a vehicle. It is hoped that Vickers won’t be re- quired to pay a gift tax to the IRS.
Successes and failures Operation Drawbridge has been successful
in making a strategic and sustained impact on cartel narcotic and human smuggling. As of the end of August 2015, the Drawbridge project has been responsible for detecting more than 149,957 criminal exploitations along the Texas/ Mexico Border. The project has directly resulted in apprehension of more than 67,396 individuals and more than 140 tons of narcotics. Another success is increased involvement of
DPS through additional funding appropriated by the Texas Legislature. The department has intensifi ed manpower along the border that patrol by land vehicles, deep- and shallow-wa- ter boats, fi xed wing aircraft, helicopters and aerostats. Aerostats are buoyant balloons that remain tethered to the ground; they are used to provide fi xed long distance visual and radar coverage of an area.
immigration and customs laws, which involves going after illegal immigrants in U.S. territory, employers who hire illegal immigrants and those trying to smuggle goods or contraband into the country. “Many coyotes (smugglers) are not normally
tried in court until they have been arrested at least 5 or more times,” Vickers said. “The man that Linda apprehended at the water trough re- sulted in his ninth arrest. He had just fi nished a term in federal prison; he was deported at the end of his term. “Presently, if coyotes are caught carrying less
than 200 pounds of narcotics, they are released instead of arrested. Until recently, the threshold was 500 pounds. Another problem is many of the liberal federal judges refuse to prosecute smugglers and illegal immigrants because of their belief in open borders.” “We have seen many Chinese, sometimes 30
or more in a group, smuggled into the country,” Vickers continued. “If Chinese are apprehended, they are eventually released because of the con-
Operation Drawbridge has been responsible for detecting more than 149,957 criminal exploitations along the Texas/Mexico Border. It has resulted in the apprehension of more than 67,396 individuals and more than 140 tons of narcotics.
“DPS has been responsible for a lot of arrests
of drug and people smugglers. On many occa- sions, their presence has prevented smugglers from crossing the Rio Grande,” said Vickers. One of the weaknesses in border security is
prosecution of criminals after they are caught. The Border Patrol relies on the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) offi ce for pros- ecution. ICE is part of the Department of Homeland
Security and is the second largest law enforce- ment organization in the U.S., with the FBI be- ing the largest. ICE is responsible for enforcing
96 The Cattleman September 2016
cern that they will be prosecuted in their home country if deported. At this time, 60 to 70 percent of the groups we encounter are not Mexican. In addition to the Chinese, we have seen large numbers of people from India, Pakistan, Africa, Central America and from countries hostile to the United States,” he said. “People smuggled across the border pay many
thousands of dollars for the opportunity,” ex- plained Vickers. “Cartels patrol the Mexican side of the river and if they catch anyone trying to slip across, they are stopped and told that they have to pay to enter the United States. They are
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