138620_111212 TX Dps Thp Seizures

Border Security Operations Center 6100 Guadalupe St., Bldg E, Rm 108 Texas Ranger Division Austin, TX 78752 Texas Department of Public Safety Office (512) 424-7561 Fax (512) 424-7041

DPS & THP Daily Operations Summary With Border-Centric Open Source Reporting

Date of Report: December 12, 2011

Marijuana Seizures

Hydroponic Marijuana Seizures

Heroin Seizures

Methamphetamine Seizures

Currency Seizures

37.48 lbs 112.75 lbs 0.55 lbs -- $55.324

Cocaine Seizures

Marijuana Cookies

Hashish Xanax

Seizures Criminal Arrests

2.2 lbs 32 cookies (5.57 lbs)

2 gm -- 10

Seizures: Marijuana 5.16 lbs; Cocaine 2.2 lbs; Marijuana Cookies 5.57 lbs; Currency $22,000 USD; and Criminal Arrests 2 Reported by: THP Date/Time: 12/07/2011; 1524 hrs Location: IH-40, MM: 49/E, near Wildorado, Oldham Co. Following a routine traffic stop, a THP Trooper seized 5.16 lbs of marijauan, 2.2 lbs of cocaine, and 5.57 lbs of marijuana cookies and arrested two subjects (driving a 2011 Toyota 4D rental car, bearing CA registration). A consent to search revealed six vacuum sealed packages of high-grade marijuana, 2.2 lbs of cocaine in luggage within the trunk. Six bundles of US Currency were in the luggage with the cocaine. Thirty-two marijuana cookies were located in a box within the trunk and a user amount of cocaine was found in the purse of the passenger. The narcotics and currency were traveling from Riverside, CA, to Atlanta, GA. Seizures: Heroin 0.55 lbs; and Criminal Arrests 2 Reported by: THP Date/Time: 12/08/2011; 13:50 hrs Location: IH-10, MM: 822/E, near Winnie, Chambers Co. Following a routine traffic stop, a THP Trooper seized 0.55 lbs of heroin and arrested two subjects (driving a 2012 Chevrolet Camaro, bearing TX registration). A consent to search revealed the heroin in the front right fender well of the vehicle. The narcotics were traveling from Houston, TX, to Baton Rouge, LA. Seizures: Hydroponic Marijuana 74 lbs; and Criminal Arrests 1 Reported by: THP Date/Time: 12/09/2011; 1137 hrs Location: IH-40, MM: 92/E, near Conway, Carson Co. Following a routine traffic stop, a THP Trooper seized 74 lbs of hydroponic marijuana and arrested one subject (driving a 2011 Mazda 6 rental, bearing NV registration). A consent to search the vehicle was denied. A DPS K-9 conducted a free air search with positive results. A probable cause search produced 57 vacuum sealed bundles of marijuana in luggage within the trunk. The narcotics were traveling from Los Angeles, CA, to Memphis, TN.


Seizures: Marijuana 0.3125 lbs; Hashish 2 gr; Currency - $16,807 USD; and Criminal Arrests 1 Reported by: THP Date/Time: 12/09/2011; 1240 hrs Location: SH-71, MM: 452/W, near Brady, McCulloch Co. Following a routine traffic stop, a THP Trooper seized 0.3125 lbs of marijuana, 2 grams of hashish and $16,807 USD and arrested one subject (driving a 2007 Toyota Camry, bearing TX registration). A consent to search the vehicle was denied. A DPS K-9 conducted a free air search with positive results. A probable cause search produced a small amount of marijuana in the console and addition marijuana with the currency in the trunk. The narcotics and currency were traveling from Austin, TX to north of Boulder, CO. Seizures: Hydroponic Marijuana 35 lbs; and Criminal Arrests 1 Reported by: THP Date/Time: 12/09/2011; 1430 hrs Location: IH-40, MM: 96/E, near Conway, Carson Co. Following a routine traffic stop, a THP Trooper seized 35 lbs of hydroponic marijuana and arrested one subject (driving a 2006 Honda Ridgeline, bearing KS registration). A consent to search revealed thirty cellophane wrapped bundles of high-grade marijuana within the quarter panels. The narcotics were traveling from Sacramento, CA, to an unknown destination. Seizures: Hydroponic Marijuana 1 lb; Marijuana 32 lbs; and Criminal Arrests - 2 Reported by: THP Date/Time: 12/09/2011; 1515 hrs Location: US-59, MM: 465/N, near Cleveland, Liberty Co. Following a routine traffic stop, a THP Trooper seized 33 lbs of marijuana and arrested two subjects (driving a 2011 Cadillac CTS, bearing TX registration). A consent to search was denied by the passenger (owner of the vehicle). An overwhelming odor of air fresheners was observed emitting from the vehicle. A Montgomery Co PTY4 Constable and his K-9 partner conducted a free air search with positive results. A probable cause search revealed 32 lbs of marijuana and 1 lb of high grade marijuana in a duffle bag in the trunk of the vehicle. The marijuana was traveling from Houston, TX, to Gramblin, LA. Seizures: Hydroponic Marijuana 2.75 lbs; and Criminal Arrests 1 Reported by: THP Date/Time: 12/10/2011; 1250 hrs Location: IH-40, MM: 96/E, near Conway, Carson Co. Following a routine traffic stop, a THP Corporal seized 2.75 lbs of hydroponic marijuana and arrested one subject (driving a 2012 Ford Focus bearing CA registration). A consent to search revealed five gallon-sized Ziploc bags containing marijuana within a Igloo cooler in the trunk and one glass jar containing marijuana was located inside luggage within the trunk.


Seizures: Currency $16,517 USD; Marijuana 0.013 lbs and Criminal Arrests 1 Reported by: THP Date/Time: 12/10/2011; 2337 hrs Location: IH-45, MM: 81/S, near Conroe, Montgomery Co. Following a routine traffic stop, a THP Trooper seized $16,517 USD and a user amount of marijuana and arrested one subjects (driving an unknown make and model vehicle). Two marijuana cigarettes were observed within plain view inside the vehicle. A probably cause search revealed two additional marijuana cigarettes less than 2 oz in the passengers purse. Also $14,160 USD was located in the dashboard airbag compartment and $2,357 USD was located in the drivers front right pocket. The narcotics and currency were traveling from Oklahoma City, OK, to Houston, TX.

