PHOENIX – A confidential Homeland Security memo that described a plan to send Mexican assassins into an Arizona county to protect drug smuggling was “not accurate,” federal sources said Monday. The news came after Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu revealed the document Friday as evidence of the growing Mexican drug war spilled over into his county.
The May 2010 confidential memo was supposed to be a warning for law enforcement in the state, alleging that Arizona was being targeted by members of drug cartels. It warned about a team of cartel assassins coming to Pinal County who will kill anyone who tries to rip off their drug loads, according to
KGUN in Arizona, which broke the original story.
"The competing cartels are actually working in concert together to protect drug loads in America," explained Sheriff Babeu. The memo detailed a meeting that took place in Rocky Point between rival cartels.
But a Homeland Security spokesman disputed that in an e-mail to KGUN.
Matthew Chandler, a spokesman with DHS's Media Relations office in Washington, admitted to KGUN that DHS sent out the advisory in May. But in an e-mail, he wrote, "This particular information proved to be inaccurate. At this time, DHS does not have any specific, credible information on intra-cartel violence taking place in Arizona."
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