Pubdate: Fri, 13 Feb 2009 Source: El Paso Times (TX) Copyright: 2009 El Paso Times Contact: http://www.elpasotimes.com/formnewsroom Website: http://www.elpasotimes.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/829 Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/topics/mexico DRUG WAR SPREADS: U.S. CITIES FEEL EFFECTS Perhaps non-border Americans will now realize that more effort must be put into securing our country from drug-violence spillover. Because, now it's spilling into their cities all across the country. U.S. authorities, according to the Associated Press, are reporting a spike in murders, kidnappings and other crimes that are linked to drug cartels. Any specific cities? Apparently, there's a whole lot of them -- different-size cities, different locations. The AP named places as geographically disparate as Anchorage, Alaska; Boston; and Sioux Falls, S.D. in its array. David Cuthbertson, agent in charge of the El Paso FBI office, put it succinctly: "The violence follows the drugs." Perhaps "out of sight, out of mind" has been a detriment in convincing lawmakers from non-border states to act more thoroughly on securing our borders. In El Paso, we are well aware of the violent drug war ongoing next door in Juarez. We see some signs of spillover here. Taxpayers pick up tabs when wounded victims are transported to our county hospital. Some here contend that, yes, some Americans have been victims of kidnappings. In fact, U.S. Congressman Silvestre Reyes, D-El Paso, felt the pain of that when his niece, who lives in Juarez, was kidnapped a few months ago. She was eventually released unharmed, but few details were made public. According to the AP, agents say such brutality in U.S. cities hasn't been seen since the Colombian cartels ran rampant in Florida during the 1980s. Examples: In August, the bodies of five men were found with their throats slit in Birmingham, Ala. In Phoenix, police report a big increase in kidnappings and home invasions. The AP story said, "And (agents) say the majority were committed at the behest of the Mexican drug gangs." Atlanta is being called "the new Southwest border." There wasn't much reaction across the states when some 1,700 persons were murdered in Juarez last year. Now that the violence is spreading to where the drugs spread ... Maybe now it's time, make that high time, the U.S. government did more to make our cities safe from murderous drug lords. - --- MAP posted-by: Larry Seguin