Four Failed Smuggling Attempts
U.S. Customs and Border Protection
EDINBURG (News Release) – Rio Grande Valley Sector (RGV) Border Patrol agents interdicted four smuggling events leading to 117 arrests.
Falfurrias Border Patrol Checkpoint agents discovered 96 illegal migrants from a sealed tractor trailer on November 10. Agents referred the vehicle to the secondary inspection area following a K-9 alert. Agents discovered the illegal migrants hidden among rotten produce. The driver, a U.S. citizen was placed under arrest. The illegal migrants are nationals of Mexico and South and Central America. All subjects were found to be in good health.
On November 8, a McAllen Border Patrol Station camera operator spotted several subjects running northbound from the Rio Grande near Abram. A Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) Air and Marine Operations (AMO) helicopter responded and observed several subjects loading into a black Volvo hatchback. A responding agent attempted to stop the vehicle, but the driver failed to yield. The vehicle came to stop, and the occupants bailed out. Agents apprehended eight illegal migrants from Mexico, El Salvador, and Guatemala. The driver was not located.
Later that evening, Rio Grande City Border Patrol Station agents observed several suspected migrants move north from the Rio Grande and load into a white Dodge Ram near Roma. As agents attempted to initiate an immigration inspection, the driver veered off the road and crashed into a cinderblock wall. The occupants absconded from the vehicle. Agents apprehended three illegal migrants who were not injured. The driver was not located.
That same day, Harlingen Border Patrol Station agents attempted to conduct a vehicle stop on a Nissan Xterra near Yturria. After agent’s activated their vehicle’s emergency equipment, the driver veered off the road into a ranch fence before coming to a stop. The occupants bailed out and absconded into nearby brush. Agents, with the assistance of CBP AMO helicopter, encountered 9 subjects determined to be in the U.S. illegally. The migrants were arrested, and the vehicle seized. The driver was not located.
