Mexican Judge Orders US Marine Reservist Released

[Crabby Appleton]

Source: ABC News

U.S. Marine reservist Sgt. Andrew Tahmooressi, jailed in Mexico on gun charges since March, was ordered released by a judge in Mexico on Friday, according to documents released by the court.

The California native, 26, was arrested on March 31 after he says he got lost and crossed the Mexican border with three firearms in his pickup truck. Tahmooressi served two tours of duty in Afghanistan.

The family of Tahmooressi issued the following statement: "It is with an overwhelming and humbling feeling of relief that we confirm that Andrew was released today after spending 214 days in Mexican Jail."




Read more: http://abcnews.go.com/US/mexican-judge-orders-us-marine-reservist-released/story?id=26615258

[TwilightGardener]

1. Good news. Happy for his family.

[7962]

2. Finally!! Good news for him and his family. nt

[840high]

3. So happy for him and his family.

[Hulk]

4. Question though...

Why did it take 214 days to get this guy released? There must be a lot more to this story than what we are being spoon-fed?

[AnalystInParadise]

5. I grew up in El Paso

I would be surprised if there was something hidden to this story. My dad (Mexican/Russian) and I were in Juarez about 25 years ago and he was stopped by Mexican police and taken away for two weeks. His crime? He wouldn't give a bribe to the cops when they asked him for one. My relatives down south tell me it has gotten immensely worse in the last decade with MEXICAN citizens often kidnapped for no reason other than the police want some money. I believe the fact that he had a gun and refused to give a bribe is what led to his treatment. The land of my ancestors has really gone to crap the last few decades.

[cbayer]

13. I live here and I think you are grossly exaggerating what is going on.

I have traveled extensively in Mexico and have been in 23 states. While there have been a couple of attempted shake downs, generally by local police at the end of the month, they give up pretty easily when you start to ask them for information like their badge number, etc.

Juarez is a big problem, as are other border cities. Other than that, the problems are very isolated, like what has recently happened in Guerrero. I don't think there is any credence to your claim that mexican citizens are often kidnapped for not reason other than they didn't produce a bribe.

They are extremely touchy about fire arms at the border crossings and I am not surprised that he was immediately arrested. It's really not easy to accidentally cross the border into mexico, so I don't know what really went down here, but I am glad they have released him.

Mexico is a wonderful country that gets a very bad rap. The huge majority of the people here are honest, civil, hard working and amazingly kind. They are very dependent on tourism in some areas and that is why I find it necessary to strongly object when I see posts such as yours.

If you are interested, here is a wonderful article by Anthony Bourdain that I hope will warm your heart:

http://anthonybourdain.tumblr.com/post/84641290831/under-the-volcano

[AnalystInParadise]

14. I tend to trust my relatives

in Chihuahua and Sonora more than someone I don't know. (no offense, sincerely, no offense). And I have my own stories as a Mexican kid growing up in El Paso and having almost constant issues in Juarez.

But to answer your original claim.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/the_americas/kidnappings-in-mexico-surge-to-the-highest-number-on-record/2014/08/15/3f8ee2d2-1e6e-11e4-82f9-2cd6fa8da5c4_story.html

[cbayer]

16. If your family in Chihuahua and Sonora live in border communities, then I agree that

they are probably reporting correctly. There are massive problems at the border. Juarez is probably the worst of the worst border towns.

But if you have relatives in other states, I doubt you will hear any of these stories.

I appreciate the article and do not disagree that there are issues with kidnappings in some areas, but it in no way supports your claim that mexicans are often being kidnapped simply because the police want some money.

[AnalystInParadise]

17. Ok that was my entire point

I can agree with you about further south.

[cbayer]

19. Ah, we agree to agree!

I love it when that happens.

Today is a very special day here, btw.

[Guaguacoa]

20. Mexico state has definitely gotten a lot worse.

Everything has skyrocketed since pri got back in(pena nieto, he was governor before here). I know 2 business owners personally that have moved all of their family to texas due to kidnap attempts. I have a niece that was kidnapped and her mother paid, she was very lucky they didn't kill her anyway. Even valle de bravo, which is a playground for those from mexico city, and was off limits to this kind of thing is skyrocketing. The police are just as bad as the narcos and are behind a lot of it. I don't know of any mexican's that don't know that.

I am mexican, from here in mexico state (toluca) and I have seen it get much worse. The prices have shot up and with that goes crime. So I'm not sure what you are talking about, not hearing it from people here. I just doesn't make the us papers, only the very high profile stuff. Most people in the us keep clinging to something that isn't there, we here know it's not there.

