By: Jessie Degollado
KSAT 12 News Reporter
Soon after Anne Olhrich, a foreign service officer specializing in Latin America and national security, came to teach at St. Mary's University, she said she encountered ICE Special Agent Jaime Zapata at various professional gatherings and seminars.
Olhrich said she and Zapata shared a similar field of expertise: human smuggling and trafficking."(He was) a very, very fine officer," she said.
Olhrich said the violent death of any U.S. personnel in a foreign country is proof that "it's not just soldiers. It's law enforcement. It's diplomats."
She said Tuesday's attack that killed Zapata and wounded his partner will result in shock waves.
The repercussions will be felt on numerous levels, she said, "not just diplomatically, with law enforcement, on planning of missions, on sharing of information."
Olhrich, who was assigned to Juarez, Mexico, with the U.S. State Department, said funding levels should be maintained to establish more vetted law enforcement throughout the country, who can be trusted.
Also, Olrich said she is troubled by the reaction of many in the U.S. to the unprecedented attack by Los Zetas on U.S. federal agents.
When she asked some of her students if they had heard about it, Olhrich said they told her, "Yeah, but they were in Mexico. Why were they down there?"
Olhrich said, "We need to educate people why we're down there."
Funeral Preparations For Slain ICE Agent Zapata
The privacy of the family of a slain U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent from South Texas is being protected.
Brownsville police and ICE officers on Thursday blocked the entrance to a road leading to the family home of 32-year-old Special Agent Jaime Zapata.
The Brownsville native and Special Agent Victor Avila were shot Tuesday while in an SUV returning to Mexico City from a meeting in the Mexican state of San Luis Potosi. Avila, who was shot in the leg, was discharged Wednesday from a Houston hospital.
The attackers are sought.
A spokesman for Buena Vista Funeral Home in Brownsville did not immediately return a call Thursday from The Associated Press.
Mark Schlatter, who taught geography to Zapata in high school, said "he brought positive energy to the classroom."
Fed Who Survived Mexico Attack Out Of HospitalVictor Avila Shot Twice In The Leg
U.S. officials say a federal agent who survived an attack in Mexico that left a colleague dead has been released from a hospital.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement says ICE agent Victor Avila was released from a U.S. hospital after receiving treatment for two gunshot wounds to a leg.
Killed in the Tuesday attack was ICE Special Agent Jaime Zapata of Laredo, Texas.
Zapata was a Brownsville native and 2005 graduate of the University of Texas at Brownsville who joined ICE in 2006.
Zapata was a former Border Patrol agent in Yuma, Ariz.
On Wednesday, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and Attorney General Eric Holder established a joint task force between the two departments, which will be led by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and will leverage the investigative capabilities of both departments to work with Mexico in tracking down Zapata's killers.
Law enforcement officials said they suspect gunmen who shot up an SUV with the two agents inside at a roadblock on a central Mexico highway apparently knew they were attacking law enforcement officers.
Im sure theyre gonna present some ragtag group of low level Zetas in the next few days claiming they were responsible when im sure this was a high level decision made by high level people to attack these guys. Not saying the Zetas arent scum but they definitely seem to be a convinient scapegoat these days.
ReplyDeleteregardless of all the political / conspiracy intrigue...I have to say these are some brave U.S. Men/Women down there puttin' in work..
ReplyDeleteWhy are they so sure it's Zeta's? Because SLP is Zeta territory? They way CDG is going at Zeta', it could have been their road block too.
ReplyDeleteAnyway you look at this it proofs Mexico is becoming more and more a failed state. Armed men almost in every state causing chaos, freaking somalia or iraq now? I know it looks more like Colombia like or not. I wonder if President Calderon nowww realizes he has a major problem in his country instead of being so proud and turning the other way. For sure this will make Mexico even more a less traveled country to go to.
ReplyDeleteColombia was not like this in its worst moments. My wife is Colombiana. This is disgusting to her. She tells me of how the Colombians love their soldiers and respect them for fighting the FARC. Please don't paint the world with the brush of misinformation. Americans are too quick to use the television as their source of information. If you are not in the moment then please reserve your judgement.
ReplyDeleteI C E
ReplyDeleteImmigration Customs Enforcment.
Their job is at the border and not south of the border.
Were they really I C E agents in a diplomatic vehicle?
Pakistan arrested some spooks as well in Lahore for killing Pakis and oh, they were also diplomats in diplomat vehicles.O_O
It is a tragic but that is the nmae of the game. Look at how many federal agents, mayors, policemen and politicians Mexico has lost.
Big mama used to say," If you can't stand the heat, get out of the k......."
Id like to know if they were popped with American Guns and American Bullets
ReplyDeleteI also wondered how do they know for sure these are Zetas and not another cartel? Also, that's a major Federal highway. How can it be that a "fake" military checkpoint could be set up so easily? A gf of mine has these concerns when going from Acapulco to Zihuatinejo. I guess the fake military thing is growing.
