Posted on 03/07/2016 11:56:16 AM PST by CedarDave
The story goes like this:
A ranch hand working in New Mexico’s Bootheel stumbles upon men and two or three vehicles stranded in remote cattle country. They turn out to be drug runners from Mexico who take him hostage, load his vehicle with narcotics and force him to drive to Willcox, Ariz., where they leave him alive but warn him not to go to the police.
They would be watching.
That alleged incident and a host of recent break-ins have ranchers across Hidalgo County and in southeastern Arizona outraged about what they say is a decline in border security. The cattle growers associations of both states are hosting a meeting this week in the tiny town of Animas to air their grievances to elected officials – including pleas for more boots on the ground – and they expect to draw a crowd.
The FBI confirmed that it is investigating the alleged kidnapping, referred to the bureau by Border Patrol. FBI spokesman Frank Fisher in Albuquerque said no arrests have been made but declined to comment further, citing the pending investigation.
The Bootheel’s rugged terrain of ridges and arroyos, sparse roads and sprawling desert has historically presented challenges for law enforcement charged with keeping the region safe, particularly from illegal traffic coming from Mexico. It’s a corridor favored by traffickers moving dope north to the drug-hungry U.S. market.
“The folks down there have never gotten any relief from illegal crossings,” said Caren Cowan, executive director of the Albuquerque-based New Mexico Cattle Growers’ Association. “And things have ramped up. These people are desperate. ... We have had countless meetings with government agencies over the years, and I say this with all due respect, all we hear about is what they are trying to do and nothing gets done.”
(Excerpt) Read more at abqjournal.com ...
There are just as many ranchers for sale down there. Talk to some USPB guys on the line down there and you’ll hear all about it. The ranchers have to allow Border Patrol on their border ranches, but many of them force them to only enter on foot and refuse vehicles. This on ranches that are dozens of miles wide. But they leave the dirt roads on their property open for the dopers use and lock the gate so Border patrol cant get access.
Also, they get paid very well to simply not look out the window some nights.
Don’t think for a minute that the corruption and bribery stops at the fence. And some of the ones screaming loudest are the worst ones.
I was reading a speech the other day, a Jimmy Carter speech circa 1975. It was about stopping illegal immigration (among other things he discussed)
How long are we going to let politicians sit around and gab about it while they pad their financials?
Trump was the first to talk about building a wall. Even Cruz is convinced that Trump can do it and he says so when he talks about having ‘someone in mind’ to build the wall.
Elect Trump and get ‘er done.
Thanks for the ping, Dave.
They were all killed in less than ten minutes by a cunning very good shot
Yeah, but didn’t they kill him first, years before?
Wasn’t he an avenging ghost?
Well, I live near the border and I know most of the ranchers on the border and I’d ask him to prove it.
We don’t really love the BP because they are gestapo minded specially those who grew up in the east. They regularly cut fences and say they didn’t but some ranchers have gotten savvy and have cameras.
Just last month a rancher went to complain and they said there was no way a BP cut their fence and she told him that he wouldn’t mind if she sent the video to the media then, there was an immediate change in attitude.
Ranchers can lock gates on private property and gates on state lease property can be locked if there are no hunts going on in that area. They aren’t allowed to lock gates on Bureau of Land Management property so that would explain the locked vs. unlocked gates.
The BP rarely responds to calls from ranchers and a whole lot of the area has no cell coverage.
Oh yeah, they haven’t stopped me in over 18 years because I didn’t just whine about it to friends, I got the whole community involved and they stopped a lot of that crap.
Still being allowed; up to 195.
LOL, good catch.
That would be Claymores behind double-apron barbed wire fences, triple concertina wire, and tangle-foot.
Not in this area. I worked at the polls here when Bush got 100% of the votes in this area. As it turned out he was not so good on the border issues either. Albuquerque and Santa Fe decide how this state goes, and NM can go either way in Presidential races, but most candidates don’t spend much time here since we have few electoral votes.
This is the same general area where Rob Krentz was murdered, these are my friends and neighbors. Things are pretty crazy here, we don’t get as much illegal traffic in numbers as some other places but we seem to get a very bad element. Many armed smugglers are caught in this area, lots of criminal activities of all sorts.
We have meetings like this from time to time, LEO agencies send a representative and a few politicians show up to make promises they never keep. Nothing changes. A ton of money has been spent down here for “border protection” nearly all of it has gone into facilities not enforcement. We have a border fence that is just a vehicle barrier to begin with and only goes far enough to see from the highway.
I know some of the ranchers that restrict Border Patrol vehicles on their property and it is not due to being paid off. The reason is most Border Patrol agents refuse to shut gates, mixing up livestock and allowing cows and horses to get on the highway and get ran over. They play four-wheeler and tear up pastures with doing brodies and cute things like that. They cut fences when in pursuit of drug runners and don’t let people know they need to be repaired.
We have had cattle and horses get out and have BP deny- even up the chain that they even had agents in the area...caught them leaving gates open and called their supervisors. BP needs to teach their agents how to shut gates and be respectful of ranching. Years ago most agents were country raised and knew how to act, they should be told at least the basics before they come out here but they are not.
We have always allowed access but over the years have had as many issues with BP as we have with smugglers to be honest. Some ranchers have decided it is worse to deal with BP.
In our area we have Border Patrol horse patrols and those guys are fantastic. They have an understanding of what we deal with, and are more than willing to work with us. Respectful to close gates and let us know if water or fences are damaged when they are in pursuits. In my opinion they need more horse patrols, they are pretty effective in this area. BP needs to train their agents before sending them out here. They don’t even know the basics of ranching and panic every Spring and Fall when everyone is out early and in groups to gather and work cattle. They end up harassing the wrong people because they just have no clue what is going on with all the added activity going on.
Years ago BP would visit with ranchers and had more knowledge of what was going on, but some wise government official decided BP agents should not be friendly with the locals because some of them were corrupt. The thing is back when the agents did make a point to interact with locals those agents found out pretty quick who was who and what they were involved with. Visiting with people to gain knowledge is not the same as being intimate friends. Goes back to the beat cop everyone knew versus patrol cop attitude.
Jimmy Carter was responsible for the border getting out of control. His administration decided to do away with US Customs (under Treasury then) patrol officers and restrict them to the border crossings. Border Patrol (under Immigration then) was pulled away from the border with the idea that it would be more effective for them to patrol main highways near the border than the actual border itself. In areas where those highways can be 50 miles from the border it meant most of the illegal traffic could just pass right through, when they got to main roads and towns they were too hard to distinguish from others.
I lived on the border when Carter was in office and the border got out of control over night, tapered off a lot when Reagan was in office, but really never back under control since Carter.
Yes and the Border Patrol used to hand out business cards with a toll free number to call to report issues, there was always an answer and way to make a report when calling that number. Now you can call every number listed in your area for BP and find half are fax lines and no one answers most of the phones. One night I needed BP and no one answering any phones. I ended up calling El Paso to get an answer. It is pretty obvious they do not want the public calling in reports and tips.
Since you brought up corruption, many of the BP are bought and paid for...or their actions make it seem that way for sure. We have many BP in this area, but often they all seem to evaporate when smugglers are being pretty darn blatant.
The sheriff gave my son his personal number so we don’t even try to go through the BP.
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