A trafficker's vehicle of choice
Cartels swipe rugged Ford F-250s, F-350s in state for smuggling drugs and humans

By JAMES PINKERTON
Copyright 2008 Houston Chronicle

 

TEXAS TOTAL

• 2005: 1,549

• 2006 : 2,539

• 2007: 3,508

Houston entrepreneur Bill Christmann was shocked when thieves stole his souped-up black Ford F-250 pickup from his west Houston driveway one night last July.

But shock turned to concern the next day after Christmann learned thieves had driven the 2001, heavy-duty, four-wheel-drive truck to Laredo, loaded it with illegal immigrants and drove it back from the border, roaring off-road through fenced ranch pastures.

Police chased the truck south of San Antonio before the smugglers crashed the vehicle into a tree. The smugglers escaped, and the immigrants fled.

''That is a little scary, being that close to home," said Christmann, referring to criminals linked to smuggling rings showing up in his driveway.

Christmann is among hundreds of Houstonians who purchased one of Ford's two popular and expensive pickup models — the Super Duty F-250 and Super Duty F-350 — and have since learned that their rugged trucks are increasingly favored by gangs of auto thieves.

Many of the trucks, police officials in Houston and border towns say, are being stolen for Mexican criminal cartels who use them as vehicles for narcotics and human trafficking.

In 2006, thieves made off with 888 of the F-250s and F-350s from locations in Houston, according to Lt. Scott Dombrowski, of the Houston Police Department's auto theft division.

In 2007, he said, thefts of the same models increased 40 percent, to 1,245.

During the same two-year period, police say, the overall number of vehicle thefts in the city fell slightly.

Cartels are stealing the Ford trucks, in part, to evade increasing law enforcement along the U.S.-Mexico border, authorities say.

The trucks, many equipped with double cabs and four-wheel drive, hold a lot of cargo and can easily cross remote areas.

Experts say the big Fords have also been easier to steal than other trucks.

"You can steal these trucks with a screwdriver," Dombrowski said.

Wes Sherwood, manager for Ford truck communications at company headquarters in Dearborn, Mich., said steps have been taken to change that.

Until the 2008 model year, computer chips were not embedded in keys for F-250s and F-350s, he said. Without the "secure lock" key, which has been standard in recent years on other Ford trucks and SUVs, the electronic ignition cannot be activated.

Sherwood said earlier Super Duty models had an anti-theft device that included a car alarm.

Dombrowski said many groups are stealing the trucks in Houston, then driving them south.

"They are not running them just to Brownsville and McAllen," he said, "but running them to Del Rio and other border crossings."

The big trucks continue to be stolen at a time when Houston has seen a slight decline in auto thefts, Dombrowski said.

During the first 11 months of 2007, 18,016 vehicles were reported stolen in Houston, compared with 19,305 during the same period in 2006.

Border terrain

The trucks are being increasingly used to transport illegal immigrants, Dombrowski said, because profits are high and criminal penalties for human trafficking are less than for narcotics violations.

The trucks can easily evade police.

''It's big business," Dombrowski said. ''If you have human cargo, and they bail out, they don't get caught. And law enforcement has nothing, no evidence. They get away with it, and they're charging up to $5,000 a head."

Police in El Paso say Mexican cartels are stealing the Ford trucks because they can cross the border in the rough terrain of West Texas as well as the harsh deserts of New Mexico and Arizona.

''They use them to make entry in the outlying areas where there are no ports of entry," said Stephen Plummer, crime prevention officer for El Paso's auto theft task force. ''They're avoiding the ports of entry by using these offroad-type vehicles."

Plummer said in the past two years there have been 362 Ford F-250s and F-350s stolen in his border city, where full-size trucks and large SUVs make up the majority of the vehicles stolen.

''That's been a regional problem for Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and California," he said, referring to the Ford trucks, which can cost in excess of $50,000. ''It's all going to relate back to narcotics and human trafficking, and the terrain of the Southwest."

Police in the border town of Brownsville say they reduced automobile theft in that city by 12 percent last year compared with 2006.

But during the same period, thefts of Ford F-250s and F-350s increased dramatically, from 16 in 2006 to 41 last year, said Lt. James Pascall, who heads the auto theft detail.

John Mitchell, a special agent with the National Insurance Crime Bureau assigned to South Texas, said auto thieves connected to the smuggling organizations have focused on the big Ford trucks.

"I haven't heard of any instances where Chevys and Dodges have been used to smuggle illegal aliens or narcotics," said Mitchell, an investigator with the industry nonprofit group.

Using 'bait cars'

Susan Sampson, director of the state's Automobile Burglary and Theft Prevention Authority, said police officers are using grants from the agency to employ ''bait cars" equipped with hidden cameras and satellite locators to catch thieves.

So far, the agency has purchased 10 automated license plate readers that can alert patrol officers if a passing vehicle has been reported stolen.

Dombrowski, who heads the Houston police auto theft detail, said officers have followed bait cars all the way to the border to crack the rings stealing Ford pickups.

