No contraband was found during recent increased inspections of semi trucks at the Texas Mexico border earlier this month, but plenty of vehicle violations were.
Over the course of eight days, troopers conducted more than 4,100 inspections of trucks attempting to enter Texas from Mexico. During that time, no contraband was found, but troopers did place 850 trucks out of service for various violations. 345 more semi trucks were issued citations for under inflated tires, broken turn signals, and oil leaks.
According to KHOU 11 News, DPS Director Steve McCraw says that no contraband was found during that time because drug cartels “don’t like troopers stopping them, certainly north of the border, and they certainly don’t like 100% inspections of commercial vehicles on the bridges. And once that started, we’ve seen a decreased amount of trafficking across bridges — common sense.”
Other officials, such as the director for defense oversight at the Washington Office on Latin America, an advocacy group for human rights in the Americas, say that it’s unlikely the cartel stopped smuggling drugs, and more likely that federal immigration officials found them before the trucks were directed to the DPS secondary inspections.
“It just seems odd to me that DPS would be that much of a deterrent for smugglers deciding whether to bring something after already passing through the gauntlet of CBP,” he said.
Texas Governor Abbott, who made deals with four Governors of Mexican states regarding increased security measures at the border in order to lift his increased inspections, calls the agreement “historic.”