Frontera NorteSur September 2000

Deming, New Mexico Sheriff Frank Peña and two Palomas, Mexico police officers were arrested in
Mexico while detaining two suspects in the disappearance of Stacey Milligan, age 24, mother of one.
Milligan's body was found later in New Mexico on Tuesday, August 15, 2000. Milligan had been
missing since last Thursday, August 10, 2000 and her family had reported to Mexican State Police
(PGJE) that three men had kidnapped their daughter and taken her to Mexico.

Apparently with the approval of local Palomas, Mexico police, Frank Peña went into Mexico to look
for Milligan and her car. Accompanying Peña were the subdirector of the local Palomas police,
Mauricio Rubio Nájera, and police agent Esther Hermosillo Montañez. The three law enforcement
agents found Milligan's car in the hands of two of the suspects. They arrested the suspects and
brought back the car.

At this point one of the suspect's family members called the PGJE because of the way the men were
detained and Peña, the two Mexican officers and the two suspects were stopped near Palomas. All
were arrested. Peña and the Mexican officers posted bond of about $350 each and were released.
Peña was charged with illegally carrying out police duties in Mexican territory. Peña was later taken
to the border and released.

Strangely, the two Mexican officers were stopped and arrested while transporting the two suspects
in the car of the president of Palomas, Pedro Alvillar Olague. Relatives of Milligan stated that earlier
they had approached Alvillar for help when they felt that the PGJE was not doing enough on the
case. Indeed, a special state-level anti-kidnapping group said that they could not investigate since the
crime took place in the US. :Later, State Attorney General Arturo González Rascón said that rumors
about Peña having contracted the two Mexican officers are not correct and that the case is not being
examined in this light. There was no contracting he said and no payments either.

Since then, the two suspects in the car theft, both US citizens, both originally detained by Peña and
the Palomas officers, were extradited to the US for having stolen Milligan's car. They have not been
charged in the death of Daisy Milligan. One more suspect in the case was arrested in the US, also for
possession of a stolen motor vehicle. He is also a US citizen. All three are now in the Luna County
Dentention Center.

Chief of the Luna County Sheriff's Department Gary Ciccotelli said that Peña followed all the right
channels of international law to be allowed to go into Mexico and arrest the suspects. He continued
by saying that he did not understand why Peña was stopped by the same police agency that gave him
permission to go into Mexico. Perhaps they needed more time for diplomatic formalities Ciccotelli
suggested.

The General Secretary of State Government, Víctor Anchondo Paredes, said that he was told Peña
had asked the local police for their collaboration and that such help is usually granted. The problem
was more with the arrest and Peña and the local police had not made sure that they had valid legal
reasons to make the arrest. To have correctly handled the situation Peña and the Mexican law
enforcement officers would have taken more officers with them and would have had their orders
written out officially. They also would have had an arrest warrant and an order for extradition.

Mexican reaction to this event is mixed. The head of the state congress is calling for an investigation
and the lawyer's bar is asking the governor and the attorney general to look into the case. The
lawyers believe that an irregularity ocurred when Peña was dealt with at the local level. Instead, his
case should have been handled by the proper, higher authorities.

Anchondo, the general secretary of state government, seemed willing to drop the case if it is
determined to have happened by misunderstanding, much in the way Mexican soldiers were released
a few months ago when they were found to have been operating in US territory. He did however feel
that the case should be looked at closely to determine if other, serious crimes were committed.

Source: El Diario, August 16 & 17.

PGR Allegedly Sprays Marijuana Field, Killing Child and Injuring 300

Aerial spraying of a marijuana field near a Rarámuri village carried out by the Federal Attorney
General's Office (Procuraduría General de la República, PGR) left 300 sick and injured and may
have killed a two-year old girl according to the Chihuahua State Human Rights Office (Comisión
Estatal de Derechos Humanos, CEDH).

Personnel from the Chihuahua Institute of Health (Instituto Chihuahuense de la Salud, Ichisal) and the
Tarahumara State Coordinating Office (Coordinadora Estatal de la Tarahumara) went yesterday
[8-4-00] to the Rarámuri community of Chorowi to take care of the injured and to perform an
in-depth investigation.

The death of a minor, Armida Muela Loera, was mentioned in a report made by the inhabitants of
Chorowi, according to CEDH president Oscar Francisco Yáñez.

The events occurred on July 12, 2000 but the complaint was not filed until July 31. The report states
that Federal Judicial agents (Judicial Federal) and PGR air support sprayed herbicides on a field
planted with marijuana.

Attempting to explain away the Rarámuri's complaint, antidrug officer Herrán Salvatti denied to the
SUN news agency that his agency had undertaken an operation of this nature. "The most recent PGR
campaign in the Tarahumara [region], specifically in Guachochi, was July 28. Thus it is clear that our
planes were not in this zone on July 12," he said.

