Texas Game Wardens, along with the U.S. Coast Guard and the Department of Homeland Security, helped intercept a drug shipment along a popular stretch of surf on South Padre Island early Thursday morning.
The agencies seized 730 pounds of marijuana and arrested six individuals on drug trafficking charges.
The seizure occurred around 4:30 a.m. Thursday. Game wardens assigned to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department Marine Tactical Operations Group received notification that a vessel was traveling northbound from Mexico and made landfall on South Padre Island, TPWD said in a press release.
The team immediately responded to the call and located a vehicle parked in the surf near the hotel district of the Island. The vehicle was backed up to the water with a vessel known as a “lancha” behind it in the surf, the press release stated.
The lancha fled the scene, and the driver of the vehicle was immediately taken into custody. Game wardens and U.S. Customs and Border Protection Agents with the Office of Air Marine seized 17 bundles of marijuana from the vehicle and the surrounding beach area.
Agents with the Office of Air Marine then pursued the southbound lancha until it capsized approximately 4 miles south of the landing location. Five individuals aboard the lancha were taken into custody, and the vessel and additional bundles of marijuana were recovered and seized along with the vehicle, according to the release
