Mexico’s Criminal Cops Patrol Border

When Mexican officials demanded cooperation between law enforcement agencies rather than a “shameful and offensive” border fence, they failed to mention that the entire police force of a Mexican city on the California border is being investigated for drug trafficking and organized crime.

Tijuana – on the San Diego border–has for years been a major staging post for the supply of drugs to the United States, not to mention an extremely busy crossing for illegal immigrants. It turns out that the city’s 2,300-member police department has led the illegal activity, forcing the mayor to launch an investigation which will include everyone from street officers to the state superintendent.

Rampant corruption among Tijuana’s “finest” has been a well-known fact for years and the mayor is only acting because numerous businesses have threatened to leave the city and that would cause a tremendous hardship for the poverty-stricken border town.

High-ranking Mexican officials who condemn the idea of fencing off much of the border never mention the widespread corruption among those supposedly enforcing the law in their country. They call the fence humiliating to all Mexicans and Foreign Secretary Luis Ernesto Derbez has even threatened to take the issue to the United Nations.

The Secure Fence Act was passed by Congress in late September to establish much-needed operational control over the international land and maritime borders of the United States.
President George W. Bush has yet to sign it and there has been growing speculation that he might pocket veto the controversial legislation by not signing it within 10 days from the date the bill gets put on his desk.

One well-connected political blogger has put that concern to rest writing that a reliable Congressional staffer said that, although Congress passed the Secure Fence Act on September 29, it hasn’t formally sent the bill to the president. It is expected to be signed around the end of October.

The Tijuana investigation illustrates the urgency of an effective barrier between the U.S. and Mexico, since corrupt officials on the other side of the border cannot be trusted to help weed out criminals and drugs before they cross into our country.