Scantily clad girls baring their breasts for strings of beads, sunburnt boys chugging cans of beers through bongs and clouds of vape smoke hanging over the formerly pristine sand: this is March in South Padre Island.
Spring Break sees the sleepy island community of just over 5,000 people transformed as an estimated 100,000 college kids descend for long days of boozing on the beach.
For businesses and the city itself, the influx means a bumper payday with students spending $3.1 million on alcohol alone last year and providing South Padre with an overall windfall of $33.9 million.
But DailyMail.com can reveal that the overwhelming numbers mean the local police department has to draft in officers from other Texas cities – among them border towns such as Los Indios.
Tiny Los Indios is home to just 1,100 people but it also hosts the Los Indios Free Trade International Bridge – a small port of entry on the Rio Grande River.
Police chief Jose De La Rosas, 30, says his small department frequently sends officers to South Padre – even though their area butts up against territory controlled by the notorious Golfos Cartel.
Scantily clad girls baring their breasts for strings of beads, sunburnt boys chugging cans of beers through bongs and clouds of vape smoke hanging over the formerly pristine sand: this is March in South Padre Island
Spring Break sees the sleepy island community of just over 5,000 people transformed as an estimated 100,000 college kids descend for long days of boozing on the beach. Pictured: Student Bayle Bucceri, 18, opens her mouth to have an alcoholic drink sprayed at her
For businesses and the city itself, the influx means a bumper payday with students spending $3.1 million on alcohol alone last year and providing South Padre with an overall windfall of $33.9 million
College students chug beer from funnels on the beach during the annual ritual of Spring Break in March
Two men watch and cheer on two women in bikinis engaged in a steamy makeout session on the beach
BUMP AND GRIND: A pair of college students dance on each other while enjoying their Spring Break on South Padre Island
A shirtless and slightly sunburnt man and his friend take a nasty tumble while lounging on a hammock during Spring Break
A college student rushes to the water to be sick after a long day of partying in the sun
In South Padre, the focus is more on keeping college students out of trouble and mitigating the worst of their excesses, according to the island’s police chief The wild antics of the visiting college students means police are sent away from the border in order to handle the partying beach-goers. Pictured: Police help a seemingly intoxicated young women walk
Los Indios police chief Jose De La Rosas says his small department frequently sends officers to South Padre – even though their area butts up against territory controlled by the Golfos Cartel
Other law enforcement agencies to send staff include the Cameron County Sheriff and Constable, while more hard-pressed police departments such as Brownsville only send cops if a serious crime such as a rape takes place.
Brownsville is directly across the Mexican border from Matomoros; the home of the Golfos Cartel and their multinational narcotics network.
But although Los Indios, 16 miles west, does see murders – the most recent four days ago – Chief De La Rosas says his department mainly deals with drug smuggling, as well as routine traffic stops.
He told DailyMail.com that his part of the border is currently quiet with regards to human trafficking but said he would welcome President Trump’s plan to close the gaps in the existing fence just to help stem the flow of drugs.
‘Right now, in this area it’s really calm,’ De La Rosas said. ‘Sometimes we see a lot of narcotics but human smuggling is usually really low.
‘But if we close these gaps in the wall we have right now, of course that will help. Illegal narcotics are never going to stop – they will find different ways to come into the United States but at least it will stop some of it.’
In South Padre, the focus is more on keeping college students out of trouble and mitigating the worst of their excesses, according to the island’s police chief and interim city manager Randy Smith.
‘Whenever you have a high impact time, you expect a rise in crime in every category but typically, we expect simple intoxication, drunkenness,’ Smith told DailyMail.com.
‘We’ll have some minor theft, petty theft. We have a lot of police reports that we do for lost property, lost cellphones, wallets, that kind of thing.’
He added: ‘We hire in a lot of extra officers. Our officers are all hands on deck. Then we also have state, local and federal officers that do come and assist us.’
Security concerns: As well pas private guards, San Padre has had to draft in cops from neighboring areas – including some which are on the Mexican border
A man is seemingly unimpressed with the dance a bikini-clad women is giving him during a twerk contest
Women twerk on stage at Claton’s Beach bar – where cash prizes are given to the female performers in the daily twerking and wet t-shirt contests
Bayle Bucceri, 18, allows a man to squeeze her breast and take a picture of her in exchange for some beads
CHEEKY: Daniel Stanfield from South Dakota, flashes his behind to the camera – much to the amusement of his friends
Fabiola Palomares, 22, from Lareno, Texas twerks in the sand on South Padre Island
City figures show that during last year’s Spring Break period which is defined as being from March 1 to April 30, cops were called to a total of 1,154 incidents and made 738 arrests
A man giving a piggy back ride to his lady friend stops to pick up a pair of dropped sunglasses – much to the amusement of a passerby who takes pictures on his phone
An athletic young women climbs a Theta Chi fraternity flag pole while onlookers cheer her on
American mother-of-two killed in ‘cartel’ shootout on Los Indios International Bridge
Rocio Alderete De Pineda
The American woman killed in a suspected cartel shootout on the Los Indios International Bridge on March 7 was mother-of-two Rocio Alderete De Pineda, 51.
