According to Arizona Daily Star, Cochise County Sheriff Larry Dever is not investigating a person in Mexico for the killing of Southern Arizona rancher Robert Krentz who was found shot to death in his ranch the day after his brother reported drug-smuggling activity leading to the arrest of eight individuals and seizure of 290 pounds of marijuana.
His killing, according to the Arizona Daily Star, “…became symbolic of Arizona’s porous and violent border, setting off a flurry of demands from residents, politicians and law enforcement leaders for more troops and resources to the border,” because it was believed that an undocumented Mexican immigrant or a Mexican drug smuggler killed Krentz. The event is also believed to have influenced the signing of SB1070, an immigration-enforcement law that has stirred national attention. Those who oppose the bill deem it a violation of human rights and pathway to legalizing racial profiling.
Although Denver is investigating someone in the United States and the suspects’ nationality remains unknown, his testimony before the U.S Senate Committee was quoted by the Arizona Daily Star as saying, “his murderer was tracked to the Mexican border, and has since evaded capture,” reinforcing the idea of spillover effect caused by the Mexican war on drugs. However, this idea has been contested by many as in an article from the Washington Post “Five myths about Mexico’s drug war,” a collaboration between the Justice in Mexico Project and the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. Other news sources such as Newsweek said that an American was a person of interest using “a law enforcement source.”
Sources:
McCombs, Brady. “Focus in Krentz killing on suspect in US.” Arizona Daily Star. 03 May, 2010.
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