TX Highway Patrol/Border Patrol Boast New Gunboats

'Don't mess with Texas,' proclaims new Rio Grande gunboat fleet

The
Texas Highway Patrol, which works alongside the U.S. Border Patrol to
stop illegal drug smuggling from Mexico, is getting new means to chase
down the black hats: six 34-foot gunboats, outfitted with automatic
weapons and bulletproof shielding, according to a report by KHOU television in Houston.

The
vessels, which are similar to U.S. Navy gunboats used in rivers
during the Vietnam War and are capable of operating in as little as 2
feet of water, are scheduled to launch in March.

Officials quoted
in the story said that drug cartels increasingly are using the Rio Grande River to
smuggle drugs into the United States, and fleeing safely back to Mexico
if detected.

The new vessels, emblazoned with "Texas Highway Patrol" logos, are part
of a growing presence on the border by the Texas Department of Public
Safety. The
DPS, also has a $4 million reconnaissance helicopter which was
purchased with seized drug money, according to KHOU.


"It sends a message," Jose Rodriguez, Texas DPS Regional Commander told the station. "Don't mess with Texas."

The
boats -- costing about $3.5 million -- were funded with a combination
of Texas legislative money and federal grants, according to DPS
spokesman Tom Vinger. They will operate on the Rio Grande and lakes that
feed it as well as on the Intercoastal Waterway, a narrow channel
between the coast of Texas and South Padre Island.He said they
were in part a response to the "splashdown" strategy that drug
traffickers have used in recent years to avoid arrest and confiscation
of the drugs. When pursued, some smugglers drive into the river where
they are met by boats that take the people and cargo back to the Mexico
side of the border river.

"Just like any patrol unit, the (gunboat) patrols give higher visibility to deter and, if necessary, to interdict," said Vinger.

The
nonprofit Texas Border Coalition said resources to stop drug smuggling
and other illicit activities -- including smuggling of illegal
immigrants -- would be more effectively utilized by investing in legal
border crossings.

The border checkpoints are "woefully lacking" in
technology and personnel, said Julie Hillrichs, spokeswoman for the
organization, which studies a range of issues that affect border
communities. The result is not only continued smuggling, but hours-long
wait times for legitimate commerce, she said.

In a recent report,
the coalition said an estimated 90 percent of the cocaine, marijuana,
heroin, methamphetamine and MDMA smuggled across the border comes
through checkpoints alongside legal commerce.

"We're not
suggesting that these vessels would not be needed," said Hillrichs.
"We’re just saying that we have identified what we believe to be a
weaker link. Drug cartels don’t send drugs through the river; they
smuggle it through the border crossings," she said.

The federal
government has spent more than $90 billion over the last decade to
secure the U.S.-Mexico border — a significant portion of which has
funded use of the U.S. military, including the National Guard, to
bolster U.S. Border Patrol and Customs and Border Protection forces, the
coalition said.

....Every thing EXCEPT secure the border.....snell