Pinal County, Arizona Sheriff Paul Babeu on Fast and Furious

Santa Cruz Metro Task Force nabs largest dope load of the year

Benjamin Moreno, photo courtesy of Santa Cruz County Sheriff.

 

Web Producer: Ina Ronquillo

NOGALES, Ariz. (KGUN9-TV) - Agents from the Santa Cruz Metro Task Force seized almost 2,600 pounds of marijuana off the streets of Nogales on Monday.

Santa Cruz County Sheriff Tony Estrada tells KGUN9 that the drugs were taken from a home on Calle Primorosa in the Chula Vista neighborhood.

Benjamin Moreno, 34, of Nogales, Sonora was arrested and booked into the county jail for possession of marijuana for sale.

The woman who was in the home along with Moreno may also be charged, said Estrada.
The home is believed to have been used as temporary storage for the 144 bundles of pot.
Estrada also says the drugs have a street value in Nogales of about $800,000.


KGUN 9

District of New Mexico Raises Money for Charities During the Combined Federal Campaign

For Immediate Release	Contact:
November 28, 2011	DUSM Ben Segotta, District of New Mexico (505) 462-2330

District of New Mexico Raises Money for Charities During the Combined Federal Campaign

Albuquerque, NM - This year, the United States District of New Mexico participated in the Combined Federal Campaign, the worlds’ largest and most successful annual workplace charity campaign. More than 200 CFC campaigns throughout the country and internationally help to raise millions of dollars each year. Pledges made by federal, civilian, postal and military donors during the campaign season (Sept. 1 - Dec.15) support eligible nonprofit organizations that provide health and human service benefits throughout the world. http://www.opm.gov/cfc/ The district personnel also augmented CFC contributions by hosting a silent auction to raise additional funds for donation to local and national charities like the, The Community Pantry which Feeds 4,000 hungry New Mexicans a week through direct programs and to partner soup kitchens, food pantries and shelters. The District also contributed to the “That Others May Live Foundation,” which provides critical support, scholarships, grants and warfighter appreciation for warfighter families ensuring children of fallen Air Force rescue heroes receive every opportunity for success and the “Cancer Research Foundation,” to aid in the bold and innovative laboratory and clinical research. In total the United States Marshals Service in New Mexico raised over $2600.00 for local and national charities. Additional information about the U.S. Marshals Service can be found at http://www.usmarshals.gov. ####   America’s Oldest Federal Law Enforcement Agency

Most GOP governors refuse to join calls for Attorney General Holder's resignation

By Jordy Yager 

 

 

Republican governors are refusing to weigh-in on whether President Obama should fire his top law enforcement official over a botched gun-tracking operation.

The overwhelming silence of GOP state leaders comes as Texas Gov. Rick Perry and Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal have joined more than 40 Republican lawmakers on Capitol Hill in calling on Attorney General Eric Holder to resign for his role in Operation Fast and Furious.

The Hill spoke with the offices of all 29 Republican governors. Twenty-six of them either declined to comment or did not respond to whether their confidence in the Obama Administration has waned in the wake of Congress’s investigation into Fast and Furious — a gun tracking operation in the Southwest that oversaw the sale of thousands of firearms to known and suspected straw buyers for Mexican drug cartels.

The reluctance of the GOP governors to voice their position differs dramatically from the Republican attitude on Capitol Hill where 40 members sent a letter to Obama this week calling for Holder's resignation.

Many of Holder’s critics say he either knew about the operation and did not immediately stop it, or that he didn’t know about Fast and Furious but should have, and they say the attorney general’s ignorance represents incompetence.

Holder has said he did not authorize the operation, which “was flawed in concept, as well as in execution.” He told senators this month that those responsible within the Justice Department (DOJ) and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF), which immediately oversaw the operation, will be held accountable.

But Jindal said Holder has violated the trust of Americans and Congress, and that he should leave office immediately.

“The Attorney General should resign,” said Jindal in a statement to The Hill. “He has consistently tried to undermine the Second Amendment he was sworn to uphold. His department deliberately allowed violent Mexican gangs to get more guns, and all the evidence indicates that he lied to Congress about it.”

The scrutiny over Holder’s role in Fast and Furious increased several months ago when internal DOJ memos surfaced suggesting he misled Congress over when he learned about the operation. This month before the Senate, Holder clarified his previous remarks, saying he learned about Fast and Furious earlier this year after a whistleblower spurred news reports of the botched operation.

Perry, a Republican presidential frontrunner, also called for Holder to step down, saying that Obama’s continued trust in the attorney general was cause to question his ability to lead the country. Perry pointed to the two weapons sold under the operation and found later at the murder scene of Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry.

“It is high time for Mr. Holder to step down. If he refuses to resign, Mr. Obama must fire him immediately,” wrote Perry in an op-ed this week in The Washington Times.

“America simply cannot tolerate an attorney general who arms the very criminals he is supposed to protect us from and then refuses to comfort the grieving parents of a slain Border Patrol agent. Nor can we tolerate a president who lacks the courage to take decisive action in restoring justice to the Department of Justice.”

But as the GOP in Congress has increased its pressure on Holder and the Obama administration over Fast and Furious, the nation’s Republican governors have largely been hesitant to weigh-in.

Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer, whose state was home base for the failed operation, resisted calling for Holder’s resignation. A spokesman for Brewer told The Hill that the Obama administration has “badly mishandled” Fast and Furious and its response to the operation. He said she was looking forward to the results of the congressional investigation and the DOJ’s inspector general (IG) probe, which has been underway since March.

“The individuals responsible for this failed operation need to be held accountable,” said Matthew Benson, communications director for Brewer, in an email to The Hill.


 “The governor is not a one-woman judge and jury, however, so she’s not willing to call for the attorney general to resign until all of the information has been presented. But it is clear that Fast and Furious has undermined Governor Brewer’s confidence in Attorney General Holder, given that this failed operation occurred under his watch.”

But Jindal, Perry, and Brewer are outliers in the GOP gubernatorial field. The Republican governors of Alabama, Alaska, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Maine, Michigan, Mississippi, Nebraska, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming all declined to comment or did not respond for this article.

Obama has been largely silent on the issue as well. But in a rare interview on the subject with ABC last month, he expressed his continued confidence in Holder and assured that the appropriate people behind the operation’s decisions would be held responsible.

Holder is set to testify before the House Judiciary Committee in less than two weeks on Dec. 8.


The Hill

Drones cleared for domestic use across the US

Drones cleared for domestic use across US

What do you know about drones? You know drones — those robotic, unmanned planes that fire missiles for the American military across Afghanistan, Pakistan and anywhere else the United States needs to get away with murder.

Well if you don’t know too much, don’t worry, that’ll change soon. The Federal Aviation Administration is looking into rules that will bring the controversial aircraft into the country, creating an United States airspace buzzing with tiny, robot planes to look over every inch of American soil — and maybe more.

An article published Tuesday in the Los Angeles Times reveals that new drone planes could be coming domestically quite soon, as both law enforcement and the agricultural sector are seeing benefits in keeping an arsenal of unmanned planes ready to patrol the skies. For farmers, drones could bring a new method of pumping pesticides into fields of crops from above; for the cops, the aircraft could conduct surveillance over suspected criminals (think police chopper but remote controlled). The Times reports that utility companies see a benefit in drones as well, giving them a new set of eyes to monitor oil, gas and water pipelines.

But with missile-equipped drones causing thousands of deaths overseas, the installation of a drone program stateside could be detrimental to America as the government all but deems the country fit as a warfront.

"It's going to happen," Dan Elwell, vice president of civil aviation at the Aerospace Industries Association, tells the Times. "Now it's about figuring out how to safely assimilate the technology into national airspace."

