Exclusive Ride-Along: Border Patrol Confronts Cartel Activity on 'Cartel Island'

Exclusive Access to 'Cartel Island'

• 🎙️ Correspondent Ali Bradley reports from Roma, Texas, detailing an exclusive ride-along with U.S. Customs and Border Patrol.
• ⚠️ Bradley and her crew experienced direct confrontation, with suspected cartel members hurling rocks at them near a known smuggling location.
• 🎯 The area, a postage stamp of land on the Rio Grande known as 'Cartel Island,' is described as American soil but de facto territory of Mexican drug smugglers.

Cartel Operations and Tactics

• 🗺️ Cartel de Golfo (Gulf Cartel), designated a foreign terrorist organization, has left its mark with spray-painted letters on scout shacks.
• 📈 Border Patrol agents report an increase in narcotics smuggling, particularly fentanyl, as cartels struggle to profit from moving people illegally.
• 📡 Criminal organizations are employing counter-surveillance tactics, using scouts, drones, and technology to monitor law enforcement activity and identify opportunities for smuggling.

Strategies to Combat Cartel Presence

• 🌳 Texas officials, including Land Commissioner Don Buckingham, are pushing to clear vegetation from islands to remove the cartel's tactical advantage and improve agent visibility.
• 🏝️ Fon Island, formerly known as Cartel Island, saw a significant drop in cartel activity after being cleared under Operation Flattop, where cartel members were previously spotted with rifles.
• 🤝 Border Patrol agents and state officials agree that clearing these islands is crucial for reclaiming territory and disrupting cartel operations.

Cartel Scout Shacks and Smuggling Routes

• 📍 A CDG scout shack is strategically located across from an island, providing a hiding spot for smugglers after crossing the river.
• ⏳ Smugglers use these islands to wait until the coast is clear before moving people and drugs into the United States illegally.
• 👁️ Cartel members are constantly watching, using their scout shacks as surveillance points to understand Border Patrol's movements and resources.