Shocking new report to Congress, “A Line in the Sand,” about drug and human
smuggling along our southern border:
http://tancredo.house.gov/irc/Investigaions-Border-Report.pdf.  Among those
findings, you can read the following conclusions:

“Mexican drug cartels operating along the Southwest border are more sophisticated
and dangerous than any other organized criminal enterprise. The Mexican cartels, and
the smuggling rings and gangs they leverage, wield substantial control over the
routes into the United States and pose substantial challenges to U.S. law
enforcement to secure the Southwest border. The cartels operate along the border
with military grade weapons, technology and intelligence and their own respective
paramilitary enforcers.”

“Data indicates that there are hundreds of illegal aliens apprehended entering the
United States each year who are from countries known to support and sponsor
terrorism.

• U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement investigations have revealed that aliens
were smuggled from the Middle East to staging areas in Central and South America,
before being smuggled illegally into the United States.

• Members of Hezbollah have already entered the United States across the Southwest
border.

• U.S. military and intelligence officials believe that Venezuela is emerging as a
potential hub of terrorism in the Western Hemisphere. The Venezuelan government is
issuing identity documents that could subsequently be used to obtain a U.S. visa and
enter the country.”

 

“Based on a review of the data, interviews conducted and other information
collected, Subcommittee staff finds that:

1. Drug trafficking organizations and human smuggling networks are proliferating and
strengthening their control of key corridors along our Nation’s Southwest border.

2. The Mexican drug cartels wield substantial control over the U.S.-Mexican border.
Law enforcement on the border agrees that very little crosses the respective cartel
territories, or “plazas,” along the Southwest border without cartel knowledge,
approval, and financial remuneration.

3. These criminal organizations and networks are highly sophisticated and organized,
operating with military style weapons and technology, utilizing counter surveillance
techniques and acting aggressively against both law enforcement and competitors.

4. Drug trafficking organizations, human smuggling networks and U.S. based gangs are
increasingly coordinating with one another to achieve their objectives.

5. Federal, State and local law enforcement report new and ever-increasing levels of
ruthlessness and violence associated with these criminal organizations, which are
increasingly spilling across the border into the United States and moving into local
communities.

6. Each year hundreds of illegal aliens from countries known to harbor terrorists or
promote terrorism are routinely encountered and apprehended attempting to enter the
U.S. illegally.

7. The existing resources of the U.S. Border Patrol and local law enforcement must
continue to be enhanced to counter the cartels and the criminal networks they
leverage to circumvent law enforcement.”