A.D. Ibarra
-Maverick County, KLEC

    The Kickapoo Lucky Eagle Hotel & Casino was the site for the 2015 Texas Border Sheriffs Winter Conference which began Wednesday.
As many as forty to fifty sheriffs from as far south as Brownsville and as far north as California descended on our fair city to discuss common issues which law enforcement officials on the border must deal with on a daily basis.
    Host Sheriff Tom Schmerber welcomed the law enforcement officials coming to Maverick County and the presentation of colors by the Maverick County Sheriff's Department Color Guard and opening prayer by Chaplain Pedro Hernandez was truly impressive.  Chairman Sheriff Rick McIvor led the gathering in the pledge of allegiance.
    Then the lawmen will delve into the issues at hand such as the Texas Border Patrol Bill and other issues the county sheriffs may have including the possibility of a pilgrimage to our nation's capital before opening the microphones to an open forum at the KLEC Hotel Conference Center.
    Piedras Negras Mayor Fernando Purón Johnston addressed the gathering at the 2015 Texas Border Sheriffs Winter Meeting which is being held at the Kickapoo Lucky Eagle Hotel's Main Conference Center and delivered some alarming numbers and statistics of their concerted effort to battle the organized crime element which he said is a the blackest page in the history of their city, a page they are turning slowly but surely.
    "The theme of what is law enforcement on our border is a very important one, we are allotting 80% of our total budget on the issue of security.  It in itself is a very diverse issue, we must understand that.  The synergy of both cities, imports and exports, the Rio Bravo, a river that divides us but in the same token, a river that unites us," stated Mayor Purón, " We have had to deal with severe and significant problems over the past four years in terms of the very serious issue of the drug trade and organized crime in our country and we are making monumental strides in this respect.  We are turning the page, one of the darkest, blackest pages in the history of our city with respect to the issue of drug trafficking and the drug trade and we are doing so in a very deliberate manner working with the three levels of government in our country."
    He added that his reason for accepting the invitation from Sheriff Schmerber was to insure these lawmen that the lines of communication are definitely open between the two municipalities which were most recently tested with the apprehension of Ignacio Ruiz, the man wanted for murder in Bexar County who along with the assistance of the US Marshals Service, local law enforcement agencies such as the Eagle Pass Police Department, the Maverick County Sheriff's Department and the Police Force of our sister city of Piedras Negras, Ruiz was apprehended after fatally shooting two people including Officer Jaime Antonio Sornia de Luna and wounding two women in a heavily populated shopping center.
    "We have a very special working relationship with the law enforcement entities in both Eagle Pass and Maverick County.  We need to coordinate our efforts as well as those of the State of Texas as we have a very close relationship commercially where we coordinate our services for the betterment of our border."