Al-Qaeda Links; Officials Worried Weapons Also Smuggled To Rebels In early 2008, an official at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security sent a report to his superiors detailing what he called "the most significant development in the criminal exploitation of aircraft since 9/11." The document warned a growing fleet of rogue jet aircraft was regularly crisscrossing the Atlantic Ocean. On one end of the air route, it said, are cocaine-producing areas in the Andes controlled by the leftist Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia. On the other are some of West Africa's most unstable countries. [continues 645 words]
NUEVO LAREDO, Mexico - A Mexican government crackdown on violent drug gangs on the Texas border, where army and federal police have been deployed, is scaring away U.S. visitors, business owners complained on Tuesday. This week, Mexican President Vicente Fox sent more than 600 federal agents toting assault rifles to join army units in the northern state of Tamaulipas for what he called "the mother of all battles" against drug lords. Business leaders and bar owners in the Mexican cities of Nuevo Laredo and Reynosa, south of the Rio Grande from Laredo and McAllen, Texas, said the convoys of flak jacket clad agents roaring through their streets were over the top. [continues 246 words]
