Seal of the Texas DPS
BROWNSVILLE, Texas – A state trooper has been charged with possession with intent to distribute cocaine after police said they saw him accept two suitcases full of the drug in a parking lot.
The U.S. Attorney’s office said in a statement that Department of Public Safety Trooper Jesus Rafael Larrazolo, 35, made his first appearance in federal court Monday. DPS spokeswoman Lisa Block said Larrazolo resigned shortly after his arrest Friday.
Brownsville police and agents from the FBI’s Special Investigations Unit saw Larrazolo pull into a Best Buy parking lot next to another vehicle, then take two suitcases from it. Larrazolo was dressed in street clothes, but identified himself as a trooper when police approached. He was carrying a gun.
There were 26 kilograms of cocaine in the suitcases. According to court records, Larrazolo told a Texas Ranger after his arrest that he had been forced by threats to pick up the drugs.
Block said Larrazolo joined the department in October 2002 and was working as a commercial vehicle enforcement officer in Cameron County. The FBI is investigating the case.
It was not immediately clear from court records if Larrazolo had an attorney.
Illegal immigrants fearful of being caught in stepped-up workplace raids are fueling a growing market in Houston for phony immigration and work documents.
The result, experts say, is a glut of false, altered and counterfeit documents that are easily obtained at Houston-area flea markets, businesses and clandestine printing shops set up in homes and apartments. The bogus documents include counterfeit Texas driver’s licenses, fake Social Security and “green cards,” and even worthless international driver’s licenses sold here and in other states.
“You could put all of HPD full time on this thing, and I don’t think we could put a dent in it,” said Lt. Robert Sells, with the Texas Department of Public Safety’s driver’s license fraud unit.
The demand has been so strong that law enforcement officers in Texas have been bribed in recent years to sell the valuable documents, and several dozen have been caught.
An ex-federal prosecutor said heightened enforcement has not only boosted demand for counterfeit documents, but increased the price and quality of the fakes.
“You’re seeing stepped-up law enforcement of the worksite, and that leads to more identity theft and false document prosecution,” said Kevin Lachus, a former Immigration and Customs Enforcement attorney now with the Tindall & Foster immigration firm in Houston. “That results in more training for human resource officials, which makes them more expert in spotting documents, and results in even more sophisticated counterfeit identity documents.”
On Houston streets, a top-quality counterfeit green card proving legal residency commands $500, federal agents say. Even shabby green cards bring $15 to $100 while a good-quality package — a driver’s license, green card and Social Security card — can cost $350.
Immigrants sometimes resort to buying real documents from corrupt officials at steep prices.
The most significant recent case involved five immigrants from India and the Caribbean who were fooled by immigration agents posing as crooked law officers. Three were videotaped in a Houston government office last summer as they handed over $15,000 apiece for green cards, according to court records.
Read the rest of the story at Houston Chronicle
Hey, how about that! There are illegals other than Mexicans in the US! Imagine that! I bet that will cause shock and dismay amongst the ranks of the nativists and other looney toons! But hey, if this is the best they can do with fake ID, we have nothing to worry about except for maybe the lazy jerkoffs in LE that can’t tell the difference
Texas Department of Public Safety Inspectors announced today their plans to cause a total disruption of border commerce in the Laredo sector
Texas DPS along with USDOT and FMCSA have been handing out pamphlets announcing their intentions of turning back at the border, any transfer driver who can not or will not respond to their questions in English.
Luis Brown Robert Sesma, president of the National Camera of the Motor transport de Carga (Canacar), expressed this week, his indignation of measures being announced, that the FMCSA and USDOT will take towards Mexican carriers.
“it is ridiculous to announce that they will put out of service the operators who do not speak English, it is understood when you go to the interior of the United States, but in the border region, to force them, that is not right”!
He added that according to a pamphlet which they are giving to Mexican shuttle drivers, that it is anticipated that ofnot responding in English to the personnel of the DPS, will cause them tobe put out of service and the operators and the carriers could be fined.
With nearly 5000 Mexican shuttle drivers operating in the area, it was determined by CANACAR representatives, that perhaps 2-3% speak English at a level of 30%.
FMCSA Regulation 391.11 (b)(2) specifies that commercial can read and speak the English language sufficiently to converse with the general public, to understand highway traffic signs and signals in the English language, to respond to official inquiries, and to make entries on reports and records.
We agree with this rule where it applies to the participants in the Cross Border Program and any other driver operating on the nations highways, but Mexico Trucker has a definite problem with the enforcement of the regulation in an area where English is realistically, a second language and 95% of the folks down here are bi-lingual.
This seems little more than harassment and a means to enhance the county coffers at the expense of these drivers who only make about $20 dollars per crossing.
We do things a little differently down here on the border and in the end, it all comes together and works smoothly and efficiently.
If this policy is enforced here, you can expect longer wait times for your trailers to cross the border, which means more idle time in the truck stops.
Let’s see, there are 5000 drivers, and only 3% speak acceptable English, that is 150 trucks to do the work of 5000.
Yep! ya’ll going be doing some sitting, measured days instead of hours!
Be careful what you wish for people! The repercussions ain’t nice!
CANACAR spokesman plan to complain to the Mexican government for relief. Mexico Trucker fully supports CANACAR this time and is in opposition to this incredibly stupid plan.
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