The National Guard is demolishing 28 homes in Corpus Christi after those homes were flagged as being linked to drugs and prostitution.
Demolition crews crunched through a home on Waco Street this morning. The home was abandoned, and police had received complaints about illegal activity.
"The way we find the criminal element to these houses is we either find reports of some crime activity happening here or we go through the house and look for evidence of criminal activity," said Lt. Henry Mangum of the Corpus Christi Police Department.
It’s called Operation Crackdown. The city applied to the Texas National Guard Counter Drug program. It targets cities across the state with a high drug-related crime rate.
It’s been nine years since Corpus Christi’s been chosen from that list.
Now the city has a list of 28 homes that are to be demolished all this week.
Konnie Mendez has lived next to the run down house on Waco for more then two years. She says at times she’s been afraid to leave her house at night because she fears danger in the area. Although she loved the old house because it was unique in style and she hoped it could be fixed up, she’s relieved the crime could decrease.
"I think it’s great. No more bad neighborhood," said Mendez.
"We’re going to have one less house that an officer has to run through or that someone has to be concerned about," Mangum said.
All of the property owners were notified in advance of the tear down. They now have the option to rebuild or sell the lot.
The demolitions come at no cost to the taxpayer since it’s part of a program run by the National Guard.
