Five Smuggling Events Foiled in One Day
U.S. Customs and Border protection
EDINBURG (News Release) - Rio Grande Valley Sector Border Patrol (RGV) agents interdicted five migrant smuggling events resulting in 29 arrests.
On the morning of April 5, agents working at the Falfurrias Border Patrol Checkpoint encountered three migrants unlawfully present in the U.S. and discovered a small amount of methamphetamine concealed in a cigarette box. The driver, a U.S. citizen with multiple prior arrests for possession of marijuana and a controlled substance, theft, and engaging in organized criminal activity, was arrested for smuggling. Two of the migrants were discovered in the truck of the rental car.
Later that morning, Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) troopers requested assistance with a possible smuggling case from the McAllen Border Patrol Station (MCS) during a vehicle stop in McAllen. Agents determined the driver was a U. S. citizen and the three passengers were nationals of Mexico unlawfully present in the U.S. DPS seized the vehicle and arrested the driver on charges of migrant smuggling. The three migrant passengers were placed under arrest and transported to a Border Patrol station.
Just after noon, agents from MCS aided the Sullivan City Police Department on a vehicle stop. Five migrants from the Dominican Republic, Mexico, and El Salvador were discovered. Agents determined the driver was a U.S. citizen and arrested the five migrant passengers for being unlawfully present in the U.S. Officers seized the vehicle and arrested the driver to face state charges for migrant smuggling. The driver’s identification card is from Florida and the vehicle had paper tags.
MCS agents responded to another vehicle stop conducted by the La Joya Police Department. Officers took custody of the driver and a passenger, both U. S citizens, and a national of Mexico suspected of being a guide to charge them with migrant smuggling. Agents arrested the remaining six occupants from the Dominican Republic for being unlawfully present in the U.S. The migrants were all dressed in camouflage attire.
Later that evening, RGV agents working near Linn, attempted to initiate an immigration inspection on the occupants of a Chevrolet Silverado. The driver immediately veered of the road and into a fence. The occupants attempted to flee the vehicle but were unable to open the doors as they were obstructed by the fence. Agents arrested the driver and five passengers, nationals of Guatemala and Mexico, without incident.
