Texas Cops, Border Agents Apprehend Large Migrant Groups, Marijuana Load

Texas Department of Public Safety troopers teamed up with Border Patrol agents to interdict drug and human smuggling incidents near the Rio Grande border with Mexico. Agents also apprehended two large migrant groups who crossed near Rio Grande City, Texas.

Texas DPS troopers assigned to Governor Greg Abbott’s Operation Lone Star received information from a Rio Grande Valley Sector Border Patrol camera operator who observed an All-Terrain-Vehicle (ATV) loaded with what appeared to be migrants and bundles of marijuana moving north from the border near Escobares. DPS spokesman Lt. Christopher Olivarez tweeted photos of the vehicle after troopers made the apprehension.

3 drug smugglers from MX attempted to smuggle 4 bundles of narcotics by ATV in Starr Co. The ATV, driving w/o lights, collided w/ a parked @TxDPS patrol unit. 1 smuggler fled on foot & 2 were arrested. #OperationLoneStar pic.twitter.com/eOyR7zsCXM

— Chris Olivarez (@LtChrisOlivarez) November 8, 2022

The driver of the ATV, a Mexican national, sustained an arm injury after he collided with a DPS vehicle. The troopers placed him under arrest after they found approximately 182 pounds of marijuana packed in bundles.

Troopers arrested another migrant, also a Mexican national illegally present in the United States. The third suspect fled back across the border to Mexico.

Rio Grande City Station Border Patrol agents also encountered two large migrant groups in as many days, Rio Grande Valley Sector Chief Patrol Agent Gloria I. Chavez tweeted. The agents apprehended 283 migrants in the two groups that crossed near La Grulla, Texas.

Kudos to Rio Grande City agents who encountered groups of 100+ migrants on consecutive days in La Grulla, TX, totaling 283 migrants. RGC agents also arrested a migrant hauling marijuana on an ATV with the assistance of @TxDPSSouth! Well done RGC! https://t.co/QVCDyMMFla pic.twitter.com/dej6htu5rf

— Chief Patrol Agent Gloria I. Chavez (@USBPChiefRGV) November 7, 2022

Border Patrol officials reported the two groups contained 44 family members, 58 unaccompanied minors, and 181 single adults who came to Texas from Jamaica, and “various Central and South American countries,” Rio Grande Valley Sector Border Patrol officials said in a written statement.