Stang Girl
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I was kind of surprised that this hasn't been posted yet. Lots of talk in the news and on the radio about this. Personally, we need to start putting military on the border. I had heard on the radio that the Humvee had a .50 caliber gun on it as well, but I didn't see it mentioned in this story. This is getting ridiculous. 
http://www.elpasotimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060124/NEWS/60124003/1001/ARCHIVES
Mexican officials deny soldiers were involved in drug standoff
Times staff report
Tuesday, January 24, 2006
Mexican soldiers were not involved in a standoff with law enforcement officers from the United States on the Rio Grande near Sierra Blanca, Texas, on Monday, Mexican consul Juan Carlos Foncerrada Berumen said Tuesday.
Berumen said Mexican military uniforms may have been used by drug smugglers to confuse “public opinion” and damage relations between the two countries.
Hudspeth County Sheriff Arvin West said his deputies along with officers from the Texas Department of Public Safety were on patrol at about 2 p.m. when they began chasing three vehicles they suspected were carrying illegal drugs.
The officers chased the vehicles to the Rio Grande when they came across several men who appeared to be soldiers “in a Humvee with what appeared to the officers as being 50-caliber machine guns,” officials said.
No shots were fired and no injuries were reported, but the lives of the law enforcement officers were threatened, officials said.
Officers, who responded to the scene, said when they arrived at the border the men dressed in military uniforms drew their guns and pointed the automatic weapons toward them.
Officials said one vehicle that was being chased was seized and that 1,400 pounds of marijuana was left behind by the driver, who fled across the river. Another vehicle made it back into Mexico. The third vehicle became stuck in the river and set ablaze by the men dressed as soldiers after people dressed in civilian clothing unloaded bundles of drugs from the vehicle.
Sierra Blanca is about 90 miles east of El Paso, but the Hudspeth County line is about 10 miles from Fabens, Texas, which is in El Paso County.
In November, the Hudspeth sheriff’s department reported a similar incident involving soldiers from Mexico. Whether the men on the Mexican side of the border were soldiers from the Mexican military remains in dispute.
http://www.elpasotimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060125/NEWS/601250317/1001/ARCHIVES
Consulate says Mexican troops not in standoff
Tammy Fonce-Olivas
Jake Rollow
Wednesday, January 25, 2006
SIERRA BLANCA, Texas -- The Mexican government will not allow its soldiers within 3.2 miles of the U.S.-Mexican border as a result of a standoff Monday near Sierra Blanca between Texas law enforcement officers and men dressed in military uniforms.
Juan Carlos Foncerrada Berumen, the Mexican consul general in El Paso, said Tuesday the men who faced off with the Texas officers were not Mexican soldiers.
He said Mexican military uniforms may have been used Monday to confuse "public opinion" and damage relations between the two countries.
"We totally reject any assumption that pretends to involve the Mexican Army in this incident," Foncerrada Berumen said.
In response to Monday's incident, the Mexican government has ordered its military to create an alert zone, extending 3.2 miles from the border, and not to allow soldiers in the alert zone unless they have authorization, Foncerrada Berumen said.
Three Hudspeth County sheriff's deputies were confronted by the men in military uniforms on Monday when a chase of three suspicious SUVs led them toward the Rio Grande about eight miles east of the Fort Hancock port of entry, Hudspeth County Sheriff Arvin West said Tuesday.
"This is an issue that concerns me tremendously. I'm worried for these guys --for their safety," West said.
Texas Gov. Rick Perry ordered an investigation.
"It's certainly troubling and unacceptable and a real reminder of how an unsecure border threatens all Texans and the rest of the nation," Perry spokeswoman Kathy Walt said.
West said he and 11 officers are responsible for patrolling 525 square miles. He said his office needs more manpower, as does the Border Patrol, to battle drug smugglers who frequently try to bring illegal drugs through the U.S.-Mexico border in Hudspeth.
The deputies were on patrol at about 2 p.m. when they along with a state trooper began chasing vehicles they suspected were carrying illegal drugs.
