FOR YOU, I'D DRIVE FROM MODESTO

[DAT NIGGA TAZZ]

http://finance.yahoo.com/banking-budgeting/article/106927/Auto-Thefts-Plague-Border-Region

^^^LIST


Auto Thefts Plague Border Region
by Cam Simpson
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
provided by


Mexican Drug Cartels Drive Much of Illicit Vehicle Trade; Laredo, Texas, Is Hit Hard

This city along the Rio Grande is on the verge of becoming the stolen-car capital of the U.S., according to data set for release Monday that underscore how drug cartels are helping make the U.S.-Mexico border region a hot spot for vehicle thieves.

The National Insurance Crime Bureau, a nonprofit body that collects law-enforcement reports, said 1,960 vehicles were reported stolen in the Laredo metropolitan area last year, an increase of more than 47% since 2005, when Laredo ranked 32nd nationally. That comes to 827 thefts per 100,000 people, putting Laredo just behind No. 1 Modesto, Calif.

More from WSJ.com:

• Recession Upends Job Market in Beach Towns

• Pond Scum in the Limelight

• Columbine Safety Lessons Revisited

Of the 20 U.S. metropolitan regions with the highest theft rates, according to the crime bureau, seven are near the Mexico border: Laredo; San Diego; Albuquerque, N.M.; Tucson, Ariz.; El Centro, Calif.; El Paso, Texas; and Phoenix. El Paso in particular has jumped up the charts; it ranked 17th in 2008, compared with No. 81 in 2005.

While Mexican drug cartels aren't behind every stolen car along the border, police say their money drives the professional side of the trade.

President Barack Obama will visit Mexico this week to show support for President Felipe Calderón, who is using Mexico's military to crack down on the drug cartels behind an epidemic of violence in northern Mexico. The White House says boosting federal law-enforcement efforts on the U.S. side is a priority.

Although drug violence in Laredo is down from the historic highs of a few years ago, people from all walks of life -- including police officers -- are falling prey to roving bands of car thieves.

One Laredo detective's Dodge Durango disappeared from outside his house, with his bulletproof vest and a semiautomatic handgun inside, police say. The local U.S. border-patrol chief recently had his pickup truck stolen, too.

Mindy Casso, a news anchor at the Laredo NBC affiliate, stepped outside one morning to load her two kids into her Ford Ranger, only to find it was gone -- even though a private security car was patrolling her upscale neighborhood.

"It's overwhelming," said Carlos Maldonado, who was named Laredo's police chief last May. "I don't have an officer to put on every car in the city."



Perched on the northern bank of the Rio Grande, the city is the busiest inland port in the U.S., with four bridges to Mexico. On the other side is a key center of the $30 billion-a-year Mexico-U.S. narcotics trade.

Drug cartels have several uses for stolen cars. In some cases, traffickers provide the stolen vehicles to smugglers who move weapons bought in the U.S. across the border, according to a recent internal report by the Department of Homeland Security. It says cars sometimes are "laundered" with different plates.

Using stolen cars makes good business sense for the cartels, which can minimize losses if the vehicles are seized, police say.

Sgt. Eduardo Garcia, 39 years old, has led Laredo's stolen-vehicle task force, with nine men, for about eight years. He says Mexico's traffickers provide wish lists of makes and models to the best thieves -- preferably U.S. citizens who can legally drive an American-plated car into Mexico. Traffickers pay up to about $1,000 apiece for highly valued vehicles, such as new Ford or Dodge pickup trucks.

Usually, police say, thieves work in three- or four-man teams. "Spotters" will find the cars they want, then quickly dispatch a car filled with thieves.

The city of Laredo runs along the Rio Grande, meaning Mexico is just a few minutes away from almost any spot in town. "If it's stolen at 3 [p.m.], for example, it's in Mexico by 3:05," Sgt. Garcia said. The city has tried to use license-plate readers to detect stolen cars, but the vehicles are frequently over the border before their owners even know they have been stolen.

Detectives patrol the thieves' favorite areas, hoping to spot the crooks before they strike. But as the police watch the thieves, the thieves also watch the police. Although the city swaps undercover cars driven by auto-theft detectives every six to eight months, thieves often pinpoint the police cars. After his arrest last week, a ringleader rattled off the models driven by two detectives, Sgt. Garcia said.

Laredo police have few ways to track the traffickers calling the shots, who are largely in Mexico. Because of fears they would be targeted by drug cartels, the city's police officers are barred from crossing into Mexico. And Arturo Galvan, the longest-serving member of the task force, said corruption on the Mexican side has made it impossible even to work by phone. "Who can you trust?" he asked.

One tactic has proven effective: makeshift checkpoints on the city's busiest thoroughfare to Mexico, known as Bridge No. 2.

Manning the checkpoint one evening last week, Sgt. Garcia stood amid two lanes of traffic rolling into Mexico, his eyes darting back and forth for telltale signs: a valued vehicle, such as an expensive pickup truck, with a young male driver and no passengers. Then he looked for other signs, such as damage on a door handle or keyhole.

Many thieves get by when his overburdened team isn't watching. Still, Sgt. Garcia said that the checkpoints are effective. Police have noticed that when the checkpoints are manned, patrol car lights flashing, the number of reported thefts goes down.

