(NewsNation) — Cartels are going on social media to gather intel on Texas sheriffs at departments along the southern border, using the information to threaten and taunt law enforcement, Terrell County’s Thaddeus Cleveland says.
Sheriff Cleveland has been posting to his Facebook account, showing loaded vehicles found in traffic stops made by Terrell County officials in Texas.
According to the sheriff, cartel members regularly check Cleveland’s page and use the information to taunt him.
Among them, he says, was a member of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel who was calling the sheriff vulgar names in one post and derogatory names in another, warning him that they were watching him “and his woman.”
Cleveland tells NewsNation he does his best to keep his personal life separate from his professional life, but that after 26 years working with Border Patrol, these kinds of threats come with the territory.
“You know it’s something that comes with the position of being in law enforcement. You take that risk, and you don’t let it consume your thoughts or make you afraid,” Cleveland said.
While some in the cartels are using Cleveland’s social media to gather intel about him, others are also using it to check whether their cargo made it through the country undetected, and some family members are using it to see whether their loved ones survived the rough terrain, he says.
“I always kind of despised social media, but when I took over sheriff, I had to show that we had a problem here in Terrell County. Secondly, I wanted to highlight the good work that goes on by the United States Border Patrol agents here in Terrell County and along the U.S.-Mexico border,” Cleveland said.
Cleveland says he does what he can to help those concerned about their loved ones, but the county has just five deputies patrolling over 2,300 square miles.
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