Hearing is set for 6 accused of smuggling
By Onell R. Soto
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER

Six men accused in a smuggling attempt that ended with a violent crash in Otay Mesa on Friday afternoon are scheduled to appear in federal court today for a judge to decide whether they may be held without bail while awaiting trial.

Border Patrol agents and witnesses identified three of the men as van drivers and the three others as foot guides who led more than 90 people across the border north of the Tijuana airport into an area west of the Otay Mesa border crossing.

Two of the men are felons who have been deported before, a Border Patrol agent said.

_____

Mexico warns of long drug fight, more deaths ahead
REUTERS

MEXICO CITY – Mexico warned Tuesday of a long fight against drug traffickers and more deaths among security forces after two police chiefs were shot dead near Texas.

A spokesman for President Vicente Fox said the fatal shootings on Monday would not deter the government in its ”frontal attack against organized crime.”

More than 1,000 people died last year as gangs battled for control of lucrative smuggling routes to Texas from northeast Mexico, many in Nuevo Laredo across from Laredo, Texas.

_____

Mexican media: Tape allegedly shows governor, businessman plotting to jail journalist
By E. Eduardo Castillo
ASSOCIATED PRESS

MEXICO CITY – A Mexican governor and prominent businessman discussed plans to jail a journalist accused of libel, according to a tape of their alleged conversation that was released Monday in the Mexican media.

The tape, which arrived anonymously to La Jornada newspaper and W Radio, reportedly records Puebla Gov. Mario Marin and a businessman talking about their plans to jail Lydia Cacho, a Cancun journalist who published a book about networks of pedophiles and child pornographers.

_____

Government: Police who are scared of drug gangs should not be in job
By Ioan Grillo
ASSOCIATED PRESS

MEXICO CITY – The Mexican government warned Wednesday that officers who are scared of being attacked by drug gangs should not be in law enforcement, despite a wave of killings of top police officials.

Ruben Aguilar, spokesman for President Vicente Fox, said that the government “recognized the heroism” of all public officials killed in the line of duty, but said authorities will not stop fighting drug cartels until all the their members are in prison.

“It takes a lot of courage to confront organized crime. Those who are scared should not be there,” Aguilar said in a news conference.

On Monday, two police chiefs were shot and killed within hours of each other in the towns of Sabinas Hidalgo and San Pedro Garza Garcia in a northern Mexico, where drug gangs have been battling for control of smuggling routes into the Unites States.

_____

Nearly $5M worth of drugs seized in and near Nogales
ARIZONA DAILY STAR

Federal officials seized nearly $5 million in drugs on the border this week at and near Nogales.

On Monday, Border Patrol agents reported intercepting two northbound pickups that had entered illegally west of Nogales. The pickups turned around and headed back toward Mexico.

One became stuck, prompting the occupants to abandon the trucks and run off. Inside the abandoned pickups, agents found 4,926 pounds of marijuana loaded in bundles, worth about $3.9 million on the street, according to a Border Patrol press release.

In two incidents Tuesday, U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers found $910,000 worth of cocaine and methamphetamine. About 2:10 p.m., a drug-detection dog helped officers at the Dennis DeConcini Port of Entry find 47 packages of drugs inside a pickup, according to an agency press statement. Officers removed the packages and found more than 40 pounds of methamphetamine and 23 pounds of cocaine.

Officers arrested a 30-year-old man from Nogales, Sonora, and turned him over to the Santa Cruz County metro task force.

_____

House committee OKs border wall

Barrier would be erected at selected spots along state's 375-mile border with Mexico.
The Associated Press
PHOENIX - A legislative committee wants state voters to approve building a border wall to keep illegal immigrants out.

There is no cost estimate for the wall.

A state House of Representatives committee approved it 8-1 yesterday.

It would be funded with a tax on electronic funds transfers.

If the proposal clears the Legislature and is approved by voters in November, the wall wouldn't stretch the full length of Arizona's 375-mile border with Mexico, but would be built in spots where radar and other sensor technology couldn't stop the flow of immigrants, said Republican Rep. Russell Pearce of Mesa, sponsor of the proposal.

"Whatever it takes," said Pearce, the Legislature's staunchest advocate for reducing illegal immigration.

Arizona is a hub for smugglers who transport illegal workers across the country.