TENSION HIGH IN BORDER VILLAGES OF COLUMBUS AND PALOMAS

COLUMBUS - Residents on both sides of the border are nervous after a
month of border shootings, disappearances and at least two confirmed
murders allegedly sparked by drug-traffickers' turf wars in the
Mexican town of Palomas.

On Thursday, after reporting his two police officers had disappeared,
Palomas Chief of Police Emilio Perez fled to Columbus requesting
political asylum.

Perez's flight came just days after Columbus Mayor Eddie Espinoza, in
the chair for a root canal, witnessed armed robbers take over Palomas
dentist Felipe Salazar's office.

Rick Moody, agent in charge of the Deming U.S. Border Patrol Station,
told the Sun-News on Thursday the Mexican government was in the
process of responding with its own forces -- a promise made to U.S.
Sen. Jeff Bingaman weeks ago.

Repeated messages left with both Espinoza and Moody on Friday were not
returned.

Mexican federal officers and state officers from Chihuahua have been
moved into the area in recent weeks, but it was unclear if the Mexican
military would be called in, said Alan Oliver, a spokesman for Gov.
Bill Richardson.

He said the violence in Palomas was evidence of the need for a
continued National Guard presence on the border.

Peter Olsen, communications director for New Mexico State Police, said
although they are keeping an eye on the situation in Palomas, no
additional forces were planned to be sent there.

"I don't want to go into specific numbers, but we have at least a
couple officers 24 hours a day, seven days a week and often more. And
that's been going on for several months," Olsen said. "We have
enhanced police presence in the area in the past because of the crimes
that carry over ... (but) we haven't seen an increase in violence or
crime that's spilled over from the border this week."

On the same day the police chief fled, the bodies of two people were
found wrapped in blankets and dumped along a road near Palomas.
Several other people were seen taken hostage over the past few days by
heavily armed men, the newspaper El Diario of Juarez, Mexico, reported
Friday.

About 10,000 people live in Palomas; 2,500 in Columbus. Martha
Skinner, former mayor of Columbus and owner of Martha's Place bed and
breakfast, said everything seems to be peaceful on the American side
of the border.

"We're still immune," Skinner said. But three miles south, in
Palomas?

"Oh mercy, not good," Skinner said. "Poor Yvonne and Sergio (Romero)
at The Pink Store ... We all went over there Sunday, after church.
There were 30 of us in the place. It's usually packed. It's very sad.
Some of it's gas, some of it's passports and some of it's the violence."

Her brother, Phillip Skinner, manufactures furniture in Palomas with
Skinner Furniture and crosses the border almost daily. The violence,
allegedly sparked by drug traffickers fighting over territory, started
getting bad a month ago. Skinner said he and his dozen employees are
nervous and just want the episodes of worsening violence to stop.

"We're in favor of anything that would stop it," he said. "We had an
episode three months ago, it seems like, where four or five people got
killed ... This time it seems to be worse and it seems to be lasting."

Columbus' city grant administrator Paul Nimick, who also does some
work at the police station, says the city is quiet, tense and awaiting
word on possible military presence.

"Palomas has been active in terms of what's going on down there with
the border patrol and customs people. Everyone's just on alert, but we
have not heard any more in activity down there," he said. "We've got
friends down there and it's just a lot of concern."

Nimick said in his year of living in Columbus, the worst violence has
been in the last month.

"We enjoy going to Palomas and would say they certainly need to get a
handle on the violence down there. There's no police presence there
right now; until they do, we will probably not go back to Palomas," he
said, an opinion that seemed to be shared by other Americans. "People
are just afraid to visit ... It wasn't unusual to go there two, three
times a week and quite frankly, now we're just avoiding it."

Martha Skinner said the only silver lining has been in her role as the
town's only real estate broker: "I've noticed a small influx of people
running across the border looking for places to buy ... probably four
or five."

And she said violent criminals weren't likely to dally in Columbus if
they did come across: "If they're coming across the border there, they
just run for I-10. They don't stop here and say "Hi.'"

The Associated Press contributed to this report.