Texas Department of Public Safety troopers arrested a Houston-area man after allegedly finding him with a carload of migrants illegally present in the United States. Officials say human smuggling organizations recruited the man with an advertisement on Craigslist.
A Texas DPS trooper assigned to Operation Lone Star in South Texas stopped a black Volkswagen Passat on U.S. Highway 277 in Val Verde County on April 11 for a traffic violation, according to information, according to information received from DPS officials. The trooper discovered four migrants from Mexico inside the vehicle.
DPS troopers stopped a black Volkswagen Passat. The trooper arrested the driver for allegedly smuggling migrants. (Texas Department of Public Safety)
DPS spokesman Lt. Chris Olivarez identified one of the migrants as a minor. The discovery of the migrants led the trooper to place 42-year-old Nathaniel Chavez of Spring, Texas, under arrest for smuggling of persons, a state law charge.
Chavez reportedly told the trooper he responded to an advertisement on Craigslist
An alleged human smuggler reportedly responded to this ad on Craigslist. (Texas Department of Public Safety)
“Transportation Gig Available!” the Craigslist ad begins. “All you need is a Vehicle… ALL Vehicle Types Wanted. Payout Same Day and CASH ON DELIVERY!!”
The DPS report does not reveal what Chavez expected to be paid for smuggling the migrants from the border region to Austin.
Texas DPS officials say Spring, Texas, resident Daniel Chavez smuggled a group of migrants in Val Verde County. (Texas Department of Public Safety)
Chavez now faces two counts of smuggling of persons for pecuniary benefit and a single count of smuggling of persons under the age of 18, Olivarez reported.
“Criminal smuggling organizations continue to recruit drivers for human smuggling through social media platforms and now advertisement ads such as Craigslist,” DPS officials said in a written statement. “This is an example of how these organizations continue to expand their criminal network by advertising their services and exploiting the disastrous border policies put in place by the federal government..
During an exclusive interview with Breitbart Texas in March, Governor Greg Abbott expressed shock about the impact of social media in recruiting drivers for human smuggling operations.
“To me, this is shocking,” Governor Abbott stated. ”Texans are going on to Twitter or Tik Tok or whatever the case may be, and seeing advertisements by the cartels offered to pay them money to pick up illegal immigrants and transport them elsewhere in the state of Texas.”
The governor added that he asked the Texas Legislature to pass a new law increasing the penalties for human smuggling convictions.
“I want to mandatory ten years behind bars for anyone who is caught smuggling somebody in Texas,” Abbott stated.
Texas State Senator Brian Birdwell (R-Granbury) filed SB 600 which, if passed, will increase the penalty for smuggling of persons from the current two-t0-ten years in prison to a mandatory minimum of ten years. The bill passed a third reading in the Senate with a vote of 31-0 on April 12. The Texas House of Representatives will now consider the measure.
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.
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