According to the Department of Homeland Security’s website, the government has already been using drones domestically for several years, but remains mostly mum on their missions, other than that they are regularly used for "support of disaster relief efforts."

In July, however, retired Air Force Maj. Gen. Michael Kostelnik, currently with the US Customs and Border Protection UAV program, told a congressional subcommittee that a third drone was being added to an arsenal of two that already fly over Texas to patrol the US/Mexico Border.

“On any given day there could be three or more (unmanned) aircraft in Texas,” said Kostelnik.
As the FAA investigates legislation to govern drones domestically for a variety of reasons, the US Air Force says that it will train more drone pilots than fighter and bomber pilots combined, reports National Public Radio. Though the military has not explicitly stated that they intend on flying Predator drones — the kind equipped with Hellfire missiles — through American airspace, it will soon have the manpower to up their robot game. Strangely enough, the US Senate is currently considering a provision to the National Defense Authorization Act which would make America a battlefield of itself, which RT reported on Monday.

Earlier this year, RT also revealed that the military is investing $23 billion into new drone crafts, and that the US has added bases to fly the planes in and out of across the world. A friendly fire strike gone disastrous in April killed two American troops mistaken as Taliban insurgents, and a September strike in Yemen killed two American citizens alleged to have ties to al-Qaeda. Following that strike, Republican Congressman Ron Paul told an audience during a televised GOP debate that “now we know American citizens are vulnerable to assassination.” A passing of the National Defense Authorization Act’s latest provision this week, coupled with a reinforced drone arsenal, could create such executions to be carried out stateside, by-the-books.

So far the FAA has issued 266 testing permits to allow for civilian drones in the United States, but the Times reports that the aircraft aren’t flying in large numbers yet, as the agency says that the crafts do not have the proper technology to keep them from crashing into each other as they start to soar in growing numbers. Small drones are being manufactured in the thousands, however, and AeroVironment Inc. has created a drone helicopter for police monitoring and intends on sending 18,000 of them to law enforcement agencies once the crafts have clearance. Those drones, reports the Times, weigh barely five pounds and could be controlled by a tablet computer.

"This is a tool that many law enforcement agencies never imagined they could have,” Steven Gitlin of the aerospace company tells the Times.

As the realm of drone-filled skies becomes a reality, Americans could be experiencing a police state that they never could have imagined, either.

AeroVironment’s planes are being manufactured particularly for law enforcement purposes and could create an eye-in-the-sky small enough to fit in the trunk of a car that'd monitor every action from high in the air — undetectable to the naked eye yet all knowing of every move.

"By definition, small drones are easy to conceal and fly without getting a lot of attention," John Villasenor, a UCLA professor and senior fellow at the Brookings Institution's Center for Technology Innovation, adds to the Times.

Also getting less attention are the programs used to create the crafts itself. A recent report in Wired.com’s Danger Room reveals that the US military has been keeping members of the press off of drone bases in increasing numbers as of late, keeping the progress of the program overseas highly unreported.

“The change in guidance wasn’t a light switch that turned off all public access to information about [remotely piloted aircraft],” Lt. Col. Tadd Sholtis, spokesman at Air Combat Command, tells Danger Room. “It was a recognition of the sensitive nature of the mission and the risks involved in unrestricted media access to an operational unit.”

The US government has repeatedly dismissed claims that put drone attacks in alarming numbers contrary to their own count, responsible for a shocking toll of deaths; though reporting overseas has unearthed figures that would frighten most people living under skies patrolled by drones. According to a report this year from Britain’s Bureau of Investigative Journalism, US drone strikes have killed nearly 400 civilians in Pakistan alone, and that the CIA has launched 291 attacks by the report’s publishing in August — eight percent more than the Central Intelligence Agency had admitted to. Casualties in all, adds the UK’s Bureau, are at least 40 percent higher than what the US has reported.

Standing up for his research, Bureau Editor Iain Overton tells CNN that "All of our sources are credible and transparent, and where contradictory information exists, we make that clear.”

"It is unfortunate that instead of engaging with our work, the CIA sees fit to smear it,” adds Overton.
Pentagon spokesperson George Little reported to the press this October that the US launched nearly 150 airstrikes with drones over Libya in just the few months of NATO involvement in the oust of Muammar Gaddafi.

With drones coming to a sky near you — and your neighborhood soon being considered a battlefield — the number of strikes could increase and come a little too close to home. Literally.
"Most Americans still see drone aircraft in the realm of science fiction," author Peter W. Singer tells the Times. "But the technology is here. And it isn't going away. It will increasingly play a role in our lives. The real question is: How do we deal with it?"

With lawmakers pushing for drones to dominate our skies, American civilians aren’t left with many options to deal with it than just that — deal with it.

Both sides of the aisle have shown support for drones.

GOP presidential hopeful Jon Huntsman said earlier this month that “an expanded drone program is something that would serve our national interests” and that it “must be done.” The Bureau of Investigative Journalism report earlier this year calculated that President Obama has been in office for around 236 drone strikes against Pakistan — or one for every four days in office.

Foreign policy aside, politicians have shown support for bringing drones to America. Now that the FAA has given it the go ahead, it is only a matter of time before the robotic whizzing of robotic crafts being a regular occurrence.

“We know that there are Predator drones being flown for practice every day because we're seeing them; we're preparing these young people to fly missions in these war zones that we have,” Texas Governor Rick Perry said in New Hampshire earlier this year. “But some of those, they have all the equipment, they're obviously unarmed, they've got the downward-looking radar, they've got the ability to do night work and through clouds.”

“Why not be flying those missions and using (that) real-time information to help our law enforcement?” asked Perry.

Last year the Obama administration got behind a $600 million border security bill that will bring two more drones to the US/Mexico border. Congress approved it in 2010.

By this summer, the Customs and Border Protection had six drones in their arsenal to monitor their border. For those not in Texas, Arizona or anywhere near the southwest US, however, you could expect to see those numbers increase. Be sure to wave if you see them, too. “You have a lot of police chiefs and sheriffs that would love to have this information,” Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Laredo, said of the technology earlier this year.

“Technology is part of the long-term solution to securing the border,” Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Austin, said in a letter to Congress earlier this year.

Say good-bye to long-term. Drones are here and they are only going to get smaller, stealthier and greater in numbers.

Smile, you’re on drone-craft camera.

RT 

Congressman Allen West on immigration

To establish a uniform rule of naturalization and uniform laws.

Ok. I think that illegal immigration – the operative word is ‘illegal’. It also says here in Article 1 Section 8 that you have to repel invasions. I think that anytime someone is coming across your border and they haven’t been invited, that can be considered what the founding fathers wrote as an invasion into your country.

Concealed gun legislation sticks with Bill of Rights

According to a bill passed by the U.S. House of Representatives, American citizens not only have the right to keep and bear arms, they also have the right to carry them concealed.

It is a logical conclusion to the effort to restore the original meanings to our founding documents.

The Bill of Rights is the most important document the founding fathers gave to the citizens of this country.

Instead of setting us apart from England, as the Declaration of Independence did; or giving us an outline of governmental organization, as the Constitution did, it established for every citizen protection from tyranny.
Many of the founders thought it was the best thing they did.

Yet the Second Amendment has become the most contentious of the first 10 Amendments to the Constitution.
The Second Amendment guarantees citizens the right to bear arms.

There is no easy way to describe who is "for" and who is "against" the Second Amendment.

More Republicans than Democrats voted for the House bill, but 43 Democrats voted for it and seven Republicans voted against it.

Also, the Republican-led House of Representatives brought forth a concealed carry bill and passed it; the Democrat-controlled Senate doesn't even have any legislation on the subject scheduled this year.
A liberal-conservative split on the issue might be easier to use as a dividing line, but it, too, seems to be steeped in exceptions.

