Mexican criminal insurgents ready to cross border

El Paso Times:

Warring Mexican drug cartels have given their hit men permission to cross into the United States to kill their targets, according to warnings received by U.S. authorities.

Police and federal agents told The Associated Press about the warnings Monday, and officials along the border are beefing up security.

"We received credible information that drug cartels in Mexico have given permission to hit targets on the U.S. side of the border," El Paso police spokesman Officer Chris Mears said. "One of the first things we did was to notify all officers in our department of the situation."

Mears says authorities learned of the threat last week. U.S. Customs and Border Protection and Border Patrol officers have also been told about the threat and have ramped up security at border crossings.

"We first learned of the threat last week. Our deputies are in a higher state of awareness. We will respond to any incident appropriately," Deputy Jesse Tovar, spokesman for the El Paso Sheriff's Office, said.

"We are aware of it and we are addressing it," Chief CBP Officer Rick Lopez said. "CBP is on heightened alert ever since we became aware of the threats in Mexico."

U.S. Border Patrol spokesman Doug Mosier said agents in the El Paso Sector, which includes the two most western Texas counties and all of New Mexico, said Border Patrol officials "are reinforcing the importance of vigilance."

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Drug cartel violence has claimed thousands of lives across Mexico this year. Nearly 900 people have been killed this year in Ciudad Juarez, a hard-scrabbled city of about 1.3 million people across the Rio Grande from El Paso.

The violence continued over the weekend, including a fatal shooting of two men just past midnight Sunday inside in the Chamucos nightclub in the ProNaF tourist zone.

Despite the record-breaking killings in Juárez, El Paso has maintained a low homicide rate with 12 homicides. None of which are believed to be related to the cartel drug violence that erupted in early January.

The cartels, battling each other and the Mexican government for supremacy and control of lucrative drug and human smuggling routes, have become brazen in their attacks in recent months.

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I think the reason for the change is probably related to some of the targets hiding out in the US. Still, it is not a smart move if it is true. While the Mexican police have lost control of the situation, the US will provide enough manpower to overwhelm the killers should they attempt raids into the US.

Mexico has not been able to put an adequate force to space ratio on the streets of Juarez to stop the killing. It could be that the Mexican army sees the killings as part of a red on red action that is causing attrition among the competing factions and will eventually weaken them to the point that it will be easier for the Army to defeat the drug insurgents.