Report from The Border, Campo CA 1/10/2009

Jawbone returned to the Border for a week, and first time border watcher, and retired Marine JW joined the Campo Minutemen.

Motorhome joins the Arrellano-Felix Compound;

Unknown Airplane


Private Eye Chad D



Dan, New Minuteman and Retired Marine JW at the Rosas Memorial

Report from Arizona Border

More pictures were made available today showing trail camera images of a busy and dangerous smuggling area used by illegal aliens, drug smugglers, and armed men. These pictures are being debuted on American Patrol's website as part of a larger plan to showcase images and video from various contributors, some anonymous, disputing any claims that the border is secure. They have got the attention of high level law enforcement officials.

http://americanpatrol.com/ABP/PHOTO-OF-THE-DAY/2010/ARCHIVE/100104.html

Pics 1 - 3: Still shots of a video showing a group of men moving north on a smuggling trail. This one is carrying what looks like a MAC-10 or MAC-11 machine gun. These are not widely used in Mexico for "street warfare" due to their limitations against vehicles and body armor. But on a trail like this at close range a bandit could easily intimidate an unarmed group of illegal aliens or drug smugglers. It is unclear if he is an advanced scout for a drug load or a bandit.

Pic 4: This still shot shows three men walking line abreast carrying (likely) 50Lb. loads of marijuana. Walking so close together and not in single file suggests they are not concerned about being heard or seen.

Border Patrol agent fatally shoots illegal immigrant

Border Patrol agent fatally shoots illegal immigrant

http://www.kold.com/Global/story.asp?S=11767274

Featured Video

DOUGLAS, AZ (KOLD) - A Border Patrol agent fatally shot a man just outside Douglas Monday morning.

An illegal immigrant was throwing rocks at an agent and his K9, a Border Patrol official said.

That's when the agent opened fire.

Cochise County Sheriffs were called in when the shooting happened in an area known as 'D Hill.'

A man received medical treatment after the shooting, according to a release sent by Cochise County Sheriffs.

Cochise county detectives and deputies have started a joint investigation with the FBI and the Border Patrol.

Stay tuned to KOLD News 13 for updates.

Armed Illegal Border Crossers

The photos shown here were taken on Dec. 17, 2009 on what is called the Amnesty Trail. Two people, thought to be escorts for drug toting "mules," are seen carrying rifle.

http://www.americanpatrol.com/10-FEATURES/100101-FEATURE/100101_Feature.html

REPORT FROM CAMPO MINUTEMEN, DECEMBER 2009

Drones were being tested at the border today. There was a large number of US Government vehicles there.

Trash clean up provides many finds, including possible forged trucking documents, and border booties.

More photos

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=143045&id=725997241&l=594ef33b22

Dan has began to find torn up truckers logs at the Pine Valley exit just past the check point. Today he found this one in tact and Cheryl found a broken cargo seal.
Google Search showed no such company or address.

Video Dispatch: The Death of a Kingpin

http://www.stratfor.com/analysis/20091218_video_dispatch_death_kingpin

Drug war surges in Tijuana: 24 dead in 2 days

hursday, December 17, 2009 at 12:11 a.m.

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2009/dec/17/killings-point-surge-drug-war/

The body of an alleged drug dealer is seen covered by a sheet after being shot to death in front of his house in Tijuana, Mexico, in this Sept. 6, 2009 file photo. (AP Photo/Guillermo Arias, File)

TIJUANA DEATHS BY THE NUMBERS

24: Murders Tuesday and yesterday

71: Murders in December

603: Murders in 2009, as of yesterday

844: Murders in 2008

TIJUANA — Five victims were shot inside a seafood restaurant, four were decapitated and one was shot and hanged from a bridge. A surge in gangland-style killings in Tijuana is being linked to two rival drug-trafficking groups vying for control of the region.

Since the weekend, the death toll has been mounting rapidly: Of 71 homicides reported so far this month, 24 took place Tuesday and yesterday. Many recent victims were men in their 20s, though the youngest was 14 and the oldest appeared to be close to 60, authorities said.

“We are witnessing a war between drug traffickers,” said Rommel Moreno Manjarrez, Baja California’s attorney general. Many of those who have been killed are low-level operatives in the trafficking organizations, and many have criminal records, he said.

“From every angle, this points to organized crime,” Moreno said.

Some experts say the renewed rise in violence is the result of the end of a fragile truce forged earlier this year between Fernando Sánchez Arellano and Teodoro García Simental, reputed leaders of the two main drug gangs operating in the area, a crucial transit point for the U.S. market.

But others contend that there was never a truce. They say the renewed bloodshed is merely a sign that the warring parties have sufficiently recovered from previous battles to start up again.

“This is the dynamic of the war,” said Víctor Clark, a human-rights activist and longtime observer of trafficking groups. “Violence leaves them depleted, they rearm themselves, and once again charge ahead.”

The rivalries led to a record number of 844 homicides in Tijuana last year, most of them in the final three months. The total so far this year is 603.

Among the most recent victims are five men killed when hooded and heavily armed men sprayed gunfire at Wichos Tacos in the Otay Mesa section of Tijuana about 9:30 p.m. Tuesday.

Samuel García Cervantes, 25; Jorge Alejandro Félix Gutiérrez, 25; Javier García Sevilla, 35; and an unidentified victim died at the restaurant. A fifth victim, Gerardo de Jesús López, 30, was pronounced dead at a hospital.

In several instances, the killers left messages suggesting an act of retaliation against the rival drug group.

Authorities said one was left by the body of the unidentified man between the ages of 40 and 45 found shot in the head and left hanging early Monday from a bridge in the southern district of La Gloria.

But some may have died as bystanders. On Saturday, a 14-year-old was killed in a taxi riddled with gunfire. Police found a 19-year-old man dead inside the vehicle and a 27-year-old man dead on the adjacent sidewalk.

The violence follows a series of recent blows to the drug-trafficking gangs, including the discovery of two incomplete drug-smuggling tunnels in Tijuana and the seizure of large sums of cash in Tijuana and Mexicali.

Moreno, the attorney general, said authorities believe the most recent violence could have been triggered by the seizure of $2.1 million from a Mexicali warehouse by the Mexican military Dec. 9.

As the killings continued yesterday, authorities announced the arrests of seven suspects in two other incidents that they said were related to drug gangs.

Sandra Dibble: (619) 293-1716; sandra.dibble@uniontrib.com