Thread: TX-Cuellar pushes for aerial drones to patrol Texas border

Cuellar pushes for aerial drones to patrol Texas border
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February 23, 2010 6:23 PM
Jared Janes

CORRECTION: This is a corrected version of the story. An earlier version incorrectly identified the lead federal agency in the deployment of aerial drones for marine operations in Florida.



McALLEN — U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar is asking U.S. Customs and Border Protection to expedite a plan to use unmanned aerial vehicles to combat drug trafficking and weapons smuggling along the Texas-Mexico border.

The Laredo Democrat has been pushing the agency to use the surveillance aircraft in Texas since 2005, when three Predator B drones were deployed to other parts of the Southwest border.

The use of the drones in Texas would be part of a comprehensive approach to border security that includes thousands of U.S. Border Patrol agents, the border fence, sensors, cameras and other technologies, Cuellar said. The aerial drones carry cameras capable of identifying an object the size of a milk carton from an altitude of 60,000 feet and would complement efforts to patrol remote parts of the state.

“This aircraft would put eyes in the skies along our Texas border and help the United States handle the evolving threats associated with drug and weapons trafficking,â€

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