaluate the success of its strategy and border
security operations. During the hearing, Fisher had repeated
difficulty in explaining the strategic thrust of the new plan.
After Fisher finished presenting the strategy, Miller quizzically
paged through the document while expressing her bewilderment:
What is really new in the strategic plan?" she asked Fisher. "I'm
looking at it and everything here. I mean, I agree with everything
that's here. But there wasn't really something that grabbed me as
being really new. Is there anything really new in there that you
would highlight as a marquee component of this new plan?"
Responding, Fisher said: "I'll give you two quick examples: Change-
detection capability and the other one talks about optimizing
capability." By change-detection capability, Fisher explained that it
was referring to the Border Patrol's new high-tech surveillance
operations - both in the air through drones or unmanned aerial
systems, and on the ground by way of the evolving virtual fence project.
In an attempt to explain how these examples related to the "risk-
based, intelligence-driven" attributes of the new strategy, Fisher
added that the new "change-detection capability" of drones allows
Border Patrol "to go out and fly sorties along the border, to confirm
or deny any changes in that threat environment." Elaborating, Fisher
continued, "So that allows us to use technology to be able to
understand where those threats are going to be evolving." He later
notes, "I don't think that we are maximizing to the extent that we
need to all of those capabilities, which is a common theme within our
strategy now."
Following up on Miller's question, Representative Sheila Jackson Lee
(D-Texas) said she had "one straightforward question" for Fisher:
"What do you think is the most important element of that strategy?"
Fisher had a one-sentence response: "It's the focus of - there is a
common theme within that strategy that I certainly see as identifying
and developing and training future leaders of this organization."
Missing Performance Measures and Metrics
Since 2010, the Border Patrol has been in a near-desperate search for
metrics that will measure its success in controlling the border.
After the "operational control" schematic for border security was
summarily dropped, DHS promised that it was developing a new, more
inclusive framework for measuring border security to be called the
Border Conditions Index (BCI).
In addition to the usual numerical indicators of apprehensions of
illegal border crossers and seizures of illegal drugs, the promised
performance index would include statistics about public safety in the
borderland, as well as statistics directly related to Border Patrol
operations. Testifying before the Senate Homeland Security Committee
on May 3, 2011, DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano noted that the BCI
would "comprehensively measure security along the Southwestern border
and the quality of life in the region."
As described, the BCI would include measures of borderland life such
as property values, unemployment rates and crime statistics.
Introducing nontraditional and more varied performance measures would
likely underscore the DHS's messaging that the border is safer, more
secure and better protected than ever before.
Crime levels, traditionally lower on the border than elsewhere in the
nation, particularly in urban areas, have decreased in the
borderlands despite rising population levels. By supporting its
assertions about its border security achievement, the proposed index
would have allowed the Border Patrol to point to unprecedented levels
of cooperation among federal, state and local law enforcement
officers - a product not only of the higher per capita presence of
federal agents, but also of a bounty of border security funding
directed to state and local police and sheriff's deputies. Nowhere
else in the nation is there such a pervasive presence of drug task
forces.
The proposed BCI has apparently been dropped. One obvious problem was
that the index would have been almost completely disconnected from
both the security-centered framework of post-9/11 CBP strategies and
the new emphasis on "risk-based strategy, intelligence-driven"
operations. Another probable reason for the disappearance of BCI is
that it would have likely generated criticism by border security
hardliners that the DHS measures of borderland life incorporate less
tangible factors such as the purported rise of fear of spillover
violence and types of crime not included in crime indices, such as
vandalism by illegal border-crossers.
The Border Patrol is facing increasing pressure to set forth new
measures by which its strategic goals and operational objectives can
be evaluated. At the May 8 hearing, titled "Measuring Border
Security," Rep. Miller asked Fisher: "When we hear terms like 'the
border is more secure than ever,' that may be so, but how do you
measure it?" The GAO testimony at the hearing underscored this
concern about the lack of metrics to evaluate Border Patrol spending,
concluding in its statement about border security measures: DHS has
"reduced information provided to Congress and the public about
program results."
Having apparently ditched "border conditions" as a set of metrics to
gauge its border security achievements, the Border Patrol promises to
issue its new performance measures in early 2013. Meanwhile, it has
issued a new strategic plan that doubles down on its 2004 focus on
threats and risks, while also putting new stress on how its risk-
based operations will be intelligence-driven. Presumably, any new set
of performance measures will necessarily provide a verifiable and
quantitative set of indicators of the progress it is making on
identifying risks, assessing threats and targeting these dangers in
the borderlands the agency patrols and protects. Lacking new
performance measures, the Border Patrol has reverted to what it calls
an "interim metric" of border control, namely the number of illegal
border-crossers apprehended by the agency.
In its new strategic plan, the Border Patrol did include a couple of
new initiatives to achieve border security. It is committed to a
"whole-of-government" approach, and to "community engagement." It is
likely that if new performance measures are issued to accompany the
new strategic plan, they will include metrics that point to the
increasing ways that the Border Patrol is working with other
governmental agencies - federal, state, local and tribal - in its
border security operations, and to how it is becoming newly engaged
with border communities themselves.
Fisher told the hearing that the Border Patrol is shifting from
community relations to community engagement, explaining how the
Border Patrol is increasingly reaching out to borderland residents
and leaders as the agency's eyes and ears. The Border Patrol is
training every agent to "recognize that every individual that they
encounter is a potential source of information."
Without careful consideration, this represents a potentially
dangerous new intrusion of the federal government into civil society.
As is, the principal targets of border security programs are
immigrants (few of whom constitute security threats) and the illegal
drug market (virtually all marijuana between points of entry where
Border Patrol operates). Lacking credible risk-based guidelines for
community engagement, the Border Patrol's new determination to, as it
says, "partner" with borderland "stakeholders" will do nothing to
increase homeland security and will instead empower vigilante anti-
immigrant activism and a culture of snitches.
Strategy Without Definition, Focus or Measurable Objectives
"The Strategic Plan sets a firm foundation for the continued
evolution of the Border Patrol as an integral part of CBP's overall
border management and homeland security enterprise," said Aguilar.
The Border Patrol's new plan states that its strategy and operations
will be "risk-based" and "intelligence-driven." Yet, it does not
include a methodology for assessing risks or for leveraging
intelligence to meet identified threats to homeland security. Nor
does the Border Patrol explain - either in the new strategy or
elsewhere - how risk-management will determine the directional focus
and budgetary specifics of border funding.
The 2012-2016 Border Patrol Strategic Plan is not a serious document.
The plan includes repeated references to vague tactics such as rapid
response, intelligence, community engagement, whole-of-government
approaches and intergovernmental integration. Full of platitudes,
patriotisms, military jargon and abstractions, the strategy statement
is essentially a public-relations document.
The "firm foundation" that Aguilar sees is manifestly flimsy and
unprofessional. The Strategic Plan has no real plan, no timelines, no
summary of the evolving geopolitical context for border control, no
strategic focus and no baselines or metrics to measure the Border
Patrol's progress in securing the border.
This article is largely excerpted from a new international policy
report, The Border Patrol's Strategic Muddle, published by the Center
for International Policy.
Copyright, Truthout. May not be reprinted without permission.
AZMEX UPDATE 29-12-12
AZMEX UPDATE 29 DEC 2012
Note: Some will be familiar with the saga of this family. Involved
in fight against drug gangs and corruption. Several of them also
hold dual citizenship. Located out west of Cd. Juarez. Other
report says the vehicles used were allegedly not in service. Unusual
for report to appear in Proceso.
Reported attempted abduction of brother Julian Le Baron
December 28, 2012 ·
http://www.proceso.com.mx/?p=328996
MEXICO CITY, (ap). - On Monday 24, hours before Christmas, the
younger brother of Chihuahua activist Julian Le Baron crossed the
border from Douglas, Arizona, to Agua Prieta, Sonora, where he was
arrested by a police Federal Police (PF) near the border crossing.
At the time of show identification, the officer was asked if Le
Baron, a community-named family and is located in the municipality of
Galeana, in the state of Chihuahua. The brother of exactivista
Movement for Peace with Justice and Dignity (MPJD) nodded.
The Julian family said that he was leaving the city, the patrol
Highway PF began to follow him and remained so for nearly 50 kilometers.
"I was nervous the boy and observed characteristics of the patrol,
their numbers, letters and glued with blurred by time and dark tinted
windows," said Le Baron family said in a statement that binds the
elements of the alleged PF attempted kidnapping.
According to them, when the boy arrived at army checkpoint at
kilometer 125 of the Highway Agua Prieta, Puerto San Luis, two
unmarked vans that were in place on the road accelerated to pursue
the young.
"At that time the Highway Patrol PF with number 12089, to see these
trucks start after the young man stopped walking, turned around and
went back.
"In turn, the two trucks followed the young man speeding over 40
miles at speeds exceeding 200 kilometers per hour," revealed the
family in the statement.
The family has reason to express concern. Twice members of this
family have been victims of kidnappings and murders.
On May 2, 2009 was kidnapped Erick Le Baron, 17, a member of the
family that gave its name to the village and demanded his release the
amount of one million dollars. The community publicly refused to pay
the ransom and began a campaign in national and international media
against rising insecurity and secured the release of the young on May
10 of that year.
A couple of months later on July 6 were kidnapped and later killed
Benjamin Le Baron and Luis Widmar Stubbs, another member of the
community. The alleged murderers left a blanket in front of their
homes where they specify that the murder was in retaliation for his
activism against insecurity.
Last year, Julian Le Baron, joined the Caravan for Peace with Justice
poete Dignity led by Javier Sicilia with the same claim.
Hours after Julian denounced the attempted kidnapping of his brother,
the family released a statement detailing the times of trouble which
his family lived.
By this development, the local MP, Alex Le Baron, filed a complaint
for attempted kidnapping in prejudice of brother Julian Le Baron.
There are eight gunmen arrested with arsenal ( Sonora)
Details Published on Saturday 29 December 2012, Written by
Editorial / The Journal
http://www.eldiariodesonora.com.mx/nota.php?nota=6181
Ciudad Obregon
Special Forces personnel of the State Police Public Safety (PESP),
supported by the Mexican Army, conducted a major operation Thursday
in Ciudad Obregon where they captured eight members of a criminal
group, who were in possession of 10 rifles , three vehicles,
ammunition, a grenade and tactical gear.
The armed group was detected while driving to speeding on nearby
streets Effective Suffrage and No Reelection, in the heart of the
city, where the subjects attempted to avoid arrest by pointing guns
and threatening to throw a grenade at police and military elements,
but were secured immediately.
Those arrested were identified as Jesus Zazueta Ernesto Ortiz, 23,
Gildardo Millanez Ortiz, 21, Bernardo Vega Rivera, 25, Erick
Hernandez Jair Espejel, 26, Zito Robles Pablo Melendrez, 25, Juan
Jose Flores Garcia, 24, Jose Luis Morales Jimenez, 24 and Juan
Ontiveros Mendoza and / or Ramon Mendivil Francisco Lara, 27, who is
active Etchojoa Municipal Police.
The scene was also seized a total of 10 guns and about 1,200 rounds
of ammunition, 31 magazines, one grenade and six tactical vests and
the three manned vehicles and were reported as stolen .
Detainees reported belonging to a criminal group operating in the
southern part of the state, so that together with the secured weapons
and cars were available to the Federal Public Prosecutor for
appropriate investigations are conducted.
The Special Forces group of the PESP supported by the Mexican Army
special operations continue for safety of Sonora.
Note: Some will be familiar with the saga of this family. Involved
in fight against drug gangs and corruption. Several of them also
hold dual citizenship. Located out west of Cd. Juarez. Other
report says the vehicles used were allegedly not in service. Unusual
for report to appear in Proceso.
Reported attempted abduction of brother Julian Le Baron
December 28, 2012 ·
http://www.proceso.com.mx/?p=328996
MEXICO CITY, (ap). - On Monday 24, hours before Christmas, the
younger brother of Chihuahua activist Julian Le Baron crossed the
border from Douglas, Arizona, to Agua Prieta, Sonora, where he was
arrested by a police Federal Police (PF) near the border crossing.
At the time of show identification, the officer was asked if Le
Baron, a community-named family and is located in the municipality of
Galeana, in the state of Chihuahua. The brother of exactivista
Movement for Peace with Justice and Dignity (MPJD) nodded.
The Julian family said that he was leaving the city, the patrol
Highway PF began to follow him and remained so for nearly 50 kilometers.
"I was nervous the boy and observed characteristics of the patrol,
their numbers, letters and glued with blurred by time and dark tinted
windows," said Le Baron family said in a statement that binds the
elements of the alleged PF attempted kidnapping.
According to them, when the boy arrived at army checkpoint at
kilometer 125 of the Highway Agua Prieta, Puerto San Luis, two
unmarked vans that were in place on the road accelerated to pursue
the young.
"At that time the Highway Patrol PF with number 12089, to see these
trucks start after the young man stopped walking, turned around and
went back.
"In turn, the two trucks followed the young man speeding over 40
miles at speeds exceeding 200 kilometers per hour," revealed the
family in the statement.
The family has reason to express concern. Twice members of this
family have been victims of kidnappings and murders.
On May 2, 2009 was kidnapped Erick Le Baron, 17, a member of the
family that gave its name to the village and demanded his release the
amount of one million dollars. The community publicly refused to pay
the ransom and began a campaign in national and international media
against rising insecurity and secured the release of the young on May
10 of that year.
