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 Editorials | Issues | May 2007 
Border Crime Getting More Violent
 Mike Watkiss - 3TV
| | "I've been in constant contact with the governor of Sonora." - Gov. Janet Napolitano. |
Gun battles in the dark of night, bloody men handcuffed in the back of a pick up truck - welcome to the Mexican state of Sonora, just over the US-Mexico border near the edge of Arizona.
"I've been in constant contact with the governor of Sonora," said Gov. Janet Napolitano. "He's been in touch with federal law enforcement."
Napolitano said Wednesday that she's keeping a watchful eye on the escalating violence - a sudden eruption of bloodshed in neighboring Sonora that many believe is the result of rivaling drug cartels fighting over the lucrative smuggling corridor along the border of Arizona.
"I think that whole border needs to be secure," Napolitano said.
Just last week, battles between police and drug hit men left at least five Mexican cops and more than a dozen alleged bad guys dead.
All of this occurred in the quiet little Mexican town of Cananea in Sonora State, just 30 miles south of Arizona.
Hundreds of weapons were confiscated after federal troops moved in to confront the violence.
This is just the most recent in a wave of murders and kidnappings, including the assassination of a police chief in the border town of Agua Prieta. He was gunned down on the front steps of his office.
"The assignation of a chief of police is a big event. Especially as he's leaving the office," said Cochise County Sheriff Larry Dever. "That's delivering a pretty strong message of their part."
Dever has long expressed concern about the kind of violence aligning the U.S.-Mexico border, moving west to Arizona.
"I used to travel to Mexico pretty frequently," he said. "I just don't go anymore."
"I don't want to go in to far," said a couple visiting from Idaho. "After what we heard, we won't go in too far."
At this point, most believe that tourists, like this couple from Idaho, are still safe to shop and travel in places in Agua Prieta.
Napolitano says she's calling on the federal government to send in more drug enforcement resources and says she's keeping a watchful eye on her neighbors.
"I think it's safe for tourists to continue to go across the border," she said. "But if there are warnings that need to be heeded, we'll get that information out. Right now I think they are safe." |
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