EDINBURG, Texas – Rio Grande Valley Sector Border Patrol (RGV) agents interdicted nine migrant smuggling events resulting in more than 400 arrests and seized marijuana bundles valued in excess of $93,000 USD.
Just after midnight on April 12, RGV agents and Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) troopers observed a group of approximately 15 subjects walking away from the Rio Grande near Roma. Some were carrying large bundles suspected of being marijuana. Agents observed multiple people load into a Ford Expedition in an area commonly used to pick up migrants and narcotics. As agents approached the vehicle, all occupants immediately fled into the brush. Two bundles of marijuana, weighing 116 pounds and valued at more than $93,000 USD, were seized and 13 migrants unlawfully present in the U.S . were apprehended. Among the group was a four-year-old boy with his mother from Guatemala. The other migrants were from Mexico, Central America, and the Dominican Republic. The driver was not located.
Yesterday, with the assistance of state and local law enforcement agencies, RGV agents made over 40 migrant apprehensions from six vehicle pursuits. Additionally, Falfurrias Border Patrol Station agents rescued seven migrants from a locked refrigerated tractor trailer at the checkpoint. At the time of the encounter, the temperature of the trailer was 51 degrees.
Early this morning, Rio Grande City agents encountered two large groups in Starr County resulting in 355 apprehensions. The groups were comprised of 181 single adults, 132 family members, 42 unaccompanied children. The migrants were from the Caribbean and various Central and South American countries.
All subjects were processed accordingly.
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