Border cops find coke and pot, arrest 7
ARIZONA DAILY STAR

U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers arrested seven people over the weekend in connection with the separate seizures of 185 pounds of cocaine and more than 2,700 pounds of marijuana, officials said.

The largest seizure was made Friday at an Interstate 19 check-point south of Tucson, according to a press release.

A tractor-trailer rig was stopped at the checkpoint at about 6 p.m. Border Patrol agents inspecting the vehicle found 124 bundles of marijuana, totalling 2,598 pounds.

The driver, who was detained, is a resident alien in the United States from Mexico, the press release said. His name is not being released because the incident is still under investigation.

"A seizure of this magnitude is an example of why checkpoints are so essential to the overall operations of the Border Patrol," spokesman Jose L. Maheda said in a press release.

The other six arrests and seizures were made in incidents at the Douglas, San Luis and Nogales ports of entry, officials said.

The drugs have a total street value of more than $3.5 million, officials said.

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Mexican police arrest four illegal Iraqis

MEXICO CITY (AP) -- Mexican federal agents have arrested four Iraqis trying to sneak into the United States without proper documents, the government said Monday.

Wasim Francis Schamoun and Ivan Yalda, both 23, and Refon Chlil Oraha and Thaer Salem Yelda, both 27, were found on a bus in the northern city of Navajoa after police received an anonymous tip, the attorney general's office said in a statement.

The Iraqis were in Mexico illegally, the statement said.

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Penalties for hiring illegally on hold

The Associated Press

PHOENIX - A proposal for Arizona to punish employers who hire illegal immigrants was put on hold yesterday at the Legislature after the leader of a state agency said he didn't have enough staffers to investigate what could be a lot of complaints.

Under the bill, employers who get caught hiring illegal immigrants could be sued or their business licenses could be revoked.

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Drug-resistant TB worries officials

BY JENNIFER C. SMITH
The Monitor

REYNOSA — Pharmacy saleswoman Manuela Escobar Muñez quickly found at least three small cartons of antibiotics used to treat tuberculosis at the Farmacia Benavides on Avenida Miguel Alemán.

“This is the strongest,” she said, tapping the box labeled Ketek. “It’s very popular.”

In Mexico, anyone can pick up the antibiotic telithromycin — sold under the Ketek brand — or other potent antibacterial drugs such as rifampin to treat TB. Yet, Ketek is not specifically designated to treat the illness.

Easy dispensation of it and other drugs frustrates health officials, who say short-term and inconsistent medication use creates a drug-resistant variety of the life-threatening illness.