Posted on 02/24/2005 8:14:49 AM PST by tomball
Former Mexican soldiers, police and federal agents, originally trained as an elite force of anti-drug commandos, are working as mercenaries for Mexican narcotics traffickers, bringing a new wave of drug-related killings into the United States, authorities said.
Law-enforcement and intelligence officials said the well-armed gang, known as the "Zetas," is linked to hundreds of killings and dozens of kidnappings on both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border, particularly over a wide area of southeastern Texas from Laredo to Brownsville and in cities throughout Mexico.
In protecting established drug corridors into the United States, gang leaders have targeted U.S. Border Patrol agents and state and local police, authorities said, along with Mexican military and law-enforcement personnel, even offering bounties of up to $50,000.U.S. intelligence officials said the Zetas might have obtained Soviet-made SA-7 shoulder-mounted missile launchers off the black market, although information on the purchase is sketchy. The Bush administration has been concerned in recent weeks about the fate of Soviet-provided SA-7s in Nicaragua, about 80 of which have not been accounted for by the government and are thought to have been sold on the black market.
(Excerpt) Read more at washtimes.com ...
It is time we brought in OUR military
Free-trade, lack of action on our open border bump!
Unfortunately, this and the fact that a few former U.S. and foreign soldiers are doing likewise, have been well known within law enforcement circles - especially the USBP - for quite some time.
Was in El Paso/Juarez two weeks ago. Noticed the Mexican motorcycle cops wear silver spurs on their boots.
It's time we legalized drugs.
When you legalize drugs be prepared to support user habits with your taxes.
Those roaches perceive us as weak since we never do anything to retaliate!
You are right. Law enforcement has known this has been going on long since before I worked narcotics on the border in the 90's.
I think National Guard units should rotate in and out of the border states for summer duty. The rest of the year the Army should patrol it.
First we have to undo the treaty we signed with Mexico promising not to patrol our borders with troops. It scares them.
We have been supporting users' habits via taxation since prohibition. Weak people with bad habits should not be turned into criminals any more than cigarette smokers should be demonized.
We have been funding addicts via Social Security Disability, and providing shelter to drug dealers via welfare for many years. And for years we have been funding the "drug wars" industry under the guise that it will solve the "drug problems" that have existed with man since the beginning of time.
Our taxes go to funding "drug wars" that only erode innocent citizens constitutional rights, and places them in harm's way. So far, the "drug wars" have alienated non-violent taxpaying citizens via incarceration, and feeds a court system that cannot even begin to contain its most violent criminals. Supporting "drug wars" only exacerbates the problem, and further legitimizes the "police state" mentality that goes with it.
It's a no win situation. You legalize drugs, you support a user's habits. You support a drug war, you not only support a user's habits, you perpetuate the industry that feeds it.
Good idea.
Good idea.
We Do? What room-temperature IQ idiot stuck us with that?
Darn straight we need to undo the treaty. Just scrap it unilaterally and let Mexico squirm. What are they going to do, invade us? Oh wait, aren't they doing that anyway?
I have seen too many junkies to want drugs legalised.IMO most people who want legalised drugs are already using them in some form. Now thats just an opinion. mind you and not an accusation.
I know when I worked an Ambulance the police would arrest a drunk on the street and he would go to jail at least until he sobered up. A drug overdose would be given Narcan get up and walk away. Something about that simply isnt right. How many drug overdose cases go to a hospital and walk away scot free after being examined, and we pick up the bill.?
First we have to undo the treaty we signed with Mexico promising not to patrol our borders with troops. It scares them.
We have a treaty with them not to patrol the border? What room-temperature IQ idiot stuck us with that?
Darn straight we need to undo the treaty. Just scrap it unilaterally and let Mexico squirm. What are they going to do, invade us? Oh wait, aren't they doing that anyway?
The Congress shall have Power...
Clause 11: To declare War, grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal...
In days of yore, any *zeta* caught on this side of the border would have been fair game. Border area property owners, former US LE & Military, etc. should be granted LOM by Congress to nail these guys. Instead of throwing good money after bad with no results, Congress would only pay out once results have been achieved.
I'm not in favor of (drug) legalization, but I'm also against the WOD in the unconstitutional and ineffective manner it is presently being waged. The current tactics and strategy being employed are not only losing the war, but shredding the constitution. It is way past time to relook how this war is being conducted and make some significant changes.
A history buff will have to refresh my memory but we signed a treaty in the 19th century or early 20th that we would not use troops to patrol our southern border because they were scared we would invade them. I think it was an off-shoot of the Spanish-American War. They saw what we could do in Cuba and it made them nervous.
The Border Patrol was instantiated as result.
How many tobacco smokers are getting cigarettes at taxpayers'expense? And how many people am I buying drinks for? Please either post or tell me where to find the stats on this. I had not been aware of it.
This program was begun by Madeline Albright and the State Department. The military had no input into whether this program was a smart idea. It also had no control over who was sent for training. Ms. Albright also required the military to train these individuals on tactics and techniques that are generally not taught to non-US personnel. These guys were trained in some very advance counter-terrorism tactics and then returned to Mexico. Many of them immediately went to work for the bad guys who pay better than the government. After crimes began to occur using tactics that could have only come from the US Military, Ms. Albright quietly killed the program. Not, however, before several hundred Mexican officers received some of the most advanced training the US has ever given to any other military.
If you read Spanish you can read about this at http://www.leavenworth.army.mil/milrev/Spanish/SepOct02/burton.htm
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.