A couple of months later on July 6 were kidnapped and later killed
Benjamin Le Baron and Luis Widmar Stubbs, another member of the
community. The alleged murderers left a blanket in front of their
homes where they specify that the murder was in retaliation for his
activism against insecurity.
Last year, Julian Le Baron, joined the Caravan for Peace with Justice
poete Dignity led by Javier Sicilia with the same claim.
Hours after Julian denounced the attempted kidnapping of his brother,
the family released a statement detailing the times of trouble which
his family lived.
By this development, the local MP, Alex Le Baron, filed a complaint
for attempted kidnapping in prejudice of brother Julian Le Baron.
There are eight gunmen arrested with arsenal ( Sonora)
Details Published on Saturday 29 December 2012, Written by
Editorial / The Journal
http://www.eldiariodesonora.com.mx/nota.php?nota=6181
Ciudad Obregon
Special Forces personnel of the State Police Public Safety (PESP),
supported by the Mexican Army, conducted a major operation Thursday
in Ciudad Obregon where they captured eight members of a criminal
group, who were in possession of 10 rifles , three vehicles,
ammunition, a grenade and tactical gear.
The armed group was detected while driving to speeding on nearby
streets Effective Suffrage and No Reelection, in the heart of the
city, where the subjects attempted to avoid arrest by pointing guns
and threatening to throw a grenade at police and military elements,
but were secured immediately.
Those arrested were identified as Jesus Zazueta Ernesto Ortiz, 23,
Gildardo Millanez Ortiz, 21, Bernardo Vega Rivera, 25, Erick
Hernandez Jair Espejel, 26, Zito Robles Pablo Melendrez, 25, Juan
Jose Flores Garcia, 24, Jose Luis Morales Jimenez, 24 and Juan
Ontiveros Mendoza and / or Ramon Mendivil Francisco Lara, 27, who is
active Etchojoa Municipal Police.
The scene was also seized a total of 10 guns and about 1,200 rounds
of ammunition, 31 magazines, one grenade and six tactical vests and
the three manned vehicles and were reported as stolen .
Detainees reported belonging to a criminal group operating in the
southern part of the state, so that together with the secured weapons
and cars were available to the Federal Public Prosecutor for
appropriate investigations are conducted.
The Special Forces group of the PESP supported by the Mexican Army
special operations continue for safety of Sonora.
AZMEX UPDATE 28-12-12
AZMEX UPDATE 28 DEC 2012
Note: Have to wonder where Ortega and Valenzuela might be now?
Lopez here illegally, in the court system, and still out and free to
do drug deals and murder?
Thanks BHO and Janet.
Suspect arrested in fatal shootout during drug deal
Posted: Dec 28, 2012 3:41 PM MST
Updated: Dec 28, 2012 3:41 PM MST
By Julie Rose, FOX 10 News Web Producer - bio
http://www.myfoxphoenix.com/story/20445954/2012/12/28/suspect-
arrested-in-shootout-during-drug-deal
2 wanted in drug deal turned murder
PHOENIX -
Police arrested a man Thursday in connection to a drug deal turned
murder.
On the morning of December 20, the suspect, Aristeo Rodriguez Lopez,
and two associates went to the area of 2600 North 43rd Ave to make a
drug sale, court documents allege.
During the commission of the drug sale, one of the buyers, David
Banuelos, pulled out a large amount of counterfeit currency.
Banuelos, part of the buying party, then pulled a gun and attempted
to rob the selling party of the marijuana.
A gunfight ensued inside the apartment, and Banuelos, Lopez, and
outstanding suspect Ramiro Ortega were shot. Banuelos died as a
result of his injury.
Lopez was shot in the leg. Surveillance video shows his associate,
Julio Gonzalez Valenzuela, dropped him off at the hospital.
Lopez was released from the hospital Thursday, to be taken into custody.
Police say that Lopez has admitted to going to the apartment with
outstanding suspect Julio Valenzuela to sell marijuana to Banuelos
and his associates.
Lopez was booked into jail on charges of first degree murder and
possession of marijuana for sale. Even if an individual didn't
necessarily pull the trigger, since a homicide occurred during the
commission of a felony, Lopez can be charged with felony first degree
murder.
Court documents also show that Lopez is in the country illegally from
Mexico.
150 pounds of marijuana were found inside the apartment, worth an
estimated $70,000.
Ortega and Valenzuela are still on the loose and their whereabouts
are unknown.
Ortega is known to drive a 2004 Nissan 35OZ with pink wheels, Arizona
license plate OFBP33. Valenzuela drives a 2003 Dodge truck, Arizona
license plate 51FB40.
Anyone with information is asked to contact police.
Note: Have to wonder where Ortega and Valenzuela might be now?
Lopez here illegally, in the court system, and still out and free to
do drug deals and murder?
Thanks BHO and Janet.
Suspect arrested in fatal shootout during drug deal
Posted: Dec 28, 2012 3:41 PM MST
Updated: Dec 28, 2012 3:41 PM MST
By Julie Rose, FOX 10 News Web Producer - bio
http://www.myfoxphoenix.com/story/20445954/2012/12/28/suspect-
arrested-in-shootout-during-drug-deal
2 wanted in drug deal turned murder
PHOENIX -
Police arrested a man Thursday in connection to a drug deal turned
murder.
On the morning of December 20, the suspect, Aristeo Rodriguez Lopez,
and two associates went to the area of 2600 North 43rd Ave to make a
drug sale, court documents allege.
During the commission of the drug sale, one of the buyers, David
Banuelos, pulled out a large amount of counterfeit currency.
Banuelos, part of the buying party, then pulled a gun and attempted
to rob the selling party of the marijuana.
A gunfight ensued inside the apartment, and Banuelos, Lopez, and
outstanding suspect Ramiro Ortega were shot. Banuelos died as a
result of his injury.
Lopez was shot in the leg. Surveillance video shows his associate,
Julio Gonzalez Valenzuela, dropped him off at the hospital.
Lopez was released from the hospital Thursday, to be taken into custody.
Police say that Lopez has admitted to going to the apartment with
outstanding suspect Julio Valenzuela to sell marijuana to Banuelos
and his associates.
Lopez was booked into jail on charges of first degree murder and
possession of marijuana for sale. Even if an individual didn't
necessarily pull the trigger, since a homicide occurred during the
commission of a felony, Lopez can be charged with felony first degree
murder.
Court documents also show that Lopez is in the country illegally from
Mexico.
150 pounds of marijuana were found inside the apartment, worth an
estimated $70,000.
Ortega and Valenzuela are still on the loose and their whereabouts
are unknown.
Ortega is known to drive a 2004 Nissan 35OZ with pink wheels, Arizona
license plate OFBP33. Valenzuela drives a 2003 Dodge truck, Arizona
license plate 51FB40.
Anyone with information is asked to contact police.
Friday, December 28, 2012
AZMEX SPECIAL 28-12-12
AZMEX SPECIAL 28 DEC 2012
Note: "Feel" unprotected? would suggest taking the time and viewing
some of the videos. BTW, arrests down does not mean activity down,
just that arrests are down. Have to wonder how wide spread the
cartel payrolls have become? On this side of the border.
Politicians, nature nazis, law enforcement, other govt. agency
personnel?
Faced with gun-toting drug smugglers, Arizona ranchers demand
security at the border
Wave after wave of Mexican drug and immigrant smugglers are crossing
into the U.S., passing through the Arizona border where nearby
ranchers say they feel unprotected by their own government.
NBC's Mark Potter reports.
By Mark Potter, NBC News correspondent
http://dailynightly.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/12/26/16047580-faced-with-
gun-toting-drug-smugglers-arizona-ranchers-demand-security-at-the-
border?lite
ARIVACA, Ariz. -- Just before nightfall, 73-year-old rancher Jim
Chilton hikes quickly up and down the hills on his rugged cattle-
grazing land south of Tucson, escorting two U.S. Border Patrol agents.
He wants to show them the disturbing discovery he made earlier in the
day: a drug-smugglers' camp on his private property. Stacked
together under a stand of trees are blankets, jackets, food, water,
binoculars and bales of marijuana from Mexico wrapped in burlap. The
smugglers, themselves, are nowhere in sight and are believed to have
fled the area, which is about 10 miles north of the Mexican border.
Rancher Jim Chilton shows what's left of a drug smugglers camp on his
ranch.
"The druggers outrageously use my land at will," said Chilton, who
frequently finds evidence of smugglers on his land -- well-worn
trails, cut fences, discarded water bottles, clothing and shoes. His
home has been burglarized twice and he is constantly on the lookout
for armed smuggling groups while he and his employees round up cows
on his remote land.
"Can you imagine riding your horse through here on your own land and
running into a guy with an AK-47 and 20 or 30 guys behind him dressed
in camouflage and carrying drugs?," he asked.
Hidden cameras in southern Arizona captured footage of armed drug
smugglers in 2012.
Like living 'in a no-man's land'
The land where Chilton raises his cattle covers 50,000 acres south of
the small town of Arivaca, Ariz. About five miles of his property
runs along the international border, where all that separates Mexico
from the United States in most areas there is a four-strand barbed-
wire fence. Chilton owns some of the land outright, but leases most
it from the state and federal governments for cattle grazing.
Mark Potter / NBC News
Ranchers Jim and Sue Chilton in Arivaca, Ariz., say drug smugglers
use their land frequently, and their home has been burglarized twice.
He and his wife, Sue Chilton, complain they feel caught in the middle
between the Mexican drug and immigrant smugglers and the United
States Border Patrol, which the Chiltons and other ranchers accuse of
concentrating most of its patrols and checkpoints miles north of the
border, far beyond where the ranchers live and work.
"It's like living in a no-man's land. The Border Patrol doesn't
really protect us, they try to arrest people north of us," said
Chilton. "I think the druggers should be stopped at the United
States border. They shouldn't be allowed into this country. The
Border Patrol should secure the border at the border."
Ranchers Jim and Sue Chilton live on the U.S.-Mexico border where
drug smugglers constantly walk across their property.
Jeffrey Self, who heads the U.S. Customs and Border Protection joint
field command in Arizona, said it is not fair to characterize the
area as a "no-man's land." He conceded, though, that Arizona
ranchers are correct when they report Mexican drug and immigrant
smugglers crossing their land.
"Yes, there is traffic out on those ranch lands. Communities continue
to be impacted to a certain extent," he said. "But you can't
discount the fact that gains have been made over the course of the
last few years."
Jeffrey Self, head of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection joint
field command in Arizona, says a lot of gains have been made at
border protection, but acknowledges more is needed.
With 5,500 Border Patrol agents assigned to Arizona, double the
amount stationed there in 2004, Self argued that much more territory
is being patrolled now than in the past. And he said daily
surveillance flights and advances in camera and sensor technology
have also helped dramatically reduce the number of illegal border
crossings.
"If you look back to 2000…there were 610,000 aliens arrested in
Arizona,' Self said. "Just look at last year, we came in at 119,000."
Over the past decade, however, there has been a dramatic rise in the
amount of illegal drugs smuggled from Mexico into Arizona. The
Border Patrol there seized about one million pounds of marijuana
during each of the last several years -- about four times the amount
seized in 2000. Other illicit drugs, such as heroin and meth, are
also entering Arizona in greater quantities than ever before.
'He came out screaming'
For neighboring rancher David Beckham the problem is even more
severe. Earlier this year he made the painful decision to move
himself, his wife and three boys away from their ranch, which sits
about 12 miles north of the Mexican border.
Arizona rancher David Beckham says drug smugglers crossing his land
forced him to move his family.
Advertise | AdChoices
"It's not safe, it's not safe for my kids," he said. The Beckhams
have had numerous run-ins on their land with Mexican smugglers.
Their cattle fences are frequently cut and paths heading north from
Mexico cross their property. Beckham says a smuggler even fired
shots at him while he walked his land with a U.S. Border Patrol
agent. Several illegal border crossers have also approached his
house at night--one even reaching his hand into their bathroom window.
"Several years ago, one of my children was taking a shower and had a
gentleman reach into the shower while he was in there, and he came
out screaming, absolutely refusing to take a shower for the next
couple months."
The Beckhams, like the Chiltons, scoff at the Obama administration's
claims the U.S.-Mexican border is safer than ever.
"It's a joke, they can believe what they want. They can live in candy
land," said Beckham. "You can't have a safe and secure country
without a safe and secure border, and we don't have it. We don't."
Sue Chilton says she believes a U.S. government decision to not to
heavily patrol right along the border is, in effect, creating a free-
access zone for Mexican smugglers.
"We have, without any reason or logic to it, decided to cede as much
as 15 or 20 miles of the United States to the cartels, and we live in
that section that has been ceded," she said. "They have lookouts in
the mountains within a mile of our house."
Several advocacy groups concerned about border security have placed
motion-activated hidden cameras near the Chilton's ranch and
elsewhere in southern Arizona. Their videos, many of them shot
recently, confirm the ranchers' complaints, revealing wave after wave
of drug and immigrant smuggling groups, sometimes heavily armed,
crossing U.S. land miles north of the Mexican border.
"First, it's a threat to our life," said Chilton. "Second, it's a
threat to our livelihood."
Border Patrol: agents more thorough than ever
As to the complaint the Border Patrol places most of its patrols and
checkpoints miles north of the border fence, Jeffrey Self of the
Customs and Border Protection's joint field command in Arizona said
agents are assigned where they will be most effective in apprehending
smugglers and illegal immigrants.
"I would get less out of putting those agents on the line than having
them operate those checkpoints," He said.