The more than 12-mile chase began on Interstate 10 and ended at the river near Highway 34.
No shots were fired and nobody was injured, West said.
West and Rick Glancey, interim executive director of the Texas Border Sheriff's Coalition, said that when the officers were approaching the Rio Grande they saw a green military-style Humvee on the U.S. side of the border. Inside the Humvee were several men, who appeared to be Mexican soldiers.
The Humvee made its way back to Mexico as two of the SUVs tried to cross the river, which is about 16 feet wide in that area.
One of the SUVs made it safely across the border; another of the SUVs got stuck in about 3 feet of water. The third SUV, carrying 1,400 pounds of marijuana, was left behind because of a flat tire. The occupants of this vehicle fled across the river.
The vehicle in the river was set ablaze by the men in military uniforms after approximately 10 men in civilian clothing unloaded what appeared to be bundles of drugs from the SUV, officials said.
While the SUV was being unloaded, the men in military uniforms pointed their automatic weapons at the deputies and the other Texas law enforcement officers, West said
More than six law enforcement officers, including Border Patrol agents, responded to the scene, officials said.
West said his office cannot say with any certainty that the men wearing military uniforms were members of the Mexican military.
However, officers responding to the scene managed to take photographs of the SUV in the water being unloaded and of the Humvee.
In November, the Hudspeth sheriff's department reported a similar incident involving what appeared to be soldiers from Mexico. Whether the men on the Mexican side of the border were soldiers from the Mexican military remains in dispute.
Sierra Blanca is about 90 miles east of El Paso, but the Hudspeth County line is about 10 miles from Fabens in El Paso County.
Glancey said Monday's incident shows the need to increase law enforcement manpower along the U.S.-Mexico border.
Glancey, also the El Paso County Sheriff's Office spokesman, said the El Paso Sheriff's Office is concerned about Monday's incident, because the same problem "could arise in El Paso."
"It's imperative that we communicate with one another because we feel things are getting a little bit out of hand in terms of how things are operating along the border. This was a very dangerous situation and we are very, very fortunate that we have men and women from the Hudspeth County Sheriff's Office that went home alive," he said.
http://www.elpasotimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060124/NEWS/60124003/1001/ARCHIVES
Mexican officials deny soldiers were involved in drug standoff
Times staff report
Tuesday, January 24, 2006
Mexican soldiers were not involved in a standoff with law enforcement officers from the United States on the Rio Grande near Sierra Blanca, Texas, on Monday, Mexican consul Juan Carlos Foncerrada Berumen said Tuesday.
Berumen said Mexican military uniforms may have been used by drug smugglers to confuse “public opinion” and damage relations between the two countries.
Hudspeth County Sheriff Arvin West said his deputies along with officers from the Texas Department of Public Safety were on patrol at about 2 p.m. when they began chasing three vehicles they suspected were carrying illegal drugs.
The officers chased the vehicles to the Rio Grande when they came across several men who appeared to be soldiers “in a Humvee with what appeared to the officers as being 50-caliber machine guns,” officials said.
No shots were fired and no injuries were reported, but the lives of the law enforcement officers were threatened, officials said.
Officers, who responded to the scene, said when they arrived at the border the men dressed in military uniforms drew their guns and pointed the automatic weapons toward them.
Officials said one vehicle that was being chased was seized and that 1,400 pounds of marijuana was left behind by the driver, who fled across the river. Another vehicle made it back into Mexico. The third vehicle became stuck in the river and set ablaze by the men dressed as soldiers after people dressed in civilian clothing unloaded bundles of drugs from the vehicle.
Sierra Blanca is about 90 miles east of El Paso, but the Hudspeth County line is about 10 miles from Fabens, Texas, which is in El Paso County.
