By Michael
Webster: Syndicated Investigative Reporter. June 19,
2010 at 5:30 PM PDT
In effect our Government has seceded millions of
acres of our federal lands to the Mexican Drug
Cartels who
have also taken control of many counties in Texas,
New Mexico and at least three Arizona counties,
endangering American lives and is encroaching on our
national sovereignty.
The United States no longer controls many of our
Wilderness Areas, National Parks, Monuments,
Wildlife Refuges, Gunnery Ranges, Military
Reservations, State Lands and provides little or no
security to private land owners along our southern
border. Because according to U.S. law enforcement
drug cartels now control these areas.
U.S. Government agencies and their PR spokespersons
have been very critical of news articles, TV and
radio news casts similar to this article. They say
out of one side of their mouths that stories like
this one and others are ludicrous and are not
actuate and that it is safe on the federal land they
manage, yet from the other side of their mouths they
say that it is dangerous or they caution citizens to
be extremely careful while on these U.S. lands. Some
federal agencies who manage these lands have even
erected warning signs pointing out the many dangers
that they will likely face should they as Americans
enter those areas.
According to a U.S. Government official who is not
authorized to address this issue told the U.S.
Border Fire Report that many of the government
bureaucrats are concerned if the public stops using
the lands they manage that they fear of losing their
government jobs.
So even though they must put out some warnings to
the public which states some of the dangers they
quickly follow it up with statements of how safe it
is to recreate on these lands.
Here are the facts:
Many of these lands are not protected by our
government’s law enforcement agencies or military.
Many claim that our Border Patrol and other federal,
state and counties are under manned and under
financed. Therefore, according to at least one
Arizona sheriff drug cartels now control much of
these lands.
According to the Pinal County Sheriff “large areas
in Southern Arizona are very dangerous to U.S.
citizens.
“We do not have
control of this area"
http://www.borderlandbeat.com/2010/06/pinal-county-sheriff-mexican-drug.html
Pinal County investigators say an area known as the
smuggling corridor now stretches from Mexico's
border to metro Phoenix.
The area once used by American families by camping,
hiking, off roading and for general recreation is
now being denied by the armed and dangerous
smugglers that use the areas for criminal activities
and therefore deny the use by our residents.
Night vision and other type cameras have
photographed Mexican Drug Cartels and others with
military arms and heavy back packs full of drugs
moving through these now well known drug corridors
and areas where smugglers deliver these drugs to
vehicles along Highway 8 and other places more than
80 miles north of the U.S. Mexican Border.
Click on or Google:
Mexican Drug Cartels
putting Americans in danger on American soil
An
operative known to us as “Duck Hunter” has told the
U.S. Border Fire Report that “no one is working this
area, Not ICE, DEA, ATF, Customs and Border
Protection, FBI, Pinal County sheriff, or BLM. That
tells me that the cronies in Washington does not
give a shit about the publics safety [sec]. This is
going on 80 miles north of the border. Their actions
are telling me that is fine [sec] that the Mexican
Drug Cartels has full control of our desert.
Where is Congress and DHS in this new
Mexican-American war that we seem to be losing?”
As a consequence many citizens are fearful to take
their families too many of these areas because of
the lack of law enforcement. When one park ranger
was ask if he would bring his family out here to
camp in one of the areas in question he flatly said,
no way.
According to a supervisor with the U.S. Border
Patrol he indicated that land designations have a
significant impact on the ability of the Border
Patrol to effectively control crime, due to the
numerous restrictions imposed, such as no use of
motorized vehicles and no mechanized equipment on
certain designated federal wilderness lands. Our
wilderness, national wildlife refuges, monuments and
other federal lands along the Arizona border are
becoming havens for criminal activity due to drug
and human smuggling cartels that now "own" these
areas. They understand the severe restrictions on
Border Patrol and law enforcement, and it makes
these areas very "criminal friendly". See
Border Wilderness is just too dangerous for the
public use.
Click
on or Google:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wY6sPP7m8rA
Exactly
how many thousands of acres of federal land are
closed or should be closed due to safety concerns
for American citizens near the border are not
immediately available. We have many calls into U.S.
Government agencies to ask just that question, none
have returned our calls to date.
A PR
employee for the Buenos Aires National Wildlife
Refuge located in Southern Arizona called the U.S.
Border Fire Report offices to complain about an
article by this reporter.
Click on or Google:
The U.S. Gov: giving
parts of Arizona back to Mexico
We
attempted to contact Mr.Jose Viramontes,
and return his call to
the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service,
both at his office and his mobile phone Friday with
no returned call to me to date. I assumed he lift
his job early to take advantage of a possible three
day weekend that seems to be prevalent among many
government personal.
