Indian Militants Burn Trucks in Southern Chile

SANTIAGO – Three trucks and an excavator were set on fire Thursday in the southern Chilean region of Araucania by a group of at least six armed Mapuche Indian militants wearing hoods, police said.

Left behind at the scene was a message demanding the release of a pair of Mapuche brothers who are in custody in connection with the January 2013 arson deaths of an elderly couple.

Celestino Cordova, a “machi,” or shaman, was convicted and sentenced to 18 years in prison for the deadly blaze, which came against the backdrop of a conflict that has seen militants in Araucania torch vehicles, highway toll booths and lumber shipments as part of a struggle to reclaim lands the Mapuches lost during a 19th century “pacification” campaign.

A sibling of Cordova was among 10 other Mapuches arrested Wednesday on suspicion of involvement in the Jan. 4, 2013, fire that resulted in the deaths of Werner Luchsinger Lemp, 75, and his wife, Vivian Mackay Gonzalez, 69.

No one was hurt in Thursday’s attack, police Maj. Carlos Ramirez told Radio Bio Bio, adding that a search for the perpetrators was in progress.

The conflict in Araucania has claimed the lives of Mapuche activists, police and farmers, while dozens of indigenous people have been sent to prison for attacks and setting vehicles ablaze, along with burning agricultural and lumbering machinery, rural properties and forests, among other crimes.

Mapuches make up around 650,000 of Chile’s 17 million people and are concentrated in Araucania and greater Santiago.

Security Forces Rescue 19 Migrants in Northeast Mexico

MEXICO CITY – Mexican security forces rescued 19 migrants – 15 Central Americans and four Mexicans – in Reynosa, a border city in the northeastern state of Tamaulipas, the Tamaulipas Coordination Group said.

The migrants were found on Friday at a residence in Reynosa, located across the Rio Grande from McAllen, Texas, thanks to a tip from the public, the joint state-federal agency said in a statement.

“The migrants said they had been kept locked up in dangerous conditions as they waited to cross the Rio Bravo (Rio Grande) into the territory of the United States,” the agency said.

Twelve of the migrants are from El Salvador, two are from Honduras and one is from Guatemala, while the Mexicans are from the western state of Jalisco, the Tamaulipas Coordination Group said.

The migrants were turned over to the National Migration Institute, or INM, for processing.

Tens of thousands of Central Americans undertake the hazardous journey across Mexico each year on their way to the United States.

The trek is a dangerous one, with criminals and corrupt Mexican officials preying on the migrants.

Gangs kidnap, exploit and murder migrants, who are often targeted in extortion schemes, Mexican officials say.

Japan Selects Seven Ninjas from 235 Contenders from 40 Countries

TOKYO – The authorities of Japan’s Aichi prefecture have selected seven ninja warriors, from 235 contenders from 40 countries, to carry out martial arts demonstrations and boost tourism in the region.

Following auditions earlier this week, six Japanese – five men and a woman – and an American have been selected as the new ninjas who will use their skills to entertain tourists in Aichi (central Japan), local authorities said Friday.

The ninjas will receive $1,604 per month and will demonstrate their martial art skills at the historic Nagoya castle or at the Nagoya airport.

The job advertisement last month had grabbed attention in the international media, ensuring 85 percent of the applicants were foreigners, including 38 from the United States, 29 from Russia, 12 from Italy, six from Latin America, and some from Africa.

Around 24 of the 235 candidates were selected for the audition that was held in the city of Tokoname, and 29-year-old Chris O’Neill was the only one to be selected from among the foreign contenders.

The “ninjitsu,” or the art of ninja, originated in the 7th century among groups of popular resistance in the Iga Mountains in western Japan, and reached its peak in the 17th century when they were secretly hired by rulers of that time to destabilize enemy forces.

Today the ancient ninja techniques, and particularly their strict discipline, are preserved and taught in a few Japanese martial arts academies.

Iraqi Army Kills 27 IS Jihadists in Mosul

MOSUL, Iraq – The Iraqi army announced on Friday that they have successfully stopped an attack by the Islamic State in the northern Iraqi province of Nineveh and killed 27 jihadists in the process, a security official told EFE.

