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EL PASO, Texas -- Hudspeth County, Texas Sheriff Arvin West confirmed a Hudspeth County road crew came under fire Thursday morning from gunmen in Mexico. Sheriff West told ABC-7 that around 10:30 a.m, Thursday a road crew was repairing a part of Indian Hot Springs road, just east of Neely's crossing in Hudspeth County along the US-Mexico border when they came under gunfire from the Mexican side. The crew was able to escape unharmed and managed to call for help. Units from the Texas Department of Public Safety, Border Patrol and Hudspeth County sheriff's deputies responded within minutes. They were...

Along the border, fears are growing that the escalating drug violence in Mexico will spill into the United States. Last month, a well-known rancher was murdered in southeastern Arizona. Authorities suspect an illegal immigrant did it. The murder prompted governors in New Mexico and Texas to send forces to the border. This week, the Mexican government sent dozens of police and soldiers to the Juarez Valley to restore order. For many on both sides of the border, the fear is very real. 'Arm Yourselves' Last week, residents held a town-hall meeting in Fort Hancock, Texas — a sleepy agricultural town...

El Paso (AP) - U.S. authorities unsealed an indictment against a suspected Mexican drug trafficker identified as one of several men wearing military uniforms in a high-profile border standoff two years ago. Jose Rodolfo Escajeda, 31, was charged with conspiracy to import and distribute controlled substances, according to the two-page indictment unsealed March 26. He was indicted in 2006. Matthew Taylor, a spokesman for the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, said Friday investigators don't know where Escajeda is but consider him armed and dangerous. Mexican authorities identified Escajeda as one of several men appearing to be Mexican soldiers who had crossed...

HUDSPETH COUNTY, TX. - A driver led El Paso and Hudspeth County Sheriff's deputies in a chase along the interstate Wednesday morning. Border Patrol Spokesman Doug Mosier confirms the incident involved hundreds of pounds of marijuana in a stolen 2005 GMC Yukon. The SUV came across the river approximately 1 mile east of the the port of entry. Border Patrol agents observed the vehicle and began pursuit, attempting to make an immigration stop. The vehicle failed to yield and continued on Interstate 10 West towards Fabens. The SUV then made a U-turn and began heading south, El Paso and Hudspeth...

MEXICO CITY — Federal police said Friday they have arrested two drug smugglers who strained Mexico's relations with the United States by disguising themselves as Mexican soldiers and confronting Texas sheriff's deputies and state police. Oscar Alonso Candelaria Escajeda and Ivan Gandara Trejo, were detained Thursday in the border city of Ciudad Juarez, across from El Paso, according to a news release from the federal public security secretary. It said that the two disguised themselves as Mexican soldiers and crossed the Rio Grande into Hudspeth County, Texas, in January 2006. Texas state police and sheriff's deputies spotted three vehicles, including...

Reyes Testimony Stirs Concern For EP Dems February 8, 2005 -- El Paso County Democrats say they are in disbelief after watching the testimony of U.S. Rep. Silvestre Reyes before the Homeland Security Subcommittee on Investigations. "What he was saying doesn't make any sense," said Carmen Duarte, County Chair for the Democratic Party in El Paso. Duarte says they are concerned Congressman Reyes is downplaying the seriousness of border incursions, including the January 23rd incident in Hudspeth County where Hudspeth Sheriff deputies were at a stand-off with Mexican militants during a drug smuggling operation along the Rio Grande. "He wasn't...

EL PASO, Texas - Suspected drug runners dressed in Mexican military-style uniforms who were involved in an armed confrontation with Texas lawmen were using a Mexican military-issue Humvee and weapons, the Hudspeth County sheriff said Friday. "It was military," said Arvin West, whose officers were involved in the standoff. "Due to the pending congressional hearings I can't comment further." West said the determination that the equipment was military-issue came from the federal government, but he wouldn't elaborate. A U.S. Army spokesman said he could not confirm West's statement, and the Mexican Foreign Relations Department said it would have no comment....