RIO GRANDE CITY, Texas — A Gulf Cartel drug smuggler trying to move a load of marijuana into Texas tried to use his vehicle as a weapon to ram a Border Patrol agent pursuing him. The agent was forced to fire his handgun four times at the suspect’s vehicle, but the smuggler swam back to Mexico.
The failed drug run took place near the town of Garceno when federal authorities spotted a vehicle carrying 40 bundles containing close to 500 pounds of marijuana, information provided to Breitbart Texas by the Starr County Sheriff’s office revealed. The town of Garceno is immediately north of an area known as the Ribereña, one of the most important drug trafficking and human smuggling routes used by Mexico’s Gulf Cartel.
Authorities tried to stop the vehicle but the northbound driver turned around toward the Rio Grande to perform a tactic called a “splashdown”, which is when cartel smugglers drive into the river while a team of smugglers waits in the water to recover the load before authorities respond.
The agent fired four shots through his windshield and managed to strike the smuggler’s southbound vehicle twice before swerving to avoid being rammed. Authorities do not believe the smuggler was struck by gunfire.
Ildefonso Ortiz is an award-winning journalist with Breitbart Texas. He co-founded the Cartel Chronicles project with Brandon Darby and Stephen K. Bannon. You can follow him on Twitter and on Facebook.
Brandon Darby is managing director and editor-in-chief of Breitbart Texas. He co-founded the Cartel Chronicles project with Ildefonso Ortiz and Stephen K. Bannon. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook. He can be contacted at bdarby@breitbart.com.
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