This is how you live on $800 per month

-90 traffic stop nets another load of cash




By SCOTT RANDOLPH, Black Hills Pioneer March 18, 2003




DEADWOOD - An interstate traffic stop last week netted more than $100,000 cash and trace amounts of marijuana, officials say. It was the second bust that day involving drugs and large quantities of cash.
Lawrence County Deputy Sheriff Mike Shafer made a traffic stop at approximately milepost 26 of Interstate 90 just after 5 p.m. on March 13, according to Lawrence County Sheriff's Chief Deputy Joe Harmon.

He said Shafer's stop initially was for invalid license plates on a 1998 Ford Expedition driven by Abelardo Gomez who offered Shafer a driver's license showing his address as Boardman, Oregon.


"After initial investigation, Deputy Shafer developed a professional suspicion that all was not as it seemed in the traffic stop and made a request for a Drug Interdiction K-9 Team from the Highway Patrol to be called to the scene," Harmon said.


Trooper Brian Swets and his four-footed partner, Crockett, arrived on scene and Crockett "alerted" to the vehicle where a subsequent search resulted in $101,000 being found in a special altered rear compartment of the vehicle, Harmon said.


The resulting arrest came just hours after Swets and Crockett were involved in a bust that netted just over $750,000 along I-90.


The special compartment containing the $101,000, 8-inches by approximately 2-feet in size, had wires leading from it for electronic activation of the locking mechanism for the compartment, said Harmon.


Gomez was found to be in possession of a trace amount of marijuana and was arrested for this offense at the scene and taken to the Lawrence County Jail, he said.


On Monday, Gomez pled guilty to the possession of the trace amount of marijuana and was fined $400, according to Deputy Lawrence County State's Attorney Chris Madsen.


"Gomez has a 'hold' on him from the Immigration and Naturalization Service and will be turned over to them after he either pays the fine in full or serves sufficient time, on a formula of $20 per day towards an owed fine, to be released to the INS," said Madsen.


Gomez could, then, face proceedings by the INS to return him to his native Mexico, said Madsen.


Gomez denied any knowledge of the marijuana and the issue of the cash never came up in the court proceedings on the possession of the marijuana, said Madsen.


The cash and the vehicle could become the subject of a civil forfeiture legal action by the State Attorney General's Office. The assets could end up in a special fund to help drug interdiction work by local and state law enforcement, said Madsen.


As of this morning, Gomez had not paid his fine and remains in the Lawrence County jail, said Harmon.


In February, Lawrence County Sheriff Rick Mowell said some apparently prescient words. He said then that he expected to see seizures of large amounts of cash along I-90 coming from drug sales in bigger cities.


"I think it is just a matter of time before we see a large cash seizure. I am talking about hundreds of thousands of dollars along I-90," Mowell said.

Suspect in Honduras Slaying Arrested in Fairfax


By Tom Jackman
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, March 18, 2003; Page A30


The 1997 abduction and murder of aspiring businessman Ricardo Maduro Jr. in the Honduran city of San Pedro Sula seemed to symbolize the country's growing crime problem. It happened despite the arrival of 200 extra police officers in the city two days earlier, and it led Maduro's father, prominent banker Ricardo Maduro, to run for president of Honduras in 2001. He won on an anti-crime platform.

Several suspects were arrested in Honduras, but at least one remained free -- until last week, when Fairfax County police learned that he was living in the Falls Church area. On Wednesday morning, Fairfax officers and agents from the FBI and Customs Enforcement arrested him and his younger brother, officials said yesterday.

Police said Nery Anibal Sanchez-Carbajal, 31, had been charged in Honduras with Maduro's murder and three other slayings in 1996 and 1997. Investigators believe that Sanchez-Carbajal illegally entered the country in December. His 21-year-old brother, whose name was not released, was arrested on an outstanding warrant for an immigration violation, Special Agent Tony Wilks said.

Sanchez-Carbajal did not resist arrest, and investigators reported finding no weapons when they entered the house in the 6900 block of Kenfig Drive about 5:15 a.m. Sanchez-Carbajal and his brother were placed in federal custody pending extradition hearings.

