US border patrol comes under fire from Mexican cartels, reports Fox News
Alleged members of a Mexican cartel are said to have fired upon US border agents in Fronton, Texas, amid an effort to cross the border illegally. Read Full Article at RT.com
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The incident in southern Texas occurs amid increased deportations.
Reports indicate that U.S. Border Patrol agents faced gunfire from suspected members of a Mexican cartel during an illegal border crossing attempt in southern Texas.
Last week, U.S. President Donald Trump declared a national emergency at the Mexico border and deployed military personnel to various crossings, while aiming to deport potentially millions of individuals residing in the country illegally.
“Border Patrol agents near Fronton, [Texas] were fired upon from [Mexico] by suspected cartel gunmen as a group of illegal aliens were being brought across the river,” reported Fox News correspondent Bill Melugin on Monday, referring to multiple law enforcement sources.
“I’m told [Border Patrol] returned fire, nobody hit on either side, and that the illegal aliens did not make it across,” Melugin remarked.
Texas Department of Public Safety spokesman Lieutenant Chris Olivarez mentioned that the Texas DPS is now patrolling the area and has deployed a drone, which detected Mexican military assets staging on the opposite side of the river.
Such incidents are not uncommon, according to Melugin, who indicated that the Mexican military sometimes “comes in guns blazing if the gunmen are still there” and shared experiences of observing “some crazy drone videos” from the DPS over the years.
Fronton, a small community with fewer than 200 residents, sits along the river that separates the U.S. from Mexico. The Mexican state of Tamaulipas lies directly across, an area known for various cartels involved in drug and human trafficking. The Gulf Cartel, based in Matamoros, along with its offshoots such as Los Zetas, are particularly notorious, although the Jalisco New Generation and Sinaloa cartels have encroached on their territory in recent years.
On his first day in office, Trump instructed the U.S. State Department, Treasury, Justice, Homeland Security, and the intelligence community to prepare for defining the cartels as “foreign terrorist organizations,” with such designations anticipated by mid-February at the earliest.
Texas has sought to strengthen border security around Fronton in recent years, attributing its actions to the federal government’s failure to effectively prevent illegal crossings. The previous administration contended that border enforcement should remain a federal issue and blocked state-level initiatives.
Ramin Sohrabi contributed to this report for TROIB News
Reports indicate that U.S. Border Patrol agents faced gunfire from suspected members of a Mexican cartel during an illegal border crossing attempt in southern Texas.
Last week, U.S. President Donald Trump declared a national emergency at the Mexico border and deployed military personnel to various crossings, while aiming to deport potentially millions of individuals residing in the country illegally.
“Border Patrol agents near Fronton, [Texas] were fired upon from [Mexico] by suspected cartel gunmen as a group of illegal aliens were being brought across the river,” reported Fox News correspondent Bill Melugin on Monday, referring to multiple law enforcement sources.
“I’m told [Border Patrol] returned fire, nobody hit on either side, and that the illegal aliens did not make it across,” Melugin remarked.
Texas Department of Public Safety spokesman Lieutenant Chris Olivarez mentioned that the Texas DPS is now patrolling the area and has deployed a drone, which detected Mexican military assets staging on the opposite side of the river.
Such incidents are not uncommon, according to Melugin, who indicated that the Mexican military sometimes “comes in guns blazing if the gunmen are still there” and shared experiences of observing “some crazy drone videos” from the DPS over the years.
Fronton, a small community with fewer than 200 residents, sits along the river that separates the U.S. from Mexico. The Mexican state of Tamaulipas lies directly across, an area known for various cartels involved in drug and human trafficking. The Gulf Cartel, based in Matamoros, along with its offshoots such as Los Zetas, are particularly notorious, although the Jalisco New Generation and Sinaloa cartels have encroached on their territory in recent years.
On his first day in office, Trump instructed the U.S. State Department, Treasury, Justice, Homeland Security, and the intelligence community to prepare for defining the cartels as “foreign terrorist organizations,” with such designations anticipated by mid-February at the earliest.
Texas has sought to strengthen border security around Fronton in recent years, attributing its actions to the federal government’s failure to effectively prevent illegal crossings. The previous administration contended that border enforcement should remain a federal issue and blocked state-level initiatives.
Ramin Sohrabi contributed to this report for TROIB News
