Agents rescue four illegals lost in desert
BY JEFFREY GAUTREAUX, SUN STAFF WRITER

Four illegal aliens who had wandered in the desert for three days were found by the U.S. Border Patrol after nearly five hours of searching Wednesday in east Yuma County.

Around 5 p.m., the group called 911 from a cellular phone and said they were lost somewhere southeast of Yuma. They said they had crossed the border three days earlier, had been without water for a full day and that two people could no longer walk, according to a Border Patrol release.

_____

Six illegal aliens injured in desert crossing
BY JEFFREY GAUTREAUX, SUN STAFF WRITER

Six of 25 illegal aliens packed into a pickup that illegally crossed the border were hurt Wednesday night during the bumpy trip across the desert. The Border Patrol apprehended the entire group and provided aid to the injured.

"One was unconscious, and several complained of neck and back injuries," said Yuma sector Border Patrol spokesman Michael Gramley. "Another had a friction burn from being repeatedly thrown against the side of the vehicle."

_____

Armed assailants rob illegal aliens near Gadsden
BY JEFFREY GAUTREAUX, SUN STAFF WRITER

Three illegal aliens were robbed by armed assailants Wednesday night near Gadsden after crossing into the United States — the latest in a string of border robberies.

The victims told U.S. Border Patrol agents that four men were hiding on the U.S. side of the border and waiting for them as they crossed. The four men held them at gunpoint, took $200 and then fled to Mexico, according to the Yuma County Sheriff's Office.

_____

"Threat is real"
Perry announces plan to boost border law enforcement

Brandi Grissom
Austin Bureau

AUSTIN -- Gov. Rick Perry announced "Operation Rio Grande" on Thursday, another effort to increase security along the Texas-Mexico border that includes rapid response teams, undercover surveillance, investigative units and regional SWAT teams.

"There is not only great concern that the drug trade is becoming more aggressive, but that terrorist organizations are seeking to exploit our porous border," Perry said.

Through Operation Rio Grande, Perry said, the state response to border incidents would be streamlined and more law enforcement officials would be available to respond to and investigate crimes. While local law enforcement officers applauded the program, others worried it might deter legitimate border crossings and said Mexican officials should be included in security plans.

_____

Border agents discover shallow, incomplete tunnel
Latest find is just inches below road
By Onell R. Soto
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER

An incomplete cross-border tunnel was discovered yesterday in about the same area west of the San Ysidro border crossing where two similar tunnels have been found since January.

The tunnel, the kind that agents sometimes call “gopher holes,” extended from just south of the border fence to a point about 23 feet into the United States, ending at a concrete levee, said Border Patrol spokesman Richard Kite.

A Border Patrol agent noticed a distortion in the road running along the border fence overnight, Kite said, and agents digging in the area found the tunnel several hours later.

_____

Mexico won't back down in support of war crimes tribunal, despite U.S. military cuts
By Ioan Grillo
ASSOCIATED PRESS

MEXICO CITY – Mexico said Thursday it will stand firm in pushing for the right of an international war tribunal to prosecute U.S. soldiers, despite the fact that the decision will cost it more than US$1 million in U.S. military funding to fight drug gangs.

The U.S. government opposes the court, arguing that it could be used for frivolous or politically motivated prosecutions of American troops.

Mexico has been overwhelmed by drug-related violence, which has left more than 1,000 dead across the country in 2005, many in towns along the U.S.-Mexico border.

U.S. Ambassador to Mexico Tony Garza has repeatedly urged the Mexican government to do more to stop the drug smuggling cartels.

_____

Cops: 7 rings making fake IDs shut
The Associated Press

PHOENIX - Seven fraudulent document rings were shut down yesterday when 16 people were arrested and accused of helping make or sell the type of fake IDs and other records used by illegal immigrants, authorities said.

The operations sold a package of drivers licenses, Social Security cards and "green cards" and could produce "three packs" of the documents within 40 minutes of an order, said Leesa Berens Morrison, leader of a task force of police focusing on fraudulent IDs.

_____

Yuma's border arrests up, Tucson's down this fiscal year
ARTHUR H. ROTSTEIN
The Associated Press

TUCSON - Arrests of illegal immigrants in western Arizona have increased about 10 percent but slowed by the same percentage across the rest of the state's border with Mexico this fiscal year, Border Patrol spokesmen said Friday.

Officials believe the shift is a reflection of more control being asserted on the agency's Tucson sector, the nation's busiest location for illegal crossings. That's causing smugglers to relocate their operations west or east in response.

"I think what's happening is that as they're gaining more operational control of their border, it's a push-and-pull," said Claudia Delgado, a spokeswoman in the Border Patrol's Yuma sector.

"What we're dealing with is a displacement of the illegal alien traffic to the east and west," said Luis Garza, spokesman for the agency's Tucson sector - which covers most of Arizona's border with Mexico.