WATCH: 7 Migrants, Alleged Teen Smuggler Arrested After Chase near Border in Texas

A 15-year-old Mexican national is under arrest for human smuggling and evading arrest following a high-speed pursuit, according to Texas Department of Public Safety officials. The smuggler allegedly drove with seven migrants who were also apprehended.

The Mexican teen who is also illegally present in the United States, DPS officials stated, led troopers on a high-speed pursuit in Hidalgo County, Texas, on Valentine’s Day. The dashcam video from the trooper’s SUV shows the dangerous chase which ended when the driver and seven migrants bailed out on a dirt road about a mile from the Texas border with Mexico.

#RGV: A 15-year-old from Mexico led a @TxDPS Trooper on a high-speed chase in Mission. The driver & 7 illegal immigrants bailed out & ran – all were apprehended. The driver was charged w/ smuggling & evading. He was processed & booked into juvenile detention. #OperationLoneStar pic.twitter.com/vBWNlSgKZy

— Chris Olivarez (@LtChrisOlivarez) February 15, 2023

Troopers, working in the Rio Grande Valley under Governor Greg Abbott’s Operation Lone Star, arrested the teenage “illegal immigrant” on charges of human smuggling and evading arrest, Texas DPS spokesman Lt. Chris Olivarez said in the tweet above.

“We continue to see an uptick involving juvenile smugglers who are recruited by transnational criminal organizations,” Olivarez told Fox News Digital on Wednesday. “In some cases, we encounter juvenile smugglers who are illegal immigrants.”

“They are used to cross into the U.S. for the sole purpose to smuggle both people and drugs,” Olivarez explained.

Olivarez said human smuggling organizations are increasingly using social media posts that specifically target teenagers.

One reason for this, Olivarez continued is the transnational criminal organizations engaged in migrant smuggling are “well aware of the lenient consequences involving juveniles.”

Bob Price serves as associate editor and senior news contributor for the Breitbart Texas-Border team. He is an original member of the Breitbart Texas team. Price is a regular panelist on Fox 26 Houston’s What’s Your Point? Sunday-morning talk show. Follow him on Twitter @BobPriceBBTX and Facebook.