Mexican cartels are about to find out.
Roughly 500 US troops are moving into Texas’ Rio Grande Valley this week, with video showing soldiers arriving in Chinook helicopters, days after a Coast Guard boat came under fire from cartel members.
The Coast Guard says its crew was on a joint interdiction patrol when gunfire came from across the border. Personnel returned fire, no one was hurt, and no boats were damaged. Law enforcement sources describe the shooters as suspected cartel members, and the incident is still under investigation.
Northern Command is calling the surge Operation Unified Response, which will involve more patrols, sensors, and force protection for Border Patrol and Coast Guard crews working the river.
Shooting at a US boat on the Rio Grande is not a border incident. It is an attack on American personnel, and the response is already on the ground.
Ali Bradley