Rio Grande Valley Sector Border Patrol agents disrupted multiple human smuggling attempts during the past week. Several of the attempts placed migrants in dangerous or even life-threatening circumstances.
“Smugglers continue to put aliens lives in danger by failing to yield and locking them in Tractor Trailers, treating them as a commodity instead of humans,” Rio Grande Valley Sector Border Patrol officials said in a written statement. The actions of the cartel-connected human smugglers frequently lead to injury or death of the migrants in their custody.
In a statement released late on Friday, Border Patrol officials disclosed several human smuggling incidents disrupted over the previous weekend. During the morning of September 29, agents assigned to the Falfurrias Checkpoint located on U.S. Highway 281 in Brooks County, Texas, observed a tractor-trailer approaching for inspection. The agents referred the driver to a secondary inspection station where a K-9 agent alerted to an odor it is trained to detect. The agents conducted a search of the trailer and found 13 migrants locked inside. The migrants were hiding among the commodities being hauled, placing them at risk of injury or death in the event of an accident or cargo shift. Agents interviewed the migrants and determined they had illegally come to the U.S. from Mexico and El Salvador.
Later that day, McAllen Station agents working near Mission, Texas, attempted to stop a blue SUV they suspected to be hauling illegal immigrants. The agents activated their emergency lights but the driver failed to yield and led the agents on a short pursuit. The driver eventually stopped near Expressway 83. The agents arrested the driver and all six passengers after determining they were illegally present in the U.S.
On Sunday evening, McAllen Station agents patrolling near Los Ebanos, Texas, received a tip about a grey SUV being utilized for human smuggling. A few minutes later, the agents received a request for assistance from the Sullivan, Texas, Police Department who had stopped a vehicle matching the description of the suspected human smuggler’s vehicle. Agents arrived and conducted an immigration interview on the seven occupants of the vehicle.
The agents identified five of the passengers as Chinese nationals who had illegally crossed the border from Mexico. The agents placed them under arrest for immigration violations. The local police officer took custody of the U.S. citizen driver and passenger for possible charges related to human smuggling, officials stated. Local police also seized the vehicle.
One day earlier, agents working near La Gloria, Texas, attempted to stop a Toyota Sequoia. The driver of the vehicle failed to yield to the Border Patrol emergency lights and led the agents on a short pursuit. The driver eventually stopped and multiple occupants bailed out and attempted to flee on foot.
Border Patrol agents conducted a search of the area and found four illegal immigrants, officials stated.
In total, agents arrested 28 migrants from China, El Salvador, Mexico, and other countries in the four failed human smuggling incidents.
Bob Price serves as associate editor and senior political news contributor for the Breitbart Border team. He is an original member of the Breitbart Texas team. Follow him on Twitter @BobPriceBBTX and Facebook.