EDINBURG, Texas – Rio Grande Valley Sector Border Patrol (RGV) agents and local law enforcement partners encountered three large groups and disrupted five human smuggling events resulting in 543 apprehensions.
Rio Grande City Station agents encountered three large groups totaling 517 noncitizens in Starr County in 24 hours span over the weekend. The groups consisted of 287 single adults, 143 family members, and 87 unaccompanied children. The migrants are from Central and South America, Kazakhstan, and Cuba.
On April 22, RGV agents initiated a traffic stop on a Chevrolet Malibu near Linn. The driver failed to yield to the marked service unit and a pursuit ensued. The vehicle veered off the road and multiple people fled. Agents apprehended five migrants illegally present in the U.S. The driver was not located.
On April 23, agents working at the Falfurrias Border Patrol (FLF) checkpoint referred a tractor trailer carrying produce to the secondary inspection area following a K-9 alert. Agents discovered three migrants under a tarp amongst the produce. The migrants are nationals of El Salvador and Columbia. Within the hour, another tractor trailer was encountered by FLF agents at the checkpoint and six non-citizens from Central America were discovered laying amongst pallets of produce.
Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) troopers observed a Volkswagen Jetta stop suddenly just south of the FLF checkpoint primary inspection lane on April 23. The driver unloaded several subjects and drove away. RGV agents with the assistance of DPS, apprehended three migrants in the nearby brush who had fled the vehicle. All were determined to be unlawfully present in the U.S. The agents were unable to locate the driver.
Later that evening, DPS requested assistance from the McAllen Border Patrol Station during a vehicle stop in Mission. Agents determined the driver, a citizen of Mexico, and the six passengers in the vehicle, citizens of Mexico, Guatemala, and Honduras, were unlawfully present in the U.S. DPS seized the vehicle and arrested the driver on charges of migrant smuggling.
Border Patrol processed all subjects accordingly.
Please visit www.cbp.gov to view additional news releases and other information pertaining to Customs and Border Protection. Follow us on Twitter @CBPRGV and @USBPChiefRGV.
~CBP~