Showdown at the OK Corral" in Tombstone, Ariz.,

Showdown at border?
Violent, terror-connected gang threatens
to confront civilian immigration patrols

Posted: March 7, 2005
1:00 a.m. Eastern

Editor's note: Joseph Farah's G2 Bulletin is an online, subscription intelligence news service from the creator of WorldNetDaily.com - a journalist who has been developing sources around the world for almost 30 years.
World Net Daily

It looks like there is going to be a second "showdown at the OK Corral" in Tombstone, Ariz., April 1.
A leader of the violent, terror-connected Latin American gang Mara Salvatruchas, Ebner Anivel Rivera-Paz, has reportedly issued orders from federal prison to members of his international criminal organization to teach a lesson to a group of Americans taking border control into their own hands.
The American civilians, known as the "Minutemen," say they have some 750 volunteers ready to show up in Tombstone to start policing the border and dealing with illegal immigration.
The Mara Salvatruchas, founded in Los Angeles, has become one of the most violent and widespread gangs throughout South America, the U.S. and even Canada. Many of its members and leaders have been deported from the U.S., but the group is said to be deeply involved in cross-border arms-running and drug-smuggling operations, according to U.S. law enforcement sources.
Lately, the gang has joined forces with former members of the Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front, a radical terrorist group, and some U.S. intelligence sources say they may also be cooperating with Islamic terrorist groups - including al-Qaida.
Meanwhile, the Minutemen hope to form a group of civilians from all walks of life to patrol the border day and night - even with the threat of such violence. Their goal is stop the flow of illegal immigration through the Arizona-Mexico border, the biggest entry point into the U.S.
Jim Gilchrist of Orange County, Calif., is leading the project.
"I struck the mother lode of nationalism," he told a local TV station. "I thought I would be lucky to get 12 volunteers. In six months, I've gotten almost 500."
The target is a 230-mile stretch of desert along the Arizona-Mexico border. Some people call the area "America's Open Door." Along this section of the border, more than 43 percent of all illegal entries to the U.S. take place.
Last year, the Tucson Border Patrol apprehended 491,000. But for every person caught, immigration sources say, at least five walk in undetected.
"We're going to set up at least 40 maybe 80 outposts, four to six people per outpost 24/7, looking for people who are infiltrating over that border," said Gilchrist.
To do this, Gilchrist is amassing people from all walks of life to spend a month camped out on the border.
But some say taking the work of border patrol into their own hands could be deadly. While Gilchrist stresses non-violence, he doesn't rule out the possibility that many of his volunteers will be armed.
"Ten percent of our members are retired law enforcement officers who have a right to carry a concealed weapon. They probably will carry and you won't know it," he said.
But Andy Adame with the U.S. Border Patrol in Tucson warned "people are going to get hurt." Adame said many of these volunteers don't know what they're in for.
"When you have untrained civilians, that are armed, that are out in the middle of the desert, in the middle of the night, in the dark, and they meet up with one of these smuggling organizations ... you're going to have a gun fight," said Adame.
Border patrol agents have seen a growing problem with violence in recent years. Agents have been attacked by frustrated smugglers with rocks, bricks, even automatic weapons.
According to authorities, violence along the Tucson sector has climbed to an all-time high.
"Bringing untrained civilians into this border environment is a recipe for disaster," said Adame.
But that has not deterred many of the volunteers.
The Minutemen even have an air force. They plan to use about two dozen aircraft to patrol the skies near the border.
Rivera-Paz was arrested three weeks ago and is accused of murdering more than two dozen people in Honduras. He was wanted in connection with the December bus massacre of 28 people, including six children, in San Pedro Sula, Honduras.
The Mara Salvatruchas identify themselves with tattoos, such as "MS" or the numbers 13 and 18, signifying their relationship to the gang. The gang formed in the United States in the 1980s in a Los Angeles prison. The 13 and 18 signify the city streets in L.A. where they hung out.
U.S. officials are concerned the gang members might help sneak al-Qaida terrorists into America.
Rivera-Paz was charged with illegally entering the United States after being deported, but is expected to be extradited to Honduras to face charges in connection with the bus massacre.