Border Patrol officials say three adult Mexican immigrants were found
inside a wooden box carried under a recreational vehicle stopped at a
checkpoint near the California-Mexico border.
Officials said
Thursday that agents near Indio apprehended the three Mexican men who
were in the country illegally after a Border Patrol dog alerted
authorities that something was suspicious about the recreational vehicle
Wednesday afternoon.
Authorities found a storage compartment
under the bed of the vehicle that had a wooden box with a lid screwed on
tight. When agents unscrewed the lid they found three adult males
folded over inside the box. The men are ages 17, 19 and 21.
The
vehicle's 23-year-old male driver and an 18-year-old female passenger,
both U.S. citizens, were arrested on suspicion of migrant smuggling.
Friday, March 21, 2014
Monday, March 17, 2014
Rosarito Beach Shooting Four Dead
An
11-year-old boy collecting tips for a musical group was among four
people shot to death Sunday night by an unknown assailant who opened
fire at a beach-side gathering in a semi-rural area at the southern end
of Rosarito Beach.
Six men and a woman were injured, according to police reports, with four of them released from the hospital Monday.
The incident took place in the community of Primo Tapia in an area known as Los Arenales, known for its tall sand dunes.
A
man driving a white SUV drove up shortly before 9 p.m., firing a AK-47
assault rifle in the direction of members of a musical group performing
at the event, according to Jesús Antonio Chávez, head of the Baja
California Attorney General’s Office in Rosarito.
“There
was no previous discussion, no argument, no quarrel,” Chávez said at a
news conference. “We don’t know if it was a question of personal
vengeance. There is no reason for general alarm for residents and
absolutely not for tourists. It’s an isolated incident that
unfortunately took place.”
Most of the victims were from Tijuana and Rosarito Beach, authorities said.
The
youngest victim, Adrián Gómez Carballo, was at the party collecting
donations for the musicians, Chávez said; the boy’s father was among
those injured. Also killed was Héctor Gerardo Tapia, 37. A third victim,
Tomás Llamas García, died as he was being rushed away by friends for
medical help.
The
investigation has focused on a fourth victim, who was at the event
unaccompanied, and whose identity remained unknown Monday. “It is
presumed that the attack was aimed at this victim who died,” Chávez
said.
Authorities have
seized two vehicles that they believe are linked to the incident: a
black Mercedes-Benz and a Ford F-250 pickup, both with California
license plates.
Wednesday, March 12, 2014
Mexico Self Defence disagree amoung selves.
Mexico's vigilante "self-defense" groups have been riven by internal
disputes after driving the vicious Knights Templar drug cartel out of
much of the western state of Michoacan.
Officials and residents said Tuesday the dispute came to a head when hundreds of police and army troops were sent in to separate two armed factions in the town of La Ruana on Monday.
The confrontation revived fears that the government has created a monster by letting the heavily armed group of an estimated 20,000 vigilantes take over basic law enforcement duties in the state without knowing who is really behind the movement. Vigilante leaders say their movement is supported by contributions from farmers, growers and businessmen. But there are concerns that a rival drug cartel, personal interests and local feuds may also play a role.
The vigilantes are now the de-facto authorities in about 15 of the state's townships, and several top drug cartel leaders have been arrested or killed.
The Michoacan state public safety department said authorities "are conducting mediation efforts to defuse the conflict between self-defense groups." The department identified the leaders of the two factions as Hipolito Mora, who founded the movement in February 2013 after he and fellow residents wearied of the drug cartel's demands for protection payments, and Luis Antonio Torres Gonzalez, a vigilante leader known by the nickname "Simon El Americano."
The two represent different wings of the movement, which is composed mainly of farmers, ranchers and farmworkers and seeks to end the Knights Templar's reign of kidnapping, murder and extortion. The grandfatherly Mora has become a public face of the movement, with frequent press interviews, while "El Americano," so-named because he lived in the United States, is viewed as rougher, less communicative and far more involved in armed incursions aimed at kicking cartel gunmen out of the state.
