Two cartel-affiliated Mexican nationals were apprehended by Texas law enforcement after they were seen crossing the southern U.S. border equipped with guns and armor-piercing ammunition.
Pictures of three men trying to elude officials as they ran over the border into the United States were published on August 5 near Fronton, Texas. Two of them managed to cross back to the same place later on without being captured.
The media have published images of the individuals in custody and their weapons and ammo. It is suspected that the third guy has returned to Mexico.
In a statement, the Texas Department of Public Safety confirmed the arrests, which resulted from a cooperative effort by state and federal law enforcement.
The US Border Patrol said the DPS Texas Rangers Special Operations Group captured two Mexican nationals suspected of having links to a transnational criminal organization. A spokesman confirmed that the guys had two guns and armor-piercing ammunition.
The Mexican drug cartels have taken advantage of security holes along the international border and are now the greatest menace to public safety and national security. The success of this partnership exemplifies the value of working together across jurisdictional boundaries to protect citizens.
The raid also found six magazines of 5.56 ammunition, several “green-tip” armor-piercing bullets, and a machete. Later, agents were aided by K9s from the Texas Game Wardens in locating an AK-47 and an M4 rifle that had been dumped in a river.
Drone footage last week showed traffickers in Matamoros, Mexico, assaulting and threatening migrants with machetes before urging them to cross into Brownsville, Texas.
Drone pilots with the Department of Public Safety in Eagle Pass had previously detected a smuggler leading a group of illegal immigrants over the Rio Grande who was equipped with a long gun.
Since 2021, the United States has witnessed record numbers of migrants reaching the border; although those numbers decreased in June, they began to increase again in July, with the cartels controlling most of the movement of persons and narcotics through the border.
Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has criticized the Republicans for calling for more decisive action, including military action against cartels in Mexico itself.
On Saturday, 2024, presidential contender Will Hurd unveiled a proposal to label drug cartels and traffickers as terrorist organizations.
