Phoenix and Tucson Police Report Over 400 Kidnappings of Americans by Mexicans

By Michael Webster: Syndicated Investigative Reporter. Thursday Feb 12, 2009 at 12:30 PM PST.

It is no longer just a prospect that America's southern neighbor’s the Mexican Drug Cartels are sending hit men (assassins) into this country to kill Americans. It is an alarming development. These Mexican Drug Cartel (MDC’s) their gangs are kidnapping and killing citizens on both sides of the U.S. Mexican border. The kidnappings and killings of Americans should be providing an unexpected challenge to President Barack Obama's new government. In its latest report anticipating possible global security risks, the U.S. Joint Forces Command states that Mexico is at risk of a "rapid and sudden collapse."

President Barack Obama must put the drug violence in Mexico at the top of his national security agenda. While it may be premature to describe Mexico as a full-blown failed state, most experts say it is on the brink. “The situation has reached alarming proportions,” According to one high ranking Mexican government official.

In what officials caution is now a dangerous and even deadly crime wave, Phoenix, Arizona has become the kidnapping capital of America, with more incidents than any other city in the world outside of Mexico City and over 370 cases last year alone. But local authorities say Washington, DC is too obsessed with al Qaeda and other terrorists to care about what is happening in their own backyard right now, as waves of abductions hit Phoenix and other American cities. Washington is not paying enough attention. Many wonder why not?

President Obama has recently appointed Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano as the new head of the Department of Homeland Security and many people hope she will deal with this dangerous situation effectively and put an end to it.

Napolitano has claimed she is a strong advocate of keeping the borders and our country safe.

Many are hoping Obama’s pick of Gov. Napolitano who has first hand knowledge of the problem will start taking action to prevent the new wave of kidnappings and killings of Americans and make our cities safer. 

Indeed, MDC’s gangs now operate in most major American cities throughout our country. The MDC’s have even published lists of Americans, including law enforcement officers, who are targeted for assassination.

The latest information is that U.S. authorities are now reporting a spike in killings, kidnappings, home invasions and public shoot outs in broad day light not only in Mexico but also here in the USA. Just today Tucson police report a day light shootout and is believed that this incident and many others like it are connected to Mexico's murderous drug cartels. 

U.S. policymakers' seem surprised, as much of the violence is happening not only in towns along the border as earlier believed but now they must know the bloodshed has spread a considerable distance away, in places such as Phoenix and Atlanta.

Investigators know that the violence is erupting elsewhere throughout the U.S. because the MDC’s have set up Mexican drug-trafficking operatives all over the US, and in as far away places as Anchorage, Alaska; Boston; and Sioux Falls, S.D. and other far flung American cities hundreds of miles from the U.S. Mexican border.

MSNBC reports that "More than 200 American citizens have been killed since 2004 in Mexico's escalating wave of violence, amounting to the highest number of unnatural deaths in any foreign country outside military combat zones, according to the US State Department."

Arizona’s Phoenix has become the kidnapping capital of the USA. Phoenix and Tucson police report over 400 kidnappings of Americans are being investigated and officials fear many more kidnappings and murders of Americans are already out of control.

An ABC News' investigation uncovered horrific cases of chopped-off hands, legs and heads when a victim's family doesn't pay up fast enough.

This reporter has chronicled many such kidnappings and murders of Americans. Some authorities admit privately that no one really knows how many Americans have been kidnapped here in the USA and taken to Mexico and how many were killed. Some of the kidnappings were for ransom, but most violence and killings were retaliation by the MDC’s.

"We're in the eye of the storm," Phoenix Police Chief Andy Anderson told ABC News of the violent crimes and ruthless tactics spurred by Mexican Drug Cartels that have expanded business across the border. "If it doesn't stop here, if we're not able to fix it here and get it turned around, it will go across the nation," he said.

"They're ruthless, so now they're ripping each other off, but doing it in our city," Anderson said.

To try and combat the crime wave, the Phoenix police have created a special unit to handle the kidnappings called the Home Invasion Task Force, which has pulled more than a dozen officers off other assignments. The crimes are occurring across the valley and in all types of neighborhoods, authorities warn.

In the same report California Attorney General Jerry Brown warned that as the U.S. government focuses so intently on Islamic extremist groups, other types of terrorists – those involved with the same kidnappings, extortion and drug cartels that are sweeping Phoenix – are overlooked.

"Those [criminals], for the average Californian or the average American, may be a more immediate threat to their well being," Brown said.

In fact, kidnappings and other crimes connected to the Mexican Drug Cartels are quickly spreading across the border, from Texas to California. The majority of the victims are either illegal aliens or connected to the drug trade.

One border city mayor who wants to remain anonymous said “The U.S. Government is going to have to start dealing with this very dangerous situation that is no longer just happening in our back yard but is now happening right here in our homeland. No American even in America is safe because of it.”

President Obama was heard saying recently on national TV, that his number one priority is the safety of Americans. The border city mayor said “If the president really believes that he must start looking right here on our own soil the immediate danger is here in America and is coming from the south not from half way around the world.

Editors Note:

Michael Webster’s Syndicated Investigative Reports are read worldwide, in 100 or more U.S. outlets and in at least 136 countries and territories. He publishes articles in association with global news agencies and media information services with more than 350 news affiliates in 136 countries. Many of Mr. Webster’s articles are printed in six working languages: English, French, Arabic, Chinese, Russian and Spanish. With ten more languages planed in the near future.

Mr. Webster is America's leading authority on Venture Capital/Equity Funding. He served as a trustee on some of the nation’s largest trade Union funds. A noted Author, Lecturer, Educator, Emergency Manager, Counter-Terrorist, War on Drugs and War on Terrorist Specialist, Business Consultant, Newspaper Publisher. Radio News caster. Labor Law generalist, Teamster Union Business Agent, General Organizer, Union Rank and File Member Grievances Representative, NLRB Union Representative, Union Contract Negotiator, Workers Compensation Appeals Board Hearing Representative. Mr. Webster represented management on that side of the table as the former Director of Federated of Nevada. Mr. Webster publishes on-line newspapers at www.lagunajournal.com  and www.usborderfirereport.com  and does investigative reports for print, electronic and on-line News Agencies.