Several Border Patrol agents conducting surveillance and enforcement activities in Texas came under fire from suspected Mexican drug cartel operatives early Monday afternoon.
Rio Grande Valley Sector Border Patrol agents exchanged gunfire with the cartel members and sought cover as reinforcements were summoned. The agents did not sustain injuries during the initial exchange of gunfire. However, the incident is still unfolding.
According to a spokesperson for the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS), the agents were conducting surveillance along the Rio Grande near Fronton, Texas, when the shooting took place. The agents returned gunfire and sought cover in the heavy brush along the river’s edge. The agents left their marked Border Patrol vehicles on the banks of the river, where they currently remain as the shooting scene remains active.
According to the DPS spokesperson, Lieutenant Chris Olivares, Texas authorities are assisting Special Operations Group members from the Border Patrol who are currently at the scene. Several law enforcement drones are being utilized to observe the movements of the drug cartel members as the agent’s vehicles are retrieved from the banks of the Rio Grande.
Law enforcement sources on the scene tell Breitbart Texas the authorities have four suspected cartel members trapped on an island just off the Mexican bank of the Rio Grande and are monitoring that activity.
As reported by Breitbart Texas, the Fronton, Texas area has been notoriously dangerous for Border Patrol agents and Texas DPS Highway Patrol troopers in recent years due to Mexican drug cartel activity. In January 2022, Border Patrol agents attempting to arrest a migrant near Fronton came under gunfire but escaped injury in that incident as well. A Border Patrol vehicle sustained damage from the gunfire during that incident.
The latest shooting comes just days after a Border Patrol agent was killed during a shootout in Vermont. The Border Patrol agent, identified by officials as David C. Maland, conducted a traffic stop on a Vermont highway near the Canadian border. Few details of the shooting have been released by the FBI or U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the parent agency of the Border Patrol as an investigation continues. Newly appointed Border Patrol Chief Mike Banks confirmed Agent Maland was killed by gunfire last week.
Immediately after being sworn in, President Trump signed an executive order designating the Mexican Drug Cartels as Foreign Terrorist Organizations.
Randy Clark is a 32-year veteran of the United States Border Patrol. Prior to his retirement, he served as the Division Chief for Law Enforcement Operations, directing operations for nine Border Patrol Stations within the Del Rio, Texas, Sector. Follow him on X (formerly Twitter) @RandyClarkBBTX.