Still, many agents do patrol the border fence, he said, and are "in
and around those ranchers every day, 365 days a year." Serious
problems stemming from distance and budgets, however, do hamper some
daily Border Patrol operations. Agents stationed in Tucson have to
drive as many as two hours a day just to reach parts of the remote
and rugged border. And a spokesperson confirmed that a Border Patrol
FOB (Forward Operating Base), built west of the Chilton ranch, is
currently unmanned because there isn't enough money to pay agents'
overtime fees. The FOB was built to house agents day and night right
at the border near Sasabe, Ariz., and to reduce the current drive times.
Nevertheless, Self said, his agents are doing a better, more thorough
job than ever.
"Is there still traffic coming across [ranchers'] property?
Absolutely. Do we want them to feel safe in their homes?
Absolutely. We're going to work toward that effort."
Drug smugglers move through Arizona in this footage captured by
hidden cameras in 2012.
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Ranchers describe smugglers as 'desperate'
The Chiltons, Beckhams and other ranchers in southern Arizona give
high marks to the Border Patrol agents, themselves, respecting the
dangerous work they do and appreciating their willingness to help
property owners in need.
The complaint they have is with where those agents are assigned. The
ranchers also believe, as do many of the agents, themselves, that
smugglers crossing the border now are more heavily armed and
confrontational than in years past.
"They seem to be a lot more desperate. The people coming across now
are different, they are not friendly," said Beckham.
Surveying her ranchland, Sue Chilton described what happens when
smugglers walk close to their house at night: "We turn out the
lights, Jim gets his guns and we sit somewhere in the dark in the
middle of the house where we are not close to our window and wait for
the action to be finished."
Her husband, Jim, who comes from several generations of ranchers,
said he has never seen the border as dangerous as it is now.
"It's outrageous. I'm a citizen of the United States. I expect to be
protected like everybody else," he said. "The border is not secure,
it is worse than it's ever been."
Note: "Feel" unprotected? would suggest taking the time and viewing
some of the videos. BTW, arrests down does not mean activity down,
just that arrests are down. Have to wonder how wide spread the
cartel payrolls have become? On this side of the border.
Politicians, nature nazis, law enforcement, other govt. agency
personnel?
Faced with gun-toting drug smugglers, Arizona ranchers demand
security at the border
Wave after wave of Mexican drug and immigrant smugglers are crossing
into the U.S., passing through the Arizona border where nearby
ranchers say they feel unprotected by their own government.
NBC's Mark Potter reports.
By Mark Potter, NBC News correspondent
http://dailynightly.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/12/26/16047580-faced-with-
gun-toting-drug-smugglers-arizona-ranchers-demand-security-at-the-
border?lite
ARIVACA, Ariz. -- Just before nightfall, 73-year-old rancher Jim
Chilton hikes quickly up and down the hills on his rugged cattle-
grazing land south of Tucson, escorting two U.S. Border Patrol agents.
He wants to show them the disturbing discovery he made earlier in the
day: a drug-smugglers' camp on his private property. Stacked
together under a stand of trees are blankets, jackets, food, water,
binoculars and bales of marijuana from Mexico wrapped in burlap. The
smugglers, themselves, are nowhere in sight and are believed to have
fled the area, which is about 10 miles north of the Mexican border.
Rancher Jim Chilton shows what's left of a drug smugglers camp on his
ranch.
"The druggers outrageously use my land at will," said Chilton, who
frequently finds evidence of smugglers on his land -- well-worn
trails, cut fences, discarded water bottles, clothing and shoes. His
home has been burglarized twice and he is constantly on the lookout
for armed smuggling groups while he and his employees round up cows
on his remote land.
"Can you imagine riding your horse through here on your own land and
running into a guy with an AK-47 and 20 or 30 guys behind him dressed
in camouflage and carrying drugs?," he asked.
Hidden cameras in southern Arizona captured footage of armed drug
smugglers in 2012.
Like living 'in a no-man's land'
The land where Chilton raises his cattle covers 50,000 acres south of
the small town of Arivaca, Ariz. About five miles of his property
runs along the international border, where all that separates Mexico
from the United States in most areas there is a four-strand barbed-
wire fence. Chilton owns some of the land outright, but leases most
it from the state and federal governments for cattle grazing.
Mark Potter / NBC News
Ranchers Jim and Sue Chilton in Arivaca, Ariz., say drug smugglers
use their land frequently, and their home has been burglarized twice.
He and his wife, Sue Chilton, complain they feel caught in the middle
between the Mexican drug and immigrant smugglers and the United
States Border Patrol, which the Chiltons and other ranchers accuse of
concentrating most of its patrols and checkpoints miles north of the
border, far beyond where the ranchers live and work.
"It's like living in a no-man's land. The Border Patrol doesn't
really protect us, they try to arrest people north of us," said
Chilton. "I think the druggers should be stopped at the United
States border. They shouldn't be allowed into this country. The
Border Patrol should secure the border at the border."
Ranchers Jim and Sue Chilton live on the U.S.-Mexico border where
drug smugglers constantly walk across their property.
Jeffrey Self, who heads the U.S. Customs and Border Protection joint
field command in Arizona, said it is not fair to characterize the
area as a "no-man's land." He conceded, though, that Arizona
ranchers are correct when they report Mexican drug and immigrant
smugglers crossing their land.
"Yes, there is traffic out on those ranch lands. Communities continue
to be impacted to a certain extent," he said. "But you can't
discount the fact that gains have been made over the course of the
last few years."
Jeffrey Self, head of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection joint
field command in Arizona, says a lot of gains have been made at
border protection, but acknowledges more is needed.
With 5,500 Border Patrol agents assigned to Arizona, double the
amount stationed there in 2004, Self argued that much more territory
is being patrolled now than in the past. And he said daily
surveillance flights and advances in camera and sensor technology
have also helped dramatically reduce the number of illegal border
crossings.
"If you look back to 2000…there were 610,000 aliens arrested in
Arizona,' Self said. "Just look at last year, we came in at 119,000."
Over the past decade, however, there has been a dramatic rise in the
amount of illegal drugs smuggled from Mexico into Arizona. The
Border Patrol there seized about one million pounds of marijuana
during each of the last several years -- about four times the amount
seized in 2000. Other illicit drugs, such as heroin and meth, are
also entering Arizona in greater quantities than ever before.
'He came out screaming'
For neighboring rancher David Beckham the problem is even more
severe. Earlier this year he made the painful decision to move
himself, his wife and three boys away from their ranch, which sits
about 12 miles north of the Mexican border.
Arizona rancher David Beckham says drug smugglers crossing his land
forced him to move his family.
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"It's not safe, it's not safe for my kids," he said. The Beckhams
have had numerous run-ins on their land with Mexican smugglers.
Their cattle fences are frequently cut and paths heading north from
Mexico cross their property. Beckham says a smuggler even fired
shots at him while he walked his land with a U.S. Border Patrol
agent. Several illegal border crossers have also approached his
house at night--one even reaching his hand into their bathroom window.
"Several years ago, one of my children was taking a shower and had a
gentleman reach into the shower while he was in there, and he came
out screaming, absolutely refusing to take a shower for the next
couple months."
The Beckhams, like the Chiltons, scoff at the Obama administration's
claims the U.S.-Mexican border is safer than ever.
"It's a joke, they can believe what they want. They can live in candy
land," said Beckham. "You can't have a safe and secure country
without a safe and secure border, and we don't have it. We don't."
Sue Chilton says she believes a U.S. government decision to not to
heavily patrol right along the border is, in effect, creating a free-
access zone for Mexican smugglers.
"We have, without any reason or logic to it, decided to cede as much
as 15 or 20 miles of the United States to the cartels, and we live in
that section that has been ceded," she said. "They have lookouts in
the mountains within a mile of our house."
Several advocacy groups concerned about border security have placed
motion-activated hidden cameras near the Chilton's ranch and
elsewhere in southern Arizona. Their videos, many of them shot
recently, confirm the ranchers' complaints, revealing wave after wave
of drug and immigrant smuggling groups, sometimes heavily armed,
crossing U.S. land miles north of the Mexican border.
"First, it's a threat to our life," said Chilton. "Second, it's a
threat to our livelihood."
Border Patrol: agents more thorough than ever
As to the complaint the Border Patrol places most of its patrols and
checkpoints miles north of the border fence, Jeffrey Self of the
Customs and Border Protection's joint field command in Arizona said
agents are assigned where they will be most effective in apprehending
smugglers and illegal immigrants.
"I would get less out of putting those agents on the line than having
them operate those checkpoints," He said.
Still, many agents do patrol the border fence, he said, and are "in
and around those ranchers every day, 365 days a year." Serious
problems stemming from distance and budgets, however, do hamper some
daily Border Patrol operations. Agents stationed in Tucson have to
drive as many as two hours a day just to reach parts of the remote
and rugged border. And a spokesperson confirmed that a Border Patrol
FOB (Forward Operating Base), built west of the Chilton ranch, is
currently unmanned because there isn't enough money to pay agents'
overtime fees. The FOB was built to house agents day and night right
at the border near Sasabe, Ariz., and to reduce the current drive times.
Nevertheless, Self said, his agents are doing a better, more thorough
job than ever.
"Is there still traffic coming across [ranchers'] property?
Absolutely. Do we want them to feel safe in their homes?
Absolutely. We're going to work toward that effort."
Drug smugglers move through Arizona in this footage captured by
hidden cameras in 2012.
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Ranchers describe smugglers as 'desperate'
The Chiltons, Beckhams and other ranchers in southern Arizona give
high marks to the Border Patrol agents, themselves, respecting the
dangerous work they do and appreciating their willingness to help
property owners in need.
The complaint they have is with where those agents are assigned. The
ranchers also believe, as do many of the agents, themselves, that
smugglers crossing the border now are more heavily armed and
confrontational than in years past.
"They seem to be a lot more desperate. The people coming across now
are different, they are not friendly," said Beckham.
Surveying her ranchland, Sue Chilton described what happens when
smugglers walk close to their house at night: "We turn out the
lights, Jim gets his guns and we sit somewhere in the dark in the
middle of the house where we are not close to our window and wait for
the action to be finished."
Her husband, Jim, who comes from several generations of ranchers,
said he has never seen the border as dangerous as it is now.
"It's outrageous. I'm a citizen of the United States. I expect to be
protected like everybody else," he said. "The border is not secure,
it is worse than it's ever been."
Thursday, December 27, 2012
AZMEX POLICY 27-12-12
AZMEX POLICY 27 DEC 2012
Mexican Congress calls on US for "stricter" arms control
In an agreement approved point of urgent and obvious resolution,
lawmakers expressed their condolences to the families of the victims
of the slaughter of Newtown, Connecticut
Mexico City | Thursday December 27, 2012
Ricardo Gomez and Elena Michel | The Universal
12:52
http://www.eluniversal.com.mx/notas/892412.html
The Permanent Commission of Congress expressed solidarity with the
people and government of the United States by the events raised in
Newtown, Connecticut, and said he expects tighter regulation of gun
sales in that country, to avoid this type of incident.
In an agreement approved point of urgent and obvious resolution,
lawmakers expressed their deepest condolences to the families of the
victims of these reprehensible crimes.
The deputy coordinator of Citizens Movement in San Lazaro, Ricardo
Mejia Berdeja criticized the U.S. arms industry, which affects
societies in this country and in Mexico.
Recalled on the floor, "Operation Fast and Furious" and said that
while continuing the arms trafficking, combating organized crime will
be useless.
Although the incident occurred on Friday 14 December, lawmakers just
today spoke on the floor of Congress.
The point of agreement promoted by Senator PAN Gabriela Cuevas,
"warmly welcomes the statements of President Barack Obama, in the
sense of using the power of his office to do everything possible to
prevent any other similar act ".
Mexicans, says the document endorsed today, "expect tighter
regulation on the sale of weapons to avoid such incidents recur and
also help stop the violence that due to the flow of weapons, has
claimed human lives both sides of the border. "
The PRI senator, Ana Lilia Herrera Anzaldo, expressed his concern
about these facts and in favor of the authorities working to
eradicate violence in educational institutions.
vsg
Congreso mexicano pide a EU control de armas 'más estricto'
En un punto de acuerdo aprobado de urgente y obvia resolución, los
legisladores expresaron sus más sentidas condolencias a las familias
de las víctimas de la masacre de Newtown, Connecticut
Ciudad de México | Jueves 27 de diciembre de 2012
Ricardo Gómez y Elena Michel | El Universal
12:52
http://www.eluniversal.com.mx/notas/892412.html
La Comisión Permanente del Congreso de la Unión se solidarizó con el
pueblo y el gobierno de Estados Unidos por los acontecimientos
suscitados en Newtown, Connecticut, y afirmó que espera una
regulación más estricta sobre la venta de armas en ese país, evite
que este tipo de incidentes.
En un punto de acuerdo aprobado de urgente y obvia resolución, los
legisladores expresaron sus más sentidas condolencias a las familias
de las víctimas de estos condenables crímenes.
El vicecoordinador de Movimiento Ciudadano en San Lázaro, Ricardo
Mejía Berdeja, criticó la industria armamentista en Estados Unidos,
que afecta a las sociedades de ese país y de México.
Recordó en tribuna el operativo "Rápido y Furioso" y afirmó que
mientras continúe el tráfico de armas, el combate a la delincuencia
organizada será inútil.
Aunque los hechos ocurrieron el pasado viernes 14 de diciembre,
apenas hoy los legisladores se pronunciaron en la tribuna del Congreso.
