AUSTIN, Texas (AP) _ Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott says he has written a letter to President Barack Obama, renewing his appeal for a tougher defense against violence spilling over the Rio Grande from the Mexican drug wars.
Abbott said he was spurred by a South Texas border sheriff’s conclusion that violence from the spillover has begun.
Hidalgo County Sheriff Lupe Trevino had long downplayed claims of Mexican drug violence spilling across the Rio Grande. Tuesday, however, he had the first documented case of spillover after one of his deputies was shot in a confrontation with kidnappers sent by the Gulf cartel. Trevino says the men had been sent to retrieve a stolen drug load near Edinburg. One suspect died in the exchange of gunfire.
Trevino said he was prepared to meet the challenge.
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