A look at the record of U.S. Rep. Gabrielle "Gabby" Giffords, D-Ariz., illustrates the point. Giffords describes herself as "a former Republican."

She was, of course, the target of the assassin who killed six people and wounded 13 others. Giffords was shot point-blank in the head but survived.

A friend, conservative U.S. District Judge John Roll, was killed. Among the other dead was a 9-year-old girl and one of Giffords' aides.

At the shooting scene outside a mall, at least one person had a concealed carry permit. He did not draw his weapon, he said in an interview, because he knew he might be confused with the shooter or might shoot someone else who was armed but was not the killer.

Giffords is not yet up to regular attendance in Congress, so did not vote on this bill, but her recent voting record shows strong support for gun rights, including a bill to create a cross-state standard for concealed weapons.

The Second Amendment is almost entirely straightforward. Almost:

"A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed."

Some seize on "militia" and insist the founders were talking about keeping weapons for purposes of defending government. That would make the Second Amendment the only one of the Bill of Rights that was written for the state and not the individual.

(In those days, militias were loosely formed, like posses, and the only way to participate effectively was to bring your own gun.)

No, the Second Amendment is not an aberration, telling citizens of a right they do not have. It is a promise that this is one they can keep.

The House bill, just passed, is one meant to make certain that everyone understands that the entitlement to self-protection is the law of the land.

And has been from the start.

Obama Gun Control Policy: President Stays Virtually Silent On Issue

(Photo by Stefan Postles/Getty Images)

By ERICA WERNER

WASHINGTON -- They are fuzzy about some issues but the Republican presidential candidates leave little doubt about where they stand on gun rights.

Rick Perry and Rick Santorum go pheasant hunting and give interviews before heading out. Newt Gingrich and Herman Cain speak to the National Rifle Association convention. Michele Bachmann tells People magazine she wants to teach her daughters how to shoot because women need to be able to protect themselves. Mitt Romney, after backing some gun control measures in Massachusetts, now presents himself as a strong Second Amendment supporter.

President Barack Obama, on the other hand, is virtually silent on the issue.

He has hardly addressed it since a couple of months after the January assassination attempt on Rep. Gabrielle Giffords in Tucson, Ariz., when he promised to develop new steps on gun safety in response. He still has failed to do so, even as Tucson survivors came to Capitol Hill last week to push for action to close loopholes in the gun background check system.

Democrats have learned the hard way that embracing gun control can be terrible politics, and the 2012 presidential election is shaping up to underscore just how delicate the issue can be. With the election likely to be decided largely by states where hunting is a popular pastime, like Missouri, Ohio or Pennsylvania, candidates of both parties want to win over gun owners, not alienate them.

For Republicans, that means emphasizing their pro-gun credentials. But for Obama and the Democrats, the approach is trickier.

Obama's history in support of strict gun control measures prior to becoming president makes it difficult for him to claim he's a Second Amendment champion, even though he signed a bill allowing people to take loaded guns into national parks. At the same time, he's apparently decided that his record backing gun safety is nothing to boast of either, perhaps because of the power of the gun lobby and their opposition to anything smacking of gun control.

The result is that while Republicans are more than happy to talk up their support for gun rights, Obama may barely be heard from on the issue at all.

"Gun control is a fight that the administration is not willing to pick. They're not likely to win it," said Harry Wilson, author of a book on gun politics and director of the Institute for Policy and Opinion Research at Roanoke College in Virginia. "They certainly would not win it in Congress, and it's not likely to be a winner at the polls. ... It comes down to one pretty simple word: Politics."

Administration officials say they are working to develop the gun safety measures promised after the Giffords shooting, and they say they have taken steps to improve the background check system. White House spokesman Matt Lehrich says the White House goal is to "protect the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding citizens while keeping guns out of the hands of those who shouldn't have them under existing law."

But when it comes to guns and politics, Democrats haven't forgotten what happened in 1994. That year, President Bill Clinton was pushing for passage of a landmark crime bill featuring a ban on assault-style weapons, and then-House Speaker Thomas Foley, D-Wash., twisted Democrats' arms to get it through the House. Come November, Democrats suffered widespread election losses and lost control of the House and the Senate. Foley was among those defeated, and Clinton and others credited the NRA's campaigning with a big role in the outcome. And when the assault weapons ban came up for congressional reauthorization in 2004, it failed.

Given that history, the NRA expects to see Obama treading carefully on guns through 2012.

"It's bad politics to be on the wrong side of the Second Amendment at election time," said Wayne LaPierre, NRA executive vice president. "They're trying to fog the issue through the 2012 election and deceive gun owners into thinking he's something he's not, which is pro-Second Amendment."

For gun control advocates, it adds up to frustration with Obama and the Democrats. The group Mayors Against Illegal Guns argues that polling shows voters support certain gun safety measures like stronger background checks – although a recent Gallup poll also finds more support for enforcing current laws than for passing new ones.

"Good policy here is good politics," said John Feinblatt, an adviser to New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who is a co-chairman of the mayors' group. "Unfortunately, for too long the administration has bought the conventional wisdom" that gun control is bad politics.

But the NRA outspends gun-control groups by a wide margin, and analysts say that when it comes time to vote, the gun issue is more likely to motivate gun rights activists than gun control supporters.

Since becoming president, Obama has been extremely cautious on the issue. In his 2004 Senate race, for example, Obama said it was a "scandal" that then-President George W. Bush didn't force renewal of the assault weapons ban. But Obama himself has done nothing to promote that issue since becoming president.

Obama's commitment to act on gun safety may also be complicated by an unrelated controversy over a Justice Department program aimed at stanching gun trafficking into Mexico. The government lost track of numerous weapons in connection with the program.

Obama has vowed to figure out what went wrong with the operation and make sure it's corrected, but with Republicans seizing on the issue to attack the White House, the politics around taking action on guns hasn't gotten any easier.

So for now, supporters who hoped to see Obama adopt a stronger stance on guns and act in the wake of the Giffords shooting look like they're going to be disappointed.

"We haven't given up hope," said Dennis Henigan, acting president of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, "but our impatience is growing with each passing day."


Associated Press

3 Mexican Men Indicted in Arizona Drug-Gun Case

  

   

PHOENIX (AP) — A federal grand jury in Phoenix has indicted three Mexican men for their alleged roles in a drugs and firearms case earlier this month.

Prosecutors say 23-year-old Luis Enrique Lizarraga-Ayala, 36-year-old Octavio Rivera-Mendez and 22-year-old Juan Carlos Casas-Pacheco were indicted for conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute marijuana, use of a firearm in the furtherance of a drug trafficking offense and unlawful possession of a firearm and ammunition.

The three men were arrested on Nov. 10. They allegedly were part of a crew in the Vekol Valley near Casa Grande involved in using firearms to rob drug couriers carrying marijuana in the desert.

Authorities say Lizarraga-Ayala, Rivera-Mendez and Casas-Pacheco were in the country illegally and had previously been deported. They each have since been ordered detained pending trial.

Associated Press

GOP, Dems Bicker About 'Fast and Furious'

Gun store owner worried about gun control

GOP, Dems Bicker About 'Fast and Furious': MyFoxPHOENIX.com

WASHINGTON - The backlash over the Fast and Furious scandal continues to heat up.

Democrats and Republicans are trying to lay blame on one another for letting thousands of guns make their way into the hands of drug cartels.

There have been 38,000 people murdered in Mexico.

Democrats blame America's lax gun laws, while Republicans blame the cartels and the Obama administration for helping arm them.

"The federal government certainly aided and abetted gun trafficking, which then may have been the proximate cause of a border agent's death," said Rep. Trey Gowdy, R-S.C.

