I took this series of photographs on April 24
and 25, 2005,
while Brad Beebe and I worked the Minuteman Project line
near Naco, Arizona, on the Mexican border.
To keep the size of the file manageable there are only a few
images per page. Use the scroll buttons to see them all.
An Hispanic-looking male, with a woman riding backup on a dirt
bike, zipped north on the unpaved road behind the Minuteman lines
at Highway 92, during our watch. We got advanced word of his arrival
on the walkie talkies everyone carried, and in keeping with the
prime directive -- a 100% no-contact policy -- we simply observed
them, and took notes and photographs. They returned southbound a
few minutes later and were not seen again. The bike had no license
plate.
I've been asked several times, somewhat cynically, what does an
"Hispanic-looking male" look like? This is a police-type
description,
as in, "Hispanic-looking male, mustache, mid twenties, approximately
160 pounds, wearing blue jeans, dark blue long-sleeve shirt."
I couldn't adequately describe the backup rider beyond identifying
her as a female, so no further details are provided about her.
This picture is scheduled to appear in the September, 2005 issue
of Soldier of Fortune magazine, along with many other photos
from this collection.
Brad is pointing to a small culvert for draining storm runoff
under Highway 92. Illegals have been known to use these to cross
highways, especially if the larger walk-through concrete culverts
are being watched. We smoothed the sand at its mouth and carefully
arranged some twigs -- borrowing the Border Patrol trick -- to detect
anyone who might have slipped through. No one did during our watch,
the swing shift, from 2 p.m. to 10 p.m.
The most respectable looking building in run-down Naco is the
U.S. Border office there. The no-guns-or-ammo sign has no text with
it, presuming perhaps that gun owners cannot read. Bringing even
a single round into Mexico gets you into one of their helatious
prisons for two years. Mexican officials are rumored to be in great
fear of revolution from their oppressed masses, hence the virtual
ban on private arms, or bring weapons into the country. This rumor
is supported by the fact that 5,000 Mexicans a day attempt to escape
across the U.S. border, a worse exodus than even the communists
faced. Drug cartels, armed to the teeth but fixated on profits,
are apparently not an issue, and are left alone by officials, since
attention to this matter has a tendency to lead to rapid assasinations.
The warning sign forbids bringing more than ten grand in cash across
the border, without filing forms with the authorities.
