AZMEX UPDATE 8 MAR 2013
Contents: border crossers attacked, more pot intercepted near I8,
TX trial
Note: One of many reports of same, in same area. Year after year.
Migrant reports robbery, assault and possible rape
Posted: Friday, March 8, 2013 8:28 am
By JB Miller For the Nogales International | 0 comments
http://www.nogalesinternational.com/news/migrant-reports-robbery-
assault-and-possible-rape/
article_ca35fb66-8804-11e2-8db5-0019bb2963f4.html
An undocumented migrant said he and others in his border-crossing
group were robbed at gunpoint by bandits in the Tumacacori Mountains
near Arivaca, and that at least one woman was raped.
Border Patrol agents reported the incident to the Santa Cruz County
Sheriff's Office on the morning of March 4. Sheriff Antonio Estrada
said the unnamed robbery victim, who was from Oaxaca, Mexico, told
investigators that after he and a group of approximately 24
undocumented migrants crossed the U.S. border from Mexico, they were
approached on the afternoon of March 1 or 2 by a grey Chevy Suburban-
type vehicle near the old town of Ruby.
The man in the vehicle reportedly began speaking with the guide and
gave him some water before leaving.
Eventually the group, which included women and children, reached
Arivaca and began to take a rest when they noticed the vehicle had
reappeared along with another SUV.
"The men were dressed in normal attire and the victim noticed that it
was the same group of men they had seen before but they were wearing
different clothes,"
Estrada said. "They began to run but the five men, ages 25-30 years
old, stepped out of the vehicle and caught up with them and robbed
them of the money they were carrying to pay in order to enter the
United States."
In addition to being robbed of 2,800 pesos ($220), the man said, he
was physically assaulted as well. In all, approximately a half-dozen
people were robbed of cash, he told investigators.
The bandits then reportedly forcibly removed women from the group and
took them to another location not too far away.
"He said they could hear screaming and crying coming from two of the
women," said
Estrada, who added that while the victim did not see a sexual assault
occur, he assumed that it is what happened.
"When it was over the victim said he noticed some of the women's
clothing and under garments were scattered in the vicinity where they
were taken," Estrada said.
The robbery victim, along with another man who sustained a shoulder
injury, became separated from the group and were eventually picked up
by Border Patrol agents.
MCSO seizes some 2,000 pounds of marijuana in Ariz
By Associated Press
Originally published: Mar 8, 2013 - 1:34 pm
http://www.ktar.com/22/1616476/2000-pounds-of-marijuana-seized-in-
Arizona
GILA BEND -- Authorities say they've seized two stolen vehicles that
were carrying about $1 million worth of marijuana south of Phoenix.
Maricopa County Sheriff's officials say the seizure occurred about
1:30 a.m. Friday in a Gila Bend desert area.
The drivers abandoned the SUV and extended-cab pickup truck after a
pursuit that involved a sheriff's helicopter.
Sheriff's officials say about 2,000 pounds of marijuana was
discovered in the vehicles.
They say the SUV was stuffed from the floorboards to the roof with
bales of marijuana bales while the pickup truck also was overloaded
with pot.
An extensive search of the area was conducted for the drivers, but
they haven't been found yet.
Agents nab suspected smugglers carrying 245 pounds of pot
March 07, 2013 6:25 PM
FROM STAFF REPORTS
U.S. Border Patrol agents from the Yuma Sector's Wellton Station
arrested a group of five suspected drug smugglers a mile south of
Interstate 8 near mile marker 96 on Wednesday.
According to the Yuma Sector Public Affairs Office, the group was
carrying a combined 245 pounds of marijuana in backpacks, which was
worth an estimated $122,500.
Read more: http://www.yumasun.com/articles/border-85860-yuma-
mile.html#ixzz2N00MuQNa
El Paso cartel shooting trial: Judge slams feds in slaying of informant
By Adriana M. Chávez \ EL PASO TIMES
Posted: 03/08/2013 08:10:47 AM MST
http://www.elpasotimes.com/news/ci_22744070/judge-slams-feds-slaying-
informant
Ruben Rodriguez-Dorado, the alleged coordinator of the May 2009
cartel-related hit on Jose Daniel-Galeana on Pony Trail Place, sits
with attorney, Louie Lopez, during a hearing held Thursday afternoon
where prosecutors from the U.S. Attorney's Office are trying to
prevent ICE agents from testifying about what they knew about the
slaying before it happened. (Ruben R Ramirez/El Paso Times)
An angry state district court judge bashed federal agents on Thursday
for refusing to comply with subpoenas in a case in which one
Immigration and Customs Enforcement informant is charged in the
shooting death of another ICE informant.
