Posted on March 8, 2006

Men Told To Shoot Border Agents

Jerry Seper, Washington Times, March 8, 2006

A man suspected of alien smuggling on the Texas-Mexico border has ordered his men to shoot at U.S. Border Patrol agents who attempt to apprehend smugglers who are escorting illegal aliens into the United States, according to an FBI bulletin.

Issued Feb. 28 by the FBI’s San Antonio field office, the unclassified law-enforcement bulletin said smuggling suspect Martin Delgado told gang members that when one of them is in danger of being caught by a Border Patrol agent in the United States, another on the Mexican side should “shoot in the direction of the agent” to force him to retreat.

Delgado, identified by law-enforcement authorities as the head of the “Los Roqueros” smuggling organization operating south of Rio Bravo, Texas, ordered his men to “shoot to scare” the agents, according to the bulletin.

It noted that Delgado warned against trying to kill the agents, but said his men should shoot close enough to scare off agents and give his smugglers an opportunity to escape.

Border Patrol Chief David Aguilar told a Senate subcommittee last week that efforts to identify and dismantle smuggling organizations on the border have resulted in an increase in violence aimed at his agents.

He said 192 agents have been assaulted since Oct. 1, the start of the fiscal year, and the number of agents assaulted during fiscal 2005 more than doubled over that of fiscal 2004.

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