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Pot busts worth $200K Former BP By NICK GEORGIOU LAREDO MORNING TIMES
Local law enforcement kicked off the new year with a significant drug bust Monday in Zapata and Webb counties, authorities said. The drug seizure, coordinated by sheriff’s deputies in both counties, netted a total of about 290 pounds of marijuana worth almost $200,000. Martin Cuellar, Webb County sheriff, said the seizure happened after Zapata authorities received a report saying there were suspicious men loading something into two vehicles. Acting on the tip, Zapata sheriff’s deputies
went to the reported location in the 1200 block of Juarez Street and spotted one of the suspect vehicles. According to the offense report, a deputy pulled over the driver for a traffic violation at about 3:40 p.m. Upon searching the driver and veCUELLAR hicle, the deputy found 102 pounds of marijuana worth an estimated $30,000. The driver, identified as Miguel Dominguez, of the 400 block of Jackson Street, was arrested and charged with possession of marijuana between 50 pounds and 2,000
pounds, a second-degree felony. Cuellar said Zapata sheriff’s deputies were then able to get information saying the other suspect vehicle, a white Dodge pickup, was heading toward Laredo on U.S. 83. At about 4:30 p.m., Webb County sheriff’s deputies spotted the pickup about 3½ miles outside Laredo city limits. Maru De La Paz, Webb County Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman, said deputies tried to pull over the vehicle for a traffic violation, but the driver refused to stop and sped off. She said that shortly thereafter, the driver lost control of the vehicle and struck a tree.
See BUST | PAGE 10A
agent faces prison, fine By JASON BUCH LAREDO MORNING TIMES
A former Border Patrol agent who was serving in Zapata pleaded guilty earlier this week to accepting bribes in exchange for escorting a load of cocaine through Zapata County. Leonel Morales, 30, was assigned to the Zapata Station when FBI agents arrested him in December. Morales pleaded guilty Tuesday before a U.S. magistrate judge to one count of bribery. He faces up to 15 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. FBI agents arrested Morales, who was stationed in Zapata, and his cousin Salomon Ruiz, 34, a Border Patrol agent in McAllen, on bribery and drug smuggling charges Dec. 3, after prosecutors in Houston unsealed an indictment against them. Morales took $9,000 from a person who is a cooperating witness in exchange for providing counter surveillance for traf-
Morales took $9,000 from a person who is a cooperating witness in exchange for providing counter surveillance ... fickers moving a 20-kilogram load of cocaine while serving as a Border Patrol agent in August, according to testimony in Tuesday’s plea hearing. Ruiz recruited Morales in June to escort the coke for a trafficker who was actually cooperating with federal agents, according to a plea agreement read in court Tuesday by Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Wright.
See AGENT | PAGE 10A
Photo by Ulysses S. Romero | Laredo Morning Times
Left to right Rio Bravo children Gustavo Quiroz, Eric Cantu and Alex Ramos enjoy a warm meal thanks to the hard work of South Texas Food Bank and programs like Kids Cafe at the Rio Bravo Community Center.
FOOD PROGRAMS HELP CHILDREN (Editor’s note: United Way is funding 25 agencies in Laredo and Zapata with its 2008-09 campaign. This is the last in a series about the agencies and the people they help.)
