The “Border War” that we discussed on October 6 is heating up, centering on tiny Fronton Island, a 170-acre sandbar in the Rio Grande opposite Fronton, Texas.
As noted earlier, there is no legal dispute over ownership of the island. It is American soil, as Texas has recently re-affirmed. The illegal dispute is primarily between rival cartels: the Gulf Cartel and the Cartel del Noreste. Both want to use the island as a jumping-off point and potential hideout for drug and human smuggling. Now that Texas authorities have entered the picture, the conflict appears to be three-sided.
During the first week of October, a combine of Texas Rangers and the Texas Department of Public Safety began “Operation Flat Top,” to denude and deforest the overgrown island to prevent its use by the cartels. Since that time, although no shots, etc, have been exchanged between Texas authorities and the cartels, there has been plenty of action between the cartels, and the threat of violence toward Texan authorities grows.
One such episode occurred on the night of October 8, when a Texas drone captured evidence of a nearly two-hour gunfight on the island between the gangs. Then on October 12, while Texas officers were patrolling the island, a drone spotted four heavily armed cartel members on the Mexican side of the river directly across from the island. Two days later, between 2 a.m. and 3 a.m on October 14, another drone detected an hour-long gun battle between the gangs. On October 15-16, cartel patrols were spotted on the island. Finally, on October 25, four cartel operatives were seen throwing objects that exploded seconds after they were launched.
Incidentally, October 2 was the 188th anniversary of the first skirmish of the Texas Revolution in 1835, suggesting that there is nothing new under the sun.
For more, see KTBS.