Three others were wounded, among them a second US citizen named Consuelo Ramos, in the deadly shooting which took place just after midday just south of the Mexican border line.
The 51-year-old was the notary public at transmigrante trucking service, Transmigrante Rocio, which is based in Los Indios but serves clients in South and Central America, including Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador.
Tamaulipas police are investigating the attack, with Los Indios cops telling DailyMail.com that cartel involvement is suspected, although transmigrante trucks are frequently targeted for robbery.
De Pineda, who was married to Edwin, left behind two adult children, Daniel and Andrea Hixson, 31 and 29, and was laid to rest in a service at the Thomas Garza funeral home in San Benito, Texas, on Sunday.
City figures show that during last year’s Spring Break period which is defined as being from March 1 to April 30, cops were called to a total of 1,154 incidents and made 738 arrests.
Of the arrests, 593 were categorized as Class C misdemeanors such as public intoxication while the remaining 145 involved more serious crimes such as drug possession and carrying a prohibited weapon.
The biggest spike in calls came during the Sunday of Texas Week – when huge numbers of students from local colleges arrive – amounting to a 32 percent increase on the previous weekend.
Texas Week also sees the arrival of a 33-bed mobile hospital, which is set up at the local convention center and means casualties don’t have to make the 30-mile journey to the nearest medical center in Brownsville.
The tented complex, which costs $35,326 to run, comes complete with 24 medics and is served by eight ambulances carrying 16 EMTs.
For De La Rosas, Spring Break means giving his officers a chance to experience a different kind of policing that isn’t focused on the border and likes to work South Padre shifts himself.
He told DailyMail.com: ‘Here we’re dealing with border issues but there we’re dealing with people from out of state coming in and partying so it is a different experience.
‘I like it for the officers to get that kind of experience so they can see what the difference is.’
Of the Spring Breakers, he added: ‘I understand they want to party and they want to have fun. But we’re kind of trying to guide them to a way where you have fun but there is limits to it.’
Smith, whose department is charged with overseeing the event, says the students are welcome – despite all the extra work.
‘Spring Break is one of our signature events,’ he said.
‘We are very happy to try and attract our colleges from here in Texas and throughout the United States and show them we are a great location for students to come and relax and get away from all the hard work.
He added: ‘I want to tell students, come have fun, relax from the books and just know we’re here for you. We do look forward to it – it’s fun for us as well.’
Most of the South Padre fun is concentrated in two locations: a stretch of sand in front of the Isla Grand Hotel called Rockstar Beach and Clayton’s Beach Bar.
City figures show that during last year’s Spring Break period which is defined as being from March 1 to April 30, cops were called to a total of 1,154 incidents and made 738 arrests
A group of young women and men form a small circle as the women dance on their male counterparts
There are outrageous antics, including ‘a**-luging’ – where beer is poured over a girl’s behind to be drunk by a boy (pictured) – while men were seen handing out beads in exchange for a look at and a squeeze of women’s breasts
Amanda Rogers, 20 and Delaney Holthouse, 19, both from Kansas State University, pose for the camera while they chug their drinks
Brooke Pattersan, 19, from University of Kansas (left) and Kristin Gambardella, 21, from Austin Texas keep hydrated
Conrad Bailey, 21, from the University of Alabama poses with a friend while chugging beer from a beer funnel
Merairy Maldonad, 21, from UCSA waits her turn to funnel some beer while her friend Jonathan Gordez, 21 (right) chugs
Madison Dammeyer, 19, came all the way from Indiana to party in South Padre, Texas for her Spring Break
Most of the South Padre fun is concentrated in two locations: a stretch of sand in front of the Isla Grand Hotel called Rockstar Beach and Clayton’s Beach Bar (pictured)
During Spring Break, both see a heavy police presence with cops watching the partying students from ATVs parked on the sand or from the deck at Clayton’s.
In the 2018 season, Clayton’s saw the highest number of medical call-outs at 54 while the Isla Grand required EMTs 37 times.
Smith says most of the students will never come into contact with cops and are free to party to their heart’s content – so long as it doesn’t involve illegal drugs or underage drinking.
On Sunday, Rockstar Beach was packed with college kids guzzling booze through beer bongs, dancing girls and cheerleaders indulging in ‘stunt-offs’.
Brooke Patterson, 21, of the University of Kansas, said she was having a wonderful time. ‘The whole week is full of people who just don’t give a f***,’ she enthused. ‘Come here right now, get lit with your friends – it’s the best vacation ever!’
