COLLIN COUNTY, Texas — A special unit with the cooperation of eight North Texas counties is starting to see some impact to their efforts.
The North Texas Criminal Interdiction Unit, NTXCIU, was first started in Collin County in 2017 by Sheriff Jim Skinner to curb the amount of drugs being trafficked up State Highway 75. It has expanded to eight counties in the region's most highly trafficked drug corridors.
"The cartels are a problem. And these are highly-specialized and trained deputies and we have turned them out on our highways," said Skinner.
"The NTXCIU, comprised of specially trained deputy sheriffs, focuses on intercepting dangerous drugs, narcotics, contraband, and human cargo along established smuggling corridors across North Texas. Deputies assigned to the unit have jurisdictional authority to operate and make arrests within any of the participating counties," a description on the Collin County Sheriff's Department website reads.
On Tuesday the sheriffs met with media to discuss the unit and the successes and challenges they face. Skinner cites the challenges at the southern border where a large influx of drugs has made its way into the United States. The sheriffs say the vast majority of drugs being smuggled into North Texas are from Sinaloa and Jalisco cartels.
"We are going to continue to make the cartel public enemy number one," said Tarrant County Sheriff Bill Waybourn.
So far, the interdiction unit has seized $169 million in narcotics and $8 million in bulk cash. The unit has been responsible for 33 fugitives arrests, 575 total arrests, and the recovery of 119 stolen cars and 64 automatic weapons.
"They are setting up packaging here. They are setting up safe houses," said Waybourn.
The sheriffs tell WFAA that Dallas-Fort Worth is a massive 'hub' for the cartels. After the drugs are packaged here, they are distributed to the eastern seaboard and the Midwest through Chicago.
During Tuesday's briefing, the Collin County Sheriff's Department says they made an arrest of a person wanted in the death a of Blue Ridge woman who died of a possible fentanyl overdose. The Sheriff’s Office, U.S. Marshal’s Joint East Texas Fugitive Task Force, and the U.S. Marshal’s North Texas Fugitive Task Force arrested Gregory Noah Honesty who now faces murder charges.
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(Note: this video was originally published Jan. 11)