AUTO THEFTS PLAGUE BORDER REGION

Mexican Drug Cartels Drive Much of Illicit Vehicle Trade; Laredo,
Texas, Is Hit Hard

LAREDO, Texas -- This city along the Rio Grande is on the verge of
becoming the stolen-car capital of the U.S., according to data set
for release Monday that underscore how drug cartels are helping make
the U.S.-Mexico border region a hot spot for vehicle thieves.

The National Insurance Crime Bureau, a nonprofit body that collects
law-enforcement reports, said 1,960 vehicles were reported stolen in
the Laredo metropolitan area last year, an increase of more than 47%
since 2005, when Laredo ranked 32nd nationally. That comes to 827
thefts per 100,000 people, putting Laredo just behind No. 1 Modesto,
Calif. Of the 20 U.S. metropolitan regions with the highest theft
rates, according to the crime bureau, seven are near the Mexico
border: Laredo; San Diego; Albuquerque, N.M.; Tucson, Ariz.; El
Centro, Calif.; El Paso, Texas; and Phoenix. El Paso in particular
has jumped up the charts; it ranked 17th in 2008, compared with No. 81 in 2005.

While Mexican drug cartels aren't behind every stolen car along the
border, police say their money drives the professional side of the
trade. President Barack Obama will visit Mexico this week to show
support for President Felipe Calderon, who is using Mexico's military
to crack down on the drug cartels behind an epidemic of violence in
northern Mexico. The White House says boosting federal
law-enforcement efforts on the U.S. side is a priority.

Although drug violence in Laredo is down from the historic highs of a
few years ago, people from all walks of life -- including police
officers -- are falling prey to roving bands of car thieves.

One Laredo detective's Dodge Durango disappeared from outside his
house, with his bulletproof vest and a semiautomatic handgun inside,
police say. The local U.S. border-patrol chief recently had his
pickup truck stolen, too. Mindy Casso, a news anchor at the Laredo
NBC affiliate, stepped outside one morning to load her two kids into
her Ford Ranger, only to find it was gone -- even though a private
security car was patrolling her upscale neighborhood.

"It's overwhelming," said Carlos Maldonado, who was named Laredo's
police chief last May. "I don't have an officer to put on every car
in the city." Perched on the northern bank of the Rio Grande, the
city is the busiest inland port in the U.S., with four bridges to
Mexico. On the other side is a key center of the $30 billion-a-year
Mexico-U.S. narcotics trade. Drug cartels have several uses for
stolen cars. In some cases, traffickers provide the stolen vehicles
to smugglers who move weapons bought in the U.S. across the border,
according to a recent internal report by the Department of Homeland
Security. It says cars sometimes are "laundered" with different
plates. Using stolen cars makes good business sense for the cartels,
which can minimize losses if the vehicles are seized, police say.
Sgt. Eduardo Garcia, 39 years old, has led Laredo's stolen-vehicle
task force, with nine men, for about eight years. He says Mexico's
traffickers provide wish lists of makes and models to the best
thieves -- preferably U.S. citizens who can legally drive an
American-plated car into Mexico. Traffickers pay up to about $1,000
apiece for highly valued vehicles, such as new Ford or Dodge pickup trucks.

Usually, police say, thieves work in three-or four-man teams.
"Spotters" will find the cars they want, then quickly dispatch a car
filled with thieves. The city of Laredo runs along the Rio Grande,
meaning Mexico is just a few minutes away from almost any spot in
town. "If it's stolen at 3 [p.m.], for example, it's in Mexico by
3:05," Sgt. Garcia said. The city has tried to use license-plate
readers to detect stolen cars, but the vehicles are frequently over
the border before their owners even know they have been stolen.
Detectives patrol the thieves' favorite areas, hoping to spot the
crooks before they strike. But as the police watch the thieves, the
thieves also watch the police. Although the city swaps undercover
cars driven by auto-theft detectives every six to eight months,
thieves often pinpoint the police cars. After his arrest last week, a
ringleader rattled off the models driven by two detectives, Sgt. Garcia said.

Laredo police have few ways to track the traffickers calling the
shots, who are largely in Mexico. Because of fears they would be
targeted by drug cartels, the city's police officers are barred from
crossing into Mexico. And Arturo Galvan, the longest-serving member
of the task force, said corruption on the Mexican side has made it
impossible even to work by phone. "Who can you trust?" he asked.

One tactic has proven effective: makeshift checkpoints on the city's
busiest thoroughfare to Mexico, known as Bridge No. 2.

Manning the checkpoint one evening last week, Sgt. Garcia stood amid
two lanes of traffic rolling into Mexico, his eyes darting back and
forth for telltale signs: a valued vehicle, such as an expensive
pickup truck, with a young male driver and no passengers. Then he
looked for other signs, such as damage on a door handle or keyhole.

Many thieves get by when his overburdened team isn't watching. Still,
Sgt. Garcia said that the checkpoints are effective. Police have
noticed that when the checkpoints are manned, patrol car lights
flashing, the number of reported thefts goes down.

"What we can do," Sgt. Garcia said, "is be a deterrent."