4 Arrested in U.S. Border Agent's Death

(AP)  Police in Mexico have announced the arrests of four men in connection to the killing of a U.S. Border Patrol agent as their counterparts in the United States search hospitals for suspects possibly wounded in the first such shooting in more than a decade.

The men detained in Mexico are allegedly part of an immigrant smuggling ring, and 21 people were found with them when police detained them and seized four guns near Tecate, Mexico, said Elias Alvarez Hernandez, coordinator of federal police in Baja California state.

During a news conference Saturday, Mexico police did not say what evidence they had against the four, whom they identified as Jose Quintero Ruiz, 43, and his brother Jose Eugenio Quintero Ruiz, 49, and taxi drivers Jose Alfredo Camacho, 34 and Antonio Valladares, 57.

Agent Robert Rosas was killed Thursday while responding alone to a suspected border incursion near Campo, a town in rugged, arid terrain in southeastern San Diego County. He was shot in the head and body and was dead when other agents arrived, said Keith Slotter, special agent in charge of the FBI's San Diego bureau.

Alvarez said that one of the suspects told police that a man detained Friday with a handgun had shot Rosas. Tecate police said Friday they had arrested 36-year-old Ernesto Parra Valenzuela near the crime scene with a Border Patrol-issued weapon after the shooting, according to the Los Angeles Times.

The man, who was injured, was taken to a hospital, according to a news release. Federal investigators have said they notified hospitals on both sides of the border to be on alert for patients with suspicious or unexplained injuries.

Investigators have said blood evidence at the scene indicated at least one culprit and possibly others had serious injuries, perhaps by gunfire. They didn't know how many shots were fired, if Rosas fired any shots himself, or how many guns were used.

But FBI spokesman Darrell Foxworth told The Associated Press in an e-mail late Saturday that he could not confirm or comment on any arrest reports. The bureau did not return calls left throughout the day.

American officials have expressed concerns that the drug cartel battles plaguing Mexico could spill into the United States with the targeting of U.S. law enforcement officials. Slotter said investigators aren't ruling out the possibility that Rosas was slain by drug smugglers or even human smugglers.

Arturo Sarukhan, the Mexican ambassador to the United States, said Mexican law enforcement agencies are cooperating in the case.

"This is a tragic example of the violence we keep facing at our common border as President (Felipe) Calderon continues to roll back transnational organized crime, and underscores the need for both our countries to keep working as full partners to guarantee the safety and security of those living on both sides of our border communities," Sarukhan said in a written statement Saturday.

(AP Photo/U.S. Border Patrol)

Rosas (left) was the first Border Patrol agent to die in a shooting in more than a decade, according to The Officer Down Memorial Page Inc., which tracks fallen officers using information provided by law enforcement agencies. Another agent, Luis Aguilar, was intentionally run over by a fleeing man driving a drug-laden Hummer in January 2008.

Rosas, a three-year Border Patrol veteran, had a 2-year-old son and an 11-month-old daughter, said Richard Barlow, acting chief patrol agent for the Border Patrol's San Diego sector.

Authorities could not confirm reports that he called for backup and then went ahead before anyone arrived, but said it isn't unusual for agents to work alone along the border.

Since 1919, 108 Border Patrol agents have died on duty, according to The Officer Down Memorial Page. Gunfire was the leading cause with 30 deaths, followed by automobile accidents and aircraft accidents.

The FBI is offering a $100,000 reward for information that leads to the arrest and conviction of the killer or killers.


For more info:

U.S. Customs and Border Protection

Federal Bureau of Investigation
By Associated Press writers Gillian Flaccus and Mark Stevenson; AP writers Christina Hoag in Los Angeles and Amy Taxin in Long Beach contributed to this report

[erasmus111]

by debinok1 July 26, 2009 7:28 PM EDT
Agreed and Agreed. On top of it our elections have become a sham. We really don't have a vote anymore, the RNC and the DNC back their CHOSEN candidates and that is who we end up getting to vote for. This last election is a perfect example the DNC had two they were backing, we got to choose between those two. The RNC and The DNC make sure via their Corporate Supporters that the only people running are those who will, once in office, support those same Corporate Supporters.


Someone told me that when it comes time to vote, you can actually write anyones name in. So why don't the PEOPLE get together, decide upon someone, and write their name in.

[erasmus111]

by darthcheney072109 July 26, 2009 7:51 PM EDT

Our government knows and it has known for years. They have taken no effective action to stop it.


