Armed Human Smuggler Arrested in Texas near Border

Border Patrol agents in South Texas teamed up with state and local law enforcement to interdict several human smuggling operations, one ending with an armed suspect.

Falfurrias Border Patrol Station agents assigned to the interior checkpoint on U.S. Highway 281 in Brooks County, Texas, on August 31 observed a brown Ford Explorer approaching for inspection, according to the Rio Grande Valley Sector. Officials reported the driver appeared nervous and referred him to a secondary station.

During inspection, the agents questioned the occupants of the vehicle and determined they were illegally present in the United States. They arrested the migrants and the driver. During an inspection of the SUV, agents found two semi-automatic pistols.

Later that day, Weslaco Station agents received information about a black sedan near the Rio Grande in Donna, Texas. Agents responded and observed the vehicle heading north, away from the river. The sedan quickly made a U-turn and drove back to the river where the occupants jumped out and fled into the brush.

Agents apprehended four migrants. They observed two people making their way across the Rio Grande back to Mexico.

McAllen Station agents attempted to stop a suspicious vehicle just north of Edinburg, Texas. The driver failed to yield when the agents attempted a traffic stop. The pursuit ended near San Manuel, Texas. The agents arrested the driver and five “noncitizens” in the vehicle.

Border Patrol agents responded to a report of a suspicious vehicle inside a ranch near Encinal, Texas, on August 31. As agents approached the pickup truck, it failed to yield and fled.
Texas Department of Public Safety troopers and officers from the Encinal Police Department joined in the pursuits the vehicle fled east on Highway 44. DPS troopers deployed tire deflation devices, bringing the pursuit to a safe conclusion.

The occupants of the vehicle fled into the brush. Agents apprehended six Mexican nationals who are illegally present in the U.S.

Vehicle pursuits are becoming more frequent in South Texas as smugglers become desperate to move their cargo into the U.S. interior. Chases are becoming more commonplace as far as 200 miles inland, Texas sheriffs say.