According to the CEDH's Yáñez, federal agents undertook a series of actions including knocking
down homes and maltreating the town's population such that their human rights were violated. "In
fumigating this area, the herbicides fell over the inhabitants of Chorowi, over their houses, their
belongings and their animals. According to the report, this has caused them a series of injuries and
problems, including skin sores and sores on their scalps, damage to their vision, airways and mucous
membranes."

He added that the Rarámuri allege that they were not advised of the spraying before it took place
and that no precautions were taken to guard their health.

Translated from El Diario, 8-5-00. Article by Silvia Macías Medina.

PJF Kills Girl with Herbicide and Leaves Hundreds Sickened

One dead child, hundreds sickened, houses leveled, terror and confusion: these were the results of an
operation undertaken by two groups of Federal Judicial Police (Policía Judicial Federal, PJF) in the
town of Chorowi, county of Guachochi, in Chihuahua state.

What was supposed to be a PGR (Procuraduría General de la República, Federal Attorney
General's Office) military action against narcotrafficking ended up as an abuse of authority and an
abuse of the Tarahumara whose only crime is to live far from where justice is imparted. [Editors note:
an accompanying map of Chihuahua shows Chorowi to be in the far southwest of the state. The map
also states that the town is a 24 hour walk from where the nearest road ends.]

In their direct testimony to the Chihuahua State Human Rights Commission (Comisión Estatal de
Derechos Humanos, CEDH), those affected by the spraying said that on July 12 two groups of PJF
agents showed up in Chorowi, one group on foot, the other overhead in helicopter. According to
José Luis Armendáriz, the technical secretary of the CEDH, the complaint was made by 45 fathers
of Chorowi families. They stated that a group of PJF agents flew over their town and sprayed
herbicide, supposedly to damage marijuana fields. What actually resulted was the death of a
two-year old girl who was in grave condition for two days from breathing the poison that fell from the
sky. She died on July 14. This same poison that according to the townsmen killed the girl, caused the
chemical intoxication of hundreds of other people and killed livestock like chickens and pigs.
Furthermore, the group of PGR agents that arrived by foot into the village are accused of leveling
homes, and causing panic and terror.

Article by Edgar Prado Calahorra. Translated from El Norte, 8-5-00.

Government Claims Narcofamily Invented Spraying-Related Death Story

The Federal Attorney General's Office (Procuraduría General de la República, PGR) states that the
story of a Tarahumara town in southern Chihuahua poisoned by aerial spraying and a two-year old
girl's resultant death may be part of a campaign to tarnish its reputation. This is according to the
PGR's Mauricio Martínez who says that a detailed investigation of the situation is now taking place.
He also denied that the PGR was carrying out any actions near the town of Chorowi on the date in
question. For this reason the PGR is not in agreement with the complaint filed with the Chihuahua
State Human Rights Office (Comisión Estatal de Derechos Humanos, CEDH).

The spokesperson for the Chihuahua State Attorney General's Office (Procuraduría General de
Justicia del Estado, PGJE) Horacio Nájera said that for now there are only rumors about a case of
herbicide intoxication in the small town of Chorowi, Guachochi county, in the Sierra Tarahumara in
the south of Chihuahua. The PGJE has not started an investigation because it has yet to see the body
of the dead girl nor has it received a formal complaint from the Tarahumara nor has it seen an
autopsy report.

Other unnamed government officials speculate that the Muela family of narcotraffickers could be
strategically generating these stories to discredit the PGR.

The governor of Chihuahua, Patricio Martínez, said in his weekly radio address that a detailed social
study of the supposed Paraquat spraying is now underway in the Guachochi community. However,
he also stated that there has been no autopsy nor a medical report stating that there was a death by
herbicide intoxication. None of the region's medical clinics have reported any cases of herbicide
intoxication either.

Martínez continued by saying that the area is densely planted in marijuana and that it is very likely that
a large part of the community is dedicated to planting the drug. The abundance of marijuana in this
region is why the PGR has been dedicated to fumigating the fields, he said. Martínez went on to note
that the PGR seems to be much more active and diligent in its marijuana spraying than it has been in
its persuit of murder suspects in Ciudad Juárez (over the course of the past month Martínez has
stated numerous times that the PGR should leave Chihuahua since it has not solved any murders and
its agents keep getting arrested for various reasons in Ciudad Juárez).

Source: El Diario article by Raúl Lechuga Manquero, August 10, 2000.

Governor Officially Denies PGR-Related Spraying Death

Chihuahua governor Patricio Martínez officially denies the spraying-related death allegedly caused by
the Federal Attorney General's Office (Procuraduría General de la República, PGR) in its efforts to
eradicate marijuana fields in the Tarahumara Sierra region of Guachochi. He said that the story was
created by narcotraffickers to fool the public, the government, the press and even the Chihuahua
Human Rights Commission (Comisión Estatal de Derechos Humanos, CEDH). Martínez insisted that
he has always been critical of the PGR but that the story of the death of a two-year old girl by PGR
spraying is a total falsity. He continued by saying that federal authorities should continue spraying
marijuana fields because the Sierra de Chihuahua and the Sierra Madre Occidental is full of
marijuana. Authorities should not back away from the destruction of drug fields solely because of
negative stories like the one of the girl killed by herbicide intoxication.

