LAREDO – Texas Army National Guard soldiers assisted in successfully deterring a raft of attempted human smugglers on the bank of the Rio Grande last week. The presence of the Soldiers in partnership with state and federal law enforcement called Operation Lone Star made the smugglers turn back into Mexico to avoid being arrested.
The Soldiers were on a dismounted patrol of the riverbank when they were alerted by their law enforcement communication channels of a raft of attempted human smugglers floating across the border river.
“Look at that boat!” said Spc. Ramirez, a rifleman assigned to Alpha Company, Task Force Center. “It’s turning around to go back.” Ramirez witnessed a law enforcement air boat intercept a group of illegal migrants attempting to cross the Rio Grande River.
When the incident took place, the Soldiers were discovering various hiding places that human smugglers use to hide illegal immigrants before making profit from their crossing of the border river. They often find these immigrants in the tall reeds and thick brush that line the banks of the river before they are taken by smugglers for their illegal passage into the United States.
“It’s about getting into their head,” said Ramirez. “You have to be able to think like one of them to understand where someone in their position would think to hide.”
The Soldiers not only utilize advanced tracking hardware and software to accurately detect the positions of the migrants, but they also use their knowledge and experience of tracking people through the terrain of the southern border. They take notice of footprints in the sand which they can differentiate from those other combat boot tread. It’s common for smugglers to cover footprints to avoid detection by authorities.
“It’s like a game of hide and seek,” said Spc. Ragland, a rifleman in the same platoon as Ramirez, “but they’re as smart as you, if not smarter, in ways to get around law enforcement or anybody that’s trying to stop them from illegally immigrating into the US.”
The soldiers on Operation Lone Star operate in this way across the entirety of Texas southern border, and they are trained to intercept illegal immigration before the criminals make landfall into the United States.
The Texas National Guard, in conjunction with interagency partners, is dedicated to preventing illegal migrant crossings from Mexico to the US and stopping cross-border illicit narcotics trafficking.
| Date Taken: | 08.23.2023 |
| Date Posted: | 09.13.2023 12:29 |
| Story ID: | 453328 |
| Location: | LAREDO, TEXAS, US |
| Web Views: | 118 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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