Posted on 05/19/2010 8:49:54 AM PDT by Responsibility2nd
McALLEN — Heavily armed Mexican freshwater pirates have been shaking down U.S. boaters on Falcon Lake, a reservoir and bass fishing haven that straddles the Rio Grande.
At least three such incidents have been reported since April 30, the latest on Sunday, according to a Texas Department of Public Safety warning issued Tuesday that linked the muggings to northern Mexico's increasing lawlessness.
According to descriptions of the incidents, the robbers — in at least one case posing as Mexican federal law enforcement officers — searched fishermen's boats for guns and drugs, then demanded cash at gunpoint.
One of the incidents reportedly occurred on the U.S. side of the lake.
“The robbers are believed to be members of a drug trafficking organization or members of an enforcer group linked to a drug trafficking organization who are ... using AK-47s or AR-15 rifles to threaten their victims,” the DPS statement said. “They appear to be using local Mexican fishermen to operate the boats to get close to American fishermen.”
It was unclear why sport fishermen were targeted, but the warning comes only a few weeks before bass fishing tournaments that are among the South Texas border region's biggest tourist draws.
DPS spokesman Tom Vinger said the warning was issued in part because of the upcoming tournaments.
Zapata County Sheriff Sigifredo Gonzalez said he would be discussing security concerns with tournament participants and has been reviewing protective measures with the DPS Border Security Operations Center and the region's Fusion Center, a federal information clearinghouse for terrorism prevention and response.
Reported victims included:
• Five people in two boats who were approached by four tattooed men April 30 claiming to be “federales” near the church at Old Guerrero, a once-submerged town on the Mexican side of the lake. The men boarded their boats, demanded cash and asked “where are the drugs?” They then took $200 from the Americans and followed the boats until they re-entered U.S. waters.
• Three fishermen who were approached May 6 by a boat containing two men who pointed AR-15s — the civilian version of the U.S. military's M-16 assault rifle — at them. One boarded the fishing boat, searched for drugs, cash and guns, chambered a round in his rifle and told the fishermen he would shoot them if they did not give him money.
• Boaters on the U.S. side of the lake who were approached by a boat containing five armed men on May 16, according to second-hand reports that reached law enforcement officers. The DPS said it couldn't confirm if the boaters had been robbed.
Tuesday's notice urged fishermen to stay as far as possible from any of the Argos-type boats typically used as fishing vessels by Mexican fishermen, which DPS said had large prows, small outboard motors without cowling and no identification numbers on the hulls.
Boaters on the lake also were urged to stay within U.S. waters and file a float plan with family members.
Falcon Lake is an approximately 60-mile-long reservoir on the Rio Grande fronting Starr and Zapata counties on the Texas side and shared between the United States and Mexico. It was formed by a dam in 1953 to conserve water for agriculture and control downstream flooding.
Coming to a lake near you!
“wherever there is a mexican...there is mexico...”
Si ARRGGGGGG!
mexico is a basket case.
LOL! Spinless RINO’s Rick Perry, Kay Bailey and John Cornyn will do nothing. Why do Texas elect coward s**t like those people. We have the same RINOs in FL with fairy Crist and Marcos Rubio.
Time to launch McCain’s Navy!
Yep.....and the American people don’t want Mexico here on this side of the border. People want to boycott something? Boycott Mexico. Vacation someplace else.
What’s next? Are we going to be in a shooting war with the narco gangs on one side and Texas civilians on the other? While the Mexican govt and obama regime sit by and watch? More likely DC will send an army of their goofs here to enforce US gun laws.
For money?
So what happens when one of these Mexican “officials” is shot by an American inside the US border on the lake?
PING!
(I don’t see anything to suggest that they aren’t mexican law enforcement.mexico is a basket case.)
I agree, the natives in Baja that I have known over the years are terrified of the Federales. When they bring their drunken asses into town the locals go into seclusion. They demand food, drink, and who knows what else from the local businessmen.
I have not been down there for years. The greatest fishing I have ever seen is on the Sea of Cortez. The locals were friendly and glad to see us but I took their advice and stayed away from the Federales. They are sort of the Mexican version of the BATFE (IMO).
Fake cops ping.
So much for the feds protecting the States from invasion. Texas had best get their act together.
Not in Mexico. Those cops were probably real and shaking down tourists is standard operating procedure.
Only a fool would travel to Mexico or the Mexican border.
“the natives in Baja that I have known over the years are terrified of the Federales. When they bring their drunken asses into town the locals go into seclusion. They demand food, drink, and who knows what else from the local businessmen.”
Sounds like Clint Eastwood needs to saddle up and ride on down there...;)
Texas had best get their act together.
_____________________________
If only we could. Gov. Good-Hair has come out in support of illegal immigration. (his comments on the AZ Immigration Law)
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