by Jim Daddio
Betty stopped him. “And why haven’t you taken me there? We are partners, you know.”
Mat stuttered. “I…well…hell, it’s just a bar. I haven’t been there in a while.”
“Take me one day.”
“Right. Here’s the deal. I stopped in last week and the bartender told me that a guy sitting at one of the tables was in several times asking about me. He wanted to talk to me. I sat with him and he tells me a sad story about how his granddaughter was in the tunnel and part of it collapsed and she was killed.”
“Oh, that is so sad. I just didn’t expect all this death. First, the boy is shot by a border guard. Then we learn a little girl dies in a van. And now this.”
Mat looked over. “Reality, Betty. What can I say?”
“So, go on.”
“I went back to the bar yesterday and got the message I was to meet the man today at an industrial park outside of town. I’m not familiar with the area. It’s called Park East Industrial Complex. We should be there in about fifteen minutes.”
They drove in silence for a few miles. Betty looked over and said, “Aren’t you interested in how the briefing went in Washington?”
“Should I be?”
“Somewhat. There was a discussion about you and your team.”
“And?”
“Well, when you come over tonight, I will brief you. You are coming over, right?”
Mat felt flustered. He stammered, “Right…I mean yes…we’ll see…maybe.”
“Jesus, Mat. Take it easy. You look a little flushed. So it happened. It just happened. Okay. Damn.”
Mat pulled into the industrial area and noticed a long stream of lowrise buildings. Some of them were occupied, with the names of the companies over the door. He drove slowly looking for the man, who had told him he would be in a white Lincoln. Mat drove close to the end of the parking lot when he saw a white car sitting alone. There was a man inside. He pulled next to the car.
The man got out of his car and walked toward the passenger’s side. He stopped when he saw Betty sitting in the front seat. He looked through the windshield at Mat. Mat saw the look on his face and motioned for the man to come to his side of the car. He touched the button and the window slid down.
“What is that lady doing here?” the man asked.
“My partner. Get in the back.”
“You were to come alone.”
“I never said that. Now get the fuck in the back.”
The man opened the door, bent down and slid into the back seat. Mat said, “This is Betty. Very capable and very tough.”
The man nodded. Betty said something in Spanish and the man nodded again. Mat turned around and said, “It’s your show.”
The man appeared nervous and Mat could see the sweat rolling down his face. The man spoke softly, “When you first drove in here, there are two large warehouses. The second one does not have a name on it. The tunnel ends in the basement of that building. But what is very strange is there are no visible steps that lead down. The steps are behind a fake wall.”
Mat looked over at Betty. He had nothing to say. He was hoping Betty would ask a question or two. She stared straight ahead.
The man continued. “It looks very quiet. But I have been told there are always several armed men inside. I also have been told the tunnel is used mainly to bring drugs across the border. As I said, lately they have been using it to bring in people.”
“Anything else?” Mat asked.
“I cannot think of anything. I have told you all I know. Now it is up to you to do whatever you do.”
“Thank you, sir.” Mat said.
The man opened the door and slammed it shut. He leaned over the open front window. “Close it down and bring to justice those who have killed my granddaughter for profit.” He turned and walked away.
“Let’s get out of here,” Mat said “I don’t like sitting here. We can talk about this back at the office.”
Mat started the car and began to pull out of the parking space when he saw a white truck with some notations of a moving company painted on the side. Mat stopped for a second when he saw the van stop in front of the warehouse the man had pointed out. Two men got out of the truck and went inside. The truck continued down the street and turned at the end of the row of warehouses.
“There must be a docking station in the back.”
“You’re not thinking of doing anything now, are you?”
“We have to see what’s going on back there.”
“No. No we don’t. Let’s report this and get the ICE team in here and follow procedures.”
Mat smiled and turned the car toward the end of the warehouses. He pulled up just enough to see the truck. It had stopped and backed up to the building. The driver got out and opened the back of the truck and threw several large moving type boxes on the ground. Several men came out of the building carrying large brown duffel bags.
“Marijuana,” Mat said.
“You think?”
“Oh, yeah. A shipment must have just come in. Look, they’re putting the weed into the moving boxes.”
They watched as the men finished packing the boxes and loading them into the truck. They waited for the driver to return to the truck.
Mat turned toward Betty, “How fast can you get your team out here?”
“Now? You want to do something now?”
“Right this fucking second. Call someone. I’m calling our drug enforcement team. Might as well have the whole gang here.”
Betty punched a few numbers into her cell. “Code Red.” Mat handed her a piece of paper. “Park East Industrial Park Complex. Warehouse. Illegal drugs being brought into the U.S. and a possible tunnel.”
Mat called his boss. “Hey, get a full SWAT team out to Park East Industrial Park Complex. Heavily armed and dangerous drug dealers. And a tunnel from Mexico. The ICE team is on their way.”
Betty cried out, “Oh man, without a federal warrant?”
“Probable cause. We witnessed a possible crime and called it in.”
“But why were we here?”
Mat laughed. He gave her a funny look. “We wanted to be alone.”