While Democrats believe a majority of the guns came from U.S. gun stores, store owners are firing back.

"I'm not going to risk anyone's life to make $50 extra on a gun," said Apache Junction gun store owner, Jeff Serdy.

In fact - they fear that the Obama administration condoned Fast and Furious as a way to regulate gun sales.

"President Obama stated that he is working for gun control with alternative methods, and I hope this isn't one of them,” Serdy said.

But Democrats call that idea "crazy."

Either way, many seem to support the effort that would require gun stores to report buyers of multiple weapons.

"The administration and ATF say they want multiple long gun sales to be reported - so we can identify these straw purchasers, so we can go after them, so we can prevent these guns from going into Mexico," said Rep. Adam Schiff, D–Calif.

The bickering between both parties is expected to be on full display Dec. 8th, when Attorney General Eric Holder appears before the House Judiciary Committee.

My Fox Phoenix

Along Mexican Border, US Ranchers say they Live in Fear

Despite government assurances that they're safe, they say the level of violence is rising

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

By Mark Potter
NBC News

FALFURRIAS, Texas — While walking along a dirt road bordering his property, a South Texas farmer complained about living in fear of Mexican traffickers smuggling drugs and illegal immigrants across his land. He would later ask his visitor not to reveal his identity, for his safety and that of his family.

"I'm a citizen of the United States. This is supposedly sovereign soil, but right now it's anybody's who happens to be crossing here," he said. "I'm a little nervous being here right now. Definitely don’t come down here after dark."

The farmer said a federal law enforcement agent told him to buy a bulletproof vest to use while working in his fields. Whenever he goes out to survey his agricultural operations, he always tells his office where he is headed, and he has purchased a high-powered rifle.

"One of the basic points of the federal government is to protect the people of this nation to secure the border, and they're not doing that," he complained.

The Obama administration and many local officials have said the U.S.-Mexican border is safer than ever and that reports of violence on the American side are wildly exaggerated. But the farmer scoffed at that argument. "I walk this soil every day and have since I was old enough to come out on my own," he said. "In this part of Texas, it is worse than it's ever been."

Moving families to safer ground
A report recently released by the Texas commissioner of agriculture said cross-border violence was escalating. "Fear and anxiety levels among Texas farmers and ranchers have grown enormously during the past two years," the report said, adding that some “have even abandoned their livelihoods to move their families to safer ground."

Retired U.S. Army Gen. Barry McCaffrey, who served as the U.S. drug czar during the Clinton administration and as an NBC News military analyst, is a co-author of the report. During a recent interview, McCaffrey said that while major cities along the Texas border are "pretty safe," the rural areas between towns are "largely unprotected, and across those areas the (Mexican) cartels are conducting massive movements of illegal drugs and other criminal activity."

Law enforcement agents say they are seeing more aggressive efforts by Mexican traffickers operating in the Rio Grande Valley. In South Texas alone, the traffickers smuggle hundreds of tons of drugs a year into the United States by floating them on rafts across the Rio Grande, then transporting them by car, truck or on foot — often across private land — into the United States.

The smuggling “clearly has intimidated U.S. citizen who don't believe they're safe on their own land in their own country," McCaffrey said.

Several Texas congressmen and sheriffs have condemned the report, saying its conclusions are overstated and politically driven. But McCaffrey claims the officials not facing facts.

"I think there is an element of denial," McCaffrey said. "Inside the beltway the senior law enforcement, I think, have fallen in line and said, no, that's right, the U.S. border is the safest place in America, which is errant nonsense."



Ranchers protecting themselves


Mike Vickers, a veterinarian and rancher, leads a group of Texas landowners concerned about Mexican drug and immigrant smugglers crossing their private property.

Veterinarian and rancher Mike Vickers heads the Texas Border Volunteers, a group of about 300 landowners and supporters who work closely with law enforcement officials to track drug and immigrant smugglers entering the U.S. from Mexico and crossing private land. His primary concern, he said, is the safety of farmers and ranchers who have been confronted by armed traffickers.

"A lot of them have been threatened not to call the Border Patrol or law enforcement if they see smuggling going on their property, otherwise they'll be killed or their family members may be killed," he said.

During a tour of his land and that of a neighbor, Vickers pointed out numerous hiking trails worn by smugglers and illegal immigrants from around the world. He also showed where many parts of the wire fence had been cut and pulled back.

"This is not done by wildlife," he said. "This is done by smugglers and more than likely drug smugglers that have heavy backpacks full of drugs so they can drag the backpack underneath and not have to throw it over the fence."

In order to prove their claims that thousands of smugglers and illegal immigrants are crossing private American land, the Texas Border Volunteers have erected hidden cameras and share the images with state and federal agents. Describing one of the pictures, Vickers said, "This individual's got at least 80, maybe 100 pounds on his back. This is probably marijuana with a canvas covering." Another black and white photograph showed a man hoisting a smaller load. "You know he's carrying at least 40 pounds of drugs in that backpack. We suspect cocaine."

Vickers said that since 2004, about 500 people, mostly illegal immigrants, have perished while on smuggling trips through private property in Brooks County, Texas, alone, where his ranch is located.

A war zone?


This fence on private land apparently was trampled by smugglers trying to get around a Border Patrol checkpoint in South Texas.

 Todd Staples, the Texas agriculture commissioner and a candidate for lieutenant governor, argued that many leaders in Washington, D.C., continue to ignore the violence along the border. In a recent article he wrote, "A Webb County rancher checking his cattle is shot at and barely escapes with his life; the suspects are linked to drug cartels. Workers in a Hidalgo County sugarcane field are told by cartel members to stop harvesting the crop 'or else," because the sugarcane provides coverage for cartel coyotes smuggling drugs."

Vickers said he knows ranchers who have moved their families into nearby cities for their protection and have taken other safety measures. "Everyone is packing a weapon and carrying a cell phone with them. and they're crazy if they don't," he said. "This is happening on American soil; this is a war zone here, there's no question about it."

The use of the phrase "war zone" to describe the U.S. side of the border is controversial. The report to the agriculture commissioner states, "Living and conducting business in a Texas border county is tantamount to living in a war zone in which civil authorities, law enforcement agencies as well as citizens are under attack around the clock."

Democratic congressmen and some local officials say that conclusion is unfair. Hidalgo County Sheriff Lupe Trevino was recently quoted by the Houston Chronicle as saying, "The border is not in chaos.” And the newspaper quoted Rep. Silvestre Reyes, a Democrat representing El Paso, as calling the claims "political rhetoric" meant to embarrass the Obama administration.

Among ranchers, farmers and law enforcement agents working at the ground level, however, there is considerable agreement that large-scale drug smuggling from Mexico into the United States has been increasing in recent years and that the traffickers are becoming more aggressive. For the farmer too afraid to be identified publicly, it creates a painful dilemma.

"I can't pick up and move this farm; we're tied to the land," he said. "This is the front door to our country. Help us stop it here."

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

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SWAT team's shooting of Marine causes outrage

By AMANDA LEE MYERS

The Associated Press 

TUCSON, Ariz. — Jose Guerena Ortiz was sleeping after an exhausting 12-hour night shift at a copper mine. His wife, Vanessa, had begun breakfast. Their 4-year-old son, Joel, asked to watch cartoons.

