The Mexican Cartels dominate the lucrative U.S. drug and human smuggling market and use the billions in profits to battle each other and the Government of Mexico to maintain control or expand their smuggling operations into the U.S.  Approximately 95 percent of the estimated cocaine flow toward the United States transits the Mexico-Central America corridor from its origins in South America which generates billions in profit each year. 

Mexico is also a major supplier of heroin, marijuana, and methamphetamine to the United States. Mexico‘s share of global poppy production has been increasing in recent years; estimates show that Mexico surpassed Burma as the world‘s second largest poppy cultivator in 2009. U.S. Government estimates for 2009 indicate that marijuana cultivation in Mexico increased by more than 45 percent.¹ Mexican Cartels continue to rely primarily on California and South Texas ports of entry (POEs) to smuggle cocaine, heroin, and methamphetamine across the border and on remote areas between POEs.

Mexican Cartels use U. S. based gangs to support their criminal operations on both sides of the border.

As part of a multi agency effort, DPS has collected the amount of cocaine, heroin, marijuana and methamphetamine seized by local, state and federal law enforcement agencies along the major smuggling corridors and within the 53 counties that comprise the border region and the coastal corridor since 2006. The cost of drugs is calculated based on the most recent price information available for multiple locations in Texas, as listed by the National Drug Intelligence Center.

This website reflects the known current bulk value for the narcotics from the NDIC. This value can reflect a wider range using older estimates from the NDIC over various years of data, or by dosage unit size for higher street values.

2012 Marijuana Seizures as of April 30, 2012	2012 Cocaine Seizures as of April 30, 2012
2012 Methamphetamine Seizures as of April 30, 2012	2012 Heroin Seizures as of April 30, 2012

Smugglers are becoming more innovative about hiding drugs in hollow compartments in vehicles and other items.

Texas Highway Patrol seized $447,981 in currency and a pistol during a traffic stop. The currency was concealed in false compartment in the floor of a pickup. The male driver and female passenger were traveling on US-59S from Houston, TX, to McAllen, TX.

Texas Highway Patrol seized 51.2 lbs of cocaine concealed in a false compartment in the rear deck of an SUV. The driver was traveling from Alton, TX on US-59 to Houston, TX.

A Trooper was on routine patrol in Wharton county on US-59 when he stopped tractor trailer for driving on improved shoulder and improper/defective mud flap. Trooper observed several signs of criminal activity. Verbal consent to search was asked for and received. Upon search of trailer trooper located 42 bundles of suspected marijuana co-mingled in the load.

On 11/28/11, at 10:15am, a Trooper stopped a truck towing a trailer on US 281 in San Manuel, for a unsecured load. During the interview, the Trooper observed indicators of criminal activity. Consent to search was requested and granted.

During the search, the Trooper found two wooden compartments of marijuana hidden in between the load of hay, weighing 1735 LBS.

On 1/12/12, a Trooper on routine patrol on FM 490 – Hidalgo county, made contact with a driver that had exited a vehicle. The Trooper requested identification from the driver and the driver fled on foot.

The Trooper saw marijuana in plain view in the vehicle.

Further investigation revealed the vehicle was a cloned AT&T work truck containing 2,168 pounds of marijuana in all storage compartments, inkling the front seat and floorboard.

A Trooper was on routine patrol and noticed a white flatbed pulling a gooseneck trailer. After 15-20 minutes, he saw another trailer pass by with the same company markings. He noticed this was not a company he had seen operating in the area before. He made a traffic stop and noticed discrepancies and criminal indicators. He called a second Trooper and gave him a description of the vehicles.

The Trooper made a traffic stop and the driver of the second vehicle had a criminal history. The Trooper was able to find hidden crates concealed in the load. Both vehicles had the same type of compartment concealing the drugs. The total drugs seized was 8,509 pounds of marijuana.

DPS Press release regarding seizures made by DPS and our partners

¹ State Dept INCSR 2011

As drugs are flowing into the US, cash is flowing out. Estimates for the amount of cash that travels from the United States to Mexico to fuel the criminal operations of drug cartels range from $19 billion to $29 billion each year.³

2012 Cash Seizures as of April 30, 2012

³ http://www.ice.gov/cornerstone/cps-study.htm

Since 2009, 2,830 weapons have been seized in Texas by participants in Operation Border Star.

Since 2006, the U.S. Border Patrol has reported 3,951,788 illegal alien apprehensions along the U.S.-Mexico border, including 1,160,545 apprehensions in the Texas sectors of Big Bend, Del Rio, El Paso, Laredo, and Rio Grande Valley.⁴

⁴ http://www.cbp.gov/linkhandler/cgov/border_security/border_patrol/usbp_statistics/ 99_10_fy_stats.ctt/99_11_fy_stats.pdf

As of September 15, 2011, 6,508 illegal aliens have been identified in TDCJ units. These 6,508 criminal aliens are responsible for 27,880 total crimes over their criminal careers.

From October 2008 – March 2012, Texas identified a total 108,427 unique criminal alien defendants booked into Texas county jails. These defendants are responsible for at least 343,226 individual criminal charges over their criminal careers, including 1,738 homicides and 3,945 sexual assaults.

