Mexican Pirates Robbing Anglers on Texas Bass Lake

The coast of Somalia isn’t the only pirate-infested danger zone for anglers. Now it seems fishing along the US-Mexico border is becoming increasingly hazardous to your health.

From the story in the San Antonio Express-News:

_Heavily armed Mexican freshwater pirates have been shaking down U.S. boaters on Falcon Lake, a reservoir and bass fishing haven that straddles the Rio Grande. At least three such incidents have been reported since April 30, the latest on Sunday, according to a Texas Department of Public Safety warning issued Tuesday that linked the muggings to northern Mexico’s increasing lawlessness. According to descriptions of the incidents, the robbers — in at least one case posing as Mexican federal law enforcement officers — searched fishermen’s boats for guns and drugs, then demanded cash at gunpoint.

__One of the incidents reportedly occurred on the U.S. side of the lake. “The robbers are believed to be members of a drug trafficking organization or members of an enforcer group linked to a drug trafficking organization who are … using AK-47s or AR-15 rifles to threaten their victims,” the DPS statement said. “They appear to be using local Mexican fishermen to operate the boats to get close to American fishermen.” It was unclear why sport fishermen were targeted, but the warning comes only a few weeks before bass fishing tournaments that are among the South Texas border region’s biggest tourist draws.

DPS spokesman Tom Vinger said the warning was issued in part because of the upcoming tournaments. Zapata County Sheriff Sigifredo Gonzalez said he would be discussing security concerns with tournament participants and has been reviewing protective measures with the DPS Border Security Operations Center and the region’s Fusion Center, a federal information clearinghouse for terrorism prevention and response._

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