U.S. lawmen outgunned along Mexican border

WorldNetDaily ^ | July 17, 2006 | Joseph Farah

[Man50D]

Hundreds of rounds of automatic-weapons fire rained down on South Texas sheriff's deputies and Border Patrol agents from the Mexican side of the border as they investigated a horror story told by two American brothers who fled across the Rio Grande fearing for their lives.

Several Hidalgo County deputies and at least four Border patrol agents were met with a sustained hail of gunfire alternating from the south to the east and lasting nearly 10 minutes, the officers said.

Yet, not a single shot was returned by the deputies or the Border Patrol officers last Wednesday night because they were outmanned and outgunned – a condition increasingly common along the 2,000-mile U.S.-Mexico border, say law enforcement officials.

"This is one of the reasons that I do not allow my deputies to patrol the riverbanks or levies close to the river," explained Sheriff Lupe Treviño, "because we do know there are drug gangs and human trafficking gangs that will not hesitate to shoot in our direction to get us out of the area."

U.S. police officers and Border Patrol agents facing superior firepower from drug cartels, criminal street gangs and human smugglers based in Mexico? Yes, say law enforcement officials – and the situation is getting worse, not better.

Sigifredo Gonzales Jr., sheriff of Zapata County, Texas, recently testified in startling detail before a congressional committee how his officers are facing overwhelming odds in any confrontation with the criminal gangs who consider the border their turf.

"The cartels operating in Mexico and the United States have demonstrated that the weapons they possess can and will be used in protecting their caches," he said. "One informant familiar with the operations of these cartels mentioned to us that the weapons we use are water guns compared to what we will have to come up against if we ever have to. These cartels, known to frequently cross into the United States, possess and use automatic weapons, grenades and grenade launchers. They are also experts in explosives, wiretapping, counter-surveillance, lock-picking and GPS technology. They are able to monitor our office, home and cellular phone conversations. The original members of this cartel were trained in the United States by our government."

Gonzales was one of several law enforcement officials who testified before the Committee on House International Relations Subcommittee on International Terrorism and Nonproliferation on what they see as a serious terrorist threat at the Mexican border.

These powerful criminal gangs would not think twice about bringing terrorists or even weapons of mass destruction into the U.S. if the price was right, the officials agreed. Some of them believe they have already arrived.

"We continue to believe that terrorists have expressed an interest and a desire to exploit the existing vulnerabilities in our border security to enter or attack the United States," said Gonzales.

Some also believe that, for operational reasons, an undetected, illegal entry into the U.S. by al-Qaida agents, is preferable to a legal entry.

"For years we have seen individuals enter the country illegally," Gonzales testified. "However, recently, we feel that many of these persons are no longer entering the country to look for legitimate employment. We are now seeing that many of these persons are members of ruthless and violent gangs. All of us are concerned that the border with Mexico is being used as the front door to this country and that terrorists are already in our back yard."

He said many illegal immigrants from "countries of special interest" are attempting to blend in with the mostly Mexican population moving across the border.

"In May of this year my office received information that the cartels immediately across our border are planning on threatening or killing as many police officers as possible on the United States side," he said. "This is being planned for the purpose of attempting to 'scare us' away from the border. It is very possible these cartels may form the nexus, or have already formed one, with members of al-Qaida and other terrorist groups."

Gonzales mentioned that officers along the border have found many tell-tale signs of terrorist traffic – including Middle East currency and clothing and a jacket with patches from countries where al-Qaida is known to operate.

While officials in the U.S. continue to debate whether or not Mexican illegal immigration is good for the economy, Gonzales warns that a dramatic change in migration patterns has occurred.

"These immigrants are not the same as what we saw two or three years ago," he told members of Congress in a special hearing overlooking the border in Laredo, Texas. "Many of the immigrants have tattoos across their chest or back advertising what gang they belong to and demanding from the residents living along the border to use their phone or other necessities. They no longer ask for things but rather demand. These landowners, who have lived on their farms for decades, choose to move away from their properties."

Gonzales also says his officers have witnessed armed incursions into the U.S. from what appears to be members of the Mexican military.