Note that these numbers include only those aliens whose fingerprints were already in the federal system when they were booked, and it does not necessarily include all those who are incarcerated in federal prison. Several have been previously deported and returned to commit additional crimes.

Since 2006, 58,304 illegal aliens have been apprehended and referred to CBP in Texas by local and state law enforcement officers.

Since 2009, there have been 58 incidents in which shots were fired at 73 law enforcement officers in Texas.

Since 2008, there have been 77 caltrop incidents, where cartel operatives throw tire-deflation spikes at the vehicles of law enforcement officers in order to evade arrest.

These spikes have damaged and disabled law enforcement and civilian vehicles.

The 82nd Legislature prohibited the use of caltrops. Using a caltrop or other tire deflation device against an officer while the actor is in flight is now a third degree felony.

Since 2010, agencies participating in Operation Border Star have reported 2,065 pursuits. Many of these were smuggling-related pursuits, where law enforcement officers were engaged in high speed chases as smuggling suspects try to evade arrest. The cartels have also used blocking and chase vehicles to protect drug loads.

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DPS helicopter assists the Border Patrol and local law enforcement with the search for suspects that are on foot hiding in a field.  DPS is able to locate a body utilizing the thermal imager and direct officers on the ground to the correct spot in the field where officers enter and are able to take the suspect into custody.  It is discovered that the suspect had a small child with him; child is recovered safely.
Click here to download this movie in zipped WMV file

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DPS helicopter conducting surveillance on three small buildings where two subjects are walking close to the buildings trying to conceal themselves.  The two subjects then make a run for it and hide under some trees before running to the river and jumping in.  The subjects are sitting in the water about four feet from the bank and DPS is able to direct the Border Patrol officers on the ground to the location where the two subjects are recovered from the water and taken into custody.
Click here to download this movie in zipped WMV file

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DPS Helicopter follows a pursuit, bailout and eventual apprehension of suspect. The driver of the suspect vehicle runs multiple red lights and endangers other vehicles on the road. The suspect eventually strikes a tree in a brushy field and bails out on foot. The DPS helicopter is able to coordinate with dispatch and officers on the ground to successfully take the suspect into custody.
Click here to download this movie in zipped WMV file

Note that not all of these pursuits are smuggling related. However, since 2008, the Texas Highway Patrol has engaged in 1,610 pursuits in Operation Border Star counties, accounting for 46.4 percent of all Texas Highway Patrol pursuits in the state.

Additional Videos

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DPS helicopter flies to support a recovery operation where a truck is found abandoned under a tree concealed with camouflage. 

A truck carrying a boat with seven or eight subjects covering their faces from the camera is spotted; the truck stops and a total of 12 subjects exit to recover a load that was hidden in the brush and trees.  From this location the truck proceeds to another location close to the river where more bundles are recovered from a small building.
Click here to download this movie in zipped WMV file

Since 2009, there have been 60 cartel-related splashdowns, where drug smugglers drive their vehicle into the river in order to evade law enforcement officers, while boat retrieval teams enter the river from Mexico to recover the drug loads. In addition to the actual splashdown itself, criminals that engage in splashdowns commit multiple offenses, such as drug trafficking, vehicle flight, and reckless driving. Some of these criminals also use dangerous weapons as they flee from law enforcement and attempt to destroy evidence.

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DPS Helicopter follows a pursuit where local law enforcement places spikes on the road in attempt to stop the suspect vehicle; the vehicle avoids the spikes by taking alternate dirt road that leads to the river.  The suspect vehicle then has sparks fly from its rear to divert law enforcement prior to splashdown in the river.  Waiting for the vehicle is a raft in the water to retrieve the drug load and take it back across the river to the approximately 24 people and five vehicles.
Click here to download this movie in zipped WMV file

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DPS Helicopter follows pursuit of suspect vehicle by local PD through a residential area.  Suspect vehicle turns off onto dirt road en route to river; load of drugs is covered by a large tarp.  The suspect vehicle then avoids the Border Patrol Unit by taking an alternate road and splashes down into the river where three rafts are waiting to transport the load back to Mexico.
Click here to download this movie in zipped WMV file

Mexican cartels recruit Texas youth to traffic drugs across the border. The Texas border region represents 9.7% of the state’s population, yet this region has 19.2% of the state’s juvenile felony drug referrals and 21.8% of the state’s juvenile felony gang referrals. 

In October 2011, the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) apprehended a 12-year-old boy in a border county driving a stolen pickup truck containing more than 800 pounds of marijuana.

In another border county, more than 25 juveniles have been arrested for drug trafficking within the past year.

DPS Press Release regarding cartels recruiting children.

Major multi-agency investigations have resulted in the arrest of hundreds of Mexican cartel members and associates who operated in Texas. Since 2007, these arrests have included at least 89 from the Gulf Cartel, 9 from the Juarez Cartel, 165 from La Familia Michoacana, 72 from Los Zetas, and 2 from the Sinaloa Cartel.

Since 2009, there have been 25 homicides in Texas related to cartel criminal activity. The assessment of whether a crime was related to the Mexican cartels is based upon the best available information from ongoing investigations, confidential informants and intelligence reporting.

