NY Post By Isabel Vincent 4/13/2019
McALLEN, Texas — In this palm-studded city on the southern tip of Texas — “ground zero†in the border crisis between the US and Mexico — there is a new Maserati dealership and ads for Rolex and Cartier watches at the airport.
There are also dozens of plush jewelry stores, where one vendor told The Post that she regularly imports African diamonds for custom engagement rings.
In many of the gated communities in the area, terra cotta-roofed mansions sit empty behind concrete walls.
On Saturday, the McAllen Polo Club held its annual Hot Air Balloon Festival and Polo Match at Springfest Park, a sprawling, immaculately manicured green space for the smart set and their horses.
At the upscale La Plaza Mall, shoppers and their kids lined up to meet the Easter Bunny and well-dressed young professionals tucked into steaks at the Texas de Brazil grill.
McAllen lies eight miles from the Mexican border, in one of the 30 poorest enclaves in the country, Hidalgo County, where 34 percent of residents live in poverty, according to US Census data.
So who is spending all this cash?
In addition to cross-border shoppers, who local store owners said make up 30 percent of McAllen’s $3.2 billion in annual retail sales, the city is a favorite destination for drug traffickers.
“It’s all about smuggling here,†said a federal law-enforcement source. “Whether it’s drugs, or people smuggling, the cartels are laundering their cash right here.â€
Some of that cash even makes its way into political campaigns in this traditionally Democratic stronghold.
More:
https://nypost.com/2019/04/13/texas-oasis-of-wealth-and-luxury-thrives-on-trafficking-near-border/
