Posted on Sunday, December 3, 2006 - 9:09 am:

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Kidnapped: Rough times south of the border

By Matt WILLIAMS
For The Daily Sentinel

Sunday, December 03, 2006

All Charlie Haralson wanted was a hot taco and a few cold beers to recharge after a full day of fighting giant bass at Mexico's Sugar Lake. What he found when he entered the lazy cantina in a nearby town was a menu for deep trouble that forever changed his outlook on life.

"It was one of those deals where your life just flashes before your eyes — literally," said Haralson, a 36-year old Lake Falcon/Sugar Lake fishing guide from Laredo. "You look at things much differently after you have come to the realization that you are probably never going to see home or your family again. You appreciate your wife, kids and everything you have a lot more. You are much nicer to your friends. In looking back, I am just thankful to be alive."

More than a year has gone by since that near-fateful day when Haralson, his brother, Tom, a cousin, and an unrelated friend, convoyed across the Texas/Mexico border crossing at Roma. Less than an hour later, they were doubling up on the thick-shouldered largemouths for which the 25,000-acre reservoir is famous.

"Sugar Lake is one phenomenal fishery," Haralson said. "The bass are short, fat, and they fight like bulls. It is one of those places where you just know your next cast could land in the mouth of an 18-pounder. I have never been anywhere else like that."

Hungry and worn out after an action-packed day of fishing, the anglers arrived back at their hotel shortly after dark. The lakeside restaurant was closed due to high water conditions, so the group elected to make a drive to find something to eat.

"We were starving, and my brother said he knew place where we could get tacos, so that's what we did," Harelson said. "I wish now we never went to that place."

The four men entered the cantina at around 7:30 p.m. They didn't leave until roughly eight hours later.

In the meantime they were robbed, beaten, kicked and antagonized by men with guns and knives in a spooky series of events that culminated in a bloody gun battle that left as many as seven people dead.




Haralson said there were several patrons eating and drinking in the restaurant when they arrived. He began feeling uneasy shortly after they ordered their first round of beer.

"I started looking around and I saw this guy standing there," he said. "He was dressed just like we were, except he was wearing a pistol on his hip. Then I saw another guy who was carrying a pistol. I started getting a real bad feeling, and I told my brother we should get out of there, now."

The locals had other ideas. When Haralson stood up to leave, one of the men drew his pistol and pointed it at him.

"He motioned with the gun for me to sit back down, so that is what I did," Haralson said. "The other people around us kept right on eating. They acted like it was no big deal. But we knew it wasn't good."

Curious to learn the gunman's intentions, Tom Haralson approached him with a friendly demeanor. Born and raised in Laredo, the Haralson brothers speak fluent Spanish.

"Tom just walked over, put his arm around him and started talking to him," Charlie Haralson said. "A minute or so later, the guy started slapping Tom around and cursing at him. When Tom came back he said, 'we're in big trouble.'"




At that point, it is safe to say the group began contemplating the idea of becoming statistics in a long line of abduction/kidnapping incidents that have taken place along the Mexico border in recent times.

Some estimates say as many as 5,000 people were abducted in Mexico last year. Many of them were held for ransom. Some have been released; others have vanished and haven't been heard from since.

According to FBI reports, more than 30 Americans have been abducted in Mexico this year. More than 20 of them are still missing.

The most recent incident occurred on Nov. 26, when as many as 30-to-40 gunmen stormed a prominent Laredo businessman's Mexico hunting ranch. Three Texans and two men from Mexico were kidnapped, including the camp cook.

Two of the men were released on Nov. 29, according to recent news reports. The other three, including the ranch owner, Librado Pina, Jr., 49, were still missing as of Dec. 1.

Federal law enforcement officials believe the common denominator in many of the Mexico kidnappings can be linked to drugs and escalating violence between warring drug cartels.




Haralson used to agree with that theory. But he isn't so sure anymore.