ADVANCE FOR RELEASE MONDAY, NOV. 28 - In this photo taken June 9, 2011, a portrait of Marine Jose Guerena Ortiz is shown in the window of his home Tucson, Ariz. Guerena was shot and killed on May 5, 2011 by the Pima County Sheriff's Department. The Sheriff's Department said its SWAT team was at the home because they suspected Guerena of being involved in a drug-trafficking organization that specialized in ripping off smugglers. The SWAT team fired 71 times, riddling Guerena 22 times, while his wife and child cowered in a closet. (AP Photo/Matt York)

ADVANCE FOR RELEASE MONDAY, NOV. 28 - In this photo taken June 9, 2011, the home of Jose Guerena Ortiz is show in Tucson, Ariz. Guerena was shot and killed on May 5, 2011 by the Pima County Sheriff's Department. The Sheriff's Department said its SWAT team was at the home because they suspected Guerena of being involved in a drug-trafficking organization that specialized in ripping off smugglers. The SWAT team fired 71 times, riddling Guerena 22 times, while his wife and child cowered in a closet. (AP Photo/Matt York)

ADVANCE FOR RELEASE MONDAY, NOV. 28 - In this photo taken June 9, 2011, a bullet riddled wall is shown at the home of Jose Guerena Ortiz in Tucson, Ariz. Ortiz was shot and killed on May 5, 2011, by the Pima County Sheriff's Department. The Sheriff's Department said its SWAT team was at the home because they suspected Guerena of being involved in a drug-trafficking organization that specialized in ripping off smugglers. The SWAT team fired 71 times, riddling Guerena 22 times, while his wife and child cowered in a closet. (AP Photo/Matt York)

An ordinary morning was unfolding in the middle-class Tucson neighborhood — until an armored vehicle pulled into the family's driveway and men wearing heavy body armor and helmets climbed out, weapons ready.

They were a sheriff's department SWAT team who had come to execute a search warrant. But Vanessa Guerena insisted she had no idea, when she heard a "boom" and saw a dark-suited man pass by a window, that it was police outside her home. She shook her husband awake and told him someone was firing a gun outside.

A U.S. Marine veteran of the Iraq war, he was only trying to defend his family, she said, when he grabbed his own gun — an AR-15 assault rifle.

What happened next was captured on video after a member of the SWAT team activated a helmet-mounted camera.

The officers — four of whom carried .40-caliber handguns while another had an AR-15 — moved to the door, briefly sounding a siren, then shouting "Police!" in English and Spanish. With a thrust of a battering ram, they broke the door open. Eight seconds passed before they opened fire into the house.

And 10 seconds later, Guerena lay dying in a hallway 20-feet from the front door. The SWAT team fired 71 rounds, riddling his body 22 times, while his wife and child cowered in a closet.

"Hurry up, he's bleeding," Vanessa Guerena pleaded with a 911 operator. "I don't know why they shoot him. They open the door and shoot him. Please get me an ambulance."

When she emerged from the home minutes later, officers hustled her to a police van, even as she cried that her husband was unresponsive and bleeding, and that her young son was still inside. She begged them to get Joel out of the house before he saw his father in a puddle of blood on the floor.

But soon afterward, the boy appeared in the front doorway in Spider-Man pajamas, crying.

The Pima County Sheriff's Department said its SWAT team was at the home because Guerena was suspected of being involved in a drug-trafficking organization and that the shooting happened because he arrived at the door brandishing a gun. The county prosecutor's office says the shooting was justified.

But six months after the May 5 police gunfire shattered a peaceful morning and a family's life, investigators have made no arrests in the case that led to the raid. Outraged friends, co-workers and fellow Marines have called the shooting an injustice and demanded further investigation. A family lawyer has filed a multimillion-dollar lawsuit against the sheriff's office. And amid the outcry in online forums and social media outlets, the sheriff's 54-second video, which found its way to YouTube, has drawn more than 275,000 views.

The many questions swirling around the incident all boil down to one, repeated by Vanessa Guerena, as quoted in the 1,000-page police report on the case:

"Why, why, why was he killed?"

Outside the family's stucco home, a giant framed photo of Guerena in his Marine uniform sat placed in the front bay window, American flags waved in the yard and signs condemning his death were taped to the garage door.

The 27-year-old Guerena had completed two tours in Iraq, and a former superior there was among those who couldn't make sense of his death.

Leo Verdugo said Guerena stood out among other Marines for his maturity and sense of responsibility.

Verdugo, who retired as a master sergeant last year after 25 years in the Marines, placed Guerena in charge of an important helicopter refueling mission in the remote west desert of Iraq.

"He had a lot of integrity and he was a man of his word," Verdugo said.'

Verdugo, who also lives in Tucson, said Guerena came to him for advice in 2006 about whether to retire from the Marines and apply to the Border Patrol.

When Verdugo ran into Guerena and his wife at a Motor Vehicle Department office about a month before Guerena was killed, Verdugo said that Guerena told him that the Border Patrol had turned him down because of problems with his vision and that he had instead taken a mining job.

Those who worked with Guerena at ASARCO'S Mission Mine said the man they knew would never be a part of drug smuggling.

"I don't care what the cops say. I don't believe for one moment Jose was involved in anything illegal," said Sharon Hargrave, a co-worker, adding through tears: "They were judge, jury and executioner, and there was no excuse."

Guerena worked as a "helper" at two crushers in the mine, shoveling piles of rocks that fall from conveyor belts and wheel-barrowing heavy debris. "No one in their right mind" would choose this work, which paid about $41,000 a year, if they were bringing in drug smuggling money, Hargrave said.

"He was a hell of a worker," she said. "He's got good judgment and I could trust him."

She said Guerena talked constantly about his wife and two sons, Joel and Jose Jr., 5, who'd gone to school the morning of the shooting. "I know he was definitely in love with his wife and in love with his kids," she said.
Kevin Stephens, a chief steward at Mission mine and head of the miners' union there, said bluntly: "Personally, I think he was murdered, and that is the feeling that is out here."

But the sheriff's office said just because Guerena was a Marine and worked at a mine doesn't mean he couldn't be involved in drug trafficking.

"We know from our experiences that good people turn their lives around and do bad things, and this guy was bad irrespective of his honorable discharge as a Marine," said sheriff's chief of investigations Rick Kastigar.
He said Guerena was suspected of involvement in a drug operation that specialized in ripping off other smugglers. One tip held that Guerena was "the muscle" of the organization, or in Kastigar's words, "the individual that was directed to exact revenge."

An affidavit supporting the search warrant that precipitated the raid describes the department's suspicions about Guerena in a drug investigation that appeared more focused on his brother, and his brother's father-in-law. Guerena's brother does not have a listed number and other family members have ignored written requests from the AP for comment.

Sheriff's Capt. Chris Nanos, who heads the criminal investigations division and oversaw the Guerena case, said that high-powered rifles and bulletproof vests that were found in Guerena's home after the shooting back up investigators' belief that Guerena was involved in drug trafficking. A shotgun found in the home was reported stolen in Tucson in 2008.

In the affidavit, sheriff's Detective Alex Tisch laid out the case against Guerena's family. It details two instances of drug seizures, one in April 2009 in which Jose Guerena was found in a home with other people who had just dropped off 1,000 pounds of marijuana at a separate residence, and another in October 2009 in which a man who had met with Guerena's brother was found with drugs and weapons.

Neither Guerena nor his brother was charged.

The affidavit also cites two traffic stops of Jose Guerena.

The first was on Jan. 28, 2009, when an officer pulled Guerena and two other men over north of Tucson. The officer seized a gun from Guerena, a marijuana pipe from Guerena's cousin and marijuana hidden in canisters of lemonade and hot cocoa that were under the feet of Guerena's friend.

The officer arrested Guerena on charges of weapons misconduct, marijuana possession and possession of drug paraphernalia. But prosecutors filed no charges against him.

The other stop came Sept. 15, 2009, when the sheriff's office pulled over a truck leaving the home of Guerena's brother. Jose Guerena was in the passenger seat and another man was driving. Officers searched the truck and found commercial-sized rolls of plastic wrap that they say are commonly used to package marijuana. No arrests were made.

