Sheriff Paul Babeu: Fast and Furious scandal is far from over. Posted at 5:15 pm on February 11, 2012 by Tina Korbe No Fast and Furious fatigue for Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu, who has been on the front lines fighting to tell the truth about the Justice Department’s disastrous program from Day One. The longer the Justice Department stonewalls the congressional investigation into the gunrunning program, the more ardent becomes Babeu’s desire to hold the administration accountable. “Many of us, including me, feel that whoever made these decisions should be held criminally accountable because people have been murdered,” Babeu told me today.
“Our hero in the Border Patrol — Agent Brian Terry — was murdered in my state. As tragic as Brian Terry’s death was, it is far from the only casualty associated with Fast and Furious: More than 200 people in Mexico have been killed by drug cartel members with Fast and Furious weapons — and the death count is likely to continue to rise, Babeu said. Those outstanding weapons are untraceable. Related Posts: Mexico Unveils ‘No More Weapons!’ Sign Made Of Firearms Along US Border. Get Breaking News First Receive News, Politics, and Entertainment Headlines Each Morning. Sign Up CIUDAD JUAREZ, Mexico (AP) — President Felipe Calderon on Thursday unveiled a “No More Weapons!” Billboard made with crushed firearms and placed near the U.S. border. He urged the United States to stop the flow of weapons into Mexico. The billboard, which is in English and weighs 3 tons, was placed near an international bridge in Ciudad Juarez and can be seen from the United States.
Calderon said the billboard’s letters were made with weapons seized by local, state and federal authorities. “Dear friends of the United States, Mexico needs your help to stop this terrible violence that we’re suffering,” Calderon said in English during the unveiling ceremony. “The best way to do this is to stop the flow of automatic weapons into Mexico,” he added. Before unveiling the billboard, Calderon supervised the destruction of more than 7,500 automatic rifles and handguns at a military base in Ciudad Juarez. Blood Brothers: The alliance between Mexican cartels and U.S. gangs may be the most serious threat to our national security. Posted by Texcoco on Borderland Beat Forum by Richard Valdemar Like the unwanted dandelions that sprout in lawns, cartel and gang partners continue to adapt and survive.
Whatever code of conduct that may have restrained them in the past has disappeared. Their terrible acts of violence and cruelty continue to escalate. The systematic corruption of our police, courts and political system is their goal. Those who they cannot corrupt, they murder. When they work together, the cartel-gang alliance is a serious threat to our national security. U.S. street and prison gangs have done business with Mexican drug traffickers since the 1920s. In the 1970s, California's Mexican Mafia prison gang members such as Joe "Pegleg" Morgan cultivated friendships with Mexican nationals while serving time with them in state and federal prisons. In fact, several San Diego street gangs such as Shell Town, Logan Heights, National City, Pasole, and Del Sol had developed strong alliances in Mexico. However, U.S. Mexico sets tourism record despite drug violence. REPORTING FROM MEXICO CITY — Mexico attracted a record number of foreign visitors last year despite a frightening drug war that is prompting travel warnings for a number of areas around the country.
Mexico’s tourism agency released new figures (link in Spanish) showing that the number of foreign travelers arriving by air in 2011 rose to 22.7 million, the most since the Bank of Mexico began keeping track in 1980. There was growth in each of the last five months of the year, officials said. Tourism also got a boost from Mexican travelers, who registered 167 million visits to tourist spots. The total of Mexican and foreign tourists was 2% higher than for 2008, which had been the best year on record. The number of air travelers from the United States to Mexico fell by 3% last year, but tourists from other countries — especially Brazil, Russia, Peru and China — registered sizable increases over 2010. Tourism is one of Mexico's top sources of foreign income. -- Ken Ellingwood.