Falcon Lake store owners issue warning over local gunfire
Falcon Lake Tackle store owners James and Tom Bendele of Zapata recently issued a word of warning to visiting anglers about venturing across the Rio Grande River to fish the Mexico side of the 86,000-acre reservoir.
On Feb. 25, James Bendele placed an alarming post on his company Web site explaining that there has been "a lot of unrest" in the Mexican towns just across the border from Lake Falcon recently.
"I hear that the towns of [Ciudad] Mier and Nuevo Guerrero have had some major gun battles in the streets the last week or so, and as recently as yesterday," Benedele wrote. "We hear that there have been a lot of folks killed. Nuevo Guerrero is the town on the south bank of Salanaias, just across the lake from the state park area."
Tom Benedele pointed out that there have been no issues on the water involving American anglers.
"This is our livelihood down here, and we have a lot to lose from negative publicity, but it is what it is," he said. "We want to be up front with the fishermen and give them the heads-up about what is going on. We'll continue to do so. If you are coming to Falcon, it might be wise to stay on the Texas side of the lake until things settle down over there."
U.S. Border Patrol public affairs specialist Jason Darling of Laredo said he could not confirm any incidents that have occurred recently in Nuevo Guerrero or Ciudad Mier. However, he said U.S. Border Patrol agents, Department of Public Safety officers and local law enforcement agencies on Feb. 24 did respond to reports of gun fire directly across the Rio Grande River from the small town of San Ygnacio, located about 30 miles east of Laredo.
Kenneth Roberts, editor of the Rio Grande Herald in Rio Grande City, said there has been an upswing in reports of violence along border towns as of late. Roberts said most of the incidents have been linked to warring drug cartels.
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