SECRETO A VOCES

Luis Somoza was close to finishing his dream house, a friendly little place in a quiet neighborhood where he’d retire and live out the rest of his life with the family. Make take some day trips up to Tucson for a little shopping and good sushi and just kind of peace out.

And if anyone had any questions about where his nickname, El Quemado, comes from, maybe he’d tell them it came from a bad sunburn he had as a little kid. And the house, chale, a castle really, complete with arched battlements, what looks disturbingly like a prison tower sitting atop, like some dream from the medieval age.

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THE BORDER REPORT

Gotta love this Web site's readers, only they can take citizen journalism to an underground level. Thank you, mi carnál, for passing this photo along of the shot-up truck after yesterday's attack in Cananea.

Outstanding shot and much appreciated. That's as efficient of a strafing as I've ever seen.

Meanwhile, the Mexican Federal Attorney General's Office has issued a "traveler's guide" for Sonora, mainly telling people what to do when confronted with a false checkpoint, El Imparcial reports.

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THE BORDER REPORT

Law enforcement and local sources identified two men who died in a gunfight in Cananea this afternoon as Omar Chavez and Bernardo Acosta, local drug traffickers who've been delving into migrant smuggling in this town for some time.

According to El Imparcial newspaper, one of the trucks had as many as fifty bulletholes, but officially, state police have identified Acosta as the lone dead man.

Expreso newspaper is reporting one high school student died, a victim of the crossfire.

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THE BORDER REPORT

Well, this certainly grabbed my attention.

A group of illegal migrants from Oaxaca report that U.S. Border Patrol agents arrested them and made them march to Mexican music turned up high while they followed them in their patrol vehicles, shouting encouragement.

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SECRETO A VOCES

At an average of two to three reported kidnappings a day, Mexico’s been the leader in secuestros throughout much of this new century. But they have a solution to change that, the government just needs to let certain prejudices go.

I’ve been watching this Mexico City case of the 14 year old kid, Fernando Marti; snatched from his bodyguard and held until the family came up with some $5 million. The family put the money up; the kidnappers never responded, the boy’s body found rotting in the trunk of a car. In the end, the cops were involved, just like they’re involved in every illicit case you see in this country.

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