THE BORDER REPORT

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THE BORDER REPORT

Another story this morning on the border woes, this one comes from the Los Angeles Times which struggled to make the argument that violence from Mexico is "spilling over" into the United States. Has the newspaper just discovered the U.S.-Mexico border?

First of all, noone can tell me that Mexico should be defended in this case; the country allowed the narcos to flourish through years of tolerance and backroom deals. Now, with a war between feuding drug cartels, there's been more than 1,500 organized crime killings in the country this year alone. Adjusting for population and time, roughly the same number were killed in Ireland between 1969 and 2003, 3,300 in the political troubles there. The Irish troubles were viewed as an international crisis; in Mexico's case, it's viewed as a way of life.

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THE BORDER REPORT

Sonora Gov. Eduardo Bours told the Hermosillo press corps that the armed attack this morning in Cananea was simply two bands of migrant smugglers fighting it out, that it had nothing to do with narco-traffickers in the area.

My federal sources say different.

"The 11 people who were arrested said they worked for the Gulf Cartel," said a trusted source, an investigator with the Federal Attorney General's Office. "They were here to finish a job. We know Dos Mil was involved, but we don't know if he launched the attack or if he was being targeted."

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THE BORDER REPORT An armed commando of eight men raided the town of Cananea just minutes ago. One person has been injured so far. Sonoran state police seem to have known something was up; a police helicopter is already on-scene as of 10:40 this morning. My sources say the convoy attacked the home of Fidel Mancinas, owner of the Real de Cobre in Cananea. It would be the second attempt on his life; he barely survived an attack in 2005. I'll have more on this story throughout the day.

-- Michael Marizco

THE BORDER REPORT

It's going to happen again. The storm is coming back to Cananea. Sonoran government officials have stayed very quiet about the recent attack in the beleaguered city. Thankfully for me, sources have not. The attack took place at about 4 a.m. Monday morning at a police substation in town. Police received a call about a car accident a few miles away and responded, leaving a female operator alone in the office. "It was a perfect set-up," a source with the Sonoran State Police said today. The two assailants, wearing black ski-masks, entered the building, grabbing the woman by the hair. They repeatedly slammed her face into her desk, then forced her to write a message for the returning cops: "This is so you watch yourselves, assholes," the source said. Not good. It's too early to tell who was responsible, whether it was Gulf Cartel or Sinaloans, control of the plaza is up in the air right now. But I do know this, whichever side left the message, they're not finished yet. Let's just hope it's not a massacre like May 16.

-- Michael Marizco