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LOS ZETAS DRUG CARTEL
ZAPATA COUNTY
Capo surrenders
Two men transported immigrants
Second-in-command claims life is in danger By JOSHUA FECHTER SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS
A man suspected of being second-in-command of the Zetas drug cartel surrendered to Mexican federal police on Tuesday near the Texas-Mexico border, claiming his life was in danger. Federal police captured Jonathan Abbid Espinoza Ayala, also known as "El Jonas," while patrolling
near the internalife. tional bridge that Police then connects Matamosearched Ayala’s ros in the state of name and found Tamaulipas to he is a leading Brownsville, acmember of the cording to a news Zetas cartel, the release. release said. Ayala initially Ayala told infled from officers vestigators that when he saw he had left CiuAYALA them there, but dad Victoria in Tathen ran towards maulipas after rethem when they pursued ceiving threats from other and said he feared for his Zetas members.
The cartel leader’s arrest comes days after the arrest of Angel Eduardo Prado Rodriguez, a Gulf cartel faction leader known as “Ciclon 7,” in Ciudad Victoria last week. A recently declassified DEA report shows that the Gulf cartel dominates the state of Tamaulipas, while the Zetas cartel remains dominant in the neighboring states of Nuevo León and Coahuila.
SOUTH TEXAS
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
Border Patrol agents take custody of 11 people without documentation By CÉSAR G. RODRIGUEZ THE ZAPATA TIMES
Two men were recently arrested in Zapata County for transporting immigrants who had crossed the border illegally, court records state. Juan Bautista and Juan Gonzalez were charged with transporting illegal immigrants, states a criminal complaint filed against them Monday. Both were transporting 11 immigrants. U.S. Border Patrol agents encountered the group at about 11:15 p.m. Oct. 16 while conducting still watch operations south of Zapata. Agents said they observed several people boarding a pickup,
which then began traveling north on U.S. 83. Agents later located a vehicle matching the description. Records state agents observed several people attempting to conceal themselves in the bed of the pickup and the passenger compartment. Agents took custody of 11 immigrants with no legal documentation to remain in the United States. Bautista and Gonzalez were identified as the suspected smugglers. Both allegedly agreed to be interviewed by Homeland Security Investigations special agents. Records state both admitted to transporting immigrants for financial compensation.
US-MEXICO BORDER
Photo by Todd Heisler | New York Times file
A U.S. Border Patrol vehicle is shown at the Mexico-U.S. border near McAllen, Texas, March 25, 2014.
Photo by Rebecca Blackwell | AP
A couple looks out to sea as rainfall increases with the approach of Hurricane Patricia in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, Friday. Hurricane Patricia barreled toward southwestern Mexico Friday as a monster Category 5 storm. See related stories, pages 9A and 12A.
By AARON NELSEN
Hurricane Patricia to bring thunderstorms THE ZAPATA TIMES
A “significant flood event” is possible across South Texas this weekend, according to the National Weather Service. Zapata has a 90 percent chance of rain Saturday. A flash flood watch is in effect for Zapata County from Saturday morning through Sunday evening. “Several inches of rainfall in a short period of time will cause small streams and arroyos to fill quickly to bankfull... and possible overflow over the banks,” a press release issued by the National Weather Service in Brownsville reads. “Low-lying and poor drainage areas are especially at risk for flash flooding.” Two to 4 inches of rainfall is expected along the Rio Grande and 6 to 8 inches is possible over the coastal bend, according to the National Weather Ser-
vice. Temperatures will dip as well, as thunderstorms move through the area. A high of 79 is expected in Zapata on Saturday. A wave of heavy rain is expected to intensify over the middle third of Texas as a major Pacific hurricane jets moisture into the state. Hurricane Patricia, a category 5 storm, made landfall near Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, on Friday and is expected to move northeast toward South Texas. That was to combine with an upper-level disturbance associated with a cold front. The result: downpours of 5 to 8 inches with isolated pockets of 10 to 12 inches in the Texas Hill Country and along the Interstate 35 corridor from the Austin-San Antonio area to the Dallas-Fort Worth area. Flash flood watches have been issued for those areas.
10,000 apprehended last month SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS
Photo by Cesar Rodriguez | AP
As people begin to arrive, men try to secure the windows at a makeshift shelter from Hurricane Patricia, in Puerto Vallarta. Meanwhile, a coastal flood advisory has been issued for the upper Texas Gulf Coast from Palacios to Sabine Pass, where tidal rise of more than 4 feet is possible, flooding coastal roads. Up to 3 inches of rain was reported in the cattle country west of Fort Worth on Thursday, and a handful of high school football games were postponed be-
cause of lightning. Heavy rain in West Texas on Thursday led to flooding that floated several travel trailers and a double-wide mobile home away from an RV park. Upton County Sheriff Dan Brown said nobody was in the trailers during the flooding in Rankin, 60 miles south of Odessa. The occupants safely evacuated.
Almost 10,000 immigrant children and families were caught crossing the border illegally in September, continuing an unseasonably high trend that has raised concerns of persistent migrant flows from Central America. Nevertheless, a year after an unprecedented surge of immigrants from El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras overwhelmed immigration authorities in the Rio Grande Valley, apprehensions of unaccompanied children and families in the last year have each plummeted by 42 percent, according to U.S. Border Patrol data. Total apprehensions of unaccompanied children for fiscal year 2015 — from October 2014 through this September — was 39,970, compared with 68,541 a year ago. Meanwhile, family unit apprehensions dropped to 39,838 in 2015, compared with 68,445 in 2014. And yet, Border Patrol
caught 4,476 unaccompanied minors and 5,273 parents with children in September to end the fiscal year, up significantly from the same month last year. The Department of Homeland Security said it is closely monitoring the uptick of immigrant children and families from Central America at the Southwest border, noting that economic hardship and violence continue to push migration northward. The U.S. government also is waging a $1.2 million international media campaign to caution Central Americans against risking their lives on the journey through Mexico, emphasizing that people who are caught illegally entering the country will be a top priority for removal. “We are aware that smugglers, or “coyotes,” often use misinformation about current immigration policies and practices to lure individuals seeking to cross the border illegally to employ their services,” Border Patrol said in a statement.