StormWarning’s Counterterrorism

Sadly, but not surprisingly, the death and violence on the streets of Nuevo Laredo continued this week.

Deadly shootout erupts in streets of Nuevo Laredo

Also Friday, assailants opened fire with machine guns on a vehicle in the Pacific resort of Zihuatanejo before dawn, injuring two girls and a 26-year-old woman.

Witnesses said the girls, ages 13 and 14, and the woman left a beach-front bar shortly before dawn with three men…

…Already this year, at least 114 people have been killed, compared with 45 this time a year ago. The reason, authorities say, is continued fighting between rival drug organizations, with the Sinaloa cartel solidifying its presence on Interstate 35, a vital cocaine and marijuana smuggling route into Texas.

The cartel is expanding its reach along the Texas border, officials say, even as it presses its battle with the rival Gulf cartel for control of the I-35 corridor and establishes itself deep inside Nuevo Laredo - to which it has been transferring some of its operations from Monterrey, Mexico, and Laredo, Texas.

The Sinaloa cartel is "feeling quite comfortable," said a U.S. investigator, speaking on condition of anonymity. "They have the upper hand, and they’re moving towards Matamoros…

…Officials noted that the number of kidnappings has declined in Nuevo Laredo - not because organized criminals have fewer targets or have lost interest, but because they are openly killing people rather than bothering to make them "disappear."

So far this year, 35 people have been reported missing, according to human rights organizations, compared with 80 for all of 2005…[more]

Assailants gun down lawman in Nuevo Laredo
Killing marks 11th officer shot to death this year in the border city
Assailants firing assault rifles killed a Nuevo Laredo police officer and wounded his partner, the 11th law enforcement official to be gunned down this year in this violent border city, authorities said Friday…

One man is dead and three others in custody following an early morning shootout Friday in Nuevo Laredo between state police and drug cartel gunmen believed responsible for at least 10 homicides here — including the death of a local police officer Thursday night.

The firefight, which started about 1 a.m., ignited when a team of state police officers approached a home they suspected was used by the men who hours earlier had killed police officer Jesus Segovia Sanchez, authorities said.

Two cartel members were arrested and another injured in the early morning melee. One state police officer also was injured in the shootout.

At the scene, officers discovered the body of a gunman, identified only as "El Mara" because of the distinctive Mara Salvatrucha gang tattoos on his body…

OPINION:
Open borders?  My "eyes!"  Referring to the comment made to an earlier post about the recommendations of the Task Force on the Future of North America: Building the Immigration "Wall" and Task Force on the Future of North America, with rampant drug smuggling and violence on the border with Mexico, I can see no way for a "borderless" border to ever occur.  The U.S. must control the flow of people and illegal narcotics across its southern border.  I see no alternative.  Pat Buchanan has commented that he believes that there is a border war with Mexico on the horizon.

Current Affairs, International Issues, National Security, Opinions