Three Mexican drug smugglers were wounded this morning in a fierce shootout with U.S. federal agents and Texas Rangers along the Rio Grande River just south of Mission in Hidalgo County, TX as reported by The Associated Press.
According to the Texas Department of Public Safety "a suspicious vehicle on the U.S. side of the Rio Grande River was observed along with two cartel drug recovery boats," and after three Ranger patrol boats arrived on the scene they "received heavy gun fire from the Mexico side while attempting to interdict the drug-laden boats" as reported by Richard Connelly for the Houston Press.
Although the Obama Administration insists that there is no evidence of drug-related spillover violence, the boots on the ground claim that the bullets whizzing by them are real.
Indeed, last December U.S. Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry was shot and killed after encountering several suspects in a drug smuggling corridor in Nogales, AZ.
UPDATE: The Texas Department of Public Safety has released video from the scene following the shootout:
UPDATE: The Mexican gunmen were working for the Gulf cartel as reported by KRGV.
Sen. John Cornyn has released a statement urging the Obama Administration to stop the lies and get real about the border:
"Despite the repeated assurances of President Obama and Secretary Napolitano that our border is secure, this brazen attack on law enforcement provides further evidence for what Texans already know. Cartel-related violence along our border is real and escalating, and the administration cannot continue to deny it when American lives - particularly those of our law enforcement - are directly in harm's way.
Texas Ranger Capt. Robert Bullock said "life along the border has changed drastically," and "the government needs to increase support, from more men on the ground to high tech equipment, for authorities in the Valley before it's too late" as reported by Daisy Martinez for KGBT.
In Chino Valley, AZ police have arrested twenty-seven individuals for their alleged involvement in a shootout yesterday between the rival Hells Angels and Vagos motorcycle clubs which left at least five wounded as reported by Elizabeth Erwin for KPHO.
