A suspected migrant smuggler led Texas Department of Public Safety troopers and Kinney County Sheriff’s Office deputies on a high-speed pursuit that began near the small community of Brackettville, Texas. A trooper first spotted the suspect’s vehicle late Sunday night on a rural Farm-to-Market Road leading away from the border region. The pursuit ended when the suspected smuggler’s vehicle left the roadway and rolled several times, causing damage to a private ranch gate.
Remarkably, the suspected smuggler and at least ten migrants being transported inside the dark-colored vehicle managed to avoid serious injury. According to Kinney County Sheriff Brad Coe, all the occupants fled from the accident scene and absconded onto a private ranch just outside the city. According to Coe, the vehicle’s occupants now must deal with the extremely high temperatures plaguing the border county.
Texas is currently suffering through a 12-day heat wave that has seen temperatures above 110 degrees Fahrenheit. Sheriff Coe says his deputies are interviewing one migrant arrested near the crash site that may have been part of the smuggling scheme involving the suspect’s vehicle.
“I suspect there will be more (migrants) that turn themselves in once they start feeling the impact of potential injuries suffered during the crash and the extreme afternoon heat,” Coe told Breitbart Texas. “This may turn out to be deadly for them if they’re not careful”
As reported by Breitbart Texas, the bodies of two deceased migrants who succumbed to the high temperatures on private ranches were found just north of Eagle Pass near Kinney County as the heatwave was nearing its sixth day. On Friday, the Del Rio Sector of the Border Patrol, which includes Kinney County, reported an additional four migrants died in one 24-hour period as a result of the high temperatures.
Sheriff Coe says the migrant smuggling activity has remained steady in his jurisdiction that covers several miles of the Rio Grande — despite the ongoing heatwave. The pursuit within his county was the second chase on Sunday night that involved private property damage and resulted in suspected smugglers and migrants avoiding arrest.
With less than ten full-time deputies, the small rural county would be overwhelmed without the aid of outside law enforcement officers, according to Coe. Currently, a contingent of Texas Highway Patrol troopers and counterparts from the Florida Highway Patrol working under Operation Lone Star is helping to patrol roadways within the county. In addition, Coe told Breitbart he is being aided by Galveston County Sheriff’s deputies and police officers from the Bayou Vista, Texas, Police Department.
Randy Clark is a 32-year veteran of the United States Border Patrol. Prior to his retirement, he served as the Division Chief for Law Enforcement Operations, directing operations for nine Border Patrol Stations within the Del Rio, Texas, Sector. Follow him on Twitter @RandyClarkBBTX.
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