MCALLEN, Texas–Just days after Mexican drug traffickers shot down a U.S. Customs and Border Protection Helicopter on the Texas border, Breitbart Texas has learned that the agency will now send two UH-60 Blackhawk helicopters to continue surveillance operations in the area.
As Breitbart Texas previously reported, a CBP Office of Air and Marine Helicopter in Laredo came under fire from Mexican traffickers using what appeared to be AK-47 rifles last week, forcing the pilot to make an emergency landing.
The fact that the pilot was not wearing his vest had laid it nearby saved his life, as the shot which came from the ground easily pierced the thin metal of the aircraft, but was stopped by the vest.
The brazen attack by Mexican drug traffickers sparked outrage among congressional leaders, who traveled to Laredo to learn about the realities of securing the border, Breitbart Texas previously reported.
In response to the attack, CBP will be sending two UH-60 Blackhawk helicopters to Laredo. Unlike the EC 120 from the shooting incident which was pierced by gunfire, the new helicopters are armored against “small arms fire,” Congressman Henry Cuellar announced in a short news release.
An official statement received as this went to press reads as follows:
CBP plans to send two UH-60 Blackhawk helicopters to south Texas in the wake of last Friday’s helicopter shooting incident. The Blackhawk is armored against small arms fire of the sort used in the recent incident, carries a larger crew than the EC120 helicopter currently used in the area, and is well suited for operating in a higher threat environment. The move is expected to occur this week; CBP continuously reviews the conditions of the border environment and deploys its resources accordingly.
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