THE BORDER REPORT

Gen. Sergio Aponte Polito, the Army general who has so badly shaken up northwestern Mexico, was ousted Thursday, to the sweaty relief of many, many bureaucrats in Baja California and Sonora.

I've enjoyed writing about the general's exploits over the past year, even when the doings of some of his men were sometimes shady.

There was the time last year when a regional drug trafficker shot one of his planes down with a .50-cal. in Caborca. The general responded with something like fifteen seizures topping some 80 tons of weed.

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THE BORDER REPORT

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THE BORDER REPORT

As far as wrap-jobs go, this has to be the most thorough one yet, the killers left the dead wrapped head to toe, like mummies.

A new fight for control of the Nogales, Sonora, plaza's sprung up in the past week, more of that reacomodo that's taken over most of the quieter border cities since the start of the year.

This time, those in the know say, it's the Cananean, El Dos Mil, pitched against the Sinaloan Federation's man in Nogales, El Gigio, Felipe deJesus Casinales Soza. Casinales was put in place earlier this year after Alfredo Beltrán Leyva was arrested in Culiacán.

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THE BORDER REPORT

I'm going to try something new this weekend; I'm engaging in a content sharing agreement with a major Sonora newspaper, Expreso, to see if we can get this case of the missing American taken a bit more seriously by the Feds, both Mexican and U.S.

The American papers and The Associated Press don't appear interested.

Expreso has a story about the disappearances and the ensuing discussions taking place between the U.S. Consulate and Sen. John McCain's office up on their site and their reporters tell me they're going to push for state police to take the case more seriously than they have.

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THE BORDER REPORT

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