cannabisnews.com: Border Agent Fired on During Pot Seizure 





Border Agent Fired on During Pot Seizure 
Posted by FoM on March 16, 2000 at 08:22:01 PT
By Ignacio Ibarra 
Source: Arizona Daily Star 
A Nogales Border Patrol agent was shot at yesterday as he made a vehicle stop that yielded nearly 1,000 pounds of marijuana. Border Patrol spokesman Rob Daniels said the agent, who has not been identified, was responding to a report of a pickup truck crossing the border four miles east of town at about 6:30 a.m. 
The agent and his partner had spotted a truck matching the description and attempted to pull the driver over, when the vehicle stopped, and the driver and another man fled. One of the agents grabbed the passenger and the other agent chased the driver who was running toward the border. Suddenly the pursuing agent came under a barrage of gunfire. ``About 10 shots were fired at his position from across the border,'' Daniels said. ``The agent took cover, returned fire and then called for backup. His partner was able to get to him with his vehicle and get him out.'' The two agents then drove back to the suspect vehicle and waited for backup. Law enforcement officials in the United States and Mexico were notified of the shooting. Grupo Beta agents went to the area but were unable to locate the shooter or shooters who fired at the agent. Daniels said a search of the vehicle turned up 990 pounds of marijuana. The passenger, a U.S. citizen arrested at the scene, and the drug load were turned over to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration which is investigating, Daniels said. Later the same morning, agents assigned to the I-19 checkpoint stopped a northbound pickup truck and located a hidden compartment containing 296 pounds of marijuana under the bed of the truck. At about 3 a.m., agents assigned to the Arizona 80 checkpoint north of Tombstone were following a tip when they spotted a vehicle with its lights out arriving at the highway from a dirt road that circumvents the checkpoint. Once the vehicle got onto Arizona 80, the driver turned on the headlights and headed north with the Border Patrol in pursuit. When agents pulled the pickup truck over, the driver claimed to be four-wheeling in the area, but the agent was able to detect the smell of marijuana and spotted a .45-caliber handgun and a night-vision scope in the truck. Daniels said the man, a U.S. citizen from Sierra Vista, as well as 220 pounds of marijuana found in two tool boxes and two ice chests, were turned over to the DEA. Daniels said that since the start of the fiscal year on Oct. 1, Border Patrol agents have seized more than 110,000 pounds of marijuana, nearly half of the 250,000 pounds of marijuana seized by agents last year. Nogales, Ariz. Published: Thursday, 16 March 2000The Arizona Daily Star OnlineCannabisnews Articles On The Border Wars: http://www.google.com/search?q=cannabisnews+border
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Comment #4 posted by ... on March 16, 2000 at 23:55:03 PT
Not only fighting BUT ALSO...
Thanks. If I have time, I'd love to write a book on how much help MJ has been to me. I finally feel like I have my feet on the ground. Conventional medicine will (hopefully) eventually include MJ tinctures just like they did before prohibition. It just dawned on me that the drug war is exactly like the Jerry Spring show. Think about it.
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Comment #3 posted by Rainbow on March 16, 2000 at 12:36:41 PT
Bereft in America 
Keep up the fight.My close friend in Seattle did not and I sure wish he had. I do not think it was as available to him and the good ole state government would not help him in other health matters. He got his last rejection and that was that.And that is why I do what I do in this stupid War on People.CheersRainbow
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Comment #2 posted by ... on March 16, 2000 at 11:43:48 PT
Bereft in America - Medical Marijuana
Marijuana prevents me from acting on suicidal tendencies I've had all my life as a result of a severely dysfunctional family and my genetic makeup. I'm now back to being productive again, and off disability, because marijuana works far better than any of the large variety of ineffective medications I tried for several decades -- but if I get caught for using, I'd end my life rather than fight. I've worked long and hard to find a way to survive and function. I'm sure others using marijuana also feel the same way.America has seen its better days. We're a young country. Europe is older and is more established so they can admit decriminalizing marijuana is the sanest thing to do. The US government has to admit and rectify mistakes because they're hurting citizens, particularly sick people denied marijuana for medication. It's appalling and barbaric that some are locked up in jails for needing a medication that helps them cope with their lives, but instead, America plays the role of warden. No wonder countries around the world laughs at us. I'd laugh too, but too many people are suffering. 
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Comment #1 posted by kaptinemo on March 16, 2000 at 10:04:14 PT:
I guess I have my answer
It used to be so simple: no one ever shot at cops, because the cops would try to make sure that the perp doing the shooting didn't make to a booking...much less a trialBut now, there's simply too much money involved. And American prisons, never being more than storage lockers at best and zoos at their worst, have become so untenable that narcos would rather die fighting than end up there.The Drug War has had lots of unintended consequences. It has forced the narcos to become even more vicious, more intelligent, better armed, more technology savvy. In short, it has caused a sort of forced evolution. Which has resulted in hundreds of deaths in Mexico, and scores of dealing related deaths here in the States. And more cops have died in shootouts with narcos and their confederates since 1992 than ever before. My comments at the related link below seem to be sadly prophetic... and I'm afraid it will get a lot worse for the boys in blue before it gets better. 
http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread5070.shtml
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