"More and more we are seeing armed individuals entering our country through our counties," he said. "We feel that it is a matter of time before a shootout will occur. In the unfortunate event of a shootout, federal, state and local officers along the southwest border are not adequately armed. Compared to the ruthless and brazen and open behavior of the cartels we face, we are most certainly outmanned. In the event of a shootout, many casualties will likely occur. Federal, state and local officers all along the southwestern border are outgunned and outmanned."

Gonzales gets no argument from his colleague, Rick Flores, sheriff of Webb County, Texas.

"As open as our borders are to narcotics and human smuggling, so well-placed are these channels of contraband, that in the blink of an eye, people who seek entry with treacherous motives can easily pose as those who simply want a better life," he told the committee. "Our southern border is ripe for a terrorist pipeline – even assuming that not a single terrorist has infiltrated thus far, even assuming that we loack confirmation of Middle Eastern groups assimilating into the Mexican culture."

[mr_hammer]

Not in Cleveland! The cops in Shaker Hts. carry a Hekler & Koch Automatic assult style rifle.

I was at a drug store the other day when a cop pulled in next to me. Where once a 12ga. pump sat, now the auto rifle sits.

[arthurus]

Bit by bit it will become apparent, even to Bush and the Democrats that this World War includes the invasion from the south as it gets more and more violent. At some point we will start to lose agents to Mexican gunfire. It is already time to employ close air support but we will have to suffer some real incursions in force and probably many dead agents before anything real happens on our side.

[EricT.]

Sheriff Lupe Treviño needs to invest in a few of these.

[EricT.]

And a couple of these.

[Restorer]

The avgerage police officer has a 9mm and the average gangbanger/big drug dealers have mac-10's or other automatic weapons.

If true, remarkably few of them are used in murders. I believe the prevalence of such weapons on the street is largely a TV myth.

[butternut_squash_bisque]

"...criminal gangs who consider the border their turf..."

A couple US Military SF Units could make short work of those subhumans, I'd bet.

[rellimpank]

---you are correct--and statixtics prove it--

[Surrounded_too]

Motion detector with night vision enhancement guided robot machine gun nests could help.

Also select prisoners could volunteer and have a license to kill in certain areas with possibility of pardon after 1 or more years of service.

Crazy suggestions but not as crazy as welcoming an invasion of people bent on overthrowing the nation with yet-unconceived offspring who will harbor socialist and racist
inclinations.

[Thunder90]

Wait until the Cubans and Venezelans pay off the Mexican Military (they are trying right now to do this). They would then work for AMLO, and all hopes for a good mexico will be lost.

[af_vet_rr]

I believe the prevalence of such weapons on the street is largely a TV myth.

It's also a media myth - using anything small caliber doesn't get much attention, but for that one in 100,000 that uses something approaching military class, it's blasted all over the news like it's some kind of epidemic.

One of the grabbers' major successes is implanting this myth into many in the American public.

[AmericaUnited]

It's also a media myth - using anything small caliber doesn't get much attention, but for that one in 100,000 that uses something approaching military class, it's blasted all over the news like it's some kind of epidemic.

You mean like this story. 2000 miles of border, a few incidents like the one that occurred above, and redmeat generators like Farah act like the Mexican Army shooting up our border patrol agents with automatic weapons is some kind of epidemic. Same self-serving exaggeration.

[af_vet_rr]

Bit by bit it will become apparent, even to Bush and the Democrats that this World War includes the invasion from the south as it gets more and more violent.

We have to keep in mind that right now it's mainly an economic thing - this isn't just happning in North America, it's happening in other parts of the world - Asia, Europe (with its influx of Africans), etc. - the majority of the wealth is in the north no matter where you go (Australia and a few other places being the exception). The economists can diagram out all of the historical trends, the numbers, etc., but they can't give us a solution, other than to rebuild those areas (which leads to a chicken-egg problem, and leads to the question - how much would it cost us to do so - people joke about annexing Mexico and cleaning up its government and making it the 51st through 55 states, but sometimes I wonder if that's not too crazy of an idea).

At some point we will start to lose agents to Mexican gunfire.