Tisch wrote in the affidavit that the past arrests of Guerena and members of his family, combined with observations during months of surveillance led detectives to believe that the family was operating a mid-level drug-trafficking organization in the Tucson area.

The investigation is ongoing, the sheriff's office says.

After the SWAT video circulated, people who didn't know Guerena traveled from as far as California to march in protest of his shooting, and an Alaska woman began an online petition calling for a federal investigation of the SWAT team. Hundreds of people across the country have written on several Facebook pages dedicated to Guerena with messages that include, "He fought for our country, now we must fight for him."

The Guereno family's lawyer, Christopher Scileppi, filed a lawsuit on their behalf seeking damages from the sheriff's office, the officers involved in the shooting and other officials. The lawsuit didn't specify how much money the family was seeking, but a notice of claim filed Aug. 9 put the amount at $20 million.

"During this investigation, extremely little evidence, if any, was found to raise even a suspicion that Jose Guerena was involved in any possible drug trafficking ring," the notice says.

Scileppi said the fact that Guerena had been fired at 71 times and hit 22 times was "grotesque," and "almost a caricature of an overly excited group of poorly trained law enforcement agents."

Kastigar sharply disputed that, calling the Pima County SWAT team one of the best of its kind in the nation. "We're not a bunch of country bumpkins in southern Arizona with big bellies and cowboy hats," he said.

The shooting was justified, he said, because Guerena pointed his AR-15 at the SWAT officers and said, "I've got something for you," before they opened fire.

The five SWAT team members who shot Guerena believed that he had fired his weapon first, he said. Subsequent investigation revealed that the gun's safety was on and hadn't been fired. Ultimately, that is not an issue, Kastigar said.

"What reasonable person comes to the front door and points a rifle at people?" he said. "It takes several milliseconds to flip the switch from safety to fire and take out a couple of SWAT officers. I'm firmly of the opinion that he was attempting to shoot at us."

The officers laid down "suppressive" fire because one had tripped and fallen and the others thought he'd been shot.
"You point a gun at police, you're going to get shot," Kastigar said.

The five officers who shot Guerena declined to speak to the AP through Mike Storie, a police union lawyer who represents them and defends their actions.

"Anytime that they are faced with a serious, imminent and deadly threat, they are entitled and justified to use deadly force," he said. "And when Guerena came around the corner and lifted an AR-15 and pointed it at them, that provided the justification."

An independent expert, Chuck Drago, a former longtime SWAT officer for Fort Lauderdale, Fla., police who now does consulting on use of force and other law enforcement issues, said that the shooting itself appeared justified.

"It's a horrible, horrible tragedy, but if they walked in the door and somebody came at them with an assault rifle, that would be a justifiable response," said Drago. "It doesn't matter whether he's innocent or not."

But after examining elements of the search affidavit, Drago questioned whether the sheriff's office truly had probable cause.

"When you back up and look at why they're there in the first place and whether the search warrant was proper, my mind starts struggling," Drago said. "There are a lot of things that don't make a lot of sense."


Below is a PDF for the affidavit for search warrant..Note this is probably the worst affidavit for search warrant I have ever seen!..And found absolutely nothing in it that justifies a search warrant being issued.Makes one wonder if the judge who signed it every actually read it..and if the judge did read it..then I highly question their ability to be a judge.

Read Affidavit For Search Warrant Here

U.S. Government May Be Primary Suppliers of Mexican Drug Cartel Guns

With Operation Fast and Furious headlining the news, there is no doubt civilian arms have been trafficked into Mexico. However, many of the arms used by Mexican cartels are NOT supplied by civilian gun outlets in the United States. Based upon the statistics I have compiled, our State and Defense Departments may be the premier suppliers of weaponry to Mexican drug cartels — not the US civilian.

Mexican drug cartels using children as decoys

by ANGELA KOCHERGA / KVUE News

kvue.com

Posted on November 18, 2011 at 6:39 PM

Updated Tuesday, Nov 22 at 6:15 PM

TOMBSTONE, AZ -- Smugglers are using children in a ploy to sneak drugs past Border Patrol checkpoints. Agents are finding more kids in vehicles loaded with drugs, and the drivers are usually the children’s own mothers.

“As disturbing as it is, it’s not a surprise that they would try to conceal their loads by using children as decoys,” said Border Patrol Agent Colleen Agle who works in the Tucson sector.

It is the latest attempt by drug cartels to try to slip past highway checkpoints.

“They’re having women bring their children along to give off the impression that it’s just a normal family traveling doing their day-to-day to thing doing their day to day routine, “said Border Patrol Agent Agle.

In recent weeks agents at checkpoints in Arizona have discovered at least half a dozen children in vehicles loaded with drugs at checkpoints leading away from the border.

At a checkpoint near Tombstone, Arizona about an hour from the border, a Customs and Border Protection officer asks a man in a pickup truck, “What are you dropping off? A donde va?

Cartels try to exploit the fact agents often only have a few seconds agents to decide whether to wave a motorist through or stop and search the vehicle.

U.S. Border Patrol checkpoints are set up on highways that serve as drug trafficking routes to catch smugglers.

“We had an incident at this very checkpoint,” said Border Patrol Agent Agle standing at the Highway 80 checkpoint near Tombstone.

“We had a woman bringing her eight-year-old child with her in the vehicle, and we discovered that she was carrying 104 pounds of marijuana in the trunk of her car.”

Parents driving through the same checkpoint were disturbed to hear about the trend.

“They’re putting their children at risk,” said Lydia Salenyadia, who was traveling with her baby son and husband from Casas Grandes, Mexico to visit relatives in Phoenix.

Earlier this month, agents seized nearly 50 pounds of marijuana hidden in a spare tire. The driver had her eight-year-old daughter in the car. A canine team working the checkpoint discovered the drugs.

The technique has spread to the Texas border, but this time the smuggler was headed to Mexico. Customs and Border Protection officers doing southbound searches at an international bridge in Eagle Pass on Nov. 8 discovered 273 boxes of ammunition hidden in a pickup truck headed to Mexico. The driver was a young mother traveling with her three children.

In Mexico drug war, Zetas lay claim to Sinaloa turf

GUADALAJARA, Mexico - The increasingly powerful Zetas are likely behind the killings of 50 people in strongholds of the rival Sinaloa cartel in western Mexico, analysts say, as a years-long drug war churns on.
The message left by the Zetas near some of the 26 corpses found Thursday in Guadalajara, Mexico's second largest city, make the targets quite clear: the Sinaloa gang and its fugitive boss, Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman.

The messages also apparently slam an alleged alliance between Guzman and the leaders of Sinaloa state, where 24 bodies were found Wednesday, and Jalisco state, of which Guadalajara is the capital.

The killings come two months after a similar massacre in September, when 35 bodies were tipped out of trucks under a busy overpass in the eastern port of Veracruz - an act attributed to the Zeta Killers, a group linked to Sinaloa.

"Behind the attacks in Guadalajara and Sinaloa, there would appear to be a need for revenge, fueled by the attacks in Veracruz," Dante Haro, an investigator at the University of Guadalajara, told AFP.

Haro emphasized the importance of the killings in Guadalajara, a city of more than four million people and relatively unscathed by the drug violence that has claimed some 45,000 lives since a government crackdown began in 2006.

"Jalisco state had violence rates that were lower than those in other parts of Mexico, but crime is on the rise there," Haro said.

He noted that authorities in Jalisco had captured several high-level traffickers and a Sinaloa boss was gunned down there in a security operation last year.

Those incidents stripped Guadalajara of its prior status as a neutral zone in the drug war, "where the bosses could keep their families safe," Haro said.

