Human Smuggling - Page 26

The arrest of migrants illegally crossing the border from Mexico into the U.S. jumped for the fourth straight month — increasing by more than 200 percent from the low point in April. The increases in arrests come despite the continuing threat of COVID-19 infection and the almost certainty that under Title 42, they will be returned to Mexico when arrested.

An 18-wheeler driver disrupted a human smuggling attempt after he noticed the seal on his trailer was broken. The discovery led to the apprehension of 10 migrants.

Rio Grande Valley Sector Border Patrol agents disrupted eight human smuggling attempts during a three-day period ending on Friday. The interdictions led to the arrest of seven human smugglers and 53 migrants.

Border Patrol agents in Puerto Rico and local police intercepts a large load of cocaine and arrested four illegal aliens from the Dominican Republic. The failed smuggling attempt resulted in the seizure of nearly $15 million worth of cocaine.

Del Rio Sector Border Patrol agents arrested a previously deported Mexican national with a murder conviction. The agents found the man hiding on a train after he illegally re-entered the United States.

Buffalo Sector Border Patrol agents arrested six migrants who illegally crossed the Canadian border into New York. At least four had previously been deported from the United States.

Border Patrol agents from the Tucson Sector encountered Mexican nationals hiking through the desert carrying backpacks. The agent seized more than 100 pounds of methamphetamine being carried by the “drug mules.”

Tucson Sector Border Patrol agents disrupted a pair of unrelated human smuggling incidents with migrants packed into the hot trunks of vehicles. Outside temperatures in the area reached well above 100 degrees.

Land, sea, and ground-based federal agents disrupted a human smuggler attempt off the coast of California led to the arrest of nine migrants. The smugglers attempted to use the cover of darkness to move the migrants in a panga from Mexico to California.

Del Rio Sector Border Patrol agents teamed up with state and local law enforcement officers in Texas to stop 12 human smuggling attempts during a two-day period. The effort led to the arrest of 14 smugglers and the apprehension of 48 migrants.

Border Patrol agents in the Rio Grande Valley Sector continue to lead the nation in the apprehension of migrants illegally crossing from Mexico. Under Title 42 Coronavirus protection protocols put in place by the CDC, nearly all are expelled to Mexico within a few hours of arrest.

El Centro Sector Border Patrol agents arrested a female child molester after she allegedly attempted to smuggle two migrants into the California interior.

Laredo Sector Border Patrol agents worked with local police to shut down three human smuggling stash houses along the Texas border with Mexico. The August 11 raids resulted in the recovery of 35 migrants.

Laredo Sector Border Patrol agents recovered a stolen pickup truck and apprehended 22 migrants following a traffic stop about 30 miles north of the Texas border with Mexico. Agents found 16 of the 22 migrants locked in a horse trailer.

A Rio Grande Valley Sector Border Patrol EMT rescued a Mexican migrant who suffered a snake bite after illegally crossing into Texas. Agents in the sector rescued three other migrants in separate incidents.

Houlton Sector Border Patrol agents arrested a Chinese woman after she illegally crossed the border from Canada. During a search, the agents found the woman to be in possession of 13 gold bars and $10,000 in U.S. currency.

Tucson Sector Border Patrol agents arrested 30 migrants after a human smuggler packed them into a stolen pickup truck. The migrants, all Mexican nationals, included women and children, officials stated.

Rio Grande Valley Sector Border Patrol agents and local police arrested an armed migrant after shots rang out in a human smuggling stash house in Texas near the border with Mexico. Border Patrol agents found nine migrants and a U.S. citizen inside the McAllen, Texas, home.

El Centro Sector Border Patrol agents rescued 10 migrants who became lost and distressed in the heat of California desert after illegally crossing the border from Mexico. The rescued migrants included a 14-year-old girl who became extremely overheated and dehydrated.

Laredo Sector Border Patrol agents teamed up with state and local law enforcement to shut down a human smuggling stash house near the Texas border with Mexico. The raid on the house located about five blocks from the Rio Grande River led to the apprehension of 51 migrants.

El Paso Sector Border Patrol agents apprehended a Salvadoran migrant who is wanted on a homicide charge in Virginia. The agents found the man hiding in the bathroom of a passenger bus at an interior immigration checkpoint.

Border Patrol agents found two Korean women in a human smuggling stash house in the Rio Grande Valley near the Texas border with Mexico. Officials said it is uncommon to find Korean migrants in stash houses.

A U.S. Customs and Border Protection Air and Marine Operations aircrew teamed up with a Coast Guard vessel to rescue 14 people from a capsized human smuggling boat. During the interdiction, officials found three packages containing 82 pounds of methamphetamine in the water off the coast of San Diego, California.

Laredo Sector Border Patrol agents interdicted a human smuggling attempt where 37 migrants were packed into a livestock trailer. The agents found the migrants after a short pursuit where the alleged smuggler drove off the road and through a fence.

Rio Grande Valley Sector U.S. Border Patrol agents and Hidalgo County Constables Office (HCCO) Precinct 4 deputies teamed up to disrupt a stash house operation occurring in a rural neighborhood near Mission, Texas.

A federal judge in the Southern District of Texas handed down prison sentences to three men involved in human smuggling and stash house operations. The trio smuggled more than 1,000 people in less than a year into Texas under extremely dangerous conditions.

Laredo Sector Border Patrol agents apprehended nearly 110 migrants in a 24-hour period in two separate human smuggling interactions. One involved a human smuggling stash house in Laredo, Texas. The second involved a tractor-trailer interdiction at an interior immigration checkpoint.

Rio Grande Valley Sector Border Patrol agents apprehended 33 migrants they found in cargo areas of commercial trucks in two separate incidents. The agents found 13 migrants in the cargo area of one truck and 20 more in a second. Additionally, agents rescued a Guatemalan woman in Brooks County, Texas, who had been abandoned by human smugglers.

El Centro Sector Border Patrol agents rescued a migrant woman and an unaccompanied minor after smugglers abandoned them in the Jacumba Wilderness. The smugglers abandoned the pair after the minor sprained his ankle.

Deputies in Brooks County, Texas, recovered the remains of five migrants in the past month who died while attempting to circumvent the Falfurrias Border Patrol Checkpoint located about 80 miles north of the border.

Laredo Sector Border Patrol agents disrupted a human smuggling attempt at an interior immigration checkpoint in South Texas on July 13. The interdiction led to the arrest of 35 migrants who were locked in a dangerously hot trailer.

Yuma Sector Border Patrol agents interdicted multiple human smuggling attempts leading to the arrest of five alleged human smugglers and 24 migrants. The arrests occurred between July 9-12 in southwestern Arizona and southeastern California.

Despite the dangers from the spread of COVID-19, Mexican cartel-connected human smugglers continue to warehouse their “cargo” in stash houses in communities along the Texas border with Mexico. Most recently, Rio Grande Valley Sector Border Patrol agents apprehended a group of migrants being stashed in a home in Rio Grande City, Texas.

Yuma Sector Border Patrol agents recovered the bodies of two migrants who died after being abandoned in the 100-plus degree heat of the Arizona desert. Agents rescued a third migrant who managed to call for help.

El Centro Sector Border Patrol agents carried out four separate rescue operations during an 18-hour period last week. The operations resulted in the rescue of seven illegal aliens in distress in the Jacumba Wilderness Region in Southern California.

Border Patrol agents in South Texas carried out multiple rescues of migrants as summertime temperatures approached the century mark. Agents rescued at least four who became distressed or dehydrated after illegally crossing the border from Mexico and one who suffered a snake bite while attempting to sneak around an interior immigration checkpoint.