Drone video obtained by Texas state police reveals a warlike battle just south of the U.S.-Mexico border, where Mexican criminal organizations battle for control of a popular area of land for human and drug smuggling.
Troopers from the Texas Department of Public Safety discovered a Mexican cartel drone on the U.S. side of the border, as well as footage that the operator of the drone had shot, according to a reporter’s post on Twitter on Monday.
A 42-second clip shared by Fox News reporter Bill Melugin showed two powerful transnational criminal organizations firing a .50 caliber machine gun near Ciudad Miguel Aleman, a Mexico border city known as a stronghold by the cartels. Miguel Aleman is directly across the border from a small Texas town of Roma, a spot that has seen high amounts of drug and human smuggling in recent years.
The cartels in the fight were the Cartel Del Noreste, or the Northeast Cartel, and the Cartel del Golfo, or the Gulf Cartel, according to Melugin.
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NEW: Video recovered by @TxDPS from a cartel drone shows a recent gun battle between the Gulf & Northeast cartels near Ciudad Miguel Aleman, MX, just across from Roma, TX in the RGV. Tracers from .50 cal machine guns seen as they fight for control of important smuggling corridor. pic.twitter.com/wN4lgIsp5a
— Bill Melugin (@BillFOXLA) October 17, 2022
DPS spokesman Lt. Chris Olivarez did not immediately return a request for comment.
A .50 caliber machine gun is capable of firing at least 450 rounds per minute and is so powerful that it can take out a low-flying aircraft or unarmored military vehicle.
Cartels make $150 billion per year smuggling people and goods over the U.S.-Mexico border, Rep. Michael McCaul (R-TX) said in a speech in Austin Monday afternoon.
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Cartels fight one another for territory on the border and nearby roads so that they can control the land and have access for smuggling operations.
