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The recent federal conviction and sentence of a man who tried to run over an FBI agent while driving a stolen truck into Mexico highlights a growing trend plaguing South Texas. Multiple cities are seeing a rise in the thefts of four-door SUVs and pickups that are taken into Mexico at the request of the Gulf Cartel. The criminal organization uses the trucks in their ongoing turf wars.

This week, 23-year-old Damian Evans Lopez went before U.S. District Judge Rolando Olvera, who sentenced him to almost ten years in prison on the charge of assaulting a federal officer. According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Evans pleaded guilty to the charge in September.

According to authorities, on June 28, an FBI agent was at one of the international ports of entry in Brownsville, Texas, checking for stolen vehicles when he spotted Evans in a stolen Chevrolet truck. They agent attempted to get the driver to come out of the truck. Evens drove straight at the FBI agent, who had to jump out of the way to avoid being hit. Evans tried to drive away and led authorities on a high-speed chase that ended in the city of San Benito, Texas.

In recent months, cities like Brownsville, Harlingen, and Pharr, Texas, have been plagued with a wave of vehicle thefts focused on four-door SUVs and pickups. As Breitbart Texas reported, these vehicles are crossed into Mexico and turned over to the Gulf Cartel. The criminal organization favors these vehicles due to their high clearance and powerful engines. The trucks allow the cartels to move at least four gunmen. In some cases, the stolen trucks are outfitted with makeshift armor plating.

The vehicle theft wave has, at times, turned violent. In late November, a gunman held two women at gunpoint outside of a restaurant in Brownsville and took their late model SUV. According to Brownsville police, one of the suspects is believed to be hiding in Mexico.

Mexican authorities have largely been ineffective in stopping the car thieves as they cross into Mexico. In the few times that they have tried, the suspects can drive past the security checkpoints on the Mexican side of the border.

This week, one of the factions of the Gulf Cartel shared a video on social media where they questioned a young man who claimed to have been sent to Reynosa to steal vehicles for a rival faction of the Gulf Cartel. The fate of the young man remains unknown. In the past, people in similar videos have been tortured and killed.

Ildefonso Ortiz is an award-winning journalist with Breitbart Texas. He co-founded Breitbart Texas’ Cartel Chronicles project with Brandon Darby and senior Breitbart management. You can follow him on Twitter and on Facebook. He can be contacted at Iortiz@breitbart.com. 

Brandon Darby is the managing director and editor-in-chief of Breitbart Texas. He co-founded Breitbart Texas’ Cartel Chronicles project with Ildefonso Ortiz and senior Breitbart management. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook. He can be contacted at bdarby@breitbart.com.