[cbayer]

22. I have not spent a lot of time in Mexico state and am most familiar with

the states with more rural populations. We are on a boat and spend most of our time in small towns and rural areas.

I have heard stories here about rich mexicans being anxious about kidnappings. But we primarily in live in areas that do not have a lot of rich people, so maybe that is why we hear so little about it.

Thanks for that information. I still hope that this is isolated, because I love this country and I don't want people from the us to stop coming here.

[Guaguacoa]

26. I do not live in an area that is rich, it's a small poor pueblo, it's people with small businesses

getting kidnapped. No english speakers, mostly indigenous people as mexico state is). My niece that was kidnapped is not from a rich family by any means. Her father drives for a company (one of which has his family in texas as I mentioned) and her mother worked at a hospital making a few thousand pesos a month (couple hundred us) so they would be considered above the poverty level but by no means rich. One business owner that has his family in texas owns a hole in the wall carnitas place that we like to eat at. Not even a good area, not rich.

We, and eveyone pretty much, get calls constantly trying to get information on who lives here and where we live. The kidnappers here focus on small business owners and poor as it is better to get small amounts this way than a high profile rich person. The cops will not bother with these people and here they will not come even if you call them. Small business are robbed in open daylight, the cops do not care and in many cases are involved. The open daylight has only started in the last couple of years.

It's in no way isolated and you are not seeing most of mexico, your view is an isolated one. Believe me.

[cbayer]

31. I do believe you.

Although I have driven across the country and been to 23 states, I know that I don't get the real scoop. I spend most of my time in areas that are invested in tourism and I think the security is higher there and the problems much less noticeable.

I am sorry about what is happening in your community and particularly about your niece.

I hope that by living here I can be a positive influence. So much of this seems to be economically driven.

But I still love your company and the people that I have the pleasure to meet and talk to.

You may or may not be interested in this, but I found it very moving:

http://anthonybourdain.tumblr.com/search/mexico

Thank you for taking the time to inform and educate me.

[Guaguacoa]

33. No problem, for the most part

foreigners are a positive impact. We need change and I keep hoping it's coming.

[AnalystInParadise]

15. Or this

Your observations seem to be squarely at odds with the facts.........

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/21/72-kidnappings-in-mexico-_n_2346525.html

[cbayer]

18. I would be a little circumspect about calling this data "facts".

I don't buy this data at all. Per the article:

If the numbers are accurate, they would make Mexico the kidnapping center of the world. But according to news and analysis site InSight Crime, there are reasons to be skeptical:

Little information has been provided on the methodology used by the CLDH. What's more, if their figures are close to being true, it would mark an alarming rate when considering that Colombia -- formerly considered the kidnap capital of the world -- had a rate of 8 reported cases per day when kidnapping was at its peak in 2002.

[Guaguacoa]

21. By far most crimes here are not reported, do not make it to the papers. Even pena nieto

(pri) blocks narco news and there's a lot of stuff that gets put in that category. It was publically announced, it's not a secret. Women get raped on the busses here in toluca and it pretty much never makes the papers. So trusting any figures from here is your first mistake. The second is pretending to know about a place you obviously do not even live in. Believe me it's gotten MUCH worse and people here know it. The other poster's relatives know what they are talking about. Jalisco is bad, mexico state is bad, guerrero and chiapas are worse, oaxaca is even worse, vera cruz is bad. These are only a few and not even the northern states. It's bad here and getting worse, people in the us denying it does not make it any better.

In spanish, kidnapping in mexico is at it's worse, from onc 2014 and they are the real deal. Not some propoganda piece backed by our (and your) government.:

http://onc.org.mx/2014/08/26/analisis-integral-del-secuestro-en-mexico-como-entender-esta-problemaica/

This page talks about it in english (took me a while to find one).

Here they mention mexico state also:

"Now a new report—in Spanish—from the watchdog group National Citizen Observatory shows where kidnapping in Mexico is at its worst. The scale of the problem varies from state to state, but in general, central and northern Mexico is where you’re most likely to be kidnapped.

When visualized, it looks like a belt of extremely high rates of kidnapping stretching across central Mexico, surrounding the capital and then snaking up along the eastern coastal states to the Texas border.

Not surprisingly, these areas also correspond to regions with high levels of drug violence.

