Rey Guerra, the former sheriff of Starr County, Texas, pleaded guilty May 1 to a narcotics conspiracy charge in federal district court in McAllen, Texas. Guerra admitted to using information obtained in his official capacity to help a friend (a Mexican drug trafficker allegedly associated with Los Zetas) evade U.S. counternarcotics efforts. On at least one occasion, Guerra also attempted to learn the identity of a confidential informant who had provided authorities with information regarding cartel operations so he could pass it to his cartel contact.

In addition to providing intelligence to Los Zetas, Guerra also reportedly helped steer investigations away from people and facilities associated with Los Zetas. He also sought to block progress on investigations into arrested individuals associated with Los Zetas to protect other members associated with the organization.| MORE ›

CNN reports:

Confirmed cases of swine flu jumped by more than 65 percent Saturday with the World Health Organization reporting 615 people in 15 countries infected with the virus commonly known as swine flu.

The organization had reported 367 cases on Friday. The jump in cases was due to ongoing testing of a backlog of specimens in Mexico, the WHO said.| MORE ›

The Guardian reports:

President Barack Obama will face pressure to make more concessions to Cuba when he attends the Summit of the Americas, which opens in Trinidad and Tobago today.

Obama, who flew to Mexico City today en route to the summit, eased travel and other restrictions between the US and Cuba on Monday.| MORE ›

Reuters reports:

Mexican and U.S. health officials searched on Saturday for signs an outbreak of a new flu strain is spreading further, after it killed up to 68 people in Mexico and infected eight in the United States.

As Mexico shut schools and museums and axed public events, global health officials stopped short of declaring a pandemic.| MORE ›

Good news: President Obama believes America doesn’t have enough czars just yet, so he will appoint a “border czar” who will have to “watch” the Mexico-U.S. border.

I sincerely hope he will do more than “watch,” considering the fact that hundreds of thousands of individuals cross the border illegally every year.

An Obama administration official says Napolitano on Wednesday will name | MORE ›