Texas National Guard engineers continue to secure the Texas-Mexico border

MCALLEN, Texas – Texas National Guard Engineer Special Response Teams this week installed a new anti-climb barrier near Brownsville, Texas to further the agency’s effort to stem the flow of illegal crossings.

In recent months, around Eagle Pass and Brownsville, illegal border crossers have damaged existing wire and barriers to gain access to Texas. The engineers repaired the damaged sections of barrier while operational personnel blocked entry and provided security for the construction operations. The damage to the barrier continues to occur daily. 

The Engineer Special Response Teams are now installing a new barrier to reinforce the areas of high-traffic illegal crossings. The teams are installing an anti-climb barrier behind the reinforced wire areas. The barrier also has barbed wire and concertina wire attached as to prevent climbing over with a ladder or other scaling device. 

“The Brownsville area is seeing a lot of bad actors coming across the river and cutting our existing C-wire barrier,” said Capt. Chris Daniel, SRT-1 officer in charge. “The ACB barrier will allow Task Force South [National Guard] and law enforcement partners more time to respond to the breaches to apprehend the bad actors.”

The environment surrounding the Rio Grande River dictates how the barriers are installed, according to Daniel. In El Paso, where fencing operations have been ongoing, illegal border crossings are blocked by multiple layers of the wire arrayed in wide open areas of high-volume traffic. The wire is used to funnel illegal migrants to staging areas where they are turned back to Mexico.

    Since the beginning of the mission, the engineers have installed over 82 miles of concertina wire and reinforced over 27 miles of that wire. Additionally, almost 73 miles of chain-linked fencing has been installed to secure private and public property in the border region.
The Texas National Guard is dedicated to preventing, deterring and interdicting transnational criminal activity, in conjunction with our state and local partners, along the Texas and Mexico border.  
 

(CLICK FOR YOUTUBE VIDEO)

BROWNSVILLE, Texas –Texas National Guard members assigned to Task Force South seized more than 800 lbs. of narcotics in the last two weeks being smuggled across the Texas-Mexico border by traffickers. 

On Sunday, Nov. 19, Zeus Flight assigned, the Operation Lone star unit in the Brownsville area, notified the Texas National Guard drone team that they witnessed possible scouts in their area of responsibility. The drone team later confirmed heat signatures for bodies in the area and notified law enforcement partners. In conjunction with law enforcement partners, Airmen stepped in to interdict two smugglers carrying two bundles of marijuana.  

A week later, again with the help of the drone team, Airmen from Zeus Flight spotted eight individuals with bundles of narcotics and contacted the Department of Public Safety. Once on the scene, the Airmen assisted law enforcement agencies to stop the traffickers.  

The seized eight bundles of marijuana, weighing approximately 483.5 lbs. were valued at $386,800.  

On Nov. 28, Zeus Flight was again informed that five suspected smugglers were spotted carrying bundles into the U.S. In partnership with law enforcement, all five smugglers were detained and taken into custody. Approximately 261.8 lbs. of marijuana were seized, with a street value of $209,400.  

“The work our service members are performing along the Texas border is imperative to national security,” said Lt. Col. Wayne Sanaghan, 432nd Air Expeditionary Group Commander. “Over the last ten days, we’ve successfully prevented approximately 845 lbs. of narcotics from being trafficked into our country. We are proud of our Texas National Guard members on this mission and are grateful for our partnership with the Texas Department of Public Safety.”