Thursday, October 31, 2013

Your Rights or Your Safety, But Not Both!



So why are Americans so uptight about their personal rights being “violated” by law enforcement?


I recently came across a YouTube video showing an American driver who refused to open the window or show law enforcement his ID. The summary on the video states that he, as an American “knows his rights” (I’m so sick of that statement), and does not have to identify himself to law enforcement as it is his right to privacy. He feels that if he is not doing anything wrong, he shouldn’t have to identify himself.


That in itself is a ridiculous belief. How would anyone know if you’re not doing anything wrong if you won’t identify yourself to verify your claim? If anything, it makes you look even more guilty!


For 27 minutes, this idiot holds up traffic, repeats himself 100 times, refuses to let the agent explain or finish talking, accuses the agent of pulling his weapon, whines about agents touching his car, and rants only about HIS rights with absolutely no regard for why ALL drivers are stopped. What he failed to realize is that while he was busy whining like a spoiled brat, agents ran his plates and found out all they needed. He drove away feeling like a big shot thinking he got over.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P4z3gQYVMBs

 I’m all for human and constitutional rights and don’t believe the government has the right to pry into our personal lives, but asking who you are at a checkpoint is not much different than when one applies for a credit card, loan, or government benefits. As a matter of fact, more information is revealed about you when you apply for a credit card or a loan than at a checkpoint or border crossing.


People applying for credit will practically throw their personal information at the requestor because they’re anticipating something in return, a new TV, car, or new shiny things. Not only that, but the information they willing give up is sold to others, hence, spam and junk-mail!  But, put a badge on the same requestor and they won’t even show their driver’s license and claim harassment and violation of their constitutional rights! Officers are called Nazis and abusive thugs.


At a checkpoint, also known as “illegal checkpoints” by paranoid anti-government zealots, the only thing that is checked is national or state database to find out if you have any arrest warrants and vehicle license plates to see if the vehicle is stolen. Border Patrol checkpoints check for citizenship but way too often encounter drug loads. As federal agents, they are required to search and seize being that more drugs are being transported more than illegal aliens.  Sometimes, the driver may have to answer a few more seemingly stupid and irrelevant questions that drivers feel is none of their business. Most times, drivers take this line of questioning as harassment or interrogation. On the surface, the questions may seem stupid or irrelevant, but to the person asking them, the answers tell a lot more.
It is the answers to these questions that identify the criminals. You’d be amazed at how much information posture, expressions, physical reactions, and voice inflections can reveal about someone who is hiding something. This is how law enforcement finds the bad guys that Americans demand law enforcement catch! So, you get stuck in one of these checkpoints, big deal! Answer the stupid questions and be on your way, act like an obstinate patriotic idiot and you’ll send up the red flags that will send you for a secondary search. Even the stupid criminals know this!
So how did we end up at the point where Americans must be asked who they are and where they’re going? Two reasons, Americans’ high demand for drugs and the Cartels’ insatiable quest for more money, and it’s easier for terrorists to enter the country than the legal way.  Don’t like the answer? Read on.


What is already commonly known is that Americans like their drugs, everyone from the high school cheerleader to the bank CEO who likes to “relax” with a little snort after a long week. The issue here is that Americans don’t understand what goes into getting those drugs into the US. They only picture the shabby dealer on the street corner or their sharp dressed supplier at the club. The fact is that behind the shabby street dealers and dapper suppliers is a long line of criminals that starts in Mexico.


For details on this long line, see the post titled Mary Jane Comes Home in the December page.
This societal slip into distrust and questioning is the result of cartel smugglers using, literally, every trick in the book to get their loads to people who feel it’s their “right” to have it. The only way for law enforcement to catch these people, who have seamlessly blended into our society, is to question everyone. The trick is to do it without violation constitutional rights or laws.


Yes, sometimes officers or agents slip, make mistakes, and some are even corrupt, but the fact is that many cartel smugglers and criminals are caught at these checkpoints because they slip up when answering the “stupid” questions. They contradict themselves, or their stories conflict with other passengers’ stories. Sometimes, their stories are so ludicrous, it’s obvious they’re transporting. Some get so scared, they’ll flat out admit they’re carrying drugs when questioned.


Once law enforcement has identified a potential smuggler, the next step is to find the contraband. Sometimes, a drug detection dog will quickly find a hastily stashed load in a door, a suitcase, and under the seats, no problem. The more seasoned smugglers will sometimes go to extremes to conceal his loads. Aside from good concealment techniques, they understand US laws, law enforcement techniques, methods of detections, and how to play the system.


