Cartels threaten to kill Texas Rangers, ICE agents

A law enforcement bulletin has been issued warning that the drug cartels were overheard plotting to kill ICE agents and Texas Rangers guarding the Texas border, officials reported this morning.

The cartel members planned to use AK-47 assault rifles to shoot the agents and rangers from across the border, the bulletin said. It did not name which drug cartel was involved.

The details were released during a hearing before the House Committee on Homeland Security on "The US Homeland Security Role in the Mexican War Against the Drug Cartels."

U.S. Rep. Michael T. McCaul, R-Texas, talked briefly about the bulletin at this morning’s hearing.

He said this and other findings he cited "are acts of terrorism as defined by law. The shooting of Special Agent Zapata and Avila is a game changer, which alters the landscape of United State’s involvement in Mexico’s war against drug cartels."

Jaime Jorge Zapata, a Brownsville native, who worked for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, was attacked and killed last month in Mexico by members of the Zetas criminal organization, while traveling along Highway 57 in San Luis Potosi state, according to U.S. officials.

His partner, Victor Avila was wounded in the arm and leg.

For more on this story read Friday’s Brownsville Herald