While awesomeBlogger Federale reports the expected news of the Obamanation dismantling anything even pretending to look like enforcement, cutting agents at the border, we learn that Mexico’ nasty tentacles continue to penetrate this nation…
“This week alone, at least two El Paso businesses reported to police calls they had received from a man identifying himself as a Zetas commander working for the Gulf cartel.
One man, in a “bullying voice,” called an El Paso businessman and demanded “$50,000 immediately, or the next time we’ll see you, it will be at the funeral of a loved one,” the businessman said.
The businessman spoke on condition of anonymity, citing concerns for his safety and that of his family. The family said it reported the incident to police.
Police said the caller may have been someone posing as a cartel member, hoping to use the fearsome reputation of the drug-trafficking groups operating across the border in Ciudad Juárez to extract money from businesses in El Paso.” *snip*
“But as Mexicans flee the growing insecurity and move to U.S. border cities, American business owners have said they fear that the cartels, with members living on both sides of the border, will also prey on them and demand “protection” fees.
Such demands have wrecked hundreds of businesses across Mexico, particularly in cities such as Ciudad Juárez, where the cartels are most active.
Juárez is considered the most dangerous city in the Americas. So far this year, more than 1,800 people have been killed in criminal violence, including more than 300 in September alone.
But the destruction in Juárez is measured in more ways than body counts.
In downtown Juárez, burned-out businesses have become a common sight, many of them victims of organized crime carrying through on threats to destroy shops of owners who refused to pay protection fees, authorities say.”
And let’s not forge that delicious — wonderful Mexicans have been importing all but extinct crimes, Yay!
Gosh golly kids, is this one of those examples of cross cultural pollination we hear so much about from the lunatic more immigration at all costs folks? Why yes, yes I think it is. This is the true reality of open borders and globalization. Borders and laws act like a nation’s immune system, when you eliminate them its like pouring AIDS into an open wound, and what could possibly go wring with that?
Thanks for the mention. Just from my experience on the border, Los Zetas are like the boogie man now. Most of the origional Zetas are long dead or promoted. Most Zeta members now no longer have military experience. On Zeta arrested and convicted in Laredo were never in the military, such as Rosalio Reta, who was recently convicted for murder at age 19. http://www.topix.com/city/laredo-tx/2009/03/pro-8-exclusive-convicted-zeta-hitman-rosalio-reta-pleads-guilty-to-murder
Not to minimize Mexican crime, as it is a huge and growing problem, but Los Zetas are mostly a boogie man. Regular rather than military trained killers are the problem. But it does cry out for a real double fence and for more aggressive inspections at Ports of Entry where cartel killers easily slip through. I posted on the issue of Customs and Border Protection instructing its officers not to use US Visit or other technical validation of entry documents such as green cards and border crossing cards at the Mexican border for visitors applying for admission at the crossing points.
So they’ve become kind of a catch all? That makes sense. Has something organized taken over their spot or is it more decentralized?
The cartels are territorial, depends on the area.
We saw hints of that when we were working on ranches in the Sasabe area several years ago. There were a number of raging firefights in the general area and the (needless to say Liberal weenie) owners of the ranch kept insisting we were “perfectly safe”
This was about a mile down the road from where that cartel group tested the National Guard last January.