El punto de acuerdo promovido por la senadora del PAN, Gabriela
Cuevas, "expresa su beneplácito por las declaraciones del Presidente
Barack Obama, en el sentido de usar el poder de su cargo para hacer
todo lo que sea posible para prevenir cualquier o.tro hecho similar".
Los mexicanos -dice el documento avalado hoy- "esperamos que una
regulación más estricta sobre la venta de armas evite que este tipo
de incidentes se repita y que también contribuya a detener la
violencia que, debido al flujo de armas, ha cobrado vidas humanas en
ambos lados de la frontera".
La senadora del PRI, Ana Lilia Herrera Anzaldo, externó su
preocupación por esos hechos y manifestó a favor de que las
autoridades trabajen por erradicar la violencia de las instituciones
educativas.
vsg
Mexican Congress calls on US for "stricter" arms control
In an agreement approved point of urgent and obvious resolution,
lawmakers expressed their condolences to the families of the victims
of the slaughter of Newtown, Connecticut
Mexico City | Thursday December 27, 2012
Ricardo Gomez and Elena Michel | The Universal
12:52
http://www.eluniversal.com.mx/notas/892412.html
The Permanent Commission of Congress expressed solidarity with the
people and government of the United States by the events raised in
Newtown, Connecticut, and said he expects tighter regulation of gun
sales in that country, to avoid this type of incident.
In an agreement approved point of urgent and obvious resolution,
lawmakers expressed their deepest condolences to the families of the
victims of these reprehensible crimes.
The deputy coordinator of Citizens Movement in San Lazaro, Ricardo
Mejia Berdeja criticized the U.S. arms industry, which affects
societies in this country and in Mexico.
Recalled on the floor, "Operation Fast and Furious" and said that
while continuing the arms trafficking, combating organized crime will
be useless.
Although the incident occurred on Friday 14 December, lawmakers just
today spoke on the floor of Congress.
The point of agreement promoted by Senator PAN Gabriela Cuevas,
"warmly welcomes the statements of President Barack Obama, in the
sense of using the power of his office to do everything possible to
prevent any other similar act ".
Mexicans, says the document endorsed today, "expect tighter
regulation on the sale of weapons to avoid such incidents recur and
also help stop the violence that due to the flow of weapons, has
claimed human lives both sides of the border. "
The PRI senator, Ana Lilia Herrera Anzaldo, expressed his concern
about these facts and in favor of the authorities working to
eradicate violence in educational institutions.
vsg
Congreso mexicano pide a EU control de armas 'más estricto'
En un punto de acuerdo aprobado de urgente y obvia resolución, los
legisladores expresaron sus más sentidas condolencias a las familias
de las víctimas de la masacre de Newtown, Connecticut
Ciudad de México | Jueves 27 de diciembre de 2012
Ricardo Gómez y Elena Michel | El Universal
12:52
http://www.eluniversal.com.mx/notas/892412.html
La Comisión Permanente del Congreso de la Unión se solidarizó con el
pueblo y el gobierno de Estados Unidos por los acontecimientos
suscitados en Newtown, Connecticut, y afirmó que espera una
regulación más estricta sobre la venta de armas en ese país, evite
que este tipo de incidentes.
En un punto de acuerdo aprobado de urgente y obvia resolución, los
legisladores expresaron sus más sentidas condolencias a las familias
de las víctimas de estos condenables crímenes.
El vicecoordinador de Movimiento Ciudadano en San Lázaro, Ricardo
Mejía Berdeja, criticó la industria armamentista en Estados Unidos,
que afecta a las sociedades de ese país y de México.
Recordó en tribuna el operativo "Rápido y Furioso" y afirmó que
mientras continúe el tráfico de armas, el combate a la delincuencia
organizada será inútil.
Aunque los hechos ocurrieron el pasado viernes 14 de diciembre,
apenas hoy los legisladores se pronunciaron en la tribuna del Congreso.
El punto de acuerdo promovido por la senadora del PAN, Gabriela
Cuevas, "expresa su beneplácito por las declaraciones del Presidente
Barack Obama, en el sentido de usar el poder de su cargo para hacer
todo lo que sea posible para prevenir cualquier o.tro hecho similar".
Los mexicanos -dice el documento avalado hoy- "esperamos que una
regulación más estricta sobre la venta de armas evite que este tipo
de incidentes se repita y que también contribuya a detener la
violencia que, debido al flujo de armas, ha cobrado vidas humanas en
ambos lados de la frontera".
La senadora del PRI, Ana Lilia Herrera Anzaldo, externó su
preocupación por esos hechos y manifestó a favor de que las
autoridades trabajen por erradicar la violencia de las instituciones
educativas.
vsg
AZMEX I3 27-12-12
AZMEX I3 27 DEC 2012
Published: 27/12/2012 12:17 By: SUN
Mexico acts against Arizona SB1070
http://www.elimparcial.com/EdicionEnLinea/Notas/Nacional/
27122012/654107.aspx
MEXICO, DF (SUN)
Mexico's government lodged a "Friend of the Court" (Amicus Curiae)
before the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit U.S. against
Arizona SB1070, a rule whose content "would adversely affect
bilateral relations and impede effective bilateral cooperation. "
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (SRE) reported that the Mexican
government and remains active participation to prevent the
application of this anti-immigrant law, and the new writing supports
a new legal action brought by a coalition of U.S. civil society.
In a statement the Foreign Ministry explained that "the objective of
the action is to remain suspended section five of the Act, which
criminalizes transporting and harboring undocumented. Organizations
applicants claim that the Court of Appeals discard the challenge
presented by the government of Arizona last November. "
It was reported that as in writings of "Friend of the Court"
presented earlier in the context of demand Valle del Sol et al v.
Michael B. Whiting, the government of Mexico "reiterates that the
entry into force of section five of the 1070 Act would adversely
affect bilateral relations and impede effective bilateral cooperation."
He added that if accepted "would create immigration laws other than
those provided in the federal legislation that would criminalize same
migration and would have the potential to enable selective
application, which would affect the fundamental rights of Mexican
nationals residing in or visiting Arizona."
Publicada: 27/12/2012 12:17 Por: SUN
México actúa contra Ley SB1070 de Arizona
http://www.elimparcial.com/EdicionEnLinea/Notas/Nacional/
27122012/654107.aspx
MÉXICO, D.F.(SUN)
El gobierno de México presentó un escrito de "Amigo de la
Corte" (Amicus Curiae) ante la Corte de Apelaciones del Noveno
Circuito de Estados Unidos, en contra de la Ley SB1070 de Arizona,
una norma cuyo contenido "incidiría negativamente en las relaciones
bilaterales e impediría la colaboración bilateral efectiva".
La Secretaría de Relaciones Exteriores (SRE) informó así que el
gobierno mexicano mantiene activa su participación para impedir la
aplicación de esta ley antimigrante, y con el nuevo escrito apoya un
nuevo recurso legal interpuesto por una coalición de organizaciones
de la sociedad civil estadounidense.
En un comunicado la Cancillería detalló que "el objetivo del recurso
es que se mantenga suspendida la sección cinco de dicha Ley, que
criminaliza transportar y albergar personas indocumentadas. Las
organizaciones demandantes solicitan que la Corte de Apelaciones
deseche la impugnación presentada por el gobierno de Arizona en
noviembre pasado".
Se informó que como en escritos de "Amigo de la Corte" presentados
anteriormente en el marco de la demanda Valle del Sol et al v.
Michael B. Whiting, el gobierno de México "reitera que la entrada en
vigor de la sección cinco de la Ley SB1070 incidiría negativamente en
las relaciones bilaterales e impediría la colaboración bilateral
efectiva".
Agregó que de aceptarse "se crearían normas migratorias distintas a
las previstas en la legislación federal, mismas que criminalizarían
la migración y tendrían el potencial de propiciar su aplicación
selectiva, lo que afectaría los derechos fundamentales de los
nacionales mexicanos que residen o visitan Arizona".
Published: 27/12/2012 12:17 By: SUN
Mexico acts against Arizona SB1070
http://www.elimparcial.com/EdicionEnLinea/Notas/Nacional/
27122012/654107.aspx
MEXICO, DF (SUN)
Mexico's government lodged a "Friend of the Court" (Amicus Curiae)
before the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit U.S. against
Arizona SB1070, a rule whose content "would adversely affect
bilateral relations and impede effective bilateral cooperation. "
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (SRE) reported that the Mexican
government and remains active participation to prevent the
application of this anti-immigrant law, and the new writing supports
a new legal action brought by a coalition of U.S. civil society.
In a statement the Foreign Ministry explained that "the objective of
the action is to remain suspended section five of the Act, which
criminalizes transporting and harboring undocumented. Organizations
applicants claim that the Court of Appeals discard the challenge
presented by the government of Arizona last November. "
It was reported that as in writings of "Friend of the Court"
presented earlier in the context of demand Valle del Sol et al v.
Michael B. Whiting, the government of Mexico "reiterates that the
entry into force of section five of the 1070 Act would adversely
affect bilateral relations and impede effective bilateral cooperation."
He added that if accepted "would create immigration laws other than
those provided in the federal legislation that would criminalize same
migration and would have the potential to enable selective
application, which would affect the fundamental rights of Mexican
nationals residing in or visiting Arizona."
Publicada: 27/12/2012 12:17 Por: SUN
México actúa contra Ley SB1070 de Arizona
http://www.elimparcial.com/EdicionEnLinea/Notas/Nacional/
27122012/654107.aspx
MÉXICO, D.F.(SUN)
El gobierno de México presentó un escrito de "Amigo de la
Corte" (Amicus Curiae) ante la Corte de Apelaciones del Noveno
Circuito de Estados Unidos, en contra de la Ley SB1070 de Arizona,
una norma cuyo contenido "incidiría negativamente en las relaciones
bilaterales e impediría la colaboración bilateral efectiva".
La Secretaría de Relaciones Exteriores (SRE) informó así que el
gobierno mexicano mantiene activa su participación para impedir la
aplicación de esta ley antimigrante, y con el nuevo escrito apoya un
nuevo recurso legal interpuesto por una coalición de organizaciones
de la sociedad civil estadounidense.
En un comunicado la Cancillería detalló que "el objetivo del recurso
es que se mantenga suspendida la sección cinco de dicha Ley, que
criminaliza transportar y albergar personas indocumentadas. Las
organizaciones demandantes solicitan que la Corte de Apelaciones
deseche la impugnación presentada por el gobierno de Arizona en
noviembre pasado".
Se informó que como en escritos de "Amigo de la Corte" presentados
anteriormente en el marco de la demanda Valle del Sol et al v.
Michael B. Whiting, el gobierno de México "reitera que la entrada en
vigor de la sección cinco de la Ley SB1070 incidiría negativamente en
las relaciones bilaterales e impediría la colaboración bilateral
efectiva".
Agregó que de aceptarse "se crearían normas migratorias distintas a
las previstas en la legislación federal, mismas que criminalizarían
la migración y tendrían el potencial de propiciar su aplicación
selectiva, lo que afectaría los derechos fundamentales de los
nacionales mexicanos que residen o visitan Arizona".
AZMEX F&F EXTRA 27-12-12
AZMEX F&F EXTRA 27 DEC 2012
Note: Most firearms now in use by Mexican government, and then often
to cartels are supplied by U.S. govt. from U.S. manufacturers
Let us not forget all the stolen firearms that end up in Mexico also.
ATF does have that info, will take congressional action or FOIA to
get it.
ATF: Most guns at Mexican crime scenes traced to US
¦By Diana Washington Valdez \ El Paso Times
Posted: 12/27/2012 12:00:00 AM MST
http://www.elpasotimes.com/news/ci_22265245/atf-most-guns-at-mexican-
crime-scenes-traced
More than 68 percent of the weapons recovered at Mexican crime scenes
over a five-year period were traced to U.S. manufacturers or U.S.
dealers who import firearms, according to statistics of the Bureau of
Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
Between 2007 and 2011, Mexican law enforcement submitted
99,691requests to the ATF for tracing, and 68,161 of those firearms
were determined to come from U.S. makers or were legally imported
into the United States by federally licensed firearms dealers.
The ATF said it was unable to determine the source of the rest of the
firearms because of missing information about the guns themselves,
where they came from and how they got into Mexico.
Mexican drug cartels have waged brutal
battles over turf in several areas of Mexico, including in Juárez,
where firearms were used in most of estimated 11,000 homicides that
police reported between 2007 and the end of November.
This is a breakdown of total firearms recovered in Mexico and traced
by ATF, and the number of weapons of unknown origin:
2011: 20,335, U.S.; 14,504, unknown.
2010: 8,338, U.S.; 6,404, unknown.
2009: 21,555, U.S.; 14,376, unknown.
2008: 32,111, U.S.; 21,035, unknown.
2007: 17,352, U.S.; 11,842, unknown.
The "ATF Mexico" report does not include information on which, or if
any, of the reported firearm recoveries were traced to the agency's
Operation Fast and Furious, in which federal agents
allowed guns purchased by straw buyers in the U.S. to be smuggled
into Mexico in an attempt to identify and arrest high-level arms
traffickers.
More than 1,000 of the 2,000 weapons connected to the Phoenix-based
operation are unaccounted for, according to U.S. lawmakers, who
investigated the botched ATF operation that began in late 2009.
The ATF shut down Fast and Furious after Border Patrol Agent Brian
Terry was fatally shot Dec. 14, 2010, in Arizona near the Mexican
border. A rifle connected to the ATF operation was found in the
vicinity of Terry's body.
