| | |  Technology News | August 2008 
Cartels, Mexican Army Blamed for Interference
 Diana Washington Valdez - El Paso Times
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| | El Paso police Officer Melody Castro communicated with police dispatch Friday while patrolling Central El Paso. Police officials say drug cartels and the Mexican military are interrupting their communications. (Mark Lambie/El Paso Times) | | |
El Paso - The Mexican army and drug cartel operatives are among the likely sources of recent interference with El Paso police communications and the Digital El Paso wireless network, city officials said.
"The increased interference that resulted in dead zones or dead spots coincided with the arrival of the Mexican army in Juárez," said Gary Gordier, the city's information technology director. "They were affecting police and other emergency communications."
Dead zones occur when radio messages cannot be sent or received due to radio frequency interference.
The police, Sheriff's Office, Fire Department and Emergency Medical Services operate on frequencies in the 800 megahertz spectrum, but apparently, other radio operators in Juárez also were using the same spectrum.
"The drug cartel is probably the other source causing interference on the 800 spectrum, which is used in the United States for public safety communications," Gordier said.
And, just as the radio frequency interference became an issue, usage of the Digital El Paso wireless network began to drop.
Southwest city Rep. Beto O'Rourke said members of the Chihuahuita Neighborhood Association told him they were having trouble with the network.
Users complained the system was too slow and others couldn't get on at all.
"The Information Technology Department believed the (Digital El Paso) network was having problems from the stepped-up federal and narco trafficking communications across the border. Their networks were competing with ours," O'Rourke said.
Digital El Paso is a collaborative of the city, county and other public entities and the private sector that provides a free wireless access network in Central El Paso.
"It's mission-critical to be able to communicate with the fire and (ambulance) units, especially when there's an incident," said Fire Communications Lt. Victor Arreola, who's aware of the dead spots. "(The Information Technology Department) has been doing surveys to find the sources of the interference."
Arreola said the center has a backup system it can use in case of serious interference.
Beginning in April, about 2,000 Mexican soldiers and 500 federal officers were deployed to Chihuahua state, most of them to Juárez, to crack down on the violence suspected to be linked to warring drug cartels.
As a result, the volume of communications at the border by radio, cell phones and Internet increased dramatically in a short time.
Alleged drug cartel operatives also launched numerous YouTube and other Internet videos, to boast of their activities in Chihuahua state, convey threats, report murders and accuse officials of protecting rival drug dealers.
One such Internet video has received more than 320,000 hits and posted more than 1,000 comments. Such sites, with images and music, hog up a lot of bandwidth, and can be administered and updated from both sides of the border.
After investigating, the city's Information Technology Department discovered the number of "rogue" digital sites (also called "hot spots") in Central El Paso had increased from 75 to 600 in less than two months.
Rogue sites are operators - individuals, businesses or other entities - that broadcast using a WiFi antenna.
Some of the problems with the Digital El Paso network were traced to certain cell- phone providers, who after consultations with their representatives, agreed to adjust their antennas.
The Federal Communications Commission got involved in the cross-border issues and contacted its Mexican counterparts, who also agreed to make changes.
However, neither the FCC nor Mexican authorities could do anything about clandestine operators.
In Juárez, police dispatchers were forced to change radio frequencies after alleged drug cartel operatives kept breaking into their communications with threats and taunts.
Gordier said El Paso's secure police communications cannot be compromised because they are encrypted; however, anyone with a scanner can listen to most public dispatch communications.
Emergency officials in New Mexico also have reported problems. According to the Web site www.emsresponder.com, "New Mexico EMS departments are facing communications issues that few others could imagine: radio interference from Mexican taxicabs."
Several years ago, radio antennas traced to Juárez were blamed for remote-controlled garage doors in El Paso opening by themselves.
City officials said the sudden surge in radio and wireless usage has raised the level of El Paso's "noise floor" or the total electronic signals from all sources that contribute to radio frequency interference.
"It a sign of our times and of our border location," Gordier said.
He said most of the Digital El Paso issues were solved, "and there's been progress on the radio frequency interference."
Diana Washington Valdez may be reached at dvaldez(at)elpasotimes.com. |
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