ENFORCEMENT AND REFORM
*************************************************
Press Release:
National Association of Former Border Patrol Officers
April 25, 2011
On April 15, 2011, The National Association of Former Border Patrol Officers (NAFBPO) testified before a joint Congressional committee hearing of The Natural Resources Committee and The Government Oversight Committee in Washington, D.C.
Below is one of the written submissions from the Congressional Record.
Friday, April 22, 2011, The Chief of the Border Patrol from Washington DC Michael Fischer and The Chief of the Tucson Sector of the Border Patrol Randy Hill were in Cochise County apparently attempting to quell any further release of information concerning Customs and Border Protection intentionally reporting false statistics about aliens that have gotten away and agents being ordered to not work certain high traffic areas of the U.S. Mexico border. The information is widely reported by agents in the field and generally accepted as true.
Additionally, this week Commissioner Bersin from Customs and Border Protection is reportedly coming to visit Tucson. One has to wonder if the purpose of the visit could be to further deny that his organization is intentionally reporting false information to Congress and advising agents to not work certain high traffic areas along the U.S. Mexico border, specifically some areas in Cochise County Arizona. If true, both issues allow illegal aliens to enter the United States unnoticed and further compromise National Security and Public Safety.
NAFBPO consistently hears from current agents that they are instructed to stay out of the Whetstone and Chiricahua corridors. Moreover, The Huachuca Mountains are home to the U.S. Army Top Secret Intelligence School. We are hearing from agents that they are being told to not pursue illegal aliens passing through the Huachuca Mountains. Lack of agent access to federal public lands, Miller Peak Wilderness, is likely part of the problem.
Similarly, according to agents and residents in the areas east of Douglas, Arizona, particularly Guadalupe Canyon, agents do not have even marginal Border Patrol Radio coverage and have not had reliable radio coverage for years. This being the case, CBP knowingly prevents effective Border Patrol Operations in that area by not providing 100% reliable operational radio coverage. Sure, MOU or not, is this another case where federal public lands restrictions create problems concerning law enforcement access and trump National Security and Public Safety issues?
As for reporting false information about alien got-a-ways. Agents also tell NAFBPO that they are instructed, in essence, not to report any got-a-ways. Aliens are either apprehended or turned back south (TBS). To illustrate how this works…let’s say an infrared camera operator observes a group of 30 aliens walking around the Border Patrol Checkpoint on Highway 90 north of Huachuca City. He calls in mobile agents that apprehend 7 of the 30 aliens. According to outstanding instructions he is supposed to report 7 apprehensions and 23 TBS or turned back south. The truth is, those were 23 got-a-ways that continued their journey into the United States. This is called cooking the books because those 23 obviously did not return to Mexico and the reporting officer knows it.
The further truth is that Customs and Border Protection should know that at several stations in the Tucson Sector, on an average good day, they apprehend no more than ten percent of what is coming through and on a bad day less than five percent of what is coming through. Certainly not what is presently claimed.
http://www.svherald.com/content/news/2011/03/12/tucson-sector-border-chief-says-area-largely-under-control
http://www.svherald.com/content/news/2011/03/12/tucson-sector-border-chief-says-area-largely-under-control
Ask Commissioner Bersin the hard questions. Americans demand to know the truth.
Zack Taylor,
Founding Member
NAFBPO.org ********************************************************************************************
Founding Member
NAFBPO.org ********************************************************************************************
La Voz de la Frontera (Mexico) 04/24/2011
PRI emphasizes office specializing in murdered women
By Gustavo Garcia Rivas
MEXICALI, BAJA CALIFORNIA - The situation of violence in Baja California now accounts for crimes that are never resolved by the authorities, especially homicides. Society is demanding a real investigation, with the capture of the criminals and justice. This was pointed out by the deputies of the PRI in the State Congress , and would require the Attorney General of the State (PGJE) to create a specialized unit for investigating violent homicides against women.
They stressed that to date almost all of the violent murders committed against women have gone unpunished, and that state authorities have been unwilling to solve them because they attribute the murder to alleged ties to drug trafficking. Statistics show since 2007 to date, the percentage of murders of women in Mexico has increased, going from 1.8 to 10.11 per 100 thousand women. They warn that “it is possible that every day more cruel and degrading killings are committed against women…” and added that because this hurts society, there must be created within the PGJE a Public Ministry to investigate such killings.
“Otherwise we are letting pass an opportunity to avoid such a degree of insecurity for women in the State and will be reaching the level of insecurity of Ciudad Juárez, where it is likely that the problem is greater than that recognized by the authorities.”
