A Texas Department of Public Safety trooper discovered ten migrants hiding in a work truck during a traffic stop near the border. The alleged human smuggler told troopers he was paid $500 per migrant to hide them in his truck.
A DPS trooper working border security duty under Governor Greg Abbott’s Operation Lone Star stopped a work truck on FM 481 in Maverick County, Texas. A video tweeted by DPS spokesman Lt. Christopher Olivarez shows the trooper’s reaction when he notices people hiding in the back of the truck as he approaches the vehicle.
“Show me your hands,” the trooper orders as he draws his sidearm. Suddenly, hands appear above the tires the migrants used for cover.
The video shows the trooper placing the driver under arrest for allegedly smuggling ten migrants in the rear of his truck. The man reportedly told the trooper he was paid $500 for each migrant to try to sneak them past Border Patrol checkpoints.
Border Patrol agents from the Del Rio Sector arrived and took custody of the ten migrants. The agents identified the migrants as citizens of Ecuador, Honduras, and Mexico, Lt. Olivarez reported.
The driver is expected to face charges related to the smuggling of migrants. It is not known if DPS seized the driver’s work truck.
Bob Price serves as associate editor and senior news contributor for the Breitbart Texas-Border team. He is an original member of the Breitbart Texas team. Price is a regular panelist on Fox 26 Houston’s What’s Your Point? Sunday-morning talk show. Follow him on Twitter @BobPriceBBTX and Facebook.