(NewsNation) — The region of the Rio Grande Valley in Texas where suspected members of Mexican drug cartels exchanged gunfire with U.S. border officials Monday has been targeted by organized criminal organizations for drug and human smuggling for decades.
But after no one was injured in an incident Monday when cartel members shot at Border Patrol agents, Lt. Christopher Olivarez, spokesperson for the Texas Department of Public Safety, said he only expects more incidents to follow.
Olivarez told NewsNation on Tuesday that Fronton, Texas, the area where the gunfire exchange took place, is one of the “most active, violent” border regions that agents patrol.
“For decades, the Mexican drug cartels have used that area to facilitate drug smuggling, human smuggling,” Olivarez said.
Olivarez said that in 2023, the state acquired a 123-acre parcel of land that was being used by cartels to seek refuge for criminal operations. Now, he said the state is investigating whether it can obtain the area where Monday’s gunfire exchange took place to keep incidents like Monday’s from taking place.
“We have seen encounters with the cartels where they do engage law enforcement. They shoot toward them,” he said.
However, Olivarez said that as the crackdown on the U.S-Mexico border under President Donald Trump continues, he expects conditions could worsen. He said that as illegal border crossings drop under Trump, the cartels will have their bottom line impacted.
“With that, we expect to see an escalation in threats,” Olivarez told NewsNation.
