THE BORDER REPORT

The U.S. Border Patrol went to high alert last night after receiving undisclosed threats along the Arizona border during the Mexican Independence Day celebrations, sources say.

Myself, I can't fathom what they'd consider a "threat" given the context of the border these days. Last week, there was a rumor that someone had taken out a deuce and a half with an RPG round in Matamoros. I also don't know that the threat isn't merely a speculative threat after last year's grenade attacks in Morelia that murdered eight people.

The threat alert seems site-specific to Arizona and Sonora, however. One of the countenance for the threat is the arrest today of Ignacio Paéz, the longtime narco-kingpin who controlled Caborca and the Pinacate Desert for the past few years. His arrest doesn't surprise me much, given the takeover in Caborca two months ago where eleven people were murdered.

I've seen nothing about Paez's arrest in the Mexican press; could be they're trying to keep it quiet (sorry about that, I have a hard time keeping quiet).

Meanwhile, an old ghost resurfaces, if only briefly. Ramon Ontamucha, a former police commander from Agua Prieta turned state cop, was kidnapped with another officer down near Navojoa in the town of Rosario de Tesopaco. Ontamucha was an appointee of Ramon Tacho Verdugo, the Agua Prieta police chief murdered more than two years ago in that border city.

I suppose, if anything (else) goes down, we'll be hearing about it shortly.