Agents stopped at a fake “checkpoint”
set up by Mexican drug cartel, Mexican violence takes more American lives

MEXICO CITY – Two U.S. Immigrations
and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Agents were ambushed in Northern Mexico at a
phony military checkpoint set up by a Mexican drug cartel.  Agent Jaime Zapata, on assignment from the
ICE office in Laredo, Texas, was killed.
Another agent is in stable condition with bullet wounds in the arm and
leg.

Agent Zapata served with the Human
Smuggling and Trafficking Unit as well as the Border Enforcement Security Task
Force in the Laredo office.  The two agents
were in Mexico working with the ICE Attache office in Mexico City assisting
Mexican officials in the constantly escalating war of drugs which has taken
35,000 lives since December of 2006.

Yesterday, Homeland Security
Secretary Janet Napolitano said, ‘I’m deeply saddened by the news that earlier
today, two U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) special agents
assigned to the ICE Attache office in Mexico City were shot in the line of duty
while driving between Mexico City and Monterrey by unknown assailants.”

While the identity of the assailants
is unknown, it is well known that the area where the two ICE agents were
attacked is in the middle of a turf war between the Gulf and Los Zetas Drug Cartels who are fighting for
control of drug routes leading to the U.S.

The agents were driving toward the
U.S. through the northern Mexico state of San Luis Potosi on Highway 57 between
Mexico City and Monterrey when they were stopped by what appeared to be a
Mexican Military checkpoint.  Mexican officials
have now confirmed that the military has no checkpoints in that area. Mexican officials report that when the ICE
agents stopped their vehicle they were fired upon.

“Let
me be clear: any act of violence against our ICE personnel – or any DHS
personnel – is an attack against all those who serve our nation and put their
lives at risk for our safety,” Napolitano’s statement read. “The full resources of our Department are at
the disposal of our Mexican partners in this investigation. We remain committed
in our broader support for Mexico’s efforts to combat violence within its
borders.”

Rep. Michael McCaul (R -TX-10^th)
may be the most knowledgeable person in Washington DC when it comes to the
threat of Mexican drug cartels. McCaul
authored the report A Line in the Sand: Confronting the
Threat at the Southwest Border.

“This was an intentional ambush
against two United States federal agents, which I view as an attack against the
United States. Special Agent Jaime Zapata, who was killed, and a
fellow agent who survived, were pursued by numerous cartel members and run off
the road while driving a US government vehicle with diplomat license plates,”
McCaul said.

“When the agents identified themselves
as American diplomats, the cartel members responded by opening fire on the
officers. US law enforcement has operated in Mexico for more than
two decades without threat of violence from drug cartels,” Rep. McCaul said. “This
tragic event is a game changer. The United States will not tolerate
acts of violence against its citizens or law enforcement and I believe we must
respond forcefully. This should be a long overdue wakeup call for the Obama
administration that there is a war on our nation’s doorstep.”

Sadly, attacks like this one on
Mexican police and government officials has become commonplace, however such
attacks on U.S. law enforcement officials and U.S. government employees working
in Mexico has been less frequent, but not unheard of.

In March of 2010, a U.S. consulate
employee and her husband were killed when drug cartel members riddled their car
with bullets after the couple left a children’s party in Ciudad Juarez just
footsteps across the international border from El Paso, Texas.  Their one-year old child was in the car and was wounded as well.  The child survived. 

Attacks on American citizens in Mexico have escalated in the past year.  Several American citizens have been
killed, caught in the crossfire, or attacked outright in Mexico. 

An American couple on jet
skis, were set upon by Mexican drug cartel members on Falcon Lake, which
borders Mexico and Texas. David Hartley
was shot in the head and killed on September 30, 2010. His wife escaped back to the U.S. with the
murderers in pursuit.  Later, the Mexican police official
investigating Hartley’s death was beheaded.

In October of 2010, a Texas National Guardsman and several others were murdered while walking down a street in Juarez when a gun battle between drug cartels broke out.

In January of this year, 59-year old
Christian Missionary Nancy Davis, a Texas resident, was murdered when drug
cartel members opened fire on Davis and her husband presumably to steal their
Pick-up truck. Mr. Davis outran the
attackers and found safety on the U.S. side of the border.

Earlier this month three El Paso
High School students, ages 15, 16 and 17, were gunned down in Juarez at a car
dealership.

The violence in Mexico is so out of control that the entire police force of Los Ramones, Mexico resigned from duty after a drug cartel riddled that city’s police headquarters with bullets.   

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About John G. Winder

John G. Winder has spent 29 years in the broadcasting industry as an on-air report, General Manager and Executive in both radio & television.

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