Mexican Sea Ports Vulnerable to Terrorist ActivitiesNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF FORMER BORDER PATROL OFFICERSVisit our website: http://www.nafbpo.org Sign up for our report at:
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Note: The Department of State only issues these alerts when they feel there is a credible danger.
Foreign News ReportThe National Association of Former Border Patrol Officers (NAFBPO) extracts and condenses the material that follows from Mexican and Central and South American on-line media sources on a daily basis. You are free to disseminate this information, but we request that you credit NAFBPO as being the provider.
El Debate (Sinaloa) 4/22/08
Drug cartels are well aware of the vulnerability of the port of Manzanilla, Colima on the pacific coast of Mexico. Lack of an adequate customs and security force for this principal seaport for shipments from abroad make effective inspection of the arrival and movement of three containers per minute impossible. Authorities are calling for more security at the port, but the established presence of organized crime continues to obstruct a better inspection program. As an example of such influence, the article cites the entry of a van into the port area and through security without any problem. It proceeded through the entire port, arriving at the docks of Operadora de la Cuenca del Pacifico (Opera) where the two occupants quickly cut the fence separating them from a shipping container, cut its lock and took off with 20 cylinders with 600 kilos of an unknown substance.
El Universal (Mexico City) 4/22/08
1. In their editorial today regarding this week's meeting between Presidents Bush and Calderon, it was noted that although some feel that the problem of security between the two countries is simply narcotics traffic and organized crime, they forget that the U.S. is a "specific target" for terrorist attack and that Mexico could be a road toward that end. The editorial stated that for Mexico the problem is that it cannot allow terrorists to cross its borders to cause harm in the U.S. because its relationship with the U.S. is much too important strategically to ignore. It also points out that with large numbers of citizens of both countries living in the other; it becomes a question of bi-national concern.
2. A special unit of Mexico City capital police found themselves embroiled in a full-scale riot early this morning while carrying out a search of warehouses containing pirated goods when they were attacked by a mob of 30 youths from the surrounding neighborhood armed with bottles and rocks. The confrontation grew in proportion as more from the neighborhood joined in and police reinforcements arrived. The mob eventually reached an estimated 200 before finally being dispersed. During the melee the mobs set up barricades in the streets and set fire to two vehicles, one a large tractor-trailer truck. A follow-up investigation attributed the confrontation to the gang of drug distributors in that section of the city.
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El Porvenir (Monterrey, Nuevo Leon) 4/22/08
Special Forces engaged in Operation Chihuahua seized 8 tons, 100 kilos of marihuana along with related drug equipment in colonia Partido Escobedo in Cd. Juarez.
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Norte (Juarez, Chihuahua) 4/22/08
In a story no doubt related to and incorporating the figures from the above, Mexican Army units over the weekend and including Monday seized a total of 12,740 kilos (14 tons) of marihuana in the Chihuahua operation valued at more than $27 million U.S.
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Cambio de Michoacán (Morelia, Michoacán) 4/22/08
A Mexican Air Force helicopter crash in the area of Uruapan, Michoacán killed 11 soldiers and gravely injured another. The crash was attributed to engine failure. Witnesses said the engine just quit, dropping the helicopter to the ground.
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a.m. (Mexico, DF)
Recognizing that Celaya, Guanajuato is an important point through which Central Americans travel on the way to the U.S. and that some are members of the Mara Salvatrucha gang, the city police have requested assistance from the INM, Mexico's immigration service, to inspect arrivals. The request was made in order to avoid problems with the National Human Rights Commission on the issue of inspecting Central Americans for any markings relating to the dangerous gang, since the INM has the only authority to act against immigrants.
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El Diario (Chihuahua)
"Latin America has another left wing government, Paraguay," the article announced. The Catholic ex-bishop, Fernando Lugo, won the presidency by defeating the candidate from the party that had ruled for six decades. Despite his win, it was noted, the government turn to the left is not uniform. Lugo, a newcomer to politics, said his priority will be to help the impoverished indigenous people of his country and to obtain assistance from Brazil for joint use of the world's largest hydroelectric power-plant at Itapúa.
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-end of report-
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