Mexican military inspects US-bound vehicles in Juárez to curb border smuggling

USA Today

11-02-2025

Mexican military inspects US-bound vehicles in Juárez to curb border smuggling
Mexican military troops began conducting inspections of U.S.-bound vehicles lined up in Juárez waiting to cross the Paso Del Norte Bridge into Downtown El Paso.
The street checks began this weekend and appear to be an effort to deter drug smuggling as part of "Operación Frontera Norte" (Operation Northern Border), which Mexico launched last week with the deployment of 10,000 troops to more than a dozen cities along the U.S. border.
The deployment, intended to fight smuggling on the U.S-Mexico border, was part of a deal between U.S. President Donald Trump and Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum to avoid economically hazardous threatened trade tariffs on imports from both nations.
It is not uncommon for National Guard troops and soldiers to set up checkpoints in various parts of Juárez as part of regular anti-crime efforts.
In the state of Chihuahua, Mexico's military is sending 1,620 troops to Juárez, 500 troops to Palomas (across the border from Columbus, New Mexico), and 470 troops to Ojinaga (across from Presidio, Texas), according to an infographic map from El Universal newspaper.
Mexican army soldiers and National Guard troops have made 15 arrests, rescued 20 migrants, seized over two dozen firearms and more than a dozen vehicles and various amounts of marijuana, methamphetamine and cocaine in the state of Chihuahua as part of Operation Northern Border, according to daily news bulletins from Mexico's Security Cabinet.
More bodies found at El Willy mass gravesite
Chihuahua state investigators have unearthed six new graves at the mass gravesite at El Willy in the northwestern rural mountain region of the state, authorities said.
More than 60 clandestine graves have now been found since Jan. 21 in the mountain forest near El Willy, a small community located in Ejido Ignacio Zaragoza, about 40 miles southwest of the town of Casas Grandes.
Forensic investigators found and processed six graves, and in four of them found a decomposed body, two complete skeletal remains plus other partial remains, the state attorney general's office said on Feb. 5.
Crime-scene anthropologists and forensic investigators continue excavations and efforts to identify the dead, who are believed to possibly be victims of forced disappearances tied to rival drug cartels operating in the region near the Chihuahua-Sonora state line.
In December, a dozen bodies were found at another suspected "narco graveyard" in the desert in the same northwestern region of Chihuahua state near the town of Ascensión, located some 50 miles north of Nuevo Casas Grandes along the highway to Juárez.
Murders decrease in Juárez, Chihuahua state
Homicides in Juárez dropped about a third in the first month of 2025 compared to a year ago as part of an overall decrease across the state of Chihuahua, state police officials said.
The decline in deadly violence — mostly believed to be linked to fighting between organized crime groups involved in drug and migrant trafficking — was a positive sign. However, there is still much work to be done, Chihuahua Public Safety Secretary Gilberto Loya said at a Feb. 3 news conference.
Juárez: There were 82 homicides compared with 125 in January 2024, a 34% drop, Loya said, citing state public safety statistics. Homicide statistics in Mexico can often vary depending on the reporting agency.
Chihuahua City: Homicides fell about 11% from 37 in January 2024 to 33 last month, Loya said.
Chihuahua statewide: Violent deaths statewide dropped about 19%, with a total of 158 killings this past January compared with 194 in the same period in 2024.
It is unknown if the January dip in bloodshed will continue. There have already been about 24 homicides in Juárez in the first 10 days of February, El Heraldo de Juárez reported.
Daniel Borunda may be reached at [e-mail] and @BorundaDaniel on X.