"Holy Week" is "Hell Week" for law enforcement along the Texas - Mexico Border

Smuggling and law enforcement activity skyrockets along the Texas Border with Mexico each year around "Holy Week." 2023 was no exceptionPhoto byPixabay

Easter Season is traditionally a busy time for law enforcement along the Texas Border and this year was no exception. For one "Holy Week" (from Palm Sunday to Easter Sunday) is a huge holiday in Mexico. It's a time to reunite with family - both in the U.S, and across the border - which results in a record number of people crossing the International Bridges along the Texas-Mexican Border, both by car and by foot.

Federal officers were busy checking cars crossing into Texas from Mexico around "Holy Week" when border crossings typically set a recordPhoto byCDConUnsplash

That not only makes for a busy time for Customs & Border Protection (CBP) Officers tasked with screening people and vehicles at those bridges --- it also presents an opportunity for the cartels to try and smuggle people and drugs into Texas by blending in with those crowds. That's why arrests, drug seizures and car chases also increase along the border this time of year. Here are just a sample of those that we know of:

First, the vehicle chases. In Kinney County (near Brackettville) human smugglers tried to outrun Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) officers:

They didn't get away --- and neither did some other people who tried to run from DPS while smuggling illegal migrants in the same area on the same day:

Also on the very same day, CBP officers on the Hidalgo International Bridge searched an SUV and discovered more than $900,000 worth of methamphetamine.

101 pounds of methamphetamine seized at the International Bridge in Hidalgo, TXPhoto byU.S. Customs & Border Protection

Also - again on the same day - Agents checking I.D.'s of people crossing over the Colombia-Solidarity Bridge into Laredo arrested a man wanted in Dallas on charges of indecency with a child:

I.D. check at border crossing results in federal agents arresting man in Laredo wanted in Dallas on child indecency charges.Photo byU.S. Customs & Border Protection

Later that same night (also in Laredo), CBP Border Patrol agents fished nine migrants who tried to use a sewer system to sneak into the country out of a manhole:

Human smugglers are caught trying to use the Laredo sewer system to sneak into the country.Photo byU.S. Customs & Border Protection

Other notable seizures include $198,902 in suspect drug profits discovered by a K-9 officer inside a jeep crossing from Texas back into Mexico at the Pharr International Bridge:

Mexican Cartels are missing almost $200,000 in suspected drug profits after it was seized at the Pharr International Bridge.Photo byU.S. Customs & Border Protection

More than $370,000 worth of cocaine was found hidden in Easter Gift Boxes in two different vehicles on the same day in Laredo by officers at the aptly-named Gateway to the Americas Bridge.

$372,000 in cocaine found in Easter Gift Baskets in two vehicles crossing the Gateway to the Americas Bridge in Laredo.Photo byU.S. Customs & Border Protection

On a lighter note, CBP agriculture specialists at the El Paso bridges seized just under 600 pounds of “cascarones”. The confetti-filled eggs are restricted to quantities of 12 per passenger. The empty egg shells may be decorated, etched, or painted but they must be clean, dry, and free of any egg residue.

El Paso federal agents went on an Easter Egg Hunt, seizing almost 600 pounds of confetti-filled eggs (cascarones).Photo byU.S. Customs & Border Protection

And that's just a sample of all the law enforcement activity along the Texas border around "Holy Week!"

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Other stories by Jack Beavers about Texas Border issues include:

• Mexican pharmacies sell counterfeit drugs containing deadly Fentanyl to unsuspecting Texans & American tourists
• Texas Border Security: Has "Operation Lone Star" made a difference?
• Calls for U.S. military action against drug cartels in Mexico grow louder in Texas & Congress