Above is a picture via Theo Spark of thee kind of gunboats Texas is using to combat cartel pirate activity on borderland lakes. There are several photos so be sure to check them out.

But why does Texas need to deploy gunboats in U.S. territory? Because the obama adminstration (and frankly Bush before that) have ignored the deteriorating situation on the Mexico border and there is now basicly a war going on down there.

From GO San Angelo:

SAN ANGELO, Texas — The Texas Department of Public Safety soon will patrol border lakes with gun-mounted, high-speed power boats in response to drug-related violence along the U.S.-Mexico border.

“Mexican drug cartels have unlimited financial resources to procure high-powered, military-grade weapons,” Tom Vinger, assistant chief of public affairs with the DPS, said in an email.

“Cartel operatives have fired at law enforcement officers while they were attempting to interdict drug loads on the Rio Grande River. When our officers come under fire from these weapons, we want to afford them every opportunity to return home safely from each patrol mission.”

Vinger declined to be interviewed for this story and did not answer several questions submitted by email.

According to a Dec. 9 report on KXAN-TV in Austin, six gunboats will patrol Amistad and Falcon lakes. Vinger said the boats “will patrol all navigable portions of the Rio Grande River and the border lakes it supplies. There will be boats that are primarily assigned to patrol the lower portion of the Intracoastal Waterway of Texas, but will still be available to respond to incidents occurring on the Texas-Mexico border if needed.”

KXAN reported that the boats, costing $580,000 each, are 34 feet long and have armored hulls and three 300 horsepower outboard motors, four machine gun turrets and state-of-the-art night vision cameras.

The television station said 40 DPS officers will be assigned to the newly created Tactical Marine Unit.

So Texas needs a “tactical marine unit” but that border is secure?