OPEN SOURCE INPUTS Latin American Herald Tribune, December 12, 2011 Mexicos PRI Names New Chairman MEXICO CITY The main opposition Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI, widely expected to win Mexicos 2012 presidential election, appointed a new chairman to succeed the scandal-plagued Humberto Moreira, who resigned last week. The PRIs national council selected Sen. Pedro Joaquin Coldwell to lead the party through 2015. I propose to you a common front for the next elections, to work tirelessly without detours or capitulations and sacrificing personal aspirations, so that on Dec. 1, 2012, Enrique Pea Nieto takes the oath of office as president of the republic, Coldwell said on accepting the appointment. Pea Nieto, the former governor of the central state of Mexico, enjoys a wide lead in the polls over the other presidential hopefuls. Moreira gave up the PRI chairmanship last Friday amid a scandal over the massive debt run up by the northern state of Coahuila, where he served as governor until early this year. He said he was resigning to eliminate a possible distraction from Pea Nietos campaign. The 61-year-old Coldwell said that his party, which governed Mexico from 1929 to 2000 without interruption, has renewed itself (and) is ready for the triumph at the polls next July 1. The PRI is willing to work with other political forces, electoral authorities and the judiciary to find the necessary measures to armor-plate the electoral process, above all against the infiltration of drug trafficking, the veteran politician said. Observers have expressed fears that Mexicos wealthy and powerful drug cartels will seek to influence the outcome of the 2012 balloting. Coldwell urged President Felipe Calderon not to seek to exploit those concerns to attack opposition candidates and undermine confidence in the electoral authorities. The incumbent, whose administrations war on drugs has left 50,000 dead, has suggested that a future PRI government would seek a negotiated settlement with the cartels to end the violence. Calderon, the new PRI chairman said Thursday, is obliged to adjust his conduct to the mandate of the law and to avoid damaging the electoral process by his interference. Limited by the constitution to a single six-year term, Mexican presidents face legal restrictions on active politicking while in office and are expected to remain above the fray. The current president belongs to the right-wing National Action Party, which broke the PRIs monopoly on power with


Vicente Foxs victory in the 2000 election. Calderon became president in December 2006 after Mexicos closest-ever election. In certifying the hotly disputed results, the countrys top electoral commission criticized Fox for improper efforts to aid his partys candidate. San Antonio Express News, December 12, 2011 Mexico Aims To Ease Fears On Highways Alfonso Cabaas isnt driving to Monterrey, Mexico, to visit family this Christmas. Not after what happened the last time. Three years ago, the 31-year-old lawyer was headed south on one of Mexicos toll roads when he pulled over for a group of men who had placed orange traffic cones across the highway and were directing motorists to the shoulder. It was too late when he saw the guns.As youre driving, you see these people waving you down, asking you to pull over and pull you aside. You have no other choice but to do it, Cabaas said. You pull over and they approach you and say, Hey, give us all your belongings and possessions and dont alert the authorities. In mid-December begins whats known along the border as paisano season, when hundreds of thousands of Mexican nationals living in the United States visit family and friends in Mexico for the holidays. Paisano is the Spanish word for countryman. Miguel Angel Isidro, the Mexican consul general in Laredo, said, Theres enough security all along the border, and of course some of the states in the border area and the Mexican government are going to do whatever it takes to have enough security during paisano season, Isidro said. That security will include caravans, said Carlos Franco, a regional delegate for Mexicos National Institute of Migration. They gather in one place, Franco said. Local authorities escort them through the city limits, and federal authorities escort them through the highways. He said its difficult to estimate the total number of paisanos traveling into Mexico this year but that about 60,000 people are expected to pass through Laredo. This year more than ever, attention is focused on the insecurity of Mexicos highways, where motorists and commercial bus passengers are preyed on by outlaws. High-profile incidents in Mexico have focused international attention on those highways, including the January fatal shooting near the Texas border of U.S. missionary Nancy Davis, 59, and the discovery this spring of mass graves around the Mexican city of San Fernando. Nearly 200 bodies have been unearthed. After authorities discovered the graves, stories began circulating about passengers disappearing from commercial buses headed north on area highways. The problem has even attracted the attention of the online hacktivist group Anonymous, which last month made a list of demands of Mexican bus companies and government agencies intended to protect motorists and bus passengers. This weekend, the group said, it began launching attacks against those companies and agencies websites. The attacks, timed for the launch of paisano season, included targeting the Mexican bus and insurance companies and government agencies. At least one bus companys website went down over the weekend, and a Web page dedicated to cataloging the attacks showed screen shots of defaced government websites. Some had images of Mexican President Felipe Caldern altered to put a Santa Claus hat on his head, and others bore the Anonymous logo of a suited figure with a question mark hovering where its head should be. But the group announced Saturday night that it was calling off the attacks after an earthquake struck Mexicos western coast. What do we hope from all this? a spokesman wrote in an email. The same thing Rosa Parks did in Alabama in the civil rights movement get people talking. Causing a national debate in the press, the politicians and the people to focus on this problem and a solution. No more kidnappings of bus passengers and no more rapes on our roads. Isidro, the consul general in Laredo, rejected the notion that the government is abdicating its duty to protect paisanos. For lawyer Cabaas, the security situation in Mexico is foremost in his mind, and this year hell forego visiting family in Monterrey and Ciudad Victoria and instead will stick to the Rio Grande Valley border cities of Reynosa and Nuevo Progreso. One of those who is forsaking driving this year to fly is David Garza, 59, a city employee in San


In this Oct. 31, 2011 photo, handicrafts made in Boquillas del Carmen, Mexico across the Rio Grande await tourists at an overlook in Big Bend National Park, Texas. In this rugged, remote West Texas terrain where wading across the shallow Rio Grande undetected is all too easy, federal authorities are touting a proposal to open an unmanned port of entry as a security upgrade. If approved, the crossing would be the nation's first such port of entry with Mexico. (AP Photo/Christopher Sherman)