Texas Monthly names El Paraiso to a top-40 list
By CHRISTINA ROSALES LAREDO MORNING TIMES
hildren from all over El Cenizo walk to El Cenizo Community Center. Some head to the indoor courts to play basketball — perhaps a future NBA star is among them. A few children make their way to the computer lab. Maybe a future Michael Dell is sitting at one of the desks. For now, Ricardo Molina, director of El Cenizo Community Center, is concerned with giving these children a safe and comfortable environment to eat, learn and play, catalysts for future academic and career success. “We’re trying to provide something extra for the kids when they get out of school, a little snack so they can go home and be focused and happy,” said Molina, who runs the Ramon Galo and Zoe Benavides Kids Café at the community center. The Kids Café is a product of the South Texas Food Bank and the Laredo Housing Authority. The first six cafes were founded in 2000 in several Laredo community centers. The food bank added five more Kids Cafés, including the El Cenizo café in 2006, with the help of local benefactors. Molina has worked with community organizations for 11 years and has been the center’s director for five years. He said he enjoys assisting families and
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By JASON BUCH THE ZAPATA TIMES
Photo by Ricardo Segovia | Laredo Morning Times
Juan Garcia, left, watches as his friend Pedro Ramos calculates a shot at the Community Center at El Cenizo after they enjoyed a meal at the Ramon Galo and Zoe Benavides Kids Café. helping the community progress. The director of the community center said the Kids Café would not be possible without a caring staff committed to fighting hunger. “I have my staff that provides a lot of help,” Molina said. “Then we have all of our sponsors like John Galo and his wife. They’re trying to help keep the kids off the street and trying to feed them, help them out with whatever. We don’t have starving kids. We do have kids that need a little bit of attention.” Molina said he encourages children to study hard and do their best in school. Tutoring, reading and computers are all available at the Kids Café.
During the summer, children who are members of the El Cenizo Boys & Girls Club ate breakfast and lunch and had a snack at the Kids Café. “They go and enjoy their food,” said Maria del Carmen Cisneros, director of the Boys & Girls Club of El Cenizo. “They like to have the Kids Café. They don’t have too many of these kinds of programs in El Cenizo so this Kids Café helps the community. The income is very low here, so it really helps the parents out.” Most days, children receive hearty homemade meals, cooked by Molina’s secretary. “My secretary usually cooks rice and envueltos and different stuff, homemade, and the kids love it,” he said.
While his secretary was on vacation, children still received filling meals. Some days it was hot pockets with lemonade and small bags of cookies, other days it was ham and cheese sandwiches with fruit and soda. “With the money from the county, we’re able to do this,” Molina said. “The food bank gives us the food at a bargain price. Commissioner (Frank) Sciaraffa is the one that headed this program and then carried out these programs in other places. It’s a good benefit for the kids.” For more information about the South Texas Food Bank or programs such as the Kids Café, call 726-3120 or visit http://southtexasfoodbank.org
Juan Mercado’s El Paraiso restaurant does bustling business almost every day during the lunch hour, so it’s hard to believe a top-40 listing in Texas Monthly magazine would make a huge impact. But he says a couple drove in all the way from San Antonio to try the Paraiso Special featured in the Texas Monthly article.
A buzz It’s generated quite a buzz. “Since the article, we’ve got a lot of new people,” he said of his restaurant, located on U.S. 83 on the west side of town. The magazine named El Paraiso one of the 40 best smalltown cafes in its December issue. The write-up featured a photo of the Paraiso Special and praise for the restaurant’s already famous, at least in South Texas, chicken fried steak. “People come all the way from Laredo for chicken fried steak,” Mercado said. “When the Valley schools come to play in Laredo, rather than eat in Laredo (they stop at El Paraiso).”
As a testament to the restaurant’s food, there are often people waiting for tables at peak hours. “People don’t mind waiting for good food,” Mercado said.
A family tradition Mercado’s mother, Hortencia Medina, opened the restaurant in 1974, he said. Twenty years later, they opened a larger location. Mercado left Zapata to study elementary education, but came back to work at the restaurant, and eventually took over when his mom passed away in 2004. Her picture hangs on the wall behind the café counter. Good food and good service have always been the secret to El Paraiso’s success, Mercado said. “Everyone who walks through here is a special customer,” he said. “We treat them the best way possible.” The woman who reviewed his restaurant didn’t tell him she was doing so for Texas Monthly until a week after eating there, when she called him to interview him about the restaurant, Mercado said. (To reach Jason Buch, e-mail jbuch@lmtonline.com)