U.S. Customs and Border Protection

EDINBURG (News Release) – Rio Grande Valley Sector Border Patrol (RGV) agents and local law enforcement partners disrupted five human smuggling events resulting in 19 arrests.

On August 12, the McAllen Border Patrol Station (MCS) received information of a vehicle loading up suspected migrants south of Mission. An MCS camera operator located the suspected vehicle, a Honda Accord, and an agent attempted to initiate a vehicle stop. The driver of the Honda failed to yield and led agents on a vehicle pursuit. Palmview Police Department officers responded and encountered the vehicle abandoned. Agents searched the area and arrested four migrants illegally present in the United States; the driver of the vehicle was not located.

The following morning, MCS agents responded to a request for assistance from Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) troopers with three suspected migrants at a vehicle stop in Mission. Agents determined the three individuals were nationals of Mexico and unlawfully present in the U.S. A trooper recognized and confirmed one of the Mexican nationals was a driver from an earlier DPS vehicle pursuit, where agents apprehended four migrants, but the driver eluded apprehension. DPS took custody of that individual to charge him with evading arrest and smuggling of persons, the other two migrants were transported to the station.

Later that afternoon, Weslaco Border Patrol Station agents were led on a vehicle pursuit with a Ford Expedition. The driver stopped momentarily during the pursuit to allow passengers to unload the vehicle and then sped away. Agents apprehended four migrants from Mexico and encountered the Expedition abandoned in a nearby neighborhood. The driver was not located.

Shortly after midnight on August 14, Falfurrias Border Patrol Station (FLF) agents, DPS, and the Brooks County Sheriff’s Office were pursuing a Ford Expedition near La Gloria when the driver slowed the vehicle south of Premont and three subjects bailed out before speeding away again. Agents apprehended the three illegal migrants. The vehicle eventually came to a stop in Premont where a Jim Wells Sheriff’s County deputy arrested the driver, a U.S. citizen, to face state charges.

Border Patrol processed all subjects accordingly.