Border Patrol Officials Warn Against Vehicle Theft

Del Rio, Texas – U.S. Border Patrol agents assigned to the Carrizo Springs area of operations recovered a stolen vehicle recently, prompting officials to warn the public of a vehicle theft trend among criminal organizations.

On Aug. 28, agents from the Carrizo Springs Border Patrol Station were driving next to a Chevrolet 2500 when they noticed that the key lock on the door was punched out. As they attempted to get behind the vehicle to run the license plate for a registration check, the driver abruptly turned into a service station. As the agents approached the vehicle, the driver accelerated to a high rate of speed then turned onto a ranch road where the subjects absconded from the vehicle. The agents were able to recover the vehicle which was reported stolen out of Austin. This was the second such recovery in two weeks.

The incident represents a trend that is taking place along the border in the Del Rio Sector. For fiscal year 2014, which began Oct. 1, 2013, more than 100 stolen vehicles, used in the commission of a crime, have been recovered in Del Rio Sector. Vehicles often reported stolen from major metropolitan cities are used by transnational criminal organizations to smuggle human cargo and narcotics from border areas. The thieves’ preferred vehicles are heavy-duty pickup trucks and SUVs targeted for their power and large cargo capacity to smuggle illicit contraband.

“Border Patrol has been working with law enforcement agencies at the federal, state, and local level to create a network that will better enable us to collectively recover vehicles that are reported stolen, identify the organizations that are stealing them, and prosecute the perpetrators,” says Del Rio Sector Chief Rodolfo Karisch.

With hunting season already underway and deer season just around the corner, law enforcement officials remind local residents to safeguard firearms and ensure they are not left unattended, and not to leave keys in their vehicles. Subjects who enter the United States illegally have been known to use any means necessary to further their illicit activity.

The Del Rio Border Patrol Sector is part of the South Texas Campaign, which leverages federal, state and local resources to combat transnational criminal organizations. To report suspicious activity call the sector’s toll free telephone number at 1 (866) 511-8727.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection is the unified border agency within the Department of Homeland Security charged with the management, control and protection of our nation’s borders at and between the official ports of entry. CBP is charged with keeping terrorists and terrorist weapons out of the country while enforcing hundreds of U.S. laws.