Border Patrol agents in the Rio Grande Valley Sector say they are becoming more concerned for their safety after several incidents with the Gulf Cartel dating back to August of this year. Several agents recently explained their concerns on the condition of anonymity.

During the final week of November, agents in the Rio Grande Valley were again preoccupied as Gulf Cartel gunmen engaged in shootouts with the Cartel del Noreste (CDN) faction of Los Zetas in Miguel Aleman, Tamaulipas. The city sits immediately across the border from Roma, Texas. Back-to-back drug seizures also ended in a desperate attempt to avoid apprehension.

The cartel members conducted what is commonly referred to as a “splashdown,” where smugglers drive their vehicles into shallow sections of the border river to reach U.S. soil. Immediately after, a standoff with Border Patrol agents from the Mobile Response Team (MRT) occurred. Agents were forced to call for backup as Gulf Cartel operatives refused to flee the U.S. They held their ground–yelling, blocking, and threatening to physically take on the agents who were seizing the drug load. To be clear, all of this occurred in Texas. During the standoff, cartel members from Mexico’s side of the river retrieved a large portion of the drugs from their partially submerged vehicle.

An agent who spoke on the condition of anonymity with Breitbart Texas said colleagues are becoming more concerned for their safety as the Gulf Cartel grows more emboldened and violent toward U.S. authorities. The agent added their belief that the cartel’s increasingly hostile behavior suggests a sense of desperation.

Some locals in Roma, Texas, are also feeling the worsening aggression, according to conversations with Breitbart Texas. During the early morning hours of December 3, a resident reported they could hear explosions and gunfire coming from Miguel Aleman. They said the fighting sounded closer than in the past. As a point of fact, these creeping clashes started in early July. It was around that time when CDN took over Los Guerra, Tamaulipas, from the Gulf Cartel. Today, the two are still battling for control of Miguel Aleman.

Three incidents in August help to illuminate the new dangers faced by the Border Patrol.

On August 9, a Border Patrol marine unit was fired upon with over 50 rounds from multiple ambush positions on the Mexican side of the riverbank. The Border Patrol unit was struck numerous times, but no agents were injured.

On August 12, agents reported seeing approximately 20 gunmen land on an international river island in the Rio Grande called Fronton Island. The cartel members kept their presence for several hours before disappearing, leading to a specialized unit response.

On August 13, dozens of CDN armored and non-armored vehicles openly traveled in a military-style convoy to Miguel Aleman. Cartel members utilized social media apps to announce they were only in town to attack the Gulf Cartel and locals should feel free to go about their daily business. The actions between the two groups led to tens of thousands of rounds fired. The conflict was carried out with military-style weapons and resulted in multiple deaths.

The conflict between the two cartels is not ending anytime soon. A resident of Roma who regularly travels to Miguel Aleman explained to Breitbart Texas that most shootouts are occurring in the southern part of the town. They typically happen on the back roads that lead into Miguel Aleman, which is consistent with recent Cartel Chronicles coverage detailing the use of rural dirt roads in the area.

Border Patrol agents privately tell Breitbart Texas that they need to improve the public’s understanding of the increasing risks their colleagues face on a regular basis. The solution is clear: agents are in need of more imaging support for real-time situational awareness and surveillance. The concept is often referred to as “ISR” (Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance).

Jaeson Jones is a retired Captain from the Texas Department of Public Safety’s Intelligence and Counterterrorism Division and a Breitbart Texas contributor. While on duty, he managed daily operations for the Texas Rangers Border Security Operations Center.