In a statement, Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller said the deadly explosion was part of a “growing threat posed by cartel activity along our southern border.” He encouraged ranchers and those who work near the border to “exercise extreme caution.”
“I encourage everyone in the agricultural industry to stay vigilant, remain aware of their surroundings, and report any suspicious activity to law enforcement. Additionally, you can avoid dirt roads and remote areas, refrain from touching unfamiliar objects that could be explosive devices, limit travel to daylight hours, stay on main roads, and avoid cartel-controlled regions,” said Miller.
“Our agriculture family is the backbone of Texas, and we must do everything we can to protect it,” he added.
Ramiro Céspedes, a U.S. Army veteran who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, told the news outlet that he was injured by an IED while deployed.
“I consider this a terrorist attack because if I went to war to fight terrorists, and I’m seeing the same thing here to me – my personal opinion – it is a terrorist attack,” he said.
The State Department has issued a travel warning for U.S. citizens in Tamaulipas, citing high crime and kidnappings amid ongoing violence between drug cartels. Government officials in Tamaulipas recently warned of explosive devices on rural roads near the border between Reynosa and Rio Bravo.
“Armed confrontations between organized crime groups have left explosive substances and materials on agricultural roads, holes, and fields that represent a latent risk to the people,” it wrote in Spanish on a government Facebook page.
In an interview with a local TV channel, a Tamaulipas state police spokesperson said IEDs are used by organized crime groups to keep rivals off their territory.
The Trump administration recently designated several cartels as foreign terrorist organizations, including the Sinaloa Cartel, the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, Cártel del Norte, La Nueva Familia Michoacana, the Gulf Cartel, and Cárteles Unidos.
Source: El Financiero
