Texas Ranches Seized by Los Zetas Drug Cartel. Over the weekend this story caught fire in the blogosphere.  One big reason the story went viral was that it fit the highly-believable narrative of violence spilling across a porous southern U.S. border.

As it stands, the story has neither been disproved or confirmed–although there’s disagreement on that point.  Here’s a few reasons readers might want  to keep an open mind.

Drug_war_on_southern_border_cartel_seizes_texas_ranches

Starting as a post on a blog dealing primarily with illegal immigration, Digger’s Realm, the story,  BREAKING: Multiple Ranches In Laredo, TX Taken Over By Los Zetas [Update 3],  began with a late Friday night tip.

Founder of the San Diego Minutemen Jeff Schwilk tipped me off to this story and passes along the following information on the location. The ranches are said to be “near Mines Rd. and Minerales Annex Rd about 10 miles NW of I-35″.

Statement from Mr. Schwilk:
I can personally vouch that this info came in late last night from a reliable police source inside the Laredo PD. There is currently a standoff between the unknown size Zeta forces and U.S. Border Patrol and local law enforcement on two ranches on our side of the Rio Grande. The source tells us he considers this an “act of war” and that the military is needed on the border now!

Digger added a “story is not 100% confirmed” to his article and posted it, but continued to work the story throughout the night.

First, let me clarify that I was also skeptical of the story when I initially heard word. It is certainly not because there haven’t been armed intrusions into the United States before from Mexico. There have been a ton in the last decade, but there have not been any where they would hold onto a position. They usually leave after a standoff or upon discovery…

I put out my feelers throughout the night to try and collect information and other credible sources to confirm the occupation of ranches in Laredo. I did not receive actual confirmation until this morning when I got word that Kimberly Dvorak of the Examiner had made multiple confirmations within the Laredo Police Department. Up until this point the story had not spread wide. There was no reason for the Laredo Police Department to crack down hard and keep things truly blacked out as there was no heavy interest from media.

At this point, things “took off” as more blogs jumped on the story; a few, myself included, worked the phones, contacting area police and other locals who might possibly confirm the story.

Local law enforcement were not saying much–but they were not denying it either.  The policeman I spoke to alternated “I can’t confirm” with “I can’t say anything” for his answers.   When asked if the “Webb County Sheriff was taking the lead on this,” the Laredo spokesman answered, “Yeah, and they can’t confirm anything either.”

Which makes those with suspicious minds wonder: why does someone take the lead on an event that’s not happened?  Perhaps the spokesman misspoke?

mexican-narco-bust

That local police were not confirming the story is hardly surprising: if Los Zetas, a particularly lethal paramilitary outfit,  had seized a ranch, it’s not hard to see why authorities wouldn’t want curious civilians or the press in the area.

The Laredo Morning Times weighed in with a piece late in the afternoon:

But Investigator Jose E. Baeza, LPD spokesman, said he had not heard anything about the incident. Also, an LPD sergeant, who was on duty as a watch commander Saturday afternoon, said she had not heard anything about it either.

At about 4:30 p.m., Maru De La Paz, spokeswoman for Webb County Sheriff’s Office, wrote that the report about Zetas taking over ranches in Laredo is not confirmed.

Again, the curious among us might wonder why, 24 hours into a hoax, the police couldn’t give a flat-out denial?  Despite reports of many press inquiries, why hasn’t law enforcement issued a written, formal denial–and why had so many on the force not heard about it?

Although law enforcement offered a variety of answers, none were denials.  Nevertheless, this story was soon offered as “proof” that the Laredo Morning Times had refuted the claims.”

In addition,  a virtual war between the Mexican military and Los Zetas was taking place this weekend across the river in Nuevo Laredo, with the city and American citizens both in lockdown.  Pitched battles featuring automatic weapon and fragmentation grenades were fought in the barricaded streets of Nuevo Laredo.

Which leads those with a knowledge of history to recall that one time-honored tactic of insurgents everywhere is to locate near a border: the better to dash across when the action gets too hot on one side.

Despite the many “can’t-confirms,” some demanded confirmation within hours–or were ready to pronounce the story a “hoax.”  One proof offered:  that Minerales Annex Road didn’t exist on Google Maps.  Which is correct. However, it does appear on Bing.  This created some confusion of confirming the location.  The original blog post featured a Google map, with the location of the alleged ranch takeover several miles away from where Bing placed it.

One meme which started on the left and later picked up by commentators on the right was the familiar, “If this were happening, the MSM and local press would be covering it.”

Really?

Falcon_Dam

Falcon Dam

In May 2010, an extraordinary event happened not far from Laredo — and not one word was reported by any media, local or MSM, for weeks.  Eventually, on June 2, the Houston Chronicle broke the silence.

An alleged plot by a Mexican drug cartel to blow up a dam along the Texas border — and unleash billions of gallons of water into a region with millions of civilians — sent American police, federal agents and disaster officials secretly scrambling last month to thwart such an attack, authorities confirmed Wednesday…

A border law enforcement official told the Chronicle the warnings originated in part by the seizure of small amounts of dynamite near the dam, and the discovery of a copy of the alert on the Mexican side of the border.

The Chronicle went on to report that U.S. authorities were tipped off when Los Zetas warned residents on the Mexican side “to get out… using handbills and bullhorns.”  Residents who lived on the U.S. side of the border received no such warnings.

What conclusion can we draw from this?  Here’s one.

That the best source of news and information as the story unfolded came not from the local press, the local authorities, or the national mainstream media: It came from a Mexican drug cartel.

Despite a small army of federal and local law enforcement who “swarmed” the area around the dam, no local media, authorities or MSM reported the incident until the June 2 Chronicle story.

Other stories that apparently aren’t ready for the MSM prime-time:  the hundreds of incursions by the Mexican military into the United States during the last decade; and, the hundreds of violent assaults on U.S. Customs and Border Patrol agents since 2007.

The incident at Falcon Dam is only one of many stories on the southern border which fly under the radar of both the local and national media.

It is also the primary reason that a rush to judgment on the ‘Los Zetas Seize Texas Ranches’ story seems unwarranted at this time.