Armed And Armored Men Caught Crossing US-Mexico Border

(WatchDogReport.org) – Images obtained and published by Fox News show armed men crossing the US southern border unimpeded. The men were seen near the Fronton, Texas, area on August 5, but when law enforcement arrived at the scene, they had vanished and left no evidence behind. However, on August 14, law enforcement agents in the area arrested two of the three men as they attempted to cross again.

Armed Cartel Smugglers are coming over our southern border, bringing drugs and illegal migrants into the country. Enough is enough. @POTUS: secure the border and end this invasion. https://t.co/twPbWc4q6k

— Rep. Doug LaMalfa (@RepLaMalfa) August 8, 2023

A Texas Rangers Special Operations Group, with Texas Game Wardens and US Border Patrol agents, apprehended two Mexican nationals who are suspected to be members of powerful cartels. Officers say they had rifles and armor-piercing ammunition at the time of their arrest. Also seized in the operation were loaded magazines and a machete.

Mexican cartels, who are armed and very dangerous, are heavily involved in smuggling people across the border, and it is a lucrative business for them. A 2021 study by the Migration Policy Institute (MPI), the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP), and the Civic Data Design Lab at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) found that 55% of migrants coming to the US had used the services of people smugglers.

Migrants trying to get into America pay around $200 each to the trafficking gangs, according to an investigation by the New York Post. In May, the paper told the story of Maria Coromoto, who had spent a month walking to the border on foot, and subsequently camped there and waited. She said people smugglers approached her daily, but she told them she could not afford $200. “I’m going to stick to the legal route. I have faith, I have faith everything’s going to work out,” Maria concluded.

At the time, 60,000 migrants were waiting to cross over, according to Border Patrol Chief Raul Ortiz. Others in the Border Patrol service say the brutal cartels cover all bases and understand the law. “They study it and find any loopholes so they can exploit it,” one officer said.