Antonio. Garza doesnt fit the definition of a paisano: Hes a San Antonio native, and hes visiting friends, not family, during the holidays. But for the first time, hes going to fly rather than drive when he goes to San Miguel de Allende. Its just wanting to be safe, not wanting to have any problems, not knowing what to expect, Garza said. Id rather be safe than sorry and just make sure I have a nice trip. So I decided it would just be easier to fly, and also it will save me a lot of time. Id love to drive, and its a beautiful country and I dont mind the drive. ... I dont know who to trust, he said. You could be driving in the middle of the night, and all of a sudden you think theres military people right in the middle of the road stopping you, and it could be anybody. KRGV, December 12, 2011 Feds Pushing For Unmanned Border Crossing

BIG BEND NATIONAL PARK (AP) - The U.S. is proposing its first unmanned border crossing with Mexico in a remote stretch of West Texas. Federal officials tout the port of entry in Big Bend National Park as a security upgrade, noting that wading across the shallow Rio Grande undetected is all too easy. By the spring, kiosks could open up allowing people from the tiny Mexican town of Boquillas del Carmen to scan their identity documents and talk to a customs officer in another location, at least 100 miles away. Authorities say extra Border Patrol agents would be stationed in the park if the crossing is approved. A public comment period runs through Dec. 27 on the estimated $2.3 million project, which has support from both countries. El Paso Times, December 12, 2011 US To Leave Mexican Border Crossing To Rangers

BIG BEND NATIONAL PARK, Texas (AP) - The bloody drug war in Mexico shows no sign of relenting. Neither do calls for tighter border security amid rising fears of spillover violence. This hardly seems a time the U.S. would be willing to allow people to cross the border legally from Mexico without a customs officer in sight. But in this rugged, remote West Texas terrain where wading across the shallow Rio Grande undetected is all too easy, federal authorities are touting


a proposal to open an unmanned port of entry as a security upgrade. By the spring, kiosks could open up in Big Bend National Park allowing people from the tiny Mexican town of Boquillas del Carmen to scan their identity documents and talk to a customs officer in another location, at least 100 miles away. The crossing, which would be the nation's first such port of entry with Mexico, has sparked opposition from some who see it as counterintuitive in these days of heightened border security. Supporters say the crossing would give the isolated Mexican town long-awaited access to U.S. commerce, improve conservation efforts and be an unlikely target for criminal operations. "People that want to be engaged in illegal activities along the border, ones that are engaged in those activities now, they're still going to do it," said William Wellman, Big Bend National Park's superintendent. "But you'd have to be a real idiot to pick the only place with security in 300 miles of the border to try to sneak across." The proposed crossing from Boquillas del Carmen leads to a vast expanse of rolling scrub, cut by sandy-floored canyons and violent volcanic rock outcroppings. The Chihuahuan desert wilderness is home to mountain lions, black bears and roadrunners, sparsely populated by an occasional camper and others visiting the 800,000-acre national park. Customs and Border Protection, which would run the port of entry, says the proposal is a safe way to allow access to the town's residents, who currently must travel 240 road miles to the nearest legal entry point. It also would allow park visitors to visit the town. If the crossing is approved, Border Patrol would have eight agents living in the park in addition to the park's 23 law enforcement rangers. "I think it's actually going to end up making security better," CBP spokesman William Brooks said. "Once you've crossed you're still not anywhere. You've got a long ways to go and we've got agents who are in the area. We have agents who patrol. We have checkpoints on the paved roads leading away from the park." A public comment period runs through Dec. 27 on the estimated $2.3 million project, which has support at the highest levels of government from both countries. But U.S. Rep. Michael McCaul, a Texas Republican member of the House Homeland Security committee, questioned the wisdom of using resources to make it easier to cross the border. "We need to use our resources to secure the border rather than making it easier to enter in locations where we already have problems with illegal crossings," McCaul said in an email. "There is more to the oversight of legal entry than checking documents. (U.S. Customs and Border Protection) needs to be physically present at every point of entry in order to inspect for contraband, detect suspicious behavior and, if necessary, act on what they encounter." While CBP will run the port of entry, the National Park Service is the driver behind the project, which it hopes will help conservation efforts on both sides of the border. Even as the National Park Service has increased cooperation with its Mexican counterpart, joint conservation has been limited by the inability of personnel to cross the border without making a circuitous 16-hour drive, Wellman said. So the National Park Service is building the contact station just above the Rio Grande. It will house CBP kiosks where crossers will scan in their documents and talk to a customs officer in Presidio, the nearest port of entry, or another remote location. Park service employees will staff the station, offering information about the park and guiding people through the process. Similar ports of entry are already in operation on remote parts of the border with Canada. "We think we can do this without doing any damage to national security and possibly enhance security along the border by having better intelligence, better communication with people in Mexico," Wellman said. The crossing would also restore a long-running relationship between the park, its visitors and the residents of Boquillas del Carmen, the town of adobe dwellings set a short distance from the river in Mexico. For years, U.S. tourists added an international dimension to their park visit by wading or ferrying in a rowboat across the shallow Rio Grande to the town. There they bought handicrafts and tacos, providing much-needed cash in the isolated community. But US officials discouraged such informal crossings in 2002 after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks prompted calls for tighter border security. Without access to tourists or supplies on the U.S. side, the town of just more than 100 people has seen a 42 percent drop in


