Loaded vehicle with 19 illegals busted after accident
By Blake Schmidt

An alleged alien smuggler is being held under suspicion of transportation of illegal aliens after he allegedly drove a vehicle loaded with 18 other illegal aliens into oncoming traffic, said U.S. Border Patrol spokesperson Claudia Delgado.

The man, an illegal alien from Mexico, will appear for indictment in front of a grand jury in Phoenix next week, Delgado said.

The man was driving a Ford Bronco that crossed the border at high speeds, ran a stop sign and crashed into an oncoming vehicle Wednesday morning at County 11-1/2 Street and Avenue G, according to a U.S. Border Patrol news release.

Two of the illegal aliens, both female adults, were sent to Yuma Regional Medical Center after the wreck for medical evaluation, and later released back into Border Patrol custody, the patrol said in a news release.

Yuma sector Border Patrol agents saw the 1987 Ford Bronco cross the border illegally when it drove across the Colorado River at about 6:15 a.m. Wednesday.

Border Patrol cameras watched the vehicle travel east on County 11-1/2 Street recklessly at a high rate of speed. That video was released to The Sun, and can now be viewed on The Sun's Web site: www.yumasun.com.

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Alleged shooters in Monday drive-by charged
By James Gilbert, Sun Staff Writer

Two Yuma men each face six felony counts in connection with what police say was a gang-related drive-by shooting Monday night.

Freddy Andrade, 20, of 3174 W. 31st Lane, and Andres Gonzalez, 19, of 3078 S. 31st Drive were each charged Thursday with one count of conspiracy to commit drive-by shooting, one count of drive-by shooting, one count of participating in a criminal syndicate and three counts of aggravated assault.

Andrade and Gonzalez, who are reputed members of Soma, a Somerton street gang, were arraigned before Yuma Justice of the Peace David Cooper, who ordered their bonds remain at $504,118, which he set at a previous hearing.

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Agents find abandoned jeep full of pot
From Staff Reports

Yuma sector Border Patrol agents found an abandoned Jeep near the Colorado River loaded with nearly a half ton of marijuana Tuesday, according to a Border Patrol news release.

The Jeep, suspected of being abandoned by smugglers after it got stuck in a patch of soft sand, was spotted by a Border Patrol helicopter.

Border Patrol spokesman Ben Vik said the driver of the Jeep must have been "spooked," because the Jeep was apparently headed back west in the direction of Mexico when it became stuck.

Inside the Jeep, agents found 969 pounds of marijuana, packed in bundles. Its estimated street value was more than $775,000.

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Questions remain over Mexican investigator on FBI list
By Anna Cearley
Union-Tribune Staff Writer

Tijuana – A Mexican state investigator whose photo appeared two years ago on an FBI list of suspected collaborators with the region's main drug cartels continues working for the Baja California State Attorney General's Office.

This week, after El Mexicano newspaper published a front-page story identifying the agent – Hernando Villegas – and asking why he is still with the agency, U.S. authorities said they were also confounded.

“We have the same questions about that as well,” FBI spokeswoman Jan Caldwell said.

Villegas is in charge of security details for the top state police commander in Mexicali. In 2004, his photo appeared on an FBI list of people suspected of obtaining fake Mexican police credentials. His name didn't show up on the list, but he is identified as No. 61 of the 76 photos. Caldwell confirmed Villegas' identity yesterday.

“We know as a fact that No. 61 obtained a fake federal agent's ID to commit felonious crimes,” Caldwell said.

Fake police cards are often used by drug groups to camouflage criminal activities under the guise of police work.
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Emissions program shifts to high gear
County installing smog-cutting devices on Mexican big rigs
By Mike Lee
Union-Tribune Staff Writer
Photo: Howard Lipin / Union-Tribune

One truck at a time, San Diego County air pollution officials are trying to cut the smog-forming particles spewed by old Mexican big rigs that cross the international border.

