Texan ranchers working near the southern border are being urged to take extreme caution when traveling to Mexico after one of them was killed earlier this month by improvised explosive devices (IEDs).
Antonio Cespedes Saldiana, 74, is a Texas rancher who worked on both sides of the border, and when killed by the IED near the Tamaulipas ranch in Mexico, just south of Brownsville, Texas. This was reported by KRGV-TV.
Holocio López Pena was also killed. Lopez's wife, Ninfa Griselda Ortega, was hospitalized due to injuries.
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This aerial photograph, taken on December 8, 2023, shows the US-Mexico border wall in Sasabe, Arizona. (Valerie Macon/AFP via Getty Images)
In a statement, Texas Agricultural Commissioner Sid Miller said the fatal explosion was part of “an increasing threat posed by cartel activities along the southern border.” He encouraged ranchers and those working near the border to “take extreme attention.”
“We recommend that everyone in the agricultural industry be vigilant, aware of their surroundings and report suspicious activities to law enforcement. Additionally, we can avoid dirt roads and remote areas. Daytime hours. Go to, stay on main roads and avoid cartel-controlled areas,” Miller said.
“Our farming family is the backbone of Texas and we have to do everything we can to protect it,” he added.
Ramilo Cespedes, a US military veteran who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, told the news outlet he was injured by an IED during the deployment.
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The US Border Patrol after the agent was shot by a Mexican cartel member while patrolling in Fronton, Texas last week. (Texas Department of Public Safety)
“I think this is a terrorist attack because if I went to war to fight terrorists, I'm seeing the same thing here in me. It's my personal opinion. It's a terrorist attack,” he said.
The State Department has issued a travel warning to US citizens of Tamaulipas, citing high crime and temptation amid ongoing violence among drug cartels. Government officials at Tamaulipas recently warned of an explosive device on a country road near the border between Reinosa and Rio Bravo.
“Armative conflicts between organized criminal groups left explosive materials and materials in agricultural roads, holes and fields that represent potential risks for people.” I wrote it in Spanish on the government's Facebook page.
In an interview with Channel 5 News, a Tamaulipas State Police spokesperson said the IED is placed by organized crime groups to keep rivals away from the territory, KRGV-TV reported.
Images of an improvised explosive device (IED) provided by the Tamaulipas provincial government. A Texas rancher was killed in Mexico earlier this month when he hit an IED while driving. (Tamauripas State Government)
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The Trump administration has designated several cartels as foreign terrorist organizations, including the Sinaloa cartel, the new generation of Jalisco cartel, the Cartel del Norte, La Nueva Familia Michoacana, the Gulf Cartel and the Cartel Unidos.