The Chihuahua State Attorney General, Arturo González Rascón, said that the mother of the girl who
supposedly died from the Paraquat spraying is a sister of the Muela family, three members of which
were arrested previously at a marijuana field. González continued by saying that in December of last
year and in June of the present year three members of the Muela "pandilla" (gang) were arrested. He
described them as "murderers, narcotraffickers, rapists and robbers."

Martínez also expressed to the press some of his frustrations with the PGR. He stated that it was all
well and good that the PGR sprays marijuana fields, especially as significantly large parts of the state
are planted in the drug, but added that the Attorney General's Office has done nothing else to solve
drug-related crimes in the state.

Sources: El Diario and El Norte, August 12, 2000

One Cop Leaves Ranks Every Two Days in Juárez

"They were not listening to my words. I shot twice into the air but still the people attacked us," said Víctor Manuel Martínez, 34 years old, a former Cd. Juárez police agent. "I shot once more into the air and at that moment the drunks broke a full, liter bottle of beer over the head of my partner." This was six years ago and for this Martínez was arrested and fired.

"I liked my profession very much, I was at it for three years, but they let me down. It was unjust what they did," he said. Asked if he would go back if they let him he replied that he would not. He works as a security guard at a mall and although the pay is less he does not feel afraid there. "I am happy as a guard, I never want to fire a pistol again."

This is just one of the stories of the many people that leave the Cd. Juárez police force every year. So far in the year 2000, 113 officers have left the department. Some leave by choice, others are fired. Of the 113 that have left this year, 50 resigned voluntarily by their own decision to take better jobs, go to the US or simply leave the police force because they did not like the type of work. Thirty-one agents were fired because they did not show up for work and twenty-three other agents were let go because their superiors lost confidence in them (firing under Article 29, Fraction II). Eight agents have retired so far this year.

Twenty-eight traffic officers have also left the department this year. Sixteen of them were fired for not showing up to work and twelve left on their own.

Cd. Juárez police earn about 5,500 pesos a month (approximately US$600), have life insurance, medical care, a vehicle, job security and access to loans. Some people also join the police force so that the department will pay for their college education. Of every ten officers that receives a degree while on the force, only one leaves after graduation. Police officers' children also receive college scholarships if they are under the age of 25.

The El Diario article also goes on to state that city police do not leave their jobs because of fear of danger. Most agents like their work and feel that they are doing their city some good in serving its people.

Source: El Diario, August 28, 2000. Article by Javier Saucedo Alcalá.

Ciudad Juárez Mayor Confronts Federal Attorney General Over The Federal Police's Use
Of Informants

The Wednesday, July 19 arrest of two alleged Federal Judicial Police (PJF) informants hit on a sore
spot between local and federal government. The two men, Daniel Duarte Domínguez, age 28, and
Fernando Duarte, age 17, were detained by Cd. Juárez police in a stolen vehicle containing bullets
and bullet cartridges of a caliber that are illegal except for military use. The truck was reported stolen
from Texas although the two Duartes said that the automobile belonged to a PJF officer.

While the men were in a local-police holding station awaiting judicial and police proceedings two PJF
officers, Agustín Vilchis and Juan Manuel Alfaro, entered the station and demanded their immediate
release in what was called a threatening tone. The men were not immediately released as the PJF
officers had wished although Daniel Duarte is now out on bond as he had no prior arrest history in
Sonora or Chihuahua according to the PJF. Fernando Duarte's case is going to a juvenile court
because of his age.

As it had long been thought that the PJF had stopped using informants in Cd. Juárez without the
knowledge of local law enforcement, Cd. Juárez Mayor Gustavo Elizondo Aguilar demanded from
Federal Attorney General Jorge Madrazo Cuéllar that he be notified by Madrazo as to how many
PJF informants there currently are in Cd. Juárez. The PJF is under the direct control of Attorney
General Madrazo. Elizondo's letter also demands that the informants, and Vilchis and Alfaro resign
from their positions in the federal law enforcement agency.

In a Chihuahua (City) press conference, Elizondo also stated that he had no doubt that the two
detained men were working in the service of drug lords. While no one has been arrested in any of the
28 Cd. Juárez drug-related killings this year, Elizondo said that it was men with characteristics like
these that were responsible for the drug killings. The men were found to have communication
equipment with them in addition to the stolen vehicle and large caliber bullets and cartridges. Over
the past year, Elizondo has been frustrated by joint local-state-federal operations with the PJF and
believes that some of its members have links to organized crime.

Source: El Diario

Ciudad Juárez Frustrated with Crime, Looks for Changes

The Citizens Committee Against Crime (Comité Ciudadano de Lucha Contra la Delincuencia,
Cocilude) and the Education Workers' Front (Frente de Trabajadores de la Educación, FETE)
asked yesterday for the resignation of the head of Public Security (Seguridad Pública), Javier Mario
Benavides González. The groups also called for a public meeting on new security strategies to be
held in the Plaza de Armas on Saturday, August 19 at 9:00 a.m. In attendance will be NGO's,
women's groups, industry groups, unions and church leaders.