Mora has been accused of abusing his position, holding on to lime orchards and fields that were seized from the Knights Templar and possibly having a role in the deaths of two vigilantes found murdered over the weekend. A recent increase in price for limes - the mainstay of the economy in Michoacan's semi-tropical lowlands - may have brought the dispute to a head because lime orchards have become enormously profitable.
Mora has denied those accusations, saying he returns the land to its rightful owners when they can show proof of ownership. He also denies any role in the deaths of the vigilantes, whose bodies were found Saturday in a burned-out pickup truck. Mora says the rival faction has allowed former Knights Templar cartel gunmen to join the vigilante group, a complaint frequently heard in the area. "They will do anything for money," Mora told local media.
The federal government's envoy for Michoacan, Alfredo Castillo, said Mora had been flown Monday from La Ruana to Mexico City for meetings with authorities, and more meetings were planned Tuesday in an effort to iron out differences.
Neither Mora nor Torres Gonzalez answered phones on Tuesday, but Ramon Contreras, a town official in La Ruana, where the movement to combat drug cartel extortion began a year ago, said Mora's vigilantes had grown arrogant and abused the local population.
"Hipolito is doing well, but only with the media," Contreras said. "People are saying 'we're more afraid of the self-defense forces than the Knights Templar.' "
It was a development that many had feared as largely untrained vigilante forces armed with assault rifles have sprung up so quickly.
Officials and residents said Tuesday the dispute came to a head when hundreds of police and army troops were sent in to separate two armed factions in the town of La Ruana on Monday.
The confrontation revived fears that the government has created a monster by letting the heavily armed group of an estimated 20,000 vigilantes take over basic law enforcement duties in the state without knowing who is really behind the movement. Vigilante leaders say their movement is supported by contributions from farmers, growers and businessmen. But there are concerns that a rival drug cartel, personal interests and local feuds may also play a role.
The vigilantes are now the de-facto authorities in about 15 of the state's townships, and several top drug cartel leaders have been arrested or killed.
The Michoacan state public safety department said authorities "are conducting mediation efforts to defuse the conflict between self-defense groups." The department identified the leaders of the two factions as Hipolito Mora, who founded the movement in February 2013 after he and fellow residents wearied of the drug cartel's demands for protection payments, and Luis Antonio Torres Gonzalez, a vigilante leader known by the nickname "Simon El Americano."
The two represent different wings of the movement, which is composed mainly of farmers, ranchers and farmworkers and seeks to end the Knights Templar's reign of kidnapping, murder and extortion. The grandfatherly Mora has become a public face of the movement, with frequent press interviews, while "El Americano," so-named because he lived in the United States, is viewed as rougher, less communicative and far more involved in armed incursions aimed at kicking cartel gunmen out of the state.
Mora has been accused of abusing his position, holding on to lime orchards and fields that were seized from the Knights Templar and possibly having a role in the deaths of two vigilantes found murdered over the weekend. A recent increase in price for limes - the mainstay of the economy in Michoacan's semi-tropical lowlands - may have brought the dispute to a head because lime orchards have become enormously profitable.
Mora has denied those accusations, saying he returns the land to its rightful owners when they can show proof of ownership. He also denies any role in the deaths of the vigilantes, whose bodies were found Saturday in a burned-out pickup truck. Mora says the rival faction has allowed former Knights Templar cartel gunmen to join the vigilante group, a complaint frequently heard in the area. "They will do anything for money," Mora told local media.
The federal government's envoy for Michoacan, Alfredo Castillo, said Mora had been flown Monday from La Ruana to Mexico City for meetings with authorities, and more meetings were planned Tuesday in an effort to iron out differences.
Neither Mora nor Torres Gonzalez answered phones on Tuesday, but Ramon Contreras, a town official in La Ruana, where the movement to combat drug cartel extortion began a year ago, said Mora's vigilantes had grown arrogant and abused the local population.
