(The Center Square) – Texas Department of Public Safety troopers and Texas National Guard soldiers continue to apprehend alleged human smugglers and “special interest aliens” (SIAs) at the border as part of Gov. Greg Abbott’s border security mission, Operation Lone Star.
In Hidalgo County, Texas DPS troopers foiled a human smuggling event and apprehended an alleged human smuggler, a 17-year-old male from Mission, Texas.
The alleged smuggler led DPS troopers on a high-speed chase through a residential area, past stop signs, into oncoming traffic, and drove through a red light at a busy intersection. The driver eventually lost control of the vehicle and crashed into an electric pole. He then bailed out of the car, jumped over a fence and ran. Two inside the vehicle, both Mexican nationals in the country illegally, also bailed out and ran. Another six remained inside the vehicle, five men and one woman.
The driver and the two Mexicans who bailed out were caught. The driver was found hiding inside a large cardboard box on the floor of a horse stall. He was charged with smuggling of persons with the likelihood of serious bodily injury or death and evading arrest. All eight Mexican nationals in the country illegally were referred to Border Patrol.
A 17-year-old human smuggler driving a Pontiac G6 led DPS Troopers on a high-speed pursuit in Hidalgo County this week. The driver, Alejandro Balderrama, Jr. from Mission, ran several red traffic lights and eventually lost control of the vehicle. After crashing into a light pole, Balderrama bailed out and ran toward the several residential yards. He was soon located hiding in a horse stall, attempting to conceal himself inside a cardboard box. Two illegal immigrants from Mexico also bailed out of the vehicle with Balderrama but were apprehended by DPS Brush Team Troopers. Six additional illegal immigrants from Mexico remained inside the vehicle. Balderrama was charged with smuggling of persons with the likelihood of serious bodily injury or death and evading arrest. All eight illegal immigrants were referred to Border Patrol.
DPS troopers also foiled a human smuggling event in Webb County. The driver, a Mexican citizen illegally in the country, led troopers on a high-speed chase in a residential neighborhood at night. The driver ran through several stop signs, and at the last one, drove into oncoming traffic and caused a car accident.
The driver also crashed into a DPS Special Agent’s vehicle, causing the airbag to discharge. The agent survived. Multiple people bailed out of the vehicle and began running throughout the neighborhood. Law enforcement officers pursued on foot. The driver resisted arrest and assaulted a Border Patrol agent, DPS said.
The driver was caught, arrested and charged with three counts of smuggling of persons, evading arrest, and assault on a peace officer. Three Mexican nationals, all in the country illegally, were referred to Border Patrol.
A human smuggler driving a Chevy Malibu led DPS Troopers on a high-speed pursuit in Webb County this week. During the pursuit, the smuggler, Guillermo Osto Navarette, an illegal immigrant from Mexico, disregarded several stop signs and crashed into a DPS Special Agent. Upon exiting the vehicle, Navarette resisted arrest and assaulted a Border Patrol Agent. Troopers arrested Navarette and charged him with three counts of smuggling of persons, evading arrest and assault on a peace officer. Three illegal immigrants, also from Mexico, who were being smuggled in the vehicle were referred to Border Patrol.
Also this week, DPS troopers stopped multiple large groups, including more than 500 illegal border crossers in Maverick County alone. Among them were 39 special interest aliens, The Center Square reported, including men from Iran. They were also from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Egypt, the Republic of Mali, and Turkey.
Troopers also recovered more than 100 unaccompanied children from these groups.
Further west, Texas National Guard soldiers thwarted a large group’s attempted illegal crossing in an area where Texas, Mexico, and New Mexico converge, in the CBP El Paso Sector where Texas OLS has been working with Border Patrol to apprehend illegal border crossers coming into Texas from New Mexico.
In one instance, Texas National Guard soldiers detected six men in the brush along the Rio Grande River near a bridge and positioned drones to observe. Several attempted to evade capture; eight turned back to Mexico and two others were arrested.
In the CBP Big Bend Sector, a DPS Task Force West drone team detected a group of illegal border crossers near Sanderson attempting to evade capture. The team maintained watch over the group as Texas National Guard ground units and law enforcement partners moved to stop them; five were arrested.
Since Abbott launched OLS, OLS officers have apprehended 523,100 illegal border crossers and made more than 47,800 criminal arrests with more than 41,300 felony charges reported. OLS officers have also seized 551 million lethal doses of fentanyl – enough to kill everyone in the U.S. and Mexico combined.
This article was originally published at www.thecentersquare.com
