U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers appear to have made no effort to call the Laredo Police Department or Border Patrol agents after three men who were seen jumping the turnstile and bypassing border security screening at a Laredo port of entry escaped.
The incident happened in front of a camera crew from C-SPAN’s Washington Journal who was setting up for an interview with Breitbart Texas Managing Director Brandon Darby. Just before they went on the air, the camera crew videotaped the moment three men jumped the turnstile at International Bridge One in Laredo, Texas. They witnessed the illegal entry into the U.S. by the three men who wanted to bypass the screening process for some unknown reason.
CBP officers were seen in foot pursuit of the three men by Breitbart Texas and the C-SPAN crew. Breitbart Texas has now learned the officers pursued the three men but never contacted the U.S. Border Patrol or the Laredo Police Department for assistance in finding the men who desperately wanted into the country without being inspected.
Breitbart Texas spoke with the Laredo Police Department who confirmed they did not receive a call from the CBP in connection to this incident. Border Patrol agents were also not notified of the incident.
“The fact that unknown individuals are able to jump the turnstile, run a block into downtown Laredo and disappear, is a clear indicator of the true lack of border security even at our ports of entry which are supposed to be secure installations,” said Hector Garza, the president of the Local 2455 of the National Border Patrol Council.
As a spokesman for the NBPC, Garza, who is a Border Patrol agent is able to speak out about the issues that affect the thousands of men and women in the agency.
“This incident raises some very serious questions,” he said. “Who are these individuals, are they cartel operatives or smugglers? Are they terrorists? How were they able to get across so easily? Did CBP notify other agencies?”
During the C-SPAN interview, Darby spoke about the incident. “Whether they were carrying drugs for the Los Zetas drug cartel or not, we don’t know,” he explained to the C-SPAN anchor. “But three men just jumped the turnstile and ran.”
Breitbart Texas reported in November 2015 that eight Syrians were caught attempting to cross that same bridge in Laredo. The Syrians admitted their nationality and asked for asylum. A few days later, five more Syrians were caught crossing the bridge. People from other countries the Border Patrol designates as “Special Interest Aliens,” people from nations known to harbor terrorists or others who would do harm to the U.S. have been captured after illegally crossing the U.S. border with Mexico.
About the same time the Syrians were captured in Laredo, six men from Pakistan and Afghanistan were captured in Arizona, Breitbart Texas reported.
Whatever the reason the three men illegally jumped the CBP turnstile and ran passed security, we will likely never know as the officers appear to have released them before a thorough investigation of their crime could be conducted.
Breitbart Texas reached out to CBP officials in Laredo. As of the time of this publication, they have not responded.
Ildefonso Ortiz is an award winning journalist with Breitbart Texas you can follow him on Twitter and on Facebook.
Bob Price serves as associate editor and senior political news contributor for Breitbart Texas and is a member of the original Breitbart Texas team. Follow him on Twitter @BobPriceBBTX.
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