Texas "gunboats" to patrol Rio Grande border with Mexico

[Judi Lynn]

Texas "gunboats" to patrol Rio Grande border with Mexico
SAN ANTONIO | Thu Mar 1, 2012 6:58pm EST

(Reuters) - Texas unveiled the second of six new 'interceptor' gunboats on Thursday, similar to Navy swift boats that plied the rivers of Vietnam during the Vietnam War, to patrol the waterways of the Mexico border.

The Texas Department of Public Safety, which oversees the Texas Highway Patrol and the Texas Rangers, said the 34-foot shallow water crafts would be deployed on the Rio Grande and the Intercoastal Waterway, which separates the Texas mainland from Padre Island.

"They have night vision capabilities, they have ballistic shielding, and the first couple of boats have fully automatic machine guns," department spokesman Tom Vinger told Reuters.

~snip~

Vinger said the boats would mainly patrol the Rio Grande, and would be geared toward stopping smugglers of drugs, weapons and illegal immigrants.

More:
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/03/01/us-texas-mexico-gunboat-idUSTRE8202FU20120301?rpc=401&feedType=RSS&feedName=domesticNews&rpc=401

[Curmudgeoness]

1. Good luck with that.

They had better be really shallow water boats, because years ago, before the drought, that river was barely there after getting siphoned out for irrigation and other water uses.

And although I find this a huge waste of money, I do realize that the drug wars at the border are serious problems. But this sounds more like a bunch of expensive toys instead of a real solution.