The New White Gold For Cross-Border Smuggling
And, see the letter Kinney County Sheriff Brad Coe is sending around the Country for more support.
Good Morning friends,
A lot of small things to note today, especially since we did promise to try and update that story in our last Dispatch about the Texas Rangers investigating a smuggler’s death by gunshot in Kinney County.
Unfortunately, there’s not much new to tell about the incident, except information that the driver was apparently out of the Houston area.
We are not especially privy to the investigation, but it seems to us that it’ll more than likely wind up being ruled a suicide. Given the politically charged nature of the times, we strongly suspect the Rangers were called in order to forestall any kind of accusations of wrong doing.
You may have seen some video making the rounds on Twitter and other places, of another police chase in Kinney County, that happened about a day later — this one ended on Fort Clark’s former parade ground, right in front of the hotel.
It should be noted, the hotel is ordinarily full of DPS troopers. Oops.
A couple things stand out in the video— 1) The driver is using a Uhaul rental van. That’s significant because it indicates someone who may’ve done some research and knows that if he’s arrested, it won’t be his own personal vehicle that gets seized.
And 2) By the end of the chase— the high-speed part of the pursuit is pretty much over with. One can see the driver slowing down as they navigate the unfamiliar road leading them past the Fort’s guard shack until they are eventually jumping out of the still moving van and letting it coast to a stop as they try and disappear into the Fort on foot.
So far, most of these incidents have ended about as well and as safely as they might— but one can’t help but feel it’s just a matter of time before a bad combination of desperate and scared all fall into place and a private citizen winds up involved as a shooter or victim.
How about another chase? This time in Del Rio, involving a 16 year old accused smuggler. The video includes some relatively crystal clear video at the end of a trooper pulling their weapon and confronting suspects. What jumps out at us about this one is that both the driver and one of his passengers were local and probably should have known better.
The headline for today’s newsletter mentioned the new “white gold.” What is it? Eggs. We are totally serious.
As prices soar, incidences of smuggling eggs and other poultry-products have increased 108% at the various ports of entry. Most of the coverage so far, however has centered on California and El Paso.
It brings to mind how similar activity happened when the prices of avocados soared. That’s how omnipresent the cartels are in Mexico. They’re ready to move right in on any commodity that offers enough return on investment.
Just a year ago, reporters were calling avocados green gold for the cartels, while wagging fingers at millennials and their perceived appetites for smashed avocado toast.
We’re told you can get a pack of 30 eggs in parts of Mexico for as little as $3 dollars.
Now what? Things keep going the way they’re going, the cartels may start shipping gas stoves into the U.S.
An update on the effort to get Governor Abbott to do more with the “Invasion” clause— 42 Texas Counties are now on the record as declaring an invasion.
The Center Square’s Bethany Blankley continues to stay on top of that— sorting out a lot of the confusion out there, to deliver the most accurate count, while also explaining the discrepancies in other counts being circulated online.
The latest county to make that declaration that we know of, is Harrison County, near Longview in Northeast Texas.
Kinney County Sheriff Brad Coe is reaching out to each one of those 42 counties that have declared an invasion, as well as Sheriff’s Offices and other agencies around the Country in States like Oklahoma, Arkansas, and others, asking for their help and support.
We’re told some advance work in getting memorandums of understanding ready to go has already been done in some cases. It is a memorandum of understanding that has allowed the assistance of Galveston County Sheriff’s Deputies and Deputy Constables in Kinney County all this time.
Here’s a copy of the letter below:
And that should do it for now. We are aware of reporting elsewhere that indicates a slowdown in smuggling in the El Paso area, that some are attributing to increased combat between cartel smuggling organizations struggling for turf in Mexico.
It’s worth noting if you live in El Paso, but it doesn’t really mean much for folks in the Del Rio Sector, or the Rio Grande Valley. Or Arizona.
The Del Rio sector continues seeing large groups daily. And in fact, now that it’s apparent that Coahuila State Police are the main smuggling organization in the area— news of increased combat elsewhere just means more traffic for Del Rio, as migrants make the rational decision to try and reach areas where they can cross in relative safety.
Have a great morning everyone. We’ll be back again soon enough.
As always, this newsletter is produced solely by us, separately from our day job at the Kinney County Sheriff’s Office.
It should not be mistaken for any kind of official communication. Indeed, any errors, mistakes or other issues are entirely our own.
Life in the small city is still good despite the traffic. Now all we need is a militia.