Law enforcement working in South Texas say they are seeing more illegal activity as apprehensions at the border have increased. Several testified before the Texas House Corrections Committee Monday.
"This onslaught of illegal activity in our county has exploded. It's just out of hand," says Kinney County Attorney Brent Smith.
Smith says his county east of Del Rio typically handles misdemeanor prosecutions, not felonies, but the county has become a "hub" for human and drug traffickers.
"The cartels control both sides of the border right now, today. That's more than a law enforcement issue. That's a military and national security issue," he says.
Smith says Del Rio has drawn more attention, but only ranchers stand in the way of smugglers in Kinney County. He says DPS has maintained a "great presence on the highway."
"We have no on-the-ground operations to protect our citizens," he says. "There's one team from DPS on the ranches. They're doing a great job, but we need about 15 more of those teams. Border Patrol is out of the picture at this moment. They're busy processing. You call them, and they're not showing up. You're not going to rely on them."
Lt. Col. Freeman Martin, DPS Deputy Director of Homeland Security Operations says at least 90 landowners have agreed to let DPS or local law enforcement monitor or investigate on their land.
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"Most of those landowners, we were already in contact with them because of smuggling events or damage to their property," he says.
Martin says methamphetamine seizures have been "off the chart," and DPS has seen an 811% increase in fentanyl seizures.
"We've seized enough fentanyl this year to kill 80 million people," he says. "More concerning is the way we're seeing it now. We're seeing it in drugs, not your hardcore meth users, crack and cocaine, but in party drugs like ecstacy. You're seeing overdoses in a population you wouldn't necessarily see overdoses in."
Martin says DPS works well with sheriffs and local law enforcement, but their options were limited when migrants started crossing the border near Del Rio.
"That's federal property. We could not arrest them for criminal trespass," he says. "What we did was, to stop the flow, we blocked the area with black and whites and basically created a fence with our vehicles. Then we helped to contain them there in the area."
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