Border patrol agent held at gunpoint

[Midnight Mike]

August 6, 2008
Border patrol agent held at gunpoint

A U.S. Border Patrol agent was held at gunpoint Sunday night by members of the Mexican military who had crossed the border into Arizona, but the soldiers returned to Mexico without incident when backup agents responded to assist.

Agents assigned to the Border Patrol station at Ajo, Ariz., said the Mexican soldiers crossed the international border in an isolated area about 100 miles southwest of Tucson and pointed rifles at the agent, who was not identified.

It was unclear what the soldiers were doing in the United States, but U.S. law enforcement authorities have long said that current and former Mexican military personnel have been hired to protect drug and migrant smugglers.

"Unfortunately, this sort of behavior by Mexican military personnel has been going on for years," union Local 2544 of the National Border Patrol Council (NBPC) said on its Web page. "They are never held accountable, and the United States government will undoubtedly brush this off as another case of 'Oh well, they didn't know they were in the United States.'


http://washingtontimes.com/news/2008/au ... -to-agent/ (http://washingtontimes.com/news/2008/aug/06/soldiers-cross-into-us-hold-guns-to-agent/)

[USAF Pilot 07]

Not surprising at all...

The authorities in Mexico are a lot different than those in the US. They are not paid very well and unfortunately corruption is a way of life in Mexico. The penalties for getting caught are not severe, and many in Mexico turn a blind eye to the corruption. Drug lords easily influence and offer protection and large financial bonuses to soldiers/police willing to work for them.

A few years ago, Mexico sent several hundred of it's most trained soldiers to the U.S. to receive training by the U.S. Military in Special Forces Tactics to aid against drug smuggling. These soldiers are called "Los Zetas". Unfortunately, Mexico pays little to these soldiers, and when they returned to Mexico the powerful drug lords offered these now extremely U.S. trained soldiers large pay bonuses and protection in exchange for their help protecting drug smugglers. Many accepted the offer.

There are probably hundreds of reports of U.S. Border Patrol agents encountering - and sometimes being engaged - by these soldiers. It happens all the time. In fact, drug smuggling is probably a higher priority for border patrol agents than illegal immigration.

I live about 10 miles from the Mexican border, and about 4 miles from the border patrol agency. You will see them roll out every night with lots of cars/truck/buses towards the border, patrolling various border roads, looking for drug smugglers. There are also checkpoints further north on the highways that leads towards San Antonio, with agents looking for drug smugglers.

Auto theft - especially large cars/SUVs - is also somewhat prevalent down here. Smugglers will steal cars, drive them to the border, load them with drugs, and then dump the car once they are far enough away from the border.

Anytime we go over to Mexico, we always carry extra cash in-case stopped by the Mexican police who most of the time will take a bribe to let you go.