SUV with slain men barrels through New Mexico checkpoint

[Kemal]

http://origin.elpasotimes.com/news/ci_5842278

SUV with slain men barrels through Columbus checkpoint
By Louie Gilot / El Paso Times
Article Launched: 05/08/2007 12:00:00 AM MDT


A shot-up car with a dead man in the driver's seat raced to the Columbus, N.M., port of entry Monday morning, the second such violent episode in the area in less than a month, Customs and Border Protection officials said.

The incident started in downtown Palomas, Columbus' sister city in Mexico, when a gunman opened fire on a red Suburban that was pulling up to a restaurant, Luna County Sheriff Raymond Cobos said.

CBP officers heard automatic gunfire at about 9:30 a.m. and a few minutes later saw the SUV with Colorado plates, riddled with bullets, careening toward the port of entry, seeking protection.

The driver, José Carreon, 43, was dead, his facial structure destroyed by the bullets. The front seat passenger, Nestor Acosta Saenz, 41, had been reaching over the body to drive and steer, officials said.

A third passenger, Jose Guerrero Peña, 46, was dead, and a fourth, José Joaquin Saenz, 50, was wounded in the leg and transported to Thomason Hospital in El Paso, Cobos said.

These men are not the first to seek refuge in the United States to escape an attack.
Just two weeks ago, three men were killed and one wounded in a shooting at a Palomas tire shop. The wounded man was taken to the border crossing and transported to Thomason Hospital.

"The level of violence appears to be increasing in the Palomas area. It is of great concern to us because it affects tourism and a lot of people live on tourism here," Sheriff Cobos said. "I can't imagine how hard it must be for law-abiding citizens in Palomas right now."

A week and a half ago, his deputies chased a stolen vehicle loaded with marijuana through two counties at speeds reaching 110 miles per hour, he said.

Columbus residents have watched Palomas' drug traffickers and migrant smugglers grow more daring and violent as U.S. law enforcement officials have tightened border security.

"It is scary. It is just three miles (between Palomas and Columbus). You go to Palomas to eat and stuff," said Eduardo Gutierrez, who works at Pancho Villa Cafe in Columbus.

Based on the investigation of the wreck and an interview of the uninjured survivor, Sheriff Cobos pieced together what happened in Palomas on Monday morning.

"It appeared that the gunman was shooting at the windshield and along the driver side with an assault rifle. When the shooting started, the front passenger crawled over to the back, trying to get away from the bullets," Cobos said.

That man was fatally wounded. A back seat passenger crawled to the front and drove the vehicle to the port of entry over the corpse of the driver.

"Nobody seems to want to tell us anything about the gunman," Cobos said.

Cobos' investigation is limited to the U.S. side because he has no jurisdiction in Mexico.

Louie Gilot may be reached at [email protected]; 546-6131.

[novakru]

Well shit, god forbid it affects TOURISM.

[Posher778]

Hmm. That sucks, driving over a loved one's corpse.....

[stubbornforgey]

Fucken hell..drugs have taken over too many countries now..
Why don't the law officials legalise them ..this way the damn drug lords
will have leg to stand on and they can be controlled through legislation.