One simple technique is referred to as “suiciding” a load. This is when a load vehicle is loaded with, say 5 to 10 pounds of drugs in a difficult to access location. Little effort is made to mask the odor in the hopes that a detection dog will quickly alert. Knowing that inspecting that vehicle will tie up three to four officers or agents, the second or third vehicle behind the suicide load is the real transporter. If the suicide load is not detected, great, no loss. Meanwhile, the real load vehicle with 200 pounds gets through while the agents are busy tearing the suicide car apart.

Another common technique is the ole’ family vacation ploy. A load car is also filled with “vacation” or “camping” supplies. The ploy is completed with children and even the family pet. When questioned, they say they’re going “camping”. Here’s where the “stupid questions” come into play. With the smuggler feeling confident the appearance of a vacationing family will get him by, the experienced officer asks the driver where they’re going, the driver replies “Big Bend Park”, the wife replies, “New Mexico”.  At secondary inspection,


 95.5 pounds of marijuana is found in the ice chest, door panel, and axle differential housing.


  


The ole’ “just a couple of girls” routine. Two women were arrested after border officers in Nogales found cocaine wrapped around one woman's butt and methamphetamine hidden in the other woman's car.  





 If you would have seen this lawn maintenance truck going through your checkpoint, would you have looked in the bed and waved it through? This vehicle’s driver couldn’t remember where his friend lived or who the truck belonged to. An inspection by hawk eyed officer saw something that just didn’t add up. Marijuana bundles in the hose reels and hidden compartment in the truck box.


It’s not just the average “citizen” that smuggles. On a larger scale, cartel operations that are run in the U.S. use similar techniques but on a larger more brazen level. Smuggling operations will go to great lengths to try and deceive law enforcement by blending in.






A truck cloned as a Texas Department of Transportation service vehicle. The driver, an illegal alien, was wearing a safety vest to complete the image. Interstate 10 between San Antonio and Sequin, TX.



Another truck cloned as a US Fish and Wildlife service vehicle. Over 900 pounds of marijuana was found in the bed of the truck. June 2013, US Highway 191, Arizona. That’s about $700,000.00 in profit for Mexican Cartels seized.


Think that's extreme? Nothing is too much when millions of dollars are at stake.

Can you spot the fake Wal Mart truck?
In August 2006, the Texas Department of Public Safety Trooper on routine patrol, stopped this truck and found 3,058 pounds of marijuana and 204 kilograms of cocaine in the "cloned" Wal-Mart semi-trailer, driven by a man wearing a Wal-Mart uniform. The fake truck is on the left. That’s about $ 2,000,000.00 in profit for Mexican Cartels seized.









A cloned van with DirecTV and other markings was pulled over on a routine traffic stop in Mississippi and found to be transporting 786 pounds of cocaine in the cable spools. The 1-800 number on the van was actually an adult sex chat line. That’s about $ 6,000,000.00 in profit for Mexican Cartels seized.

 

A cloned UPS van was found to be carrying 13 illegal aliens in El Centro, CA.


 Just a guy who bought a big screen TV and on his way home to watch the game. His elaborate story was too perfect. An inspection revealed 112 pounds of marijuana inside the TV. $80,000.00 worth of marijuana seized.

"Yes officer, here’s my driver’s license and insurance”. “I’m just going to the flea market to sell some mowers, I fixed”. The driver’s licensed turned out to be fake and the flea market was in the opposite direction. The truck’s VIN had been tampered with and thus, probably stolen. The driver was also found to have an arrest warrant.

So you’ve seen a few results of why checkpoints are set up and why officers, troopers and agents ask some seemingly dumb questions. The intent is to keep our communities safe from dangerous drugs and the criminal elements that put our society at risk with their violence, not to harass you.


Let’s take this one scary step further.

Two illegal aliens hidden under the floorboards of a vehicle attempting to enter the U.S.

An illegal alien hiding under the dashboard of a car entering the U.S.



 
Thirteen illegal aliens disguised as US Marines caught at a border patrol checkpoint in California. The van, complete with government plates, was stopped by agents and checked just like everyone else. The subjects all had military style haircuts and complete uniforms. Sharp eyed checkpoint agents caught the altered government license plate and all the “Marines” had “Perez” name tapes on their uniforms.