Some of the weapons attributed to Operation Fast and Furious were
smuggled across the border through El Paso, and they were found by
Mexican law enforcement officers at crime scenes in Juárez and other
places in the state of Chihuahua.
Recently, new allegations threaten the ATF with another scandal,
prompting a U.S. senator to request an investigation.
U.S. Sen. Charles Grassley, who had initiated an investigation into
Fast and Furious, said in a Dec. 19 letter to Department of Justice
Inspector General Michael Horowitz that a former ATF official
assigned to Phoenix might have purchased a gun that Mexican officials
allegedly found at the scene of a November shootout between drug
cartel operatives and Mexican soldiers in Sinaloa, Mexico.
Grassley's letter said the area of the shootout reported by Mexican
officials appears to coincide with a firefight that killed several
people in the same area.
"The gunfight claimed five lives, including a member of the Mexican
military and a Sinaloa beauty queen, Maria Susana Flores Gamez,"
Grassley's letter said. His letter also said that the weapon
allegedly obtained by the ATF official was purchased Jan. 7, 2010,
but Grassley had no information on how it ended up in Mexico.
"This information's implications and its ability to undermine public
confidence in the integrity of ATF operations cannot be overstated,"
Grassley's letter said. "Your (Horowitz's) office needs to work
swiftly. There must be a thorough, independent, and public
explanation of these circumstances as quickly as possible."
No one was available for comment late Wednesday at the ATF offices in
Phoenix and Washington, D.C.
The ATF also reported statistics for firearm recoveries and tracings
in the United States, including Texas.
Between Jan. 1, 2011, and Dec. 31, 2011, the ATF traced 15,058
firearm recoveries to Texas. The ATF said most of the tracings are
for weapons found by U.S. law enforcement officers at crime scenes in
Texas and in other states, but traced back to Texas sources.
The top three recovery cities in Texas were Houston, with 3,034
firearm recoveries; Dallas, with 2,463; and Corpus Christi, with 502.
ATF figures for El Paso recoveries were not available.
"We use the ATF's tracing resources to investigate gun ownership,
periodically, on a case-by-case basis," said Mike Baranyay, a
detective with the El Paso Police Department. "Our investigators can
also check whether a weapon is stolen through the NCIC (National
Crime Information Center) system."
The ATF's National Tracing Center conducted 319,000 firearms tracings
in 2011.
Tracing figures for 2012 will not be available until mid-2013 or later.
Diana Washington Valdez may be reached at dvaldez@elpasotimes.com;
546-6140.
Note: Most firearms now in use by Mexican government, and then often
to cartels are supplied by U.S. govt. from U.S. manufacturers
Let us not forget all the stolen firearms that end up in Mexico also.
ATF does have that info, will take congressional action or FOIA to
get it.
ATF: Most guns at Mexican crime scenes traced to US
¦By Diana Washington Valdez \ El Paso Times
Posted: 12/27/2012 12:00:00 AM MST
http://www.elpasotimes.com/news/ci_22265245/atf-most-guns-at-mexican-
crime-scenes-traced
More than 68 percent of the weapons recovered at Mexican crime scenes
over a five-year period were traced to U.S. manufacturers or U.S.
dealers who import firearms, according to statistics of the Bureau of
Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
Between 2007 and 2011, Mexican law enforcement submitted
99,691requests to the ATF for tracing, and 68,161 of those firearms
were determined to come from U.S. makers or were legally imported
into the United States by federally licensed firearms dealers.
The ATF said it was unable to determine the source of the rest of the
firearms because of missing information about the guns themselves,
where they came from and how they got into Mexico.
Mexican drug cartels have waged brutal
battles over turf in several areas of Mexico, including in Juárez,
where firearms were used in most of estimated 11,000 homicides that
police reported between 2007 and the end of November.
This is a breakdown of total firearms recovered in Mexico and traced
by ATF, and the number of weapons of unknown origin:
2011: 20,335, U.S.; 14,504, unknown.
2010: 8,338, U.S.; 6,404, unknown.
2009: 21,555, U.S.; 14,376, unknown.
2008: 32,111, U.S.; 21,035, unknown.
2007: 17,352, U.S.; 11,842, unknown.
The "ATF Mexico" report does not include information on which, or if
any, of the reported firearm recoveries were traced to the agency's
Operation Fast and Furious, in which federal agents
allowed guns purchased by straw buyers in the U.S. to be smuggled
into Mexico in an attempt to identify and arrest high-level arms
traffickers.
More than 1,000 of the 2,000 weapons connected to the Phoenix-based
operation are unaccounted for, according to U.S. lawmakers, who
investigated the botched ATF operation that began in late 2009.
The ATF shut down Fast and Furious after Border Patrol Agent Brian
Terry was fatally shot Dec. 14, 2010, in Arizona near the Mexican
border. A rifle connected to the ATF operation was found in the
vicinity of Terry's body.
Some of the weapons attributed to Operation Fast and Furious were
smuggled across the border through El Paso, and they were found by
Mexican law enforcement officers at crime scenes in Juárez and other
places in the state of Chihuahua.
Recently, new allegations threaten the ATF with another scandal,
prompting a U.S. senator to request an investigation.
U.S. Sen. Charles Grassley, who had initiated an investigation into
Fast and Furious, said in a Dec. 19 letter to Department of Justice
Inspector General Michael Horowitz that a former ATF official
assigned to Phoenix might have purchased a gun that Mexican officials
allegedly found at the scene of a November shootout between drug
cartel operatives and Mexican soldiers in Sinaloa, Mexico.
Grassley's letter said the area of the shootout reported by Mexican
officials appears to coincide with a firefight that killed several
people in the same area.
"The gunfight claimed five lives, including a member of the Mexican
military and a Sinaloa beauty queen, Maria Susana Flores Gamez,"
Grassley's letter said. His letter also said that the weapon
allegedly obtained by the ATF official was purchased Jan. 7, 2010,
but Grassley had no information on how it ended up in Mexico.
"This information's implications and its ability to undermine public
confidence in the integrity of ATF operations cannot be overstated,"
Grassley's letter said. "Your (Horowitz's) office needs to work
swiftly. There must be a thorough, independent, and public
explanation of these circumstances as quickly as possible."
No one was available for comment late Wednesday at the ATF offices in
Phoenix and Washington, D.C.
The ATF also reported statistics for firearm recoveries and tracings
in the United States, including Texas.
Between Jan. 1, 2011, and Dec. 31, 2011, the ATF traced 15,058
firearm recoveries to Texas. The ATF said most of the tracings are
for weapons found by U.S. law enforcement officers at crime scenes in
Texas and in other states, but traced back to Texas sources.
The top three recovery cities in Texas were Houston, with 3,034
firearm recoveries; Dallas, with 2,463; and Corpus Christi, with 502.
ATF figures for El Paso recoveries were not available.
"We use the ATF's tracing resources to investigate gun ownership,
periodically, on a case-by-case basis," said Mike Baranyay, a
detective with the El Paso Police Department. "Our investigators can
also check whether a weapon is stolen through the NCIC (National
Crime Information Center) system."
The ATF's National Tracing Center conducted 319,000 firearms tracings
in 2011.
Tracing figures for 2012 will not be available until mid-2013 or later.
Diana Washington Valdez may be reached at dvaldez@elpasotimes.com;
546-6140.
Friday, December 21, 2012
AZMEX SEMPER FI 21-12-12
AZMEX SEMPER FI 21 DEC 2012
A U.S. Marine veteran jailed in Matamoros has been released and is
back in the United States.
Posted: Friday, December 21, 2012 9:02 pm | Updated: 9:31 pm, Fri Dec
21, 2012.
The Brownsville Herald
http://www.brownsvilleherald.com/news/local/
article_16450fc2-4be4-11e2-b93a-001a4bcf6878.html
A U.S. Marine veteran jailed in Matamoros has been released and is
back in the United States.
An attorney for Jon "Jonny" Hammar said the young Marine was brought
back to the U.S. sometime this evening.
Hammar had been jailed in a Matamoros prison on a weapons charge
since August. His family and been working with federal lawmakers to
get him released.
This morning, the vice president of the Tamaulipas Chamber of
Commerce has confirmed that U.S Marine Jon Hammar was in the custody
of U.S. officials.
"He's free," Gerardo Danache Acevedo told The Brownsville Herald
earlier today.
Acevedo Danache said he had been informed that a judge has signed
Hammar's release papers from jail and that he was expected to be
escorted out of Matamoros sometime today.
Acevedo Danache earlier this month made a telephone call to Mexican
President Enrique Pena Nieto asking him to pardon the veteran Marine.
"I really, really believe the media played a big role in this. I am
happy that this will happen because there is no reason we should
continue with this" Acevedo Danache said in a telephone interview
with The Brownsville Herald.
"I am very happy for him, for the family and for us because that will
show we can work together even if we have different cultures. We have
more important issues to deal with," the vice president said.
Hammar served in Fallujah, Iraq and Afghanistan. He was honorably
discharged in 2007.
A U.S. Marine veteran jailed in Matamoros has been released and is
back in the United States.
Posted: Friday, December 21, 2012 9:02 pm | Updated: 9:31 pm, Fri Dec
21, 2012.
The Brownsville Herald
http://www.brownsvilleherald.com/news/local/
article_16450fc2-4be4-11e2-b93a-001a4bcf6878.html
A U.S. Marine veteran jailed in Matamoros has been released and is
back in the United States.
An attorney for Jon "Jonny" Hammar said the young Marine was brought
back to the U.S. sometime this evening.
Hammar had been jailed in a Matamoros prison on a weapons charge
since August. His family and been working with federal lawmakers to
get him released.
This morning, the vice president of the Tamaulipas Chamber of
Commerce has confirmed that U.S Marine Jon Hammar was in the custody
of U.S. officials.
"He's free," Gerardo Danache Acevedo told The Brownsville Herald
earlier today.
Acevedo Danache said he had been informed that a judge has signed
Hammar's release papers from jail and that he was expected to be
escorted out of Matamoros sometime today.
Acevedo Danache earlier this month made a telephone call to Mexican
President Enrique Pena Nieto asking him to pardon the veteran Marine.
"I really, really believe the media played a big role in this. I am
happy that this will happen because there is no reason we should
continue with this" Acevedo Danache said in a telephone interview
with The Brownsville Herald.
"I am very happy for him, for the family and for us because that will
show we can work together even if we have different cultures. We have
more important issues to deal with," the vice president said.
Hammar served in Fallujah, Iraq and Afghanistan. He was honorably
discharged in 2007.
AZMEX F&F EXTRA 21-12-12
AZMEX F&F EXTRA 21DEC 2012
Note: The Mexican government was able to provide a S/N again. !
Feliz Navidad !
"The tracking information says that it is a weapon manufactured by FN
Herstal Belgium, 5.7 caliber model "five seven", with serial number
386179913"
Looks like the feds along with illegal aliens need to be kept from
having AZ driver's licenses.
The UniversalSeccionesNación
Linked with other ATF gun at Mocorito
Agency official owns the gun
FACTS. The confrontation between military and criminal suspects held
in November and that the beauty queen died, Ms. Susana Gomez. (Photo:
UNIVERSAL ARCHIVE)
Friday December 21, 2012
Doris Gómora | El Universal
doris.gomora @ eluniversal.com.mx
http://www.eluniversal.com.mx/nacion/202772.html
A semiautomatic weapon the FN 5.7 known as the police killer
acquired by an active official of the Bureau of Alcohol, Snuff,
Firearms and Explosives (ATF, for its acronym in English), and
supervisor of the operation fast and furious, was identified by the
government records of the United States as a second weapon used in
Mocorito where died a beauty queen of Sinaloa, said the office of
Sen. Charles Grassley.
In a letter, a copy of which is at El Universal, sent to the
inspector general of the Justice Department, supported by documents
and records show part of the investigation of the weapon, Grassley
asked the legislature to punish George Gillet, former No. 2 of office
the ATF office in Phoenix, Arizona, and who currently works at the
headquarters of the Bureau in Washington DC as a liaison with the
Bureau of Prisons.
The letter from Senator Grassley cited the inspector general's office
found during the investigation of Fast and Furious that monitoring
and Gillet judgment in that operation was "seriously deficient", so
after that the official report is being investigated by Professional
Oversight Board (PRB, for its acronym in English).
When contacted by telephone Gillet declined to comment in depth
about it and said he bought the gun but it is no longer in his
possession, meanwhile, agreed to U.S. media that the gun found in
Sinaloa was acquired by him and sold last year through internet.
The U.S. Justice Department declined to comment on the case Gillet or
letters from Senator Grassley on the two weapons found after a
confrontation in Mocorito, Sinaloa last November.
So far Senator Grassley is the only one who has reported the
discovery of two weapons purchased in the United States and found at
crime scenes related to drug cartels in Mexico, and is the first time
that one of those weapons was acquired directly by an official in
charge of the ATF in addition to overseeing the operation Fast and
Furious.
In the 20-page document sent to Michael E. Horowitz, inspector
general of the Department of Justice include tracking reports of
weapons purchased by Gillet in Phoenix, Arizona and who also provided
false addresses, which is a crime in the U.S..
The annex to the report of the gun with the information found in
Mocorito, Sinaloa, the FN5.7, details that tracing was requested by
the delegation of the Attorney General's office of Sinaloa on
November 29 as No. T20120323644 and the search was completed on 10
December past.
The tracking information says that it is a weapon manufactured by FN
Herstal Belgium, 5.7 caliber model "five seven", with serial number
386179913, was recovered by the Attorney General on November 24, 2012
in Mocorito, Sinaloa after 1,052 days after having been sold in the
United States.