The call for Benavides' resignation comes after a particularly bloody week in Ciudad Juárez in which
a female teacher Elodía Payán was robbed and killed during daylight hours in a shop where she
worked. A lawyer was found stabbed to death in a car and a man was assassinated in a Catholic
church. Also, four police officers, two men and two women, were allegedly shot by two or more
gunmen during a traffic stop (although there has been some speculation in the press that the police
may have fired on each other). Three of the four officers were shot in the back or chest and were not
wearing body armor.

One of the groups' complaints is that local police work in deplorable conditions. The department
cannot afford bulletproof vests and some of the police injured in the shootout had never before fired
their sidearms. This is because the department does not have a firing range and the underpaid officers
are forced to buy their own munitions.

The groups are also asking for public feedback on their three crime proposals. The first proposal is
for public, direct election of the police of chief, the head of Public Security (Seguridad Pública). The
public could then vote on the candidate with the best resume and past history of success. This would
help to put career police officers at the head of the force and make sure that it was not politically
compromised pick.

The second new security proposal is to allow the citizenry to carry firearms. This is permissible under
Article 10 of the Constitution which allows for people to carry guns if their lives are threatened and
as long is there is the approval of the Secretary of Defense. The groups say this is necessary because
there are only 980 agents in Cd. Juárez divided among three shifts. Thus, at any one time, there are
only around 300 police agents to guard the city's 1.4 million inhabitants.

The third proposal is for a new, anti-crime tax. The spending of the money would be watched over
by society, the church and government.

The groups also ask for the end of all political fighting between the mayor and the governor, saying
that they should stop competing and start working together for the benefit of the people.

Source: El Diario, August 11, 2000. Article by Tania Fernández


Pharmacies Complain about Investigations

A crackdown on pharmacies in Ciudad Juárez is upsetting pharmacy owners and the Chamber of
Commerce (Canaco) and is also seen to be targeting law-abiding businesses but ignoring those
pharmacies that allegedly make illegal sales. The investigations, perhaps begun in part due to El
Norte's undercover investigation of pharmacies that sell regulated drugs without prescriptions, are
said to be intense revisions of every prescription that a pharmacy has filled in the last five years.
Canaco pharmacy-area specialist Cruz María Arreola Enríquez complained that the Health Service
(Servicio de Salud) inspections are like a form of terrorism in their severity.

"They are wasting their time inspecting good pharmacies while those that obviously sell illegal drugs
and illegally sell controlled drugs are ignored," she said. Arreola went on to say that most pharmacy
owners like herself struggle to make a living in the business while owners that break the law for profit
are becoming rich overnight and display their great wealth by driving the latest, most expensive cars.

Over the weekend a large drug arrest was made outside the Plaza Farmacia by Grupo Orion
officers. Inside a car owned by an employee of the Plaza Farmacia, police discovered 68,440
regulated medicinal pills, eight kilos of marijuana and 28 street-sized doses of cocaine. The owner of
the pharmacy denies having anything to do with the drugs and said he had no idea that his night
watchman was allegedly involved in such things. The watchman said that he was only waiting on the
street according to his boss's instructions and had no idea what the boxes in his car contained.
Nearly 60,500 Valium pills were seized along with 590 pills of Neo-Pecordan, 3,900 Rohypnol pills,
630 Tafil pills, 400 Darvon pills and 520 OxyContin pills.

Source: El Norte, August 21, 2000. Article by Juan de Dios Oliva.

Pharmacies Sell Controlled Drugs without Prescriptions

An El Norte undercover investigation of pharmacies in Ciudad Juárez indicates that many drugs
supposedly available only with prescription in Mexico are readily obtainable without a prescription
and at a much lower price than the drug would cost legally, or on the street, in the US. Valium which
sells at Walgreens for US$19.50 in the US for 10 pills, 10 mg each, costs only US$10 in Mexico
without a prescription. Qxicotin, a synthetic morphine, which would cost on the street nearly US$20
a pill in the US is available in law-breaking Cd. Juárez pharmacies without a prescription for US$10
a pill. Perhaps the most frightening part of the story is that US buyers only have to walk across a
bridge from El Paso into Cd. Juárez and ask a taxi driver to take them to a pharmacy where
"prohibited medicines" are sold. The driver then gets a cut of the sale for having provided the
pharmacy with a customer.

The El Norte article also followed a married couple from Alamogordo, New Mexico around Cd.
Juárez as they sought out Qxicotin over a period of a week. During their first visit to the city the
couple easily found a taxi driver to show them a pharmacy that would sell them the synthetic
morphine. Their second time back the first pharmacy they went to would not sell them Qxicoticn
without a prescription but told them a place to go. Upon arriving at the second pharmacy someone
met them at the door and took them upstairs to a doctor who wrote out the desired prescription.
More Qxicotin was then obtained from this store.

