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2 FBI agents in comas after border attack
Josey1
Member Posts: 9,598 ✭✭
2 FBI agents in comas after border attack
Diana Washington Valdez
El Paso Times
Two El Paso FBI agents remained in critical condition Friday after they were beaten with rocks and dragged into Mexico by alleged railroad bandits Thursday night in the Sunland Park-Anapra area.
Agents Sergio Barrio, 39, and Samantha Mikeska, 38, "suffered blunt trauma to the head," after they were beaten with rocks and kicked, said Hardrick Crawford Jr., the FBI's special agent in charge in El Paso.
Barrio suffered a severe injury over his right eye, and underwent surgery early Friday at Thomason Hospital to relieve pressure on his brain. Mikeska also suffered pressure on the brain. Both were in induced comas.
"They were dragged across the border into Mexico, and were ambushed by about a dozen subjects," Crawford said. "They staggered back to the U.S. side."
Luis Barker, Border Patrol chief of the El Paso sector, said the agents were dragged through a hole in the fence at the U.S.-Mexico boundary.
"They (bandits) make holes all the time. We repair them, and they make holes again," said Barker, who joined Crawford during a news conference at the FBI offices in West El Paso.
FBI Special Agent Al Cruz said U.S. agents arrested 16 suspects after the attack, including a female and two juveniles. They were in custody Friday at the Sunland Park city jail. Their names and residences were not available, but officials think most of them are from Mexico.
The attack occurred about 8:30 p.m. Thursday "yards from the Mexican border," Crawford said. "It was dark by then."
"We are reviewing the situation to determine exactly what happened, and we are investigating the subjects who were arrested at the scene," Crawford said. "It's obvious we're going to have to make some adjustments in this ongoing operation."
Agents have been investigating the thefts of interstate shipments from Union Pacific Railroad, thefts that result in annual losses to the railroad of about $1 million, Cruz said.
He said U.S. agents had information that the railroad would be hit Thursday night, and a sting operation was called that included the FBI, Border Patrol, U.S. Customs Service and Union Pacific Railroad police, as well as Mexican customs on the Mexican side. About 40 U.S. law enforcement officers were in the area, some on the train and others on the ground.
The bandits had jumped onto the train after it had slowed down for a sharp bend in the railroads tracks near the Sunland Park Racetrack & Casino.
Crawford said three FBI agents were in one of the railroad cars when one of them noticed a person on the roof. He pulled the person off the roof, and while he was subduing him, he saw his two colleagues staggering back to the U.S. side, chased by assailants.
"When he realized his two comrades were being beaten, he fired a shot," Crawford said. "That shot probably saved their lives. ... They could not have sustained another blow."
No one was shot. Dozens of Mexican customs officers also rushed to the scene of the attack.
The suspects remained in jail late Friday while officials determined their roles in the attack, as well as their immigration status. Charges can include, train robbery, assault on a federal officer and being in the country illegally.
"If someone decides to resist, somebody's going to get hurt," Crawford said. "The bar has been raised by the bandits. We will re-evaluate our tactics. ... This is not 1880. You don't rob trains."
Barker and Crawford said that gangs from Mexico have been robbing trains in that area for several years, and that U.S. officials regularly conduct sting operations.
Since January in that area, Barker said, there have been 122 train robberies, 87 burglaries and 19 rock-throwing incidents.
Because of the bend in the tracks, thieves can jump onto a slow-moving train, break into cars and throw off cargo, officials said. In the past, thieves also have unhitched cars at the end of the train so they can take more time to move stolen merchandise into Mexico.
The area is in the foothills of Mount Cristo Rey, where pilgrims in recent months have reported being robbed and mugged by assailants thought to be from Anapra.
In 2000, U.S. officials arrested 16 Pinkerton security guards in El Paso and a U.S. Postal Service employee in connection with the thefts of about $1.6 million worth of merchandise from Union Pacific trains.
U.S. Customs officials said the suspects in that multi-agency operation called "Steal the Rails" included two security guards who had become Border Patrol agents elsewhere, a city Fire Department trainee, and a Sunland Park police officer. Another suspect in that case, Cesar Cabrales, a contract detention officer for the Immigration and Naturalization Service, fled to Mexico.
Now, U.S. officials said, the thefts are apparently being committed by bandits who hit railroad cars that carry a variety of merchandise.
http://www.borderlandnews.com/stories/borderland/20020914-21631.shtml
"If cowardly and dishonorable men sometimes shoot unarmed men with army pistols or guns, the evil must be prevented by the penitentiary and gallows, and not by a general deprivation of a constitutional privilege." - Arkansas Supreme Court, 1878
Diana Washington Valdez
El Paso Times
Two El Paso FBI agents remained in critical condition Friday after they were beaten with rocks and dragged into Mexico by alleged railroad bandits Thursday night in the Sunland Park-Anapra area.
Agents Sergio Barrio, 39, and Samantha Mikeska, 38, "suffered blunt trauma to the head," after they were beaten with rocks and kicked, said Hardrick Crawford Jr., the FBI's special agent in charge in El Paso.
