Mexican drug cartels hold 12-year-old for ransom – in New Mexico

Thugs working for Mexican drug cartels kidnapped the 12-year-old daughter of a ranch foreman in New Mexico, holding the girl for ransom until her family and neighbors came up with $80,000 for her release. They didn’t dare call law enforcement for help because of very real fears their calls would be monitored by the kidnappers using sophisticated communications relay stations erected on U.S. public lands. That was one of the most shocking stories four congressmen heard last week while visiting hot spots along the New Mexico, Arizona and Texas border, where specific American law enforcement officers are being targeted for assassination and high levels of violence, vandalism and threats against Americans are increasingly common. One rancher showed the lawmakers a photo she had taken on her property of a camo-clad drug runner brandishing an AK-47. “The town hall meeting we held with ranchers in New Mexico was very lively,” Rep. Ed Royce, R-Calif., told The Examiner. “The drug smugglers use scanners, cell phones, GPS systems and other equipment that is better than anything Border Patrol or the local deputy sheriffs have. We could actually see them watching our Border Patrol agents from points on high ground” in Mexico...more