From 'boots on the ground' to guns on the water: Armored Gun Boats on the Rio Grande

"In early December, the Texas Department of Public Safety unveiled its new armored gun boats. The fact that DPS now has a tactical marine unit received scant news coverage. There was also little mention that each boat is equipped with anwhere from four to six machine guns. That’s right, one or two machine guns just doesn't cut it for DPS when it comes to fighting the "War on Drugs."  If you're curious, that’s two machine guns on each side of the boat. Then another gun positioned in the front and one in the back. Not bad if you’re patrolling the Suez Canal for Somali pirates. But these are for the Rio Grande, according to DPS spokesperson Tom Vinger. The boats will also be used to patrol Falcon Lake – where David Hartley was allegedly killed last year by drug smugglers -- and the coast of Texas.  The Rio Grande is already patrolled by Border Patrol boats, agents in vehicles, predator drones and helicopters and aircraft operated by the Department of Defense. On the coast there's also the U.S. Coast Guard making the rounds. But now we’ve got six heavily armed DPS gun boats that will also be out there patrolling.  DPS is in the process of training 40 cadets that will operate these armored gun boats, which are scheduled to be launched in early 2012. Let's hope they don't have itchy trigger fingers. Why DPS has launched its own marine tactical unit has not been fully explained." - Melissa del Bosque, Texas Observer, Dec. 29, 2011.