Posted on 08/21/2009 12:22:12 PM PDT by SwinneySwitch
SOUTH OF SAN JUAN — A group of suspected drug smugglers attacked two U.S. Border Patrol agents with rocks during a chase near the Rio Grande on Thursday evening.
Agents were following a vehicle loaded with marijuana when the driver stopped at the riverbank and fled on foot, Border Patrol spokesman John Lopez said.
As agents approached the vehicle to retrieve the drugs, five men emerged from the dense brush and began hurling large rocks at them.
“For what reason, that’s unknown to us,” Lopez said about the group’s possible motive. “But the danger presented by a rock in that area is very real.”
One of the agents, fearing for his own life and that of his partner, fired his weapon toward the group, Lopez said.
The five men struck the Border Patrol vehicle with rocks numerous times before fleeing toward Mexico. No arrests were made in connection with the attack and no injuries were reported.
The vehicle was carrying about 751 pounds of marijuana with an estimated street value of $601,000.
The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration seized the narcotics and the vehicle.
Lopez said the agency is coordinating with Mexican authorities to find the men and determine if any were shot as they fled.
On Tuesday, authorities arrested an 18-year-old who told investigators he struck a Border Patrol agent with an ATV and fled the scene.
Orlando Lara told investigators he rammed into Agent Anthony Gutierrez that night near the intersection of Farm-to-Market Road 1427 and Military Highway, according to a criminal complaint filed Wednesday in the U.S. District Court in McAllen.
Dazed and fearing for his life after the collision, the injured agent fired at least one gunshot as the ATV sped away from the scene, Lopez said.
If convicted of assaulting a federal agent, Lara could spend up to 20 years in federal prison.
Gutierrez told FBI agents he was stunned, his forehead was bleeding, he had temporarily lost vision in one eye, and he believed both his legs were broken, the criminal complaint in that case states.
The rocks were sold across the border by nefarious American rock dealers...
Rock Control NOW!!
/sarc
The illegals have been emboldened by our government’s lack of enforcement of our present laws. Thanks for actively working against your own citizens, government.
Exactly. The nerve of them bringing rocks to a gun fight.
Talk about bringing a rock to a gun fight.
They are throwing rocks Americans will not throw.
On the contrary.
The Border Patrol brought their guns to a rock fight. They wouldn't shoot them and they couldn't throw them, so in the end they were outgun.., er, ..rocked!
They should have KILLED the bastards after they threw the first rock!
Ping!
If you want on, or off this S. Texas/Mexico ping list, please FReepMail me.
All this violence by Mexico, and our “President” goes down and kisses Mexico’s butt...disgusting.
Related items from NAFBPO M3 Foreign news report:
Mexico ranked 16th most violent country in the world (10 in Latin America and we worry about the middle east!)
Critica (Hermosillo, Sonora) 8/18/09
Mexico’s “CIDAC” (Center of Research for Development, an “NGO”) has published a 16 page Spanish language document which states that Chihuahua, Baja California and the state of Mexico head the list with the most homicides, vehicle thefts and executions in Mexico; it adds that, on a world scale, Mexico ranks 16th with the highest index of violence and crime among 115 nations. The study sets out that the nation’s gravest problems are “the non-existence of an integral vision that might emphasize prevention; the lack of professionalism of police and of agents charged with carrying out justice; a penal system without transparency re discretion and corruption as well as an extremely high impunity rate which reaches 98.3% (the probability that a person who breaks the law may have to face a judge is 1.7%)”
The entire report [ we have not translated it; it’s in the Spanish language ] from CIDAC is attached. Page 7 of the report lists the 16 most violent countries of the world. Ten of these are in Latin America or the Caribbean. The report was also found on the front page at www.cidac.org.
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Monday 8/17/09
Cartels assuming mafia roles; Feds lacking support from state and local enforcement
El Universal (Mexico City) and Cambio de Michoacan (Morelia, Michoacan) 8/16/09
La Familia, Michoacan’s de facto government
In Hidalgo City, Michoacan, some 35 miles east of the state’s capital of Morelia, merchants know well the payment list for “protection” exacted by the drug cartel La Familia Michoacana in order to stay in business: 100 pesos [$7.75] monthly for a vendor’s stand in an alley, on up to 30,000 pesos [$2,335] for an automotive or builders supply concession. If one doesn’t pay, he suffers a beating. A second such offense can result in death. ”Yes, it is La Familia… they take you away and they beat you up. Every day the victims [the word used was madreados, a term not politely translated] arrive at the hospital,” commented a mechanic.
The drug cartels have truly become mafias of extortion, charging for protection and dealing in everything, even pirating movies on DVDs. Cocaine no longer generates the profit it did because it has become ever more difficult to trick the Mexican and US authorities, which is why the cartels have gone to additional criminal activities, including those easier and more profitable than drugs. Two and a half years ago, President Calderon launched the fierce campaign against narcotraffic, which has already killed 11,000 people and converted quiet rural localities like Hidalgo City into battle fields. The criminal gangs are now inserting themselves into the Mexican society as never before, making it harder to fight them. They manage businesses, generate employment and offer social services not provided by the government. The local authorities say they do not have enough people to investigate the gangs and ask the state to intervene. The state, in turn, passes the responsibility on to the federal government, since organized crime is in that jurisdiction.
A police report on the cartel in April pointed out that “a sense of ‘impunity’ is derived from the confidence that no one is going to confront them, not the police (because in many cases it is presumed that corruption exists within the police forces), nor the civilian society (because they live intimidated and their panic impedes action).” In Hidalgo and neighboring cities, civil authorities are thought to work for La Familia Michoacana since the criminal organization controls most of the central and western parts of Mexico.
In Arteaga, another city in Michoacan, the “capo” of La Familia, Servando Gomez Martinez, “La Tuta,” is venerated because he helps the people with food, clothing and even medical services. ”He has the reputation as a man who helps people. He’s a common man like us who wears huaraches,” said a farmer, pointing to his own native sandals. An agent from the US, speaking anonymously, said, “This is like Chicago when Al Capone managed it all. He controlled everything from shoeshine boys to taxi drivers.”
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