Schizophrenic terms of the war on drugs – 'friendly fire'

4 Charged with Capital Murder in Houston Shooting: MyFoxHOUSTON.com "I would dedicate a team that will not only track Cartel members in Harris County, but also target Cartel money, drugs, and property for seizures and asset forfeiture in Harris County District and Federal Courts. The vast amounts of land, vehicles, and money currently held by the Cartel is more than enough to fund a large, continuous operation without any added expense to tax payers.” - Louis Guthrie, Director of Special Crimes and Narcotics for the Liberty County Sheriff's Department, candidate for Sheriff of Harris County

Houston – Get out your crying towel. This is a whopper, for crying out loud.

A confidential informant driving a bulk cargo tank truck of the type used to haul hydrate lime, cement and other powdery substances, picked up a “nothing load” of marijuana – 300 pounds of it – near the Mexican border.

Two sets of soldiers tracked him all the way to the northwest Harris County neighborhood of Champions Crossing, a fashionable district of corporate offices, opulent homes - and golf courses.

First platoon was made up of undercover narcotics officers from the Harris County Sheriff's Department.

The second platoon was a hit squad of Los Zetas, that famous mercenary drug cartel led by defectors from the Mexican Army's Special Forces who are vying with other gangsters for dominance over drug smuggling, money laundering, smuggling of illegal aliens, weapons - and other equally lovely and highly lucrative pursuits.

Lawrence Chapa was driving the truck loaded with 300 pounds of marijuana. Court documents state that Chapa was working for counter-narcotics task force officers as a confidential informant. Unnamed sources have told newsmen that Chapa had been working with these officers for several months and had made numerous drug runs under their supervision.

This load was different.

When the driver got to Houston, Los Zetas told him to go to a new delivery point, a dead end on a suburban street named Holister Road north of Bourgeois.

When he got there, four vehicles surrounded the truck and the drivers opened fire. They killed him instantly. The alleged members of Los Zetas have been charged with capital murder for his death.

One of the deputies who was following along in the first platoon opened the trunk of his vehicle to get a rifle. A Houston police officer working undercover – a man who reportedly wasn't clued in on the operation - shot him in the leg just above the knee after telling him to lay down his weapon.

When the undercover deputy tried to explain he was a cop, the Houston officer opened fire, shooting 6 to 8 times – reports don't specify the exact number of rounds expended - and hitting his target only once.

Somehow, all this is the fault of the Obama Administration, which has failed to secure the Mexican border. The incumbent Sheriff is also under fire from conservative circles. His culpability is unexplained in anything other than the most general terms – that at least one member of the Los Zetas hit squad was out on bond on an aggravated assault with a deadly weapon charge. All the men are illegal aliens and have prior criminal records.

Scizophrenia is characterized by a blunting of emotion, extreme social isolation, a lack of precision in the definition of terms, and a general deterioration of intellectual acuity.

War is hell, no?

Question: In what way can the act of discharging a firearm 6 to 8 times in the direction of a fellow human being, brother law enforcement officer, associate in the pursuit of narcotics criminals – whatever – be termed a friendly act?

...This event was not a drug deal gone bad. It was, in fact, a contract hit that was intended to take place on the streets of Houston. The Los Zetas gang is sending a message that they are here and they are serious about moving their drugs into our community. The assassination of a confidential informant in such a public manner shows their intent. This could have easily occurred in an isolated location in South Texas. But it did not. Los Zetas brought this violence directly to Houston. They brought it with a purpose. They brought it to send a message. The brought it to demonstrate a message of terrorism. A shootout near a suburban neighborhood is a deliberate act of terrorism... - Bob Price, blogster and conservative GOP political operative

Next question: How could two squads of law enforcement officers working undercover not know they have company along for the ride from a sister agency?

This story is so lame it wouldn't be able to stand up with the crutches the nameless undercover officer who was wounded by friendly fire will be needing to walk during his convalescence. When he returns to the High Intensity drug task force, he will be as nameless as ever.

By the way, what with the street prices drug dealers charge for marijuana - estimated by NORML at $288 an ounce or $4610 per pound - 300 pounds of the stuff is hardly “nothing.”

It's way more than nothing, to be sure.