The Texas Department of Public Safety said Wednesday that while an insecure border can be exploited by criminals, there is no credible information to confirm a recent Judicial Watch report that claimed Islamic State militants were organizing in Mexico only a few miles from El Paso.
Citing anonymous sources that included a Mexican Army field grade officer and a Mexican Federal Police Inspector, the conservative watchdog group reported Tuesday that the Islamic State, also known as ISIS or ISIL, is operating a camp in the Anapra neighborhood of Ciudad Juárez.
Texas DPS Deputy Director Robert J. Bodisch issued a memo, obtained by Texas Monthly senior editor Erica Grieder, ruling out the Judicial Watch report.
“As we have stated many times, an insecure border is certainly a vulnerability that can be exploited by criminals of all kinds, and it would be naive to rule out the possibility that any criminal organization would not look for opportunities to take advantage of security gaps along our international boarder,” Mr. Bodisch wrote.
“That said, DPS does not have any credible information to confirm statements reported by Judicial Watch regarding terror training camps in Ciudad Juarez,” he continued. “I spoke to the Director of Investigations for Judicial Watch this afternoon, and while they were confident in their sources, who are reported to be members of the Mexican Army and Mexican law enforcement, they had no additional information to support their assertions.”
Mr. Bodisch then cited two past border reports from Judicial Watch that neither Texas DPS nor the “intelligence community” could confirm. Those reports included an August report that Islamic State militants were in Ciudad Juarez and planning attacks on Fort Bliss and an October report that federal agents detained four Islamic State terrorists in McAllen and Pharr, Texas, The Blaze reported.
SEE ALSO: Islamic State operating in Mexico just 8 miles from U.S. border: report
• Jessica Chasmar can be reached at jchasmar@washingtontimes.com.
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