Drug Smuggler Drives into Rio Grande, Swims to Mexico

A drug smuggler who picked up a drug load from the banks of the Rio Grande River on the Texas border was on his way north ended up crashing into the water and swimming back into Mexico to get away from authorities.

Earlier this week, an unidentified man was driving a white SUV north from the Rio Grande River in the border city of Brownsville, information provided to Breitbart Texas by U.S. Border Patrol revealed.

The drug smuggler spotted a Border Patrol agent who was heading to his location and tried to get away.

The driver made a U-turn and drove straight for the river. He drove the SUV straight into the water. From the truck the driver swam into Mexico leaving behind the SUV and the multiple bundles of marijuana that were being smuggled inside the vehicle.

Agents were able to get a wrecker to tow the SUV from the water. The agents recovered approximately 500 pounds of marijuana with an estimated street value of $380,000.

The maneuver of driving into the river (called splashdowns) is a common tactic used by cartel smugglers to recover as many drug as possible when a smuggling attempt fails, Breitbart Texas has reported on this tactic in the past.

Splashdowns are well-coordinated efforts where once the drugs hit the water, cartel members in Mexico are usually in rafts in the river ready to take as many drug bundles back to Mexico before authorities arrive.

The practice is common in the areas near the border cities of Mission and La Joya where Gulf Cartel smugglers are able to routinely maneuver around the border fence. The maneuver is rather rare in the border city of Brownsville but it appears that the practice may be catching on in other sectors along the Texas/Mexico border.

The tactic has been also applied in the border city of Laredo where as Breitbart Texas has previously reported the region lacks a border fence making it very easy for smugglers to recover their drug loads.

Ildefonso Ortiz is an award winning journalist with Breitbart Texas you can follow him on Twitter and on Facebook.