Migrant Apprehensions on Rise in Texas’ Most-Remote Sector

Border Patrol agents in the Big Bend Sector are experiencing a dramatic increase in drug and human smuggling following the migrant surge that began in January. The sector is the most remote of the five Texas-based Border Patrol sectors.

Big Bend Sector Chief Patrol Agent Sean McGoffin tweeted a series of photos this week showing smuggling activity in the mountainous desert region near Presidio, Texas.

On May 17, Presidio Station agents teamed up with ICE Homeland Security Investigations and the Presidio Police Department to interdict multiple human smuggling stash houses and a vehicular smuggling attempt.

Photos tweeted on May 17 shot the rugged terrain and hot, dry condition where migrants march through the Chihuahua Desert.

So far this fiscal year, which began on October 1, 2020, Big Bend Sector agents apprehended 19,980 migrants who illegally crossed the border from Mexico. This is up from 4,070 the previous year — a 391 percent increase.

The majority of those apprehended are single adults (18,336). However, a concerning statistic is the 278 percent increase in the number of single minors. This jumped from 276 in FY20 to 601 this year to date.

The apprehensions sometimes carry far inland from the border as smugglers attempt to move migrants around interior immigration checkpoints. McGoffin tweeted photos last week of large groups of migrants apprehended near Van Horn, Texas.

Drug seizures by Border Patrol agents in this sector mainly revolve around marijuana. Human smugglers frequently make migrants carry backpacks filled with marijuana as they march through the desert, officials previously told Breitbart Texas.

So far this fiscal year, Big Bend Sector agents seized 15,403 pounds of marijuana. This compares to 24,399 for all of Fiscal Year 2020, CBP enforcement statistics reports indicate.