Cd. Juárez does have a control system in place but apparently it is not always adhered to by the drug
stores. Whenever "dangerous" medicines are sold the prescriptions for them are to be kept by the
pharmacy and then sent to the Health Department. Also, controlled medicines are not to be
displayed within view by the public but this violation did occur in many of the stores that El Norte
visited. The display of such drugs may symbolize the fact that a particular pharmacy illegally trafficks
in prescription medication. Cd. Juárez health officials commenting on the story all agreed that the
illegal sale of potentially dangerous drugs is a serious health problem but that the city does not have
the resources to enforce its existing laws.

Source: El Norte article by Guadalupe Salcido, August 14, 2000.

Border Patrol Has Contradictory Role

An important issue this summer for both Mexican and US officials is the safety of undocumented
immigrants seeking to enter the US at remote, hot desert stretches that are the least guarded by the
US Border Patrol. Mexico has responded to this by continuing its Grupo Beta patrols that watch out
for the safety of would-be immigrants to the US. Grupo Beta seeks to protect Mexican citizens from
robbery, rape and murder and even arrests other, corrupt government agents on its patrols. Beta also
discourages people from crossing to the US this time of year and advises those that still want to
make the attempt to carry lots of water with them.

The position of the US Border Patrol concerning immigrant safety is a bit more contradictory.
Because the Border Patrol has an ever-greater number of agents and is more aggressively patrolling
the border and hardening it at many points with fences, walls, lights, cameras and motion detectors it
causes Mexicans and Central Americans to cross at the most dangerous and most remote points on
the US Mexico Border. This has caused an increase in the number of immigrant deaths, most due to
dehydration, exposure and drowning. The US responded to this surge in mortality by stating that the
Border Patrol would be charged with the responsibility of rescuing endangered immigrants. Such
thinking is almost Orwellian on the part of US officials as it makes the persecutors of undocumented
people take on the role of their saviors or rescuers.

Two recent deaths reported on the California and Arizona borders with Mexico show the human
costs of the US border policy and the failure of the Border Patrol and Grupo Beta to prevent deaths.
The August 7, Ciudad Juárez paper El Diario tells the story of a 33 year old, single mother Rosalía
Bazán Miranda who died of dehydration and sun exposure while crossing into Arizona with her two
children, Ana Laura and Carlos Enrique, ages eleven and five. According to the daughter they
entered the US with a group of immigrants but fell behind when they could not keep up the group's
pace. Rosalía had only brought a little water with her and gave it all to her children sooner than
expected because of the region's intense heat. Rosalía sat down to rest for a while but then fell
unconscious. She died near the border, about fifteen miles from Douglas, AZ. After being rescued,
the children were said to be suffering only from sunburns.

Along the California/Baja California border seventeen-year old Juan Manuel Vargas lost his father,
55 year old Juan Manuel Vargas Dimas. He and his father got lost in the mountain region called La
Rumorosa between Tecate and Mexicali. They had crossed into the US earlier in the day but
escaped to Mexico when they saw US Border Patrol agents. They crossed with a group of polleros
(human traffickers) but got lost. When Juan Manuel last saw his father he was sitting under a tree
feeling ill. They were lost and Juan Manuel went for help. His father's body was later found by a
Grupo Beta patrol from Tecate. The body was then identified by Juan Manuel and relatives from
Sonora.

Source: El Diario, July 30 and August 7, 2000

Recent Tijuana Kidnappings Bring Calls For Harsher Penalties

Beatriz Adriana, a popular Mexican actor and singer, was raising money to pay the ransom for her
son Leonardo Martínez Flores when he was found dead along with his friend Aquiles Véliz
Hernández. The day the bodies were found, Adriana told the press that her son's murderers should
receive the death penalty, a punishment that Mexico does not have. The next day, July 21, Adriana
and the rest of Mexico found out that her son's kidnapping was allegedly planned by his friend
Aquiles Véliz Hernández. According to law enforcement officials, Véliz arranged for himself to be
kidnapped so that no suspicion would fall on him.

Primary investigations into the crime allege that Véliz , who was in severe financial debt, organized
the kidnapping and then had some sort of complication with his fellow conspirators. This could
explain why he was beaten before being shot. In contrast, Martínez's body showed no signs of
having been beaten or tortured. Police say that both men, both of whom were in their twenties, were
killed to prevent them from going to the police. The two men had known each other for three months
before the kidnapping took place.

In a separate incident in Tijuana yesterday, Víctor Lagunas Peñaloza the thirteen-year old son of the
city PAN president Víctor Lagunas Ruíz was released unharmed after having been held for twelve
hours by kidnappers. Police said it was strange that the boy was returned to his family without
anyone having asked for a ransom. For this reason police officials do not know if this was a failed
kidnapping, a warning or an act of revenge. The family will be guarded until such time as they are no
longer under threat. No one has yet to be arrested in either of the cases.

