Note: We really need to see the evidence and need to know where
those weapons are coming from and how.
Or maybe from Mex police and military? Chavez?
It's for sure that we can't take their word for it.
Our Rights seem to be a problem for others.
thx
March 12, 2008 - 11:29PM
U.S., Mexican authorities to target smugglers
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MARK FLATTEN, TRIBUNE
International human and drug smuggling rings that find safe haven
across the Mexican border will be targeted under agreements between
U.S. and Mexican prosecutors announced Wednesday in Phoenix.
Mexican attorneys general vowed better cooperation in prosecuting
organized smuggling gangs that have operated openly there in the
past. Federal and state authorities in Mexico also agreed to work
closely with their American counterparts to identify and shut down
money laundering operations that finance cross-border criminal gangs.
As part of the agreements, Arizona Attorney General Terry Goddard
said he will push for changes in federal gun laws to make it easier
to track arms dealers who smuggle weapons into Mexico.
The change would require people who buy multiple rifles in a single
transaction to file a disclosure form, similar to one now required
for multiple handgun purchases.
Goddard said the law would only be effective if passed at the federal
level, but acknowledged that the idea is "going nowhere" in Congress.
GANGS WAGING WAR
Mexican smuggling gangs are so well-armed with weapons smuggled from
the U.S. that they are waging open war against Mexican police,
Goddard said.
He added that the minor change in federal law would make it possible
to identify criminal arms dealers.
"We heard loud and clear that there is an active, fighting war being
fought in Mexico, and that prosecutors and investigators in Mexico
are dying," Goddard said of his discussions with his Mexican
counterparts. "If we are going to get their assistance in going after
drug traffickers and going after human traffickers and going after
money launderers, the message we got is please stop sending weapons
to Mexico that are killing our police officers."
The pledge of better cooperation against organized smuggling gangs
was announced at a news conference in Phoenix that closed three days
of meetings between more than a dozen attorneys general from U.S. and
Mexican states.
The crux of the agreement is that police and prosecutors on both
sides of the border will work more closely to investigate criminal
organizations that smuggle immigrants and drugs into the U.S., as
well as guns into Mexico.
In the past, smugglers could simply cross into Mexico to escape
prosecution by U.S. authorities, Goddard said. There was a mechanism
to seek prosecution in Mexico, but that was available only in cases
that were ready for indictment, he said.
Under the new agreement, Mexican authorities will work closely with
their American counterparts to investigate cases in which particular
suspects may not have been identified, Goddard said.
There also will be better cooperation in going after the finances of
criminal organizations, which typically use legitimate money
transmitters to move the proceeds of their smuggling activities
across the border, Goddard said.
AIMING FOR THE MONEY
Interrupting the flow of money will be the most effective means of
breaking organized smuggling rings, said Noe Ramirez Mandujano,
special assistant to the Mexican federal attorney general who
specializes in organized crime.
Mexican immigrants are frequently victims of violent crimes committed
by human smugglers, including murder, extortion and sexual assault,
Ramirez said.
"Our purpose is to combat this sort of thing because we are not
simply referring to the victimization of an individual," Ramirez
said. "We are talking about the victimization of a country and
humanity as a whole."
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