In November, the Hudspeth sheriff’s department reported a similar incident involving soldiers from Mexico. Whether the men on the Mexican side of the border were soldiers from the Mexican military remains in dispute.
http://www.elpasotimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060125/NEWS/601250317/1001/ARCHIVES
Consulate says Mexican troops not in standoff
Tammy Fonce-Olivas
Jake Rollow
Wednesday, January 25, 2006
SIERRA BLANCA, Texas -- The Mexican government will not allow its soldiers within 3.2 miles of the U.S.-Mexican border as a result of a standoff Monday near Sierra Blanca between Texas law enforcement officers and men dressed in military uniforms.
Juan Carlos Foncerrada Berumen, the Mexican consul general in El Paso, said Tuesday the men who faced off with the Texas officers were not Mexican soldiers.
He said Mexican military uniforms may have been used Monday to confuse "public opinion" and damage relations between the two countries.
"We totally reject any assumption that pretends to involve the Mexican Army in this incident," Foncerrada Berumen said.
In response to Monday's incident, the Mexican government has ordered its military to create an alert zone, extending 3.2 miles from the border, and not to allow soldiers in the alert zone unless they have authorization, Foncerrada Berumen said.
Three Hudspeth County sheriff's deputies were confronted by the men in military uniforms on Monday when a chase of three suspicious SUVs led them toward the Rio Grande about eight miles east of the Fort Hancock port of entry, Hudspeth County Sheriff Arvin West said Tuesday.
"This is an issue that concerns me tremendously. I'm worried for these guys --for their safety," West said.
Texas Gov. Rick Perry ordered an investigation.
"It's certainly troubling and unacceptable and a real reminder of how an unsecure border threatens all Texans and the rest of the nation," Perry spokeswoman Kathy Walt said.
West said he and 11 officers are responsible for patrolling 525 square miles. He said his office needs more manpower, as does the Border Patrol, to battle drug smugglers who frequently try to bring illegal drugs through the U.S.-Mexico border in Hudspeth.
The deputies were on patrol at about 2 p.m. when they along with a state trooper began chasing vehicles they suspected were carrying illegal drugs.
The more than 12-mile chase began on Interstate 10 and ended at the river near Highway 34.
No shots were fired and nobody was injured, West said.
West and Rick Glancey, interim executive director of the Texas Border Sheriff's Coalition, said that when the officers were approaching the Rio Grande they saw a green military-style Humvee on the U.S. side of the border. Inside the Humvee were several men, who appeared to be Mexican soldiers.
The Humvee made its way back to Mexico as two of the SUVs tried to cross the river, which is about 16 feet wide in that area.
One of the SUVs made it safely across the border; another of the SUVs got stuck in about 3 feet of water. The third SUV, carrying 1,400 pounds of marijuana, was left behind because of a flat tire. The occupants of this vehicle fled across the river.
The vehicle in the river was set ablaze by the men in military uniforms after approximately 10 men in civilian clothing unloaded what appeared to be bundles of drugs from the SUV, officials said.
While the SUV was being unloaded, the men in military uniforms pointed their automatic weapons at the deputies and the other Texas law enforcement officers, West said
More than six law enforcement officers, including Border Patrol agents, responded to the scene, officials said.
West said his office cannot say with any certainty that the men wearing military uniforms were members of the Mexican military.
However, officers responding to the scene managed to take photographs of the SUV in the water being unloaded and of the Humvee.
In November, the Hudspeth sheriff's department reported a similar incident involving what appeared to be soldiers from Mexico. Whether the men on the Mexican side of the border were soldiers from the Mexican military remains in dispute.
Sierra Blanca is about 90 miles east of El Paso, but the Hudspeth County line is about 10 miles from Fabens in El Paso County.
Glancey said Monday's incident shows the need to increase law enforcement manpower along the U.S.-Mexico border.
Glancey, also the El Paso County Sheriff's Office spokesman, said the El Paso Sheriff's Office is concerned about Monday's incident, because the same problem "could arise in El Paso."
"It's imperative that we communicate with one another because we feel things are getting a little bit out of hand in terms of how things are operating along the border. This was a very dangerous situation and we are very, very fortunate that we have men and women from the Hudspeth County Sheriff's Office that went home alive," he said.
