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April 23, 2002
Rio Bravo Citizens Protest Lack of Environmental Services
Residents of a Rio Bravo neighborhood told the Reynosa newspaper
that they throw trash in the street to protest the absence of
waste-removal services. The residents are also upset by what
the newspaper describes as an enormous pool of sewage that has
accumulated due to a break in a sewer line.
According to El Mañana, dozens of families have signed
letters sent to the city government that protest the neighborhood's
poor environmental conditions. However, the bad conditions in
the area around Coahuila and Galeana streets still persist. People
in the neighborhood began protesting to city government in 2001.
There is not yet a large accumulation of garbage in the neighborhood
because the wind blows much of it away. Other trash is sometimes
hauled off by private individuals that work for a small payment
or tip from residents, according to one person from the neighborhood
that did want to give his or her name.
Rio Bravo is a city of approximately 150,000 people located
between Reynosa and Matamoros, across from Pharr, Texas.
Source: El Mañana (Reynosa), April 23, 2002.
April 19, 2002
Contraband Seized in Matamoros
More than one million blank CDs were seized by Customs officials
in Matamoros on April 15, 2002. The CDs were being hauled in
two tractor trailers when the trucks were inspected by Customs.
The goods were seized because their value was under-represented
by 50% which is a violation of Mexican customs law. Documents
accompanying the trucks listed the import agent as Feric S.A.
which José María González González,
the director of Matamoros customs, said does not exist.
The value of the CDs was put at over one million pesos (approximately
US$110,000) by Customs.
Later, the trucks were transferred to the Customs Investigation
Administration in Mexico City.
Also seized on the same day was a truck load of used clothes
valued at 69,000 pesos.
Source: El Bravo, April 16, 2002. Article by Rosy Pereda Rangel.
April 15, 2002
Tamaulipas Economic Development News
The Tamaulipas government will continue supporting businesses
that want to locate in the state as long they pay good wages,
are competitive in their fields and do not pollute, said Jorge
Alberto Reyes Moreno, the state secretary of Desarrollo Económico
y del Empleo (Economic Development and Employment).
Reyes also told the Reynosa newspaper El Mañana that
Tamaulipas is beginning a slow economic recovery in step with
that of the US. Last year, Tamaulipas lost 16,000 jobs according
to the employment records of the Seguro Social (Social Security),
says Reyes.
Reyes sees that the state has a favorable investment climate
since there are no severe labor disputes. The state also has
the resources necessary to attract of new companies.
Although Tamaulipas is in danger of losing 150 jobs at two companies
that may soon go out of business, two new plants have opened
in Matamoros. The new plants each employ 100 people but this
number could increase to 300 or more by the end of the year,
according to two articles in Matamoros' El Bravo newspaper.
Source: El Mañana (Reynosa), April 15, 2002. El Bravo,
April 5, 2002.
April 2, 2002
Gulf Cartel Active in Ten States, Penetrates Law Enforcement
and Military
According to the Procuraduría General de la República
(Federal Attorney General's Office, PGR), the Gulf Cartel, which
is allegedly headed by Osiel Cárdenas, has expanded operations
over the past few years and is now in ten Mexican states despite
the recent arrests of cartel leaders.
Strongest in the eastern border state of Tamaulipas, the Gulf
Cartel now has a presence in Nuevo León, Tabasco, San
Luis Potosí, Campeche, Yucatán, Quintana Roo, Jalisco,
Veracruz and Mexico City.
In Tamaulipas alone the cartel has approximately 600 drug houses
from which it sells cocaine and heroine, according to the PGR.
The cartel maintains control of its territory and eludes apprehension
by keeping what the PGR describes as a "small army"
of informants inside of local, state and federal police organizations,
including the PGR itself. Lower-ranking military officials also
work as informants for the cartel. Informants receive up to US$3,000
per week depending on the quality of the information they give
to the cartel.
Source: El Diario, March 30, 2002.
March 27, 2002
Border Patrol Finds 117 Undocumented Immigrants in Trailer Near
Laredo
At a Border Patrol check point near Laredo, Texas, agents
discovered 117 people in the back of a tractor trailer. The agents
said that they were astonished to find the group which was having
problems breathing and was soaked in sweat and semidehydrated.
A Border Patrol search dog alerted the officers to the presence
of people in the trailer.
Among those detained were 70 people from Mexico, 44 from Honduras
and 3 from Brazil. Arrested was Demetrius James Burgess, age
26, the driver of the truck.
Burgess told the Border Patrol that he was taking his human
cargo to Dallas, Texas, approximately 400 miles away. He also
said that he believed he was taking only three people for which
he was paid US$3,000. Agents found US$2,700 in Burgess' sock.
Source: El Mañana (Nuevo Laredo), March 26, 2002. Article
by Francisco Diaz.
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