Mexico City – Drug traffickers – not Mexican soldiers – were responsible for helping marijuana smugglers escape U.S. authorities by fleeing across the Rio Grande, the Mexican government said Wednesday, illustrating the country’s thorny problem with criminals who regularly masquerade as cops or military officials.
Americans were shocked when Texas officials showed photos of men using military- style uniforms and vehicles to escape back into Mexico.
Many immediately assumed Monday’s incident had been Mexican military officials illegally entering U.S. territory.
But the U.S. and Mexican federal governments have said there was no evidence the Mexican military was involved, and Mexican presidential spokesman Ruben Aguilar blamed drug traffickers masquerading as soldiers.
Mexicans weren’t surprised by the allegation.
Kidnappers and drug smugglers in Mexico regularly wear police gear.
Caps, vests and T-shirts bearing official-looking logos for Mexico’s federal police force are sold at street stands, and cops also sometimes rent out uniforms or patrol cars to shakedown artists.
“It’s very easy to go out and buy military uniforms in a store. … It’s very easy to get (uniforms) for any police agency you want to imitate,” said Rodolfo Casillas, a professor at the Latin American School for Social Sciences who specializes in crime studies.
Rick Glancey of the Texas Border Sheriffs’ Coalition said the confrontation took place 50 miles east of El Paso and started when state police tried to stop three sport utility vehicles on Interstate 10. The vehicles made a quick U-turn and headed south toward the border, a few miles away.
When the SUVs reached the Rio Grande, which marks the border, one SUV got stuck in the river. Men in a military-style Humvee tried to tow out the stuck vehicle.
When that failed, a group of men in civilian clothes began unloading from the SUV what appeared to be bundles of marijuana. They then torched the SUV before fleeing.
Monday’s incident resulted in a tense confrontation at a time when anger over U.S.-Mexico border security already is rising. The U.S. is considering extending a wall along its 2,000-mile- long border with Mexico – something Mexico bitterly resents.
