News (Media Awareness Project) - US Police on Alert Over Mexican Rage |
| Title: | US Police on Alert Over Mexican Rage |
| Published On: | 1998-06-07 |
| Source: | Scotland On Sunday |
| Fetched On: | 2008-09-07 08:57:48 |
US POLICE ON ALERT OVER MEXICAN RAGE
All US lawmen working either on America's 2,000 mile south-west border or
in Mexico itself have been warned to be vigilant about their personal
safety and to take precautions to protect themselves.
The threat they face? Not violence from vicious narco-traffickers, but
assault or arrest on trumped-up charges from their law enforcement
counterparts in Mexico.
Working relations between American and Mexican lawmen seldom have been
smooth - distrust and chauvinism on both sides all too often undermines
co-operation in the fight against drug smuggling and illegal immigration.
But as a result of a recent US undercover money-laundering sting that
nabbed several Mexican bankers, the bad blood has boiled to a pitch not
seen since the murder 13 years ago of a Drug Enforcement Administration
agent in Mexico, US law enforcement sources say.
As a precaution, the DEA has withdrawn all agents from a joint US-Mexico
task force in Tijuana, the home of the Arellano Felix brothers, who control
Mexico's second largest drug cartel.
And the Justice Department is warning American lawmen on both sides of the
frontier to stay alert for "retaliation" from Mexican police as a
consequence of the sting, known as Operation Casablanca.
High-level DEA sources say they can't even rule out physical assaults on US
lawmen operating in Mexico or visiting on official business. The Mexican
police are aggrieved by US investigators luring the bankers to America for
arrest and are infuriated that American lawmen worked undercover on Mexican
territory.
The official warning sent by the Justice Department to the US Immigration
and Naturalisation Service cautions: "The Mexican Federal Judicial Police
may seek retaliation" because of Casablanca. The warning adds: "Reliable
information also indicates that Mexican law enforcement intends to seek
revenge... by ensuring any American law enforcement officer caught
committing any sort of infraction will be prosecuted to the fullest extent
possible under Mexican law."
Checked-by: (Joel W. Johnson)
All US lawmen working either on America's 2,000 mile south-west border or
in Mexico itself have been warned to be vigilant about their personal
safety and to take precautions to protect themselves.
The threat they face? Not violence from vicious narco-traffickers, but
assault or arrest on trumped-up charges from their law enforcement
counterparts in Mexico.
Working relations between American and Mexican lawmen seldom have been
smooth - distrust and chauvinism on both sides all too often undermines
co-operation in the fight against drug smuggling and illegal immigration.
But as a result of a recent US undercover money-laundering sting that
nabbed several Mexican bankers, the bad blood has boiled to a pitch not
seen since the murder 13 years ago of a Drug Enforcement Administration
agent in Mexico, US law enforcement sources say.
As a precaution, the DEA has withdrawn all agents from a joint US-Mexico
task force in Tijuana, the home of the Arellano Felix brothers, who control
Mexico's second largest drug cartel.
And the Justice Department is warning American lawmen on both sides of the
frontier to stay alert for "retaliation" from Mexican police as a
consequence of the sting, known as Operation Casablanca.
High-level DEA sources say they can't even rule out physical assaults on US
lawmen operating in Mexico or visiting on official business. The Mexican
police are aggrieved by US investigators luring the bankers to America for
arrest and are infuriated that American lawmen worked undercover on Mexican
territory.
The official warning sent by the Justice Department to the US Immigration
and Naturalisation Service cautions: "The Mexican Federal Judicial Police
may seek retaliation" because of Casablanca. The warning adds: "Reliable
information also indicates that Mexican law enforcement intends to seek
revenge... by ensuring any American law enforcement officer caught
committing any sort of infraction will be prosecuted to the fullest extent
possible under Mexican law."
Checked-by: (Joel W. Johnson)
Member Comments |
No member comments available...
