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Suspected smuggler drives into RV park lake – again
January 10, 2007
Jeremy Roebuck
Monitor Staf Writer


MISSION — Residents at Chimney Park Recreational Vehicle Resort awoke Tuesday morning to find yet another vehicle submerged in their man-made lake.

And while a few park residents gathered to watch Mission firefighters and Border Patrol agents pull the Chevrolet Astro from the water, most couldn’t muster much enthusiasm for what has become a regular occurrence at the Winter Texan haven near the intersection of Conway Avenue and Military Road.

"I’ve only been here a month," resident Bill Story said. "And it’s the second time it has happened since I’ve been here."

According to Border Patrol agents, the latest vehicle to take a dive plunged into the water around 3:30 a.m. after agents tried to stop its driver just outside the park.

The man turned his car around, drove back into the park and leapt from the vehicle moments before the van hit the lake, Border Patrol spokesman Oscar Saldaña said.

Agents believe the suspect managed to swim from the lake into the Rio Grande and cross into Mexico. Authorities could not describe the man.

"It’s kind of hard to see at 3:30 in the morning," Saldaña said. "But you can hear when someone’s swimming."

Agents returned to the park around 9 a.m. with divers from the Mission Fire Department in hopes of retrieving the car, and they confiscated more than 650 pounds of marijuana from the vehicle. Its estimated street value is set at $530,000, according to Saldaña.

As authorities set to work, some park residents looked on from the boat ramp, while others barely spared a glance. One determined couple continued to focus on an early morning game of shuffleboard as divers entered the lake.

For Story, a 66-year-old Winter Texan from Kansas, the park’s chief selling point — its majestic view of the Rio Grande — has brought its share of excitement. Drug traffickers and illegal immigrants seem to have adopted the park as a favorite crossing point into the United States, according to him and other residents.

One man noted he had seen eight or nine cars drive into the lake in the four years he’s stayed at the park.

In November, the Mission Fire Department pulled the body of an unidentified man from the river as residents looked on.

Saldaña could not say whether Border Patrol agents frequently respond to calls at the park, but he reported hearing similar stories from residents.

"Incidents like this are pretty common," Saldaña said. "It’s just the result of us patrolling with more manpower and more efficiency."