population from 2000 to 2010. Gary Martin, who manages the Rio Grande Village store at a nearby park campground, recalls many Mexican residents crossing the river to pick up groceries and other necessities. "We're their supply," Martin said. "They don't have any electricity over there. So they would come here and buy frozen chicken, cake mixes and things that they couldn't get over there." Martin tried to stock food items Boquillas del Carmen residents wanted, such as eggs and big sacks of beans. "After the border closed, well, I got rid of most of my food and went back to gifts because I wasn't making any money," Martin said. He estimated about 40 percent of the store's revenue came from Boquillas residents. Few have risked crossing to the store since. "If they get caught over here they get shipped off," he said. "They get deported all the way to Ojinaga and then they've got to find their way home. It's not really worth it." Still, most days some Boquillas del Carmen residents wade across the river a short distance downstream of the old crossing and scramble up to a paved overlook perched high above the river. On boulders near the parking spots they lay out painted walking sticks, scorpions and roadrunners crafted from copper wire and colorful beads. Each craftsman's work occupies a different rock and operates on the honor system with the hope tourists will drop four or five dollars in their jar. "Sometimes we don't sell anything," said Boquillas del Carmen resident Guillermo Gonzalez Diaz. "Sometimes we sell one." And other times authorities confiscate everything. Gonzalez, a 34-year-old father of three, described his town as "very sad, very hard" and said there was no work. Without access to the Rio Grande Village store, residents depend on a bus that runs once a week to Melchor Muzquiz, a larger town about 150 miles away, for supplies. A small military presence protects the town from the drug-related violence that has engulfed other Mexican border towns. Now with news of the port of entry, residents are already making plans for restaurants and shops, he said. "When it closed nobody crossed and everything went downhill. People began to leave," he said. "Now people are going to return." Houston Chronicle, December 11, 2011 Obama Plans To Cut Guard Force Along The Border: Focus Expected To Shift To Surveillance By Air WASHINGTON President Barack Obama will reduce the number of federally paid National Guard troops along the U.S.-Mexico border amid questions about the cost and fading impact of a marquee operation to back up the U.S. Border Patrol, the Houston Chronicle has learned. The Obama administration is planning to revamp the way it deploys military personnel along the boundary, shifting from "boots on the ground" to stop people from crossing illegally to a broader mission of aerial detection and additional border intelligence analysis. The change in mission - a response to a steep drop in apprehensions along the border - is expected to gradually trim the 1,200 National Guard troops on border-related active duty in California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas, where 274 National Guardsmen are on duty. "The National Guard has acted as a critical bridge while the administration brought new assets online dedicated to effective border management and security," Homeland Security spokesman Matt Chandler said. Administration officials declined to specify the number of guardsmen who will remain on the border. Ground troops will be replaced by Army National Guard and Air National Guard personnel carrying out surveillance by aircraft, helicopters and unmanned drones. Department of Homeland Security officials say the troop reduction is not a sign of a reduced commitment to border security but rather the result of lessons learned about border enforcement. The focus on aerial surveillance "represents a historic and unprecedented enhancement in our ability to detect and deter illegal activity at the border," said one federal official involved in administration planning. "If people concentrate on the number of troops on the ground, they're sort of missing the point. This is next-generation border security." The shift in focus is long overdue, said Richard "Ozzie" Nelson, a veteran of the National Counterterrorism Center before joining the Center for Strategic and International Studies. "National Guard troops have been a stopgap measure until we get


the Department of Homeland Security the resources it needs to do the job," Nelson said. "At the end of the day this has to remain a law enforcement mission - not a military mission." Bipartisan praise The continuing deployment, which was resisted by some in the Pentagon, was hailed by Texas lawmakers from both parties. Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Austin, chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee's investigations subcommittee, called the administration's pending move "a step in the right direction toward technology and intelligence-based efforts along the border." Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Laredo, a veteran member of the House Homeland Security Committee, said he supported "revamping and changing" the National Guard mission. "We'll use the National Guard in a more efficient and effective way so we can be more accountable to taxpayers." Army Col. William Meehan, spokesman for Texas' 19,300-strong Army National Guard and 3,100 Air National Guard, said Texas' guardsmen are "hearing an extension of the mission is coming and we're prepared, should that happen." The Pentagon has long sought to end the roughly $10 million-a-month National Guard ground operation, which comes from the defense budget at a time when the administration and Congress are trying to curb federal spending. Defense officials have been "concerned that there is no comprehensive Southwest border security strategy," the Government Accountability Office, Congress' watchdog, cautioned in a 35-page report ordered up by the Senate Armed Services Committee in September. That alleged gap has "hampered (the Pentagon) in identifying its role and planning," as well as stirred concerns about "mission creep because border security is not a core (Pentagon) mission." But the White House and the Department of Homeland Security's Customs and Border Protection agency have wanted the National Guard operation continued until additional U.S. Border Patrol agents join the force and high- tech surveillance extends beyond sectors in Arizona and occasional border flights by unmanned surveillance drones. "The president has been in a no-win situation," says Nelson, the counterterrorism expert. "Pulling the 1,200 troops off the border would send the wrong message. But keeping them on duty has been very expensive in this budget-tight environment." The changes in National Guard operations come as the Border Patrol has added staff and seen greater success. Apprehensions down The administration now has almost 18,200 U.S. Border Patrol agents along the Southwestern border - double the 9,100 on duty in 2001. Border apprehensions have plummeted to historically low levels, from 1.6 million in 2000 to 340,252 in the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30. The number of undocumented immigrants attempting to cross the border has also declined dramatically in recent years amid the economic downturn that created U.S. joblessness. National Guardsmen working border assignments since June 2010 as part of $160 million Operation Phalanx assisted in barely 6 percent of the apprehensions of undocumented aliens during the opening 11 months of the operation. That was down from playing an indirect role in 12 percent of apprehensions during the 24-month, $1.2 billion Operation Jump Start that ended in mid-2008. Brownsville Herald, December 11, 2011 Strong 6.5 Quake Shakes From Mexico City To Acapulco MEXICO CITY (AP) A magnitude-6.5 earthquake struck in Mexico's western Guerrero state, shaking buildings and causing panic in the nation's capital and the Pacific resort of Acapulco. Officials said at least three people died, but there were no reports of widespread damage. The U.S. Geological Service initially estimated the quake at magnitude at 6.8, but downgraded it to 6.7 and then 6.5. A quake of that magnitude is capable of causing severe damage, although the depth of this temblor lessened its impact. The USGS said the quake occurred at 6:47 p.m. Saturday at a depth of 40.3 miles (64.9 kilometers). It was centered about 26 miles (42 kilometers) southwest of Iguala in Guerrero and 103 miles (166 kilometers) south-southwest of


