-Caveat Lector- http://www.newsday.com/ap/text/international/ap888.htm Illegal Immigrant Elephant Busted by MARK STEVENSON Associated Press Writer TLALNEPANTLA, Mexico (AP) -- Benny crossed the border illegally and went to work for a prominent family, but somebody tipped off the authorities and now a full-fledged scandal has erupted. It's a common story -- a tipster, an illegal immigrant, an embarrassing revelation -- except for the fact that Benny is an American who came to work in Mexico. And he's an elephant. The prominent family -- Mexico's most famous circus clan, the three generations of the Vazquez Brothers -- has endured as much media attention as any U.S. Cabinet nominee grilled about hiring illegal workers. They plead necessity. ''Look, we needed an elephant, and they're not exactly easy to come by in Mexico,'' said Ramon Vazquez, 37, whose grandparents started the one-ring circus more than three decades ago. The Vazquez family won't confirm or deny local press reports that Benny, a 7-year-old captive-born Asian elephant also known as Dumbo, was smuggled into Mexico in a crate from Texas in April without a visa. The Vazquezes are a bit coy. ''Try to imagine us bringing him across the river,'' snorted Ramon Vazquez, speculating on the impossibility of moving three tons of lumbering gray pachyderm across the muddy Rio Grande. But Tom Bauer of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in Texas said anybody moving such an animal across the border would have to get a permit from his office -- and nobody did. Benny -- the American name that trainers still use, though he is billed at the Mexico City circus as Dumbo -- was apparently bought by Ramon Vazquez's father, Guillermo, for $40,000 from his U.S. owners, a company called Trunks and Humps based in Cut and Shoot, Texas. Trunks and Humps owner Bill Swain refused to comment, saying -- oddly for a reputed elephant broker -- ''I don't know how this whole situation got so out of control.'' Vazquez reportedly got tired of waiting for official permits, and so Benny was allegedly put in a wooden crate aboard a flatbed truck and driven across the border, with a $4,500 bribe to Mexican customs inspectors to overlook the somewhat large shipment. How exactly did a package the size of a small house get across with no inspections? Mexico's Customs Service was not available to comment on that, and U.S. customs officials said they normally do not check outgoing crates, however large. Police took on the case soon after Benny's arrival in Mexico on a tip from Jane Garrison, a Los Angeles-based elephant specialist with People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. U.S. authorities contacted Mexican police, and the case was a piece of cake. ''We had to locate him, but it was easy because of his distinguishing mark. He has a hole in his trunk,'' said Salvador Gonzalez of Mexico's environmental prosecutor's office. Garrison wants Benny seized and brought back to spend his days at a U.S. sanctuary for former circus animals. ''If children could see how animals are treated at the big top, they'd have to be dragged kicking and screaming to the circus,'' Garrison said. But Benny's return is unlikely. Authorities formally seized him in May but ''allowed the circus to keep exhibiting him, because if you don't keep elephants working they go wild,'' Gonzalez said. This week Benny performed one of his last shows at the circus. Trainers unhooked the chain from his hind leg and led him into the tent at the end of the show to grab a harmonica with his trunk and ''play'' it. He doesn't actually play, but squeals an imitation of the harmonica's sound. Benny sat on his rump, stood tall on his hind legs and nodded when asked whether he liked children. The audience of 200 people, who paid $2 to $5 for the show, applauded generously. ''He's a good elephant,'' said trainer Junior Herrera. But most likely Benny's days at the circus are numbered. Gonzalez said within a week, Benny will be confiscated and sent to a zoo outside Mexico City. ''He'll keep doing tricks,'' Gonzalez said. ''And the children will get to see him for free.'' -- "Ronald McDonald is a scary, scary clown" -PETA online (world's most ridiculous website) <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/">www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance�not soap-boxing�please! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'�with its many half-truths, mis- directions and outright frauds�is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. 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