Vigilance is key for deputies along the border

DIMMIT COUNTY — Late Thursday, a white Dodge Charger parked in the shadows at the One Stop in the small town of Catarina caught the eye of sheriff ’s Deputy Jose Diaz, who was patrolling for nocturnal smugglers.

Backed into a dark space, the car was missing a front license plate and the driver was sitting quietly inside.

When the sheriff ’s dispatcher revealed the rear temporary plate was for a 2003 black Mercedes, Diaz’s suspicions intensified.

“It could be a scout vehicle, it could be a decoy or could just be something wrong with the plate,” he said as the Charger eased out of the parking lot.

Minutes later, after Diaz pulled over the vehicle and inspected its paperwork, it turned out to be a false alarm. The owner was a rig worker from North Texas. The dealer who sold him the car had installed the incorrect plate.

“He said his wife is coming down to get the car,” said Diaz, who works highway interdiction in this low-income rural county of 11,000 people that depends on public service jobs, ranching and energy production.

But because of an accident of geography, deputies in Dimmit County must regularly grapple with complex issues unknown to those in communities farther from the border.

Situated close to the Rio Grande, it’s a favored transit corridor for immigrant smuggling orga-

nizations trying to reach San Antonio and beyond. Chases and bailouts are commonplace. At times, deputies also find drugs and cash.

Last Sunday, a high-speed police chase of a black Chevrolet Suburban jammed with immigrants ended with five deaths when the driver lost control in Big Wells, east of Carrizo Springs, the county seat.

Five people, including the 20-year-old driver of the Suburban from Eagle Pass, later were charged with federal offenses that, because of the immigrant deaths, carry potential punishments of life in prison or death.

The wreck in an obscure corner of South Texas drew instant nationwide attention during a time of intense debate about border security.

Sheriff Marion Boyd, 37, said national security concerns make thwarting the smugglers a top priority for his small department, which has 32 full-time deputies to patrol about 1,300 square miles.

“I feel like someone bad is going to come across the border, and they are going to do something to our country,” said

Boyd, who became sheriff about six years ago.

Boyd, who grew up in Big Wells, said undocumented immigrants from Mexico always have come through Dimmit County, but never before caused much concern.

“I’m not worried about the people who come over here to make an honest living for their families. I’m worried about the criminals. We catch one and up pops a warrant from some state up north for sexual assault of a child. We get those more often than you would think,” he said.

Avoiding checkpoints

On Thursday, five days after the deadly, attention-grabbing wreck, things were pretty much back to normal in Dimmit County.

By mid-afternoon, Deputies Diaz and Mike Martinez were crisscrossing the county in their black Tahoes. They went from highways to little-known caliche roads, trying to sniff out the next illegal load.

“They are out there right now. Which roads and which ranches they are coming from is a different story, but they are out there,” Diaz said of the smugglers who bring in immigrants from the adjoining counties of Webb and Maverick.

“These guys study us. They know me. They know the traffic division,” he added.

Diaz, 34, who has been involved in 10 chases over the past two years, said the smuggling became a big problem when the county was overrun with oilfield workers during the early days of the Eagle Ford Shale boom.

“When the boom was here, the traffic in illegals was unbelievable. Deputies were getting two or three or four loads a day,” he said.

For Boyd, the week held yet another big surprise. On Thursday afternoon, he was heading to Washington for an audience with President Donald Trump.

“From what I understand, the president wants to meet with me and a few other sheriffs who have lived and worked on the border, and are interested in border issues,” he said while en route to the airport in San Antonio.

“I’m aware of the political side. I hope their agenda and my agenda are the same thing. I guess I’ll just have faith in our president who I think has done very well on the whole,” he said.

Besides being near the border, Dimmit County offers routes attractive to smugglers trying to bypass the Border Patrol checkpoints on other highways.

One of them is FM 2644 that connects El Indio to Carrizo Springs and only occasionally has a manned checkpoint.

It was the chosen route for the three large SUVs that were detected last Sunday afternoon traveling together by the Border Patrol.

Two of the vehicles fled, and one of them ended up rolling over in Hot Wells. All told, they contained 23 undocumented immigrants.

Diaz also knows these routes and spent much of Thursday evening meandering on back roads used by ranchers, oil-field workers and smugglers. He asked that no specific roads be identified by a reporter.

“See that spot there? A couple of weeks ago, 42 illegals loaded up there in a tractor-trailer,” he said of a wide spot in a caliche road.

And while Border Patrol intelligence had mentioned a group of 10 coming over from Mines Road, which runs parallel to the Rio Grande, on this tranquil evening, only a bobcat, a small herd of javelina and some deer were seen.

One night, no smugglers

On the highways, Flores kept a sharp eye for vehicles that were speeding or somehow didn’t fit the proper picture. Most provided sufficient probable cause for a traffic stop and closer look, which was the real objective.

Things like a necklace dangling from a rearview mirror, the driver straying over the white line, or simply driving oddly quickly led to traffic stops.

Approaching from the rear, Diaz was careful to leave a firm palm print on each vehicle, just in case something bad occurred and the driver fled.

A blue Dodge Durango that lacked a passenger-side mirror was pulled over on U.S. 83. The driver, from nearby Crystal City, was immediately defensive, but later came up clean for warrants or tickets, and was allowed to continue.

“The dispatcher knows what I’m looking for. (The driver) has a history, but he’s negative as far as narcotics go,” he said.

Later, a silver Hyundai Sonata with Mexican plates got the once-over after being clocked at 83 mph.

The driver, a gray-haired man with a Texas drivers license, told a confusing story. He was on his way from Monterrey to San Antonio but had somehow strayed far off course.

“All I know is if you are going from Laredo to San Antonio, it tells you clearly where to go,” Diaz remarked.

Ultimately, his improbable story checked out and he was allowed to go on his way.

At about 10 p.m., Diaz did a sudden u-turn on U.S. 83 after a southbound vehicle passed him,