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AFP - Mexico's Army took control of customs Sunday on the busy US border, as federal authorities pulled agents off the job in a massive anti-corruption shakeup, officials told AFP.

An Interior Ministry official said the dismissals were being carried out at all Mexican border facilities, and that the customs agents were being replaced.

Customs agents were sacked after some were found to be linked to contraband operations, according to sources at the ministry.

Agents in Nuevo Laredo, on the border with the southern US state of Texas, were called in Saturday to be told they were fired, and to hand in their badges and weapons. A total of 1,100 agents were sacked, Mexican media said.

Army troops took over customs border posts temporarily on Sunday.

Mexico and the United States share a border that stretches across some 2,000 miles (3,220 kilometers) and are partners with Canada in the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).

Mexico is in the midst of a raging war on organized crime, and has expressed serious concern about US weapons crossing into the country.

During a visit to Mexico last week, US President Barack Obama praised President Felipe Calderon for his controversial military crackdown on the country's drug gangs, which involves more than 36,000 troops.

The United States has pledged around 1.6 billion dollars to tackle drug trafficking in Mexico and Central America under the Merida Initiative, which also includes funds for training and equipment to boost security on the Mexican side of the border.

The Obama administration has acknowledged the US role in the violence, pledging to stem the flow of weapons into Mexico and curb demand for drugs in the United States, one of the world's top cocaine consumers.


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Going to be interesting to see how this effects our efforts to smuggle in building materials, electronics etc to our Baja homes.

I'm guessing that unless you're planning on bringing guns, ammo and tons of cash, it won't have much of an effect.

I just passed through with a load of plumbing supplies without a problem...

Yeah....My friend just passed through with a shitload of stuff and nothing happened to her.
That means pretty much nothing exept, they arn't stopping everybody.
The way I see it is this..........We used to have a one in fifty chance that we would get the red light and that was the random aspect of it all. That doesn't take into consideration those vehicles that are obviously loaded with questions.
Now....the man in the highchair, if he hasn't lost his job, will be punching the button a bit more often. Good. That's his job. Hit that button.

What's been reported here and there is that they have put in weigh stations at the border for all of us to cross over and reveal our weight problem. If we're loaded with machine guns or, more probably, too many Big Macs, how would a scale know?
This is total nonsense.
Look through the containers off the ships in San Pedro etc. Look closely and the problem will be solved.

In the last year with the home construction project I have crossed door, windows, electrical supplies, plumbing parts, flooring and electrical supplies. A few of those times included red lights and I was still waved through after the customs check at San Ysidro. I have never paid a customs duty or a mordida.

I wonder if it helps with my Baja plates???