Four Smuggling Attempts Foiled by Border Patrol
U.S. Customs and Border Protection
EDINBURG (News Release) – Rio Grande Valley Sector Border Patrol (RGV) agents disrupted four human smuggling events resulting in the arrest of 43 individuals.
On August 23, the Rio Grande City Border Patrol Station (RGC) received a call from a concerned citizen regarding non-citizens being held against their will at a residence in Rio Grande City. Agents and Starr County Sheriff’s Office (SCSO) deputies responded to the location and encountered 15 migrants from Mexico and Central America unlawfully present in the U.S. A Mexican national was identified as the caretaker and arrested by SCSO. Additionally, SCSO seized two vehicles. The migrants were in good health and transported to the station.
That same day, RGC camera operators observed several subjects load into a vehicle near the Rio Grande in Roma. Roma Police Department officers located the vehicle and attempted to conduct a vehicle stop. The vehicle failed to yield and led officers and Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) troopers on a vehicle pursuit. Agents and a CBP Air and Marine Operations helicopter responded. The vehicle came to a stop in Escobares where the occupants bailed out of the vehicle. Five migrants determined to be illegally present in the U.S. and the U.S. citizen driver were arrested. DPS took custody of the driver to face state charges.
Shortly after, RGV agents encountered five subjects being harbored at a hotel in Pharr. Agents identified all subjects to be illegally present in the United States and were placed under arrest.
RGV agents received information of a residence in Mission suspected of harboring migrants. Agents, along with DPS, apprehended 17 subjects illegally present in the United States. The subjects were citizens of Mexico, Honduras, and El Salvador.