In reaction to these and other recent kidnappings, local authorities have said that they back harsher
penalties for the crime of kidnapping. Mayor Víctor Hermosillo Celada condemned the crimes and
said that it was lamentable that people would take the lives of others solely for money. Miguel Delfín
Castro, a local PAN representative, said that the happenings were condemnable and irreparable and
added that the local police department should be investigated and cleaned out after the recent crime
wave that has fallen over the state of Baja California.

Source: El Diario

Ciudad Juárez Police Reveal Results Of Checkpoints

The mobile checkpoints implemented in Ciudad Juárez's five police districts have stopped and
searched a combined 2,395 vehicles in the period between July 8-17. The check points have seized
three firearms, 3.3 pounds of marijuana, thirteen grams of cocaine and three doses of heroin. 148
people were detained and nineteen were arrested for being alcoholically intoxicated. Thirteen
vehicles were detained and forty-two traffic tickets were issued.

The checkpoints were established to stop a wave of crime which culminated a week and a half ago in
the death of Ana Carillo, age 24, an El Paso woman in the company of her young son and other
family members. Carillo was having her car filled with gas at a Pemex station in Ciudad Juárez when
she was struck by a stray bullet intended for someone parked nearby. Police have yet to arrest
anyone in connection with the case.

The commissioner of public security for Ciudad Juárez, Javier Benavides González said that the goal
of the checkpoints is not to make large seizures. Their purpose is to let people know that they can be
stopped and searched at any time. His hope is that people will not dare take drugs or weapons with
them out of their homes if they know that they could be subjected to scrutiny at any time at the
checkpoints. Benavides stated to El Diario that if people find they are bothered by the check points
they should understand that they were created with the intent of lowering the number of violent acts
that occur in Ciudad Juárez.

No one has yet to say if the checkpoints are a success or a failure but both Ciudad Juárez papers, El
Diario and El Norte, reported on Monday that five people were killed in separate, violent incidents
in the twenty-four hour period between Saturday, July 15 and Sunday, July 16.

Source: El Diario

The Ciudad Juárez Commerce Department Politely And Peacefully Enforces Alcohol
Vending Laws

Cd. Juárez's Dirección de Comercio Municipal (DCM) is the section of local government
responsible for selling alcohol-vending licenses and enforcing the proper sale of alcoholic beverages.
Alejandro Ramírez Guerrero, the young head of the DCM operations planning department, organizes
neighborhood inspections of beer and liquor-selling establishments. According to Ramírez, the DCM
cannot randomly inspect vending establishments or neighborhoods but must wait and do so only
when an inordinately high amount of alcohol-related disturbances and crimes affect one of the city's
colonias (neighborhoods). To know where such trends exist, Ramírez uses a sophisticated map and
database program of his own design.

Yesterday, Ramírez and others in his department went to inspect the northeast colonia Francisco
Sarabia after seeing indications that there was a higher than normal amount of alcohol-related crime
in the area. Entering the colonia's restaurants, stores and pharmacies, Ramírez would politely
introduce himself to the store owner or worker and would ask if alcohol was sold there. If the
answer was no, Ramírez would ask if his men could look around to make sure that there was no
beer or liquor on the premises. All of the stores owners contacted that day agreed to the search
without reluctance and at no point did Ramírez's group find any illegal alcohol holdings. On the way
out of the stores, Ramírez would sincerely thank the owners and attendants and would shake their
hands goodbye. The people in the stores did not seem bothered by the inspections and seemed quite
appreciative of the DCM's politeness.

Of the fourteen stores inspected that day, only five had permits to sell alcohol. When Ramírez
entered these stores and was told that they did sell alcohol he would ask to see their vending permits.
Of the five permit-holding stores, three had their alcohol sales suspended for minor infractions. One
store had its beer sales suspended because the store address on the permit was incorrect and the
owner of the place had not signed the permit while at the DCM office. Ramírez later promised the
store owner that the deficiencies could easily be resolved as early as the next day if she went to the
DCM office and had everything corrected. He also reminded her not to sell anymore beer until she
had her new paperwork as this could result in a monetary fine and/or arrest.

Both of the other stores that had their permits revoked had their papers in good order but had fallen
into a problem of another sort: zoning. In colonia Sarabia alcohol vending establishments must be at
least 100 meters apart. When the owner of one store complained that new neighbors down the street
were much less than the required distance from them, Ramírez quickly sought out a tape measure and
found the stores to be only 70 meters apart. He then went and told both stores that they could not
sell alcohol until the DCM had decided who on the street had first obtained their permit for their
present locations. The store with more seniority would keep its permit but the other would lose its
right to sell alcohol. Again, neither store owner seemed bothered by the suspension of its beer sales.

While Ramírez and his staff found no clandestine alcohol-vending establishments, other DCM groups
found three stores in other colonias that were selling beer with expired licenses. At one point, DCM
members hauled over 100 liters of beer from a store's cooler as they explained to the owner that the
beer was now forfeited. Again the DCM was very polite and apologetic for its actions but explained
that all alcohol-vending stores had to have their paperwork in order if they wanted to sell beer or
liquor. They told the store owner that if he wanted to sell in the future he would have to go buy a
valid year 2000 permit. His current paperwork was over seven months expired.

