Staff report
The Interstate 35 corridor is a heavily traveled stretch of highway, and many of the vehicles which pass through Cooke County are reportedly up to no good.
According to the Drug Enforcement Agency, the Dallas-Fort Worth area serves as a major drug distribution and transport center.
For many, the route of choice is Interstate 35.
DPS, local and federal agencies say they are doing everything they can to keep drugs from entering Texas in the first place.
DPS Aviation video shows smugglers as they drive their narcotics-laden vehicles into the river, recover the drugs by boat or other means, and then take them back to Mexico. Video also shows smugglers on the Mexico-side of the border as they attempt to smuggle drugs into Texas, but are forced to abandon their operation because of the presence of DPS and other law enforcement entities. (See video and photos at http://www.txdps.state.tx.us/video/news/border/.) Many loads are recovered by law enforcement before smugglers can distribute them in Texas or take them back to Mexico.
In the past, these drugs would have ended up in major cities across the United States for distribution and consumption. Now, DPS uses land and air operations to aggressively patrol the border region in a coordinated effort with other law enforcement agencies to disrupt drug trafficking organizations (DTOs). This effort has placed so much pressure on the DTOs’ supply chains that drug smugglers can no longer afford to have their narcotics seized along the border, forcing them to attempt to recover the drugs and return them to Mexico.
Many Texas law-enforcement officials say they believe a porous border with Mexico increases the threat of not only drug smuggling, but also human smuggling and terrorism. DTOs and other Mexican crime organizations, which sometimes include former foreign military commandos, have become increasingly sophisticated with better weapons and more organized, using well-coordinated, pre-planned narcotics recovery efforts. DPS, local and federal agencies are meeting this threat through a coordinated offensive that makes the state safer and helps to decrease crime.
In 2007, the 80th Legislature appropriated funding for four new DPS border helicopters and pilots, which are stationed in Laredo, Del Rio, Alpine and El Paso. Two other helicopters support border operations and are located in McAllen and Corpus Christi. With these new assets, DPS Aviation can better assist other DPS divisions and local and federal law enforcement. The coordinated effort among law enforcement and the impact of the additional helicopters and pilots is evidenced, in part, by the disruption of DTO operations and can be seen in the images captured by DPS aircrews.
DPS also has eight other helicopters stationed in Austin, San Antonio, Garland, Waco, Midland, Lubbock, Amarillo, Houston and an additional helicopter will be added this spring to Longview.
