Thread: Drone border patrols take off

Drone border patrols take off
Border officials hail remote-controlled help in drug, customs cases

SIERRA VISTA, Ariz. - The pilot has gone through his checklist and taxied his plane into position for takeoff.

He gets clearance from the control tower, throttles forward and — from the ground — guides his unmanned aircraft into the sky along the Mexican border to watch for drug traffickers and illegal immigrants, part of a bird’s-eye patrol that authorities hope to expand.

Four Predator B drones have become fixtures over Arizona since October 2006, and two more will join them soon, Juan Munoz-Torres, a Customs and Border Protection spokesman, said Wednesday.

Once those six are in place, the agency wants Congress to fund six drones along the Canadian border and six more on Florida’s Gulf Coast and the Caribbean, said Douglas Koupash, who heads Customs and Border Protection’s drone program.

“You’re talking about really, really vast spaces and our ability to get to some of the remote spaces efficiently,â€

BUT WHAT ABOUT TEXAS ????????

Did I miss it in the article or is Texas not included in this program?