By installing pollution-control devices on these vehicles at no cost to the owners, the pilot program promises to reduce each truck's output of toxic air contaminants by up to 50 percent.

Now, the work is at a crossroads.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is considering whether to expand the project to Imperial County and elsewhere along the 2,000-mile U.S.-Mexico border, which trucks cross by the millions each year. The deliberations are taking place as the daily number of Mexican semis entering California is expected to more than triple once U.S. travel restrictions are removed to boost international trade.

“We hope the (retrofit) concept catches on and other parties, such as the maquiladoras, expand the program to additional border-crossing trucks,” said Robert Reider, planning manager for the San Diego County Air Pollution Control District. “That said, it may take another round of EPA funding to continue watering the seed.”

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Police chief of Nuevo Laredo resigns as drug-related violence rises
By Jorge Vargas
Associated Press

Nuevo Laredo, Mexico – The police chief of this embattled border city resigned after eight months on the job amid a rash of recent drug-related killings.

Omar Pimentel, 38, presented a letter of resignation to Mayor Daniel Pena late Wednesday, hours after police found three charred bodies dumped by the side of a road leading into Nuevo Laredo. Police did not immediately know how the bodies got there or who was behind the killings.

Pimentel, who surrounded himself with at least a dozen bodyguards toting automatic rifles, didn't give a reason for his resignation and didn't answer his telephone Thursday. He had served as director of the city's police academy before being named police chief in July.

Pimentel's predecessor, Alejandro Dominguez, was gunned down just seven hours after being sworn in last June.

Shortly after Dominguez's killing, the mayor fired half of the police force of 700 officers in an effort to weed out corruption and alleged links to drug traffickers.

Pimentel promised to create a more professional police force, but months later he was still struggling to find qualified replacements.

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Mexican official denies rumor of bird flu on border with U.S.
Associated Press

Mexico City – Mexico's Agriculture Department on Thursday denied rumors that a case of high-pathogenic avian flu had been found in a town on the U.S. border.

“Mexico is totally free of bird flu,” Jose Angel del Valle, the department's head of animal health, said in a telephone interview.

A supposed news item posted on the Web site radiolivre.org on Wednesday said there had been a case of H5 bird flu in a duck found dead in the town of Nogales, on the U.S. border.

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AZ House OKs proposal to make English official language
The Associated Press

PHOENIX - The Arizona House on Thursday approved a proposed ballot measure that would make English the state's official language and require that government functions be conducted in English.

Supporters say the measure was needed to encourage assimilation of immigrants, while opponents say the proposal was divisive and fanned flames of intolerance.

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Reid Threatens Filibuster on Immigration
By Elliot Spagat
Associated Press Writer
San Diego

As the Senate prepares to tackle the most sweeping immigration reforms in years, a top Democrat vowed Wednesday to do everything in his power, including filibuster, to thwart Majority Leader Bill Frist's proposed overhaul.

Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said he would "use every procedural means at my disposal" to prevent Frist from bypassing the Judiciary Committee. Frist, R-Tenn., has made clear the Senate will take up his proposal next week if the 18-member committee fails to complete a broader bill.

"If Leader Frist brings a bill to the floor that does not have the approval of the Judiciary Committee, it will not get out of the Senate," Reid told reporters at the San Ysidro border crossing, a few steps from Tijuana, Mexico.

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Four vehicles carrying possible illegals crash
113 detained in two days in rash of accidents on snow-packed highways
By Joe Garner, Deborah Frazier, And Felix Doligosa Jr., Rocky Mountain News

Four vehicles packed with 42 suspected illegal Mexican immigrants overturned on snowpacked eastern Colorado highways within two hours early Tuesday, a day after two similar wrecks in the state.

Taken together, the six crashes highlighted Colorado's key role as a crossroads in the dangerous and often deadly transport of undocumented workers into this country.

Neither the rash of accidents nor the 113 suspected illegal immigrants arrested in two days came as a shock to federal enforcement officers, said the agent in charge of the Denver office of U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement.