I also grew up in the area. Old Sheriff Koog used to let the cartels run their drugs through the county as long as they did not stay in the county.
Also - Lake Amistad, pretty humorous considering the movie Amistad. Very easy to cross, especially at night. I would also say that Africans would stick out in the community.
JMHO
Bump
If those Africans paid a cartel, they were probably brought over in the dead of night to avoid attention, and maybe acting as mules to pay the coyotes for the trip...
My 1st husband worked on the park facilities Amistad-he was a PE-if he worked there all week, I’d pack up the cub and go join him on the weekend and we’d go fishing on the lake. We liked to night fish-but not there-there were narco cartel boats going back and forth smuggling drugs and people-so we only fished during the day, when it was safe-that was in the early 80’s...
Several people have disappeared from boats and jet skis in the middle of the day since 2000-and one of my cousins who still lives in the area says it isn’t even safe during the day unless you don’t go out on the water alone or unarmed...