The buyer is identified as George Thomas Gillet established 201 E
Washington St Apartment 940, with 85040 in Phoenix and acquired
January 7, 2010 by presenting a driver's license also recorded in
Phoenix.
The delegation of the PGR in Sinaloa carried gun trace request to the
Bureau of Alcohol, Snuff, Firearms and Explosives initially to the
ATF office in Ciudad Juarez on the preliminary AP / SIN/GUAM/277/2012/
MU4856 / 2012 with 6595 the folio number where it appears that the
date of recovery of the weapon was on November 23.
The first gun found in Sinaloa in the confrontation of which Senator
Grassley reported was a model AK47 GP WASR 10/63 UF which Uriel
Patino purchased, a suspect of Fast and Furious who is accused by the
authorities and by U.S. congressional investigators as the buyer of
700 guns under ATF surveillance.
La información del rastreo señala que se trata de un arma de
fabricación belga por FN Herstal, calibre .57 modelo "cinco siete",
con número de serie 386179913,
El UniversalSeccionesNación
Vinculan otra arma de ATF con Mocorito
Funcionario del organismo es dueño de la pistola
HECHOS. El enfrentamiento entre presuntos delincuentes y militares
tuvo lugar en noviembre y ahí murió la reina de belleza Susana
Gómez . (Foto: ARCHIVO EL UNIVERSAL )
Viernes 21 de diciembre de 2012
Doris Gómora | El Universal
doris.gomora@eluniversal.com.mx
http://www.eluniversal.com.mx/nacion/202772.html
Un arma FN 57 semiautomática conocida como mata policías adquirida
por un funcionario en activo del Buró de Alcohol, Tabaco, Armas y
Explosivos (ATF, por sus siglas en inglés), y supervisor del
operativo Rapido y furioso, fue identificada por registros del
gobierno de Estados Unidos como una segunda arma utilizada en el
enfrentamiento de Mocorito donde falleció una reina de belleza de
Sinaloa, informó la oficina del senador republicano Charles Grassley.
En una carta, cuya copia tiene EL UNIVERSAL, enviada al inspector
general del Departamento de Justicia, sustentada por documentos que
muestran los registros y parte de la investigación del arma, el
legislador Grassley solicitó sancionar a George Gillet, ex número 2
de la oficina de la ATF en la oficina de Phoenix, Arizona, y quien
actualmente trabaja en los cuarteles generales de ese Buró en
Washington DC como enlace con el Buró de Prisiones.
En la carta del senador Grassley cita que la oficina del inspector
general encontró durante la investigación de Rápido y furioso que la
supervisión y juicio de Gillet en ese operativo fue "seriamente
deficiente", por lo que tras ese reporte el funcionario se encuentra
siendo investigado por la Junta de Supervisión Profesional (PRB, por
sus siglas en inglés).
Al ser contactado vía telefónica Gillet declinó comentar a
profundidad al respecto e indicó que compró el arma pero ya no la
tenía en su poder, en tanto, ante medios estadounidenses aceptó que
el arma encontrada en Sinaloa fue adquirida por él y vendida el año
pasado por medio de internet.
El Departamento de Justicia de EU declinó hacer comentario alguno
sobre el caso de Gillet o las cartas enviadas por el senador Grassley
respecto a las dos armas encontradas tras un enfrentamiento en
Mocorito, Sinaloa en noviembre pasado.
Hasta el momento el senador Grassley es el único que ha informado del
hallazgo de dos armas compradas en Estados Unidos y encontradas en
escenas de crimen relacionadas con cárteles del narcotráfico en
México, y es la primera ocasión en que una de esas armas fue
adquirida directamente por un funcionario de la ATF encargado además
de supervisar el operativo Rápido y furioso.
En los documentos enviados en 20 páginas a Michael E. Horowitz,
inspector general del Departamento de Justicia se incluyen los
reportes de rastreo de las armas compradas por Gillet en Phoenix,
Arizona y quien además proporcionó direcciones falsas, lo cual es
considerado un delito en EU.
El anexo del reporte con la información del arma FN57 encontrada en
Mocorito, Sinaloa detalla que el rastreo fue solicitado por la
delegación de la Procuraduría General de la República en Sinaloa el
29 de noviembre bajo el número T20120323644 y la búsqueda fue
concluida el 10 de diciembre pasado.
La información del rastreo señala que se trata de un arma de
fabricación belga por FN Herstal, calibre .57 modelo "cinco siete",
con número de serie 386179913, fue recuperada por la PGR con fecha 24
de noviembre de 2012 en Mocorito, Sinaloa después de mil 52 días de
haber sido vendida en Estados Unidos.
El comprador es identificado como George Thomas Gillet con domicilio
201 E Washington St Apart 940, con zona postal 850040 en Phoenix y la
adquirió el 7 de enero de 2010 presentando su licencia de manejo
también registrada en Phoenix.
La delegación de la PGR en Sinaloa realizó la solicitud de rastreo
del arma al Buró de Alcohol, Tabaco, Armas y Explosivos inicialmente
a la oficina de la ATF en Ciudad Juárez bajo la averiguación previa
AP/ SIN/GUAM/277/2012/MU4856 /2012 con número de folio 6595 en donde
aparece que la fecha de recuperación del arma fue el 23 de noviembre.
La primer arma encontrada en el enfrentamiento en Sinaloa de la que
informó el senador Grassley fue un AK47 modelo GP WASR 10/63 UF
comprado por Uriel Patiño un sospechoso de Rápido y furioso quien es
señalado por las autoridades y por investigadores del Congreso de EU
como el comprador de 700 armas bajo la vigilancia de la ATF.
Note: The Mexican government was able to provide a S/N again. !
Feliz Navidad !
"The tracking information says that it is a weapon manufactured by FN
Herstal Belgium, 5.7 caliber model "five seven", with serial number
386179913"
Looks like the feds along with illegal aliens need to be kept from
having AZ driver's licenses.
The UniversalSeccionesNación
Linked with other ATF gun at Mocorito
Agency official owns the gun
FACTS. The confrontation between military and criminal suspects held
in November and that the beauty queen died, Ms. Susana Gomez. (Photo:
UNIVERSAL ARCHIVE)
Friday December 21, 2012
Doris Gómora | El Universal
doris.gomora @ eluniversal.com.mx
http://www.eluniversal.com.mx/nacion/202772.html
A semiautomatic weapon the FN 5.7 known as the police killer
acquired by an active official of the Bureau of Alcohol, Snuff,
Firearms and Explosives (ATF, for its acronym in English), and
supervisor of the operation fast and furious, was identified by the
government records of the United States as a second weapon used in
Mocorito where died a beauty queen of Sinaloa, said the office of
Sen. Charles Grassley.
In a letter, a copy of which is at El Universal, sent to the
inspector general of the Justice Department, supported by documents
and records show part of the investigation of the weapon, Grassley
asked the legislature to punish George Gillet, former No. 2 of office
the ATF office in Phoenix, Arizona, and who currently works at the
headquarters of the Bureau in Washington DC as a liaison with the
Bureau of Prisons.
The letter from Senator Grassley cited the inspector general's office
found during the investigation of Fast and Furious that monitoring
and Gillet judgment in that operation was "seriously deficient", so
after that the official report is being investigated by Professional
Oversight Board (PRB, for its acronym in English).
When contacted by telephone Gillet declined to comment in depth
about it and said he bought the gun but it is no longer in his
possession, meanwhile, agreed to U.S. media that the gun found in
Sinaloa was acquired by him and sold last year through internet.
The U.S. Justice Department declined to comment on the case Gillet or
letters from Senator Grassley on the two weapons found after a
confrontation in Mocorito, Sinaloa last November.
So far Senator Grassley is the only one who has reported the
discovery of two weapons purchased in the United States and found at
crime scenes related to drug cartels in Mexico, and is the first time
that one of those weapons was acquired directly by an official in
charge of the ATF in addition to overseeing the operation Fast and
Furious.
In the 20-page document sent to Michael E. Horowitz, inspector
general of the Department of Justice include tracking reports of
weapons purchased by Gillet in Phoenix, Arizona and who also provided
false addresses, which is a crime in the U.S..
The annex to the report of the gun with the information found in
Mocorito, Sinaloa, the FN5.7, details that tracing was requested by
the delegation of the Attorney General's office of Sinaloa on
November 29 as No. T20120323644 and the search was completed on 10
December past.
The tracking information says that it is a weapon manufactured by FN
Herstal Belgium, 5.7 caliber model "five seven", with serial number
386179913, was recovered by the Attorney General on November 24, 2012
in Mocorito, Sinaloa after 1,052 days after having been sold in the
United States.
The buyer is identified as George Thomas Gillet established 201 E
Washington St Apartment 940, with 85040 in Phoenix and acquired
January 7, 2010 by presenting a driver's license also recorded in
Phoenix.
The delegation of the PGR in Sinaloa carried gun trace request to the
Bureau of Alcohol, Snuff, Firearms and Explosives initially to the
ATF office in Ciudad Juarez on the preliminary AP / SIN/GUAM/277/2012/
MU4856 / 2012 with 6595 the folio number where it appears that the
date of recovery of the weapon was on November 23.
The first gun found in Sinaloa in the confrontation of which Senator
Grassley reported was a model AK47 GP WASR 10/63 UF which Uriel
Patino purchased, a suspect of Fast and Furious who is accused by the
authorities and by U.S. congressional investigators as the buyer of
700 guns under ATF surveillance.
La información del rastreo señala que se trata de un arma de
fabricación belga por FN Herstal, calibre .57 modelo "cinco siete",
con número de serie 386179913,
El UniversalSeccionesNación
Vinculan otra arma de ATF con Mocorito
Funcionario del organismo es dueño de la pistola
HECHOS. El enfrentamiento entre presuntos delincuentes y militares
tuvo lugar en noviembre y ahí murió la reina de belleza Susana
Gómez . (Foto: ARCHIVO EL UNIVERSAL )
Viernes 21 de diciembre de 2012
Doris Gómora | El Universal
doris.gomora@eluniversal.com.mx
http://www.eluniversal.com.mx/nacion/202772.html
Un arma FN 57 semiautomática conocida como mata policías adquirida
por un funcionario en activo del Buró de Alcohol, Tabaco, Armas y
Explosivos (ATF, por sus siglas en inglés), y supervisor del
operativo Rapido y furioso, fue identificada por registros del
gobierno de Estados Unidos como una segunda arma utilizada en el
enfrentamiento de Mocorito donde falleció una reina de belleza de
Sinaloa, informó la oficina del senador republicano Charles Grassley.
En una carta, cuya copia tiene EL UNIVERSAL, enviada al inspector
general del Departamento de Justicia, sustentada por documentos que
muestran los registros y parte de la investigación del arma, el
legislador Grassley solicitó sancionar a George Gillet, ex número 2
de la oficina de la ATF en la oficina de Phoenix, Arizona, y quien
actualmente trabaja en los cuarteles generales de ese Buró en
Washington DC como enlace con el Buró de Prisiones.
En la carta del senador Grassley cita que la oficina del inspector
general encontró durante la investigación de Rápido y furioso que la
supervisión y juicio de Gillet en ese operativo fue "seriamente
deficiente", por lo que tras ese reporte el funcionario se encuentra
siendo investigado por la Junta de Supervisión Profesional (PRB, por
sus siglas en inglés).
Al ser contactado vía telefónica Gillet declinó comentar a
profundidad al respecto e indicó que compró el arma pero ya no la
tenía en su poder, en tanto, ante medios estadounidenses aceptó que
el arma encontrada en Sinaloa fue adquirida por él y vendida el año
pasado por medio de internet.
El Departamento de Justicia de EU declinó hacer comentario alguno
sobre el caso de Gillet o las cartas enviadas por el senador Grassley
respecto a las dos armas encontradas tras un enfrentamiento en
Mocorito, Sinaloa en noviembre pasado.
Hasta el momento el senador Grassley es el único que ha informado del
hallazgo de dos armas compradas en Estados Unidos y encontradas en
escenas de crimen relacionadas con cárteles del narcotráfico en
México, y es la primera ocasión en que una de esas armas fue
adquirida directamente por un funcionario de la ATF encargado además
de supervisar el operativo Rápido y furioso.
En los documentos enviados en 20 páginas a Michael E. Horowitz,
inspector general del Departamento de Justicia se incluyen los
reportes de rastreo de las armas compradas por Gillet en Phoenix,
Arizona y quien además proporcionó direcciones falsas, lo cual es
considerado un delito en EU.
El anexo del reporte con la información del arma FN57 encontrada en
Mocorito, Sinaloa detalla que el rastreo fue solicitado por la
delegación de la Procuraduría General de la República en Sinaloa el
29 de noviembre bajo el número T20120323644 y la búsqueda fue
concluida el 10 de diciembre pasado.
La información del rastreo señala que se trata de un arma de
fabricación belga por FN Herstal, calibre .57 modelo "cinco siete",
con número de serie 386179913, fue recuperada por la PGR con fecha 24
de noviembre de 2012 en Mocorito, Sinaloa después de mil 52 días de
haber sido vendida en Estados Unidos.
El comprador es identificado como George Thomas Gillet con domicilio
201 E Washington St Apart 940, con zona postal 850040 en Phoenix y la
adquirió el 7 de enero de 2010 presentando su licencia de manejo
también registrada en Phoenix.