Raul Benitez Manuat, an expert at the National Autonomous University of Mexico's North American Research Center, said a Zetas incursion on Sinaloa turf could open a new front in a war that has ravaged cities like Tijuana and Ciudad Juarez, on the US border.

Monterrey, an industrial center in the north, has seen increased violence in recent months.

Until now, the Zetas - set up by former army officers turned hitmen in the 1990s - have operated mostly on the Gulf of Mexico coast in the east of the country.

For Manuat, "such a blatant operation could be a harbinger for increased violence, now on the Pacific coast."
In early October, the chief of intelligence for the US Drug Enforcement Administration, Rodney Benson, said the Sinaloa cartel had struck up an alliance against the Zetas with the Gulf cartel in the east and the La Familia cartel active in the western state of Michoacan.

The Guadalajara killings could be the first counter-attack by the Zetas, considered to be the most violent of Mexico's drug gangs and blamed for spreading extortion, kidnappings and murders.

They are believed to have been behind a casino bombing in Monterrey in August that left 52 people dead, as well as the execution of 72 illegal immigrants in August 2010.

Some 45,000 deaths have been blamed on rising drug violence since late 2006, when President Felipe Calderon launched a massive crackdown on the drug cartels involving tens of thousands of troops.

Mexican activists lodge war-crimes complaint against Calderon at International Criminal Court

By Associated Press, Friday, November 25, 5:54 PM

MEXICO CITY — Mexican activists lodged a war-crimes complaint Friday against President Felipe Calderon at the International Criminal Court, claiming his offensive against drug cartels has involved about 470 cases of human rights violations by the army or police.

Netzai Sandoval, a lawyer for the coalition behind the complaint, said Mexican drug lords have also committed crimes against humanity during the conflict, which has cost 35,000 to 40,000 lives since late 2006.

The complaint filed Friday at the court in the Netherlands also names Sinaloa cartel leader Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman.

Calderon’s administration has denied the accusations, saying it’s an elected, democratic government fighting criminals and has established mechanisms to protect human rights.

On Friday, Mexico’s Interior Department issued a statement saying “the public safety policy that has been implemented by no means constitutes an international crime.” It said the government’s actions “are aimed at stopping criminal organizations and protecting all citizens.”

“The Mexican government is not at war, and there is no generalized or systematic attack against civilians, nor any government policy in that direction,” the statement said.

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Civil Rights Panel to Look at Immigration Laws

ATLANTA (AP) — The U.S. Commission on Civil Rights says it plans to examine the effects on people's civil rights of strict new laws targeting illegal immigration in several states.

A news release says the commission plans to look into whether enforcement of the laws has fostered or contributed to an increase in hate crimes, compromised public safety, elevated racial and ethnic profiling, or affected students' rights to a public education. Chairman Martin Castro says enforcement of the laws could affect both immigrants and U.S. citizens.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports (http://bit.ly/sauWJP ) that the group will put an emphasis on new laws in Alabama, Georgia and South Carolina. The new laws in those states, as well as in Indiana and Arizona, echo a strict law enacted last year in Arizona. All face legal challenges.

NTSB Arrives at Plane Crash Site, Investigation Begins

NTSB Arrives at Plane Crash Site, Investigation Begins: MyFoxPHOENIX.com

APACHE JUNCTION - We’re learning more details surrounding a deadly plane crash in the Superstition Mountains.

The plane went down Wednesday night, killing all 6 people on board -- 3 of whom were children.
Friday, NTSB investigators arrived at the crash site for an investigation which is not going to be easy.

The location is rugged and difficult to access, and the plane itself was reduced to ash.

Less than 48 hours after that plane crash in the Superstitions, investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board are on the ground working to piece together the last moments of that twin engine craft to shed some light on what happened Wednesday night.

“The wreckage has a story to tell and hopefully with trained eyes we can understand what were looking at and to the best of our ability assess what we have there,” says Michael Huhn, NTSB Investigator.

The speed of the plane, likely more than 200 miles per hour, along with the explosion and fire that followed decimated the plane, the victims, and the clues needed in this case.

“We gather the factual information first so I cannot give you any conclusions and conjecture right now.”

Meantime, those who work with Ponderosa Aviation year in and year out are just as confused as investigators, left to wonder why such a routine flight would turn fatal.

“Ponderosa has aircrafts that are on a national contract like we do and so fire aviation is very specialized and it’s a very small community,” says Beryl Shears from Western Pilot Service.

Beryl Shears, who operates a similar family-run fire fighting operation of single engine air tankers based here in the valley, told us this kind of crash just doesn't happen.

“They’re just a wonderful company wonderful families. I don’t know the Perrys but I do know the Hardys and it’s just a tragic loss,” says Shears.

For Beryl Shears and other experienced pilots, circumstances surrounding this crash just don't add up.

The NTSB is planning on lifting that wreckage off the mountain tomorrow so they can conduct a more thorough analysis here in a Phoenix warehouse.

The NTSB typically gives themselves a five day window before they put out any conclusive results, so we should know more early next week.

Arizona Plane Crash - Authorities have released their names - Police News Report

U.S. Border Patrol say drug smugglers could blend in with dune enthusiasts

Story by Stephanie Sanchez, Reporter - bio | email

 

Buttercup Dunes--For this Thanksgiving weekend, thousands of people head out to the Imperial sand dunes to have fun but behind the scenes law enforcement officials are making sure you'll have safe weekend.

Members of the Border Patrol Search Trauma and Rescue Unit join forces with other law enforcement agencies around this time of year to make sure you have a safe holiday.

But the main mission is to find those drug and human smugglers who might be blending right in with you.


"There is a bit more of increase of smuggling activity, here with all the extra people, smugglers or what not can blend in with all the holiday traffic," BORSTAR agent J. Hughes said.

Hughes said 30 to 40 U.S. Border patrol agents from the Yuma and El Centro sector are added to patrol the area.

Also, members of BORSTAR team are on standby for any emergencies.

Hughes said alcohol is usually a factor in accidents.

"This is an accident waiting to happen here. I don't know if this guy crashed. I'm expecting to be a bunch of wrecks in this area right here," Hughes said. "This used to be really open, you could get through here really easily with good visibility, wind, its usually changing in the sand dunes."

Agent Hughes said a floating fence that was built about 3 years ago has helped deter illegal border crossers and smuggling activity.

But he said sometimes shifting sands makes it easier for a smuggler to cross over.

"They constructed this fence entirely through the sand dunes, its basically a floating fence, its not fixed into the ground and occasionally they (Border Patrol) have to come out here, use a big crane and they lift it up, so its on top of the sand," Hughes said. "As you can see the sand will actually pile over it and eventually this would be buried entirely."

Though there will be too many people to for agents to keep an eye on, they encourage you to report any suspicious activity you may see.

The U.S. Border Patrol hotline to report suspicious activity is 1-800-903-2003.

Mom of Kids Killed in Ariz. Crash Drawing Support

Morgan Perry, 9; Luke Perry, 6; and Logan Perry, 8; are pictured here with their mother, Karen, died in a Thanksgiving-eve plane crash in the Superstition Mountains. Karen was not abroad the plane when it crashed. (Pinal County Sheriff's Department/Handout)

 

 

 

By BOB CHRISTIE and WALTER BERRY Associated Press

PHOENIX 

 

  Friends and acquaintances are lending support to an Arizona mother who lost her three children and her ex-husband in a plane crash in the Superstition Mountains.

Karen Perry, of Apache Junction, Ariz., has experienced a series of struggles in recent years and is described as a selfless woman trying to raise her three children. Morgan Perry, 9, was diagnosed with epilepsy and faced multiple brain surgeries. Luke Perry, 6, had autism. Perry's third child, Logan Perry, was 8.

