We received an email from Looming Doom author Tom of the North regarding a U.S. Border Security Operations Center analysis of drug cartel tactics in Mexico. This particular analysis of drug cartel violence on July 16, 2010 depicts the end result of a firefight on the streets of Nuevo Laredo, Mexico. Nuevo Laredo is situated a stone’s throw from Laredo, Texas, USA, recently in the news because of a Texas ranch being reportedly seized by the Los Zetas Mexican drug cartel.

**Extremely Graphic**

The following link will open a PDF document providing an analysis of drug cartel tactics. It has been produced as a training tool for Ranger Reconnaissance Teams and DPS SWAT. Since these law enforcement organizations operate within the borders of the United States, we must assume that law enforcement understands the threat they face and are preparing for overflow of Mexican drug cartel violence onto U.S. soil.

Showing this to our readers, in the hopes they will pass it along to others, will put into perspective what law enforcement and average citizens are dealing with in the Southwestern United States.

Click to view Analysis of the Nuevo Laredo Cartel Battle, 16 July 2010

[PDF Document; 2.3 Megabytes]

Are you ready for this type of violence on America’s streets? In your neighborhoods? On your child’s way to school? Nowhere is safe. Just ask the nearly 30,000 Mexicans killed over the last four years from drug related violence south of our border.

Most Americans believe that Mexican cartel activity is restricted to south of the border, but the fact of the matter is that it has crossed into the United States and will continue to do so until the Federal government executes its Constitutional power to secure our borders.

This is no longer just a problem in Mexico, as is clear from the following incidents which have taken place on US soil:

• On July 23, 2010 elements of the Los Zetas drug cartel seized a Laredo, Texas ranch.
• Fully one-third of prisoners in Arizona prisons are felons from Mexico. (source: see video below)
• Phoenix, Arizona is the kidnapping capital of America and ranked #2 in the world, second only to Mexico City, Mexico. In 2009, over 370 people were kidnapped in Phoenix; most are reportedly either illegal aliens or related to the drug trade. (source)
• Sheriff Paul Babeu of Pinal County, Arizona, has been warned by DEA and other law enforcement agencies of credible threats indicating that he has become a drug cartel target of assassination. (source: see video below)
• Sheriff Joe Arpaio of Maricopa County, Arizona, has reportedly had a $1 Million bounty placed on his head.
• Governor Jan Brewer of Arizona, recently promoted a TV spot about the many of acres of land that have been closed and access for American citizens restricted because of drug smuggling, kidnappings and violence.
• Arizona rancher Robert Krentz was likely killed by illegal aliens using his ranch to cross into the USA. (source)
• On August 12, 2010 fourteen year old Shatavia Anderson was shot and killed in Harris County, Texas by an illegal alien who had been charged with two prior DUI offenses and had been deported in 2008 and 2009, only to return a third time. (source)
• In February of 2010, two illegal aliens were arrested in Montgomery County, Maryland for the rape of an 11-year old girl. (source)

As you can see, the problems stemming from lax border security are not limited to just Arizona or Texas. There are hundreds of stories like those above from all over the country, and they aren’t going to stop until we do something about it.

For those living in states with low illegal immigration, this may not seem like a criminal problem, but a civil rights issue. For those in affected areas, it is a top priority, as they see the violence in the news on a daily basis. While the majority of illegal immigrants enter the United States in search of a better life with no intention of committing violent crimes, the fact is that by allowing these people across the Rio Grande illegally, we also leave the door open to violent criminals who may be escaping prosecution in their own states or are involved with drug trafficking, human smuggling, identity theft rings, and kidnapping.

Arizona and Texas are asking other Americans for help, and it seems to be falling on deaf ears in many parts of the country.

Professor Terry J. Lovell of the Patriot Network has an important message that should be considered by every American before they pass judgment on those working to promote border security and stop the flow of illegal immigration:

“For the first time in the history of this country, the President of the United States has taken the side of the drug cartels against the law abiding citizens of a state.”

It is short-sighted and obtuse to simply discuss the immigration debate as a civil rights and racial issue.

The facts are clear. With open borders come unwanted criminal elements. And over time, those criminal elements will continue to spread to cities, big and small, across these United States.

We can deal with the problem now by locking down our borders and letting those who want to enter the US apply for residency through appropriate, legal channels, or we can wait until the Southwest and the rest of America becomes a war zone like Nuevo Laredo.

The choice is simple.