Mexico Offered U.S. Help In Battle With Drug Cartels

The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said the United States could help with equipment and intelligence techniques after returning from a six-day trip to Latin America punctuated by news of beheadings and intimidation by Mexican drug cartels.

Mexico could borrow from U.S. tactics in the fight against terrorism as it battles a crisis of drug-related violence along the U.S.-Mexico border, the top U.S. military officer said Friday.

Returning from a six-day trip to Latin America punctuated by news of beheadings and intimidation by Mexican drug cartels, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said the United States could help with equipment and intelligence techniques.

Adm. Mike Mullen would not be specific about what kind of intelligence or surveillance help the United States might offer, but said he saw ways to employ experience the United States has gained in the ongoing hunt for extremists and terrorists.

He would not say whether there may already be U.S. drones flying over bloodstained cities such as Ciudad Juarez, where 17 bodies came into the morgue on one day recently, including the city police force’s second-in-command and three other officers.

“Obviously it affects us because of the relationship between the two countries,” Mullen said during a telephone news conference as he flew to Washington following meetings in Mexico, his last stop.

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EPA Says ‘All Clear’ After Phoenix High School Mercury Spill

The Environmental Protection Agency has completed its emergency response following a mercury spill at Agua Fria High School in Phoenix.

An EPA news release Friday said mercury contamination has been cleaned up at the school and at homes that were affected.

The EPA’s Emergency Response program was mobilized on February 13 after being notified of the spill.

Over the past 11 days, the belongings of approximately 450 students and staff were screened for mercury. Mercury screenings were also conducted at 66 homes of students and staff whose belongings were found to be contaminated with mercury.

Six of the inspected homes had moderate levels of mercury contamination and three of the homes required more extensive decontamination with two families temporarily relocating. The families displaced by the decontamination returned to their homes February 24.

The EPA said, at the school, mercury contamination in all classrooms, locker rooms, outside areas and buses impacted by the spill has been cleaned up. However, restoration of these areas is not complete.

The Avondale Police Department is leading the ongoing investigation in the February 12th spill. Federal law allows the EPA three years to investigate the cause of the spill and recover costs.

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Kidnapping Capital of the U.S.A. – Phoenix Arizona

Brian Ross and ABC News report what officials caution is now a dangerous and even deadly crime wave. Phoenix, Arizona has become the kidnapping capital of America, with more incidents than any other city in the world outside of Mexico City and over 370 cases last year alone. But local authorities say Washington, DC is too obsessed with al Qaeda terrorists to care about what is happening in their own backyard right now.

“We’re in the eye of the storm,” Phoenix Police Chief Andy Anderson told ABC News of the violent crimes and ruthless tactics spurred by Mexico’s drug cartels that have expanded business across the border. “If it doesn’t stop here, if we’re not able to fix it here and get it turned around, it will go across the nation,” he said. Read more