"I had always thought all that stuff was drug related, but I don't really know about all that, now," he said. "I have no doubt it was drug dealers who had us, but we aren't drug dealers. We were just a group of hungry fishermen who wanted something to eat."

The gunmen evidently thought otherwise.

"They were real suspicious and asked a lot of questions at first," Haralson said. "They took me outside to my truck several times and asked me where our money and drugs were at."

The men also took the keys to Haralson's 3/4-ton Chevy 4X4.

"This guy told me he liked my truck and wanted me to give it to him," he said. "I said no, but I changed my mind after I looked down the barrel of his pistol for a second."




As the night wore on, more and more people filtered in and out of the restaurant. Many of them were toting firearms.

"There were probably 8-to-10 of them in there at one time, but others kept coming and going," Haralson said. "We definitely walked into a lion's den and they were hungry. They all had guns. AK-47s, shotguns, pistols — you name it, they had it."

Haralson said the gang members appeared to be stoned on drugs, and they were all drinking excessively.

"They were all so doped up and drunk that they were out of this world," he said. "It was amazing to me that someone could function being so out of it."

On several occasions, one of the Mexicans would single out a victim and hit him on the head with his pistol. Boldly, he would then hand the loaded gun to whoever he hit, almost as if he was trying to provoke them into a fight.

Haralson said they were told the youngest of the drug dealers was a good fighter. At one point, the gang leader told Tom Haralson that he wanted him to fight the man. Haralson was told their group would be free to go if he won the fight. If he lost, they all would lose.

"Tom wanted to fight, but I advised him not to do it — it was just too risky," Charlie Haralson said. "Tom just put his hands in his pockets and said no."

Then the bandit took a free shot.

"He hit Tom in the jaw as hard as I have ever seen one man hit another," Haralson said. "Tom buckled, but he didn't go down. I told to him suck it up and be cool. He just smiled back at the guy with blood running out of his mouth."




Sensing their lives were in serious danger, Haralson said the men began plotting a getaway scheme.

"We all knew we weren't going to see home again if we didn't do something to get out of there," he said. "We knew we were going to have to kill them or be killed. There wasn't any two ways about it."

What the group didn't anticipate was the bizarre turn of events that occurred during the wee hours of the morning.

Haralson said the gunmen took them outside about 2 a.m. and began "playing more of their little games." Then, seemingly from nowhere, several cars suddenly appeared. Rapid gunfire erupted seconds later, and the dirt streets turned bloody.

"I still to this day am not exactly sure what happened over there," Haralson said. "Apparently, someone sent word to someone else in the organization that these guys were about to kill some Americans. They didn't want that kind of attention, so they came in and silenced the problem."

Haralson described the gunfight as something you might see on television.

"There was fire coming out of gun barrels in all directions," he said. "We saw seven men get killed, right in front of us."

Haralson said the gang leader was among the dead.

"When they shot them, they made sure they were dead," Haralson said. "When the gang leader went down, they walked up and sprayed him 40-to-50 times, point blank, with an AK-47."




Surprisingly, one of the men threw Haralson the keys to his pick-up in the midst of the gun battle.

"The keys hit me in the chest, and I grabbed them up and ducked," he said. "We all jumped in my truck and took off the first chance we got. The guys in the other group could have killed us easy, but they didn't. For some reason they just watched us drive away."

Haralson said a car tailed them about halfway back to the border, but it lost control rounding a sharp corner.

"I'm not sure if they were chasing us, or just following us to make sure we were leaving," Haralson said. "The car ran off a bridge into a creek and we all said 'good riddance.'"

The men reported the incident at the border and eventually met with the Mexican Consulate and FBI agents. Haralson has since consulted with other law enforcement contacts inside Mexico. Most have told him he should be counting his blessings.

"They tell me there is no sense in any of us ever buying another lottery ticket, because we have already cashed ours in." Haralson said. "They all knew the gang leader. He had no intentions of letting us go. We were very lucky."

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