"What we can do," Sgt. Garcia said, "is be a deterrent."

Write to Cam Simpson at [email protected]

LOL MODESTO STILL GOT #1 WTF...

I GOT HOMIES IN MANTECA, STOCKTON AND MODESTO, I BE TRIPPIN WHEN I GO TO THERE HOUSES HAHAHA. IM GLAD I DONT DRIVE A CIVIC LOL.

 

[Kix209]

I been lookin to cop a lil honda lately, i was on craigslist tryin to see wassup and theres a gang of cars on there talkin bout salvage title because car was stolen. Lol

 

[DAT NIGGA TAZZ]

I been lookin to cop a lil honda lately, i was on craigslist tryin to see wassup and theres a gang of cars on there talkin bout salvage title because car was stolen. Lol

IF U THINK ABOUT IT, A JACKED CAR IS PROBABLY IN BETTER CONDITION THEN ONE FROM THEM SALES SHOWS. THEY BE HIDING SHIT. LIKE "YEAAA IT RUNS PERFECT" THEN U TEST DRIVE IT, AND HEAR SOME SQEAKIN AND SCRAPIN

 

[The Genius]

I met a woman from Modesto when I was wrestling at the Cow Palace in '85.

Head so good it permed my mullet. Put me right to sleep. I woke up several hours later in a bathtub full of ice, a sharp pain in my lower back, and a big smile on my face.

I tell you one thing, I miss that jaw more then my kidney.

 

[I AM]

I been lookin to cop a lil honda lately, i was on craigslist tryin to see wassup and theres a gang of cars on there talkin bout salvage title because car was stolen. Lol

if you dont' want your shit getting jacked...don't get a civic, an accord, or an integra.

if you do get one of them, put in an alarm with a start kill.

 

[WHITE DEVIL]

lmfao @ the genius

 

[Premo]

he says walk to modesto

 

[damng]

hatch backs #1 civics gettin jacked...but hatches are tha shiet mayne! ide risk it (if i was rich or had that kinda money to blow)

 

[encho20]

haha,I remember my asian homie back in hi school used to tell me that it was the asians that were doin most of the jackin, to soop up their race cars and shit

NEVER LEAVE YOUR CAR WINDOWS, CAR DOORS OPEN IN MODESTO or any other place

 

[BIGCHILL]

thats why i wont live in a house without a garage.

 

[MKB]

I been lookin to cop a lil honda lately, i was on craigslist tryin to see wassup and theres a gang of cars on there talkin bout salvage title because car was stolen. Lol

I was looking at a lot of cars on craigslist and you have to be careful because some people say salvage because of theft but if you look at the car you can see it has some half assed body work done to it. I don't mind a salvaged car but if someone did a shitty job putting it back together I don't want to touch it.

 

[Ethereal]

I was almost a stat in 07. While at work, I walk out to the parking lot one day to get something from my car and what is it that I find - my passenger window rolled down, a car antenna bent in half sitting on the seat, a flat-head screwdriver on the drivers seat and the ignition housing taken apart. One of two things went down (aside from someone trying to steal my ride); the thief was incompetent or he saw me or someone else heading towards the car and bounced.

Another time in the same lot (same year) with the same car, someone bashed in my passenger window and stole my face plate, and not the stereo.

It's like you either buy yourself a legit security system or a car so beat that no one would want it.

 

[5-Dime NwK]

On the base my ship is at in San Diego, we had 12 cars stolen, all civics and old acuras, in one month in the base parking lot. that shit is behind a gate with guards and cops all over the base. Also, 21 bikes in a 3 month span. Fucking crazy.

 

[bay2mi]

It's like you either buy yourself a legit security system or a car so beat that no one would want it.

shit that dont even work. I had this beat the fuck up 97 ford escort with half the side dented in, cracks all in the windshield, paint pealing off, no side mirrors, a broken window.... and it got stolen.

but what they didnt know about was the radiator that blew up on me that week... so they only got like 15 miles away before the bitch overheated on them I bet.

 

[Foul Mouth]

Modesto been the stolen car capital for like 6 years damn near. Im suprised they aint done a New Jersey Drive type a gig yet..........

but watch that Craigslist.......

By The Record
June 09, 2008 5:19 PM
STOCKTON – A man who had his car stolen found it on Craigslist.org and a police officer used the information to recover the stolen vehicle and make an arrest.

The man called police after finding the car listed for sale on Craigslist.org, the online networking Web site. The phone number listed on the advertisement was traced to an address in the 2500 block of Nightingale Avenue, according to a Stockton police report.

A Stockton police officer went to the address and spotted the stolen car in the driveway. The officer called the number listed on the Craigslist ad and told the man who answered that he was interested in buying the car. They arranged a location to meet.

The officer pulled over the car when the man left his house and he was arrested.

Mario Alberto Ochoa, 29, was booked into San Joaquin County Jail on suspicion of auto theft and receiving stolen property. He was held in lieu of $40,000.

 

[SocialResponsibility]

2500 block of Nightingale Avenue, according to a Stockton police report.

no suprise there.