Undercover Agent Weighs in on War on Drugs, Immigration ? Your ...

With news Monday of 49 decapitated bodies found in Mexico, it seems drug violence across the border is only escalating. Hipolito Acosta, former District Director of Immigration and Naturalization Services at the U.S. embassy in Mexico City, joined Jon Leiberman and I on The CrimeLine Monday to discuss this latest rash of violence and what can be done to control the war on drugs and illegal immigration. Click here to watch.

These 49 bodies are just the latest in a series of massacres stemming from a war between Mexico?s two dominant drug cartels. Are these massacres becoming all too common?

Yes, just days ago, there were 18 [decapitated] bodies found in Jalisco. Just a week ago, just across the border from Laredo, Texas there were nine bodies hung from an overpass in Nuevo Laredo, Mexico so it?s becoming all too common. If you look at the number of incidents just in the past two years in Mexico, it?s horrific.

There is a war going on between several of the cartels as they are trying to gain control of certain territories. Where these bodies were found, that?s a very lucrative area for narcotics trafficking. There are multi-million dollar loads of cocaine that go through that area. If you look at the location of where this latest massacre occurred it?s right on the highway from Monterrey, which is a major city, heading up to the U.S. border. You are talking only an hour, hour and a half from the U.S. border. Again, you?ve got two factions fighting for control of that particular part of Mexico, it?s a gateway for drugs and easy access to the United States, with a number of highways leading from that particular area.

How do these massacres and the war on drugs affect the United States?

Some of those cartel members are in the United States. We haven?t seen that type of violence here in the U.S. because our law enforcement do great work and are excellent officers from all federal agencies and we don?t have the type of corruption that Mexico has. Frankly, the cartels are just positioning themselves because Mexico is about to have an administration change so there are a lot of factors that are contributing to what?s going on right now.

More than 47,000 people have been killed in drug-related violence throughout Mexico since President Felipe Calderon announced a crackdown on cartels in 2006. Are we losing the war on drugs?

I don?t think Mexico can control it. I think the cartels are positioning themselves. Prior to this administration and the previous administration of President Fox, the cartels operated rather freely under the previous administrations. So, is there going to be more of the same when a new president is in Mexico? Are there going to be some agreements made between the government and these cartels? I don?t know the answer. Obviously, they are not putting a dent in the violence, the trafficking keeps on going. I think what the government has been doing there in the past few years, I find it admirable, I just don?t think it?s getting anywhere.

Why is there a turf war between the Zetas and the Gulf, Mexico?s two dominant cartels?

The Zetas is a vicious cartel that at one time was associated with the Gulf cartel. These were at one time military members that deserted the special forces of Mexico. They were working for the Gulf cartel at one particular time and when Gulf leader Osiel Cardenas was arrested in 2003, the Zetas spread out and created their own cartel. They are now at war with the Gulf cartel, which reportedly has aligned itself with the Sinaloa cartel, which is headed by Joaquin Guzman. Guzman is described as the biggest drug lord, replacing even Pablo Escobar, the legendary Columbian narcotics trafficker.

Another major issue facing U.S. border patrol agents today is human smuggling and illegal immigration. In your new book, The Shadow Catcher, you discuss your work to crack down on human smuggling, including an experience where you worked undercover, being smuggled from Juarez, Mexico to Chicago in the back of a U-Haul.

One of the things I did early on in my career, I wanted to go after the main organizers, the ringleaders in human smuggling organizations. I actually went into Mexico, I infiltrated the group from Juarez, crossed the river with a group of undocumented immigrants that were destined for Chicago and ultimately we spent a very difficult journey up into Chicago. The great thing was that we were able to arrest the ringleaders and effectively broke up the smuggling group, rather than just the low-level drivers that had no impact.

I certainly saw what they went through because we had a child as young as 6-years-old, we had another 8-year-old, with no food in the back of the U-Haul and it was freezing weather along the way. My objective was to identify the ringleaders, my objective was to arrest them, and we did. I felt that the only way we could actually have an impact on smuggling organizations was by getting the top guys, not just the low-level players.

What are some of the worst things you?ve witnessed as a federal agent?

We have seen boats coming from Ecuador that are capable of transporting 20-25 people loaded with 200 to 225 individuals in the boats, who knows how many of them have sunk out there. Most people associate human smuggling with just from the border of the United States northward, but smuggling starts from way thousands of miles away. I saw a tanker in southern Mexico retrofitted, it used to be an oil tanker, and people were placed inside the oil tanker and kept in there for 24 hours in unbearable conditions. We had a case we investigated in Mexico, there were a number of men in Mexico who were cooked to death, they had taken off their clothes, but it was so hot they were completely roasted before they were found. So those are some of the conditions that we encounter. Human smuggling is not a victimless crime. When I was smuggled from Tijuana to Los Angeles one of the guys hid me and stuffed me in the trunk of a car with a young kid they were smuggling? and then they smuggled us through Camp Pendleton, so it gives you an idea of some of the people that are out there that deserve to be in jail.

How will the issue of illegal immigration factor into the upcoming elections?

It?s going to be more of the same. I don?t think that either party addresses the issue of immigration, that?s why we are where we?re at today with 12-15 million illegal immigrants in the United States. We?ve gone in 2001 from 3 million illegal immigrants to about 12 or 15 million right now. It?s no secret how we got there. People come to the United States because they need a job and they continue working. Our border resources were increased, and rightfully so, but our interior enforcement has always been lacking. Right now it doesn?t seem like it makes a difference who is president, I think the administrations generally talk a lot and don?t do anything about it.

What is your opinion on Arizona SB 1070?

It mirrors federal immigration law, and there is a frustration on the states part because the federal government has not done their job. Not because the agents haven?t done their job, but because of the lack of leadership over the years. My concerns would be that Arizona is not willing to devote training for their officers, they are not willing to dedicate resources to make sure they train their officers, to make sure they do it right. They don?t have the capabilities to detain people if ICE [U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement] doesn?t respond to their detentions and they don?t have the capabilities to turn people over to foreign governments. So, those are some of the things they need to answer. Ultimately I think if I were to bet on what the Supreme Court will do I?d think they?ll say the Arizona law is ok. The implementation is going to be a little bit different.

For more with Hipolito Acosta, watch his extended interview on The CrimeLine and check out his new book, The Shadow Catcher: A U.S. Agent Infiltrates Mexico?s Deadly Crime Cartels.

Like this:

One blogger likes this post.

cyber monday deals war eagle war eagle pawn stars restrepo nba news nba news