Newspan Media
June 22-28, 2008
WEEK of gunshots
By Don Juan Corzo
Houston- While illegal drugs and undocumented aliens cross the border northbound to spread through the country, a flow of firearms is heading south to spread crime and violence in Mexico particularly through drug cartels.
“The illegal trade of arms has to grown to be from a moderate activity to a tremendous avalanche,” said Julie Myers, Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary for the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) during the first conference for the Border Enforcement Security Task Force (BEST) on Monday June 9th in Houston.
The increase of violence on the Mexican side of the border in the recent years has been noticeable and the victims have not only been drug cartel rivals but also public officials and law enforcement officers.
Collaborating to fight the problem, government agencies like the Alcohol Tobacco & Firearms Bureau (ATF), the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and ICE made an alliance with law enforcement agencies in Mexico like the Customs Agency to launch the initiative called Armas Cruzadas (Spanish for Crossed Weapons).
“With the support of President of Mexico Felipe Calderon, we have been able to combat criminals more effectively and United States made a commitment to help us in our fight,” said Juan Jose Bravo Moises, Customs General Administrator.
The initiative will concentrate on sharing information with the agencies from both countries and to strengthen their fight against arms smuggling, drug cartel activity, which is spreading on the U.S. side of the border, according to officials.
“We have worked with our colleagues from the U.S. in the past and in 2007 we reached two agreements that include the commercial aspect, the fight against crime and the sharing of intelligence we collect,” said Bravo.
U.S. Senator Charles Grassley and Congressmen Henry Cuellar and Mark Souder lent their support at the event as well.
Cuellar, whose district rims along the Texas-Mexico eastern border, is concerned with the safety of the all people on both sides as well as the spread of violence on the U.S. side. Protests by Mexican citizens against the presence of military have been visible from his district as they marched around two border bridge crossings in the city of Reynosa, across from McAllen, Texas, on early February.
"We have to get to the root of the problem here, for example, bordering states have gun dealers that are contributing to the problem and it's imperative that those contributing to the flow be accountable too," Cuellar said at the conference last year.
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Contrabando de la muerte
SEMANA News
Del 22 al 28 de junio del 2008
SEMANA de balazos
Por Don Juan Corzo
Houston- Mientras las drogas ilegales e inmigrantes indocumentados cruzan la frontera hacia el norte para esparcirse a través de Estados Unidos, un flujo de armas de fuego está cruzando la frontera hacia el Sur para contribuir al crimen y la violencia de México, particularmente el narcotráfico.
“El comercio ilegal de armas ha pasado de ser una actividad moderada a una tremenda avalancha de contrabando”, dijo Julie Myers, secretaria asistente de la Inmigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) del Department of Homeland Security (DHS), en la primera conferencia de Border Enforcement Security Task Force (BEST), realizada en Houston el pasado lunes 9 de junio. El aumento de la violencia en el lado mexicano de la frontera en los últimos años ha sido notable y las víctimas no han sido solamente miembros de carteles de droga rivales sino funcionarios y oficiales de la ley.
Colaborando Para enfrentar el problema, entidades gubernamentales como Alcohol Tobacco & Firearms (ATF), la Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) y ICE, se aliaron con agencias de la ley de México, como la Agencia de Aduanas, para lanzar la iniciativa “Armas Cruzadas”.
“Con el apoyo del presidente de México, Felipe Calderón, hemos logrado combatir los criminales con más efectividad y Estados Unidos se comprometió a ayudarnos más en nuestra lucha”, dijo Juan José Bravo Moisés, administrador General de Aduanas.
La iniciativa se concentrará en compartir información con las entidades de ambos países y en fortalecer su lucha contra el contrabando de armas, el narcotráfico y la violencia, que ya está extendiéndose al lado estadounidense de la frontera, de acuerdo a funcionarios.
“Hemos estado trabajando con nuestros colegas de Estados Unidos en el pasado y en el 2007 hicimos dos acuerdos que incluyen el aspecto comercial, la lucha contra el crimen y compartir de la inteligencia que colectamos”, mencionó Bravo.
También se contó con la presencia de los congresistas Henry Cuellar y Mark Souder y el senador Charles Grassley.
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