“Yeah, right. What turned out to be a good thing could get us in trouble. Why couldn’t we have observed? Reported. Got a warrant. And came out here with guns a blazin’. No. Not you.”
“We still would have had to explain what we were doing here.”
“Sometimes a tip gets what we want.”
“See, you’re getting this already.”
They sat for in silence for a few minutes and observed the truck and warehouse. After several minutes, Betty said, “You would think they would pack up and go. It could be a mistake, just sitting around here.”
“I have a feeling they are waiting for something…or people from Mexico.”
“You could be right. I’m hoping that’s not the case. If they have immigrants coming in, it could turn into a hostage situation.”
“I was thinking the same thing.”
Betty looked at him. “Damn you, Mat! You and your John Wayne ways…get to be a hero now. Shit!”
Twenty-two
Betty drove the car outside the entrance to the industrial park. Mat had to laugh to himself. All the times he had made arrests over the past several years he never had to use his weapon or encountered a dangerous situation. He was now faced with the possibility of another shootout.
Mat circled his finger around the trigger of his Glock. He was an excellent shot and always scored high during his mandatory yearly trips to the firing ranges. He just didn’t like the fact he might have to use it.
Betty parked the car just to the right of the main entrance. She was waiting for backup to arrive. It didn’t take long. The first team to arrive were the officers from the Drug Enforcement Agency who had teamed up with the local El Paso drug enforcement officers. She was about to brief them on the situation when the team from ICE arrived in full force.
Betty counted a total of ten officer
s. Some of the SWAT team were dressed in full protective gear. She began her brief. “Based on a very reliable source, my partner and I were able to locate a possible tunnel from Juarez that ends in a warehouse located in this complex. We observed a large truck enter the area and park in the rear of the warehouse and saw several large boxes being loaded in the truck. We believe based on the size and shape of the boxes, the substance in question is illegal drugs.”
One of men called out. “How did you determine that?”
“We observed two men place bags into several large boxes and believe the bags were filled with marijuana.” She waited for a response. After a few minutes, she continued. “We also have learned there are armed guards inside the building. We know there is a false wall that hides a door leading to stairs going down to the basement and the end of the tunnel. We also feel the reason why the truck did not leave immediately after being loaded is because they are waiting for illegal immigrants coming through the tunnel. If this is true, it could lead to a hostage situation. We need to move quickly to avoid this.”
The officer in charge of the ICE team stepped forward. “We need to formulate a plan on how to approach the situation. I’ll need to speak to the man in charge of the drug enforcement unit.”
Betty listened in as they formulated the plan. It was decided the DEA unit would strike from the front entrance while the SWAT team and the command vehicle would be positioned at the back entrance.
She called Mat on her cell. “Mat, your drug unit is going into the building from the front. I am going to join the ICE team which will be positioned in the back.”
“I’ll move around to the front. Nothing has changed but we should move now.”
“We are. We’re moving out.”
Mat stayed low and trotted around to the front of the row of buildings. He saw the black SUV drive up to the front of the building. He ran toward it while five members of the team got out of the SUV. Two were holding a battering ram. Mat joined them, nodded his head and waited for the commander to give the signal. When the call came in, ICE was positioned at the loading dock next to the truck. When the command was given, the two men charged the door and smashed it open.
The officers charged into the room yelling and screaming. They commanded everyone to fall to the ground. About that time all hell broke loose. Two men were sitting at a long table. When the door caved in and the yelling started, they were caught off guard. One of the men reached across the table for his automatic weapon.
One of the police officers called out, “Don’t do it. Don’t touch the weapon.” The man continued to grab the weapon and started to turn it toward the officer. The officer fired his weapon and struck the man in the shoulder. The gun fell back on the table and the man fell to the ground screaming in pain. The officer quickly moved toward him, grabbed the large weapon and shoved his hand-gun into the back of the man. He didn’t try to move.
The other man yelled something in Spanish, fell to the floor and scrambled toward the back. He stopped suddenly when he felt the weapon's cold steel barrel touching the back of his neck. The officer quickly pulled his arms around his back and handcuffed him.
When Mat heard a door opening, he turned around. A man and a woman entered the room. Without hesitation Mat pointed his weapon and shouted, “Don’t move. Hit the ground…hit the ground now!”
The two people fell to their knees and then slowly slid onto the floor. Another officer came forward and called out, “Hands behind your heads.”
Within a few minutes, it was over. Mat walked over to the two people lying on the floor. “Where is the false wall and the door to the basement?”
The woman pointed to two large gray filing cabinets against a wall. Mat and several officers moved quickly and pushed them aside. There was nothing different about the wall. Mat called out, “What is this? Do we need to knock it down?”
Nobody responded. He walked over to the man and woman. Before he could ask them again, the woman said softly, “Part of the wall is on rollers. You can’t see them. You have to push on the wall and then slide it.”
Mat quickly walked back to the wall and two of the officers joined him. They pushed the wall and it moved slightly back. They pushed it to the right and the wall moved to the side. They spotted the reported set of stairs.
