Laredo and San Antonio \u2014 It\u2019s a surge most people weren\u2019t expecting, but law enforcement was waiting for it.<\/p>\n
Just in the last few months, cocaine has surfaced across South Texas highways, neighborhoods, and the Rio Grande riverbanks.<\/p>\n
In Starr County, DPS troopers spotted four men in camouflage crossing the Rio Grande. They dropped their backpacks and ran back into Mexico. Texas troopers found 69 pounds of cocaine worth more than $2.2 million.<\/p>\n
In Webb County, DPS stopped a Dodge Challenger and found 25 pounds of cocaine, worth $150,000.<\/p>\n
In New Braunfels, officers stopped a pickup truck on Interstate 35. A Seguin K-9 unit found 44 pounds hidden in the floorboard. That\u2019s about $1 million in street value.<\/p>\n
Three seizures, out of many, that investigators say highlight a bigger shift.<\/p>\n
Sergeant Eric Estrada with Texas DPS said:<\/p>\n
\u201cThat seizure of 69 pounds of cocaine through the river \u2014 that\u2019s something we don\u2019t generally see.\u201d<\/p>\n
Estrada says for years, migrant smuggling has brought cartels billions. However, with fewer crossings, criminal organizations are seeking alternative means to generate revenue.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re desperate. One way they\u2019re getting money now is through smuggling drugs,\u201d Estrada said.<\/p>\n
Patricia Driscoll, a border technology security expert, says what we\u2019ve been catching is only a fraction of what\u2019s coming in.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf we caught 64 kilos, then there\u2019s a whole lot more than what we\u2019ve caught. We generally catch about two percent of everything that crosses the border. The price of cocaine on the street is extremely low, which tells you the supply is big, and cocaine is definitely back as a party drug,\u201d Driscoll said.<\/p>\n
The shift is a reminder of another era, the \u201cCocaine Cowboys\u201d of the 1970s and 80s in Texas and Florida. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe term cocaine cowboys came from the 70s and 80s small aircraft flying in big loads to ranch airstrips,\u201d Driscoll explained.<\/p>\n
Retired DEA Special Agent in Charge Tony Hubbard, who spent decades investigating cartels, says the parallels to the past are striking. He says cartels are using the same playbook, but with better technology, more money, and faster routes, calling it \u201ccocaine cowboys with 21st century tools.\u201d<\/p>\n
Estrada says that it now includes drones.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat we\u2019re starting to see here in Laredo is the use of drone technology; they\u2019re launching drones to pinpoint not only federal agents but also DPS troopers working during Operation Lone Star,\u201d Estrada said.<\/p>\n
Driscoll agrees: \u201cI do believe it is the return of the cocaine cowboys.\u201d<\/p>\n
Law enforcement calls it an old revenue stream revived as human smuggling slows. With street prices dropping, experts say more cocaine is finding its way into U.S. communities.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey have that advantage; they can fly over us, pinpoint locations, and build a map of DPS troopers and federal agencies along the river,\u201d Estrada said.<\/p>\n
In the 1980s, authorities relied on aerostats \u2014 blimp-like devices that could track low-flying planes. A critical one in Eagle Pass was never replaced after storms, leaving the sky open.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe plan was to build a robust layered defense, they were put up for the cocaine cowboys \u2014 and now they\u2019re back. But without long-range coverage, we have a big problem,\u201d Driscoll said.<\/p>\n
Today, the Valley near McAllen reports about 1,200 drone hits a day, many operated by cartels to move drugs.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think we\u2019re going to see a lot more air traffic, small planes and jets that can get past radar technology,\u201d Driscoll said.<\/p>\n
What once seemed like a chapter from the past is now being rewritten along the border with billions in drug money at stake.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Laredo and San Antonio \u2014 It\u2019s a surge most people weren\u2019t expecting, but law enforcement was waiting for…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":250364,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5133],"tags":[5229,103119,79726,5755,39473,2936,8739,21172,7202,7203,21171,42270,358,3187,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":{"0":"post-250363","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-san-antonio","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-cartels","10":"tag-cocaine","11":"tag-drones","12":"tag-drug-trafficking","13":"tag-law-enforcement","14":"tag-major-story","15":"tag-rio-grande","16":"tag-san-antonio","17":"tag-sanantonio","18":"tag-smuggling","19":"tag-south-texas","20":"tag-texas","21":"tag-tx","22":"tag-united-states","23":"tag-united-states-of-america","24":"tag-unitedstates","25":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","26":"tag-us","27":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115256709940293842","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/250363","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=250363"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/250363\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/250364"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=250363"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=250363"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=250363"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}