|
Smugglers' deadly cargo: Cop-killing guns
a.. Firearms difficult to purchase in Mexico are more easily obtained in
United States
b.. Drugs and money go north to U.S. while guns go south to Mexico,
authorities say
c.. Mexican drug cartels blamed for killings of police officers
By Drew Griffin and John Murgatroyd
CNN Special Investigations Unit
JUAREZ, Mexico (CNN) -- A deadly trade is occurring along the U.S. border
with Mexico, federal officials say -- a flood of guns, heading south, used
by drug thugs to kill Mexican cops.
In Mexico, guns are difficult to purchase legally. So, officials say,
weapons easily purchased in the United States are turning up there.
"The same routes that are being used to traffic drugs north -- and the same
organizations that have control over those routes -- are the same
organizations that bring the money and the cash proceeds south as well as
the guns and the ammunition," says Bill Newell, a special agent with the
U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
Police in Mexican border towns fear for their lives, and with good reason.
Five high-ranking Mexican police officials have been killed this year in
what Mexican officials say is an escalating war between police and drug
cartels.
In Juarez, Mexico, just across the border from El Paso, Texas, a police
commander was gunned down in front of his home. The weapon used to kill
Cmdr. Francisco Ledesma Salazar is believed to have been a .50-caliber
rifle. The guns are illegal to purchase in Mexico but can be obtained just
north of the border at gun shows and gun shops in the United States.
ATF special agent Tom Mangan says the .50-caliber rifle has become one of
the "guns of choice" for the drug cartels. The weapon fires palm-sized
..50-caliber rounds that can cut through just about anything.
Mangan showed CNN the power of the rifle on a gun range near Phoenix,
Arizona. The weapon, a Barrett, was seized in an ATF raid. A round fired
from 100 yards away tore through a car door and both sides of a bulletproof
vest like those used by Mexican police.
"There's nothing that's going to stop this round," Mangan says.
The rifle was intercepted as it was being smuggled into Mexico. Mangan says
investigators believe four others already had passed through the border.
The ATF has been trying to help Mexican police by cracking down on illegal
purchases of guns and ammunition. Operation Gunrunner has led to several
arrests and seizures of guns and ammo. But the operation has mainly shown
just how big a problem exists, authorities say.
One recent seizure in a Yuma, Arizona, storage locker yielded 42 weapons and
hundreds of rounds of .50-caliber bullets already belted to be fed into a
machine gun-style weapon.
The guns confiscated included AK-47 rifles and dozens of Fabrique National
pistols. The semiautomatic pistols fire a 5.7-by-28 millimeter round, which
is technically a rifle round, according to the ATF. Newell says the round
has a special nickname in Mexico. "It's called 'mata policias,' or 'cop
killer,' " he says.
Mexican authorities along the border recently met with their counterparts in
the United States, hoping more cooperation will lead to more arrests of
criminals and fewer killings of Mexican police officers.
Guillermo Fonseca, Mexico's regional legal attach for the West Coast, told
CNN the violence in his country is "problem number 1" -- and police in his
country are outgunned. Officers in Mexico lack heavy firepower, he says.
With the presence of large-caliber weapons from the United States, drug
cartels and criminals have the advantage in what he says is basically a war.
Part of the solution, he says, is for the United States to give Mexico more
information about who is selling these guns illegally in the United States.
Then Mexico could go after the buyers.
"We have access to systems to trace guns that have been smuggled into
Mexico, and that has worked very well," Fonseca told CNN. "We need more
information about the people who are actually purchasing the guns. We need
to prosecute those people, to convict those people. In our opinion, that's
the next step we have to take."
Last year Mexican police confiscated 10,000 guns and $200 million in raids
aimed at cracking down on border violence. Still, local police tread
carefully, especially in neighborhoods controlled by the powerful drug
cartels.
Officer Cesar Quitana patrols a dangerous barrio in Juarez, Mexico. He is
armed with an M16 assault rifle -- a weapon that would be no match in a
gunfight with drug lords.
"I think most of us feel scared just to bring this with us," he says,
pointing to the rifle in the front seat of his patrol car. "But this is what
we use to defend ourselves."
|
| |
| |
On Mar 27, 3:57=A0am, "Reality_Check=A9" <Real...@Check.it> wrote:
Smugglers' deadly cargo: Cop-killing guns
=A0 a.. Firearms difficult to purchase in Mexico are more easily obtained =
in
United States
and even more easily obtained from corrupt mexican police and military
personell. Hence the nearly 100% turnover of the police force in many
border towns recently when the Mexican Military began their 'war on
drugs'.
=A0 b.. Drugs and money go north to U.S. while guns go south to Mexico,
authorities say
Got that mixed up. Drugs go North, Money goes South (to pay for
drugs).
=A0 c.. Mexican drug cartels blamed for killings of police officers
Mexican drug cartels and Corrupt officials.
