The use of advanced drone technology in Texas has been instrumental in the state's latest narcotics seizure, highlighting the ongoing efforts under Operation Lone Star to combat drug trafficking and illegal border crossings. In a recent mission, the Texas National Guard drone team played a vital role in assisting ground forces and law enforcement officials to seize over 127 lbs. of narcotics, as detailed on the official Texas government site.
According to the same state announcement, the collaborative efforts among the Governor Gregg Abbott, the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS), and the Texas National Guard, have led to significant arrests and apprehensions. Since the start of Operation Lone Star, there have been over 521,100 illegal immigrant apprehensions and more than 47,400 criminal arrests. The operation has also seized a staggering amount of fentanyl—over 544 million lethal doses.
One of the highlights of recent efforts include the Texas National Guard's Modular Mobile Survey System (M2S2) team thwarting an attempted illegal border crossing near Eagle Pass. Advanced optics technology allowed the team to identify and track nine illegal immigrants, ultimately repelling their attempts to enter Texas. The heightened security measure with strategic barriers and patrols seems to contribute to a notable decrease in illegal crossings, which have dropped by 87%, Governor Abbott emphasized on social media platforms. The state has been transporting migrants to various cities across the country, with numbers provided for each destination highlighting the encompassing reach of Texas' policy measures.
Furthermore, the DPS Brush Team's involvement in a recent incident led to the apprehension of individuals tied to human smuggling and other criminal activities. In Hidalgo County, this resulted in the arrest of a 17-year-old for smuggling of persons and evading arrest, along with an American citizen wanted for homicide and another individual charged with guiding a smuggling operation, in a statement obtained by the Texas Government website.
The continued reinforcement of border barriers near Eagle Pass by the Texas National Guard is part of the state's systematic approach to securing the border and combating transnational criminal activity. As part of the efforts, Texas soldiers are reinforcing razor wire and anti-climb barriers, aiming to not only detain and repel illegal immigrants but to establish a formidable line of defense that deters potential crossings at the Texas-Mexico border.