Barrio suffered a severe injury over his right eye, and underwent surgery early Friday at Thomason Hospital to relieve pressure on his brain. Mikeska also suffered pressure on the brain. Both were in induced comas.
"They were dragged across the border into Mexico, and were ambushed by about a dozen subjects," Crawford said. "They staggered back to the U.S. side."
Luis Barker, Border Patrol chief of the El Paso sector, said the agents were dragged through a hole in the fence at the U.S.-Mexico boundary.
"They (bandits) make holes all the time. We repair them, and they make holes again," said Barker, who joined Crawford during a news conference at the FBI offices in West El Paso.
FBI Special Agent Al Cruz said U.S. agents arrested 16 suspects after the attack, including a female and two juveniles. They were in custody Friday at the Sunland Park city jail. Their names and residences were not available, but officials think most of them are from Mexico.
The attack occurred about 8:30 p.m. Thursday "yards from the Mexican border," Crawford said. "It was dark by then."
"We are reviewing the situation to determine exactly what happened, and we are investigating the subjects who were arrested at the scene," Crawford said. "It's obvious we're going to have to make some adjustments in this ongoing operation."
Agents have been investigating the thefts of interstate shipments from Union Pacific Railroad, thefts that result in annual losses to the railroad of about $1 million, Cruz said.
He said U.S. agents had information that the railroad would be hit Thursday night, and a sting operation was called that included the FBI, Border Patrol, U.S. Customs Service and Union Pacific Railroad police, as well as Mexican customs on the Mexican side. About 40 U.S. law enforcement officers were in the area, some on the train and others on the ground.
The bandits had jumped onto the train after it had slowed down for a sharp bend in the railroads tracks near the Sunland Park Racetrack & Casino.
Crawford said three FBI agents were in one of the railroad cars when one of them noticed a person on the roof. He pulled the person off the roof, and while he was subduing him, he saw his two colleagues staggering back to the U.S. side, chased by assailants.
"When he realized his two comrades were being beaten, he fired a shot," Crawford said. "That shot probably saved their lives. ... They could not have sustained another blow."
No one was shot. Dozens of Mexican customs officers also rushed to the scene of the attack.
The suspects remained in jail late Friday while officials determined their roles in the attack, as well as their immigration status. Charges can include, train robbery, assault on a federal officer and being in the country illegally.
"If someone decides to resist, somebody's going to get hurt," Crawford said. "The bar has been raised by the bandits. We will re-evaluate our tactics. ... This is not 1880. You don't rob trains."
Barker and Crawford said that gangs from Mexico have been robbing trains in that area for several years, and that U.S. officials regularly conduct sting operations.
Since January in that area, Barker said, there have been 122 train robberies, 87 burglaries and 19 rock-throwing incidents.
Because of the bend in the tracks, thieves can jump onto a slow-moving train, break into cars and throw off cargo, officials said. In the past, thieves also have unhitched cars at the end of the train so they can take more time to move stolen merchandise into Mexico.
The area is in the foothills of Mount Cristo Rey, where pilgrims in recent months have reported being robbed and mugged by assailants thought to be from Anapra.
In 2000, U.S. officials arrested 16 Pinkerton security guards in El Paso and a U.S. Postal Service employee in connection with the thefts of about $1.6 million worth of merchandise from Union Pacific trains.
U.S. Customs officials said the suspects in that multi-agency operation called "Steal the Rails" included two security guards who had become Border Patrol agents elsewhere, a city Fire Department trainee, and a Sunland Park police officer. Another suspect in that case, Cesar Cabrales, a contract detention officer for the Immigration and Naturalization Service, fled to Mexico.
Now, U.S. officials said, the thefts are apparently being committed by bandits who hit railroad cars that carry a variety of merchandise.
http://www.borderlandnews.com/stories/borderland/20020914-21631.shtml
"If cowardly and dishonorable men sometimes shoot unarmed men with army pistols or guns, the evil must be prevented by the penitentiary and gallows, and not by a general deprivation of a constitutional privilege." - Arkansas Supreme Court, 1878
Comments
I also can't believe that no one seems to care about all the illegals pouring across the border, but just let them steal some stuff off a train and all of a sudden we have the FBI out in force. We need to fortify the border from Texas to California and shoot to kill.
Lord Lowrider the LoquaciousMember:Secret Select Society of Suave Stylish Smoking Jackets She was only a fisherman's daughter,But when she saw my rod she reeled.
if your going to be a savage, be a headhunter
Thieves are thieves and should be treated as such, I don't care where they're from or what color they are.
It was on the news the other day that in the Garden City school district the ILLEGAL student population is 50 percent of the student body. Why should tax dollars paid by hard working Kansans pay to educate ILLEGALS?
These ILLEGALS pay no taxes, don't have insurance on their vehicles. If they crash into your car you're screwed.
I'm with Lowrider 110%,,SECURE OUR BORDERS!!!
In an effort to gain votes, our political leaders are selling out America !!
"Just my opinion."
No more holes is my guess.