"Hipolito is doing well, but only with the media," Contreras said. "People are saying 'we're more afraid of the self-defense forces than the Knights Templar.' "
It was a development that many had feared as largely untrained vigilante forces armed with assault rifles have sprung up so quickly.
Wednesday, February 19, 2014
Riviera Maya Mexico
Riviera Maya Mexico's Winter Escape
The dinosaurs were basking in the prehistoric sun for 135 million years, living as kings of Earth. And perhaps they would have lived that way forever, were it not for a massive meteor that struck the shallow waters where today’s Yucatan Peninsula sits, thus ending the reign of the dinosaurs forever.Move forward 65 million years to the 1300s. The dinosaurs had disappeared long before, and the Mayans were controlling a strong Caribbean and inland trade from the Yucatan. At the coastal city of Tulum, massive walls blocked would-be invaders, and a protected beach surrounded by cliffs gave the Tulum dwellers access to the Caribbean’s crystal-blue waters. For the Mayans, it was a time of luxury and wealth that allowed them to build pyramids elsewhere at Chichen Itza, Coba and dozens of other cities.
I suppose that if you asked a citizen near Tulum, the future must have seemed particularly bright — as it once did for the dinosaurs. And bright it was — at least until the European explorers brought ships and soldiers and European diseases. By the later 1500s, the reign of the Mayans had disappeared back into the jungle, along with their cities Tulum, Chichen Itza and Coba.
Move the clock forward once again, this time to the present. Even the massive Chicxulub crater from the dinosaur-killing asteroid is gone. Now the only holes in the ground on Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula are the cenotes — natural wells formed from collapsed caves in the dominant limestone rock.
Today, the Yucatan is one of the world’s most popular vacation destinations, best known for Cancun and Cozumel, but increasingly known for the Riviera Maya region, a coastal strip located south of Cancun and which extends from roughly the town of Puerto Morelos to the former Mayan city of Tulum. In the last 40 years, the region has grown explosively as all-inclusive resorts and boutique beachfront hotels
have catered to world travelers (many from the U.S. and Canada) looking
for sun, sand and surf. These travelers seem to have picked up the
lesson that was taught brutally to the dinosaurs and to the Mayan
people, which is to say, “Enjoy the moment, because you never know what
could be coming next.”Going There
Peak travel season to the Riviera Maya area (via Cancun’s airport) is generally considered to be from November through May along the Yucatan. This happens to be the driest time of the year, and it’s also when much of North America would prefer to abandon that snow shovel.
Stay
The concept of the all-inclusive resort is alive and well in the Riviera Maya region, and the concept is not entirely different than what you know of Cancun, minus the spring-break-party image. Beachside resorts like Karisma’s Azul properties, Grand Velas and Secrets capitalize on vacationers’ desires to get away from it all, but in towns like Playa del Carmen, travelers will find boutique hotels, condo properties and even traditional hotel-style properties. Rooms at the big resorts tend to be well-sized, and numerous companies offer timeshare-condo ownership programs
for those wanting to make a getaway into a regular adventure.Eat
The secluded, seaside locations of most resorts mean you often simply cannot bounce into town to grab dinner, and the “all-inclusive” price encourages vacationers to get value out of their daily fee. Fortunately, the food quality at many all-inclusive resorts has improved dramatically. The buffets are still there but the quality is good, and many resorts have added specialty restaurants.
Le Chique, the signature restaurant at the Azul Sensatori resort, is one of the additions to the resort dining scene. Chef Jonathan Gomez Luna stuns his diners with gastronomy feats you’d expect only in the most cutting-edge restaurant in Los Angeles, New York or Paris, but it’s not just about showmanship. Gomez Luna is equally at hand with local flavors like aguachile (a variation on ceviche typically served in Northern Mexico) and a Tikix Xic (dry rubbed) sea bass in achiote chili sauce — a traditional Mayan style of preparing fish.
