Sheriff Roy Boyd Battles Cartels

Battling Cartel Activity in the Rural Heart of Texas: Insights from Sheriff Roy Boyd

When Sheriff Roy Boyd took office, he knew there would be challenges. What he didn’t expect was the scale of cartel activity hiding deep in the rural brush of his county. As Commander of Operation Lone Star, Sheriff Boyd has led a relentless effort to uncover and dismantle cartel operations — and his firsthand accounts paint a vivid picture of what law enforcement is up against.

“This was a prime spot for them to set up — the odds of getting discovered out here were almost zero,” Boyd explained while standing in one of the remote areas where cartel stash sites once operated freely.

Only three months into his term, Boyd and his team made a shocking discovery. “We discovered a cartel stash site on the right-hand side. During that discovery, we also found a stolen vehicle. When we chased the smuggler down into the creek bottom, we found that area had a lot of spots where they had started fires.”

Fires at a stash site were an unusual find. As Boyd noted, “Traditionally, you’re not going to start a fire at a cartel stash site, so we knew they had been here when it was cold and they must have had a lot of people — the number of fires was pretty impressive.”

The investigation didn’t stop there. Digging deeper into the operation, Boyd’s team uncovered critical evidence — smugglers’ phones filled with videos showing the sheer scale of the activity. “Those videos showed over 130 people moving through the area,” Boyd said. “Up and down this road, we uncovered numerous stash sites — and there are some that landowners uncovered and told us about later.”

The rural landscape provided perfect cover for illegal operations. Sheriff Boyd and his deputies often found evidence long after the fact. “I’ve come across a lot of clothing scattered throughout the brush, and honestly, there’s no telling how many stash sites we didn’t find,” he said.

Despite the tough conditions and overwhelming scale, Boyd and his team made real progress. “It took a lot of work to find the 16 stash sites that we did, but we know that number isn’t even close to half of the actual cartel stash sites hidden out here in these rural areas.”

Sheriff Boyd’s efforts through Operation Lone Star continue to send a clear message: even in the most remote corners of Texas, criminal activity will not go unchecked. His leadership reminds us of the hard, often unseen work that goes into protecting our communities — and the grit it takes to stand on the front lines.