Cartels Cut Hole In US-Mexico Border Fence

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Criminals working for criminal cartels have cut a hole in a stretch of the fence along the US-Mexican border in Arizona, National Border Patrol Council President Brandon Judd told a House Oversight and Government Reform Subcommittee.

“Yesterday, I received an email from an agent in Arizona, and that email said that there was a 10-mile [16km] stretch for two days – and this is documented on the reports from the Border Patrol management – 10 mile stretch of border that was unmanned for two days,” Judd said. “Criminal cartels were able to go to the fence, cut a hole in the fence, drive two vehicles through that hole and escape.”

According to Judd, during a recent week-long visit of his to the Del Rio Border Patrol sector 157 known entries into the US occurred “through that station’s area of responsibility.”

Judd’s testimony highlights a severe problem facing today’s border control officers, as well as those tasked with protecting the perimeter security of critical installations, both large and small. Keeping sufficient manpower to maintain a high level of security along long stretches of barriers is expensive.

“It’s unfortunate that we’re currently in this situation in which it appears that we invite what we’re currently experiencing, and because we’re overmanned – and it’s not that they didn’t want to man the border in these two areas in Arizona that this vehicle drove through. They just didn’t have the manpower to do it, and that’s the unfortunate situation today,” Judd said.

Fortunately, security can be increased and costs reduced with the aid of technological solutions. Smart fences, good and meticulously set up camera networks, advanced video analytics combined with data from a variegated sensor-field, all integrated into a proper alert system can mitigate the risk of penetration.

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