La delegación de la PGR en Sinaloa realizó la solicitud de rastreo
del arma al Buró de Alcohol, Tabaco, Armas y Explosivos inicialmente
a la oficina de la ATF en Ciudad Juárez bajo la averiguación previa
AP/ SIN/GUAM/277/2012/MU4856 /2012 con número de folio 6595 en donde
aparece que la fecha de recuperación del arma fue el 23 de noviembre.
La primer arma encontrada en el enfrentamiento en Sinaloa de la que
informó el senador Grassley fue un AK47 modelo GP WASR 10/63 UF
comprado por Uriel Patiño un sospechoso de Rápido y furioso quien es
señalado por las autoridades y por investigadores del Congreso de EU
como el comprador de 700 armas bajo la vigilancia de la ATF.
AZMEX SPECIAL 21-12-12
AZMEX SPECIAL 21 DEC 2012
Note: as the world didn't seem to end today, looks like the AZMEX
reports will continue. Sorry.
Note: An assumption that it the same one, no paw prints, DNA, etc.
remains to be seen if this animal will take precedence over border
security. As many of our little nature nazi buddies advocate for.
Have to wonder what else those 150 cameras have picked up?
Updated Dec 21, 2012 - 8:58 am
2 rare spotted cats photographed in Arizona
By Associated Press
Originally published: Dec 21, 2012 - 8:14 am
http://www.ktar.com/22/1597153/2-rare-spotted-cats-photographed-in-AZ
TUCSON, Ariz. -- Wildlife monitoring cameras recently snapped photos
of two endangered spotted cats in mountain ranges in southern Arizona.
Images of an adult male jaguar were taken last month in the Santa
Rita Mountains, while a photo of an adult male ocelot was captured in
the Huachuca Mountains west of Sierra Vista.
Wildlife officials said both cats are extremely rare in Arizona and
don't know how many live here.
The jaguar seen in the Santa Rita Mountains matched the spot patterns
of a jaguar that was photographed by a hunter in the Whetstone
Mountains during the fall of 2011.
Spot-pattern comparisons of the ocelot in the Huachuca Mountains
showed that it was the same cat that had been photographed in the
Huachucas in 2011 and this year.
UA, government agencies release 4 photos of jaguar in Santa Ritas
This male jaguar was photographed Oct. 25 by automatic cameras in the
Santa Rita Mountains as part of a survey conducted by the University
of Arizona.
12 hours ago • Tony Davis Arizona Daily Star(27) Comments
http://azstarnet.com/news/science/environment/ua-government-agencies-
release-photos-of-jaguar-in-santa-ritas/article_7c6661ae-db1e-5c39-
b704-06fe99cff42b.html
Four late-night photos of an adult male jaguar roaming the northern
Santa Rita Mountains were released Thursday to the public by
University of Arizona researchers and federal and state wildlife
officials.
The photos, mostly full-body shots, show the endangered animal in
woodlands and grasslands between Oct. 25 and Nov. 10.
They show the only jaguar known to be living in the United States.
The last one, known as "Macho B," died in Arizona in March 2009.
There hasn't been a female jaguar seen in the U.S. since 1963.
Most jaguars live in Mexico, Central America and South America.
The researchers and agencies also released a fifth photo, of the tail
and much of the rear of an adult male ocelot. It was taken Oct. 8 in
the Huachuca Mountains, west of Sierra Vista.
These photos were the first of the endangered cat species to come
from a new, $771,000, federally financed study by the UA using remote
cameras to photograph jaguars and ocelots across Southern Arizona.
Six other photos taken of the same jaguar in the same general area
this fall were withheld by Arizona Game and Fish Department
officials. Those photos, shot by a Game and Fish camera, contain too
many landmarks pointing to the big cat's exact location, said Lynda
Lambert, a Game and Fish spokeswoman. Typically, state and federal
officials don't like to release exact locations, out of fear that
could jeopardize animals' safety.
"Those photos were six frames of one incident, all shot 10 seconds
apart," Lambert said. "It would be too easy for someone to pinpoint
the location."
The majority of those photos were taken very near or adjacent to the
6,990-acre site of the proposed Rosemont Mine project southeast of
Tucson, Fish and Wildlife Service officials have said. All 10 were
shot on U.S. Forest Service land, but none inside the mine site, said
Jean Calhoun, a Fish and Wildlife Service assistant field supervisor.
The Rosemont site is a mixture of public and private land.
This jaguar's spot pattern matches that of a jaguar treed and
photographed in November 2011 by a mountain lion hunter in the
Whetstone Mountains south of Benson, officials said. Together, these
photos offer "clear evidence" that jaguars travel between Arizona's
Sky Island mountain ranges, the agencies and researchers said in a
news release Thursday.
These 10 photos can't be matched to a September photo of a jaguar
tail, taken by a hunter in the Santa Ritas, because the tail in the
new photos is obscured, authorities said. But that jaguar is likely
the same one that was photographed in October and November, the
agencies and researchers said in the news release.
Similarly, spot patterns of the ocelot photographed in the UA study
show it's the same male ocelot that was photographed several times in
2011 and 2012, officials said Thursday. The new photo was shot four
miles from where the old photos were taken, again showing the cat's
ability to move across the landscape.
The purpose of the UA's three-year research project is to set up a
"noninvasive, hands-off system" to detect individuals of the two
endangered cat species, the researchers said. The cameras, activated
by motion sensors, are in areas deemed most likely to detect the cats.
About 150 cameras are in operation now for the study, and 240 will be
in place by next spring, the researchers and the wildlife service said.
The cameras lie along the U.S.-Mexican border, from the Baboquivari
Mountains on the west to the southwestern New Mexico "boot heel" area
south of Lordsburg. A scat-detection dog is also being used by
researchers to help them look for jaguar and ocelot scat in areas
where a camera detects the animals. UA's Conservation Genetics lab
will conduct genetics testing of the scat to verify its species and
possibly identify individual cats, the UA news release said.
Contact reporter Tony Davis at tdavis@azstarnet.com or 806-7746.
Note: as the world didn't seem to end today, looks like the AZMEX
reports will continue. Sorry.
Note: An assumption that it the same one, no paw prints, DNA, etc.
remains to be seen if this animal will take precedence over border
security. As many of our little nature nazi buddies advocate for.
Have to wonder what else those 150 cameras have picked up?
Updated Dec 21, 2012 - 8:58 am
2 rare spotted cats photographed in Arizona
By Associated Press
Originally published: Dec 21, 2012 - 8:14 am
http://www.ktar.com/22/1597153/2-rare-spotted-cats-photographed-in-AZ
TUCSON, Ariz. -- Wildlife monitoring cameras recently snapped photos
of two endangered spotted cats in mountain ranges in southern Arizona.
Images of an adult male jaguar were taken last month in the Santa
Rita Mountains, while a photo of an adult male ocelot was captured in
the Huachuca Mountains west of Sierra Vista.
Wildlife officials said both cats are extremely rare in Arizona and
don't know how many live here.
The jaguar seen in the Santa Rita Mountains matched the spot patterns
of a jaguar that was photographed by a hunter in the Whetstone
Mountains during the fall of 2011.
Spot-pattern comparisons of the ocelot in the Huachuca Mountains
showed that it was the same cat that had been photographed in the
Huachucas in 2011 and this year.
UA, government agencies release 4 photos of jaguar in Santa Ritas
This male jaguar was photographed Oct. 25 by automatic cameras in the
Santa Rita Mountains as part of a survey conducted by the University
of Arizona.
12 hours ago • Tony Davis Arizona Daily Star(27) Comments
http://azstarnet.com/news/science/environment/ua-government-agencies-
release-photos-of-jaguar-in-santa-ritas/article_7c6661ae-db1e-5c39-
b704-06fe99cff42b.html
Four late-night photos of an adult male jaguar roaming the northern
Santa Rita Mountains were released Thursday to the public by
University of Arizona researchers and federal and state wildlife
officials.
The photos, mostly full-body shots, show the endangered animal in
woodlands and grasslands between Oct. 25 and Nov. 10.
They show the only jaguar known to be living in the United States.
The last one, known as "Macho B," died in Arizona in March 2009.
There hasn't been a female jaguar seen in the U.S. since 1963.
Most jaguars live in Mexico, Central America and South America.
The researchers and agencies also released a fifth photo, of the tail
and much of the rear of an adult male ocelot. It was taken Oct. 8 in
the Huachuca Mountains, west of Sierra Vista.
These photos were the first of the endangered cat species to come
from a new, $771,000, federally financed study by the UA using remote
cameras to photograph jaguars and ocelots across Southern Arizona.
Six other photos taken of the same jaguar in the same general area
this fall were withheld by Arizona Game and Fish Department
officials. Those photos, shot by a Game and Fish camera, contain too
many landmarks pointing to the big cat's exact location, said Lynda
Lambert, a Game and Fish spokeswoman. Typically, state and federal
officials don't like to release exact locations, out of fear that
could jeopardize animals' safety.
"Those photos were six frames of one incident, all shot 10 seconds
apart," Lambert said. "It would be too easy for someone to pinpoint
the location."
The majority of those photos were taken very near or adjacent to the
6,990-acre site of the proposed Rosemont Mine project southeast of
Tucson, Fish and Wildlife Service officials have said. All 10 were
shot on U.S. Forest Service land, but none inside the mine site, said
Jean Calhoun, a Fish and Wildlife Service assistant field supervisor.
The Rosemont site is a mixture of public and private land.
This jaguar's spot pattern matches that of a jaguar treed and
photographed in November 2011 by a mountain lion hunter in the
Whetstone Mountains south of Benson, officials said. Together, these
photos offer "clear evidence" that jaguars travel between Arizona's
Sky Island mountain ranges, the agencies and researchers said in a
news release Thursday.
These 10 photos can't be matched to a September photo of a jaguar
tail, taken by a hunter in the Santa Ritas, because the tail in the
new photos is obscured, authorities said. But that jaguar is likely
the same one that was photographed in October and November, the
agencies and researchers said in the news release.
Similarly, spot patterns of the ocelot photographed in the UA study
show it's the same male ocelot that was photographed several times in
2011 and 2012, officials said Thursday. The new photo was shot four
miles from where the old photos were taken, again showing the cat's
ability to move across the landscape.
The purpose of the UA's three-year research project is to set up a
"noninvasive, hands-off system" to detect individuals of the two
endangered cat species, the researchers said. The cameras, activated
by motion sensors, are in areas deemed most likely to detect the cats.
About 150 cameras are in operation now for the study, and 240 will be
in place by next spring, the researchers and the wildlife service said.
The cameras lie along the U.S.-Mexican border, from the Baboquivari
Mountains on the west to the southwestern New Mexico "boot heel" area
south of Lordsburg. A scat-detection dog is also being used by
researchers to help them look for jaguar and ocelot scat in areas
where a camera detects the animals. UA's Conservation Genetics lab
will conduct genetics testing of the scat to verify its species and
possibly identify individual cats, the UA news release said.
Contact reporter Tony Davis at tdavis@azstarnet.com or 806-7746.
Thursday, December 20, 2012
AZMEX UPDATE 20-12-12
AZMEX UPDATE 20 DEC 2012
Note: If world ends tomorrow AZMEX Updates will be suspended for
awhile.
Note: More cartel commerce about 30 miles north of old border. Lead
guy has a AK.
Wonder if any of the new, instant firearms, self defense and ground
combat experts who are telling us what we need or don't need, would
like to face them? Without at the least a modern semi automatic
rifle with more than 5 or 10 rounds? A 5 shot revolver acceptable?
A 4 round bolt action rifle? A double barrel shotgun? But then,
none of these people will ever be here. Reality just not that much fun.
Published on Dec 18, 2012
Video from a trail camera placed by the AZ Border Defenders of 4 drug
smugglers (one armed with an AK-47) 30 miles north of the United
States border with Mexico near Tucson AZ. Obviously gun control
doesn't work for these guys, Why should American citizens give up
their rights?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eGPrgZhpLMA
Note: keep getting more reports of increased cross border activity,
but not much makes it public.
BP seizes more than $1 million in pot in 24-hour span
Posted: Wednesday, December 19, 2012 3:09 pm |
Updated: 10:40 am, Thu Dec 20, 2012.
Nogales International |
The U.S. Border Patrol says its agents seized 2,553 pounds of
marijuana, worth more than $1 million, in a series of busts around
Nogales during a 24-hour period this week.
On Tuesday morning, agents from the Border Patrol's Nogales Station
and horse patrol unit seized 12 bundles of abandoned marijuana east
of town. The bundles weighed 271 pounds and are worth an estimated
$135,500.
( rest of article unavailable as have exceeded quota for free access)
Note: "found" apprehensions down, despite numerous reports of
increased cross border traffic in last couple months. Only means
just that, apprehensions down.
Migrants found in drophouses sharply down
11 hours ago • Associated Press(3) Comments
http://azstarnet.com/news/local/border/migrants-found-in-drophouses-
sharply-down/article_9132f537-f752-5dfb-86fd-c4de42e91436.html
PHOENIX - The number of so-called drophouses discovered harboring
illegal immigrants in the Phoenix area has decreased significantly
over the last four years, a trend federal officials said is another
indication that human smuggling in Arizona is declining.
There were 490 illegal immigrants discovered in 37 Phoenix area
drophouses during the federal fiscal year that ended Sept. 30. The
Arizona Republic said that compares with 3,221 illegal immigrants
found in 186 drophouses in the 2008 federal budget year that ended in
September 2008.
The special agent in charge of Immigration and Customs Enforcement
investigations in Arizona, Matthew Allen, tied the decrease to an
overall drop in illegal immigration nationwide. He cited the weak
U.S. economy, tighter border security, stepped-up immigration
enforcement and tougher sentences imposed on smugglers.