Crimes linked to the cartels will be added or in some instances reduced based upon new information to indicate that it was or was not related to the Mexican cartels.

Details on cartel related murders in Texas:

Date: 19 APR 2011
Location: Palmview, TX
Description: One male victim was shot from behind.

Date: 30 SEPT 2010
Location: Brownsville, TX
Description: Two male victims were shot to death in a pickup truck with Mexican license plates that was riddled with bullets.

Date: 29 AUG 2010
Location: Presidio, TX
Description: One male victim’s body was found on the U.S. side of the Rio Grande River bound at the hands and feet and with a gunshot wound in the head.

Date: 26 AUG 2010
Location: Edinburg, TX
Description: One male victim was beaten, shot, and buried under concrete.

Date: 25 AUG 2010
Location: Fabens, TX
Description:One male victim was shot to death.

Date: 25 AUG 2010
Location: Dallas, TX
Description: One male victim was shot multiple times and found in a burning vehicle.

Date: 19 JULY 2010
Location: Laredo, TX
Description: One male victim died after being shot multiple times.

Date: 11 JUNE 2010
Location: Zapata Co, TX
Description:One male victim was killed.

Date: 07 JUNE 2010
Location: Dallas, TX
Description: One male victim’s remains were located in a burning vehicle with Mexican license plates.

Date: 31 MAY 2010
Location: Travis Co, TX
Description: Two male victims were shot and killed by a male suspect.

Date: 29 MAY 2010
Location: San Juan, TX
Description: One male victim was shot to death when at least three suspects attempted to kidnap him from his home.

Date: 04 MAR 2010
Location: Dallas, TX
Description: One female victim was shot dead by drug traffickers outside her home.

Date: 06 FEB 2010
Location: Palmview, TX
Description: One male victim was beaten and shot to death in a field north of Palmview after stealing a load of marijuana.

Date: 3 SEP 2009
Location: Horizon City, Texas
Description: One male victim was kidnapped from his home in Horizon City; his body was found in Ciudad Juarez with his hands cut off.

Date: 15 MAY 2009
Location: El Paso, Texas
Description: One male victim was shot and killed in El Paso.

Date:  20 APR 2009
Location: Dallas, Texas
Description: One male victim was shot to death by at least one assailant.

Human smugglers regularly kidnap groups of illegal aliens in Texas and hold them against their will in safe houses while demanding ransom payments from their families. In other cases, cartel members and associates have abducted individuals in Texas to force them to align themselves with the cartel.

Examples of this activity include:

• In October 2011, 14 kidnap victims were recovered from a house in Fort Bend County, where human smugglers had held them against their will and attempted to extort ransom payments from their families. Investigators suspect the human smuggling operation had been running for at least two years.
• In January 2010, a Gulf Cartel associate was convicted of kidnapping a resident of Weslaco, Texas, and having him transported into Mexico. In September 2008, investigators with the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) became aware the Gulf Cartel had initiated a violent kidnapping scheme in which known drug dealers would be approached and a demand would be made that they align themselves with the Gulf Cartel to sell their narcotics. DPS investigators and the FBI initiated an investigation and soon learned that at least four subjects had been kidnapped, threatened, assaulted, drugged and transported into Mexico to meet with Cartel members. www.justice.gov/usao/txs/1News/Releases/2010 January/012210 Avila.htm

Mexican cartels are adept at corrupting law enforcement officers in Mexico, and they also seek to corrupt public officials in the United States.

Since October 1, 2004, 127 CBP employees have been arrested or indicted for acts of corruption including drug smuggling, alien smuggling, money laundering, and conspiracy; of those arrests, 95 percent are considered mission-compromising acts of corruption.

• Former Cameron County Sheriff’s Deputy Jesus A. Longoria was sentenced in March 2011 to 57 months in prison after pleading guilty to attempting to allow weapons to be trafficked into Mexico.
• Former Sullivan City Police Chief Hernan Guerra was sentenced in 2011 to ten years in prison for his involvement in a drug trafficking organization.
• Former Zapata County Justice of the Peace Manuel Martinez and former South Texas Violent Crimes Task Force investigator, Jose Amaro, pleaded guilty in August 2007 to extorting money from drug traffickers in exchange for using their official positions to insure the undetected passage of drug traffickers and their drug shipments through Zapata County between June 2006 and November 2006.
• Former Texas Department of Criminal Justice guard Alejandro Smith pleaded guilty in August 2011 to possessing heroin with the intent to distribute.
• Former Reeves County jailer, Raul Garcia, Jr.,  pleaded guilty in 2007 to possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance.
• Former Starr County Sheriff Reymundo Guerra was sentenced to five years and four months in federal prison in August 2009 for helping Gulf Cartel operatives move marijuana and cocaine through his border county.
• Former Laredo Police Officer Pedro Martinez III was sentence to 78 months in federal prison in August 2011 for conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute more than five kilograms of cocaine.
• Former DPS Trooper Jesus Rafael Larrazolo was sentenced to 87 months in federal prison in November 2009 for possession with intent to distribute 57 pounds of cocaine.