Mexico City. Mexico's Interior Department said the quake was felt in parts of nine states. Humberto Calvo, undersecretary of Guerrero's Civil Protection agency, said three deaths had been reported in the state. He said one man was killed when a house's roof collapsed in Iguala, a second died in the small town of Ixcateopan and the driver of a cargo truck was killed by rocks that fell on the vehicle driving on the toll highway linking Acapulco with Mexico City. Calvo said a secondary highway between the two cities was blocked in two places by rockslides. High-rises swayed in the center of Mexico City for more than a minute, and shoppers were temporarily herded out of some shopping centers until the danger passed. Mexico City's mayor, Marcelo Ebrard, reported by Twitter that no major damage had been reported. He said power failed in some parts of the city. People in one part of Mexico City's upscale Condesa neighborhood ran out of their houses and gathered in the streets, hugging each other while some shook and began to cry. On one street, a group of women joined hands in a circle, closed their eyes and began to pray. "Please God, help us and let everything be OK," said one. "It's OK. It's OK. Everything is OK." Parts of Mexico City rest on the shaky soil of a former lake bed, which tends to magnify the effect of earthquakes. An 8.1-magnitude quake in 1985 killed as many as 10,000 people in the city. In Acapulco, which is in Guerrero, hundreds of anxious tourists congregated in the street after fleeing rocking buildings that are strung along the coastal boulevard. Patrons also left a movie theater complex. Authorities said they found no structural damage and had no reports of injuries in the Pacific resort, which was about 87 miles (140 kilometers) from the quake's epicenter. Rogelio Trujillo, chief of security at a Soriana department store in Acapulco, said perfume bottles, groceries and paintings had been shaken off shelves and customers ran out. Alberto Orbe, a radio operator for the city's Civil Protection agency, said the office had received many phone calls from panicked residents. The quake interrupted the annual silver festival in the tourist city of Taxco, midway between Acapulco and the capital. A deep rumbling sound lasted for several seconds, then the whole city went dark as the ground shook. People ran out of hotels in the historic center of the old mining town and joined others who had been enjoying a band concert in the main plaza. As people milled about, some illumination was provided from police pickup trucks doing security duty at the festival. After about 10 minutes, the band started up again and people began dancing. The power was out for about two hours and cellphone service was sporadic. Some people sat on restaurant terraces dining by candlelight and the full moon. Reuters, December 11, 2011 Mexico Drug Gangs Up Ante With High-Tech Tunnels (Reuters) - When architect Felipe de Jesus Corona built Mexico's most powerful drug lord a 200-foot-long tunnel under the U.S.-Mexican border with a hydraulic lift entrance opened by a fake water tap, the kingpin was impressed. The architect "made me one f---ing cool tunnel" Joaquin "Shorty" Guzman said, according to court testimony that helped sentence Corona to 18 years in prison in 2006. Built below a pool table in his lawyer's home, the tunnel was among the first of an increasingly sophisticated drug transport system used by Guzman's Sinaloa cartel. U.S. customs agents seized more than 2,000 pounds of cocaine which had allegedly been smuggled along the underground route. In the past five years, a crackdown on drug smugglers in Mexico and tighter U.S. border security above ground has led to a dramatic increase in the use, and the sophistication, of tunnels under the border. There have been more than 100 tunnels discovered during President Felipe Calderon's five years in office, double the number found over the previous 15 years. Officials suspect most recently found tunnels belong to the Sinaloa cartel, which has been perfecting its technique for two decades using specialized technology and a cadre of trained builders. Agents of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, are trying to shut the tunnels down, working with the few companies that have the technology and equipment to dig deep and long horizontal shafts to prevent tunnel


construction. Two drug passageways were discovered along the California border in the past month, including one about 1,600 feet (500 meters) long in San Diego. Authorities seized over 32 tons of marijuana, worth $65 million, there after busting drivers hauling drugs from the tunnel's end at a faux produce warehouse to an industrial suburb outside Los Angeles. "It's evident that those who constructed these tunnels are specialists, not only for the size but also because it requires study of the soil to prevent it from caving in," said General Gilberto Landeros, a Mexican army commander, during the recent discovery of a Tijuana tunnel. "The machinery they use for construction is really sophisticated." That tunnel, replete with a hydraulically controlled steel door, elevator and electric rail tracks, was built by the Sinaloa cartel, which controls the California-Mexico border area where the bulk of subterranean passages are, he said. To burrow deep and long - one tunnel stretched 2.5 miles (4 km) - smugglers employ powerful machinery, some of which can bore a small hole deep in the soil and create a walled shaft without having to send anyone below ground. "It's super fast, it's really actually scary," said Tim Durst, assistant special agent in charge of ICE's San Diego office. "You can have a tunnel done in a couple of weeks." PROFESSIONALS RECRUITED The drilling equipment costs between $50,000 and $75,000, and officials say they have no way to stop cartels from obtaining the high-powered gear. "If it's the Sinaloa cartel, they have unlimited resources," Durst said. A well built tunnel could be used to move 25 tones of drugs in one or two days, he said. Officials believe cartels are turning to smaller horizontal drills that dig the length of a tunnel fast and can easily be hidden in warehouses, a favored location among smugglers trying to blend into industrial areas along the border. Only a handful of companies produce the specialized drills normally used for laying subterranean pipelines and other infrastructure projects. ICE officials are pushing to find the purchasers, but vendors say it is difficult to be sure of buyers' identities. "If these guys have business cards that say (Mexico's state oil company) Pemex and they want to do a pipeline here, how am I to know exactly what they are going to do?" said Gregg Shelton, who sells large-scale drilling equipment for American Auger, an Ohio-based manufacturer. Hauling tons of drugs is no easy task. Even with industrial-sized equipment, construction can take weeks and requires skilled workers. "The profile is somebody who has engineering or mining experience," said Joe Garcia, deputy special agent in charge for homeland security investigations in ICE's San Diego office. "It has to be somebody who is going to use tried and true surveying techniques with a compass and line of sight." Authorities are still searching for the architect of an Arizona tunnel discovered in 1999 and constructed by unemployed and striking miners. Operated by the Tijuana and Juarez cartel, smugglers slipped about 30 tons of cocaine through the tunnel. KRGV, December 11, 2011 Reports Of Shots Fired Lead Police To Drug Stash MCALLEN - Police responding to a call of shots fired found a stash house. Officers were called to a home on the corner of 22nd Street and Houston. The call came in at 7:30 p.m. Friday. When police arrived at the home, they found no one had been shot, but they received information about something happening inside a nearby home. When they went to that home,


