Mexican cartels target police with tire spikes

(NewsNation) — Mexican cartels are increasingly confronting law enforcement, using tire irons like stirrups to disable vehicles during pursuits and evade capture.

Although these devices have been quietly used for nearly two decades, there has been a recent resurgence. The Border Patrol has warned agents about the increase in tire deflation by smugglers.

Cartels and criminal smugglers are “finding ways to evolve based on what we do as law enforcement, they’re going to change their tactics,” Lt. Chris Olivarez of the Texas Department of Public Safety told NewsNation.

“If they are constantly being chased by law enforcement and arrested by law enforcement, they have no other way to get away.”

The use of tire deflation devices

Tire deflation devices, such as Caltrops, were first seen by DPS as early as 2008 when drug smugglers used them against law enforcement to protect drug shipments and evade law enforcement, Olivarez said. But they have become less common over the years.

Caltrops are devices with four metal spikes positioned so that when three spikes are on the ground, the fourth spike points upward to shoot out the tires.

Although they look different, the devices work in a similar way to the mechanisms law enforcement officers use to deflate tires and serve the same purpose.

Using a caltrop or other tire deflation device against an officer is a third-degree felony.

“We saw caltrops for the first time now, we haven’t seen them in years,” Olivarez said.

Olivarez said he is concerned about the uptick because the agency deals with human trafficking on a daily basis.

Cartels and smugglers are now becoming “desperate,” he said.

“They want to evade law enforcement by any means necessary, and if that means using a weapon like caltrops, then that’s what we may see in the future.”

Caltrops are likely used by a more experienced smuggler who has been working for the criminal cartels for years, he added.

Incidents involving the use of tire deflation devices

Tire deflation devices have long been used by the Texas DPS, part of the state’s Operation Lone Star program, established by Governor Greg Abbott.

Since the launch of Operation Lone Star in 2021, agents have arrested 9,730 people for human trafficking and filed nearly 2,200 charges for the offense.

In an incident in La Salle County, a truck driver fled from DPS officers. The officers deployed a tire deflation device, causing the driver to lose control of the vehicle and be arrested.

During a chase in Kinney County, two teenage smugglers who had been paid $9,000 to move migrants crashed into a light pole after their tires went flat. Both were arrested and charged.

But now it seems the tables have turned and smugglers are using the same tactics.

During these escape attempts, both police and civilian vehicles were damaged.

Texas DPS officers found claws in a vehicle used to smuggle illegal immigrants after the suspects fled following a chase near Uvalde, Texas.

Neither the driver nor the occupants of the vehicle were found.

“It is clear that those devices are intended to stop the pursuit so they can evade,” Olivarez said.