Researchers at InSight, a website focused on tracking Latin American organized crime, translated some of the report’s details. In terms of sheer numbers of kidnapped people, the problem is extremely dire in the central Mexican states of Guerrero, Morelos and Mexico—the state, not to be confused with the country of Mexico. But the per capita rate is highest in the northeastern state of Tamaulipas, near the U.S. border.

here’s more bad news. Kidnappings reached their highest levels ever in Mexico last year, with 1,698 kidnappings in 2013, according to the Mexican government. But this number is likely a low ball.

Two human rights organizations, the Association to Stop Kidnapping and the Front Line Defenders, puts the total at 3,038 and 27,740, respectively, according to The Washington Post."

This last part is exactly what I am talking about with the government here, very low ball. The government claims about 230000 here in mexico state (the most populated) are without electricity. I guarantee the number is probably up towards a million (over 16million population). There are a lot here without it. The government lowball's everything.


----------------------------------

I know this is a very long post but it's from the very best place to get it from, onc.

The fact is we ARE the kidnapping capital of the world. This site has a lot of this report translated, it's even better. Central mexico has the most kidnappings per area, up north more concentrated in smaller areas:

http://www.insightcrime.org/news-analysis/mexicos-kidnapping-hotspots

Sorry, long post but good info. I would still place the numbers higher than even they quote as the government lowball's big time.

[cbayer]

23. FWIW, I do live here and have lived here off and on for a year.

I have traveled all the way down baja and driven from PV to Belize and back.

I understand that there are problems, but I think it is a wonderful country full of wonderful people. You present one view and I don't dispute that it is true in some areas, but I have found the country to be safe and extremely welcoming. I want to encourage people to visit here, not discourage them.

[Guaguacoa]

24. There is a forum of people living in chapala from up north

and those people living there have to be the most clueless people in the world. Most do not have a clue of how it is here. I believe you are a good person, but your view is unrealistic and one overlooking what is really happening here. I am over 60 and have seen this country become what it is now, there are many bad places as compared to just a few years ago. Just because foreigners here do not see it does not mean it does not exist.

I understand this is the way of the us and those from there. I lived in the us for some years and mostly in latino areas. These are for the most part next to black areas and there are many problems (from both sides). I rarely saw any racism from the white people. These problems do not exist up there because it involves latinos and blacks (a lot of problems just between latinos from different countries also) it would take whites being part of the problem to be attended to. Too bad.

The worst thing that can happen is ignoring the problems. As I said, I am over 60, have relatives in many parts of mexico, know people all over and things are far worse than they have ever been. I will never try to convince people of otherwise.

This has nothing to do with the wonderful people, both things coexist. My view is the same as pretty much everyone I know over mexico, then again it's not one of a foreigner trying to convince where they have chosen to live is all rosy.

[cbayer]

25. I don't live in chapala, but I have visited there.

I currently live in La Paz and will be traveling to Mazatlan and La Cruz and points south next month.

What do you think is the best way to address this? I recognize that I am a privileged outsider in this land, but I am dedicated to it and intend to obtain residency. I truly want to be an asset and not a liability.

I do not doubt that people here are not always honest with me, but I do hear about good things. It appears that Cabo and La Paz have really pulled together after this hurricane. There seems to be a strong sense of community and there are lots of visitors this holiday weekend, mostly Mexicans.

[Guaguacoa]

27. I am not trying to be hard on you

as I'm sure you are a good guy (or girl). Ah, baja california. I see why you have this view. Mazatlan is not a bad place either, most of the coast is not with the exception of acapulco. Don't go there at all. You are seeing the coast and the good places, interior mexico is far different.

You will not get the whole story, even as nice as the people are you are still viewed as an outsider. Not really a bad thing, but you won't get the whole story. Most things that happen here the news moves with the people, it does not show up in most places. Really not much you can do except keep an open mind, not much we can do as long as our government is so corrupt. Don't accept what you see as reality.

Pri is called the narcogobierno and they bought the last election. They had trucks going around, signing up people for help, with a fancy card promises of monthly help. They collect copies of the person't voter card and this is used to place the vote for them. It never happened and in fact calderon's help was eliminated. They bussed in union people to go around with big tents giving away backpacks with food, cards that they said had 500 pesos (wound up to be 200 pesos) for people's votes. They hit df and mexico state big time as these are the most populated places.

I mentioned chapala as I used to go to a forum they have. Things started happening, warning signs, and I was telling them something was going to happen. They laughed at me and said it was only other narcos being affected. In a little while 15 people wound up chopped up in a van. They were restaurant workers, etc. and it was done to scare the business owners into paying. One of the people from chapala, from the us I believe, got caught up while on a walk, had to spend the night with kidnapped people and while this person was released the others were killed. The press here always say they were other narcos, but they (foreigners) found out it is not true.

