The Rio Grande City Border Patrol Station is known for being ground zero for cartel violence and human smuggling. It is now the focus for drug trafficking as ports of entry partially shut down due to the Coronavirus pandemic.
The station covers 72 miles of the southwest border which encompass all of Starr County, Texas. It is a crucial location for two of the most violent and prolific cartels: the Gulf Cartel and the Cartel Del Noreste (CDN) faction of Los Zetas. The dividing line between the cartels is the Mexican town of Miguel Aleman, opposite Roma, Texas.
President Donald Trump closed the southwest border to all nonessential travel to combat the spread of COVID-19. Acting Department of Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf identified in a statement that essential travel includes crossing the border for medical or educational travel, emergency response, and “lawful cross-border trade.”
The policy allows semi-trucks to cross easily, but stops the average person at ports of entry. Trade continues for larger drug trafficking organizations as they are able to utilize semis to move product. This is why record methamphetamine and fentanyl seizures continue. However, the smaller drug traffickers are forced to move operations between the ports of entry, where border walls and other structural boundaries are not in position.
In Penitas, Texas, the border wall ends. A gap extends approximately 41 miles as the crow flies and ends at the construction site near Fronton, Texas. It is here that Border Patrol agents are overrun on a daily basis, they say.
Two agents told Breitbart Texas that they are being overrun with drug loads. Most of the narcotics are backpacked or floated across the Rio Grande. The drugs are routinely offloaded into a waiting vehicle on the U.S. side of the river and quickly driven away to Highway 83, where they can blend with traffic.
On April 24 at approximately 6:28 am, agents responded to a drawbridge camera image of drug smugglers backpacking marijuana near Escobares, Texas. As agents approached the suspects, they dropped the loads and fled back to Mexico. Notice the front suspect holding a phone to his ear. Cartel guides in this area utilize encrypted communication apps. Zellow is the preferred method of communication in Starr County.
The same day at 6:40 pm, agents responded to 4th street in Escobares and located 395 pounds of marijuana.
On April 25 at 8:58 am, a drawbridge camera identified three suspects backpacking drugs near La Grulla, Texas. Agents seized six bundles of marijuana totaling 365 pounds and two of the three hikers.
Later on April 25, agents in Roma, Texas, observed several suspects carrying bundles of narcotics across the river. Agents were able to seize 113 pounds of marijuana and arrested two suspects.
On April 26 at 1:15 am, agents in Salineno, Texas, observed a small johnboat crossing the river and dropped eight scouts onto U.S. soil. Shortly after, a vehicle approached the riverbank. Agents observed the vehicle being loaded with narcotics from the same boat that brought the scouts. Agents responded and the vehicle fled shortly thereafter. Approximately 15 scouts jumped into the Rio Grande and fled to Mexico. Agents seized the vehicle and 98 bundles containing 1,151 pounds of marijuana.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) placed additional personnel onto the border to limit the outbreak of COVID-19. The current numbers of agents operating in the area have more than doubled. Even with the extra enforcement efforts, agents say they are still being overrun.
Jaeson Jones is a retired Captain from the Texas Department of Public Safety’s Intelligence and Counterterrorism Division and a Breitbart Texas contributor. While on duty, he managed daily operations for the Texas Rangers Border Security Operations Center.