Fleeing Smuggler Rolls Pickup during Failed ‘Splashdown’ Attempt

U.S. Border Patrol agents seized almost 1,000 pounds of marijuana after an alleged fleeing drug smuggler attempted to drive his truck into the Rio Grande River.

It appears the driver may have been trying to pull off a maneuver known as a “splashdown” where a smuggler deliberately crashes a loaded vehicle in the river. This gives his associates an opportunity to retrieve as many bundles of the drug load as possible before law-enforcement boats can secure the area.

The case began Thursday when U.S. Border Patrol agents observed several bundles of marijuana that were bound for Texas from Mexico. The bundles were being loaded into a black pickup truck on the edge of the Rio Grande River, near the city of Alamo in southern Hidalgo County.

According information released by Border Patrol to Breitbart Texas,. the driver of the vehicle lost control as he sped toward the river. When his truck rolled over, the driver jumped into the river and swam back to the Mexican shore. He left behind dozens of marijuana bundles. The Border Patrol weighed the load abandoned drugs at 970 pounds. This represents an estimated street value of $970,000.

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