''We've done a lot of things, but there's a lot more thieves than there are police to track them down," he said.

Switch to Chevy

Christmann, who owns a construction firm, has replaced his stolen Ford F-250 with a big new Chevrolet pickup. He bought it for the Chevy diesel motor and, he said, because ''it does have a lot better security on it."

Two of Christmann's friends who work for another Houston construction company had their F-250s stolen on the same day last summer.

The trucks were next to each other in the company lot and were found 10 days later at a Houston apartment complex a mile away. They were returned to their owners.

One of the men, Chris Parrack, has installed a concealed kill switch on his 2007 model F-250, and hopes for the best.

''Every time I walk out into the parking lot, I grin and wonder if my truck is going to be there," Parrack said.

 

 

 

 

When I was young I used to pray for a bike, then I realized that God doesn't work that way, so I stole a bike and prayed for forgiveness.

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A woman walks up to a guy in a blue bathing suit and says, "Did you know your eyes match your swim trunks?" He says, "Why? Are my eyes bulging?"

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A guy asks his waiter how they prepare their chicken. The waiter says that there's nothin' special... we just flat out tell' em they're gonna die...

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HUSBAND: Shall we try a different position tonight?
WIFE: That's a good idea... you stand by the ironing board while I sit on the sofa and fart.

 

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An inmate on death row was scheduled to be put to death by firing squad the following morning. One of the prison guards asked the inmate if he wanted something special for his last meal. The inmate declined the offer. Later, the prison guard asked the inmate if there was something special he wanted to do on his final day. Again, the inmate declined the offer. The following morning, as he inmate was being put before the firing squad, the guard asked him if he wanted a cigarette and a blindfold. "No," the inmate said, "just get it over with." 

"Well, is there anything that I can do for you before you go?" asked the guard. The inmate thought for a moment, then replied, "Actually, music is my life. One thing I would really like would be to sing my favorite song, from beginning to end, without any interruptions." The guard nodded and agreed. "Go ahead," said the guard. The inmate started, "One billion bottles of beer on the wall..."

 

A guy walks into a gas station and buys a pack of cigarettes. He pulls one out and starts smoking it. The cashier says, "Excuse me sir, but you can't smoke in here." The guy says, "Don't you think it's kinda dumb that I buy them here but can't smoke them here?" And the cashier replies, "Not at all...we also sell condoms here."

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Hello everyone!

 

I found a story to share with y'all. I thought of Marine Mom instantly when I read this.

Comments out there?

 

 

Hello everyone!

 

Well, as you know I have been away for a while but I am back now. There have been a ton of things that have happened but am not going to talk about that yet. Instead this entry will be about the weird celebrities and what they have been doing lately.

 

 

She has lost her kids along with her mind with all her stupid things that she has done. For the few who may not have heard, the latest is that she is now running with a member of the paparizzi who is now a "boy toy" of the moment. What she doesn't know or care is that he will be selling pictures and stories very soon. Did you hear about the trip to the clothing store and the flash? Britney Spears stunned sales staff at a Betsey Johnson store in Sherman Oaks, California on Sunday when she stepped out of a fitting room completely naked.

A day before Spears' bizarre antics outside a Los Angeles courthouse cost her visitation rights to her young son for a month, the singer was stripping in front of shoppers.

Spears and her paparazzi boyfriend Adnan Ghalib caused a stir at the upmarket store upon their arrival, and as trendy shoppers watched, Spears grabbed a Betsey Johnson dress and took it to a fitting room.

But when she re-appeared, she wasn't wearing the dress or what she had on when she entered the store.

Cletus said that he will be selling his side of the story between them for 10 million dollars ~ the guy has class right? The kids should be taken away from both of them and placed with a married couple who can love them for them and not the dollar signs (like Larry Birkhead)

 

Just out today is the story about Eddie Murphy who decided not to stay with the latest wife to be ~

 

Just two weeks after their wedding, Eddie Murphy and Tracey Edmonds have split, Access Hollywood has learned.

Though their ceremony happened two weeks ago, the couple's marriage only  lasted three days, a source told Access.

Their relationship ended on January 4, 2008, in Bora Bora.

Days earlier the couple were married in a spiritual ceremony on the island. They planned on having a legally binding ceremony upon returning to the U.S. However, since that ceremony never took place, the couple was never officially married to begin with.

Remember the cute kid from the movie "The Client?"

 

Brad Renfro was a street-smart Tennessee schoolboy plucked from obscurity in 1993 to play the title role in "The Client."

The film's success brought him instant stardom, but struggles with drugs and alcohol dogged his career. On Tuesday, he was found dead in his home. He was 25.

 

One more about Britney ~

 

Now this one is way out there, I found a site that is betting on when she will die. But the way she is living her bizzare life, it could happen soon enough. She needs some serious help in a locked facility for at least a year if you ask me. Here's the link to the story ~

 

Well, that's it for this entry. Please let me know what you think okay, don't lurk!