Man caught smuggling bullets, vests to Mexico
A Mexican man was caught trying to smuggle 8,700 rounds of ammunition and 10 bulletproof vests from the United States to Mexico, Customs and Border Protection agents said today.
The seizure occurred Thursday at the Hidalgo-Reynosa International Bridge.
Driver Martin Armando Arredondo Meza, 28, fled from the car he was driving when customs officials began searching it. He tried to run into Mexico but agents and local police caught him.
The ammunition and vests were found in the car trunk.
Arredondo Meza was arrested on federal charges of illegal export of war materials and unlicensed export of defense articles on the U.S. munitions list.
More: chron.com
Woman caught smuggling $119,912 to Mexico
A 25-year-old Donna woman was caught trying to cross into Mexico with nearly $120,000 under her clothes, U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials said Thursday.
Aurora Garcia was arrested on federal charges of bulk cash smuggling Wednesday after agents at the Hidalgo international bridge pulled aside the taxi she was in and discovered the cash.
Garcia declared $1,000 but gave a negative declaration for currency in excess of $10,000, weapons, or ammunition.
CBP officers said they noticed discrepancies in Garcia's clothing, which turned out to be bundles of money totaling $119,912.
It is a federal offense not to declare
Police chase naked driver into Mexico
A naked man driving a Chevrolet S-10 pickup led police on a chase to the international border yesterday before leaving the truck and running into Mexico, where he was caught.
The man was first observed parked in an alleyand exposing himself about 12:15 p.m. near Texas Street in North Park. Responding officers tried to stop the truck, but the driver sped off, San Diego police Sgt. Jim Schorr said.
During a police chase, the driver avoided three spike strips set down on roadways by officers at various locations.
On Interstate 5 at Interstate 905, the man
Coyotes Openly Do Business in Mexico
Sidling up to migrants who arrive at the Tijuana airport and cruising the streets in border towns, coyotes in gold chains and dark sunglasses openly find customers for nightly scrambles across the U.S. border.
Mexicos president offered to crack down on smuggling at a recent summit with President Bush. But close to 100 smuggling gangs are still operating, government officials say, in plain sight of Mexican law enforcement.
While drug smugglers are invisible for the most part, people smugglers are visible, working right in front of authorities, said Tijuana border expert Victor Clark, who has
Border agents seize $95,000 from driver going to Mexico
A man faces smuggling charges after officers in Hidalgo confiscated almost 95-thousand dollars from the vehicle he was driving to Mexico.
Customs and Border Protection Monday announced the seizure occurred Friday at the Hidalgo International Bridge.
At the bridge, 42-year-old Benjamin Vargas-Betanacio of Eagle Pass denied having more than $10,000 in cash -- claiming only $500.
But officers noticed oddities in the engine area of the vehicle he was driving and discovered bundles of cash totaling $94,520.
Vargas-Betanacio has been charged with bulk cash smuggling.
It's a federal offense not to declare currency
Grouper fight flares in Gulf of Mexico:-
Recreational and commercial fishermen are being pitted against each other by a plan to limit hauls of red grouper in the Gulf of Mexico.
Federal fishery management officials have proposed closing Gulf of Mexico grouper fishing to recreational fishermen, allowing commercial boats to continue their catch, the Christian Science Monitor reported Friday.
Florida state officials have said they do not intend to enforce that ban, since tourists pay $26 million a year to Florida charter boats to fish in the gulf.
The Monitor said recreational fishermen pull in about 18 percent of the 5.3 million pounds of
Mexico to decriminalize drug possession
Mexican President Vicente Fox will sign into law a measure that decriminalizes the possession of small amounts of marijuana, cocaine, heroin and other drugs for personal use, his spokesman said Tuesday.
Spokesman Ruben Aguilar defended the law, which was approved Friday by Mexicos Senate, despite criticism in the United States that it could increase casual drug use.
The President is going to sign this law, said Mr. Aguilar, who called the legislation a better tool ... that allows better action and better co-ordination in the fight against drug dealing.
The government believes that this law represents progress, because
Bribery scandal fugitive caught in Mexico
A real estate broker who fled after being indicted on charges related to a bribery scandal at the state Office of General Services was captured in Mexico this week.
The arrest of Richard B. Sawyer, 55, a former Clifton Park resident, caps a federal investigation that focused on the role of political contributions in the awarding of state contracts.
Sawyer was arrested Thursday in Cabo San Lucas. He will be flown back to Albany to face charges in the case, authorities said.
A federal grand jury indictment on May 12 alleges Sawyer took part in a
US agents shot at, tension mounts on Mexico border
U.S. Border Patrol agents have come under fire twice along the Rio Grande in Texas in recent days amid rising tension on the frontier with Mexico, although no one was reported wounded, U.S. authorities said on Thursday.
A Border Patrol spokesman said unknown gunmen fired on agents on patrol in Brownsville, Texas, late on Wednesday. It was not immediately clear if the shots came from Mexico or from within the United States.
"Shots were fired, no one was injured and the FBI have taken the case over," Jose Rodriguez, a spokesman for the Border
Fox Caught in Mexicos Election Henhouse
It have been over seven weeks after the July 2 elections, Mexico still does not know who will be their new president. What is certain, the coalition Por el Bien de Todos (For the Good of All) continues to denounce the pro-government fraud, while maintaining their protests to defend democracy.
The partial recount ordered by Mexicos Federal Electoral Tribunal (TEPJF) has uncovered evidence of widespread irregularities. While the tribunal has not released any official results, judges discovered there were 49,000 more votes cast than there were people who actually voted in 11,839 polling places; ballot
Agents patrolling Mexico's border facing more dangers
Those tracking smugglers of drugs and immigrants are being attacked at a growing rate
Assaults against U.S. Border Patrol agents nearly doubled along the Mexican border over the past year as patrols cracking down on drug trafficking and migrant smuggling encountered increasing resistance — including the use of rocks, Molotov cocktails and gunfire.
At least 687 assaults against agents were reported during the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30, up from the previous year's total of 354 and the highest since the agency began tracking assaults across the Southwest border in the late 1990s, according to
