Texas Border Business
EDINBURG, Texas – Rio Grande Valley Sector Border Patrol continues working closely with federal, state, and local law enforcement partners in its mission to secure the border. Vehicle stops by Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) troopers led to the disruption of three human smuggling attempts in the Rio Grande Valley.
On Wednesday, DPS requested assistance from the Rio Grande City Border Patrol station with a vehicle bailout in Rio Grande City, Texas. Troopers and agents apprehended three migrants in that event. The driver was not located. Moments later, DPS again requested assistance with a vehicle stop, this time in La Rosita, Texas. Agents arrived on scene and determined DPS had interdicted a human smuggling attempt. DPS retained custody of the driver and agents took custody of three migrants.
This morning, McAllen Border Patrol Station agents responded to a call for assistance from DPS with a vehicle stop of a tractor trailer in Sullivan City, Texas. DPS encountered several individuals within the cab of the vehicle in an apparent human smuggling attempt. Troopers placed the driver under arrest for his role in the smuggling attempt. Agents interviewed the smuggled migrants and determined them to be nationals of Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, and Ecuador. Agents took custody of the 16 noncitizens and transported them to a processing facility. Record checks revealed that one of the smuggled migrants, a Mexican national, had a prior arrest and conviction for lewd acts with a child under 14 years old.
All subjects are being processed accordingly.
Even with the spread of the COVID-19 virus, human smugglers continue to try these brazen attempts with zero regard for the lives they endanger nor to the health of the citizens of our great nation. The U.S. Border Patrol agents of the Rio Grande Valley Sector will continue to safeguard the nation and community against these criminal elements.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection is the unified border agency within the Department of Homeland Security charged with the management, control and protection of our nation’s borders at and between the official ports of entry. CBP is charged with keeping terrorists and terrorist weapons out of the country while enforcing hundreds of U.S. laws.
