A.D. Ibarra
-Maverick County Detention Center

    Maverick County Sheriff Tom Schmerber and District Attorney Roberto Serna hosted three Mexican dignitaries who, in conjunction with local, state and federal law enforcement entities, are working to establish strong ties to each other in order to facilitate investigations on both sides of the border.
    "Law enforcement entities are working well, but 3,000 people have lost their lives and Mexican citizens are fighting back.  They want the drug cartels to cease, they want the violence to cease and to go away, they want their children to have Mexico back." Serna went on to add that there are a lot of parents on both sides of the border who do not know where there children are.
    "We can put a stop to it working together and sharing information to try to find people that have disappeared will bring a lot of closure and peace to the minds of these citizens," Serna went on to add, "And I think that's worth fighting for."
    He feels we should do everything in our power to continue to support our neighbors to the south to make sure that those have gone lost and missing are located.
    "We also hope that one day, the corruption that is present in your government goes away," he said before a gathering of officers from ICE, Border Patrol, DEA and other major law enforcement agencies in Texas.
    "I would like to take this opportunity to thank you all for having us here," stated Lic. Roberto Rene Rodriguez, Agente Investigador del Ministerio Publico, who along with Lic. Juan Jose Yañez Arreola, Sub-Procurador de No Localizados accompanied Homero Ramos Gloria, Attorney General of Coahuila in this international coalition, "The Amber Alert System has helped us to begin the searches for minors and has proven to be a viable option, a productive measure in these cases."
    Rodriguez also offered their data bases to reinforce the abilities for US agencies to utilize to seek both missing people and fugitives on both sides of the border.
    Ramos Gloria also addressed the recent problem of re-patriated criminals and illegal aliens from all across South America who end up in our neighboring city of Piedras Negras without money or shelter who either have to resort to petty crime in order to eat and may or may not be recruited into the cartels and become a part of an even bigger problem.
    "Our Governor Ruben Moreira has been in contact with US authorities in reference to the fact that an excessive amount of these individuals were being re-patriated or deported into both Acuña and Piedras Negras.  This has changed as you have just mentioned as these numbers have diminished.  We need to do a better job of identifying these individuals and their countries of origin in order to keep track of them when they enter our country."
    The coalition retired to a private conference room to meet with ICE agents and the sheriff on confidential matters, but the event which was well-attended, was deemed a productive one which should help investigations on both sides of the Rio Grande.