Posted on 10/17/2007 1:36:20 PM PDT by SwinneySwitch
Report: This will be deadly year for Mexican drug-related crimes
AUSTIN — Escalating violence from Mexico's drug cartels and deteriorating security across the border will make 2007 the most deadly year yet for Mexican drug-related crime, according to a report by a former U.S. counterterrorism agent.
Law enforcement on the U.S. side of the border has trouble battling drug smuggling and the violence that spills into the United States because of poor coordination, corruption and lack of resources, said the report by the Austin consulting firm Stratfor.
Fred Burton, a former State Department counterterrorism agent and now vice president for counterterrorism with Stratfor, made the report available to his fellow members of the governor's Border Security Council.
"The deteriorating security situation has profound implications not only for Mexico but also for the United States, since drug violence increasingly crosses the border," the report states.
An advance copy of the 17-page report was obtained early by the Houston Chronicle. Stratfor released the report Wednesday.
Throughout the 17-page report, Stratfor describes two of the most powerful Mexican drug cartels, Sinaloa and Gulf, and their turf battles. Despite Mexican President Felipe Calderon's efforts, drug violence has escalated, the report said.
There were 1,543 drug-related killings in Mexico in 2005 and more than 2,100 in 2006, and with more than 2,100 estimated since Jan. 1 it will "certainly make this year the deadliest yet," the report states.
The Associated Press reported in August that at least seven killings in Laredo in the last two years were linked to the Sinaloa and Gulf cartels. Rosalio "Bart" Reta, a 17-year-old U.S. citizen and alleged soldier for the Gulf cartel, pleaded guilty this summer to a Laredo killing and still faces charges on others.
The report states: "On the U.S. side, however, the under-reporting of crimes ... and corruption among low- and mid-level U.S. law enforcement officials facilitate the northward spread of cartel activity."
Conrado Cantu, the former Cameron County sheriff whose territory included the border city of Brownsville, is serving 24 years in federal prison for drug trafficking, extortion and corruption. Three National Guardsmen deployed to the Laredo sector have been charged with human smuggling; one of them has pleaded guilty.
The border security council was set up to help state officials figure out where to spend the $100 million that the Legislature authorized this year to help law enforcement along the Mexican border.
Burton said Wednesday he believes his fellow border security council members understand the seriousness of the drug violence and its threat to the United States. The council held its first meetings recently in border cities.
The state could help by providing overtime money and equipment upgrades for local law enforcement departments in Texas' border region, Burton said.
Follow the money!
They are being emboldened by week-kneed government enforcement and reaction to their misdeeds. No wonder they act this way.
Just threatening the border, ordinary Americans won’t.
The 1500 Mexican drug deaths trails the number of black on black murders in American cities.
Wait I got this one!
1) End the W.O.D., thereby eliminating the “profit” from the sale of drugs.
2) Use money by ending W.O.D. to secure the border.
3) PROBLEM SOLVED!!!
Ping!
If you want on, or off this S. Texas/Mexico ping list, please FReepMail me.
Is that a backdoor way of saying, “It’s not that important”
....Is that a backdoor way of saying, “It’s not that important...
I suppose you are correct.
My intention was to point out there is a war, largely concerning drugs, taking place in American cities that gets no attention because Rats know that to raise the issue results in political death.
And of course there's always the threat of being imprisoned for doing their jobs.
Criminal gang turf wars. We have 3 times the population not even including all the illegals. There’s a lot of brown on black deaths in this country also. (not nearly as reported in the media because they’re illegals)
The Mexican mafia (any number of cartel members, MS13, etc) have infiltrated NA and Canada, taking over criminal operations from blacks and other foreign gangs. Once here, they’re hard to root out.
But this habit will come in handy when the time comes to utterly extirpate this gangster virus.
We better get busy. This problem is rapidly getting worse by the say.
ping
And they have the support of Johnny Sutton. And BP agents who dare to protect the border are likely to end up in jail.
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