Judge Gonzalo Garcia said ICE agents are violating the constitutional
rights of the defendant by not cooperating and hinted that the
district attorney's office consider dropping the prosecution.
At one point during the hearing, a frustrated Garcia said, "It's the
government of the people, by the people, for the people, except when
it comes to special agents."
Ruben Rodriguez-Dorado, 34, is charged with capital murder in the May
15, 2009, shooting death of Jose Daniel Gonzalez-Galeana
outside of Gonzalez-Galeana's home on Pony Trail Place, a slaying
cited by law enforcement officials as an example of cartel violence
spillover.
The defendant and the victim have also been identified as members of
the Juárez drug cartel.
State prosecutors are seeking the death penalty against Rodriguez-
Dorado.
During a hearing in the 210th District Court on Thursday, defense
attorney Leonard Morales told Garcia that despite several requests
and subpeonas sent to officials of ICE's Homeland Security
Investigations, he was told by an attorney with ICE that the agency
does not plan to comply with the requests.
Defense attorneys also requested ICE records relating to Rodriguez-
Dorado and Gonzalez-Galeana and what
ICE agents might have known about the shooting before it happened.
In previous court hearings, police officials have testified that
Rodriguez-Dorado and Gonzalez-Galeana had the same ICE "handler."
Defense attorneys are seeking to keep Rodriguez-Dorado's police
statements out of evidence during his trial, claiming Rodriguez-
Dorado wasn't properly informed of his Miranda rights during two
meetings with the ICE handler and an El Paso police detective before
his arrest in August 2009.
According to previous testimony, police homicide Detective Jimmy
Aguirre testified he and the ICE agent met with Rodriguez-Dorado in
hopes of obtaining information related to the shooting before
Rodriguez-Dorado was considered a suspect in the case.
Aguirre testified he believed Rodriguez-Dorado's statements at the
time were not reliable.
Defense attorneys also claim Rodriguez-Dorado might have given police
a statement after his arrest because he believed ICE agents would
help him.
Morales said during Thursday's hearing that ICE agents sent him
heavily redacted documents about Rodriguez-Dorado and the victim.
Garcia called the documents "just paper at this point."
Garcia also said ICE officials are violating Rodriguez-Dorado's
constitutional right to a fair trial.
"The defendant has a right under the Constitution to present
witnesses and evidence on his own behalf," Garcia said during the
hearing. "I can't understand the basis of not honoring their
subpoenas. They're violating his constitutional rights."
Rodriguez-Dorado and three others -- Christopher Duran, Michael
Jackson Apodaca and Juan Gerardo Gracia, Jr. -- were charged with
capital murder for participating in the plot to kill Gonzalez-
Galeana, who was said to have owed money to the Juárez cartel. Cartel
members also suspected Gonzalez-Galeana was cooperating with the U.S.
government.
On Tuesday, jurors acquitted Gracia, who was accused of attending
meetings in which the plot was developed. Apodaca, the admitted
shooter who killed Gonzalez-Galeana, and Duran, Apodaca's getaway
driver, both entered into tentative plea agreements with prosecutors
in exchange for their truthful testimony against their co-defendants.
If prosecutors determine Apodaca and Duran have complied with their
plea agreements, prosecutors will recommend that each be convicted of
murder. Apodaca would get a life sentence with the possibility of
parole, and Duran would get a 25-year prison sentence.
During Gracia's trial last week, a former El Paso police officer and
an El Paso police lieutenant testified that after responding to the
shooting on Pony Trail Place, they met with Gonzalez-Galeana's wife,
who was on the phone with a man who identified himself as an ICE
agent in Washington, D.C.
The former officer testified that Gonzalez-Galeana's wife said she
had been instructed to dial a phone number programmed into her
cellphone by her husband if anything happened to him. Both witnesses
also testified that the agent knew about the shooting moments after
it happened.
The police lieutenant testified that as homicide detectives were
responding to the scene of the shooting, a team of ICE agents also
showed up there.
Though Gonzalez-Galeana's wife would typically be considered a
witness, Garcia said, her whereabouts are unknown because she may be
under federal protective custody.
"There were ICE agents already on the phone talking to the wife of
the informant (possibly) giving her directions," Garcia said. "She's
a material witness É but I don't know where she's at."
During the hearing, Garcia had strong words for federal officials.
"If they don't want to allow the bringing in of these witnesses, they
(the federal government) should prosecute," Garcia said. "It's the
government of the people, by the people, for the people, except when
it comes to special agents."
Near the end of the hearing, Garcia told Assistant District Attorney
Lori Hughes that if ICE officials continue to refuse to cooperate,
prosecutors should consider taking "a second look at whether they to
continue to prosecute or not."
"We're not standing in the way of that," Hughes told Garcia. "We
would certainly prefer these agents come in and testify."
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