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BORDER REGION
BORDER PATROL
Annual fashion show set
Pot bundles seized
Theme to focus on Texas towns By PHILIP BALLI THE ZAPATA TIMES
A date has been set for Border Region Behavioral Health Center’s biggest and only fundraiser of the year. The 24th annual Administrative Professional Style Show Luncheon will be held at the Laredo Country Club on April 27 from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. The theme for this year’s fashion show is ‘Too Many Little Towns in Texas,’ according to Jo-Ann Kahn, president of the volunteer services council for Border Region. “This year’s them is going to focus on the state of Texas and all of the wonderful little towns we have,” Kahn said. “We have a group of ladies who always put on fantastic shows.” Last year, the council organized a glitzy show entitled, ‘Movie Classics at the Oscars,’ which featured themes from ‘Breakfast at Tiffany’s,’ ‘Casablanca,’ ‘The Good, The Bad and The Ugly,’ ‘Gentlemen Prefer Blondes,’ ‘Goldfinger’ and ‘The Great Gatsby.’ More than 300 people attended the event. “Our primary purpose with the fashion show event is to raise money for things we want to be able to fund for our clients, such as the Border Olympics, parties during the holidays and school supply drives,” Kahn said. “Any thing the state does not fund, we try to raise the money ourselves.” Texas lacks the funds to fully support state mental health center, so the volunteer services council creates activities to raise funds to assist people who otherwise would have no access. There will be a raffle in addition to this year’s fashion show and luncheon. Prizes include a weeklong stay at the Silverleaf Seaside Resort in Galveston, a gold and diamond bracelet, a framed wildlife photograph by local photographer Butch Ramirez and more. An array of paintings done by Border Region clients will also be up for sale during the luncheon. Paty C. Orduña, head of the Art in Health Program Border Region offers all its clients said the bigger paintings will be sold for up to $60 and the smaller paintings will range between $25 and $40.
Contraband weighed 1,779 pounds and valued at $1.4M SPECIAL TO THE TIMES
Border Patrol said Monday that agents and Texas Parks and Wildlife have seized about 1,780 pounds of marijuana in the Zapata area. Agents assigned to the Zapata Station responded to a location Thursday where they saw a suspicious truck leaving the area, Border Patrol said. When they conducted a search of the location, they recovered 64 bundles abandoned in the brush. An additional 15 bundles were recovered from the vehicle leaving the area. A total of 79 bundles were recovered. The bundles tested positive for marijuana. The contraband weighed 1,779 pounds and has a street value of $1,429,921. The narcotics were turned over to DEA and the vehicle was seized by Border Patrol. “We encourage everyone to report any suspicious activity in their community. Together, we can continue to disrupt these criminal organizations,” said Chief Patrol Agent Mario Martinez.
Courtesy photo
These marijuana bundles were recovered by Border Patrol in Zapata. The narcotics were turned over to DEA and the vehicle was seized by Border Patrol.
BAD BREED 4-H PROSPECT SHOW FOR LAMBS AND GOATS
GRAND CHAMPION GOATS From left: Carlos Barrera, Gaby Salinas, Elicia Perez, Tori Perez, and Chelsea Cremar pose for a photo Saturday morning during the Bad Breed 4-H Prospect Show for Lambs and Goats at LIFE Downs Pavilion. Carlos Barrera, of Zapata, placed first, taking the Class V Grand Champion Goat title. Cremar placed second with the Class V Reserve Grand Champion Goat title.
Photo by Victor Strife | The Zapata Times
See SHOW PAGE 9A
IMMIGRATION LAWS
Terrorism affects criminal immigrant focus and policy By JAY ROOT THE TEXAS TRIBUNE
Photo by Martin do Nascimento | Texas Tribune
A group of undocumented Mexican national ex-offenders enter Mexico at the USMexico border crossing at Brownsville/Matamoros after being deported.
Juan Francisco de Luna Vasquez passed through the Webb County jail at least four times on more than a half dozen charges before allegedly beating his wife to death with a hammer last year in Laredo. Victor Reyes had already spent three months in the Hidalgo County Jail, four months
in state custody and six years in federal prison for multiple felony offenses by the time he went on a random shooting spree in Houston, killing two people and injuring three more in January 2015. And before Juan Francisco Lopez-Sanchez allegedly shot Kate Steinle to death on Pier 14 in San Francisco last summer, authorities say he had racked up a criminal record including
seven felonies, mostly drug related, and a 1997 arrest for assault. There are peculiarities to each case, but they have something in common: all three men were thrown out of the country multiple times by federal immigration authorities but returned illegally — through the Texas-Mexico border — before com-
See CRIMINAL PAGE 9A