(The Center Square) – A Missouri delegation is focusing on border security after being briefed with an Operation Lone Star Task Force led by Goliad County, Texas, Sheriff Roy Boyd.
The delegation, led by state Sen. Jill Carter, R-Granby, met with members of the task force and visited areas of operation in the Rio Grande Valley to learn of actions they’re considering replicating in the wake of increased border-related crime in the state.
The legislative session begins in January and Carter said she is already working on bills.
Boyd, who launched a widely effective OLS Task Force three years ago, shared operational successes from a group of now 52 law enforcement agencies that are operating in dozens of counties. Members of the task force began their efforts sharing intelligence and resources to apprehend cartel operatives, smugglers and other criminal actors as they made their way from the border north primarily to Houston. Earlier this year, they busted a human smuggling operation, The Center Square exclusively reported.
Carter’s district includes two counties, Jasper and Newton, in southwest Missouri. Two major interstates, 44 and 49, and smuggling routes, run through them to Tulsa, St. Louis and Kansas City.
While the counties haven’t experienced the level of crime that Texas districts have, residents were shocked to learn of a murder in Jasper County allegedly by two Hondurans in the country illegally and connected to other crimes, The Center Square reported.
The murder followed a similar pattern to those in Texas: a body found on the side of the road, a single gunshot to the head, a stolen car, and culprits later connected to multiple violent crimes in other cities and states, The Center Square has reported. After the murder, they were arrested for other crimes: a DWI, carjacking, shooting one woman and pistol whipping another, according to the Jasper County Sheriff’s Office. They were eventually arrested and charged with multiple felonies.
Farther north, in Clinton County, local law enforcement officers were advised to release a violent Tren De Aragua Venezuelan prison gang member into the community, prompting a congressional investigation, The Center Square reported.
Jasper County Sheriff Randee Kaiser, Newton County Sheriff Chris Jennings and Joplin Police Chief Rich Pearson were all briefed by Boyd, accompanying Carter on the trip.
“It’s important for everybody to see the reality of what’s going on at the border because we’ve not previously had a clear picture. Repeat entries, those who were previously deported and come back, this issue hits close to home for us. With two interstates coming through the county, we’re a corridor for trafficking of humans and drugs. It’s affecting us and our homes,” Sheriff Kaiser said.
“We came down to get better understanding of the situation. Our hope was to get a clearer picture of the situation and law enforcement response.”
Kaiser also said the number of residents overdosing on fentanyl has increased “at a rate that is stunning, hundreds of people every year in our county. We started seeing fentanyl and overdoses for the first time under the Biden administration. It went from being something that was somewhat talked about and then we were inundated with it.”
Sheriff Jennings said his county is seeing increased car accidents involving drivers who don’t speak English, have no driver’s licenses, and don’t obey traffic laws.
“We’re seeing more of it everyday,” he told The Center Square.
“A lot of the things we’ve been told in the news media is incorrect,” he added. “The situation is far more dire than we’ve been led to believe. It’s not about people coming to make their lives better. The criminal element is far worse. There’s no doubt there are some, but that is greatly overshadowed by the criminal element part.”
Border security “has been a very concerning issue to people in our counties,” he said. “They want to see something done.”
Police Chief Pearson said their efforts were focused on improving public safety and getting ahead of crime that is coming into the area.
Referring to a record number of illegal border crossers under the Biden administration and illegal foreign nationals being flown into rural areas of the country, including in Joplin, working with local nongovernmental organizations, he said, “I can’t control what the federal government does. However, I can inform myself and my department on what to expect so that we can make our plans and preparations for the future.
“I like to try to play chess not checkers,” he told The Center Square. “I don’t want to just look at what’s right in front of me today. I want to look down the road to know what’s going to be coming my way in the future. Just keeping yourself abreast of what’s going on in the rest of the world, especially down here at the southern border, which is the foundation of all the rest of the problems that the country sees as far as immigration and the influx of drugs. If you don’t make yourself aware of what’s happening, you’re doomed to failure right from the get-go.
“I’m just not gonna let that happen in Joplin. That’s what I would like the people of Joplin to know, that their local government is doing what is necessary to keep them safe and to make future plans to keep them safe. The best crime is one that never happens.”
