El Paso, Texas – Sheriff Dallas Pope and other Sheriffs from across the country recently participated in a Border Summit Seminar that provided an overview and addressed national issues of Mexican Cartels, and criminal alien security issues.
The organizational aspects of criminal gangs, related human trafficking and drug related violence were part of the presentation; noting the proliferation of crime from Mexico into the United States.
This summit focused on narco-terrorism issues and related violence, with presentations on MS-13, Surenos Gangs, and La Eme (Mexican Mafia); all of which challenge sovereign authority, disenfranchise women, and glorify violence, illicit drug use, and corruption.
The seminar took place mere miles from the Mexican border town of Ciudad Juarez; a city known for its violence and crime.
In Juarez between 2007 and 2011 more than 9,000 people were killed, with the peak coming in 2010, when Juarez saw a record 3,116 homicides, or about 8 murders per day.
Sheriffs attending the summit were hosted by Texas Hudspeth County Sheriff Arvin West who shares a county border of 98 miles with Mexico; of which only 4 miles have a 16 foot border fence.
In the Mexican town of Praxedis G. Guerrero which abuts Hudspeth County, former police Chief Manuel Castro was tortured, killed, and beheaded in 2009. In addition to cross border crime issues, the role of policing this open border falls to the US Border Patrol and the 14 Deputies of the Hudspeth County Sheriff’s Office.
Sheriffs attending the seminar were provided overviews and instruction on narco-terrorism issues, criminal aliens, and operational functions of the Border Patrol and ICE. A tour of Hudspeth County along the Mexican border was part of the seminar. Sheriff Pope currently serves on the National Sheriff’s Association Training and Education Committee.