Local and federal authorities attributed Sanchez-Carbajal's arrest to Fairfax's community policing program, which aims to establish better ties with residents. Officers spend more time in neighborhoods, meeting people and working to defuse problems before they ignite.

Fairfax Sgt. Richard Perez believes that the department's higher visibility led to the call he received recently from someone who asked to meet with him and alerted him to Sanchez-Carbajal's presence in Fairfax.

In the past, that secret might never have left the Honduran community. But Perez said that because residents have seen officers' extra efforts -- including those of Officer John Farrell, who patrols the heavily Hispanic Culmore neighborhood -- the tipster and others "had no trepidation about telling me what they knew."

Farrell said he helped keep Sanchez-Carbajal under surveillance. Perez contacted immigration authorities and Interpol to confirm that he was wanted for Maduro's murder. Immigration agents joined in the arrest. An official at the Honduran Embassy in Washington said yesterday that she was unaware of the arrest.

According to Honduran news reports, Ricardo Maduro Jr., 25, was abducted April 23, 1997, in a hail of gunfire that seriously wounded his bodyguard. His father reported receiving a ransom request, but his son's body was found two days later. Honduran police believed that the kidnapping was the work of one organized gang, and several arrests have been made.

Maduro's killing sparked a protest march in San Pedro Sula in early May 1997, with thousands demanding that the Honduran government improve its crime-fighting abilities. His father announced his presidential candidacy in August 1999 and promised zero tolerance on crime if he was elected.



© 2003 The Washington Post Company

What is the point of this article, and how does it relate to your thread?

Agents seize 220 pounds of cocaine on Miami River, hold 8
Staff report

March 19, 2003

Homeland Security agents seized 220 pounds of cocaine from a boat on the Miami River on Tuesday and detained the eight foreign nationals on board while they determined how many were involved in the attempt to smuggle the drugs into the country.

Customs and Border Protection inspectors found the drugs, with a street value of more than $2 million, stashed in a compartment between the fuel tank and the water ballast tank in the middle of the Regla, a boat that set sail from Haiti last Friday. The inspectors were part of the Sea Stop program, which targets smuggling operations from Key West to Fort Pierce. It was the third and largest drug bust in the program's history, said Zachary Mann, spokesman for the Department of Homeland Security's Border Transportation Security Directorate.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agents questioned the eight crew members, four of whom were from Honduras. The others were from Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Nicaragua and Peru.
Copyright © 2003, South Florida Sun-Sentinel

What is the point of this article, and how does it relate to your thread?

What a misleading title, just like SKS said, where the heck is the relevance between the topics and title?
No, this is how drug smugglers lived, and there's millions of them in this world, of every nationality you can imagine.

You live on $800/mo by sharing apartment's rent & utilities with many other people, by curbing your spending to the daily food you need, by not wasting your money on the luxurious item in life like big screen TV, computer, stereo equipment, by riding with friends or using the public transporation instead of owning a car (and henceforth its related expense), etc.

Its a hard life thats not for the lazy or pampered. Most people won't be able to do it, or simply choose not to.

I know you're just trying to get people all riled up, so I won't take your posts seriously. However, a little perspective is needed. How many immigrants enter the country without drugs as opposed to those who smuggle? What is the ratio?

The Department of Justice states that 85% of the crack cocaine trade in Ca. is not controled by Blacks, as many people think. But by Mexican Nationals. They have taken over the central part of the state and manufacture and distribute it around the country from there. Needless to say the crime rate is soaring as it does anywhere you find Mexicans.They come from a corupt country and have no respect for the law.Wherever they are they commit a very large part of all crime. In Calif they commit most shootings , car thefts, and a lot of the rapes. Los Angeles has a big problem with them stealing cars and taking them to Mexico to sell them. I would say that numbers wise , half of them are very nice ,very hard working people. The other half are criminals. I think we have had enough immigration from Mexico . It is just costing this country way too much.

Many are not criminals. You seem racist, so I'll try not to get into it with you.

"Needless to say the crime rate is soaring as it does anywhere you find Mexicans.They come from a corupt country and have no respect for the law."

