Pubdate: Sat, 23 Oct 2010
Source: El Paso Times (TX)
Copyright: 2010 El Paso Times
Contact: http://www.elpasotimes.com/townhall/ci_14227323
Website: http://www.elpasotimes.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/829
Author: Maggie Ybarra
Bookmark: http://mapinc.org/topic/El+Paso
Bookmark: http://mapinc.org/topic/Juarez
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/topic/Mexico

200 AGENTS SENT TO EL PASO AFTER CONSULATE SLAYINGS; US, MEXICO FORM 
PILOT PROGRAM

The slayings of three people connected to the U.S. Consulate in 
Juarez prompted the U.S. government to deploy 200 law enforcement 
agents to El Paso earlier this year, according to a federal report 
obtained by the El Paso Times.

Those agents played a part in a pilot program designed to help Mexico 
fight the cartel war in Juarez that has claimed more than 6,700 lives 
since 2008, said the report published by the U.S. Embassy in Mexico City.

The report, issued in May, outlines a variety of ways of expanding 
intelligence systems along the border.

The pilot program was successful in establishing daily coordination 
procedures and information exchanges among intelligence specialists 
at the El Paso Intelligence Center and their Mexican counterparts in 
Juarez, according to the report.

The agencies trade information on organized crime organizations, 
cartels and gangs.

It's not known if that information exchange resulted in the arrest of 
Jesus Ernesto Chavez Castillo, who was accused by Mexican and U.S. 
law enforcement agencies of planning the shooting deaths in March of 
U.S. Consulate worker Leslie Enriquez Redelfs; her husband, El Paso 
County Detention Officer Arthur Redelfs; and Jorge Salcido Ceniceros, 
a maquiladora supervisor and husband of a consulate employee.

According to the report, the pilot program also was used to send five 
sets of biometric data collection equipment to Mexican law 
enforcement agencies in Juarez for the collection of digital 
fingerprints and photographs.

And more intelligence initiatives are in store for the borderland.

The report also details future intelligence protocols, investigations 
and public security operations that may used.

It outlines a plan to develop an encrypted communications system for 
law enforcement agencies stationed in Juarez. The system would 
include 1,000 secure and encrypted GPS-equipped radios for Mexican 
federal and local police. The plan is to install 500 of those radios 
in vehicles and distribute 500 more among the foot patrols, according 
to the report.

In addition, the report said, Mexico will develop standards for 
police officers and will train specialists in major crimes and 
provide advanced training for mid- and senior-level state and 
municipal officers.

The report said that Mexico will improve intelligence capabilities 
and surveillance and that Mexican authorities are considering the use 
of unmanned aircraft systems.

The U.S. will provide 10 to 15 Mexican investigators an office in El 
Paso so they can work and keep investigative files. The investigators 
will be trained by U.S. experts, the report said. U.S. advisers will 
help Mexican investigators with DNA and hair-strand analysis and 
evidence preservation.

Other help the U.S. will provide will be 60 dogs trained in the 
detection of drugs, cash and weapons, along with 32 vehicles to 
transport the dog teams.

How much the program will cost is not mentioned in the report. It 
also does not say whether the 200 agents sent to El Paso have 
remained or have been reassigned. What they did to help in the 
consulate slayings also is not mentioned.

Overall, the program aims to strengthen the Mexican government's 
ability to gather intelligence on narco-trafficking, extortion, 
kidnapping and other organized criminal activities in Juarez and 
solidify the relationship between Mexican and U.S. agencies.

Special Agent Bill Weiss, a spokesman for the FBI, declined to 
comment on the report.

Jose Ramon Salinas, spokesman for Mexican federal police, also 
declined to comment.

Vince Perez, press secretary for U.S. Rep. Silvestre Reyes, D-Texas, 
said the Merida Initiative, a security cooperation between the two 
countries from which the pilot program stems, is beneficial to both 
Mexico and the U.S.

"Through the Merida Initiative, the U.S. has been working 
cooperatively with Mexico to help combat drug-related violence. The 
sharing of intelligence, training, expertise and equipment has been 
critical to this binational effort to combat organized crime," he said.

But in Juarez, where most murders often go unsolved and many 
criminals go unpunished despite the assistance of U.S. intelligence, 
the initiatives outlined in the pilot program might not have an 
immediate effect on the chaos and violence.

This year, more than 2,470 people have died in gunbattles, 
carjackings, executions and other forms of violence. More than 6,700 
have been killed since the battle between the Sinaloa and Juarez drug 
cartels for the lucrative Juarez drug corridor began.

More than 30 U.S. citizens are among the victims of the war, 
including Pfc. Jose Gil Hernandez Ramirez, 22, who was gunned down 
Wednesday in a quiet South Central Juarez neighborhood. 
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MAP posted-by: Richard Lake