By Allan Lengel ticklethewire.com A crackdown on drug smugglers has resulted in a dramatic jump in the use of sophisticated tunnels under the Mexico-U.S. border, Reuters reports. Reuters reports that authorities discovered more than 100 tunnels during President Felipe Calderon’s five years in office. That number is double the ones found over the previous 15…
By Danny Fenster ticklethewire.com It is a fundamentally American right to criticize one’s government, to speak out against wrongful policies–a patriotic act, some would say. But how much dissent is possible if one’s job is to enforce existing laws, whether one agrees with them or not? Legislative change is reserved for political channels, after all–not…
By Danny Fenster ticklethewire.com The latest in a series of secret passages used to smuggle drugs from Mexico to the US was found on Tuesday, linking warehouses in San Diego and Tijuana, reports the Associated Press. “It is clearly the most sophisticated tunnel we have ever found,” Lauren Mack, a spokeswoman for U.S. Immigration and…
By Allan Lengel ticklethewire.com There’s no shortage of lawlessness along the Mexican border. Two Americans were murdered and a Border Patrol agent was busted for drugs in two separate incidents. On Monday, two Americans who work for the San Diego-based West Coast Beverage Maintenance were shot and killed inside their company pickup truck as they…
By Allan Lengel ticklethewire.com With modern technology comes modern headaches for law enforcement. The El Paso Times reports that an FBI agent testified in federal court in El Paso on Wednesday that the violent Barrio Azteca gang leaders in prison gave orders to street soldiers by cell phone. FBI agent Samantha Mikeska said the cell…
By Allan Lengel ticklethewire.com Most of nation’s border-anxiety seems to be focused on Mexico. But in northern states like Michigan, it’s a different story. Michigan Sen. Carl Levin, responding to a Government Accountability Office report pointing to potential threats from smugglers and terrorists, called for meetings to improve security at the Detroit-Windsor border, MLive.com reported….
By Allan Lengel ticklethewire.com These have not been fun days for John Morton, who heads up U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The union representing ICE agents just issued a vote of “no confidence” for him. And on Tuesday, two key sheriffs along the Arizona-Mexico border sharply criticized him. The sheriffs, according to the Washington Times,…
By Allan Lengel ticklethewire.com WASHINGTON — It’s all pretty simple. The Mexican drug cartels have lots of money. And some federal law enforcement agents who patrol the Mexican border can’t resist the cash. Representatives from the FBI and Homeland Security testified before the subcommittee of the Senate Homeland Security Committee about the “rising corruption among…
