PLAYOFFS BEGIN
SATURDAY DECEMBER 31, 2016
FREE
ALABAMA AND WASHINGTON FACE IN PEACH BOWL, BUCKEYES AND TIGERS MEET IN FIESTA BOWL. PAGE B1
DELIVERED EVERY SATURDAY
TO 4,000 HOMES
A HEARST PUBLICATION
ON THE WEB: THEZAPATATIMES.COM
YEAR IN REVIEW
UNITED STATES IMMIGRATION
SURGE OF CENTRAL AMERICANS
Homicide roundup Number increases from 11 to 13 from previous year By Taryn T. Walters L AREDO MORNING TIME S
Eddie Seal / Bloomberg
U.S. Border Patrol agents speak to suspected immigrants near the U.S.-Mexico border in McAllen, Texas, U.S., on Wednesday, Dec. 21. A security surge along the U.S.-Mexico border will use "a military-style approach" with more Border Patrol agents, barriers and sensors and new authorities for law enforcement agencies, House Homeland Security Chairman Michael McCaul said.
Helped drive a 23 percent increase in arrests during the 2016 year By Elliot Spagat A S SOCIAT E D PRE SS
SAN DIEGO — Central Americans attempting to enter the United States illegally on the nation’s border with Mexico helped drive a 23 percent increase in U.S. Border Patrol arrests during the 2016 fiscal year, according to figures released Friday. Apprehensions surged to 415,816 during the 12-month period ended Sept. 30 from a 44-year-low of 337,117 during the same period a year earlier, the U.S. Department of Home-
land Security said. Still, the most recent numbers represent the Border Patrol’s fifth-lowest arrest tally since 1972 and were far below numbers seen in the late 1990s and early 2000s. The number of Central Americans stopped during the 2016 fiscal year by the Border Patrol surpassed the number of Mexicans, as it did for the first time in 2014. Many were families and unaccompanied children from El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras that Homeland Security says are fleeing poverty and violence, a shift from Central continues on A12
MURDER-SUICIDE
Deaths of 3 people in Houston house fire seen as suspicious
The Laredo Police Department recorded 13 homicides this year, a small increase from 11 in 2015. This year’s youngest victim was Alexus Nicole Zepeda, 17. She was a victim in one of two double homicides. The homicides stunned the city when two young couples’ bodies were discovered abandoned in a vacant lot in the Lakeside Subdivision and a grassy area in an east Laredo neighborhood. Antonio Gonzalez, 53, was the eldest and the city’s first reported homicide. He was shot and killed during a home invasion. The two young men arrested in connection to his death, Alexis Guzman, 18, and Rogelio Peña III, 19, were later linked to a joint investigation initiated in late 2015 by the Laredo Police Department narcotics division targeting young adult offenders smuggling narcotics and immigrants along the Rio Grande. The year’s last homicide was a fatal shooting caused by the Laredo Police Department after Homicide continues on A11
HOUSTON — Houston police are investigating the deaths of three people in a house fire as a possible murder-suicide. Homicide officers and a bomb squad have been at the scene of the Friday morning blaze where a married couple and one of their parents were found dead. Fire department Houston continues on A11
James Nielsen / Houston Chronicle
A Houston Police Department homicide detective works at the scene of a fatal fire in 1300 block of Richelieu Dec. 30 in Houston.
Guzman
Herrejon
Luna
Peña
Sanchez
Vasquez
Yruegas
CBP
Over $400K in pot seized at World Trade Bridge SPECIAL TO THE TIME S
A S S OCIAT E D PRE SS
CortezMercado
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers at World Trade Bridge discovered over $400,000 in alleged marijuana in a commercial shipment of plastic boxes. “Our CBP officers remain vigilant as they continue to successfully keep narcotics from entering our country,” said Port Director Gregory Alvarez, Laredo Port of Entry. “I thank our CBP officers for their diligence and commit-
ment to carry out our mission on a daily basis.” The seizure occurred on Thursday, December 29, when a CBP officer referred a tractor trailer hauling a commercial shipment of plastic boxes for a non-intrusive inspection. A canine and non-intrusive inspection by CBP officers resulted in the discovery of 98 packages allegedly containing 2,317 pounds of alleged marijuana concealed within a front false wall compartment of the trailer. CBP continues on A12