Now that you've seen the top 12 inches of the proverbial iceberg, ask yourself these questions.

What if those smuggled drugs were instead, dirty bombs, biological weapons, or explosives for an attack on the U.S.?
What if those illegal aliens were instead, terrorists trying to enter the U.S. in preperation for an attack?
Do you think Al Qaida can afford to pay cartel smuggling experts to smuggle terrorists into the U.S.?
Do you think money hungry cartel members who make billions of dollars off drugs, extortion, alien smuggling, counterfieting, theft, kidnapping ransoms, money laundering, and protection fees would turn down any money from a terrorist organization?

If you think these questions are too far fetched, then, ask yourself this question. Twenty years ago, was it too far fetched to consider airliners full of innocent passenger being flown into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon? How about a terrorist bombing at a marathon or a terrorist attack on a US military base by a Muslim US Army officer? 

We live in a different world today than we did 20 years ago. The dynamics of violence, terrorism, and war have all changed. As a result, our way of life has been changed. It has changed in a way that creeps up to our rights but, does not cross it (yet). Those who refuse to change with the times and cling to the passed openness we once had, will continue to complain and wind up frustrated, making their own lives even more difficult. On one hand, they loudly claim they pay taxes so our government officials and law enforcement keep us all safe and demand their integrity not be questioned, on the other, they quickly claim harassment and violations of their rights when they do get questioned! 

Today, our society’s enemies live among us, they blend in with us and act like we do. They live in our neighborhoods and have daily routines like ours but, they have evil in their hearts. Some are sloppy and easy to find, others live like upright American citizens living the American dream, until the time is right for them to take action. The only way to find them is to question everyone.

Is it right to stubbornly refuse to answer two or three questions asked by our front line defenders more important than catching these criminals who are attacking the core of our society?

Would you have questioned any of these vehicles if you saw them traveling alongside you on a highway? Our well trained officers, troopers, and agents whose job it is to protect our communities see this a lot. They know what to look for and the stupid questions to ask to find out who is lying. They’re actually more concerned with keeping narcotics and dangerous criminals off the streets than prying into your personal life. They really don’t care who you are if you’re honest and cooperative.  It’s also a well-known fact among law enforcement that many seasoned smugglers obviously get through checkpoint because they how to control their expressions, answer the questions properly, and prepare better. 

Take the case of the man who was stopped by a Tennessee State Trooper in 2009. A trooper saw a blue BMW speeding on the northbound highway. The Trooper stopped the car and made contact with a well-groomed, sharp dressed driver. The driver claimed to be late for his brother’s wedding and apologized. He was very cordial with the trooper and even had a wedding invitation and tuxedo hanging in the back. The driver even asked the trooper for directions, as he was not familiar with the area. The trooper had that proverbial gut feeling but couldn’t find any other legal reason to keep the driver and released him after signing the ticket.

The trooper then notified his partner 10 miles up the road and told him about the BMW and gave him the details. Sure enough, the next trooper spotted the BMW speeding and pulled him over again. The driver’s story was identical to the first stop and even asked the trooper the same exact questions, only this time, he told the trooper he was bride’s brother. The trooper continued asking questions until the driver tripped himself up and lied. This gave the trooper probable cause and he searched the vehicle. During the search, the trooper discovered maps and diagrams of the Frankfort, KY airport, notes scribbled in Arabic, $30,000.00 in cash, three bottles of an unknown liquid in unmarked bottles, and a cigarette pack with a phone number written on the inside.

The case was turned over to the FBI and agents determined the subject was a suspect in a terrorist network associated with a group based in Jordan. On the first night the number was called, a man with an accent answered but quickly hung up. The number was disconnected within the hour. Once in custody, the man stopped talking and invoked his right to remain silent. He never said another word. The liquid turned out to be low-grade acetate, an ingredient that could be used to make an explosive. The rest of the information on the items seized was not released. The subsequent investigation led to the arrest of another man in Frankfort but the full plot was never discovered. 

Now, let your imagination run wild with this man’s plot while asking yourself what would have happened if that same driver behaved like the idiot in the video and refused to show his license or have his car searched without a warrant? Would it have been the “right” thing to do by not violating his Fourth Amendment right and release him? What if you were that trooper and the driver acted like the guy in the video, so you released him only to find out later that he blew up an airport and killed scores of innocent people? Would it be then be fair to blame the Fourth Amendment?

 
eModicus

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