So then, why haven't the people taken action to stop it?

[erasmus111]

So what happened darthy baby? Got your underwear in a knot now? Off sulking somewhere? What was it, me calling you dinkyhead, or telling you you owe me two apologies?

[erasmus111]

by darthcheney072109 July 26, 2009 7:29 PM EDT
I see. So they're entitled to their opinion, but I'm not entitled to mine?


Yes, you are entitled to yours, but so is everyone else. And what makes YOUR opinion right over everyone else?

[erasmus111]

by darthcheney072109 July 26, 2009 7:30 PM EDT
You see, the way our government works in this country is, we have only one president.

Maybe it's different in your country.

So there isn't anyone else.

He's the only president we have.


Haha. I'm talking about what has ANY other President done.

[erasmus111]

One thing that REALLY needs to change, is your 2 YEAR election process. That is absolutely ridiculous. The amount of money spent is out of this world. Our elections last one month, start to finish.

[erasmus111]

And there needs to be more than 2 parties.

[debinok1]

Agreed and Agreed. On top of it our elections have become a sham. We really don't have a vote anymore, the RNC and the DNC back their CHOSEN candidates and that is who we end up getting to vote for. This last election is a perfect example the DNC had two they were backing, we got to choose between those two. The RNC and The DNC make sure via their Corporate Supporters that the only people running are those who will, once in office, support those same Corporate Supporters.

[debinok1]

Look at it like this, The head of the FDA should be a dual post, One Doctor and One Farmer, both from everyday walks of life, who actually understand what needs to be in our food and our drugs. The head of FEMA should be someone TRAINED in disasters. NONE of these positions are designed for politicians or their buddies. Same with Congress, these need to be people who understand the needs of their STATE, not their WALLET. We have to many career politicians who have forgotten what it means to be a PUBLIC SERVANT.

[erasmus111]

Oh, and one other thing. GET RID OF THOSE VOTING MACHINES!

[erasmus111]

The above comment should have been below, in the next post.

[erasmus111]

by debinok1 July 26, 2009 5:40 PM EDT

That means each state choosing people they trust to get this mess fixed...



Hmmmm, is there anyone left that isn't corrupt? Obama seemed to have a pretty hard time finding anyone that wasn't. Everyone he tried to pick for this and that, seemed to have some problem.

[debinok1]

We need REGULAR HARD WORKING EVERYDAY people. NOT POLITICIANS, they are all crooked. Which is why we need to get them out and GET THEM OUT NOW.

[debinok1]

We need REGULAR HARD WORKING EVERYDAY people. NOT POLITICIANS, they are all crooked. Which is why we need to get them out and GET THEM OUT NOW.

[debinok1]

If we want to make a difference and we want true change we MUST make it happen. It starts with us.

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/are-we-confident-our-government-is-working-for-us

[Illuminated1]

NAFTA is at the root of the problems I've seen posted by some of you.
You blame the illegal immigrant, but most of these immigrants are from the farms that lost bigtime when NAFTA became policy.
The effects were especially felt hard in the southern parts of Mexico.
Coincidentally, Mexico has an immigration problem as well in that illegal aliens invade Mexico along the border and train jumpers make their way into the North (South USA) via the rail lines established across Mexico.
The violence comes from that source, mostly gangsters from the MS-13 gang who really are gurilla fighters with basic military training. Gangs in the US are really pissed that they have invaded the US and started a systematic takeover.
As for the jobs the immigrants take, the farms haven't changed the way they do business in 100 years, VISA cards were started just for the Mexican farm workers not that long ago.
Now since we no longer butcher meat at Safeway, need for butchers dropped in the cities but increased at the slaughter houses where only immigrants have been willing to work for slave wages and risk...you want that job?
Funny I don't see any white people standing at the home depot looking for day work.....
You can still pick food if you're willing.
The area has always been hispanic since before the gold rush, and when California was turned over to the U.S., the native Mexicans were entitled to citizenship of the US. They were betrayed and deported to Mexico. Many still have a claim, but have been ignored.
Let me say that the U.S. is very lucky not to be experiencing true violence the way it deserves to feel for the way the natives were treated here, not to mention the displaced MexiAmerican-Californian.
I have a relative who was a famous man in all of latin america for decades. He refused to come back to the U.S. because of the blatent racism that existed and still exists here. He knew many influencial men and women here, yet would not return because of the evil.