50 Cal. are rarely used because they are large and hard to transport.
Sometimes cartel members find a .50 bmg to guard their villa.
M16 rifle is the same weapon the US troops (and many police
departments too) are using all over the world.
By Drew Griffin and John Murgatroyd
CNN Special Investigations Unit
Should get a prize for spinning a story from a few facts and a LOT of
fantasy (propaganda).
Having just returned from Mexico and seeing first hand the battle
between the Military and the Cartel (1 major cartel member arrested
and deported to the US and one city mayor assasinated), I see this for
what it is.
Very inaccurate anti-gun propaganda.
The problems are real, the excuses given are not.
Regards,
Rider
|
| |
| |
Reality_Check wrote:
Smugglers' deadly cargo: Cop-killing guns
a.. Firearms difficult to purchase in Mexico are more easily obtained in
United States
b.. Drugs and money go north to U.S. while guns go south to Mexico,
authorities say
c.. Mexican drug cartels blamed for killings of police officers
By Drew Griffin and John Murgatroyd
CNN Special Investigations Unit
JUAREZ, Mexico (CNN) -- A deadly trade is occurring along the U.S. border
with Mexico, federal officials say -- a flood of guns, heading south, used
by drug thugs to kill Mexican cops.
In Mexico, guns are difficult to purchase legally. So, officials say,
weapons easily purchased in the United States are turning up there.
"The same routes that are being used to traffic drugs north -- and the same
organizations that have control over those routes -- are the same
organizations that bring the money and the cash proceeds south as well as
the guns and the ammunition," says Bill Newell, a special agent with the
U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
Police in Mexican border towns fear for their lives, and with good reason.
Five high-ranking Mexican police officials have been killed this year in
what Mexican officials say is an escalating war between police and drug
cartels.
In Juarez, Mexico, just across the border from El Paso, Texas, a police
commander was gunned down in front of his home. The weapon used to kill
Cmdr. Francisco Ledesma Salazar is believed to have been a .50-caliber
rifle. The guns are illegal to purchase in Mexico but can be obtained just
north of the border at gun shows and gun shops in the United States.
ATF special agent Tom Mangan says the .50-caliber rifle has become one of
the "guns of choice" for the drug cartels. The weapon fires palm-sized
.50-caliber rounds that can cut through just about anything.
Mangan showed CNN the power of the rifle on a gun range near Phoenix,
Arizona. The weapon, a Barrett, was seized in an ATF raid. A round fired
from 100 yards away tore through a car door and both sides of a bulletproof
vest like those used by Mexican police.
"There's nothing that's going to stop this round," Mangan says.
The rifle was intercepted as it was being smuggled into Mexico. Mangan says
investigators believe four others already had passed through the border.
The ATF has been trying to help Mexican police by cracking down on illegal
purchases of guns and ammunition. Operation Gunrunner has led to several
arrests and seizures of guns and ammo. But the operation has mainly shown
just how big a problem exists, authorities say.
One recent seizure in a Yuma, Arizona, storage locker yielded 42 weapons and
hundreds of rounds of .50-caliber bullets already belted to be fed into a
machine gun-style weapon.
The guns confiscated included AK-47 rifles and dozens of Fabrique National
pistols. The semiautomatic pistols fire a 5.7-by-28 millimeter round, which
is technically a rifle round, according to the ATF. Newell says the round
has a special nickname in Mexico. "It's called 'mata policias,' or 'cop
killer,' " he says.
Mexican authorities along the border recently met with their counterparts in
the United States, hoping more cooperation will lead to more arrests of
criminals and fewer killings of Mexican police officers.
Guillermo Fonseca, Mexico's regional legal attach for the West Coast, told
CNN the violence in his country is "problem number 1" -- and police in his
country are outgunned. Officers in Mexico lack heavy firepower, he says.
With the presence of large-caliber weapons from the United States, drug
cartels and criminals have the advantage in what he says is basically a war.
Part of the solution, he says, is for the United States to give Mexico more
information about who is selling these guns illegally in the United States.
Then Mexico could go after the buyers.
"We have access to systems to trace guns that have been smuggled into
Mexico, and that has worked very well," Fonseca told CNN. "We need more
information about the people who are actually purchasing the guns. We need
to prosecute those people, to convict those people. In our opinion, that's
the next step we have to take."
Last year Mexican police confiscated 10,000 guns and $200 million in raids
aimed at cracking down on border violence. Still, local police tread
carefully, especially in neighborhoods controlled by the powerful drug
cartels.
Officer Cesar Quitana patrols a dangerous barrio in Juarez, Mexico. He is
armed with an M16 assault rifle -- a weapon that would be no match in a
gunfight with drug lords.
"I think most of us feel scared just to bring this with us," he says,
pointing to the rifle in the front seat of his patrol car. "But this is what
we use to defend ourselves."
