Posted on 07/10/2009 5:02:10 PM PDT by SwinneySwitch
ZAPATA COUNTY - Zapata County residents say their backyards are becoming the new stomping grounds for organized crime.
"No one should be living here. As bad as it is, no one should be living here," says Angie Botello, who lives in San Ygnacio.
The historic town sits on the river's edge in the rolling brush lands of Zapata County.
Angie Botello is another one of the 800 people who call San Ygnacio home. She tells us, "There's a lot of smuggling that goes on here. A lot of people that cross all the time. All kinds of drugs. A lot of shootings in the river and everything."
Even deputies take no chances in the area.
"You always have to get prepared for the worst over here," explains Sergeant Greg Gutierrez, of the Zapata County Sheriff's Department.
NEWSCHANNEL 5 learned drugs and people are often stashed in century-old sandstone buildings or nearby thickets of brush.
"We've gotten several loads coming though here, where they just park their vessel, reverse their trucks, then put in whatever cargo they have - narcotics or humans," says Gutierrez.
Smugglers use the locals to do their dirty work.
Salazar tells us, "It's pretty easy to get mixed up. A lot of kids get mixed up with the wrong people."
We spotted fresh tracks along the river, which is evidence someone just crossed here. Gutierrez tells us there are several spots along the river like this.
The county presents a unique challenge. It covers 1,000 square miles. Most of that land stretches along the river and Falcon Lake. There are hundreds of acres of open land. There are just 28 deputies to patrol the entire area.
In addition to that, Zapata County won't have a border wall to slow down criminals.
"This border is very, very vulnerable," says Zapata County Sheriff Sigifredo Gonzalez.
Gonzalez, who is also the president of the Southwestern Border Sheriff's Coalition, claims it's a growing problem that needs to be acknowledged.
"People who live along the border, they don't know what's going on. They have a false sense of security about what's happening along the border," he explains.
"We can say that we've always had kidnappings and carjackings and things like this, but I tend to disagree, especially in Zapata County," says the sheriff. "We've never had them. In one year, we hit seven."
Gonzalez says run-ins between smugglers and police all along the border are on the rise.
He adds criminals are getting more brazen. The sheriff points to pictures taken in Hidalgo County as proof. They show a man in Mexico boldly aiming his rifle at American officers. The incident happened south of Donna.
A lack of firepower is one of the many issues the sheriff's department faces.
The sheriff admits he's outgunned.
"These cartel members use rocket-propelled grenade launchers and grenades," he explains. "We don't carry grenades with use. We're a police agency. We're most certainly out gunned. Definitely."
However, the sheriff's department isn't unprepared.
Deputies carry fully-automatic weapons.
"This is the P90. It's a machine gun, doesn't look very pretty but we're not looking for pretty. We're looking for what's going to do the trick for us," says Gutierrez.
When the sun goes down, the risk for officers goes up. Falcon Lake is a top pick for smugglers sneaking into the country.
They operate under the cover at darkness. If it wasn't for the special police equipment, deputies would see very little.
The desolation in the area translates into desperation for law enforcement. They don't just want help. They need it.
The sheriff says Washington and the public needs to pay attention. But Gonzalez adds he knows the realities of Washington and admits it could take years to get the help he needs.
Until then, the sheriff says he'll keep patrolling the river, the lake, and the acres of open land trying to protect his country and the people of Zapata County.
Just think of it as some of that “dirversity” stuff.
Right.
Don’t expect help from any government agency. They prefer to blame Americans for selling the guns to the smugglers!
It will take armed citizens and outside help here.
Ping!))
If you want on, or off this S. Texas/Mexico ping list, please FReepMail me.
“We don’t carry grenades with us.”
Not a problem. He should check the endcap shelves at Wal-Mart.
“He should check the endcap shelves at Wal-Mart.”
Wait....
He should check the endcap shelves at SUPERMERCADO DE WALMART.”
There, fixed it.
Wal-Mart woos Hispanics with new Supermercado
Reuters
PHOENIX/SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Lifting her 2-year-old daughter Shayla into a shopping cart at the Supermercado de Walmart here in Phoenix, Elizabeth Hernandez searches for just the right words to describe her feelings.
But she is searching for the right words in English.
“I feel more comfortable shopping here,” said Hernandez, an admittedly shy 32-year-old Phoenix homemaker who is fluent in Spanish. “I don’t have to know the exact right words to get what I need. It makes me feel more at home.”
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20090708/us_nm/us_walmart_supermercado_1
Man that gun is butt-ugly.
“Zapata County residents say their backyards are becoming the new stomping grounds for organized crime.”
Gee...ya think? I’m 800 miles from the border and my backyard is stomping ground for armed Mexican drug cartels.
More from NAFBPO today:
July 9, 2009 http://www.familysecuritymatters.org/publications/id.3701/pub_detail.asp
How Gangs Threaten Us All
Douglas Farah
For those interested in exploring one of the greatest internal and transnational threats to the United States, there is a new book out this week by Samuel Logan, This is For the Mara Salvatrucha: Inside the MS-13, America’s Most Violent Gang.
The book traces the history of Brenda Paz, a young Honduran who joins MS-13 and eventually becomes the most effective police witness against the organization, before she was killed. But besides the individual story, the book shows just how powerful and ruthless the MS-13 has become. Given that it now has chapters in thousands of cities across the United States, and maintains its transnational structure through the clan structure in Central America
, the gang (or mara in Spanish) presents a significant challenge.
But it is not just a local law enforcement issue. It is truly a transnational threat that can destroy countries. Monday, I heard Carlos Castresana Fernandez, head of the International Commission Against Impunity in Guatemala
(Comision Internacional Contra la Impunidad en Guatemala-CICIG) discuss the serious problems of the organized criminal networks operating out of Guatemala.
He noted how the already-disturbing situation in Guatemala had gotten dramatically worse in the past three years and Mexican and Colombian cartel operatives, particularly Los Zetas, moved in and took control of local criminal operations.
The cartels were aided and abetted in their takeover efforts by the local gangs, primarily MS-13. On Guatemala’s northern border with Mexico, Castresana Fernandez said, the organized criminal groups and gangs are the only authority, in the face of the complete absence of the state. “Maras plus organized crime has proven deadly,” he said.
That is the reality on the ground in much of Central America. The gangs are increasingly moving from local criminal operations, coordinated with their partner gangs in the United States, to move illicit products like stolen cars, methamphetamine and weapons, into the muscle for the drug cartels.
The consequences, as Castresana Fernandez noted, is that already weak and corrupt police forces and militaries are simply overwhelmed or bought, allowing the gangs to grow in power both in their home countries and in this country. The richer they become the bigger threat they become, both here and south of our border.[snip]
ping
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