An illegal immigrant from Honduras killed a tracking dog as he tried to evade law enforcement 180 miles from the Texas-Mexico border, say police. Authorities were tracking the man after he fled a traffic stop involving a human smuggling attempt.

The incident occurred this week in Refugio County, an area northeast of Corpus Christi, Texas. According to information released by Refugio County Sheriff Pinky Gonzalez, a Texas State Trooper pulled over an SUV along U.S. Highway 77 and was in the process of questioning the driver when two illegal immigrants ran away into the brush. The trooper arrested the male driver who was identified as a U.S. citizen from Kingsville, Texas, and is under investigation for human smuggling.

The trooper radioed for assistance and began a search of the area. Authorities called a local kennel that provided non-violent tracking dogs used for manhunts. Unlike police K-9s, the trackers are not trained to bite. Authorities were able to track down a migrant four miles from the scene of the initial traffic stop.

Authorities were not able to find the second migrant who is considered the suspect for killing one of the dogs with a knife.

Last September, Breitbart News reported on a similar case in Aransas County, where a cartel-connected migrant fleeing from law enforcement killed two tracking dogs from the same kennel.

Ildefonso Ortiz is an award-winning journalist with Breitbart Texas. He co-founded the Cartel Chronicles project with Brandon Darby and Stephen K. Bannon.  You can follow him on Twitter and on Facebook. He can be contacted at Iortiz@breitbart.com. 

Brandon Darby is the managing director and editor-in-chief of Breitbart Texas. He co-founded the Cartel Chronicles project with Ildefonso Ortiz and Stephen K. Bannon. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook. He can be contacted at bdarby@breitbart.com.