ReplyDeleteIt's such a typical liberal posture to sit here and analyze whether they were targeted or if it was a car jacking. Who cares!! The bottom line is they took out one of our guys unprovoked and we have the resources, money, technology and ability from satelite to go back and zoom in on what happened at that location and the ability under cover to go in and take out some of these guys. Shit, if Mexicans can sneak into our country so easily, why can't some black opps guys sneak into Mexico for a quick hit.
Wow all of you guys are a bunch of idiots. The facts are that they keep killing anyone who rolls down there. They don't care who they are. I'm really getting board reading this blog. It's the same shit everyday. Everyone is an expert and everyone just talks out of there ass. The facts are that all of you guys commenting on this just fuels the fire even more. You don't think that the Narco's don't read this. Not just you guys everyone that comments on here thinks they know what is really going on but you don't. Shit I don't! Most of the people who comment on here are either some kid that says shit like "Die Zeta scum" or some middle aged fat fuck who lives in his moms basement. No real experts! I know that I'm not. The fact of the matter is that it is a very tragic situation and there is no real way to stop it. America and other countries want drugs and Mexico has them, you can't stop the supply and demand. It's going to continue and our friends and families are going to keep dying. It is very fucking tragic but it's the truth. Fuck they probably won't even let me post this.
ReplyDeleteanother link to update;
ReplyDeletefollowed from subway shop
one car front/back slammed on brakes causing crash...door automactically unlocked and window ACCIDENTLY opened...I posted one update on Smurf's and ovemex story this is different.
http://www.npr.org/2011/02/18/133855001/for-immigration-agents-slaying-highlights-perils
@Anonymous... February 17, 2011 10:30 PM
ReplyDeleteWow, tell us how you really feel. Just for the record, a lot of us who are concerned about this aren't xenophobic twits. It's a shame folks like this are the face the American public thinks of when any of us try to bring up the border issue and talk about the atrocities being committed. Human is human, I don't want this stuff going on either side of the border, too many good people. If it continues though there is no doubt the US will get involved in a big way, for better or worse. I personally think a military solution is a very bad idea and would produce the opposite of what we want, the cartels are too imbedded, the narco culture too worshipped among the young, and corruption at all levels too high. What's needed is a sea change in culture, jobs, and education. That's a long term slog, not an easy carpet bomb solution. And the fact is, the solution must come from the very people in Mexico that are already so compromised ethically. Remember Marisela Escobeda, Álvaro Sandoval, the people of Ascencion, etc., there is some small hope.
The reason the Zetas keep coming up, is by the way they operate. They think everything around them is theirs, they are not good drug dealers, so they make their money from stealing, kidnapping, and protection money. CDG is not dumb enough to kill a couple of American Agents, they know the consequences too well. All they need to do is look at Osiel Cardenas and what happened to him, you dont mess with the US. Just like the attacks on the State Dept workers last year, the only cartels that are dumb enough to do something like this are the ones that are on the losing end. I dont care what people say, but the La Linea is surviving on crumbs. La Linea and Los Zetas tend to do stupid things all the time, why? lack of communication, feeling of being cornered? We dont know...
ReplyDeletewow Cesar, all those words and absolutely nothing to say apart from what idiots you think we all are.
ReplyDeleteIs it a very tragic situation? and here i was thinking it is all a barrel of laughs fit for kids television.
And Americans are the main customers are they?
You need to become a detective my friend and stop wasting your time feeding us morons with such hard to find truths, your intellect is profound and totaly wasted on us idiots.
One thing you did say that is the truth is that none of us know what is really going on in mexico......but we all are trying to find out.
So please, enlighten us if you can?
This is a good example of how you have become used to all the killing. Fourteen comments and not one RIP for the guy who got killed because he had it coming because 1) he was probably a spy 2) he was involved in drugs 3) he/they were stupid to be driving in Mexico 4) they were gringos/pochos 5) they should have stayed out of Mexico 6) they were not armed 6) all of the above. You should be ashamed. People express views online that they would never express in person to strangers because they know they cannot be held accountable. Weak!
ReplyDeleteFake shooting....fake story..stop lapping up the propaganda kool-aid! Look at the facts you mental midgets, first, you cant roll windows down in an armored car, the glass is at least 4 inches thick, second, armored cars do not automatically unlock when put into park, third, they were supposedly pinned in by two vehicles and men with ak -47s and he rolls down the window?(that cant be rolled down..hint,hint) no my friends, the pragandists are planting their stories and you cant see that? Instead of questioning the complete discrepancies and why your being lied to, you just open your fat lazy unknowlegable minds and drink..wake up folks..the U.S elite are not content with crumbs from the drug trade..no...they want the whole pie..wake up folks..
ReplyDelete