Gov. Abbott Goes After Drug Cartels – But Why Are His Big Money Donors Welcoming Them With Open Arms?

Texas Gov. Abbott has officially signed an executive order labeling drug cartels as terrorists and urging the Biden Administration to do the same. 

Gov. Greg Abbott’s executive order directs the Texas Department of Public Safety to identify gangs supporting Mexican cartels importing the extremely dangerous and deadly fentanyl and them designate them as terrorist threats. 

This one hits close to home. 

Fentanyl and other drugs – along with flooding, raw sewage, sex crimes and rampant crime are part of day-to-day life at Terrenos Houston/ Colony Ridge, housing developments outside of Houston that are home to a primarily immigrant community facing growing list of serious problems related to drugs and crime, among other issues.

These developments, built by Gov. Abbott financial backers are in fact creating opportunities for these cartels to find space in this country easily and cross the border illegally. 

Did you know that developers of these communities offer potential homebuyers a vision of a butterflies-and-daisies version of paradise but require just two IDs from anyone from any country to buy real estate there?

Yes, they promote great schools for kids, wonderful community and supportive infrastructure but the truth is more like a version of hell: gangs, crime, violence and shoddy infrastructure that allows flooding, sewage leaks, excess garbage and a myriad of other problems. Gang violence and drug trade in particular are a way of life there. Exactly what Abbott says he’s trying to stop. 

In fact, there is no background check whatsoever and although not everyone who buys from these developers have ill intentions, it opens up opportunities for drug cartels to move right in and cause problems.

We know this because it’s already happened

Crime is getting worse. Just a few weeks ago a 16-year-old Houston girl was killed and left in a ditch at Terrenos Houston. Her 19-year-old ex-boyfriend – who was one of the three young people accused in the girl’s death – was a fugitive of U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement. He knew the area well because his relatives live in the development.

Meanwhile, people who bought houses in the two communities say they are struggling to stay afloat amid horrific living conditions put in place by the developer, a Houston real estate mogul named John Harris. 

They are now banding together to bring awareness to a myriad of problems plaguing these largely Latino communities.

Among the claims: the neighborhoods are loaded with drug trade and other criminal activities and, equally egregious, Harris and his team are selling flood-prone lands to people without disclosing that fact.  In fact, the company does not disclose the flooding issues anywhere during their sales process, citizens claim. 

One citizen put it this way: “We’ve had countless of people crying out to us for help due to rampant drug trade, sex trade, drunk driving and the lakes of water on their properties when it rains. People tell us ‘They (Harris & Co.) also told us our land was in a no-flood zone (and when) the first rain arrived our land looked like a pool.’”

The surrounding City of Plum Grove has been fighting the county of Cleveland to stop Harris’ company from continuing to develop ruthlessly without proper management of their sewage. City officials have brought to the county countless of environmental issues that they say being violated by this self-proclaimed developer. Yet the county keeps approving the platting of land, the citizen group notes.

Multiple sources have told us the company stalks and intimidates anyone who complains at the conditions, Scientology style, according to organizers.

They say the shoddy developers have even created their own municipal districts so that they can get out from under laws that would otherwise protect citizens. Harris & Co. also run the local Property Owner Association so there is no recourse for homeowners complaining about living conditions. And they even have put in place a county employee doing foreclosures on homeowners so the developers can to resell the land with the help of their in-family lawyer who goes after innocent victims with subpoenas and other aggressive legal action. 

Sounds like old school corruption from another era but it’s happening right here in Houston, on Texas and U.S. soil in 2022.

Citizens here have had enough and are taking action but we need your help!

Citizens who are banding together say they feel like they have a good case against John Harris & Co. because, among many other things, real estate law in Texas was modified after hurricane Harvey to state that sellers MUST disclose if the property they are selling floods, has flooded, or is in a flood zone. 

“This is a grassroots effort to help educate the public and at least prevent future,” explains one of the organizers. “We need this to stop and we are hoping to involve the federal government and the media so that action is taken that prevents this from happening ever again. On behalf of all the families impacted by this wrongdoing and those who may be impacted by this in the future we are demanding that this stop now.”

Fentanyl, as elsewhere, is a huge problem in these communities. But few communities are doing so much to allow the problem to grow thanks to lax background checking and oversight, not to mention a lack of law enforcement in the area.

On a national level it’s topping the news.

More than over 4 million fentanyl pills seized at Arizona border checkpoint in 2022

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott is publicly springing into action with a bold move and said Wednesday he has signed an executive order designating Mexican drug cartels as terrorists in his state. 

But keep in mind that the developers of Colony Ridge’s Terrenos Houston are among Gov Greg Abbott’s high-dollar big donors!

Abbott made the announcement during a press conference on border security, appearing alongside members of law enforcement. He not only railed against the dangers of fentanyl being produced clandestinely by Mexican drug cartels but claimed that thousands of lives in the Lone Star State and nationwide.  

“Texans are victimized by Mexican cartels that produce and import (fentanyl). So, cartels are terrorists. And it’s time that we started treating them that way,” Abbott said. “So today, I have issued this executive order designating cartels as terrorists in Texas.” 

In enacting the executive order, Abbott said he had directed the Texas Department of Public Safety to, among other things, identify gangs that are supporting Mexican cartels and work to seize assets as well as disrupt cartel networks. 

Abbott said he had also sent a letter to President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris demanding that they also classify Mexican drug cartels operating in Texas as terrorist organizations.

This all sounds good on paper. 

But why is the governor taking money from the very same people who are welcoming these drug cartels into Houston? It’s take for all of us to wake up and do something to turn this crises around at the grass roots level.

Here’s what residents of Colony Ridge and Terrenos Houston are already saying about living there:

After A year of a nightmare in hell and tens and thousands of dollars wasted down the drain I have been harassed nonstop by representatives of Colony Ridge / Terrenos Houston/ El Norte POA as well as their privately contracted sheriff’s deputies. 

They have committed crime after crime after crime and NOT been held accountable! There is NO Justice here! Everything I owned has been stolen, vandalized and destroyed as well as my land!  

Every time I attempt to report any thing I am instantly retaliated against. They say they will foreclose on my property and that I’m several months behind on payments, which is NOT TRUE! And then they start adding in hidden fees I was never told about ! They even stalk me!

Cases that have been reported at Terrenos Houston and Colony Ridge include:

• Drug trafficking, cartels and crime. Only this month a 16-year-old girl was killed allegedly by her ex-boyfriend who was a fugitive of ICE.
• Payments being stolen from home buyers. Clients are in making their payments and yet in some cases the Colony Ridge company claims that they have not done so and proceed to repossess their land to keep it or sell it to others.
• Flooding and raw sewage. Lack of drainage planning has caused flooding for residents and flood problems for surrounding communities that have been in that territory for generations.
• Intimidation. Developers and their minions have intimidated the surrounding communities with lawsuits and other practices when they have tried to resolve the situation of the waters with garbage that have reached their homes.
• Inhumane Conditions. Many in the community have complained about poor garbage management, lack of potable water in cases, high crime rates, and roads in very poor condition. These are human rights violations!