Do you mean illegal immigrants or just Mexicans in general? That is the silliest thing I have every heard.

"I would say that numbers wise , half of them are very nice ,very hard working people. The other half are criminals."

OK, so half of the Hispanics are drug dealing criminals, and the other half are not? That is funny, but what is more funny is that you are serious.

"I think we have had enough immigration from Mexico . It is just costing this country way too much."

Why pick on Mexico, immigration is immigration. Be just as outraged at visa overstayers and other people who cheat our government. Don't just single out Hispanics because it makes you look very bad.

Anni,
That's just a little racist what you stated two rows up above. I mean, why just mexicans? There's plenty of other nationals who are criminals, not talking about our own US citizen people!!! Of course, you cannot deport a USC from his/her country because of being criminal, but come on!!! Use your common sense!!! It's NOT just only Mexicans, I'm sure there's plenty of other people, or immigrants. Why do you pick on people? Is that what you get payed for? How can you live on the world like this??? You know, when I was a little kid, I was taught that there are some stuff, which even if you don't agree with, you don't say it out loud to other people, because it's not proper, and might upset them. Have you ever heard about this? You're so racist! I can't believe that there are still people who are as racist as you are! I mean, 1960's is over!!!!! It's 2003!!! Anyhow...don't take it as an office, it's wasn't written that way......it's just something you should think/ponder about.

Now that the racism has clearly shown, I wonder whether Anni will try to justify or rebuff it, just the like the way Acelaw tried with his?

Lawdog, what do you want? Us telling you we are happy for the deaths to Americans caused by foreign nationals?

Report of Iraqis at Mexican border under investigation
By Barrett Marson
ARIZONA DAILY STAR


PHOENIX - Federal officials are investigating a report this week that a group of Iraqi nationals might be trying to sneak into the United States from Mexico, two U.S. senators said.

News and Internet reports have circulated this week claiming six Iraqi nationals, possibly carrying material that could be used for a chemical or biological weapon, might be working to get across the border into the Southwestern United States.

U.S. Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., said an investigation by the federal government was opened, but was unable to verify any of the details made in the reports.

"I read the intelligence that we have. I just can't tell you any more about it," Kyl said. "There was information that was, or is, seriously being investigated."

Kyl and Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., received a briefing Friday afternoon after reports on Fox News suggesting the government was seeking the six Iraqis.

"What does bother me was that somebody in the news media obtained information that was classified," Kyl said. "That bothers me."

U.S. Rep. John Shadegg, R-Ariz., said he received information from federal authorities on the investigation but would not comment on it.

"At this point in time, anything of this nature is something you would take seriously," Shadegg said. "If you know the porous nature of our southern border, you absolutely ought to take it seriously."

The country has been at orange alert, the second-highest level, since Monday, when President Bush announced a deadline for Iraqi President Saddam Hussein to leave the country or face war. Bombing of Iraq started Wednesday.

Federal agents have been interviewing Iraqi nationals around the country to determine if they have any links to terrorist activities.

Several agencies in the Homeland Security Department learned about the investigation into the six Iraqis through the media.

"We don't comment on any kind of intelligence. It seems to be an alleged rumor," said Judy Turner, a Houston-based spokeswoman for the U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

"We haven't seen anything," said Rob Daniels, a spokesman for the U.S. Border Patrol's Tucson sector.

It's unclear what state is the focus of the investigation or if the investigation still centers south of the border in Mexico.

Mexico border agents had no knowledge of the investigation, said one official.

Top state officials had not received any briefings on the matter.

"I know nothing at this point. I have not been notified," said Chuck Blanchard, Arizona's interim director of homeland security.

Kyl, who toured the border earlier this month with top federal officials, acknowledged that agencies patrolling the border have restrictions that could inhibit them from capturing terrorists.

"The thing that we learned on the trip that had not been clear to me is that part of the problem our own law enforcement officers have is a difficult time gaining access to the land," said Kyl, noting agents cannot go onto Indian reservation land or wilderness areas.


* Contact reporter Barrett Marson at (602) 271-0623 or at bmarson@azstarnet.com.