Thread: Authorities: Smugglers Using Air, Sea Routes

Authorities: Smugglers Using Air, Sea Routes

Posted: Apr 19, 2012 6:46 PM
Updated: Apr 19, 2012 7:28 PM

BROWNSVILLE - Federal authorities say the sea and air are becoming more common routes to smuggle drugs and people, as smugglers are finding it more difficult to get their cargo across on land.

In the Rio Grande Valley sector, Border Patrol agents seized about one million pounds of drugs last year. CBP Assistant Commissioner Michael Kostelnik says that enforcement is changing the way smugglers work.

He tells us the Eastern Pacific used to be a common route smugglers used. Now they're using the Western Carribean.

With more smuggling going on over the gulf, CPB and Border Patrol agents have stepped up their presence on the water. They have six boats stationed at this new air and marine unit center in Port Isabel. They patrol from Brownsville to Kenedy County, getting help from helicopters and air support.

Federal law enforcement officers are worried about smuggling on the water.

"They are not going to be providing flotation devices for their passengers. They're going to do whatever they can to get away. If that means throwing over their cargo - whether that's a bundle or a person to distract us - that's probably what we are going to be seeing," said Rosendo Hinojosa, Chief Border Patrol agent with the RGV sector.

CBP officers want to stop this before it happens. CHANNEL 5 NEWS checked with other local law enforcement agencies on Rio Grande Valley waterways. They say they haven't seen violent clashes with smugglers.

Authorities: Smugglers Using Air, Sea Routes | KRGV.com | CHANNEL 5 NEWS | Breaking News Breaking Stories

Marine unit upgraded in fight against smugglers
April 19, 2012 9:14 PM
By MADELINE BUCKLEY/The Brownsville Herald

As the federal government works to seal the United States and Mexico land border, officials are increasingly seeing drug smuggling operations move to the sea in coastal areas, a Washington-based Customs and Border Protection official said.

Michael C. Kostelnik, assistant commissioner of the CBP’s Office of Air and Marine unit, spoke at a dedication ceremony for the newly renovated facility for the Brownsville Marine Unit in Port Isabel Thursday.

The $1.1 million project increased the size of the facility by more than 6,000 square feet and spruced up technology in the building that houses CBP’s Marine Unit in Brownsville, which is responsible for securing waterway borders in South Texas.

Kostelnik and other local and Washington-based officials stressed the importance of maritime border security at Thursday’s ceremony, which included a ribbon cutting and tours of the facility and the unit’s vessels.

"As we seal the land border, the drugs still have to find a way to come in," Kostelnik told reporters after the ceremony. "We start to see a change in transit zones."

Officials said drug cartels use seasoned seamen to bring loads into the country by way of the Gulf of Mexico. Kostelnik said similar tactics are used in the Pacific Ocean in California.

Rosendo Hinojosa, chief Border Patrol agent of the Rio Grande Valley sector, said the marine agents who patrol the waters sometimes find large loads of narcotics and sometimes only stop boats for fishing violations.

"This is a very dangerous environment," he said. "We don’t want to see alien smuggling in these waters."

He said the smugglers will do anything to get away from law enforcement, and the immigrant likely would not be wearing life preservers.

"We’re not there now," he said. "But we want to be ahead of their thought process."

The renovated facility located on the coast on the south end of Port Isabel, features meeting rooms, offices, a new exercise center and a communications center with radio technology and flat screen televisions for surveillance.

About 40 officers from the CBP marine unit, as well as Border Patrol, Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Homeland Security Investigation are housed in the new building. Construction began in September.

"This was really about the quality of life for our agents," Matthew Reichle, director of the Brownsville Marine Unit, said of the project.

Agents were previously crammed into a building too small to accommodate everyday functions, he said.

The Brownsville unit has six vessels that patrol the waterways that connect the Gulf of Mexico to the coastal areas in the Rio Grande Valley. They are manning a moving border that runs 12 nautical miles from the coast, though can be extended further if necessary to protect the federal waters.

On the sunny Thursday afternoon, agents drove the patrol boats from the facility to sweep around the southern point of South Padre Island.

The boat speeded along the coast at about 60 miles per hour as the captain navigated with a radar screen that showed thermal images of landmasses and other crafts. At night, the captain said, he only navigates with that map, as it is too dark to see.

A suspicious boat may appear on the radar, creeping into the coast at night.

Agents from various federal law enforcement bodies attended the ceremony, including representatives from Border Patrol, U.S. Fish and Wildlife and the Coast Guard. Also in attendance were Mary and Amador Zapata, parents of Jaime J. Zapata, an ICE agent from Brownsville killed in Mexico last year.

Port Isabel Mayor Joe. E Vega addressed the crowd at the ceremony, and a representative of U.S. Rep. Blake Farenthold read a statement voicing his appreciation.

One Old Vet

Marine unit upgraded in fight against smugglers | border, assistant, michael - Brownsville Herald