______________________
Dialogo Americas 4/21/2011
Six FARC Rebels Die in Bombing in Northwestern Colombia
Six guerrillas belonging to the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) died in a bombardment in the northwestern part of the country, and another, suspected of an attack with explosives in 2003, was arrested in the south, official sources announced on 17 April. Defense Minister Rodrigo Rivera specified at a press conference that “a well-aimed blow was successfully struck at a camp of the FARC’s Front 57, a sort of training school, in the department of Chocó (in northwestern Colombia).”
According to the report, in a joint operation with police ‘jungle’ special forces, Colombian Air Force (FAC) planes bombed the camp, located in a rural area of Riosucio (Chocó). The operation left six rebels dead, including one with an alias ‘Gloria,’ suspected of acting as an ideological officer for that faction of the insurgent group. The police found a large number of weapons and propaganda materials in the camp. They also found a minor who was turned over to child protective services.
Elsewhere, in an operation carried out in a rural area of the town of San Vicente del Caguán, in the department of Caquetá (in southern Colombia), Aldemar Soto (alias ‘the engineer’), active in the FARC for twenty-five years, was arrested. Soto is accused of activating a ‘house bomb’ on 14 February 2003, near the airport of the city of Neiva (in southwestern Colombia), in an attempted attack on then-president Alvaro Uribe (2002-2010).
According to the Army, the insurgent was sentenced in absentia to thirty years in prison for that attack.
______________________
Proceso (Mexico) 4/23/2011
The Drug War: Victory Unattainable
Since 2009 Alfonso Reyes Garcés, Infantry Commander and member of the Army Special Forces in Mexico, has warned that the federal government’s strategy to combat drug trafficking was intended to fail. Not change, he said, the cartel war will never end. And he expanded on the topic in his master’s thesis, presented in December of that year at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California. Among its criticisms, the naval officer said that if the drug is a threat to national security, then it must be treated as such. The strategy has not changed and, indeed, the government and its armed forces have no way of claiming that they can achieve victory…
Reluctant to change the strategy that exacerbated the violence in the country, the government of Felipe Calderón is trapped in an “endless war” against drugs, and within less than two years of him of leaving power, he does not even know under what parameters may have a victory. This assessment of what has been the policy of this administration is written by the Commander of infantry and Special Forces member Alfonso Reyes Garcés. He wrote in his master’s thesis that he presented at the Naval Postgraduate School (NPS, for its acronym in English) of Monterey, California, naval training center for U.S.
Currently assigned to the Marine Battalion 27 in the Federal District, Reyes Garcés graduated in December 2009 from the NPS, where he specialized in the Department of Defense Analysis, a division dedicated to the preparation of cadres for future battles, especially on issues of terrorism, insurgency, unconventional warfare and information operations. U.S. and foreign military graduates of this division is now operating in Iraq, Afghanistan, the Philippines and Colombia as part of their training in irregular warfare, in which some U.S. analysts place the “insurgency criminal” who Mexico and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and other U.S. officials have characterized as “narcoinsurgencia.”
Calderon’s strategy to combat drug trafficking in the current presidential term, mainly by increasing violence, had negative consequences.
______________________
Shorts:
MICHOACAN, MEXICO: Federal Police ambushed Sunday afternoon on highway between Guadalajara and Morelia. Five agents wounded and flown out by chopper. Gunmen used heavy assault weapons.-Milenio
BRAZIL: 23 cities declare state of emergency due to rains. A landslide buried 6 homes, killing an entire family of 7. So far, 12 total have died. Another 27 cities may declare an emergency.-La Prensa
COSTA RICA: Four men shot and killed.-Al Dia (CR)
COLOMBIA – Sixteen national roads closed due to landslides caused by torrential rains. As the Bogotá River flow increases, and flood gates are opened, at least 8 towns are on high alert.-El Espectador
Another report says 93 dead, 5 missing, and 69,000 are homeless.
VENEZUELA: Seven indigenous Indians gunned down. in the western part of the country. They are members of the Wayuu tribe. Violent crime is a major problem throughout Venezuela affecting all social classes.-Frontera
TIJUANA, MEXICO: Municipal police arrested three for possession of crystal meth. On questioning, they confessed to involvement of the killing of 6 persons in Colonia Niño Artillero.-Frontera
DURANGO, MEXICO: More bodies found in graves. Count now up to 41 total.-El Universal
NOGALES, MEXICO: Two bodies found in pit near Nogales. Been there about 2 months.-El Universal Another 5 bodies were found a few days ago.
NICARAGUA: Over 50 kilos of cocaine seized from fisherman in a panga boat by Nicaraguan military.-La Prensa (NI)
ACAPULCO, GUERRERO: Tourist leave 6,000 tons trash in 5 days.-El Universal
______________________
Blog del Narco (www.blogdelnarco.com)
GUASAVE, SINALOA: Army captures 5 gunmen implicated in slaughter of 7 state police officers. One of those arrested is a former municipal police supervisor. Seized AR-15 rifle, four AK-47 rifles, a .45 pistol, a hand grenade, 35 magazines, 899 cartridges, five kilograms of marijuana, a Mazda vehicle, among other things.
