Trans-Pecos Pipeline Crews Team Up with Border Patrol
Drug smugglers and people who’ve entered the country illegally regularly travel North from Mexico through the desert of Presidio County. In the last year, that same desert has been the site of a massive construction project: The Trans-Pecos Pipeline, which stretches 148 miles from Presidio to just outside of Fort Stockton. Before construction started, Border Patrol met with pipeline workers to talk about safety and security. They say those meetings paid off, big time.
Earlier this year, crews working on the Trans-Pecos Pipeline spotted a red Chevy Avalanche driving on a dirt right-of-way where it shouldn’t have been. They called the Presidio County sheriff’s office, who pulled the car over—officers found bricks of marijuana stacked floor-to-ceiling. In total there was almost a ton.
Pipeline workers have been behind a lot of busts lately. That’s what law enforcement was hoping for. Before construction began, Border Patrol trained pipeline workers to spot illegal activity. Turns out, they make good patrollers.
“It helps our operations to have more eyes and ears out there, in the country, looking at things,” says Rush Carter, the U.S. Border Patrol supervisor for the Big Bend Sector, “Because we’ve got a huge area to take care of.”
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