The federal government
closed a portion of a US park in
Arizona four years ago due to violence
perpetuated by illegal aliens and smugglers along
the US/Mexico border. Roughly 3,500
acres of the Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge
-- about 3 percent of the 118,000-acre park -- have
been closed since Oct. 6, 2006, when U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service officials acknowledged a marked
increase in violence along a tract of land that
extends north from the border for roughly
three-quarters of a mile. Federal officials say they
have no plans to reopen the area.
Click on or Google:
closure notice
[PDF,
on the park’s website. This is not
from my news report, this is a direct notification
of the closure of this area by the
Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge,
and it warns Americans
about the closer due to the violence.
Click on or Google:
link
to the park’s website click on the
closure notice banner in the lower right side of the
page.
The Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge admits
that they have been adversely affected by
border-related activities. They say that their
international border with Mexico has also become
increasingly violent. Assaults on law enforcement
officers and violence against migrants have
escalated. Violence on the Refuge associated with
smugglers and border bandits has been well
documented. Many of these activities are
concentrated at, or near, the border. The
concentration of illegal activity, surveillance and
law enforcement interdictions make these zones
dangerous. According to the Refuge that statement
was put on their web site in 2006. Since than they
now claim things have gotten better. The facts are
things on the U.S. Border with Mexico have gotten
worse.
According to their web site that closure is in
effect until further notice. My question would be if
things have gotten better, why are they still
maintaining the closure!
"This
is one of those things that the Department of
Interior does not want to publicize," said Rep. Rob
Bishop, R-Utah, ranking Republican on the House
Parks and Public Lands Subcommittee. "These bad
actors are now being channeled into federal lands
along the border because it's so easy to make that
access. The situation is getting worse on federal
lands and will only get worse until we make some
proactive activity to change the status quo."
"Frankly," Bishop continued, "the status quo is
failing. We are failing to control our borders."
Bishop,
who has introduced legislation that would remove
environmental restrictions the Department of
Interior imposes on U.S. Border Patrol agents,
questioned the message sent by federal authorities
by closing off part of the Buenos Aires Refuge.
"That is a ludicrous message," he
said. "That policy is unacceptable. That strikes of
running a policy of appeasement to drug cartels
instead of fighting back. Someone has to say that
not one inch of American property will be given to
the bad guys and not one death is acceptable."
Bishop also said that the policy of "ceding" federal
land to drug and human trafficking is unacceptable.
There
are at least two designated national monuments that
continue to post travel warnings or be outright
closed to Americans who own the land because of the
dangers of "human and drug trafficking" along the
Mexican border.
Due to
our proximity to the International Boundary with
Mexico, some areas near the border are closed for
construction and visitor safety concerns," the
website
reads.
Dennis
Godfrey, a spokesman for the Bureau of Land
Management's Arizona office, said roughly a dozen
signs were posted earlier this year along the
Sonoran Desert National Monument advising that
travel in the area is not recommended due to "active
drug and human" smuggling. The signs are not far
from where a Pinal County deputy was shot and
wounded during a confrontation with marijuana
smugglers in April and the fatal shooting of two
other men in the same area who were first believed
to be Americans, but later reported by authorities
to be suspected Mexican drug smugglers.
"It is
a corridor for smugglers of all types," Godfrey told
the media.
Similar
signs have been posted at the Cabeza Prieta National
Wildlife Refuge and the Coronado National Forest,
which covers nearly 1.8 million acres in
southeastern Arizona and southwestern New Mexico.
Their web site points
out that the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) public
lands in southern Arizona continue to experience
illegal activities, including drug and human
smuggling. Visitors to public lands are encouraged
to be aware of their surroundings while in southern
Arizona. In the past, encounters with drug smugglers
have typically been non-violent in nature; however,
recent BLM law enforcement reports indicate
smugglers may be armed and have displayed aggressive
behavior toward people working or recreating on
public lands in southern Arizona.
Bureau of Land Management public lands lie
adjacent to 44 miles of the international border
with Mexico. Visitors should be aware that narcotic
smuggling activities occur within this national
monument. If you see any activity that looks
illegal, suspicious, or out of place, please do not
intervene. Note your location and call 911, or
report the activity to a law enforcement range as
quickly as possible.
Be Aware, Be Safe
- Cell phone service is
often out of range in many remote areas of the
monument.
- Know where you are at all
times, follow good safety procedures and use
common sense when making decisions.
- Do not pick up or approach
hitch hikers.
- Keep valuables, including
spare change, out of sight and lock your
vehicle.
- Avoid traveling outside of
well-marked roads and routes.
- People in distress may ask
for food, water or other assistance. Do not
make contact. Report the location of the
distressed people to the nearest BLM or other
law enforcement authority.
