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FEDERAL CRIME
IMMIGRATION
Drug group bust 24 alleged traffickers arrested by authorities By PHILIP BALLI THE ZAPATA TIMES
Twenty-four Laredoans who were alleged members of a drug trafficking group have been arrested and charged with multiple violations of federal law. According to the indictment, the
organization was responsible for distributing cocaine, crack and marijuana throughout the Laredo area, maintaining drug premises and utilizing minor to distribute the narcotics. The indictment alleges the conspiracy spanned from January 2012 to April 2014. The suspects were identified as:
Adan “12” Melendez, 38 Gerardo “Jerry” Melendez, 31 Rafael “Lito” Andres Melendez, Mario Alberto Melendez, 34 Mario “Chito” Alberto Gutierrez, 38
Hidalgo County Constable Lazaro Gallardo Jr., and a deputy talk to a 4-year-old boy and his 17-year-old uncle from Honduras, who approached Gallardo after crossing the Rio Grande from Mexico.
See ARRESTS PAGE 10A
$1.57B extra for migrants
OREGON SHOOTING
WHEN DOES IT END? Another gunman claims one By NIGEL DUARA & JONATHAN COOPER ASSOCIATED PRESS
TROUTDALE, Ore. — A teen gunman armed with a rifle shot and killed a student Tuesday and injured a teacher before he likely killed himself at a high school in a quiet Columbia River town in Oregon, authorities said. After the shooting stopped, police spotted the suspect slumped on a toilet in a bathroom but couldn’t see what was happening with him. Officers used a robot with a camera to investigate and discovered the suspect was dead and that he had likely killed himself, Troutdale, police spokesman Sgt. Carey Kaer said. Authorities have tentatively identified the gunman and the slain student, who was found in a locker
Photo by Johnny Hanson/Houston Chronicle | AP
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Photo by Troy Wayrynen | AP
Brandi Wilson, left, and her daughter, Trisha Wilson, 15, right, embrace Trish Hall, a mother waiting for her student, as students arrived at the Fred Meyer grocery store parking lot in Wood Village, Ore., after a shooting at Reynolds High School on Tuesday in nearby Troutdale. room at Reynolds High School, but the names were being withheld until their families were notified, police Chief Scott Anderson said. The teacher’s injuries weren’t life-threatening, and he was treated at the scene. He was identified as Todd Rispler, a 50-yearold physical education instructor and former track Associated Press
See SHOOTING PAGE 10A
By SUSAN CARROLL & DAVID MCCUMBER HEARST NEWSPAPERS
The Obama administration plans to ask Congress for an additional $1.57 billion to deal with the steep influx of children caught crossing the border illegally and alone in the 2015 fiscal year. The bulk of the additional requested funding — some $1.4 billion — would go to the Department of Health and Human Service’s Office of Refugee Resettlement, which is responsible for the long-term care and placement of unaccompanied children, senior administration officials said. The resettlement agency’s budget for the care of unaccompanied children has ballooned over the past decade — from some $35 million in 2003 to $868 million this year. The administration had requested the same amount for 2015, but the number of children pouring into the system has skyrocketed, officials said, overwhelming the government’s detention network and busting the budget. Rep. Henry Cuellar, DLaredo, a member of the Appropriations Committee, said, “I don’t know why the White House didn’t do a better job of anticipating this. Their initial request wasn’t off by a thousand dollars, it was off by $1.4
billion. So you can see why we have to look very carefully at this.” Along with an additional $1.4 billion for the Office of Refugee Resettlement, the Department of Homeland Security also is asking for $166 million to help cover expenses, including overtime and transportation, officials said. “This recent increase in unaccompanied children has created an acute humanitarian situation,” Brian Deese, deputy director of the White House Office of Management and Budget, wrote in a May 30 letter to Sen. Barbara Mikulski, D-Maryland, the chairwoman of the Senate appropriations committee, detailing the need for additional funding. “The entire administration is focused on addressing the immediate and pressing challenges to make sure these children are appropriately cared for, as required by federal law.”
Panel to mull request Cuellar said he expects the Department of Homeland Security’s appropriation bill to be marked up in committee Wednesday. “We’ll see if we can give Homeland some help, and we’ll do more work on this when it reaches the conference committee,” Cuellar
See MIGRANTS PAGE 10A
CRIME
Man arrested for alleged immigrant transport By CÉSAR G. RODRIGUEZ THE ZAPATA TIMES
A Zapata County resident accused of transporting immigrants to a South Laredo Walmart has been arrested, court records obtained this week state. A criminal complaint filed
June 2 charges David Lynn Moncivais, 31, with transporting illegal immigrants within the United States with a motor vehicle. He is in federal custody. The charges date back to May 29. That morning, a Department of Public Safety trooper pulled over a gold 2001 Chevrolet Silve-
rado about a half-mile south of Rio Bravo for failing to maintain a single lane violation and use of vision reducing matter on windows. A warning citation was issued for the charges, court records state. The trooper allegedly noticed that Moncivais had 12 passengers
inside the Silverado. None of the passengers were properly secured with a seatbelt, the complaint states. Homeland Security Investigations special agents and task force officers arrived at the scene, and Moncivais was identified as the main suspect, according to court records.
The 12 passengers were allegedly determined to be undocumented immigrants — 11 Mexican nationals and one woman from El Salvador. In a post-arrest interview, Moncivais, without having an attorney present, said
See TRANSPORT PAGE 10A