Frontera NorteSur
March 2002

March 27, 2002
Border Patrol Finds 117 Undocumented Immigrants in Trailer Near Laredo

At a Border Patrol check point near Laredo, Texas, agents discovered 117 people in the back of a tractor trailer. The agents said that they were astonished to find the group which was having problems breathing and was soaked in sweat and semidehydrated. A Border Patrol search dog alerted the officers to the presence of people in the trailer.

Among those detained were 70 people from Mexico, 44 from Honduras and 3 from Brazil. Arrested was Demetrius James Burgess, age 26, the driver of the truck.

Burgess told the Border Patrol that he was taking his human cargo to Dallas, Texas, approximately 400 miles away. He also said that he believed he was taking only three people for which he was paid US$3,000. Agents found US$2,700 in Burgess' sock.

Source: El Mañana (Nuevo Laredo), March 26, 2002. Article by Francisco Diaz.

March 20, 2002
McAllen Border Patrol Detentions Down

José Garza, head of the Border Patrol's McAllen, Texas sector, told the Reynosa newspaper El Mañana that the number of arrests his organization has made has decreased in recent years and months. Garza said that the decrease is due to people learning that they should not risk their lives to cross illegally into the US.

During the fiscal year 2001, Border Patrol agents arrested 1,485 people traffickers in 1,366 incidents. 7,454 people were being illegally entered into the US in these cases.

Figures for past years are the following:

Fiscal year	Traffickers arrested	Incidents	Number of people being brought into the US in these incidents
1997	2,287	1,757	21,383
1998	1,995	1,559	15,555
1999	2,211	2,212	11,974
2000	1,858	2,033	8,319
2001	1,366	1,485	7,454

Another trend that Garza has identified is that the human traffickers, called coyotes, are putting less people in the vehicles they sometimes use to smuggle migrants across the border. This makes the migrants harder to detect he said. However, it also makes the trip safer for people seeking to enter the US, Garza stated.

In the future, Garza said the Border Patrol will continue taking measures to insure the well-being of migrants that are taken into dangerous areas by human traffickers.

One idea the Border Patrol is considering is to install high-powered lights at Border Patrol check points so that lost or tired migrants can find their way to help.

Garza also said that the McAllen sector is involved in three main projects:

1. Operation Rio Grande which seeks to keep migrants from crossing illegally into the US;

2. the Border Security Initiative which seeks to protect all migrants trying to enter the US; and

3. the fight against organized crime in the areas of drug and human smuggling.

Source: El Mañana, March 20, 2002.

March 11, 2002
Matamoros Gas Stations Declare War on Contraband Gas Vendors

An organization comprised of gas station operators from throughout Matamoros has declared war on contraband gasoline vendors, according to the organization's leader, Juan Carlos Córdoba.

Córdoba told the Matamoros newspaper El Bravo that the city's 31 gas stations have begun a process of laying off workers. He also stated that two service stations are closing because of a lack of business.

Matamoros gas stations are losing out on 10 million liters (approximately 2.6 million gallons) of gas sales per month, according to Córdoba. He said that this is due to clandestine gas stations where people illegally sell gas brought in from the US.

Córdoba is not only worried about the economic impact of contraband gasoline sales but said that there is also a real threat to the city's safety and environment. He believes that it is only a matter of time before there is some sort of tragedy related to a gas accident.

On Wednesday, March 7, Córdoba met with the city officials in charge of public safety and environment. He said that they agreed to begin a program to find and close the contraband gas vendors.

Córdoba stated that he will have to see results within fifteen days or the gasoline station organization will take its complaints to the state and federal level.

The contraband gas that is being sold in Matamoros and other Tamaulipas cities comes from the US, according to Córdoba. One way to end the illegal business would be to have the same gas prices in both nations, he said. Mexican gas is roughly twice the price of US gas.

Source: El Bravo, March 7 & 8, 2002. Articles by Rosy Pereda.

March 5, 2002
Another Reynosa Lake Turned into an Illegal Dump

Elvira Vázquez, the director of Niños Ecologistas de Reynosa, complained to the Reynosa newspaper La Crónica that a lake in the Pedro José Méndez neighborhood is still being used as an illegal trash dump. Vázquez also stated that trash is being burned at the lake and that the resultant smoke is a threat to residents' health.

La Crónica reports that the lake is officially closed for waste-disposal purposes but dumping is done at night, under the cover of darkness. Although a large sign near the lake states that leaving waste there is against the law and is punishable by heavy penalties, dumping continues and government has allowed it to continue.

Vázquez said that not all area residents are interested in closing the lake to dumping because many of them are involved in making money from the activities that take place there.

Waste handlers burn the garbage to extract what they call "oro negro" (black gold). This includes such things as metals, glass, wire and other recyclable materials that people discard.

Source: La Crónica, March 5, 2002.

February 27, 2002
Nuevo Laredo School Drug Use

Thirty-five percent of students in three Nuevo Laredo middle schools said that they had tried alcohol, tobacco or illegal drugs at least once. Ten to twelve percent of the 600 students surveyed said that they had tried marijuana, cocaine or other types of inhaled illegal drugs at least once.

State health officials performed the written survey at the schools and said that Tampico, Matamoros, Reynosa and Nuevo Laredo are the cities in the state with the worst addiction problems. This is due to the rapid population growth of these areas, said Bernardo Ramírez Mante, head of Health District #5.

Talking about a school drug awareness program and drugs in the schools, student Ana Fabiola Robles Tépate stated, "We have seen drugged people on the streets but here in school I have not seen anyone that uses drugs and I don't know anyone that uses drugs. Every two months people come to give us talks about drugs."

"Drugs are bad because the hurt you physically and mentally at the same time you lose your family and problems start with rebellion and lack of responsibility. In our civics and ethics class we are studying addictions," said Lizeth Lecea Pérez.

Source: El Mañana (Nuevo Laredo), February 12, 2002. Article by Lesy Karina Mendoza.