- Report ANY suspicious
behavior to the
nearest BLM office
or contact Law Enforcement Dispatch at (623)
580-5515 as soon as possible.
Visitors to BLM public lands in southern Arizona,
including the Sonoran Desert and Ironwood Forest
national monuments, need to be aware of these
activities.
The BLM is alerting the public to be aware of
their surroundings when visiting public lands in
southern Arizona, and to follow the safety tips
above. Your safety is important. If you see anything
that looks illegal, suspicious or out of place, do
not intervene. Note your location and call 911, or
report it to the BLM Law Enforcement Dispatch at
(623) 580-5515, as quickly as possible.
The BLM manages more land – 256 million acres
– than any other Federal agency. This land, known as
the National System of Public Lands, is primarily
located in 12 Western States, including Alaska. The
Bureau, with a budget of about $1 billion, also
administers 700 million acres of sub-surface mineral
estate throughout the nation. The BLM’s multiple-use
mission is to sustain the health and productivity of
the public lands for the use and enjoyment of
present and future generations. The Bureau
accomplishes this by managing such activities as
outdoor recreation, livestock grazing, mineral
development, and energy production, and by
conserving natural, historical, cultural, and other
resources on public lands.
According to Col: Ronald Adler, commandant for the
United States Civil
Defense
Assoc. (USCD) of Arizona says “ If some of these
government agencies continue to encourage Americans
to come and visit their parks, monuments, national
forests, and other lands on or within a 100 miles of
the U.S. Mexican border and this administration does
not come through with U.S. army troops on our border
with Mexico unsuspecting Americans may meet a
violent death or violently maimed by armed smugglers
and/or terrorist who are illegally infiltrating
American sovereign
lands.”
Judicial Watch
reports that the violence is so severe and the
situation has become so dire that authorities
recently put up stronger warnings at several of the
parks, according to a national news report. Nearly a
dozen new signs have been erected at various
locations in an effort to give the public a heads up
on the increasingly dangerous situation. The new
signs warn visitors about smuggling vehicles
speeding, instruct them to walk away if they see
something suspicious and avoid abandoned vehicles
and backpacks because they may contain drugs stashed
by smugglers.
Many of the public lands are not located directly
on the southern border but are used as pathways for
traffickers—transporting drugs and illegal
immigrants—en route to major U.S. metropolitan
cities.
Many of the problem areas along our border with
Mexico are located in Southern Arizona and are
annually visited by thousands of unsuspecting
American citizens. The problem is especially
critical at the Sonoran Desert National Monument,
located not far from Phoenix, of which much of it
lies south of I-8 between Gila Bend and Casa Grande
Arizona. This is the most biologically diverse of
the North American deserts and thousands of
Americans visits them yearly. The park spans nearly
500,000 acres and houses three congressionally
designated wilderness areas as well as significant
archeological and historic sites. It’s popular among
families but also a favorite pathway for Mexican
criminal smugglers making their way into Phoenix and
other parts of our nation.
Giving Part of US to
Mexico?
Video Source:
www.truveo.com
Related articles by Michael Webster
Mexican
Drug Cartel’s Cash is King!
Unbelievable conditions
in the Arizona desert
Two more Americans
found dead in the Arizona desert
Mexican Drug Cartels
putting Americans in danger on American soil
Attention
Concerned Citizens
Related Blogs &
videos
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wY6sPP7m8rA
Michael
Webster’s Syndicated Investigative Reports have been
read worldwide, in 100 or more U.S. outlets and in
at least 136 countries and territories. He publishes
articles in association with global news agencies
and media information services with more than 350
news affiliates in 136 countries. Many of Mr.
Webster’s articles are printed in six working
languages: English, French, Arabic, Chinese, Russian
and Spanish. With ten more languages planed in the
near future.
Mr. Webster is
America's leading authority on Venture
Capital/Equity Funding. He served as a trustee on
some of the nation’s largest trade Union funds. A
noted Author, Lecturer, Educator, Emergency Manager,
Counter-Terrorist, War on Drugs and War on Terrorist
Specialist, Business Consultant, Newspaper
Publisher. Radio News caster. Labor Law generalist,
Teamster Union Business Agent, General Organizer,
Union Rank and File Member Grievances
Representative, NLRB Union Representative, Union
Contract Negotiator, Workers Compensation Appeals
Board Hearing Representative. Mr. Webster
represented management on that side of the table as
the former Director of Federated of Nevada. Mr.
Webster publishes on-line newspapers at
www.lagunajournal.com and
www.usborderfirereport.com and does
investigative reports for print, electronic and
on-line News Agencies.
All of Mr. Webster's articles, books/CD's can be
read or downloaded free at:
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or
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Contact e-mail:
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