January 15, 2008: The growing violence
in Mexico, along the U.S. border, is drawing more attention to incidents of
corrupt Mexican police or military personnel getting caught on the U.S. side of
the border. In the last decade, there has been an average of 25 confirmed
incidents a year. The most (43) occurred in 2001. Most of these incursions
involve guys who are clearly armed, and often riding in police or military
vehicles. Police corruption, rather than tainted troops, is a bigger problem in Mexico. Because of
that, the Mexican Army has become more heavily involved with the war against
the drug cartels. These are large criminal organizations, that maintain
thousands of gunmen. Some of the cartels hire former soldiers and police, who
have special training (SWAT, commando), and form very effective death squads.
These killers are not only used against other gangsters, but also to intimidate
police or army officials who cannot be bribed. The gangs sometimes use
corrupted cops and troops to guide and guard shipments of drugs going across
the border. These cargoes are often worth millions of dollars, and the security
is needed more for protection from other criminals, than it is for police who
might be encountered along the way. Once into the United States, the armed
guards have been known to kill anyone they encounter, or flee if confronted
with a force that could give them a fight.