MIGUEL ALEMAN, TAMAULIPAS: Update: Initial clash was between the Zetas and the Gulf cartel. One gunman, and one soldier were killed, with ten arrested. Seized were 20 rifles, 2 handguns, 4 fragmentation grenades, four 40 mm grenades, 307 magazines, more than seven thousand rounds of ammunition, radio equipment, cell phones, tactical equipment and 4 vehicles.
MONTERREY, GUADALUPE AND CADEREYTA; Armed cartel gunmen continued attacks in these three locales. Vehicles in a car lot were burned, businesses attacked. A father waiting for his daughter working at Church’s Chicken was shot and killed in his vehicle. Grenades were thrown at and damaged a Ford and Jaguar dealerships and a store. Municipal police managed to stop a van, rescue a kidnapped person, and arrest several Seized were Uzi submachine gun, a .9 mm HK rifle, a .308 rifle, one AK-47 rifle, four bulletproof vests, radio equipment, cell phones, cash, and a machine to count bills.
CADEREYTA JIMENEZ, NUEVO LEON: Three bodies found in narco grave. Also found stolen truck at same location. Searching continues, as arrested suspects indicate there are more graves.
GUERRERO: Bodies of eight men found on a rural cattle ranch. In another small rural town, three more executed men were found.
CIUDAD JUAREZ, CHIHUAHUA: Narco pintas (graffiti messages on walls) left threatening guards at the prison. (Just this past week, a prison van was attacked, killing the driver, and freeing the inmates.)
CHIHUAHUA, CHIHUAHUA: Five men sitting together outside their home executed. Two were brothers, and 3 of their friends.
AMADO NERVO, NAYARIT: Military located narco encampment, and seized vehicles and equipment. No arrests made.
TAMAULIPAS: State Attorney General confirms attacks Saturday on commercial buses, with 3 injured, one still in ICU. All three buses showed bullet holes.
GÓMEZ PALACIO, DURANGO: Four municipal police officers tortured, assassinated and bodies dumped outside of town.
TAMAULIPAS: Continuing attacks in the state, since Thursday, with reports slow.
________________
Five females found with throats slashed in Acapulco
(In a Spanish language paper from there, is this item, right beside the piece on 5 women being decapitated: Guerrero exceeded 90% occupancy: Angel Aguirre, the governor of Guerrero said that this holiday season has been very good for the state, since the three major tourist destinations had higher levels of hotel occupancy.)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
GUATEMALA: Plaza Publica: The Ghost of the Zetas
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
MEXICO: Innocent bus passengers caught in the crossfire in Tamaulipas
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Mexican mayor survives bullets, gets his own song
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Opinion: Colorado Voices: The tragic murder of a miracle child in Juarez
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
MEXICO: Two arrested, weapons seized in San Fernando
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Mass graves in Mexico reveal new levels of savagery
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Mexican brothers face death in Malaysia drug trial
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Entire family swept away by flood waters in Venezuela
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Narco Wars: Mexico’s Youngest Assassins
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Small Plane Crash in Brazil Kills 7
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
ECUADOR: Colombian Drug Boss Arrested
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
DHS Can’t Account for 10 Libyan Men It Caught and Released Inside U.S.
http://tinyurl.com/3tzr7f7
http://tinyurl.com/3tzr7f7
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
ALASKA: Anchorage officer charged with passport fraud
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
National Insecurity -Excellent read.
Part 1: A Culture of Federal Corruption and Collusion
National Insecurity – Part 2: Fed’s Message to Border Agents: Back Off!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
ARIZONA: 30 days of Border Patrol Reports…they’ve been busy seizing drugs
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Rehberg wants money for northern border protection
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
CALIFORNIA: 4 Arrested in Case of Opium Hidden in Shovels, 127 Pounds of Pot Uncovered
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
ARIZONA: Chuy’s raids create unrest in Tucson’s immigrant community -The illegals were warned in advance by ICE
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
CALIFORNIA: Two Brothers Arrested in King City For Mother’s Day Murder in Mexico
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
ARIZONA: Smugglers use portable ramp to jump border fence
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Border Patrol Seizes Fake Coins at O’Hare
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Legislator: Feds lied on immigration
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
ICE is right to go after employers on illegal workers
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
TEXAS Smugglers Tries To Evade Police By Throwing Marijuana Out Window During Chase
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
TEXAS: Del Rio Border Patrol Agents honored for actions
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Distilling The Facts About Securing The Southwestern Border With Mexico Can Be Tricky
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Source: NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF FORMER BORDER PATROL OFFICERS
Visit our website:http://www.nafbpo.org
Visit our website:http://www.nafbpo.org
