Pubdate: Wed, 08 Feb 2006 Source: Dallas Morning News (TX) Copyright: 2006 The Dallas Morning News Contact: http://www.dallasnews.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/117 Author: Michelle Mittelstadt, The Dallas Morning News BORDER SHERIFFS SEEK REINFORCEMENTS Texans Call On U.S. To Send Aid As Threat From Drug Cartels Mounts WASHINGTON - Texas border sheriffs pleaded Tuesday for more federal help to confront Mexican drug trafficking cartels that are arming themselves with more powerful weaponry and deploying tactics that pose an ever-greater danger to U.S. law enforcement. Appearing before a congressional panel examining border incursions allegedly by Mexican soldiers protecting drug shipments, the sheriffs of El Paso and Hudspeth counties detailed deteriorating conditions in a region where rival cartels are locked in deadly competition. Also Online Border city chaos boils with newspaper attack Laredo hires PR firm to dispel images Journalists in Mexico scared into censorship Just a week after federal authorities confiscated caches of explosives and high-powered weapons in Laredo, Hudspeth County Sheriff Arvin West predicted that cartels will soon rig their drug loads to detonate if seized by law enforcement. "This is an overwhelming undertaking without the resources needed to do the work," Sheriff West told the House Homeland Security investigations subcommittee. Sheriff West and El Paso County Sheriff Leo Samaniego, citing the traffickers' "overwhelming manpower and weapons," urged Congress to provide more funding for law enforcement agencies at the border. "Our national security is only as good as the weakest link, and in my opinion, the U.S.-Mexico border is the weakest link," Sheriff Samaniego said, noting that terrorists could exploit the same routes used by traffickers to smuggle drugs and illegal immigrants. The concern is not an idle one, Border Patrol Chief David Aguilar acknowledged. "Do we have information that al-Qaeda and other terrorist organizations have looked at that possibility? Yes," he said. Rep. Michael McCaul, the Austin Republican who chairs the subcommittee, voiced concern about conditions at the border. "It just seems to me like it's getting worse, not better, and the cartels are getting more dangerous," he said. Sheriffs in the 16-county Texas Border Sheriffs Coalition are fanning across Washington this week with a simple message, Sheriff Samaniego said. "We need help," he said in an interview. "Washington, do you hear us?" Call for resources Additional resources do make a difference, the sheriffs said, citing successes under Operation Linebacker, a recent border enforcement effort funded by nearly $10 million in grants provided by Gov. Rick Perry. But more help is urgently needed, the sheriffs said. "The issues facing our nation along the U.S. and Mexico border threaten our very freedom and way of life," Mr. West said. Though he acknowledged resources are tight, Mr. Aguilar offered a more upbeat assessment, saying the U.S. government has the strategy and resources to combat the traffickers even in the face of significant challenges. "Their lawlessness is not going unchecked," he said of the cartels. Still, the Border Patrol chief warned that spikes in violence are likely as law enforcement squeezes the drug traffickers. The Texas sheriffs' plea for more resources was underscored by the head of the union representing 10,500 Border Patrol agents, who said violence against agents by current and former Mexican soldiers and law enforcement officers is escalating "dramatically." T.J. Bonner, president of the National Border Patrol Council, decried the incursions and accused the Mexican government of doing little to stop the problem - a statement echoed by Mr. McCaul. "I think when a government fails to act, it's complicit by inaction," Mr. McCaul said. A military link? Though the Border Patrol has documented more than 200 incursions over the last decade, the issue gained new urgency after a Jan. 23 armed showdown in Hudspeth County near the Rio Grande between Texas law enforcement and men suspected of belonging to the Mexican military. Sheriff West on Tuesday repeated his belief that it was Mexican soldiers, in a heavily armed military-style Humvee, who went in aid of a convoy of drug-laden sport utility vehicles being chased by Texas law officers. The subcommittee played footage of the high-speed chase filmed by state troopers. The Mexican government on Tuesday officially denied the claim, advising the State Department that its investigation had concluded the men were drug traffickers in disguise, not soldiers. At a news conference last week, Mexican Defense Minister Gerardo Clemente Vega Garcia said four of the suspects in the Jan. 23 skirmish are members of a trafficking cell headed by Jose Rodolfo Escajeda. An investigation by the FBI and Immigration and Customs Enforcement is continuing. But Mr. Aguilar said the vast majority of the 144 incursions documented over the last five years were accidental. But the incidents are significantly concerning, he said, because each encounter has the potential to escalate into violence. While the Border Patrol has arrested Mexican soldiers trespassing in the past, Mr. Aguilar said he knew of no confirmed incidents of the military being involved with drug trafficking. His assurance wasn't embraced by the Texas sheriffs and Mr. Bonner, who detailed several incidents in which Mexican military fired on U.S. law enforcement. "There is no way to sugarcoat this: There is a culture of corruption in Mexico," Mr. Bonner said, demanding that the U.S. government insist "in clear and unambiguous terms" that the incursions cease. In a way, Mr. Bonner said, the debate over whether the armed enforcers - who have displayed military-style flanking, sniper and cover-and-concealment tactics - are military is irrelevant. The fact remains, he said, that Mexico has done little to halt the incursions. Elizabeth Whitaker, deputy assistant secretary of state for Mexico and Canada, said the U.S. and Mexico collaborate to reduce incursions, which have declined in frequency. - --- MAP posted-by: Beth Wehrman