In a bust by Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) South Texas Region, in collaboration with other agencies, 13 suspects were arrested in connection with a human smuggling operation.
On Twitter, Texas DPS South Texas Region said on Sept. 1, “Texas DPS Pilot disrupted a human smuggling attempt by plane at a private airport in Edinburg. Two human smugglers attempted to smuggle 13 illegal immigrants from the Dominican Republic and El Salvador by chartering a plane to Houston. The smugglers were arrested.”
A human smuggling attempt involving an airplane was recently foiled by the Texas DPS, according to Fox News. During a ramp check on a Gulf Stream IV at 5 p.m. on Aug. 31, a DPS officer suspected that the aircraft was being used for human smuggling, and a particular group was displaying "some suspicious activity."
South Texas International Airport in Edinburg was the location, according to The Western Journal.
Maximo Diaz Jorge, who chartered the Gulf Stream, was contacted by the Texas DPS officer after he suspected foul play. The DPS officer asked Jorge for ID, and all three suspects fled, driving off in cars filled with migrants, according to Fox News. Jorge said the group of suspicious individuals were his employees at the oil company traveling to Houston for a baseball game.
In addition to the high-speed chase, two vehicles were engaged by the on-scene DPS Troopers for assistance with the three fleeing suspects, according to U.S. Customers and Border Protection. At this point, the drivers of both vehicles were arrested, which was followed by the seizure of both vehicles, and the arrest of 13 people trying to enter the country illegally from El Salvador and the Dominican Republic.
Four separate migrant smuggling bands were encountered by Border Patrol agents on Aug. 31 and Sept. 1, resulting in 30 arrests. The majority of these arrests were related to the Edinburg Airport incident.
Between October 2021 and September 2022, U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents apprehended 1.95 million illegal immigrants at the Southern border, many of them as a result of smuggling operations. Between October 2020 and September 2021, 1.73 million people were arrested at the Southern border, exceeding last year's number.
In an interview with the Austin Journal, Texas Public Policy Foundation Policy Scholar Selene Rodriguez said, “Human smuggling is the precursor of human trafficking. People who conspire with human smugglers to illegally enter the United States typically incur thousands of dollars of debt to make the trip. After entering the country illegally, these same people are often forced to pay off that debt through forced labor and sexual exploitation, which is the essence of the modern-day slavery that is human trafficking.”