Human Smuggling - Page 2

Homeland Security Investigations special agents arrested 70 migrants during the past week in human smuggling stash houses being operated out of short-term rental properties. HSI officials say the use of these type of rental properties to warehouse migrants is a growing trend.

A federal judge sentenced a 27-year-old Pharr, Texas, resident to eight years in federal prison for his role in a migrant smuggling operation that authorities suspect may have moved thousands of migrants from the border region into the interior of the United States.

A Texas Department of Public Safety trooper arrested a confirmed Tren de Aragua, who was released by the Biden-Harris administration for alleged smuggling of persons. The Venezuelan gang member was wearing an ICE tracking device at the time of his arrest. This was his second arrest on human smuggling charges.

Following a series of election-year gambits, Border Patrol reports show that migrant apprehensions along the southwest border fell to Trump-era levels for the first time since Joe Biden and Kamala Harris took office in 2021. According to an unofficial Border Patrol report reviewed by Breitbart Texas, the number of agents encountered fell to just over 56,000 during July.

Two Mexican nationals who were illegally in the United States are largely responsible for building a human smuggling organization that moved almost 2,500 migrants from Central America into the U.S. The duo laundered almost $2.9 million in profits, federal prosecutors revealed, adding that they often kidnapped migrants for ransom.

Serbia lies on the Balkan migrant route, where people smugglers facilitate border crossings for people seeking to reach Western Europe.

During Wednesday night’s Oval Office address, President Joe Biden claimed, “Border Crossings are lower today than when the previous administration left office.” Official reports from U.S. Customs and Border Protection debunk this claim.

A New Mexico man will now face up to 19 years in federal prison after shooting a Border Patrol agent twice during a failed human smuggling attempt. His protective body armor saved the agent’s life.

Mexican authorities are escorting more than 3,000 migrants who began trekking their way north as part of a new migrant caravan, with each of the participants having the ultimate goal of reaching the U.S. border and requesting asylum or some other form of protected status.

Law enforcement authorities in Mexico arrested a man believed to be the leader of a large human smuggling organization. The arrest of the Sierra Leone national in Mexico was made at the request of the United States Department of Treasury.

Border Patrol agents in the Swanton Sector established yet another record with the apprehension of more than 3,300 migrants in June. The sector, which covers the Canadian border with Vermont, New Hampshire, and eastern New York, is now the fifth-busiest of the 20 U.S. Border Patrol sectors.

Preparations are underway for a new migrant caravan to depart southern Mexico this weekend. While the caravan targets Mexico City, the ultimate goal of the migrants taking part is the U.S. border, where most are expected to ask for asylum or some other kind of protected status.

A group of young people walking home from a music festival run down by a smuggler’s car trying to outrun police. 

Activists are sounding the alarm about a large group of gunmen who kidnapped more than 200 migrants as they made their way north toward the Sonora-Arizona border. Some of the migrant’s relatives wired thousands of dollars to the alleged kidnappers, but the migrants remain missing.

Laredo Sector Border Patrol agents found 23 migrants hiding in a rail car of a Union Pacific train more than 50 miles from the Texas-Mexico border. The migrants appear to have illegally entered the U.S. between ports of entry without inspection.

As the presidential election nears, migrant apprehensions in the Tucson Sector hit their lowest level of the current fiscal year. Agents apprehended only 2,900 migrants during the past week, according to the sector chief.

The San Diego Border Patrol Sector regained the title of busiest sector along the southwest U.S. border with Mexico in June. Agents apprehended nearly 26,000 migrants who illegally crossed the southern California border with Mexico between ports of entry in June.

A recent gambit by the Biden administration to give the appearance of border enforcement yielded the lowest month of migrant apprehensions of his term. Border Patrol agents apprehended just over 82,000 migrants who illegally crossed the border between ports of entry in June.

The spread of Biden’s border crisis to the U.S.-Canada border continues its exponential growth. Swanton Sector agents arrested more than 3,300 migrants in June, up more than 420 percent from last June. Year-to-date arrests are up nearly 190 percent over the same period last year.

One of the most dangerous obstacles for migrants hoping to enter the United States at the southern border may be closing after an election-year agreement between Panama and the Biden administration. On Monday, the White House announced an agreement between the two governments to significantly reduce crossings through Panama’s Darien Gap, potentially closing the pathway to scores of migrants headed to the United States’ southern border in search of asylum.

Federal immigration authorities in Mexico discovered 63 migrants concealed inside a tractor-trailer at a military checkpoint just 30 miles from El Paso, Texas. The migrants were discovered on Friday during joint enforcement operations involving the military and Mexico’s National Institute of Migration (INM).

A Laredo, Texas, man faces charges of human smuggling after allegedly leading Department of Public Safety troopers on a high-speed chase. A second pursuit led to the arrest of an alleged illegal immigrant smuggler and a migrant wanted in Wisconsin.

Federal authorities arrested a juvenile probation officer from South Texas after discovering a migrant from Honduras hiding in the rear of his vehicle.

A federal judge sentenced a San Antonio woman to 14 years in prison for her role in a migrant smuggling scheme where she claimed to be a federal agent. She also claimed to be an immigration attorney. The woman collected more than $275,000 from 95 migrants and their families.

Authorities in Mexico rescued 13 Central American migrants who had been kidnapped and were being tortured by their captors to force families to pay ransom for their release.

Authorities arrested two human smugglers in the Mexican border city of Piedras Negras, Coahuila, on kidnapping charges following the rescue of two migrants who were being held for ransom.

Las autoridades arrestaron a dos traficantes de personas en la ciudad fronteriza mexicana de Piedras Negras bajo cargos de secuestro luego de que se rescatara a dos migrantes que habían sido secuestrados por el cobro de rescate.

Bexar County, Texas, Sheriff’s Office deputies arrested seven people involved in an alleged migrant smuggling scheme that saw 11 migrants taken to a hospital in San Antonio, Texas on Thursday. The migrants were discovered hidden in a concealed compartment in a goose-neck trailer outside a south San Antonio stash house. Deputies received a tip reporting the criminal activity earlier in the day and located the trailer as it arrived at the suspected stash house.

The Mexican government has funded a lawsuit for illegal migrants in Florida who are facing human smuggling charges and prison time under Gov. Ron DeSantis’s law curbing illegal migration.

Onlookers at Ocean Beach in San Diego, California, stood by and watched as a boat sped onto the beach and unloaded what appeared to be a load of migrants being smuggled into the U.S. Events like this are becoming commonplace on Southern California beaches.

A suspected human smuggler led Texas Department of Public Safety troopers on a wild chase that ended as the driver crashed into a tree. Video shows at least six migrants climbing out of the stolen pickup truck following the crash.

A U.S. Border Patrol agent will spend a year and a half in prison for trying to smuggle a female migrant from El Salvador into Texas.

The escalation of migrant arrests in the Swanton Sector continues with back-to-back weekly records in April. The sector located along the U.S.-Canada border continues to experience record-shattering migrant apprehensions — month after month.

Border Patrol agents apprehended nearly 129,000 migrants who illegally crossed the southwest border in April between ports of entry. This is down slightly from the more than 137,000 apprehended in March.

A recent shooting at the Ciudad Juarez Airport that killed two men is directly connected to a turf war between human smuggling organizations. The organizations continue to fight for control of the arrival of migrants trying to make their way to the Texas border.

Authorities in the border state of Chihuahua claimed the recent killing of eight men is tied to an organized crime turf war over human smuggling routes. Police found the bodies dumped on the side of a highway.