Mexico bans U.S. law enforcement officials from carrying guns

National Examiner.com: Mexico bans U.S. law enforcement officials from carrying guns

Now that a federal agent has been murdered by a drug gang in Mexico, the Obama Administration promises to “look into” the crime-infested nation’s policy banning U.S. law enforcement officers from carrying weapons during official missions.

The attackers of two American federal agents while traveling in Mexico on Tuesday are believed to be members or associates of the Mexican crime gang Los Zetas, a confidential source told the Law Enforcement Examiner last Tuesday.

The two U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement special agents were assigned to the ICE Attaché office in Mexico City. They were shot in the line-of-duty while driving between Mexico City and Monterrey, Mexico, by unknown assailants.

Sadly, the two U.S law enforcement agents were prevented from protecting themselves by an antiquated U.S.-Mexican agreement that prohibits American cops from carrying firearms in Mexico even when visiting that crime-ridden country on official business.

According to Homeland Security officials, one agent - Jaime Zapata -- was critically wounded in the attack and died from his injuries. The second agent, who remains unidentified, was shot in the arm and leg and remains in stable condition.

Now that a federal agent has been murdered by a drug gang in Mexico, the Obama Administration promises to “look into” the crime-infested nation’s policy banning U.S. law enforcement officers from carrying weapons during official missions.

That, of course, means that the U.S. government deploys federal agents into Mexico’s most violent regions unarmed. This may seem inconceivable considering that heavily armed drug cartels have taken over chunks of the country and Uncle Sam must send its overwhelmed government help to combat the growing crisis.

In the last few years more than 34,000 murders have been associated with drug cartels and in 2010 serious crime connected to illicit narcotics operations hit record levels in scale and brutality.

More than 13,000 people were murdered across Mexico in disturbing and cruel ways not commonly seen in previous years, according to a report by a major newspaper in a border state. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton actually compared the drug-related violence in Mexico to a Colombia-style insurgency that devastated that South American nation a few decades ago.

In the aftermath of the vicious attack on the two ICE agents, Attorney General Erick Holder vowed to look into perhaps changing the policy forbidding American law enforcement officers from carrying guns in Mexico.

"We will look at this and we'll do . . . an analysis of what it is that we need to do to make sure that everybody is as safe down there as we can make them," Holder said during a news conference this week.

"Reading between the lines it’s probably best not to hold your breathe," said a statement from Judicial Watch, a public-interest group that investigates and prosecutes government corruption.

"Besides having around 30 ICE agents in Mexico, the U.S. has showered the country with more than $1 billion in the last few years to combat drug violence. The American tax dollars will keep pouring in under a multi-year program that also helps Central American nations, the Dominican Republic and Haiti fight crime. A disproportionate chunk of the cash goes to Mexico, however," said Judicial Watch officials on Thursday.
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