Spikes springing up in recent drug busts concern area authorities

HAVANA — Suspected drug smugglers used spikes to deflate the tires of a U.S. Border Patrol unit during a pursuit Tuesday night — at least the second incident in which area authorities have discovered the devices in a week.

Border Patrol would not confirm whether the spikes deflated the tires of an agency vehicle Tuesday night, but court documents reveal agents also found the homemade devices after an agent fired gunshots during a confrontation last week.

Meanwhile, authorities are concerned the spikes could cause further incidents on Rio Grande Valley roadways.

The spikes, or caltrops, consist of several metal points arranged in such a way that regardless of how the caltrop lands on the roadway, one point points up, creating a tire hazard. These particular caltrops appear to be fashioned from nails welded together.

The latest discovery of the devices occurred about 9:30 p.m. Tuesday, after a Border Patrol agent tried to stop a pickup truck suspected of hauling marijuana bundles along Highway 83 in Havana.

During the pursuit, one of the tires on the agent’s vehicle deflated after it ran over homemade spikes possibly tossed onto the roadway by the smuggler.

“Somehow they got the spikes on the road,” said Joe Treviño, a local Border Patrol spokesman, adding that he could not confirm whether the spikes stopped the agent’s vehicle Tuesday night.

The smugglers turned off the highway and drove the truck south into the Rio Grande.

Texas Department of Public Safety investigators are trying to determine the source of the spikes and the drugs that were seized, said Trooper Johnny Hernandez, a local spokesman for the agency. Troopers recovered 95 pounds of marijuana from the scene.

Agents also found the spikes after a Border Patrol agent fired two shots at suspected drug smugglers Dec. 2 in Sullivan City.

During that incident, agents observed several people loading bundles into a Dodge Intrepid near Los Ebanos ferry, according to a criminal complaint filed last week in U.S. District Court.

About 20 minutes later, Border Patrol agents found the Intrepid inside a garage at a residence along Huisache Street in Sullivan City, the complaint states.

Agents confronted two men who were still inside the vehicle. The suspected smugglers then backed out of the garage and drove toward the agents, the criminal complaint states. Agents said they saw the car’s passenger reach for something in the backseat and suspected it was a weapon.

The car advanced toward the agents. Agent Leslie James, fearing the vehicle would run them over, fired two rounds at the driver, Jesus Garza Garcia, a 30-year-old Mexican national, the complaint states. The passenger, 29-year-old Mexican national Hector Garza Garcia, tossed out a camouflage bag filled with spikes.

“Based on (agents’) experience and knowledge, these spikes were similar to the spikes that have been previously collected after having been thrown toward USBP service vehicles causing flat tires,” the complaint states.

Both men left the scene in the Intrepid, which was later found in a nearby wooded area. Agents followed a trail of footprints from the car and arrested both men, who face federal drug charges. Agents also seized 30 packages of marijuana at the Sullivan City garage where they encountered the two Garza men. The drugs weighed more than 312 pounds.

The spikes are not a new tactic for drug smugglers, but they do create “a public safety concern,” DPS spokesman Hernandez said. Motorists should slow down and be careful when they see authorities’ flashing lights along the highway.

“There could be a possibility of these spikes on the road,” Hernandez said. “It could cause (drivers) to veer off and cause an accident.”

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Jared Taylor covers law enforcement and general assignments for The Monitor. You can reach him at (956) 683-4439.

GOT A TIP?

>> Troopers want to know who is making spikes used during drug pursuits. Anyone with information is urged to call the Texas Department of Public Safety at (956) 984-5621.