Frontera NorteSur
September-October 2003

October 28, 2003
Truck Trailers Recovered in Nuevo Laredo through Joint FBI-Mexico Operation

Seven men were arrested and four truck trailers allegedly stolen from the US were recovered in Nuevo Laredo on October 27, 2003 during an operation that joined the FBI with Mexico's Federal Preventative Police, the Ministerial State Police and city police. 

The operation began when the FBI contacted the Federal Preventative Police (Policía Federal Preventiva, PFP) to tell them that they had located a missing Mesilla Valley Trucking trailer in Nuevo Laredo. The trailer was located by the FBI because of a satellite tracking device that had been previously installed. 

After a five hour search through truck lots, the trailer was located but its identification number had already been changed. The trailer had been repainted and other distinctive features had been modified. 

According to an article in the Nuevo Laredo newspaper El Mañana, the alleged truck thieves would have later created false documents for the trailer and sold it for US$15,000. 

Although PFP officials gave over the alleged thieves to state law enforcement, the seven arrested men will be charged with the federal level crime of robbery abroad. 

Source: El Mañana (Nuevo Laredo), October 28, 2003. Article by Julián  D. Hernández.

October 7, 2003
Nuevo Laredo Transportation Companies Must Improve Oil Storage, Says Profepa

Mexico's Procuraduría Federal del Medio Ambiente (Profepa), an organization equivalent to the US's EPA, has found proof of inadequate storage measures for used auto oil at 13 of 18 transportation companies it has visited. Eight other companies were also inspected but results have not yet been made public. 

Mario Acosta Montoya, head of Profepa's regional office responsible for Nuevo Laredo, said that authorities are worried that heavy rains could flood inappropriate oil storage facilities and send oil into a nearby body of water know as El Laguito and even into the Rio Grande. 

All companies that were found to have had oil spilled on the ground will be fined, Acosta stated. Furthermore, if storage problems are not resolved at these companies, they will be closed, he added. 

The companies have ten to fifteen days to upgrade their oil storage systems. Acosta did not indicate how many of the 13 companies were found to have spilled oil on their premises. 

Source: El Mañana (Nuevo Laredo), October 7, 2003. Article by Monica Lobo. 

September 29, 2003
Nuevo Laredo Family Violence: Men are 5% of Reported Victims

Five percent of reported domestic abuse victims in Nuevo Laredo are men, thirty percent are children and the remainder are women, according to José Rafael Pérez Escobar, an official with Tamaulipas' sex crimes and family-violence unit. Pérez says he receives between four and six cases of abused men per month. 

In most cases, abused men file charges related to their injuries, threats of violence and illegal entry, Pérez said. 

Pérez believes that only half of all men report partner abuse of which they are they victim. He says this is because men are embarrassed to report such a crime. 

"When a husband is assaulted by his wife, he prefers to put up with it and not file charges out of embarrassment that other men will laugh at him because in the north men are characterized as being very macho . . ." Pérez stated. 

In cases where a man files charges against his partner, the police open an investigation to obtain information and evidence from the victim and the aggressor. Later, they evaluate their findings to see if someone can be found responsible for the abuse. 

Source: El Mañana (Nuevo Laredo), September 29, 2003. Article by Marco Antonio Martínez. 

September 15, 2003
Mexican Customs Directors at the US Border: High Turnover for Unstated Reasons

Since 2000, eight northern Mexican border cities have churned through a total of at least 26 customs directors. An article in Reynosa's El Mañana newspaper points out that the greatest number of leadership changes have occurred at Tamaulipa's major border cities. Reynosa has had six different customs chiefs over the past 33 months, Matamoros five and Nuevo Laredo four.

The most recent change along the border came on September 2 when a new customs director took over in Matamoros. Prior to that, on July 10, a new chief was appointed to customs in Nuevo Laredo (and three other administrators resigned one week later during an audit). 

Since 2000, Nogales has had four new Customs chiefs, Ciudad Acuña (Coahuila) three, Sonoyta two, and Tijuana two. Of the eight cities, Piedras Negras has had the same customs director since 2000. 

The reasons given for personnel changes include firings, resignations, rotations and transfers. However, specifics about the changes are not made public, according to El Mañana. At most, authorities might say that someone was removed from office for unmentioned irregularities. 

In the few cases where more information was available to the press, there were a number of reasons given as to why customs chiefs were removed from various cities. These include tax evasion and allowing the passage of contraband in kerosene, diesel, Chinese-made goods, chicken and appliances. 

While aiding in the smuggling of chicken and Chinese goods into Mexico might not sound too lucrative, one Mexican customs official recently told FNS that a corrupt Customs director could make at least US$2 million to US$2.5 million per year. Assistant directors on the take can earn US$50,000 per month, the source said. 

Source: El Mañana (Reynosa), September 14, 2003.

September 3, 2003
Violence Shifts Trade from Nuevo Laredo to Matamoros

The recent disappearance and murder of law enforcement authorities in Nuevo Laredo and the city's eight-month long war between rival drug cartels has resulted in the increased flow of goods through Matamoros, according to Jorge Alberto Chávez Camacho, the head of Customs in that city. 

Between July 2003 and August 2003, Customs saw a 7% increase in the fees it collected from importers, Chávez said. Chávez noted that the magnitude of the revenue increase exceeded what had been expected. 

One Japanese electronics giant that previously imported material into Mexico through Nuevo Laredo has already rerouted its goods through Matamoros, Chávez told the Matamoros newspaper El Bravo. 

"Companies with recognizable brand names have made known their desire to work in Matamoros," said Chávez. "This is because they see that conditions in Nuevo Laredo are no longer appropriate."

Chávez also mentioned that customs brokers are meeting with his office to discuss opening operations in Matamoros. 

"Matamoros Customs is prepared to work in import and export operations and we're happy that they are doing it through here," said Chávez of the city's newfound customers. 

Source: El Bravo (Matamoros), September 1, 2003. Article by Oscar Treviño.