Allen also said the number of illegal immigrants being found in
individual homes is down, an indication that smugglers are concerned
about raids.
"You remember the days here when we were hitting drophouses that had
60, 80 or more than 100 people in them," he said. "These days, it's
very rare that we see a drophouse that has more than 20 or 30 people
in it."
Still, Allen said, "that doesn't mean that there's none out there."
ICE officials say the typical way station is a vacant house with no
beds or furniture. Armed smugglers stand watch over dozens of illegal
immigrants who are crammed inside and who sleep on the floor as they
await transport to other cities after being brought across the border
from Mexico.
Four years ago, the Phoenix area was the drophouse capital of the
nation.
"You remember the days here when we were hitting drophouses that had
60, 80 or more than 100 people in them."
Matthew Allen,
special agent in charge of Immigration and Customs Enforcement
investigations in Arizona
Note: and now from our little "nature" buddies. Have to wonder;
useful idiots, extreme religious cult, on the payroll, or all of the
above? Drug and human trafficking destruction of habitat and people
sure doesn't seem to bother them at all. Take your blood pressure
pills before reading.
-----Original Message-----
From: Dan Millis, Sierra Club [mailto:dan.millis@sierraclub.org]
Sent: Thursday, December 20, 2012 10:19 AM
Subject: News from the Border -- December 2012
http://arizona.sierraclub.org/conservation/border/
Greetings from Sierra Club Borderlands!
A recent FBI crime report shows that, despite stereotypes to the
contrary, most U.S. border communities have lower than average crime
rates than an average U.S. city of similar size. However, our
borderlands are deadly and dangerous for those who climb walls, cross
deserts, and come into contact with border enforcers. In the past few
months, a Border Patrol agent and six civilians have been killed by
border enforcement personnel in a wave of tragic shootings. Two of
them were teenagers, and two were U.S. citizens.
People are part of the environment, and Sierra Club envisions
borderlands that nurture wildlife and humankind alike. When human
rights are violated or habitat is destroyed, we need your help to
hold the authorities accountable for reckless behavior in our
borderlands.
Thank you for caring about the border and its people,
Dan Millis
Borderlands Program Coordinator
(520) 620-6401
dan.millis@sierraclub.org
http://arizona.sierraclub.org/conservation/border
In this issue:
Rest in Peace
Take Action! Tell Congress: "Don't Sacrifice the Border!"
Celebrate Border Wildlife and "Keep Our Borders Wild!"
Rest in Peace
Margarito Lopez Morelos, 19, Guatemala. Shot, killed, December 2 by
Border Patrol in Arizona.
Marco Antonio Castro Estrada, 29, José Leonardo Coj Cumar, 32,
Guatemala. Shot from helicopter, killed, October 25 by Texas state
police.
José Antonio Elena Rodriguez, 16, Mexico. Shot, killed, in Mexico
October 10 by Border Patrol in Arizona.
Nicholas Ivie, 30, U.S. Shot, killed, October 2 by Border Patrol in
"friendly fire" mishap in Arizona.
Valeria "Munique" Tachiquín Alvarado, 32, U.S. Shot, killed,
September 28 by plainclothes Border Patrol in Chula Vista, California.
Guillermo Arévalo Pedroza, 36, Mexico. Shot, killed, September 3 in
front of his wife and daughters in Nuevo Laredo, Mexico, by Border
Patrol firing from boat on Rio Grande.
Sixteen more people have died at the hands of border authorities
since 2010. No one has been held accountable.
Since 1992, the number of Border Patrol agents has quintupled. A
relentless "more of the same," enforcement-only approach to border
issues has resulted in environmental destruction, human rights
violations, and boundless tragedy. It's time to address root causes
of borderlands challenges and end this vicious circle.
Take Action! Tell Congress: "Don't Sacrifice the Border!"
Congress has a bad habit of attaching increased border security
requirements to non-border legislation.
Riders and amendments have gutted dozens of environmental protection
laws and allowed for haphazard, hastily-built border walls.
Enough is enough – tell your representatives to say "no" to costly
extras and add-ons that harm the environment and don't make us safer!
Keep Our Borders Wild logo. Design by Dennis Caldwell
Celebrate Border Wildlife and "Keep Our Borders Wild!"
Sierra Club Borderlands works tirelessly to protect wildlife and wild
places along the border. We rely on support and outreach by people
such as you.
That's why we have stickers ($1), posters ($5), and t-shirts ($20
adult, $10 kids) with our slogan and amazing artwork by Tucson artist
Dennis Caldwell. T-shirts are sweat-free American Apparel and come in
men's, women's, and kids' sizes.
If you would like to donate and receive any Keep Our Borders Wild
items as a thank-you, please reply to this email. If you only want to
donate, please make your secure, tax-deductible online donation by
clicking this link.
Don't forget, we also have Wild Versus Wall DVDs and "No Border Wall"
stickers!
Help protect our borderlands and the people and wildlife that depend
on them by making a tax-deductible donation to Sierra Club
Borderlands! Our program depends on supporters like you. With your
help, we have been able to raise enough funds to continue Sierra Club
Borderlands through the coming months. Thank you!
Please donate today to help ensure the survival of the Sierra Club
Borderlands into the future!
Get Involved! Join Our Team
Joining the Borderlands Team is the best way to make a difference on
this issue, no matter where you live. Please contact Dan Millis to
get involved.
Grand Canyon Sierra Club
202 E. McDowell Rd, Suite 277
Phoenix, AZ 85004
Note: If world ends tomorrow AZMEX Updates will be suspended for
awhile.
Note: More cartel commerce about 30 miles north of old border. Lead
guy has a AK.
Wonder if any of the new, instant firearms, self defense and ground
combat experts who are telling us what we need or don't need, would
like to face them? Without at the least a modern semi automatic
rifle with more than 5 or 10 rounds? A 5 shot revolver acceptable?
A 4 round bolt action rifle? A double barrel shotgun? But then,
none of these people will ever be here. Reality just not that much fun.
Published on Dec 18, 2012
Video from a trail camera placed by the AZ Border Defenders of 4 drug
smugglers (one armed with an AK-47) 30 miles north of the United
States border with Mexico near Tucson AZ. Obviously gun control
doesn't work for these guys, Why should American citizens give up
their rights?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eGPrgZhpLMA
Note: keep getting more reports of increased cross border activity,
but not much makes it public.
BP seizes more than $1 million in pot in 24-hour span
Posted: Wednesday, December 19, 2012 3:09 pm |
Updated: 10:40 am, Thu Dec 20, 2012.
Nogales International |
The U.S. Border Patrol says its agents seized 2,553 pounds of
marijuana, worth more than $1 million, in a series of busts around
Nogales during a 24-hour period this week.
On Tuesday morning, agents from the Border Patrol's Nogales Station
and horse patrol unit seized 12 bundles of abandoned marijuana east
of town. The bundles weighed 271 pounds and are worth an estimated
$135,500.
( rest of article unavailable as have exceeded quota for free access)
Note: "found" apprehensions down, despite numerous reports of
increased cross border traffic in last couple months. Only means
just that, apprehensions down.
Migrants found in drophouses sharply down
11 hours ago • Associated Press(3) Comments
http://azstarnet.com/news/local/border/migrants-found-in-drophouses-
sharply-down/article_9132f537-f752-5dfb-86fd-c4de42e91436.html
PHOENIX - The number of so-called drophouses discovered harboring
illegal immigrants in the Phoenix area has decreased significantly
over the last four years, a trend federal officials said is another
indication that human smuggling in Arizona is declining.
There were 490 illegal immigrants discovered in 37 Phoenix area
drophouses during the federal fiscal year that ended Sept. 30. The
Arizona Republic said that compares with 3,221 illegal immigrants
found in 186 drophouses in the 2008 federal budget year that ended in
September 2008.
The special agent in charge of Immigration and Customs Enforcement
investigations in Arizona, Matthew Allen, tied the decrease to an
overall drop in illegal immigration nationwide. He cited the weak
U.S. economy, tighter border security, stepped-up immigration
enforcement and tougher sentences imposed on smugglers.
Allen also said the number of illegal immigrants being found in
individual homes is down, an indication that smugglers are concerned
about raids.
"You remember the days here when we were hitting drophouses that had
60, 80 or more than 100 people in them," he said. "These days, it's
very rare that we see a drophouse that has more than 20 or 30 people
in it."
Still, Allen said, "that doesn't mean that there's none out there."
ICE officials say the typical way station is a vacant house with no
beds or furniture. Armed smugglers stand watch over dozens of illegal
immigrants who are crammed inside and who sleep on the floor as they
await transport to other cities after being brought across the border
from Mexico.
Four years ago, the Phoenix area was the drophouse capital of the
nation.
"You remember the days here when we were hitting drophouses that had
60, 80 or more than 100 people in them."
Matthew Allen,
special agent in charge of Immigration and Customs Enforcement
investigations in Arizona
Note: and now from our little "nature" buddies. Have to wonder;
useful idiots, extreme religious cult, on the payroll, or all of the
above? Drug and human trafficking destruction of habitat and people
sure doesn't seem to bother them at all. Take your blood pressure
pills before reading.
-----Original Message-----
From: Dan Millis, Sierra Club [mailto:dan.millis@sierraclub.org]
Sent: Thursday, December 20, 2012 10:19 AM
Subject: News from the Border -- December 2012
http://arizona.sierraclub.org/conservation/border/
Greetings from Sierra Club Borderlands!
A recent FBI crime report shows that, despite stereotypes to the
contrary, most U.S. border communities have lower than average crime
rates than an average U.S. city of similar size. However, our
borderlands are deadly and dangerous for those who climb walls, cross
deserts, and come into contact with border enforcers. In the past few
months, a Border Patrol agent and six civilians have been killed by
border enforcement personnel in a wave of tragic shootings. Two of
them were teenagers, and two were U.S. citizens.
People are part of the environment, and Sierra Club envisions
borderlands that nurture wildlife and humankind alike. When human
rights are violated or habitat is destroyed, we need your help to
hold the authorities accountable for reckless behavior in our
borderlands.
Thank you for caring about the border and its people,
Dan Millis
Borderlands Program Coordinator
(520) 620-6401
dan.millis@sierraclub.org
http://arizona.sierraclub.org/conservation/border
In this issue:
Rest in Peace
Take Action! Tell Congress: "Don't Sacrifice the Border!"
Celebrate Border Wildlife and "Keep Our Borders Wild!"
Rest in Peace
Margarito Lopez Morelos, 19, Guatemala. Shot, killed, December 2 by
Border Patrol in Arizona.
Marco Antonio Castro Estrada, 29, José Leonardo Coj Cumar, 32,
Guatemala. Shot from helicopter, killed, October 25 by Texas state
police.
José Antonio Elena Rodriguez, 16, Mexico. Shot, killed, in Mexico
October 10 by Border Patrol in Arizona.
Nicholas Ivie, 30, U.S. Shot, killed, October 2 by Border Patrol in
"friendly fire" mishap in Arizona.
Valeria "Munique" Tachiquín Alvarado, 32, U.S. Shot, killed,
September 28 by plainclothes Border Patrol in Chula Vista, California.
Guillermo Arévalo Pedroza, 36, Mexico. Shot, killed, September 3 in
front of his wife and daughters in Nuevo Laredo, Mexico, by Border
Patrol firing from boat on Rio Grande.
Sixteen more people have died at the hands of border authorities
since 2010. No one has been held accountable.
Since 1992, the number of Border Patrol agents has quintupled. A
relentless "more of the same," enforcement-only approach to border
issues has resulted in environmental destruction, human rights
violations, and boundless tragedy. It's time to address root causes
of borderlands challenges and end this vicious circle.
Take Action! Tell Congress: "Don't Sacrifice the Border!"
Congress has a bad habit of attaching increased border security
requirements to non-border legislation.
Riders and amendments have gutted dozens of environmental protection
laws and allowed for haphazard, hastily-built border walls.
Enough is enough – tell your representatives to say "no" to costly
extras and add-ons that harm the environment and don't make us safer!
Keep Our Borders Wild logo. Design by Dennis Caldwell
Celebrate Border Wildlife and "Keep Our Borders Wild!"
Sierra Club Borderlands works tirelessly to protect wildlife and wild
places along the border. We rely on support and outreach by people
such as you.
That's why we have stickers ($1), posters ($5), and t-shirts ($20
adult, $10 kids) with our slogan and amazing artwork by Tucson artist
Dennis Caldwell. T-shirts are sweat-free American Apparel and come in
men's, women's, and kids' sizes.
If you would like to donate and receive any Keep Our Borders Wild
items as a thank-you, please reply to this email. If you only want to
donate, please make your secure, tax-deductible online donation by
clicking this link.
Don't forget, we also have Wild Versus Wall DVDs and "No Border Wall"
stickers!
Help protect our borderlands and the people and wildlife that depend
on them by making a tax-deductible donation to Sierra Club
Borderlands! Our program depends on supporters like you. With your
help, we have been able to raise enough funds to continue Sierra Club
Borderlands through the coming months. Thank you!
Please donate today to help ensure the survival of the Sierra Club
Borderlands into the future!
Get Involved! Join Our Team
Joining the Borderlands Team is the best way to make a difference on
this issue, no matter where you live. Please contact Dan Millis to
get involved.
Grand Canyon Sierra Club
202 E. McDowell Rd, Suite 277
Phoenix, AZ 85004
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