CBP Unmanned Aircraft Flights Lead to Multiple Arrests in Texas near Border

Unmanned Aircraft System flights carried out by U.S. Customs and Border Protection led to multiple arrests along the Texas-Mexico border last week.

CBP Air and Marine Operations team conducted multiple Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) flights in the Border Patrol’s Del Rio Sector last week. The flights led to the disruption of multiple human smuggling attempts and the arrests of 26 people, according to information obtained from Del Rio Sector Border Patrol officials.

During the past week, AMO crews carried out at least five separate UAS flights to identify illegal border crossings and alert Border Patrol agents of crimes underway. The flights allowed Border Patrol agents to quickly respond to incidents they might have otherwise been unaware of.

The flights led to the arrests of 26 people in five separate incidents. Officials report the arrest of eight illegal aliens near Comstock, ten near Del Rio, seven near Eagle Pass, and four near Carrizo Springs — all in South Texas.

“AMO’s UAS crews use cutting-edge systems technology, and real-time networked data dissemination and exploitation to detect, identify, monitor, and coordinate a response with law enforcement partners to threats at the nation’s border and on approach to the United States,” Del Rio Sector officials said in a written statement. “This real-time view allows agents to effectively patrol vast amounts of land that may be otherwise inaccessible to agents.”

AMO crews operate a variety of UAS vehicles from strategic locations along the southwest border with Mexico. These operations allow more efficient dispatching of Border Patrol agents allowing them to respond to hotspots and quickly make arrests.

Under Title 42 coronavirus protection protocols put in place by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, nearly 93 percent of migrants are returned to Mexico or Canada (depending on their point of entry to the U.S.) within two hours of their arrest by Border Patrol agents, CBP officials previously told Breitbart Texas. The Title 42 protocols allow Border Patrol officials to expel illegal aliens following a medical screening and criminal background investigation.