US Border Patrol and Texas State Police are joining forces to target human smugglers who transport undocumented migrants across a stretch of the US southern border. In a dramatic chase, Texas authorities chased this white truck driven by a suspected smuggler to the Rio Grande where he hopped on a waiting raft and escaped capture back to Mexico. Texas Department of Public Safety Lieutenant Christopher Olivarez explained that the smugglers employ a highly organized system with lookouts, drones, guides and radios - and that system is controlled by Mexican cartels.
VIDEO: Texas state troopers in the vehicle chasing the suspected smuggler vehicle
"Usually, on the Mexican side, the criminals, the smugglers will fly a drone to see where law enforcement is at. Then once they feel it's clear, they'll bring people across the river," Olivarez said. "This individual left his radio behind. So they're constantly communicating with people in Mexico while they're being chased, that way they can try to find a way to evade capture, which in this case, the driver was able to. There was nobody in the truck but when we looked across the river, there’s probably about 10 more people that were looking to cross over the river but we were able to stop them which is a good thing.”
Authorities use drone to track migrants
Authorities use the resources and officers of both law enforcement organizations to locate, track and apprehend smugglers and migrants. On Tuesday (July 11), authorities used drones to track a group of migrants and then set off on foot to search the brush to detain them. Olivarez said the operation has been going on for a year and has resulted in a number of arrests.
"The focus of this operation is to go after the smuggling guides that are bringing people across the river illegally from Mexico. We want to focus on those guides and be able to arrest them for human smuggling and file state charges on them," he said. "It’s been a very effective operation. We have made well over 100 arrests over the course of the last year since we started this operation. And that is particularly targeting smuggling guides.”
(With inputs from agency)
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