The call was made to the team behind the building. The vehicle moved toward the truck and five members of the team exited the vehicle and ran toward the truck. The truck had been parked backwards against the large open delivery door and two men were sitting on the dock. They froze in fear as the team approached them.
Two fully armed men inside the building walked out onto the loading dock. They saw the SWAT team and made a fatal mistake. They began yelling and opened fire on the SWAT team. The team returned the fire and two men were splattered with bullets and fell to the ground.
Mat and the other officers ran down the steps. They located the opening to the tunnel. It looked to be about six feet high and four feet wide. Mat radioed for Betty and suggested she bring two members of the ICE team to come into the building.
The leader turned toward Mat. “I am concerned about the tunnel. We don’t know where it begins, therefore we cannot have our team in position in Mexico.”
Within a few minutes, Betty and her team entered the building and spotted the opening. They raced down the stairs.
Mat greeted them with...“Well, this is it.”
“What now,” Betty asked.
“First, there are several people upstairs. Question them and find out what they know. If I could, I would like to make a suggestion. I wouldn’t send anybody in there until we find out the location of the entrance to the tunnel on the Mexican side. We don’t know how long it is or if there is anybody coming this way. It could prove to be dangerous for everyone.”
Betty stood next to them. She said, “I can do that. I’ll go back upstairs and interview the people.”
An ambulance, a complete medical team and a fire truck arrived on the scene followed by the news teams from the local television stations and newspapers. Betty returned and gave the information she had obtained from the woman. She said, “She didn’t say much. She calls herself the office manager. She claims she knows nothing.”
Mat and Betty stood by the tunnel. She said, “Want to go in and take a look around?”
“A tunnel is a tunnel.”
“Looks very well made from this end.”
“Okay. But we can’t go far.”
Betty led the way. She bent down and took small steps into the tunnel. Mat followed. She stopped when she heard a noise. She held up a finger to her lips, then whispered, “I think I hear something. Yes, it sounds like voices.”
She motioned for Mat to back up. They exited the tunnel. She turned toward the leader. “I think we have people coming this way.”
Mat said, “I don’t think they’re going to like the welcoming committee.”
They hunkered down to wait.
Ten minutes later a man exited the tunnel, stood and looked around. As soon as he saw them, he didn’t hesitate. He dropped his weapon and threw his hands high in the air. Two officers grabbed the man and pulled him to the side to handcuff him. Within in a few minutes several Mexican people crawled out of the tunnel.
Mat jumped up, shouting, “Alto...parada!”
The sting was over.
Twenty-three
Mat stood at the entrance to the tunnel. He looked over at Betty. “Ready?”
“Huh? Ready for what?”
“We’re going in. To the other side.”
“Do you think it’s a good idea?”
“Here’s the plan. We need two of your best men. When we get to the other side we’ll observe and figure out where it begins…or ends. If we can get a GPS tracing, we’ll call the Mexican authorities and they’ll join us. I have a good contact I can trust.”
“Let me talk to my supervisor,” Betty said.
“Do it quickly.”
Within a few minut
es, Betty, Mat and two heavily armed officers from the DEA moved through the tunnel which was well constructed with bright lights and a railroad type track.
“Look at these tracks. They can slide the drugs in a cart along this tunnel every quickly.”
Betty didn’t respond. An empty cart sat on the tracks. As they crept closer. Mat whispered, “This is it.” As they approached the end of the tracks, there were two spotlights shining on a large wooden door.
Mat approached the door and pulled up a large wooden rod. He said, “Looks like it slides.”
Betty moved next to him. She looked over her shoulder to the two officers. She took a deep breath. “Well, let’s do this.”
Mat slid the door to the right. A clump of bushes fell into the opening. The two officers moved toward the door and began to pull back the bushes. A ray of light began to shine through. They pushed and walked into the area. Mat heard one of the officers yell, “Drop your weapons and fall to the ground. Do it now.”
Mat and Betty scrambled through the bushes. Two armed Mexican men had been caught off guard. One of them stumbled and started to run. Mat leaped out, tackling the man, and they both fell to the ground. The other man stood motionless for a second, then dropped to his knees, letting his weapon drop to the ground.
One of the officers ran toward Mat and the Mexican and thrust his weapon into the Mexican's head, shouting, “Don’t move a fucking muscle.”
Mat stood and walked back toward Betty. He pulled out his phone and linked into a GPS system.
~ * ~
A man named Manny drove a black SUV down the dirt road. In the back of the vehicle sitting quietly was Juan Castro Lopez. The most powerful leader of one of the largest drug cartels operating in Mexico.
Manny looked into the rear-view mirror. “Sir, you sure you want to go to the tunnel?”
“I must inspect. I have heard there have been problems. We have very valuable cargo to deliver. There must not be problems.” The driver shrugged and continued driving.
Mat had begun telling Betty about the positioning when they heard an approaching vehicle. The officers pulled the two handcuffed men back behind a clump of large bushes. Betty and Mat slid to the other side of the dirt road.
