Border Patrol Cancels Over 1K CDLs

U.S. Customs and Border Protection

LAREDO, TEXAS (News Release) – The Laredo Sector Border Patrol Texas Hold'em Initiative cancels over one-thousand Commercial Driver’s Licenses since its inception in 2008.

Laredo Sector Border Patrol has cancelled one thousand fifty-three CDLs since the initiative’s inception. Of the one thousand fifty-three cancellations, 848 have been cancelled due to human smuggling cases, and 205 to narcotic smuggling cases. During the 2025 fiscal year, a total of 141 cancellations were submitted and cancelled in cooperation with the Department of Public Safety.

The Texas Hold'em initiative uses existing state laws to permanently revoke the Commercial Driver’s License of any person who is convicted of felony smuggling transportation charges while operating a commercial motor vehicle. An increase in communication and shared information between law enforcement agencies and transportation stakeholders has proven to be a great success for the program.

Border Patrol agents assigned to the program conduct educational outreach to the transportation industry, freight forwarding agencies, custom brokers, and commercial drivers on a weekly basis.  The educational outreach presentations consist of awareness and education which outlines the dangers of human and narcotic smuggling. 

The Texas Hold'em Initiative launched in June 2008, as a joint multiagency enforcement effort between the Texas Department of Public Safety and the United States Border Patrol to improve border security by implementing consequences on commercial drivers convicted of human and/or narcotic smuggling.