two men ran out the back. Inside the home, officers found 600 pounds of marijuana and two other men. Both men were arrested and now face charges of possession of marijuana with intent to distribute. The Examiner, December 10, 2011 The Holiday Season Doesnt Slow Mexican Cartels From Smuggling Illicit Drugs It may be the Yuletide season, but that hasnt stopped drug smugglers from wanting to earn some extra Christmas cash. This week in San Diego, Border Patrol agents played Grinch and snatched nearly $700,000 worth of cocaine, heroin and methamphetamine. Yesterday, Border Patrol agents, patrolling along Interstate 15 stopped a 28-year-old male U.S. citizen driving a pickup truck. After the stop, agents called a Border Patrol K-9 team to conduct a cursory inspection of the vehicle. The K-9 positively alerted agents to the interior of the truck where agents discovered five bundles of methamphetamine in a black trash bag. The total weight of the meth was 12.02 pounds and worth an estimated $240,400, according to Border Patrol Agent Scott Simon. Chicago Tribune, December 10, 2011 Buffalo Grove Pizzeria Was Front For Drug Business, Officials Say: Suspects Accused Of Importing Heroin From Mexico

Carmelo Rios and Maria Garza (police photos) An Arlington Heights couple who own a pizzeria are accused of using the business to cover up their role in a drug-trafficking operation to bring heroin from Mexico to the Chicago area, officials said Friday. Maria Garza, 37, and Carmelo Rios, 35, along with four other people, were charged with criminal drug conspiracy, according to the

Cook County state's attorney's office. They face 15 to 60 years in prison if convicted. Undercover law enforcement agents spent six months investigating the operation and recovered about $900,000 worth of drugs, officials said. The couple, who opened DeLuca's Pizzeria and Catering in Buffalo Grove this summer, are accused of importing heroin, methamphetamine and marijuana from Mexico and arranging for their sale, delivery and transportation. The drugs were meant for the Chicago area and the East Coast, prosecutors said. Warrants were executed Thursday at their home and business. Rios' son, Carmelo Rios Jr., 18, said he believes his father and Garza are innocent. "It was a shock to the family," he said. "They took our family. We don't know what will happen until court." He described his father as hardworking and said both Rios and Garza were invested in their pizzeria. Also charged, the state's attorney's office said, were Victor Zaragoza, 55, and Jorge Alberto-Gonzalez, 30, both of Chicago; Alexander Colon-Ortiz, 37, of Philadelphia; and Fredy Arroyo-Ortuna, 32, of Placentia, Calif. Police are still looking for two more suspects for whom warrants have been issued. Investigators identified Rios and Colon-Ortiz as transporters and stopped their car Nov. 21 on their way to make a drug delivery, police said. They were taken into custody that day. Bond was set on Friday at $1 million for Garza; $850,000 for Zaragoza, who was also charged separately with possession of


heroin; and $700,000 for Alberto-Gonzalez, officials said. The Drug Enforcement Administration and Cook County state's attorney's narcotics prosecution bureau worked together on the investigation. Jack Riley, special agent in charge of the DEA's Chicago Field Division, called the partnership "invaluable." "Two of the individuals charged in this investigation with drug conspiracy attempted to legitimize themselves as business owners to cover up the alleged distribution of devastating illegal drugs," he said in a statement. ValleyCentral.com. December 10, 2011 Rio Grande City Man Sentenced For Illegal Gun Buys SAN ANTONIO, Texas (AP) -- A federal judge has sentenced a South Texas man to seven years in prison for taking part in a scheme to illegally buy firearms. Santiago Munoz was sentenced during a court hearing Friday in San Antonio after he had previously pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to make a false statement in a federal firearms record and two counts of providing a firearm to a prohibited person. Prosecutors say Munoz, from Rio Grande City, admitted that from August 2006 until February 2007, he conspired with others to fraudulently purchase about 220 firearms at gun shows in San Antonio and Austin. Investigators say the 50-year-old was a straw purchaser, a person who buys guns for other individuals. So-called "straw purchases" are commonly used to funnel weapons to Mexico's drug cartels. Borderland Beat, December 10, 2011 Christmas in Cancun

The Christmas season in the beach resort area of Cancun is open season in the deadly hunt by organized crime groups against rivals. Two main groups operate in Cancun; Los Zetas and a late arrival known as Los Pelones. There are also reports that La Familia Michoacana has made inroads into Cancun and they may now control the drug trade in the tourist resort area of the city. The tourist areas facing the Caribbean are safe for visitors but the same cannot be said for the mainland city where the low wage tourist industry workers live, and a high crime rate persists. The latest victim of cartel warfare was Domingo Jimnez Prez, 34 years old, and originally from the state of Chiapas. Jimenez's decapitated body was found Thursday night in the interior of a taxi that had been carjacked earlier that afternoon. The head was also in the taxi's interior. A narco message was placed next to the body that included a drawing of a christmas tree and read: Esto le va a pasar a toda la gente del Mosco, Enrique Salinas Espino alias El Papaya, Homero Figueroa Meza alias El Tripa, El Burro y todos los que lo ayudan. Feliz Navidad, Jo, Jo, Jo This will happen to all the people of el Mosco; Enrique Salinas Espino, El Papaya; Homero Figueroa Meza, El Tripa; El Burro and all those that help them. Merry Christmas, jo jo jo. The Quintana Roo media did not mention a signature on the message. El Mosco has been identified as Dmasso Antonio Lanch Avila, a bulk used clothes salesman that has been linked to Los Pelones and is said to be a cell leader of that group. El Mosco survived an attempt on his life last month and may have been seriously injured. Two other men were executed in Cancun last week . They were identified as Alfredo Arciga Paniagua and Jos Diego Morn Favila, both used car salesmen. Their bodies were found inside a vehicle that was


abandoned behind a private school in Cancun. Both had died from gunshot wounds and may have been executed by the same killers as Thursday's homicide. The men's relatives stated that both victims were killed by Los Zetas for being unable to pay an extortion "cuota". Another explanation for the killing is that both men may be linked to Los Pelones and El Mosco. The Christmas themed message found in the vehicle read: Por extorsionadores y por ratas. Feliz Navidad Jo Jo Jo Jo. For being extortionists and rats. Merry Christmas Ho Ho Ho Borderland Beat, December 10, 2011 Mexican President Calls For Unity To Protect Journalists, Activists

