A Line in the Sand: Confronting the Threat at the Southwest Border PREPARED BY THE MAJORITY STAFF OF THE HOUSE COMMITTEE ON HOMELAND SECURITY SUBCOMMITTEE ON INVESTIGATIONS
I suspect this won't be a surprise to anyone here, but it's an interesting report nonetheless. Highlights include the interception of 650 individuals from countries “designated by the intelligence community as countries that could export individuals that could bring harm to our country in the way of terrorism”, including "the brother of the Hezbollah chief of military operations in southern Lebanon." Considering that only 10% to 30% invading across the border are intercepted, that was a "hmmm" moment for me.
Summary:
1. Drug trafficking organizations and human smuggling networks are proliferating and strengthening their control of key corridors along our Nation’s Southwest border.
2. The Mexican drug cartels wield substantial control over the U.S.-Mexican border. Law enforcement on the border agree that very little crosses the respective cartel territories, or “plazas,” along the Southwest border without cartel knowledge, approval, and financial remuneration.
3. These criminal organizations and networks are highly sophisticated and organized, operating with military style weapons and technology, utilizing counter surveillance techniques and acting aggressively against both law enforcement and competitors.
4. Drug trafficking organizations, human smuggling networks and U.S. based gangs are increasingly coordinating with one another to achieve their objectives.
5. Federal, State and local law enforcement report new and ever-increasing levels of ruthlessness and violence associated with these criminal organizations, which are increasingly spilling across the border into the United States and moving into local communities.
6. Each year hundreds of illegal aliens from countries known to harbor terrorists or promote terrorism are routinely encountered and apprehended attempting to enter the U.S. illegally.
7. The existing resources of the U.S. Border Patrol and local law enforcement must continue to be enhanced to counter the cartels and the criminal networks they leverage to circumvent law enforcement.
And finally, an assessment that the Zetas were substantially in control of the Texan border and were recruiting additional foreign special forces personnel to broaden their reach:
Reports indicate that while the Zetas were initially comprised of members of the Mexican military’s Special Forces, they now include Federal, State, and local law enforcement personnel as well as civilians. Moreover, according to U.S. intelligence officials, Zetas are recruiting former Guatemalan Special Forces military personnel known as Kaibiles and members of the notorious cross-border gangs known as Maras, including the violent Mara Salvatruchas (MS-13).21
The cartels’ methods of torture and killing are particularly brutal. On September 6, 2006, masked gunmen entered a nightclub in the Michoacan, fired guns in the air and rolled five severed human heads onto the dance floor. The gunmen left a sign among the severed heads that read:
“The family doesn’t kill for money. It doesn’t kill women. It doesn’t kill innocent people, only those who deserve to die. Know that this is divine justice.”
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