Battle for the Border: Showdown in Zapata

Reported by: Polo Sandoval
Last Update: 1:01 am

SAN YGNACIO- Hector Garcia lives about five blocks from the Rio Grande in San Ygnacio. The oldest town in Zapata County.

Even though the tiny town appears to be untouched by the changing times, one thing is changing.

Some of the residents say they no longer feel safe.

CHANNEL 5 NEWS spoke with Angie Botello two years ago and she told us this.

"No one should be living here as bad as it is, no one should be living here," she says.

She was afraid and considering moving out. When we went back this year her home was abandoned.

Zapata County Sheriff Sigifredo Gonzalez says he thinks he knows why.

"It's gotten a little bit more dangerous on the U.S. side of the border than it used to be," he says.

Sheriff Gonzalez heads up the department and the 24 deputies responsible for patrolling the nearly one thousand square miles of Zapata county. That breaks down to one deputy for every 417 miles of land.

His department is working cases it's never had before, kidnappings, murders, ammo and grenade seizures have become the norm in Zapata County.

"It's still happening. It hasn't changed any. I guess sometimes we want to make things look as if they're better. They're not any better," says Sheriff Gonzalez.

CHANNEL 5 NEWS went out to see how bad it was. On patrol with Sargent Israel Alaniz.

He took our crews to the northern edge of the county.

Deputies patrol the area in groups, a winding ranch road smugglers use to get from the shores of Falcon Lake to Highway 83.

From the road you can see Nuevo Guerrero, which is a hub for Zeta Cartel operations.

CHANNEL 5 NEWS was there as deputies responded to an attempted smuggling run, the bad guys got caught.

After dark the deputies took our crews to "The Medina Addition" they say it's the heart of Zapata's gang activity.

"Nobody wants to cooperate with law enforcement, because they do retaliate against them, and we understand, so sometimes we just don't ask," says Sgt Alaniz.

Sargent Alaniz says in the last year they've arrested four high profile people in Medina. Some of those had cartel connections.

Sheriff Sigifredo Gonzalez worries about his men on the street. He struggles to watch the changes coming from Mexico. He worries it could put the lives of the people he's sworn to protect in danger.

His deputies are now getting some help from the federal government.

U.S. Border Patrol has set up check-points leading into town. It's a sign they're keeping an eye fixed on Mexico.

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