Texas Border Business
EDINBURG, Texas – The small Unmanned Aircraft System (sUAS) program in the Rio Grande Valley Sector continues to prove effective in combating criminal organizations operating on the border.
Saturday morning, McAllen agents working in Mission, Texas, requested the assistance of the sUAS team to help search for several subjects who ran into dense brush after illegally entering the United States. Upon deployment, the sUAS team located the group and guided the agents. Agents arrested 10 illegal aliens.
Early Tuesday morning, Fort Brown agents working near Brownsville, Texas, requested the assistance of the sUAS team after observing several suspected subjects carrying bundles of drugs on their backs. Shortly after deploying the sUAS, operators guided agents to over 121 pounds of marijuana and three smugglers who were later identified as Mexican nationals. The marijuana is worth more than 97K.
Since Saturday, agents arrested an additional 133 illegal aliens in 12 separate sUAS deployments.
Border Patrol processed the drug smuggling case and subjects accordingly.
Since the program’s inception, sUAS teams have been credited with assisting agents in more than 2700 apprehensions, and in the seizure of more than 2400 pounds of marijuana in the Rio Grande Valley Sector.
The sUAS ability to be deployed quickly and quietly gives agents the upper hand in combating human and drug smuggling attempts.
The public is encouraged to take a stand against crime in their communities and report suspicious activity at 800-863-9382.
Even with the spread of the COVID-19 virus, human smugglers continue to try these brazen attempts with zero regard for the lives they endanger nor to the health of the citizens of our great nation. The U.S. Border Patrol agents of the Rio Grande Valley Sector will continue to safeguard the nation and community against these criminal elements.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection is the unified border agency within the Department of Homeland Security charged with the management, control and protection of our nation’s borders at and between the official ports of entry. CBP is charged with keeping terrorists and terrorist weapons out of the country while enforcing hundreds of U.S. laws.
 program in the Rio Grande Valley Sector continues to prove effective combating criminal organizations operating on the border.){kind=link}