"Yes, absolutely it has occurred; there's no question about it," McCraw said after a hearing before the House Committee on Border and International Affairs.

McCraw answered lawmakers' questions about Gov. Rick Perry's request for another $135 million for border security operations on the same day Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott asked lawmakers for a new tool to help bring down transnational gangs that threaten border communities.

During the border committee meeting, state Rep. Joe Moody, D-El Paso, asked McCraw whether some incidents that have been reported in the El Paso area would be considered elements of spillover violence from Mexican drug cartels.

Moody asked, among other things, if threats against American citizens, individuals seeking treatment at U.S. hospital for injuries sustained in Juárez and Mexican nationals seeking asylum would be evidence of spillover.

McCraw said yes.

"Anything that involves cartel activity that impacts Texans on this side of the border is, by definition, spillover violence," he said after the meeting.

McCraw told lawmakers, though, that Texas has a contingency plan to deal with large-scale violence and that local, state and federal agencies are working to prevent that from happening.

Earlier Monday, state Sen. Tommy Williams, R-The Woodlands, and state Rep. Aaron Peña, D-Edinburg, filed a bill they said they hoped would make doing business in Texas harder for drug cartels.

Along with Abbott, the legislators urged their colleagues to approve a bill that would give the attorney general expanded authority to seize guns, drugs and cash that are the lifeblood of human and drug smugglers.

"This bill is going to give us the ability to put these kinds of criminals out of business by taking the very thing they are trying to make," Abbott said.

Though such seizures can currently be made in criminal cases, the legislation would allow the attorney general to pursue seizures in civil court, where the burden of proof is less stringent, Abbott said.

Williams said the measure would help ensure that violence from the cartels stays south of the Rio Grande.

"The body count is stacking up along the border," he said, "and we don't want this to spill over into our state anymore."

Brandi Grissom may be reached at bgrissom@elpasotimes.com;512-479-6606.