Border Crackdown on Cartel Cash & Guns

Gunrunners & "Money Mules" Targeted

US Customs & Border Protection photo

U.S. Law Enforcement Officers are cracking down on gunrunners and money "mules" attempting to move cash and weapons to Mexican Cartels across the US Southern Border.

On Friday, April 5, US Customs & Border Protection (CBP) Agents on the Hidalgo, Texas International Bridge seized more than $270,000 in cash a Southbound driver was attempting to smuggle into Mexico.

$270,730 in unreported currency seized by CBP officers at the Hidalgo Port of Entry on April 5, 2025. (US Customs & Border Protection photo)

Cash seizures such as this represent profits from a Mexican Cartel's illegal activities in the U.S. being returned to them.

A day later, on the Camino Real International Bridge in Eagle Pass, Texas, CBP Officers seized more than $90,000 in suspected cartel cash from another southbound motorist.

Stacks containing $90,588 in unreported U.S. currency seized by CBP officers at Eagle Pass. Texas Port of Entry on April 6, 2025. (US Customs & Border Protection photo)

Days earlier, Border Patrol Agents from Kingsville, Texas, alongside Jim Wells County Sheriff’s Deputies and Kleberg County Taskforce Officers monitoring traffic for Southbound Smugglers on Interstate 37 between Corpus Christi and San Antonio, caught another cartel "money mule" in the act.

$75.5K vacuum-sealed, a .22 caliber pistol, and .5 grams of cocaine discovered inside a smuggler's vehicle in South Texas on March 31, 2025. (US Border Patrol photos)

During a traffic stop, they discovered more than $75.000 in a vacuum-sealed container, a .22 caliber pistol, and .5 grams of cocaine. The driver now faces state charges for money laundering, unlawful firearm possession, and possession of a prohibited substance.

Further West, Border Patrol Agents were also putting pressure on a Cartel's cash flow:

More than $41,000 in cash was found by Border Patrol Agents hidden inside a vehicle passing through El Centro, California. (Agents in El Centro, California, seized more than $41,000 hidden inside a vehicle being driven by a "Green Card" holder.

Those four busts have deprived the cartels of almost half a million dollars in profits in recent days.

Finally, Agents are on the lookout for more than just cold, hard cash being smuggled from the U.S. to Mexican cartels - they are also on the lookout for guns and ammo flowing south to arm those criminal organizations.

One of those gunrunners - a local teen authorities arrested with drugs last year - was arrested again in Nogales, Arizona, after Border Patrol Agents caught him attempting to pass a duffel bag through the bars of the "Border Wall" on April 4, 2025.

A teenage gunrunner was arrested after attempting to pass a bag full of weapons and ammo through the "Border Wall" in Nogales, Arizona. (US Border Patrol photos)

Inside the bag, agents found an AR-style rifle, a pistol, two knives, and various ammunition magazines. The teenager now faces federal firearms charges in addition to those from his previous drug arrest.

How much of a dent do you think enforcement actions like this make on the Mexican Cartels' illegal operations?

Share your opinion in the comments to this article.

Abrazos,

Jack Beavers

Jack Beavers - US Border News