HARLINGEN, Texas — Two drug smugglers fleeing from Border Patrol agents left behind 1,400 pounds of drugs as they jumped out of their SUV and ran into Mexico.

The seizure took place Monday near the border town of Los Indios, information provided to Breitbart Texas by the U.S. Border Patrol revealed.

Agents patrolling the area spotted a black Chevrolet Suburban traveling toward the Rio Grande in an area just west of Los Indios. Moments later agents spotted the same vehicle moving north from the Rio Grande.

Harlingen agents seize bundles of marijuana. Photo: U.S. Border Patrol

The agents moved towards the vehicle but as soon as the smugglers spotted the agents, they left their vehicle, ran into the brush and swam into Mexico.  The smugglers left behind 13 bundles with an approximate value of $1.1 million

The areas just south of the Rio Grande from where the drugs were seized are controlled by the Gulf Cartel a criminal organization that is largely responsible for all of the drug and human smuggling activity in a large part of the Texas border.

The techniques used by traffickers have been used in the past by subject matter experts to try and the determine how well the criminal organization is doing.

In year’s past, when the Gulf Cartel has been financially healthy and their product is abundant, the smugglers have been known to drop their load and  flee when encountered by law enforcement on the U.S. side.  It remains unclear if the events that took place on Monday are the start of a trend or if the move was that of inexperienced smugglers.

However, in past years when the Gulf Cartel has been low on drugs or their finances not well off, they have worked to recover their loads.

As reported in the past by Breitbart Texas, one of the ways that the Gulf Cartel recovers their loads is called splashdowns. When that technique is used, cartel smugglers call back to Mexico as they drive back to the river so that a crew of smugglers is ready in the water.  The splashdown takes place when the cartel driver steers the vehicle straight into the water so that the smugglers can get the load out before Border Patrol boats arrive.

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