"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...
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?
Whether it's drugs, or people smuggling, the cartels are laundering their cash right here.
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."
Some of that cash even makes its way into political campaigns in this traditionally Democratic stronghold...."
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