Gee, Mexicans escape every day from that wonderful land of opportunity
across the border into the U.S., but the Mexican cops do nothing about
it. Neither do the U.S. cops. Apparently they can't even see these
escapees.
So how do the police from either side hope to stop this flow of weapons,
when they can't even see millions of Mexicans crossing the border, going
north?
--
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it."
George Santayana, 1863 - 1952
Cheers,
Bama Brian
Libertarian
|
| |
| |
Reality_Check wrote:
Gee, Mexicans escape every day from that wonderful land of opportunity
across the border into the U.S., but the Mexican cops do nothing about it.
What fascist #@($hole do you live in that the cops won't let you leave ?
|
| |
| |
Reality_Check wrote:
Smugglers' deadly cargo: Cop-killing guns
a.. Firearms difficult to purchase in Mexico are more easily obtained in
United States
b.. Drugs and money go north to U.S. while guns go south to Mexico,
authorities say
c.. Mexican drug cartels blamed for killings of police officers
By Drew Griffin and John Murgatroyd
CNN Special Investigations Unit
JUAREZ, Mexico (CNN) -- A deadly trade is occurring along the U.S. border
with Mexico, federal officials say -- a flood of guns, heading south, used
by drug thugs to kill Mexican cops.
In Mexico, guns are difficult to purchase legally. So, officials say,
weapons easily purchased in the United States are turning up there.
"The same routes that are being used to traffic drugs north -- and the same
organizations that have control over those routes -- are the same
organizations that bring the money and the cash proceeds south as well as
the guns and the ammunition," says Bill Newell, a special agent with the
U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
Of course if the drugs were legalized and handled through legal
channels the stuff moving south of the Border would be things people
need more than guns.
Prohibition of drugs creates the whole problem. But the blinded
by the light enforcers are unable to see this simple matter
Cops say legalize drugs--find out why:
http://www.leap.cc
Police in Mexican border towns fear for their lives, and with good reason.
Five high-ranking Mexican police officials have been killed this year in
what Mexican officials say is an escalating war between police and drug
cartels.
In Juarez, Mexico, just across the border from El Paso, Texas, a police
commander was gunned down in front of his home. The weapon used to kill
Cmdr. Francisco Ledesma Salazar is believed to have been a .50-caliber
rifle. The guns are illegal to purchase in Mexico but can be obtained just
north of the border at gun shows and gun shops in the United States.
ATF special agent Tom Mangan says the .50-caliber rifle has become one of
the "guns of choice" for the drug cartels. The weapon fires palm-sized
..50-caliber rounds that can cut through just about anything.
Mangan showed CNN the power of the rifle on a gun range near Phoenix,
Arizona. The weapon, a Barrett, was seized in an ATF raid. A round fired
from 100 yards away tore through a car door and both sides of a bulletproof
vest like those used by Mexican police.
"There's nothing that's going to stop this round," Mangan says.
The rifle was intercepted as it was being smuggled into Mexico. Mangan says
investigators believe four others already had passed through the border.
The ATF has been trying to help Mexican police by cracking down on illegal
purchases of guns and ammunition. Operation Gunrunner has led to several
arrests and seizures of guns and ammo. But the operation has mainly shown
just how big a problem exists, authorities say.
One recent seizure in a Yuma, Arizona, storage locker yielded 42 weapons and
hundreds of rounds of .50-caliber bullets already belted to be fed into a
machine gun-style weapon.
The guns confiscated included AK-47 rifles and dozens of Fabrique National
pistols. The semiautomatic pistols fire a 5.7-by-28 millimeter round, which
is technically a rifle round, according to the ATF. Newell says the round
has a special nickname in Mexico. "It's called 'mata policias,' or 'cop
killer,' " he says.
Mexican authorities along the border recently met with their counterparts in
the United States, hoping more cooperation will lead to more arrests of
criminals and fewer killings of Mexican police officers.
Guillermo Fonseca, Mexico's regional legal attach for the West Coast, told
CNN the violence in his country is "problem number 1" -- and police in his
country are outgunned. Officers in Mexico lack heavy firepower, he says.
With the presence of large-caliber weapons from the United States, drug
cartels and criminals have the advantage in what he says is basically a war.
Part of the solution, he says, is for the United States to give Mexico more
information about who is selling these guns illegally in the United States.
Then Mexico could go after the buyers.
"We have access to systems to trace guns that have been smuggled into
Mexico, and that has worked very well," Fonseca told CNN. "We need more
information about the people who are actually purchasing the guns. We need
to prosecute those people, to convict those people. In our opinion, that's
the next step we have to take."
Last year Mexican police confiscated 10,000 guns and $200 million in raids
aimed at cracking down on border violence. Still, local police tread
carefully, especially in neighborhoods controlled by the powerful drug
cartels.