We already have, at least indirectly, and not just border patrol. I have a cousin who works in that region in law enforcement, who knows fellow officers and agents from various agencies who have either left, retired, or asked to be transferred elsewhere, rather than dealing with the stress.

I have another cousin who is a park ranger at Big Bend - since 2000/2001, the number of illegals they've caught has more than tripled (well over a thousand) while the number of park rangers has remained the same (actually I think it went down a few rangers who have retired over the past year).

[af_vet_rr]

You mean like this story. 2000 miles of border, a few incidents like the one that occurred above, and redmeat generators like Farah act like the Mexican Army shooting up our border patrol agents with automatic weapons is some kind of epidemic. Same self-serving exaggeration.

It's more dangerous than you think - while there may not be that many shoot-outs, it's only because of the lack of agents/personnel along the border confronting the drug runners/smugglers. If we ramp up the numbers, I'm quite sure this would happen a lot more.

[AmericaUnited]

the majority of the wealth is in the north no matter where you go

I read a facinating book years ago on global climate and it's effect on civilization. It bascially said that because the northern' climate was cooler and more energizing, it produced cultures that were more productive. Seems to make sense to me. The heat makes me lazy.

[TXnMA]

"The original members of this cartel were trained in the United States by our government."

If that is so, we should know who they are. Hit-squad time!

As far as the scum shooting across the border, it is high time we returned the favor with some of these "Nasty Meds"... (Caution: extremely grapnic 2.3MB long-lens video of Talibunnies being taken out by long-range HE .50BMG Barret sniper rifle shots.)

[Ever see a flying terrorist?...] '-}

[af_vet_rr]

I read a facinating book years ago on global climate and it's effect on civilization. It bascially said that because the northern' climate was cooler and more energizing, it produced cultures that were more productive. Seems to make sense to me. The heat makes me lazy.

Some have taken it further out and said that because of what you mentioned, agriculture was able to truly come into being in the north and take hold, which freed up a lot of people to concentrate on other things. Basically, they could change from a "spend every waking moment gathering food and shelter materials" society to a "concentrate on building more permanent settlements around agriculture, freeing up other people to eventually work on refining various things leading to technological advances" society. Not to say that it couldn't happen in the south - with Egypt and the Mayan/Inca civilizations being some of the exceptions.

Either way, we have a serious problem - a lot of southern areas that either can't feed themselves for one reason or another (take some places in Africa were they did a piss-poor job of farming and helped ruin their land, and/or had to rely on outside help, which could be controlled by one warlord or another), or their economic situations (and governments) are in the dumps (i.e. the problem the US faces with Mexico).

The US has faced this in the past - when Europe had problems, whether it's the Irish Potato famine or whatever, the US was their outlet. When the US had problems in the East, opening up the West was their outlet.

Now we are seeing problems in Mexico and central and South America, and the US has become the outlet. I don't foresee those problems going away, and even if we throw up a serious wall, illegals will still make their way in one way or the other. I'm not advocating the annexation of Mexico, but at some point when 50+% of their citizens are here, then we might have a legal right to do so ;-)

[Jameison]

"I don't foresee those problems going away, and even if we throw up a serious wall, illegals will still make their way in one way or the other. "

The idea is to massively reduce illegal immigration across the Mexican border to a trickle.
We have the resources, the technology and the smarts to do it. This county has mastered greater challenges.
What is lacking is the political will in the Bush administration.

[af_vet_rr]

What is lacking is the political will in the Bush administration.

One of the biggest deterents is to remove the financial/economic incentives. That means removing the ability of illegals to work, which means putting people that hire illegals into jail, and making them and their companies face serious jail time.

You will not find any politician willing to throw the upper management of some of the larger corporations who benefit from illegals, in jail.

[arthurus]

If we do not deal with this thing it will be Rome's last days all over again and we didn't even make it from Republic to Empire.

[af_vet_rr]

If we do not deal with this thing it will be Rome's last days all over again and we didn't even make it from Republic to Empire.

I agree completly - it's not just immigration either, we have a lot of problems that run the gamut from illegals to politicians feeding at the trough and continously running the deficit up. It would take something radical to put the brakes on, and just what that is, I'm not sure.