At the end of the day, Ramírez and others at the DCM commented that they had found far less
violators than they had anticipated, especially considering that colonia Sarabia and the others areas
that they inspected in the northwest of the city were some of Cd. Juárez's more problematic zones
for alcohol-related crimes. The whole day had only netted a few hundred liters of beer whereas
previous operations had brought in many times that with Ramírez noting that in the last two years
over 100,000 containers of alcohol had been confiscated.

And what happened to all the beer at the end of the day? It was brought inside the DCM where it
was stacked beside a few hundred beer cans that had been there since a previous operation. As
much as the DCM staff might have wanted to take some home after a hot day in the sun, the beer
would later be donated to charity.

Greg Bloom--FNS Editor

One Man Dead And Migrant Workers Attacked In Two Incidents Near San Diego

On July 2 the body of an unidentified Hispanic man between 20 and 30 years old was found in a
ravine in a rural area north of San Diego. Police stated that the body had sustained a blow to the
head and that the man had been dragged from the road on his face. The body has yet to be identified
but he is believed to be a Mexican citizen. Police are currently investigating the case and the man's
name is expected to be released soon.

Three days later, and less than one mile away, three migrant workers between the ages of 64 and 69
were shot and beaten by eight young, white men with pellet guns and pipes. The young men told the
workers to return to Mexico and that they would send immigration after them. The event is being
investigated as a hate crime because of the statements made by the attackers, their appearance, the
violence of the attack and their familiarity with the area which indicated a planned assault.

Some of the victims in the two-part attack were assaulted while walking from work at a nursery to
their home, a makeshift camp in the canyons nearby where they live during the summers to save
money. The victims said that the attack began when a station wagon filled with young, white men
ages 16-20 pulled up next to them. The group then got of the car and began to shoot them at
point-blank range. The workers began to run away.

One man was shot five times in the back as he fled to hide in the bushes. The assailants then caught
up with another one of the workers as he sought to escape and they beat him on the head with a
piece of metal rebar and a pitchfork for thirty minutes. They said they wanted money from the
workers and one man had his wallet stolen. They also said they were going to come back in three
days and that the men had better be gone by then.

The attackers then returned to their car and went to the workers' camp. They told the men there to
come out but they did not and the attackers again began shooting them at point-blank range. Three
of the workers were hit by pellets, one of them repeatedly in the face. These workers then began to
flee but two were caught and they were beaten with rebar and a pipe, this time for 45 minutes.

After the attackers left it took the workers 30 minutes to reach a telephone. Police responded but
some of the traumatized men would not come out of the bushes until the police were able to reassure
them that they were safe. Three of the victims were hospitalized but some of the men were left with
pellets under their skin.

Police currently do not believe to be related the July 2 death and dragging and the July 5 hate assault
on the migrant workers although they occurred only one mile from each other. The man found on July
2 had not been shot with a pellet gun nor had he been repeatedly beaten, police said. Police have
stepped up their patrols in the area and are looking for leads in both cases. Aid is being provided to
the victims by a number of different local agencies.

The nursery where the men work has set up a fund to help the victims and their families. Donations
can be sent to the Evergreen Victim Relief Fund at the Evergreen Nursery, 7150 Black Mountain
Road, San Diego, CA 92130.

Sources: San Diego Union-Tribune and North County Times

Accidental Murder of El Paso Woman in Ciudad Juárez Triggers Heightened Border
Security

Aída Carillo, 24, an El Paso, Texas resident was killed by a bullet intended for others. Carillo, who
has family in Cd. Juárez, was at a gas station with her three-year old son, mother and uncle when she
was struck and killed by a stray bullet to the head. Suly Ponce Prieto, the special investigator of
crimes against women in Cd. Juárez, will pursue the case. If there is a link to federal crimes or federal
laws were broken, federal agencies will also become involved in the investigation. Police currently
say that they believe that the shooting was part of an adjustment of accounts.

The person targeted by the shooter was rancher Benjamín Fuentes Licón. Although he has not yet
made an official declaration, Fuentes did tell Ponce in a short conversation that he did not know the
killers or their motive. Fuentes' niece, whose name was not given, told investigators that she did not
see the killers. She added that her uncle owns a ranch but did not know if he had problems with
anyone related to his land holdings. A green Ford Ranger truck involved in the killing was reported
stolen in El Paso, Texas two days prior to the incident according to Cd. Juárez city police reports.

The accidental killing has triggered a crackdown on crime in Cd. Juárez. Police accompanied by
canine units at checkpoints throughout the city will stop and search suspicious-looking people in all
five of the city's police districts. Families will not be subjected to the searches, however. The
checkpoints which began Saturday, will continue indefinitely. Cd. Juárez Mayor Gustavo Elizondo
ordered the increased security measures as a way to stop rising violence in his city. Murders are up
250% from this same time last year according to El Diario, with 15 drug-related killings this year.