Officer Cesar Quitana patrols a dangerous barrio in Juarez, Mexico. He is
armed with an M16 assault rifle -- a weapon that would be no match in a
gunfight with drug lords.
"I think most of us feel scared just to bring this with us," he says,
pointing to the rifle in the front seat of his patrol car. "But this is what
we use to defend ourselves."
The fruit of drug prohibition in the USA and Mexico is bitter
and sets the teeth on edge as the practitioners of Anslinger's law move
down the path of Totalitarianism.
later
bliss -- C O C O A Powered... (at california dot com)
--
bobbie sellers - a retired nurse in San Francisco
"It is by will alone I set my mind in motion.
It is by the beans of cocoa that the thoughts acquire speed,
the thighs acquire girth, the girth become a warning.
It is by theobromine alone I set my mind in motion."
--from Someone else's Dune spoof ripped to my taste.
|
| |
| |
Reality@Check.it (Reality_Check) wrote in
news:6512c0F2crv59U1@mid.individual.net:
Smugglers' deadly cargo: Cop-killing guns
a.. Firearms difficult to purchase in Mexico are more easily
obtained in
United States
b.. Drugs and money go north to U.S. while guns go south to
Mexico,
authorities say
c.. Mexican drug cartels blamed for killings of police officers
Lessee here ...
The corrupt Mexican government won't control its massive organized
crime element, so we have to institute even more gun control in the
US?
Is that what they're saying?
--
Bert Hyman | St. Paul, MN | bert@iphouse.com
|
| |
| |
Bert Hyman wrote:
Reality@Check.it (Reality_Check) wrote in
news:6512c0F2crv59U1@mid.individual.net:
Lessee here ...
The corrupt Mexican government won't control its massive organized
crime element, so we have to institute even more gun control in the
US?
No, the corrupt U$ government won't control its massive
organized crime elements, so you can @$#* yourself in the ass ... again.
Is that what they're saying?
|
| |
| |
Reality_Check wrote:
What fascist #@($hole do you live in that the cops won't let you leave ?
According to the TSA, you and I can't get across the border without our
"papers". So how come all those Mexicans can go north, and all the guns
can go south without their "papers"?
You DO live in a free country, don't you, UnReality_Check?
--
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it."
George Santayana, 1863 - 1952
Cheers,
Bama Brian
Libertarian
|
| |
| |
Reality_Check wrote:
According to the TSA, you and I can't get across the border without our
"papers".
So that's the fascist #@($hole you live in, eh ?
"Ve are from Fuherland Sekurite, ve need to zee your papers"
So how come all those Mexicans can go north,
Guess they live in a country that has more freedoms than yours.
and all the guns can go south without their "papers"?
Being the U$$A is one of the largest Arms Exporters in the world,
what is your point ?
You DO live in a free country, don't you, UnReality_Check?
Where have I ever claimed that, you delusional @$#*wit ?
|
| |
| |
Smugglers' deadly cargo: Cop-killing guns
a.. Firearms difficult to purchase in Mexico are more easily obtained in
United States
b.. Drugs and money go north to U.S. while guns go south to Mexico,
authorities say
c.. Mexican drug cartels blamed for killings of police officers
Thank heavens the narco-trafficers haven't figured out that a full-auto
AK47's are available in Columbia for less than semi-auto AK's in the USA.
Perhaps they are just trying to return needed money to the US so we can
afford to buy more cocaine.
|
| |
| |
RSweeney wrote:
Thank heavens the narco-trafficers haven't figured out that a
full-auto AK47's are available in Columbia for less than semi-auto
AK's in the USA.
Or that one of the largest Arms Dealers in said cheap military weaponry
is a 21-yr-old American Boy from Miami ....
Perhaps they are just trying to return needed money to the US so we
can afford to buy more cocaine.
If G aWol Bu$h's economy keeps tanking, the cartels would be
forced to move drug production to the U$A to leverage the cheap
labor, worthless dollar, and desperate 'murrikan populace.
|
| |
| |
Thank heavens the narco-trafficers haven't figured out that a
full-auto AK47's are available in Columbia for less than semi-auto
AK's in the USA.
Or that one of the largest Arms Dealers in said cheap military weaponry
is a 21-yr-old American Boy from Miami ....
He's merely buying cheap arms off-shore (say in the Balkans and Central
America) and selling them to the US Gov't at a profit.
|
| |
| |
RSweeney wrote:
Thank heavens the narco-trafficers haven't figured out that a
full-auto AK47's are available in Columbia for less than semi-auto
AK's in the USA.
He's merely buying cheap arms off-shore (say in the Balkans and
Central America) and selling them to the US Gov't at a profit.
Feel safer yet ?
|
| |
| |
George wrote:
Maybe we should tighten up the border?
Sure, but first push all the water back up Niagara Falls.
|
| |
| |
|
