Drug War

Nogales is out of control. Drug cartel war has never been this violent here. What used to be periodic kidnappings and executions is now all out shootouts in major commercial sectors of town. AK-47s and hand grenades are the weapons of choice.

I had my G9 with me and shot some video at this scene where a shootout occurred around the corner from the restaurant I was at, looking for a friend. I was scheduled to do a ride along with the municipal police, but upon arriving was told that all media ride along requests were now being cancelled, via word from the big bosses at the state level. I was already in Mexico, by myself, and had a story to do. So I was looking for a friend of mine who I was hoping would be willing to go a few places with me so I could try to get some photos of the police in action. Just then, there was a ruckus, people saying "Gunshots". I ran around a corner to find that there was a car that had been shot up on a major street in front of a big grocery store. Several men abandoned the car and ran into the store, throwing their AKs aside at the door. Upon search of the vehicle, over 20 clips of ammunition, several bullet proof vests, and two hand grenades were found. As I was in line to leave the country later on, a volley of gunshots rang out nearby. It must have been 10-15 seconds of solid automatic weapons fire.

The video is on the fly with a point and shoot, and on deadline, so I did what I could. Please give it a look at: http://videos.azstarnet.com/p/video?id=2180420

Goodbye Sidewinders

It has been a pleasure to cover AAA baseball in Tucson. It is a 40 year legacy that ends tonight with the final game of the Tucson Sidewinders, who will move to Reno for next season. I will really miss it.

More adventures in Mexico

This was a lot of fun to do. I was supposed to be relaxing on the beach in San Carlos, taking some days off. When I met these fishermen, I had to go out to sea with them.