Source: El Diario

3 Agents Suspended for Allegedly Beating Murder/Rape Suspect

Suly Ponce Prieto, the special investigator appointed to look into the killings of women in Ciudad
Juárez, suspended three Chihuahua State Police (PJE) agents suspected of beating a detained
suspect. The victim of the beating, one of two brothers suspected in the rape and death of Liliana
Holguín de Santiago, was brought before Ponce with a bruise on his face. According to Ponce, the
suspect first attributed the bruise to a fall but later admitted that he had been beaten by agents while
under interrogation. She then sent the man for a medical examination. Ponce also notified the PJE of
the happenings and asked Internal Affairs to intervene.

In response to these events the National Chamber of Commerce (Canaco) called for Ponce and
nine members of the PJE to resign. Canaco made this request after the brothers' employer, a Cd.
Juárez bus line for whom the brothers drive, complained that the brothers had been tortured by the
PJE agents. Luis Humberto Merino Nava, director of Canaco, stated that the brothers were
detained Friday, June 30, without an arrest warrant and were tortured at the Police Academy
facilities. Merino alleged that Poncy tried to cover up what had occurred.

Appointed in November of 1998, Ponce's mandate is to resolve the 240 murder/rapes that have
occurred over the past seven years and to halt such crimes in the future. Previous charges of forced
confessions and prisoner torture have followed the investigation although Ponce stated yesterday
that she would not tolerate such conduct from her agents.

Source: El Norte

Surprise Drug Testing in Matamoros Government

On Wednesday, August 23, local police, local traffic police, firefighters, and civil protection agents
were given surprise drug tests by two other government departments, Dirección de Servicios
Periciales and Controlaría Estatal. The examinations were ordered a month ago by municipal
president Homar Zamorano Ayala.

The testing looks for traces of cocaine and marijuana and cost 115 pesos per test. With over 550
tests being done the cost to the city is 65,000 pesos or about US$7,200. The results take about one
and half days to be known and those found to have used either drug will be immediately removed
from their positions. People have twenty days to protest the results and can have a second test done
at a private lab.

All shifts of the above mentioned departments were tested in Mundo Nuevo auditorium. All levels of
the departments were tested including administrative staff, subdirectors and directors. It is hoped that
these types of surprise drug tests will result in an even larger drop in the rate of substance abuse in
city government.

Source: El Bravo, August 24, 2000, article by Rosy Pereda.

Updates on Government Drug Testing and Student Arrests

The results of last week's drug tests are that 36 local police and 2 traffic police showed signs of drug consumption. Over 760 exams were performed and all people that had test results showing marijuana and/or cocaine usage have been suspended from service. All 38 government employees that showed signs of drug use will have second exams performed to rule out the possibility of false positive test results. However, the tests' margin of error is thought to be so low that it is expected that all 38 will be permanently fired from their positions. Rodolfo Martínez Quintero, secretary of public security, made these results known to the public. The state attorney general (procurador de justicia) Eduardo Garza Rivas and the municipal president Homar Zamorano Ayala will also be officially informed of the results.

On a separate note, Judge Manuel Ceballos Ramírez declared the formal arrest of four students from the Tecnológico de Matamoros. José Luis Váldez was charged with qualified homicide (homicidio calificado) and crimes against public servants. Carlos Alberto Cruz, Osman Barrera Placios and Jaime (Jimmy) de la Hoz (student association president) were charged with robbery with violence and crimes against public servants. Four police officers arrested for their role in the April 5, 2000 rioting were released on bond after having been charged with abuse of authority and injuring others. See FNS's Matamoros News Aug. 23, 2000 story for more details.

Source: El Bravo. Student article by Hector Espinoza, Aug. 24, 2000. Testing article by Rosy Pereda, Aug. 25.

Alcohol Laws Enforced in Matamoros

Five alcohol-vending establishments were closed over the past weekend in a surprise operation
carried out by the Public Security Commission (Comisión de Seguridad Pública) and local police.
The operations will continue to take place without vendors or even police agents being notified
beforehand. In addition to the five shops or bars closed down, one owner was arrested because of
previous citations.

The head of the Alcohol Department, César Castillo Madrazo, also inspected various bars and clubs
suspected of having nude dancers. He was accompanied by local police and a camera crew from a
local station. The camera was to document for the public how the department regularly inspects the
bars. However, El Mañana asserted that the inspection took place early in the evening before the
dancers would have normally arrived. When a photographer from the newspaper showed up at the
inspections Castillo seemed a bit perturbed as El Mañana has stated before that nude dancers are
protected by bribe-taking inspectors.

In terms of new alcohol-vending licenses, the state is closely revising all applications. In the last two
months more than eighty people have requested the licenses and half have been turned down
because they did not meet the necessary requirements. The rest of the applications are being studied
to see if the paperwork is correct and to make sure that the desired locations are adequate for
alcohol sales.

Source: El Mañana, August 10, 2000. Article by Efraín Martínez, Rafael Rodríguez y Mauro de la
Fuente.