Will Mexico come clean?

PRESIDENT VICENTE FOX of Mexico took office in 2000 vowing to finally prosecute officials responsible for the deaths, "disappearing" and torturing of hundreds in that nation's "dirty war" of the 1970s. Victims' families have waited for decades to uncover what happened to their loved ones. Although plenty of new findings have come to light, disappointingly little has been done to prosecute those responsible for the illegal repression.

One reason to hope that this might change is a draft of a new report prepared by President Fox's special prosecutor's office. It documents the kidnapping and torturing of hundreds of students, opposition leaders and insurgents from the late 1960s and early '70s. Its most gruesome parts describe large-scale torture (for example, forcing people to ingest gasoline), summary executions, forced starvation and "death flights" in which suspected subversives were dropped from aircraft into the Pacific Ocean.

_____

Ice Arrests 375 Gang Members & Associates In Two-Week Enforcement Action
Action is latest under Operation Community Shield, which has yielded 2,388 gang arrests in first year

WASHINGTON, D.C. - During a two-week enforcement action that culminated yesterday, federal agents from the Department of Homeland Security's U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrested 375 gang members and associates in 23 states in a joint effort with law enforcement agencies nationwide.

The arrests are the latest under the auspices of “Operation Community Shield,” a comprehensive initiative launched by ICE roughly one year ago to disrupt and dismantle transnational, violent street gangs. Operation Community Shield represents the first time the federal government has used immigration and customs authorities in a combined, national campaign against criminal street gangs in the United States

In the past year, ICE has conducted several targeted enforcement actions under Operation Community Shield, including the latest one. In total, these efforts have resulted in the arrest of 2,388 members of 239 different gangs and the seizure of 117 firearms. Fifty-one of those arrested were gang leaders. Roughly 922 of those arrested were from the street gang Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13). Those arrested under Operation Community Shield are prosecuted criminally or removed from the United States through immigration proceedings. To date, 533 have been charged criminally, while 1,855 have been hit with administrative immigration charges.

_____

Group of 12 illegals robbed at gunpoint
By Jeffrey Gautreaux, Sun Staff Writer

Twelve illegal aliens told U.S. Border Patrol agents they were robbed at gunpoint Thursday evening.

The group of 12 said they were about two miles north of the border at Avenue 25E at 5:30 p.m. when they were approached by two male suspects, who were both armed with handguns, according to the Yuma County Sheriff's Office. The illegal aliens were forced to lie face down on the ground, and the robbers, who are believed to be from Mexico, emptied their pockets.

A 16-year-old boy said he was strip-searched and that he was kicked in the ribs because he had little money. YCSO Capt. Eben Bratcher said this incident was more physically violent than previous robberies.

"Obviously, robbery is a violent act, but many of them didn't involve physical violence," he said. "In this case, they assaulted a 16-year-old kid because he only had 50 pesos."

_____

Mexican radio announcer gunned down in violent northern border city
By Jorge Vargas
Associated Press

NUEVO LAREDO, Mexico – An anchorman for a Mexican radio station was shot to death early Friday by gunmen waiting for him in the bushes in front of his house in this violent border city.

Ramiro Tellez Contreras, who also worked for the state emergency services and was a former policeman, was hit by two bullets in the neck and two in the chest, state police said in a news release.

Witnesses told authorities that Tellez was attacked about 5:45 a.m. when he was returning home from his job with the emergency services.

Tellez is the 46th homicide victim this year in Nuevo Laredo, a city of 330,000 across the border from Laredo, Texas. He is the sixth person to be killed this week alone.

_____

Migrant smuggling on rise in Sasabe corridor, agents say
Arthur H. Rotstein
The Associated Press

U.S. Border Patrol officials are seeing a significant increase in the number of illegal immigrants being smuggled through what's known as the Sasabe corridor southwest of Tucson.

Agents in the Tucson station, who are responsible for covering the corridor, have arrested some 37,000 migrants so far during the current fiscal year, which began Oct. 1. Spokesman Gustavo Soto of the patrol's Tucson sector said there were about 25,000 apprehensions recorded for the same period last fiscal year - nearly 48 percent fewer.