I'm long winded, but I love my country and I grieve over what has happening and continues to happen. Where you are, on the coast, you will only see the best of it unless you go to acapulco. It doesn't mean the whole country, or even a good part of it, is that way.

There are no foreigners where we live, just mexican's, and even at that there are many that do not even have electricity. The house next to us has a wood hot water heater, it burns wood, they are common here. Very few have washing machines and many houses are adobe from years ago. Not a well to do area. Most have high walls surrounding the land where the family lives, several houses.


From what you are saying you will enjoy it here, there really are nice people. Mexico state does have a reputation from those in mexico city as being unfriendly, but most areas in mexico are not like that. Some of the nicest people here are in juarez, one of the worst places. Great people. Good luck to and by all means become a part of mexico.

[cbayer]

28. I know that I am not going to get the whole story.

I am a privileged gringo and will never break the culture barrier, nor do I think that I should.

I am having some of my first encounters with the government as I try to get my residency. It is very complicated and no one seems to know anything except their very small function. I can only imagine what it is like on a bigger scale.

As my spanish improves, I am going to start reading the newspapers so that I can have a better idea of what is going on politically.

I am very glad to have had this conversation with you. You actually know what you are talking about. I get very worked up when I see people from the US saying things about Mexico when they really have no knowledge, but I respect your insights.

No plans to go to Acapulco, but I very much have enjoyed my road trips into other states and will continue to travel here as much as I can.

Thank you.

[Guaguacoa]

32. No problem

Best of luck with your papers. One thing to keep in mind is that if you don't get the outcome, on a visit, that you like try another office or even later at the same one. One of the problems with our government is the lack of coordination between offices and even people.

[cbayer]

34. So far, things have gone very smoothly.

I only had to make 2 trips to INM and my file is complete. Now I just have to wait for final approval.

There are no options for other offices. You are only allowed to apply in the jurisdiction in which you live. The people working there were actually really helpful and kind, but some of the requirements are kind of weird.

Anyway, I hope that I will have approval very soon.

Thanks for taking the time to educate me.

[ManiacJoe]

7. Given his travel history, the "lost" story did not hold up.

[jmowreader]

8. I can think of a couple of reasons

Right at the top of the list is timing: He crossed the border right after Texas executed Ramiro Hernandez-Llamas. The Mexicans were already pissed off at us - there's a lot of diplomatic relations work a country must do before they execute someone else's citizens, and Texas won't do it.

Then there's the undeniable truth he was driving around with three loaded guns, two of which you can't own in Mexico for any reason...and which are also popular among drug cartels.

He'd gone to that area several times before the fateful night. The Mexican cops knew this, because you have to process into Mexico and they can pull records.

I've seen Google Street View of the road you take from where he parked to the border crossing...there are lots of "Mexico Only" signs on the on-ramp to the freeway. You've got to work at it to get into Mexico.

[pocoloco]

11. Taking your firearms into Mexico has always been a bid deal.

Years ago when we used to cross at Ciudad Acuña there were small storage lockers
that we would rent to store our firearms on the US side at the crossing.

[Midnight Writer]

6. Kudos to FoxNews for keeping this story alive

I am glad he was released and hopefully he will get home safe and sound.

I am sure Fox would be equally outraged if a Mexican citizen was caught entering the US with a car load of loaded guns and a cache of ammo.

And I am equally sure they would be thrilled if our Justice Department dropped charges and released the guy back to his own country.

And I know they would never accuse our President of being a feckless, weak-kneed leader who refuses to secure our border and who bows to the pressure of a foreign government in a case like this.

Thankfully, our side of the border is still a safe place for a mentally disturbed (according to his supporters) man to drive around with a small arsenal of loaded weapons. Who could possibly see anything sinister in that?

[Cha]

10. Fox "news"? They're nothing but shite.

[Jake Stern]

12. Wonder how long a Mexican who brought several loaded guns into the US would be in custody?

He'd be sitting in jail with and astronomical bond or even no bond at all.

The Feds would likely lay charges aplenty against him and them after they get done Texas might have a go at him.

[etherealtruth]

30. FWW, I agree completely n/t

[nitpicker]

9. Link to the Stripes story on this issue

http://www.stripes.com/news/marine-corps/mexico-judge-orders-immediate-release-of-jailed-us-marine-vet-1.311555

[Sunlei]

29. He is lucky to get off. When I heard his 911 call I believed his story.