Texas gets second UAV

Border agents in south Texas will be getting additional help thanks to the deployment of a second unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) in the area.

In April, Representatives Henry Cuellar (D – Texas), Michael McCaul (R-Texas), and Blake Farenthold (R-Texas) sent a letter to DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano pushing for expanded UAV coverage in Texas. Currently there are four UAVs deployed along the U.S.-Mexico border and three of them are based in Arizona. In addition, the UAV based in Texas is considered to be a maritime unit and also performs patrols in the Gulf of Mexico, leaving the state without a dedicated UAV along its 1,254 miles of shared border with Mexico. In contrast Arizona has three UAVs for its 370 mile border.

“Technology is part of the long-term solution to securing the border. An additional UAV in Texas will provide both federal and state law enforcement more of the surveillance capabilities they desperately require to get the upper hand on drugs and human trafficking coming north and the guns and cash that fund and arm the drug cartels going south,” Representative McCauls aid. “The addition will further allow CBP (Customs and Border Protection) to receive precise, real time surveillance, allowing the deployment of fewer agents in a specific area, while retaining the ability to deter intrusions.”

The second drone is expected to arrive later this year or in the early part of next year.

Officials hope that the additional UAV will help stop smugglers from trafficking weapons and drugs along the border. According to Representative Cuellar, increasing numbers of drug seizures in the Rio Grande Valley is an indication that drug cartels are using it as a corridor to transport drugs into the United States.