20 arrested in $1 million meth bust
Michael Kiefer
The Arizona Republic
Dec. 22, 2005 05:40 PM

A police shootout in July launched an investigation into a dangerous drug ring that ended with the arrest of 20 suspects and the confiscation of more than $1 million worth of methamphetamine and $1.5 million in cash.

Police identified the ringleaders as William Shaffer McDowell, 30, and Michael Alvarez Fiore, 39. Police said they believe co-conspirators would import the methamphetamine in a raw form from the Mexican state of Sinaloa and cook it into the final product in Valley labs.

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Ton of pot found among cucumbers in truck
Associated Press
Dec. 22, 2005 05:45 PM

NOGALES, Ariz. - A truck hauling veggies was actually a ruse to smuggle a ton of pot into the U.S.

The feds found the pot under cucumbers in a trailer pulled by a truck that tried to cross the border at Nogales.

Border Patrol agents screened the trailer looking for contraband. When results of a scan looked odd, the feds say agents boarded the trailer and uncovered 104 bales of marijuana buried under cucumbers.

The pot has a street value of more than $1.5 million. The driver was arrested and handed over to Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

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Mexican tribunal reduces sentences of drug cartel kingpins
By Eduardo Castillo
ASSOCIATED PRESS
6:40 p.m. December 22, 2005

MEXICO CITY – A Mexican tribunal has slashed the sentences of two brothers convicted in 2004 of heading a drug cartel that smuggled tons of methamphetamines into the United States, the Federal Attorney General's Office said Thursday.

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Mexico treats migrants same way U.S. does
But it criticizes House bill trying to make illegal entry a felony and calling for troops on border.

The Associated Press

MEXICO CITY - Mexico uses some of the same methods to deal with illegal migrants, mainly Central Americans, that it opposes in the United States, human rights officials here said yesterday.

The admission comes as Mexican Foreign Relations Secretary Luis Ernesto Derbez called on Latin American countries to unite against a U.S. House of Representatives bill to toughen border enforcement.

Article 123 of Mexico's Population Law states that "foreigners illegally entering the country will be subject to punishment of up to two years in prison" and fines up to $28,220. Such prison sentences are rarely imposed.

Jose Luis Soberanes, president of the rights commission, said that Mexico also uses many government agencies, such as the police and the military, to detain illegal immigrants, even though Mexican law technically doesn't allow that.