State prepares as violence escalates in Mexico

Posted at: 05/07/2009 10:05 PM | Updated at: 05/08/2009 7:27 AM
By: Eyewitness News 4

In Juarez, Mexican soldiers have taken up policing duties

Mexico's government collapses and a surge of refugees heads to New Mexico—the U.S. Military says it's possible and New Mexico law enforcement officials say they're ready for it.

Drug cartels are a source of instability for the Mexican government as bloody turf wars continue to plague the country.

In 2008, there were 1,600 deaths in the border town of Juarez alone. The violence is even spilling into New Mexico.

Near Albuquerque, a man was shot 20 times and burned on the West Mesa. The suspects are cartel members believed to have gone after the man for not delivering a large load of drugs.

In southern Luna County, Sheriff Raymond Cobos says suspected cartel members tried kidnapping another man to settle a drug debt recently.

Cobos is so concerned about drug violence, he says deputies have already practiced setting up command centers in Columbus if people start fleeing the violence in Mexico.

"We're going to have a refugee problem in Columbus.  We'll be flooded with several hundred people and that will tax our resources, and that's not only a law enforcement problem, a security problem, but a health problem," Cobos said.

In January, the U.S. Joint Forces Command released a report warning there could be a "sudden collapse" of the Mexican government if cartel violence continues.

John Martinez of New Mexico Homeland Security says his agency hasn't seen the necessary signs to warrant that prediction.

"We so far haven't seen any credible information coming out of Mexico that would indicated the collapse of the government of Mexico," he said.

Martinez says if there was an incident that prompted a flood of refugees through New Mexico's border, the state would be prepared.

"If the state becomes overwhelmed with people that are being evacuated or having to leave where they are because of the bad situation, we'd make plans to house them and feed them and support them until they can go home," he said.

Eyewitness News 4 went to the border to see what the Mexican government is doing to contain the violence.

In Juarez, there were soldiers posted almost everywhere you looked. About 5,000 soldier are stationed in the city doing police work until September. 

Since the stationing, the number of murders had dropped from 10 a day to a handful per week in Juarez.

Juarez mayor Jose Reyes Ferriz says the city is breathing a cautious sigh of relief.

"It's a whole different city," he said.

Reyes Ferriz says drug dealers deported back to Mexico after being arrested in the US maintain ties inside this country. He says the cartels could make cities on this side of the border as dangerous as those in Mexico.

"You have to be very careful in the United States. Much of the violence that has happened in the city of Juarez has to do with people that have been in jail in the United States," he said.

In this country, the White House has asked Congress for $350 million to use for border emergencies. So far, that hasn't been approved.

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