~Secret Select Society Of Suave Stylish Smoking Jackets~
Will270win@nraonline.com
I grew up in El Paso, ( the armpit of the world ). Nothing has changed in the last 20 years since I left. The shootings, stabbings, rock throwing gang related stuff is still there and will continue untill the United States stops letting the Mexican Nationals do as they please.
The killing and beating of our LEOs has been going on since before my father was Sheriff, 1970. Unfortunitly, the rest of the world only hears about the BIG ALTERCATIONS. What about the local LEOs that get jumped by the mexicans that cross the boarder every day. What about the lady that was raped by 8 mexican nationals,1972, but juarez would not deport them back accross the boarder. All teenagers of high ranking people over the boarder. The I.N.S. officers that arrest the same person 8 and 10 times in 6 months. The chase that happened several years ago, a drug deal gone bad,and the LEOs had to shoot it out with them, killed most of the mexicans, but some of the LEOs lost there jobs, WHY, because they were WHITE. The bodies that are being found just accross the boarder in juarez. Those of us that grew up there heard about those bodies 20+ years ago. Why is it just now that it is comming to the publics attention. Because of NAFTA. Because mexico wants to be a big brother now, but before, forget it. The killing has been going on for decades in El Paso.
How about two or three weeks before Christmas, when every mexican that has a running car, comes accross the boarder to do there shopping. Home invasion, G.T.A., B & E, Assults, Hit & Run go thru the roof in the city of El Paso. These people drive accross the boarder "Without PROOF OF INSURANCE" or a drivers license. But let me tell you what, you want to drive in there country, you better get yourself a bond to cover your A--, other wise, you get in a wreck over there, you better make a RUN FOR THE BOARDER. What about the mexican police taking your plates off of your auto. Pay him or her, $50.00 and you get your plates back. You cant get your car back accross the boarder without them. What choice do you have if your stupid enough to drive your car accross the boarder?
Because of this NAFTA Bull, the people in El Paso no longer have any rights when it comes to dealing with the mexican nationals. It used to be, if a car from mexico got into a wreck with some one in El Paso, if they could not provide a valid "Insurance Bond", from a reputable insurance company in mexico, you could ask that there car be impounded untill proof is shown, if no proof is shown with in 30 days, there car becomes yours. Now, becaus of this NAFTA garbage, they can come and go as they please. They get into a wreck, they take the ticket and go home, change one thing on there drivers license ( if the have one ) and come back the next day. What can be done, NOTHING, NOTHING, NOTHING.
Most, not all, but most of the mexican nationals are RUDE, Disgusting people, that dont speak a word of English. They come over here and DEMAND to speak spanish, even though they are in the U.S. They raise hell and demand to be treated as U.S. Citizens.
As for the officers being treated at Thomason Hospital, I worked there for seven ( 7 ) months. I have never treated so many people that had the SAME ( EL PASO ) home address, the same phone #, the same SSN #, the same Medicade/Medicare # in all my life. When I questioned this, I was told to mind my own bussiness. The people ( Doctors and Staff ) that work there are TOPS. But the people that come in for care, the mexicans, are SH--. They treat you with distaine, they cuss at you because you dont speake spanish. Yes, I understand what they say, but I dont speak spanish, and I wont as lond as I am in the United States. If I were to live in there country, I would speak there language. If they live here, speak ENGLISH.
I was in El Paso when " Operation Hold The Line " started, it didnt stop a thing. The pregnat mexicans still came over in droves. We would find them in ally ways, dumpsters and in between parked cars, we still had to deliver the babies. Once you are born in the U.S. , you cannot deport the mother back to mexico. She now has a U.S. born baby. With all the legal rights and benefits of every U.S. born citizen. So now we have another welfare person on the books.
When Operation Hold the Line started, I lost most of my staff for 10 days. I had NO IDEA, that some many of my staff lived in juarez mexico. Some of you may ask, why I only worked for 7 months at Thomasom Hospital. They had a need for me at that time, but as soon as they found someone that could speak spanish real well, they let me go.
Will this situation ever get any better, I doubt it. Not untill the U.S. starts deporting all the garbage that flows in and no longer allows U.S. citizens to be DICRIMINATED AGAINST, YES , DISCRIMINATED, because we DONT AND WONT speak a forign tounge. I challange any of you, try and apply for a job in El Paso, without being able to speak spanish. You wont get a job!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
But unless you have a spanish sire name, you won't get welfare or medicare/medicade. Your only choice if you have a last name of Smith, Jones or Phillips. MOVE AWAY, FAR FAR AWAY.
jmtcw.
loader44.
I think we should have snipers on the border with thermal imaging and night vision and drop them with tranqilizers. Drop them off in Afghanistan. As for the railway, who cares. So what if they are stealing products manufactured in Mexico being sent to the States. Maybe we shouldn't have our cars and stuff made there anyways.
I thing we should setup mine fields, and machinegun towers, have helocopter patrols, and shoot to kill.
If I'm wrong please correct me, I won't be offended.
The sound of a 12 gauge pump clears a house fatser than Rosie O eats a Big Mac !