"They were just great kids," Mark Blomgren, principal at the school in Apache Junction where the two oldest children attended, told the Arizona Republic. "All the teachers were naturally shocked. They cared about them and wondered how their mom was doing and they were just hit pretty hard. Logan and Morgan were just special kids that the teachers really bonded with."

Crews continued working Friday in the crags and outcroppings of the mountaintop area just east of Phoenix to finish recovering the remains of the six people aboard, Pinal County sheriff's spokesman Elias Johnson told The Associated Press. The dead included Perry's ex-husband, Shawn Perry, 39, who was the pilot.

He lived in Safford, Ariz., where he owned a small aviation business, and had flown to the Phoenix suburb of Mesa, Ariz., with another pilot who co-owned the company and a company mechanic to pick up the children for Thanksgiving.

The plane was headed back to Safford when it crashed.

Fatal Plane Crash in Superstition Mountains Watch Video

Arizona Plane Crash: 6 Dead in Holiday Accident Watch Video

Arizona Plane Crash Caught on Tape Watch Video

 

The other pilot was identified as Russell Hardy, 31, of Thatcher, Ariz., and the mechanic was Joseph Hardwick, 22, of Safford.

The twin-engine plane was traveling about 200 mph when it slammed into a sheer cliff in the mile-high Superstition Mountains an hour after sundown Wednesday, authorities said.

The aircraft exploded in flames, split apart and scattered burning debris.

"No one could have survived that crash," Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu said Thursday.

"This is their entire family — it's terrible," Babeu said. "Our hearts go out to the mom and the (families) of all the crash victims. We have had so many people that are working this day, and we just want to support them and embrace them and try to bring closure to this tragedy."

Karen Perry is also a pilot.

Video from news helicopters Thursday showed the wreckage strewn at the bottom of a blackened cliff.

There was no word on what caused the crash, but the sheriff said there was no indication the plane was in distress or that the pilot had radioed controllers about any problem.

The Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board are investigating.

It was very dark at the time, and the plane missed clearing the peak by only several hundred feet. The aircraft crashed about 40 miles east of downtown Phoenix around 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, authorities said.

Some witnesses told Phoenix-area television stations they heard a plane trying to rev its engines to climb higher before apparently hitting the mountains.

The mountains are filled with steep canyons, soaring rocky outcroppings and reach an elevation of about 5,000 feet at the highest point.

Part of the recovery operation was in such dangerous terrain that only teams well trained in using ropes could maneuver, Babeu said.

"Regular deputies and even myself would not go into this exact area," he said.

The plane was a Rockwell AC-690A and was registered to Ponderosa Aviation Inc. in Safford, which Babeu said was co-owned by Shawn Perry.

 

 ASSOCIATED PRESS

Los Zetas Ambush in Houston - Deputy Shot by Friendly Fire

• By Bob Price

Yet another episode of drug related violence took place in Northwest Houston on Monday as members of the Los Zetas drug cartel ambushed a police confidential informant who was driving a load of marijuana. During the incident a Harris County Sheriff's Deputy was shot and injured in a "friendly fire" incident by officers of the Houston Police Department according to confidential law enforcement sources.

Court documents released this week say that Lawrence Chapa was driving the truck loaded with 300 pounds of marijuana.  The documents also state that Chapa was working for counter-narcotics task force officers as a confidential informant. My sources tell me that Chapa had been working with these officers for several months and had made numerous drug runs under their supervision. This load was different.

300 pounds of marijuana is a "nothing run". It was hardly worth the time of any narcotics trafficking organization, much less that of Los Zetas. Officers have determined this shipment was a contract hit from the very beginning. However, a different story is being told publically. Watch this Fox 26 video where the incident is described as an attempted theft of the load.

4 Charged with Capital Murder in Houston Shooting: MyFoxHOUSTON.com

For some reason, officials want us to believe this is just a robbery of one drug cartel by another. My sources tell me this is not the case.  This was a hit on a confidential informant designed from the beginning to send a message.

I later spoke with Louis Guthrie, Director of Special Crimes and Narcotics for the Liberty County Sheriff's Department and who is currently a candidate for Sheriff of Harris County. 

 Guthrie said, "This shootout is the latest example of cartel related violence to hit the streets of Houston and Harris County.  As a native of Harris County I find this very disturbing and when elected as sheriff I would make this type of crime a top priority."

He went on to say, "I would dedicate a team that will not only track Cartel members in Harris County, but also target Cartel money, drugs, and property for seizures in Harris County District and Federal Courts. The vast amounts of land, vehicles, and money currently held by the Cartel is more than enough to fund a large, continuous operation without any added expense to tax payers.”

Other law enforcement sources speaking under conditions of anonymity told me that Chapa picked up this "load" of marijuana along the South Texas border and was followed to Houston by Los Zetas gang members. When the truck arrived in the Houston area, the driver was informed of a change in the delivery destination. The new destination was a near "dead end" road (Holister north of Bourgeois). As the truck approached the new destination, it was approached by several vehicles who opened fire on Chapa, killing him instantly.

 Deputies who had been hanging back as the truck turned up the dead end road responded quickly and engaged the Los Zetas cartel.

Drug Shootout Scen Photo by James Nielsen

One deputy who was working in plain clothes went to the trunk of his unmarked vehicle and pulled out his rifle to use in the engagement. About this time, a Houston police officer mistakenly determined the deputy was part of the cartel hit squad and challenged him to put down his weapon.  The deputy told the officer he was a cop but the officer opened fire discharging 6-8 rounds.  One of which struck the deputy in the leg, just above the knee. He is recovering well in the hospital and is expected to return to his work with the multi-agency "High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Task Force". Because of this, his identity remains confidential.

One member of the drug cartel was shot and killed by law enforcement.  A second who opened fire on a deputy in his vehicle was struck by that vehicle and was treated for injuries. Four members of the gang were taken into custody and have since been charged with Capital Murder. The four men arrested — Fernando Tavera, Eric De Luna, Ricardo Ramirez and Rolando Resendiz — appeared in court in Houston on Wednesday.

All of the men besides Tavera are Mexican citizens.  KHOU (CBS 11) says the three Mexican citizens are in this country illegally. I will update this story when that information becomes confirmed.  Law enforcement has not officially linked the four men to the Los Zetas cartel.  But my sources have stated they are, in fact, members of the Los Zetas cartel.

Eric De Luna has admitted he planned the operation and Fernando Tavera has admitted he killed Chapa.
All of the men had prior criminal records.  De Luna was currently out on a $40,000 bail bond from an aggravated assault with a deadly weapon charge was filed in October. If, in fact, De Luna is an illegal alien, why was he given bond on a violent crime of this nature?  This is a question that Sheriff Garcia will need to answer.

This story is yet another example of the consequences of our unsecured border. Our president and even Harris County Sheriff Adryan Garcia want us to believe the border is secure and cartel crime has not crossed over the border.  This event was not a drug deal gone bad.  It was, in fact, a contract hit that was intended to take place on the streets of Houston.  The Los Zetas gang is sending a message that they are here and they are serious about moving their drugs into our community.  The assassination of a confidential informant in such a public manner shows their intent. This could have easily occurred in an isolated location in South Texas.  But it did not. Los Zetas brought this violence directly to Houston.  They brought it with a purpose. They brought it to send a message. The brought it to demonstrate a message of terrorism. A shootout near a suburban neighborhood is a deliberate act of terrorism.

It is time we send a message back to the cartels. Houston is our city.  Harris County is our county.  Texas is our state.  And this is our country.  We must secure the border of the United States to stop this flow of drugs and terrorists into our country. Until we make a determined stand, this will only continue or get worse.



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