Outside of the resorts, you’ll find many of the best restaurants scattered about. In Playa del Carmen, Maiz de Mar serves fresh foods from local ingredients, as does Calle Ocho at the boutique hotel The Palm at Playa. Near Tulum, Chef Brian Sernatinger operates Unico where he produces thoroughly delicious comfort food that echoes his former work at New York’s Gramercy Tavern.
Shop
The beachfront town of Playa del Carmen is casual and imminently walk-able. The main drag, 5th Avenue, is the kind of place where you can find Swarovski jewelry, Hugo Boss, specialty tequila retailers and even tourist enclaves selling refrigerator magnets and T-shirts.
Do & Visit
Really, what is there to do besides relaxing at your hotel pool or napping on the beach under a palm tree? Quite a lot, actually. Tulum is the obvious archaeological destination, but the Riviera Maya has also seen a steady increase in soft adventure. Adventure parks Xcaret and Xenotes cater to the younger visitor, offering packaged experiences like zip-lining, snorkeling, ATV tours and swimming in the cenotes.
Chichen Itza, while not planted beside the Caribbean like Tulum, is the famed site of a pre-Columbian city where the centerpiece is an enormous pyramid. Its distance from the resort district along the coast makes for a lengthy day trip, but travelers who make the inland journey will admit the experience was well worth the effort.
Snorkeling and diving are favorite pastimes, thanks to the just-offshore proximity of the Grand Mesoamerican Reef, the world’s second largest coral reef.
Taking the Family
Each of the resorts caters to a different set of travelers. While some focus only on getaways for adult couples, other resorts cater to the entire family, offering daytime child-watch services where kids play games together and take fun classes
.
On a press visit to Azul Sensatori, the focus on the family was
obvious, with a daytime kids club and evening performances geared for
kids, plus a game room and even a rock-climbing wall. Even the hotel’s
manager admits that kids are pleasantly spoiled, but as the dinosaurs
and Mayans might remind you: Live in the moment and appreciate it.Aztec dog burial site found in Mexico City
Archaeologists on Friday announced
the discovery of “an exceptional” old burial site under an apartment
building in Mexico City containing the remains of 12 dogs, animals that
had a major religious and symbolic significance to the Aztec peoples of
central Mexico. Techichi dogs.
Previously, the remains of
dogs have been found accompanying human remains or as part of offerings,
experts with Mexico’s National Institute of Anthropology and History,
or INAH, said in a statement. But this is the first time a group of dogs
has been found buried together at one site.
“This is definitely a special finding because of the number of dogs and because we have found no connection to a building or with the deceased,” said archaeologist Rocio Morales Sanchez.
Aztecs believed dogs could guide human souls into a new life after death on earth, and could guard pyramids and other monuments when buried under them.
The dogs were buried at around the same time in a small pit between 1350 a 1520 A.D., the heyday of the Aztec empire.
The team of archaeologists determined when the dogs were buried through ceramics and other items found in nearby pits under the apartment building in the populous Mexico City borough of Aztacapozalco, Sanchez Morales said.
Michael E. Smith, an anthropology professor at Arizona State University who was not involved in the project, said the discovery is important because it is the first such find.
“This is not the first time a burial of a dog has been found, but it is the first find where many dogs were carefully buried together, in a setting that is like a cemetery,” Smith said.
Morales Sanchez said they will need to dig deeper to see if there are other items that could help them find out why the animals were buried in that area.
Smith said it will be important to see the results of the analysis of the bones.
“That work will tell us about the breed of these dogs, and it may tell us how they were killed,” he said. “The full significance of the finds is rarely obvious at time of excavation; the analysis will give the full story.”
Archaeologist Antonio Zamora, who works at the excavation site, said a biologist told the team the remains belonged to medium-sized dogs with full sets of teeth, likely common dogs.
