THE BORDER REPORT

Over the past two years, the Sonoran government and the Mexican Army have had an uncomfortable relationship, at best studiously ignoring each other. But the seizure of 22 tons of marijuana in the past week in northern Sonora may signal the beginning of an agreement between the two entities. I'm wondering if the crash of an airplane in Caborca two weeks ago didn't prompt the harsh response from the Army. I have some reason to believe, both from sources familiar with the investigation and my own speculation, that the plane was shot down.

In 2005, then President Vicente Fox ordered the troops into northern Mexico to clamp down on the terror of the Gulf Cartel, itself freshly charged with an infusion of Mexican Army Special Forces soldiers and new gains in territory, mainly Nuevo Laredo. But Gov. Eduardo Bours resisted their push to increase the number of soldiers in Sonora. As chief of the governor security committee in Congress, he insisted that what was needed was more intelligence, not more troops and definitely not more checkpoints.

But June 24, a mysterious plane crash happened in Caborca, south of the Tohono O'odham Indian Reservation. The Cessna was flying low, part of the drug task force that hover-inspects the zones from Mexicali to Agua Prieta. Two soldiers and the pilot were onboard.

The plane crashed. There were no survivors. The Army, typically close-mouthed, said little more.

But the ensuing crash investigation also found four tons of pot in a ranch near where the plane crashed. Two days later, the Army disclosed that several dozen rounds were found in the vicinity of the airplane. Nobody has said whether the rounds were used or whole, whether they fell out of ammo box onboard the Cessna or whether they were government-issued 7.62-mms.

What I do know is this; with no explanation whatsoever, the Mexican Army has pounced on Sonoran stash houses, turning up record seizures of dope. Last weekend, 17 tons were discovered in a warehouse in Agua Prieta. The next day, the cavalry regiment in Sasabe nabbed five tons. On a dirt road between the mission town of Tubutama and Altar, another 200 keys were picked up. Another 700 keys were picked up in Agua Prieta this afternoon. In the 34 hours between Saturday morning and Sunday night, 30 tons of marijuana were seized.

The 17 ton seizure is one of the largest in Mexican history. Nobody has claimed to know who the warehouse belonged to but the area has been under the strict control of the Sinaloa Federation, that joint operating agreement of Sinaloan druglords which controls this corridor. The Army, which says nothing most of the time, released information about the "foco rojo" that Altar and Sasabe have become in the past year; essentially labelling this drug route as very, very marked.

The remarks were clearly aimed at the Quintero Paez family in Caborca, and probably the cousin, Nacho Paez, who runs the Altar-Sasabe corridor. It seems clear to me, in my conspiracy-freak mannerisms, that there is a vengeance going on here. It ain't harvest season, that dope was last year's schwag, holed up in Mexico as a cost control. This year's harvest will come in two months. The point being, this stuff's been sitting here for months. But it's only now that the Army is reacting. It's also noticeable that cocaine and meth seizures are as miniscule as ever, described in dozens of kilos and certainly not in tons.

The Army is steadfastly hunting a border mob boss, hitting him where it hurts with mass-ton seizures of dope. And the only time when they reacted this heavily in the past was when they sustained losses.

Like in a plane crash, for instance.

-- Michael Marizco