Politics
Texas Rancher Killed By Suspected Cartel IED Near Southern Border
Texas farmers, ranchers and agricultural workers have been warned to use increased caution along the Texas-Mexico border after two people, one of whom was a U.S. citizen, were killed by a suspected cartel improvised explosive device (IED).
Antonio Céspedes Saldierna, 74, of Brownsville, Texas was killed on January 31 after driving over an explosive device just on the Mexican side of the border in Tamaulipas. Ramiro Céspedes — the son of Antonio Céspedes Saldierna — told local outlet KRGV that his father was driving on his ranch in the Santa Rita area of San Fernando, Tamaulipas.
Horacio Lopez Peña and his wife, Ninfa Griselda Ortega, were also in the truck with Antonio when the device went off, KRGV reported. Tamaulipas state police confirmed that Peña was also killed in the explosion, while Ortega was hospitalized. Her condition is not known as of this report.
Antonio Céspedes Saldierna, 74, was killed in the explosion
Saldierna’s truck after the device went off
Photo: HOYTamaulipas
In response to the “tragic and alarming” incident, Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller is surging citizens and agricultural workers who work near the border to exercise extreme caution. “I encourage everyone in the agricultural industry to stay vigilant, remain aware of their surroundings, and report any suspicious activity to law enforcement,” Miller announced in a press release on Tuesday.
People are being advised to stay clear of dirt roads and remote areas, refrain from touching unfamiliar objects, and avoid nighttime travel whenever possible. Miller is also urging Texas residents to stick to main roads and avoid areas that are known cartel and smuggling hotspots.
Céspedes, a U.S. Army veteran who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, was injured by an IED during one of his deployments. While speaking with KRGV, he stated that he considers his father’s death to be a terrorist attack. “I consider this a terrorist attack because if I went to war to fight terrorists, and I’m seeing the same thing here to me — my personal opinion — it is a terrorist attack,” Céspedes said.
On January 27, the U.S. Embassy & Consulates in Mexico shared a warning from the State of Tamaulipas urging people to avoid moving or touching any suspicious objects in and around the area of Reynosa, Rio Bravo, Valle Hermoso, and San Fernando. Authorities have uncovered a number of IED’s in the area as criminal gangs and cartels battle for territory.
Just a few days earlier on January 23, a Mexican government official was injured after driving over an IED in Rio Bravo. As a precaution, U.S. government employees have been instructed to avoid all travel in and around Reynosa and Rio Bravo outside daytime hours and to avoid dirt roads altogether.
The State Department issued a level 4 Travel Advisory for Tamaulipas, which urges U.S. citizens not to travel to the regime due to high threats of violent crime and kidnapping.
