Group of 250 Migrants Apprehended in Texas at Border Crossing

Rio Grande Valley Sector Border Patrol agents apprehended a group of 250 migrants at a single border crossing in Texas. The apprehension followed four other human smuggling interdictions where 28 people were arrested.

Rio Grande City Station Border Patrol agents patrolling the border near La Grulla, Texas, on March 10 encountered a large group of migrants who illegally crossed the border.

Officials report the group consisted of 133 single adults, 74 family units and 42 unaccompanied alien children, officials reported. Agents identified the migrants as citizens of Central and South American nations and Cuban nationals.

That same day, agents from this sector worked with other law enforcement agencies to interdict multiple human smuggling operations.

On the morning of March 10, Weslaco Station agents responded to a request for assistance from the U.S. Marshals Service regarding a suspected human smuggling stash house operation in Pharr, Texas. Agents arrived and found nine migrants inside the home from Central America and Mexico. No caretaker was identified at the scene.

Later in the morning, agents raided another suspected stash house near Alamo, Texas. The agents arrested a U.S. citizen for operating the stash house and found five migrants from Mexico and Central America.

In the afternoon, agents in Brownsville, Texas, teamed up with Department of Public Safety troopers regarding another stash house. The agents arrested a U.S. citizen for operating the stash house and two migrants from Mexico and Honduras.

One day earlier, agents assigned to the Falfurrias Border Patrol Checkpoint in Brooks County, Texas, observed a tractor-trailer rig approaching for inspection. During the initial interview, the agents identified the driver of the rig as a Cuban citizen with a U.S. employment authorization card.

At the secondary inspection station, agents searched the tractor’s cab and found ten migrants hiding inside. Three of the ten migrants were identified as unaccompanied minors. Agents arrested the driver and the ten migrants.

In total, the five migrant encounters led to the apprehension of 276 migrants and at least two suspected human smugglers.