On Tuesday, the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) announced that state troopers will begin “frequent” and random commercial vehicle inspections in an effort to deter human and drug smuggling.
According to a December 13 memo from Texas DPS, troopers began a campaign of random CMV inspections on Tuesday at international ports of entry (POEs) into Texas.
The Texas DPS inspections will take place in addition to federal U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) inspections taking place at border crossings.
“We are committed to enforcing compliance with safety standards and one of our department’s primary functions is to ensure Texas roadways are safe for all Texans and visitors to our great state,” said DPS Director Steven McCraw. “Cartels do not care about the condition of the vehicles they send into Texas any more than they do about the human lives they cram into tractor-trailers or those lost to a fentanyl overdose. For security reasons the department does not discuss operational specifics, but we hope that frequent enhanced commercial vehicle safety inspections will help deter cartel smuggling activity along our southern border while increasing the safety of our roadways.”
In April 2022, Texas Governor Greg Abbott ordered Texas DPS to conduct similar random truck inspections in an effort to crack down on illegal border crossing. CBP called the DPS inspections “additional and unnecessary” and said that they were responsible for wait times at some border crossings exceeding five hours in addition to a 60% reduction in commercial traffic.
Abbot ended the inspections after less than two weeks after Mexico allegedly agreed to take steps to reduce illegal immigration. The enhanced truck inspection effort reportedly cost Texas $477 million per day, according to the Dallas Morning News.