Photo: Mexican Presidenr Felipe Calderon and poet and activist Javier Sicilia

Mexican President Felipe Calderon urged civil society and the authorities to join forces in an effort to halt violence against human rights defenders and journalists, as well as candidates in next years general elections. I am reiterating to all federal entities my instruction to implement effective mechanisms to protect human rights defenders and journalists, the head of state said Friday during the 2011 National Human Rights award ceremony. Calderon said civil society and the authorities must join forces to ensure the safety of members of grassroots organizations, reporters, politicians and ordinary citizens and guarantee the survival of Mexican democracy. He also urged electoral authorities to explore mechanisms for providing effective protection to candidates and activists during electoral processes, especially (the July 1, 2012, general election). This is an urgent task that demands our full attention, Calderon said, adding that organized crime is the primary threat to democratic institutions and the rule of law. He said it is regrettable that federal, state and local governments have not yet been able to contain the wave of aggression and violence against activists, journalists and also candidates and (government officials). Journalists have increasingly been targeted in recent years by drug traffickers and other organized crime groups, especially in northern Mexico, while media members must also contend with long-running abuse at the hands of federal, state and local officials. Numerous mayors and other politicians also have been slain in recent years in Mexico, while a candidate for governor of the northeastern Mexican state of Tamaulipas was murdered in 2010. Calderon militarized the struggle against the nations heavily armed, well-funded drug cartels shortly after taking office in December 2006, deploying tens of thousands of army soldiers and federal police to drug-war flashpoints. The strategy has led to headline-grabbing captures of cartel kingpins, but drug-related violence has skyrocketed and claimed nearly 50,000 lives nationwide over the five-year period. Calderon has been under pressure from rights groups both in Mexico and abroad over his deployment of the military and his past claims that the vast majority of victims of drug-related violence are criminals themselves. This week, a member of the Movement for Peace with Justice and Dignity, which is led by prominent Mexican poet and peace activist Javier Sicilia and has been highly critical of Calderons security policies, was abducted and killed. According to the MPJD, the activist had received threats from organized crime gangs and paramilitaries yet still had not received the protection he had requested through the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. Two other members of MPJD, which the 55-year-old Sicilia founded after his son was brutally murdered earlier this


year by suspected drug-gang members, also were abducted this week. New York-based Human Rights Watch, meanwhile, said in a recent report that it questions Calderons claim that 90 percent of the victims of drug-related deaths (between 35,000 and 50,000 over the past five years, depending on the source) were criminals. It noted that the Mexican Attorney Generals Office only opened 997 investigations into drug-related murders between 2007 and August 2011 and that federal judges have only convicted 22 defendants for homicides and other offenses tied to organized crime. HRW also said that Mexican security forces, far from bringing peace and tranquility to the country, have committed widespread human rights violations within the context of the countrys drug war. Instead of reducing violence, Mexicos war on drugs has resulted in a dramatic increase in killings, torture, and other appalling abuses by security forces, which only make the climate of lawlessness and fear worse in many parts of the country, the organizations Americas director, Jose Miguel Vivanco, was quoted as saying in the report. Avionics Intelligence, December 9, 2011 Ultralight Aircraft Drug Smuggling Bill Clears Senate The office of Sen. Dean Heller, R-Nev., issued the following news release: U.S. Senators Dean Heller (R-NV) and Tom Udall (D-NM) today lauded Senate passage of legislation that will help improve border security by cracking down on smugglers who use ultralight aircraft to bring drugs across the U.S.-Mexico border. The Ultralight Aircraft Smuggling Prevention Act of 2011, sponsored by Udall and Heller, passed unanimously in the Senate late Thursday night. The bill now moves to the U.S. House, where it passed overwhelmingly last Congress after being introduced by Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ-08), who has long fought for increased security along the southwest border. Heller, then a member of the House, was an original cosponsor of that legislation. "Due to a loophole in current law, drug smugglers who use ultralights receive a lesser penalty than those who use airplanes or cars. Today, the Senate took an important step to provide law enforcement with the tools it needs to prosecute drug smugglers to the fullest extent of the law, which helps protect our communities from illicit substances. I am pleased to have the opportunity to work with both Senator Udall and Congresswoman Giffords in this effort," said Heller. Every year, hundreds of ultralight aircraft (ULAs) are flown across the southern border and can carry several hundred pounds of narcotics. ULAs are small, single-seat aircraft that are favored by smugglers because they are inexpensive, relatively quiet and can fly at night without lights. They are often able to evade radar detection and can drop a load of narcotics in the U.S. and return to Mexico without ever landing in this country. The Ultralight Aircraft Smuggling Prevention Act of 2011 would: Give law enforcement agencies additional tools to combat this type of drug trafficking by closing a loophole in current law that allows smugglers who use ULAs to receive a lesser penalty than those who use airplanes or cars; Establish the same penalties for trafficking, whether by plane, automobile or ULA - up to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine; Add an attempt and conspiracy provision to the aviation smuggling law to allow prosecutors to charge people other than the pilot who are involved in aviation smuggling; Direct the Department of Defense (DOD) and the Department of Homeland Security to collaborate in identifying equipment and technology used by DOD that could be used by U.S. Customs and Border Protection to detect ULAs. "As traffickers adopt new techniques for bringing drugs across our borders, we must give law enforcement the tools they need to stay a step ahead of smugglers and fully prosecute them," said Udall, a member of the Senate Caucus on International Narcotics Control. "I commend my colleagues in the Senate for voting to fix these outdated loopholes and encourage the House to do the same without delay." "Congresswoman Giffords has called this legislation a critically important tool in the continuing fight to secure the border," said Pia Carusone, chief of staff to Giffords. "When she heard today that her goal is closer to becoming law, the congresswoman was thrilled. We thank Senators Udall and Heller for working to pass the bill in