Kristin Gambardella, 21, of Austin, Texas, added: ‘Look around; it’s great. I’ve seen a lot of people passed out in the sand and people doing stunt-offs which is pretty cool.
‘That’s when cheerleaders from dueling schools have stunt offs.’
But while most of the kids were hanging out with friends and drinking on the sand, there were some more outrageous antics.
Among them was ‘a**-luging’ – where beer is poured over a girl’s backside to be drunk by a boy – while men were seen handing out beads in exchange for a look at and a squeeze of some of the women’s breasts.
Two sunburnt young women appear to comfort each other during their Spring Break festivities
Texas Week also sees the arrival of a 33-bed mobile hospital, which is set up at the local convention center and means casualties don’t have to make the 30-mile journey to the nearest medical center in Brownsville
Elijaah Goins, 21, from Ohio State University (right) and another college student proudly off their Spring Break bodies
An official says most of the students will never come into contact with cops and are free to party to their heart’s content – so long as it doesn’t involve illegal drugs or underage drinking
During Spring Break, both see a heavy police presence with cops watching the partying students from ATVs parked on the sand or from the deck at Clayton’s
Brooke Patterson, 21, of the University of Kansas, said she was having a wonderful time. ‘The whole week is full of people who just don’t give a f***,’ she enthused. ‘Come here right now, get lit with your friends – it’s the best vacation ever!’
Kristin Gambardella, 21, of Austin, Texas, added: ‘Look around; it’s great. I’ve seen a lot of people passed out in the sand and people doing stunt-offs which is pretty cool. That’s when cheerleaders from dueling schools have stunt offs’
Some of the boys told DailyMail.com that the main reason they came to South Padre is to pick up women
Some of the boys told DailyMail.com that the main reason they came to South Padre is to pick up women.
‘I came here because I heard these guys have got the littest beach anywhere,’ said 22-year-old Jack Snarich, of Iowa. I came to South Padre to get f***ed up and honestly, to have sex.’
His friend Hassan Boyer, 20, of Northern Illinois University, concurred. ‘I came to South Padre to do the exact same thing,’ he said.
‘We’re going to make that baby and meet 30 years later.’
Over at Clayton’s, which puts on a free beach party complete with dancing competitions every day, the sand was crammed with kids, many waving fraternity flags.
Surveying the scene was owner Clayton Brashear, 58, who told DailyMail.com that Spring Break is crucial for the island economy.
Brashear, who is in the middle of a run for mayor of the city, said: ‘It creates a lot of jobs – we get a lot of people coming down here from all over the country.
‘Young people, old people, families – it brings a lot of income to South Padre Island.’
To keep them coming in, he hosts a series of concerts during Spring Break – mostly by hip hop stars such as this year’s performers Trippie Redd, 21 Savage and Cardi B.
Over at Clayton’s, which puts on a free beach party complete with dancing competitions every day, the sand was crammed with kids, many waving fraternity flags
But while most of the kids were hanging out with friends and drinking on the sand, there were some more outrageous antics
Hassan Boyer, 20, of Northern Illinois University, said: ‘I came to South Padre to do the exact same thing. We’re going to make that baby and meet 30 years later’
On Sunday, Rockstar Beach (pictured) was packed with college kids guzzling booze through beer bongs, dancing girls and cheerleaders indulging in ‘stunt-offs’
Next month, the Spring Breakers will be gone and he and the rest of his officers will be back on the border and on the frontline of the fight against the cartels
‘I came here because I heard these guys have got the littest beach anywhere,’ said 22-year-old Jack Snarich, of Iowa. I came to South Padre to get f***ed up and honestly, to have sex’
For the police who stand guard over the events, it means a long night of work but Smith says his officers generally enjoy patrolling Spring Break events, telling DailyMail.com they look forward to March
He also hands out cash prizes to the usually female performers in the daily twerking and wet t-shirt contests and provides space for stands selling beads and giving out free henna and braiding sessions.
For the police who stand guard over the events, it means a long night of work but Smith says his officers generally enjoy patrolling Spring Break events, telling DailyMail.com they look forward to March.
He added: ‘It’s fun for us. We enjoy working and meeting visiting people. We like it when they come back with their families all those years later and they remember us – it’s a lot of fun.’
De La Rosas says he also enjoys his time away from the border and said the trick to handling Spring Breakers is showing ‘a lot of patience like we’re dealing with little kids’.
To students, he added: ‘Have fun and make sure you get an Uber driver or a taxi.’
Next month, the Spring Breakers will be gone and he and the rest of his officers will be back on the border and on the frontline of the fight against the cartels.
‘Of course there is going to be criminal activities [connected to the cartels],’ he told DailyMail.com.
‘It’s impossible to stop that completely but we try to be visible to the public, do patrols and traffic stops.
‘We don’t really get worried about the cartels too much but we do have the expertise here to deal with those narcotic cases if we need to.’