The spokesman of operations command for the liberation of Nineveh, Gen. Feras Sabry, said the terrorists attacked the vehicles of an Iraqi army brigade.

He said that security forces were able to stop the attack and killed 27 IS fighters, including two suicide bombers, adding that Iraqi forces and the U.S.-led international coalition bombed the terrorists who fled after the foiled attack, without giving further details.

Meanwhile, three Iraqi policemen were also killed and four wounded in an attack by a car bomb in Nineveh on Friday.

CBP Canine Sniffs out 52 lbs of Meth in Car

Release Date: 

March 29, 2016

A CBP narcotics detection canine alerted officers to the discovery of nearly 52 pounds of meth within the vehicle rocker panels of a smuggling vehicle

TUCSON, Ariz. – Customs and Border Protection officers arrested a Mexican national on March 24 for attempting to smuggle almost 52 pounds of methamphetamine through the Dennis DeConcini crossing at the Port of Nogales.

Officers inspecting the vehicle of a 42-year-old woman found multiple packages of meth after a CBP narcotics-detection canine alerted to the drugs hidden inside the vehicle’s rocker panels when she attempted to enter the U.S.  

Officers seized the drugs and vehicle, and turned the subject – a legal permanent resident – over to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations.

CBP Stops New Mexico Woman With Cocaine Load

EL PASO, Texas -- U.S. Customs and Border Protection Office of Field Operations officers working at the El Paso port of entry made a 12.2 pound cocaine seizure Tuesday. A 34-year-old female U.S. citizen from Albuquerque was taken into custody. The estimated street value of the seized contraband is $390,400.

“The thorough homeland security inspections CBP officers perform often generate other enforcement activity,” said Beverly Good, CBP El Paso Port Director. “During the first two days of the week CBP officers have identified 12 drug loads seizing 576 pounds of marijuana, 12.2 pounds of cocaine and 1.2 pounds of methamphetamine.”

The cocaine seizure was made just before 9 a.m. when a 2004 Ford Taurus with a lone driver arrived at the Ysleta international crossing from Mexico. A CBP officer at the primary inspection station selected the vehicle for a secondary exam. CBP drug sniffing dog “Tiran” searched the car and alerted to the upper trunk area of the vehicle. CBP officers scanned the vehicle with the Z-portal x-ray system and spotted an anomaly in the area between the rear seat and trunk. CBP officers continued their exam and located a compartment behind the rear set. A total of five cocaine-filled bundles were removed from the compartment.

CBP officers arrested the driver, Francis Jaramillo, of Albuquerque, New Mexico. She was turned over to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement HSI special agents to face charges associated with the failed drug smuggling attempt.

While anti-terrorism is the primary mission of U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the inspection process at the ports of entry associated with this mission results in impressive numbers of enforcement actions in all categories.

Cross-Border Tunnel Found in Nogales, Arizona

TUCSON, Arizona – The U.S. Border Patrol on Tuesday reported finding a cross-border tunnel that originally had been discovered by Mexican authorities, who then provided information on it to U.S. immigration authorities so they could perform their own investigation.

Following up on the tip provided by Mexico, Border Patrol agents found the tunnel stretching approximately 10 meters (yards) into U.S. territory just east of the Morley pedestrian crossing point in Nogales, Arizona, which is known as the “drug tunnel capital.”

On Monday, in a cooperative action between the Border Patrol and Mexican authorities, the tunnel measuring 24.4 meters (about 80 feet) in length, all told, was found to be unfinished.

Since the first such illegal tunnel was found in 1990 in Douglas, Arizona, U.S. authorities have found more than 115 tunnels, 110 of them in the Nogales area, and have managed to seize more than 17,500 pounds of drugs that were being smuggled through them.

During the current fiscal year, which began on Oct. 1, authorities in the Tucson sector have found or been tipped off to three tunnels.

U.S. authorities said in a statement that agents put their lives in danger when they enter the tunnels to investigate them.