San Diego Union-Tribune Article

(NELVIN C. CEPEDA / Union-Tribune

José Arias Martínez, 75, has lived more than half his life in a small wooden house near the border. During times of greater smuggling activity, he would sell carnitas in the hills.)

I was forwarded the below article by Tony Puente, a fellow BARFer, about the border. Goes to show that even after 30 years some things do not change.

CLICK HERE TO READ ARTICLE

- Robert

Joe Castillo Interview

I want to thank Joe for coming out last week for his interview. He is a great guy and provided a lot more insight on the project.

- Robert

Eddie Cervantes Preview Clip

Eddie was a member of BARF. Here you can see a short preview clip from his interview talking specifically about the bandits.

CLICK HERE TO SEE VIDEO CLIP

Photo Restoration Continues

Restoring old photos from the project continues. There are a lot of photos to fix but the process is almost complete. Here are a few of the guys in training and arresting some bandits.

- Robert

Photos Restoration

We have started restoring old photos from The Border Crime Task Force. All I can say is wow! I am really happy with the results so far. There are plenty more to fix.

These photos are over 30 years old and some look like they were taken yesterday. Kudos to the guys for keeping these photos as they will be important to the documentary.

You can see some samples of how they looked like "before" and "after" with the help of Photoshop.

I can't wait to include them in the final documentary.

- Robert

Fred Gil Interview

Fred Gil came out today for his interview. He was also a member of the Border Crime Task Force - or BARF (Border Alien Robbery Force) as it was later called.

Fred is another great guy and we want to thank him for taking the time to talk to us. As I talk to more and more of them I am finding out how much they wanted to help the illegal aliens crossing the border at that time. They were really sincere and wanted to make a difference.

Thanks Fred!

CLICK HERE TO SEE PICTURES

Manny Lopez Preview Clip

It's official. Today we put up our first media clip from Manny's interview.

CLICK HERE TO SEE VIDEO CLIP

Eddie Cervantes Interview

We interviewed Eddie Cervantes yesterday who was also part of the Border Crime Task Force. We want to thank him for taking the time to talk to us. Eddie is a great guy and contributed enormously to the project.

Thanks for the t-shirt!

CLICK HERE TO SEE MORE PICTURES

- Robert

Origins

It started one day around ten years ago with a visit to my favorite place in the world - my local bookstore. I came across a book which intrigued me just from reading the dust jacket.

That book was called "Lines and Shadows" written by Joseph Wambaugh . This was a best seller about the exploits of The Border Crime Task Force. At that time I had only been familiar with the film, "The Onion Field," which was based on Mr. Wambaugh's book by the same title. I thought the film was very powerful and I especially remembered the great performance of James Woods in that film.

I think I read "Lines and Shadows" in just a couple of days and ever since this amazing story has been etched in my brain. I always felt the story needed to be told visually through a documentary or film.

I related to the story in many ways. I had many family members come across the border during that same time period (1976) and thankfully none of them fell victim to some of the horrible crimes.

I am very excited that we have finally started production on a documentary based on these events. I can't thank all the guys of The Border Crime Task Force enough for their generosity in talking to me and getting their story told. A special thanks to Mr. Wambaugh for bringing this incredible story to light.

- Robert

Production begins!

Yesterday we started the interview process. We started with Manny Lopez who was the leader of the project. I want to thank him for his time. He was very generous. It's amazing how he recalled all of their exploits with such great detail.

CLICK HERE TO SEE MORE PICTURES

The Border Crime Task Force - 1976

I've been waiting a while to get my hands on this picture. It basically shows all the guys "in uniform" - dressed as illegal aliens. Do you think they passed the test? I think so!

It's amazing how real they looked. They had to. At times it was a matter of life and death. They had to convince the bandits that they were illegal aliens who were looking to cross the border. They had to get the bandits to assault them so they could be arrested. They had to learn all the mannerisms of illegal aliens. The spoken language. The body language. All of it was important. All of it was crucial to the success of the project.

Click here to see a description of who' s who in the picture.

- Robert

1st Meeting

Veronica and I drove to San Diego yesterday and had our first meeting with some of the guys. I want to thank all of them for taking the time to talk to us. They were all very gracious and I am very excited that they all agreed to take part in the documentary.

Each of these men have sacrificed a lot and have experienced something that we can only imagine about. I can't wait for you to hear their stories.

Pictured above, from left to right:

Tony Puente, Eddie Cervantes, Manny Lopez, Me (Robert Godina), Joe Castillo and Fred Gil.

Click here to see more pics.

My Gratitude

First and foremost I want to thank my beautiful wife Veronica whose love, support and encouragement has made this project possible.

I thank God for having you and our beautiful kids in my life.

Here's to the future!

- Robert