Aztecs kept pets Techichi dogs, a breed with short legs believed to be an ancestor of the Chihuahua dog, and Xoloitzcuintlis, whose remains can be identified because of the loss of some of their teeth during adult age.
“This is definitely a special finding because of the number of dogs and because we have found no connection to a building or with the deceased,” said archaeologist Rocio Morales Sanchez.
Aztecs believed dogs could guide human souls into a new life after death on earth, and could guard pyramids and other monuments when buried under them.
The dogs were buried at around the same time in a small pit between 1350 a 1520 A.D., the heyday of the Aztec empire.
The team of archaeologists determined when the dogs were buried through ceramics and other items found in nearby pits under the apartment building in the populous Mexico City borough of Aztacapozalco, Sanchez Morales said.
Michael E. Smith, an anthropology professor at Arizona State University who was not involved in the project, said the discovery is important because it is the first such find.
“This is not the first time a burial of a dog has been found, but it is the first find where many dogs were carefully buried together, in a setting that is like a cemetery,” Smith said.
Morales Sanchez said they will need to dig deeper to see if there are other items that could help them find out why the animals were buried in that area.
Smith said it will be important to see the results of the analysis of the bones.
“That work will tell us about the breed of these dogs, and it may tell us how they were killed,” he said. “The full significance of the finds is rarely obvious at time of excavation; the analysis will give the full story.”
Archaeologist Antonio Zamora, who works at the excavation site, said a biologist told the team the remains belonged to medium-sized dogs with full sets of teeth, likely common dogs.
Aztecs kept pets Techichi dogs, a breed with short legs believed to be an ancestor of the Chihuahua dog, and Xoloitzcuintlis, whose remains can be identified because of the loss of some of their teeth during adult age.
Monday, February 3, 2014
LA San Pedro Cougar / Cub Cruise
Cougar Cruise to Mexico (Out of area)
Cougars (women who are attracted to younger men)
and Cubs (men who are attracted to older women) are invited to party
non-stop on the 2014 Cougar Cruise, October 24-27, aboard Princess
Cruise Line’s Golden Princess. The ship departs from Los Angeles (San
Pedro), California and sails to Ensenada, Mexico.
Prices begin at $434 per person, cruise only, inside cabin, based on double-occupancy, including government fees, taxes, and port charges. Cruise includes:
•3 nights accommodation aboard ship
•All meals
•Variety of clubs, bars, lounges, and lounge shows
•Las Vegas Style entertainment
•Fitness Center
•Pools, full casino, duty-free shopping
•Coordinated singles get-togethers throughout the cruise
•Dancing and socializing every night within the group
•Roommate matching for those who wish to avoid the single supplement
The Cougar Cruise is sponsored by The Society of
Single Professionals, the world’s largest non-profit singles
organization. Anyone wishing to book the cruise may call The Singles
Travel Company, toll-free at 1-888-286-8687. Anyone wishing more
information about cougars and the cruise may visit www.cougarevents.com.
Events 2014 Los Algodones B.C. Mexico
Los Algodones, B.C. Mexico
FEB 15 Tamale Festival At Catholic Church Av. "B", between 2nd and 3rd.
FEB 23 Rodeo "CHARREADA" Surprise at Ranch Magana South of town.
FEB 24 Flag Day
Mar 15 Appreciation Spring Party for Winter Visitors
MAR 21 Anniversary of President Benito Juarez
April 06 Paraiso Restaurant Anniversary BIG Party
July 19 120th Anniversary of Los Algodones Foundation
FEB 15 Tamale Festival At Catholic Church Av. "B", between 2nd and 3rd.
FEB 23 Rodeo "CHARREADA" Surprise at Ranch Magana South of town.
FEB 24 Flag Day
Mar 15 Appreciation Spring Party for Winter Visitors
MAR 21 Anniversary of President Benito Juarez
April 06 Paraiso Restaurant Anniversary BIG Party
July 19 120th Anniversary of Los Algodones Foundation
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