the Senate after she secured House passage last year." Sens. Jeff Bingaman (D-NM), Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) are original cosponsors of the legislation. "The illicit use of ultralight aircraft is on the rise. Adopting this proposal will allow law enforcement to aggressively prosecute those who are using ultralight aircraft to smuggle drugs into our country," Bingaman said. "The use of ultralight vehicles is yet another example of the extreme measures drug smugglers will use to get drugs into the United States," Feinstein, Chairman of the Senate Caucus on International Narcotics Control, said. "In just a six month period, there were close to two hundred reported incidents of use of these ultralight vehicles and on relatively calm wind nights, Imperial County has experienced as much as four incidents per day. This bill assures that whether drug smuggling is done via airplane or ultralight vehicles, the criminal penalties should be the same." Under existing law, ULAs are not categorized as aircraft by the Federal Aviation Administration, which means they do not fall under the aviation smuggling provisions of the Tariff Act of 1930. Recent news reports have shown that Mexican organized crime groups are increasingly using ULAs to drop marijuana bundles in agricultural fields and desert scrub across the U.S. border. The Los Angeles Times reported in May that the number of incursions by ultralights reached 228 in the last federal fiscal year, almost double from the previous year. In August an ultralight vehicle crashed in the bootheel of New Mexico carrying 134 pounds of marijuana. Tucson Citizen, December 9, 2011 Heroin Industry Growing In Arizona Arizona has earned a well-deserved reputation as a nationwide hub for marijuana smuggling and distribution, with nearly 50 percent of the pot smuggled into the U.S. coming through the state, but authorities say smugglers are increasingly adding heroin to the mix. The results of that shift are starting to show up in hospitals and emergency rooms around the state. The trend was enough to catch the attention of federal authorities, who noted in the Justice Departments annual drug-market assessment that estimates of Mexican heroin production rank that country behind only Afghanistan as the top producers in the world, leading to an increase of Mexican heroin in U.S. markets where the drug had never before appeared. It also has helped push heroin and other opiates past cocaine and amphetamines as the top drug-related reason in Arizona for emergency-room admissions and inpatient hospital discharges, according to statistics kept by the state health department, a 50 percent increase in the last five years. Heroin seizures and use are up in Arizona and across the country, said Major Brian Wilcox, head of the Arizona Department of Public Safetys narcotics bureau. The southwest border area is a large trans-shipment area. Heroin is currently being smuggled by pedestrian foot traffic across the border point of entries. It is then collected at stash houses and trans-shipped across the country. In many ways, the trend is not surprising. As Mexican drug-trafficking organizations have become the established owners of smuggling routes into the United States, they have diversified their shipments from marijuana to include people and other drugs, according to law-enforcement officials. They already have those generational ties, the infrastructure, the gatekeeper at the border. Why not add another profitable product to their business? said Ramona Sanchez, an agent with the Drug Enforcement Agency in Phoenix. The golden triangle is Sinaloa, Chihuahua and Durango. Intelligence is showing theyre sprucing up poppy-cultivation farms out there, Sanchez said. The Sinaloa cartel has taken the stronghold on poppy cultivation. The Sinaloa cartel has had the Nogales-Arizona corridor for years. This is the cradle of heroin cultivation and smuggling that comes out of Mexico. The trend has been evident in recent police activity in Arizona: Last month, federal authorities announced they had shut down a ring that smuggled $33 million of narcotics through Arizona each month, including heroin. Investigators seized 158 pounds of heroin when they shut down the operation. In June, a Pinal County sheriffs deputy working on a task force made a traffic


stop near the city of Maricopa that resulted in the discovery of more than 100 pounds of black-tar and white-powder heroin. In May, three Maricopa County Sheriffs Office employees were among a dozen suspects arrested on suspicion of participating in an operation that moved about $56,000 worth of heroin through the Valley each week. Investigators suspect that the heroin the sheriffs deputies are accused of moving was cultivated on a ranch in northern Mexico and moved to stash houses in the Valley for distribution in Arizona and other areas. Some of the heroin seized in a raid that took down the ring was discovered in the oil pan of a red Chrysler, according to court documents. Small amounts of heroin can be profitable, and small seizures rarely make headlines. More than 1.5 million kilograms of marijuana was seized along the southwestern border last year, according to Justice Department statistics, compared with about 900 kilograms of heroin. Thats why you probably dont hear about (heroin seizures) as much, said Lt. Steve Bailey, a Maricopa County sheriffs deputy and member of a multi-agency drug task force. KRGV, December 9, 2011 Central Americans In U.S. Face Dangerous Trip Home LOS INDIOS - A dangerous journey faces Central Americans in the states this holiday season. They'll have to travel through Mexico as they return to their families. Travelers going home to Central America for the holidays are afraid of dealing with the Zeta drug cartel gang. CHANNEL 5 NEWS caught up with some travelers at the Los Indios International Bridge headed to Central America for the holidays. Harrison Marroquin, a Rhode Island resident, says it will take two days to travel through Mexico. His final destination is Guatemala. He's concerned about dealing with the Zetas when he crosses the border. "It's dangerous in Mexico. I have heard of the Zetas stopping people to ask for money to pass checkpoints. That's scary," says Marroquin. Edwin Zespes is going home to Costa Rica. He has heard the worst spots are in Valle Hermoso and Tampico. "We will travel together in caravan. We hope to have four families together. The least we will have will be two. We never travel alone," says Zespes. Both of these men have a plan to avoid becoming a victim . "We know about the dangers. We are planning to travel during the daytime only. We will avoid travelling at night," says Zespes. "It's just not smart to give the Zetas an opportunity to rob us. I will travel when there is light out and travel all day without stopping," says Marroquin. It's a good plan for these families. They just hope they can make it home safely for Christmas. Residents traveling to Central America must get approval from Customs and Border Protection. It's a three-day process. CBP workers verify they own the cars before they cross the border. Los Indios is the only bridge in the United States where this can be done with a vehicle. There are two other locations, but they are seaports. Those are in Houston and Miami.

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