- WASHINGTON - Elite Mexican
commandos, trained by U.S. forces to combat the drug cartels have switched
sides and are working for the drug smugglers in the border area posing
a special hazard to American law enforcement and Border Patrol agents,
according to a U.S. Justice Department memo.
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- The commandos, trained by the U.S. Army at Fort Benning,
Ga., are known as "Los Zetas."
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- The Justice Department warning was sent to law enforcement
agencies throughout the Southwest.
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- Using the commando training, Los Zetas are known to be
extremely violent and have been blamed for an outbreak of violence along
the Mexican border.
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- There are reports of the commandos making cross-border
runs into U.S. territory in military-style vehicles, armed with automatic
weapons.
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- The U.S. government has spent millions of dollars training
Los Zetas to intercept drugs, some of them coming from Mexico's southern
border, before they could reach the U.S. The U.S. government has also sent
U.S. Border Patrol agents to Mexico's southern border with Guatemala to
train law enforcement and military forces to intercept human smugglers
destined to reach the U.S.
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- "Things like that are a concern to us, especially
trained here on the U.S. side," Pima County Sheriff Tony Estrada told
KVOA, channel 4 in Tucson, Arizona. "They've gotten pretty special
training. ... Now, they are working with drug traffickers on the Mexican
side."
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- Lt. Ron Benson added: "Not only did they receive
some early military training but they developed their own internal training
as well increasing their violence far beyond their own original capabilities."
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- Benson has worked with the Department of Homeland Security
and tracked the rogue Mexican commandos. He is now retiring from the Pima
County Sheriff's Department and will be working with the FBI.
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- "They are a threat to authorities not only in Texas,
but in New Mexico, Arizona and California," he said. "Because
we believe Los Zetas are being used as protectors for narcotics coming
into this country."
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- Benson says sons and nephews of Los Zetas are starting
their own organization and taking part in the drug wars.
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- © 2005 WorldNetDaily.com, Inc.
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- http://worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=44486
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