-Photo by Jim Reed
The Texas Department of Public Safety has a new tool to fight drug dealers and human smugglers – a fleet of “shallow water interceptors”.
Officers launching one of the boats at Froggie’s Bait Dock into the Intracoastal Waterway on December 27 were excited about the potential of this new fleet in winning the battle along the Rio Grande and international lakes.
The fleet consists of six 34-foot long boats featuring armored glass and armored hulls, along with 900-horsepower engines. The vessels sport four machine gun turrets and state-of-the-art night vision cameras.
DPS officials consider this fleet to be fully capable of taking on whatever threats they may encounter, being able to interdict the moving of drugs and humans across the river and other waterways.
Each vessel costs approximately $580,000, fully equipped. The funding comes from the Texas Legislature and federal grants. Each boat is named after a fallen DPS officer.
