Reyes relative kidnapped; U.S. helps secure release – El Paso Times
A woman who reportedly is a relative of Congressman Silvestre Reyes was kidnapped in Juárez, then released with the help of U.S. law enforcement agencies.Reyes, D-Texas, declined to comment. The kidnapping was first reported on the Narcosphere Web site, which attributed the report and knowledge of the victim’s relationship to Reyes to a DEA official in El Paso.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement was the lead U.S. agency in the incident, but the FBI and the Drug Enforcement Administration were also involved. However, neither agency would release any details, including when the incident took place.
The incident comes as kidnappings have become more common in Juárez possibly due to drug trafficking gangs snatching victims targeted for death or marks held for ransom to raise funds for the ongoing war for control of the region’s smuggling corridor.
Fears of kidnappings, extortion and violence that has claimed nearly 500 lives this year have caused some Juarenses to move to El Paso and even seek asylum in the United States.
The killings have continued daily. Monday, an unidentified man’s dismembered body was found in Rancho Anapra, state police said. The head, arms and legs were found in separate backpacks about 50 meters away from the torso, which was wrapped in a blanket. At least four deaths occurred Tuesday.
A group of about 300 owners of junk yards, mechanic shops, used-car lots and other auto-related businesses have closed down because of kidnappings and robberies, the Norte de Ciudad Juárez newspaper reported Tuesday.
Last week, four members of the union of yonkeros (junk yard owners) were kidnapped and released after paying thousands of dollars, the Norte reported.
A current U.S. State Department travel alert for Mexico mentions that dozens of U.S. citizens were kidnapped or murdered in Tijuana in 2007.
As the US has strengthened its efforts to interdict cocaine and marijuana smuggled in boats through the Caribbean, smugglers have now switched to land routes through Mexico to move the drugs we Americans demand. This has turned the northern border of Mexico into a war zone, with the Mexican police, army, bureaucrats, and judges often targeted by vicious Mexican drug gangs for kidnapping and assassination.
Just like the brutal criminal gangs of the ’20s and ’30s that terrorized our citizens the last time we enacted a prohibition against a popular drug. Prohibition creates profit, potency, and violence – always has, always will.
