ICE Agent Zapata’s Murder Deepens U.S. Involvement in Mexico’s Drug War

Ray Walser / February 17, 2011

On February 15, Mexican gunmen boldly attacked and killed a U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement agent Jaime Zapata and wounded a second, Victor Avila. This latest attack was the highest-profile assault against U.S. law enforcement officials in Mexico in decades. It was not, however, the first time Mexican criminals struck at American officials.

Last March, members of the Barrio Azteca gang in Ciudad Juarez murdered U.S. consulate employee Lesley A. Enriquez and her husband Arthur H. Redelfs on the streets of the Mexican border town.

The full force of U.S. law enforcement will swing into action to work with Mexico to find Zapata’s killers, presumably members of the Zeta organization. Surely, the death of an American official on Mexican soil raises the stakes in the ongoing U.S.–Mexican battle against Mexico’s cartels and criminal organizations. Sadly, Agent Zapata’s death will likely not be the last. (more…)