Border crossing closed after trafficer gun battle

Reuters/NY Times:

U.S. authorities closed the world's busiest land border crossing Tuesday after a shootout between suspected Mexican human traffickers and U.S. agents, U.S. officials said.

"The port is closed and will remain closed for several hours," U.S. Customs and Border Patrol spokeswoman Angelica Decima said after the incident at the congested San Ysidro crossing between the Mexican city of Tijuana and San Diego.

The suspected smugglers shot across busy lines of traffic at U.S. agents when they tried to stop three vans packed with about 70 illegal immigrants from crossing into the United States, the officials said.

The agents returned fire, and three people in the vans and a motorist were wounded, said Lauren Mack, a spokeswoman for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Mexico's violent drug gangs are increasingly moving into the lucrative people-smuggling business, but tight U.S. border security is forcing them to take bigger risks to get narcotics and illegal immigrants into the United States.

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This was not a smart move by the smugglers. It is one of those moves that makes you want to ask "What were they thinking?"

It is interesting that the dope smugglers are switching to people smuggling. You would think that dope smuggling would be easier and more lucrative. Perhaps our efforts and Mexico's are changing that calculation.