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Frontera
NorteSur |
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by Martín Borchardt |
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May 29, 2002 Other findings show that: 4,200,000 Mexicans were crime victims in 2001; 2,972,230 of these victims did not report the crimes committed against them; 44% of crimes involve violence; 47% of Mexicans feel unsafe in their homes; 23% of Mexicans have changed their activities or habits because of crime; and 44% of crime victims suffered some sort of violence while the crime was committed. Icesi's findings are based on interviews and are not meant to contradict official government crime figures but are instead seen as complimenting them, according to Luis de la Barreda, Icesi's president. Icesi interviewed 1,100 people in every Mexican state and Mexico City between March 2 and March 24, 2002. Nationally, 66% of victims did not report the crimes committed
against them. BC citizens reported 50% of crimes, the third-highest
reporting rate in the nation after Sonora and Baja California
Sur. In cases where crime reports were filed, 45% were not acted upon, 23% were denied investigations, 17% were being processed, 11% resulted in the capture of suspects and 2% resulted in the return of stolen goods. Forty-four percent of crimes involved violence or the threat
of violence. In these cases, 44% of people were threatened with
a handgun, 25% with a knife, 20% verbally, 18% with a physical
beating, 3% with a tube or similar object and 1% with a rifle
or assault rifle. Frontera also mentioned case number 35/2002-A, a 24 tome,
11,000 page document, that states the precise crimes of which
the Tijuana law-enforcement officers are accused. The case is
based on the testimony of six protected witnesses, all of whom
worked for the Arellano Félix cartel. Arrested in May, 2000, Higuera is described by the US Department
of State as having been the Arellano Félix cartel's chief
of operations (see link at http://secretary.state.gov/www/briefings/statements/2000/ps000504b.html
). Walters also highlighted Mexico's arrest of Benjamín Arellano Félix, one of the leaders of the Tijuana Cartel. He noted the great efforts that Mexico's government and the Mexican Attorney General, Rafael Macedo de la Concha, have made in fighting drug traffickers. The previous day, Macedo de la Concha said in a press conference attended by Baja California Governor Eugenio Elorduy Walther that despite the shooting death of Ramón Arellano Félix and the arrest of brother Benjamín, the Mexican government cannot believe that the Arellano Félix/Tijuana Cartel has ceased operations. Indeed, Macedo de la Concha noted that the cartel is in a state of reorganization. In the future, Macedo de la Concha says that the PGR will continue cleaning out corrupt law-enforcement agencies throughout the country. The Attorney General also stated that, by working together, the PGR and the Mexican Army have prevented the Gulf Cartel from spreading beyond its current sphere of control. Macedo de la Concha also noted that the PGR currently has 1,600 members of the Gulf Cartel in jail at this time. May 8, 2002 Sources within the Instituto Nacional de Migración,
to which Beta belongs, said that the men were offered transfers
to far-away states. The men rejected the new assignments because
of personal reasons. BC Beta Scandals January 5, 2000: Grupo Beta Tijuana's legal advisor, Rafael Avila Valenzuela, was gunned down after a meeting with agents from the Federal Attorney General's Office (PGR) in Tijuana's Hotel El Conquistador. July, 2001: A Beta Méxicali agent was arrested in the US for trying to cross a woman to that country with a fake passport. August 13, 2001: Three Beta Tecate agents were accused of freeing a human trafficker in exchange for a bribe and putting an Ecuadorian man in his place throughout the following legal proceedings. December 21, 2001: Beta Tecate agent Francisco Javier Arias was found dead from a bullet wound to the head. February, 2002: Three Beta agents flee and are sought in the
death of Arias. The men are named as alleged members of the Arellano
Felix cartel by a former Méxicali city police chief. Ernesto Ruffo Appel, the Mexican Commissioner for Northern Border Affairs, said after the meeting that Mexico and the US should look into speeding up activities at their border crossings. According to Ruffo, border crossings deserve special attention so that economic activity is not slowed down and the region's residents can save time when going from country to country. The BC Secretary of Tourism, Alejandro Moreno Medina, said
that some of the great challenges of the border are scheduling
adequate personnel to work there at the right time and the adoption
of technology that is demanded by the realities of the border
after the events of September 11. |