Rio Grande Valley Sector - Page 8

Border Patrol agents in South Texas continue to arrest gang members and previously deported sex offenders after they illegally cross the border from Mexico into the United States.

Mexican Gulf Cartel members kidnapped two men in Texas and took them to Mexico where they tortured them for days while they forced their relatives to pay for a seized drug load. The case is just one of numerous similar cases in recent years where a Mexican drug cartel carried out kidnapping operations on American soil in South Texas.

An 18-wheeler driver disrupted a human smuggling attempt after he noticed the seal on his trailer was broken. The discovery led to the apprehension of 10 migrants.

Rio Grande Valley Sector Border Patrol agents disrupted eight human smuggling attempts during a three-day period ending on Friday. The interdictions led to the arrest of seven human smugglers and 53 migrants.

A traffic stop by a Texas Department of Public Safety trooper led to the arrest of a human smuggler and the disruption of a “significant human smuggling operation.”

Rio Grande Valley Sector Customs and Border Protection officers seized nearly 360 pounds of methamphetamine during three failed drug smuggling attempts at South Texas border crossings. The seizures took nearly $8 million in drugs out of the hands of cartel-connected smugglers.

Rio Grande Valley Sector Customs and Border Protection officers seized more than 250 pounds of methamphetamine and cocaine during three failed smuggling attempts at two Texas crossings.

Rio Grande Valley Sector Customs and Border Protection officers seized another huge load of methamphetamine headed to the streets in American cities across the county. An inspection of a tractor-trailer rig at the Pharr International Bridge that connects Texas and Mexico led to the discovery of nearly a half-ton of methamphetamine.

A Rio Grande Valley Sector Border Patrol EMT rescued a Mexican migrant who suffered a snake bite after illegally crossing into Texas. Agents in the sector rescued three other migrants in separate incidents.

Rio Grande Valley Sector Border Patrol agents and local police arrested an armed migrant after shots rang out in a human smuggling stash house in Texas near the border with Mexico. Border Patrol agents found nine migrants and a U.S. citizen inside the McAllen, Texas, home.

Border Patrol agents found two Korean women in a human smuggling stash house in the Rio Grande Valley near the Texas border with Mexico. Officials said it is uncommon to find Korean migrants in stash houses.

Rio Grande Valley Sector U.S. Border Patrol agents and Hidalgo County Constables Office (HCCO) Precinct 4 deputies teamed up to disrupt a stash house operation occurring in a rural neighborhood near Mission, Texas.

Rio Grande Valley Sector Border Patrol agents apprehended 33 migrants they found in cargo areas of commercial trucks in two separate incidents. The agents found 13 migrants in the cargo area of one truck and 20 more in a second. Additionally, agents rescued a Guatemalan woman in Brooks County, Texas, who had been abandoned by human smugglers.

Border Patrol agents working opposite ends of the Texas border arrested three previously deported criminal aliens after they illegally crossed into Texas. Agents identified one of the illegal aliens as a four-time deported Mexican national convicted of voluntary manslaughter, the second as a sex offender, and the third as a MS-13 gang member with a criminal history.

U.S. Border Patrol officials in the Rio Grande Valley Sector received information regarding a group of migrants being held against their will by armed human smugglers. The smugglers held the migrants in a stash house located in Rio Grande City, Texas. Agents notified the Starr County Sheriff’s Office and CBP Air and Marine Operations and requested assistance.

Deputies in Brooks County, Texas, recovered the remains of five migrants in the past month who died while attempting to circumvent the Falfurrias Border Patrol Checkpoint located about 80 miles north of the border.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials announced the death of Border Patrol Agent Enrique Rositas, Jr. from COVID-19. His death is classified as a line-of-duty death, officials reported.

Despite the dangers from the spread of COVID-19, Mexican cartel-connected human smugglers continue to warehouse their “cargo” in stash houses in communities along the Texas border with Mexico. Most recently, Rio Grande Valley Sector Border Patrol agents apprehended a group of migrants being stashed in a home in Rio Grande City, Texas.

Border Patrol agents in South Texas carried out multiple rescues of migrants as summertime temperatures approached the century mark. Agents rescued at least four who became distressed or dehydrated after illegally crossing the border from Mexico and one who suffered a snake bite while attempting to sneak around an interior immigration checkpoint.

Rio Grande Valley Sector Border Patrol agents arrested two previously deported criminal aliens after they illegally crossed the border from Mexico into Texas. The agents arrested a previously convicted murderer and a convicted child sex offender.

Rio Grande Valley Sector Border Patrol agents rescued a migrant who nearly died from the extreme heat along the Texas border with Mexico. The rescue marks the 222nd time this fiscal year that agents in this single sector have rescued migrants being smuggled into the U.S.

Customs and Border Protection officers in the Laredo and Rio Grande Valley Sector interdicted shipments of methamphetamine and heroin at ports of entry on the Texas-Mexico border. The officers seized more than 200 pounds of the drugs valued at more than $4 million.

Rio Grande Valley Sector Border Patrol agents rescued two migrants who became lost on a Texas ranch 80 miles from the border with Mexico. In a separate incident, agents found the remains of a deceased migrant while patrolling the Rio Grande on foot.

Rio Grande Valley Sector Border Patrol agents apprehended 12 migrants and seized a small quantity of Xanax at an immigration checkpoint located about 80 miles north of the Texas/Mexico border. The arrests came in two separate incidents last Thursday.

Rio Grande Valley Sector Border Patrol agents rescued two migrants who became lost after illegally crossing the border from Mexico. The rescues come as more migrants attempt to avoid apprehension and the heat of the Texas summer approaches.

The chief of the U.S. Border Patrol reported that cartel-connected human smugglers are increasing the use of tractor-trailers in South Texas to move their “cargo.” The tactic puts the victims at great risk, especially during the coronavirus pandemic.

Rio Grande Valley Sector Border Patrol agents arrested two previously deported criminal aliens after they illegally re-entered the United States on Wednesday. The arrests came in separate incidents.

Rio Grande Valley Border Patrol agents arrested two alleged drug smugglers. One of the Mexican nationals tested positive for COVID-19 and has alleged ties to a cartel, officials stated.

Rio Grande Valley Sector Border Patrol agents seized more than 92 pounds of cocaine at an interior immigration checkpoint. Officials estimated the drugs to be worth nearly $3 million.

A Honduran illegal immigrant is charged in federal court for allegedly assaulting Border Patrol agents after he crossed near Brownsville, Texas, on April 22. The man fought multiple Border Patrol agents as the attempted to arrest him for illegally crossing the border from Mexico.

Union leaders for U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers along the U.S.-Mexico border expressed concerns about the risk of illness and death to its members and the general public due to changes in policies previously used to enable social distancing at ports of entry during the coronavirus pandemic.

Border Patrol agents in Arizona and Texas arrested multiple previously deported sex offenders last week after they attempted to illegally make their way back into the United States.

Rio Grande Valley Sector Border Patrol officials announced the opening of its Emergency Operations Center (EOC) in response to the COVID-19 coronavirus public health crisis. The center will help officials coordinate with local, state, and other federal agencies.

Border Patrol agents assigned to interior immigration checkpoints in California and Arizona stopped two loads of methamphetamine from making their way to cities across the country.

National Border Patrol Council Vice President Chris Cabrera told Breitbart News the “felons only” deportation plan offered by former Vice President Joe Biden will cause a rush to the U.S. The candidate said he would completely halt deportations during his first 100 days and would thereafter only deport felons.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials announced contract awards for four new border wall segments in Starr County, Texas.