Border patrol agents reportedly uncovered a people smuggling operation in the Texas desert after human traffickers boasted on social media.
Terrell County Sheriff Thaddeus Cleveland told the New York Post that cartels were gloating on social media, citing a YouTube video depicting illegal immigrants racing to a car.
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One of our agents spotted it; we recognized the place, which allowed us to approach this region approximately five miles north of Sanderson.
The relevant YouTube video shows migrants emerging from bushes in the West Texas desert and hopping aboard a pickup truck.
The Post stated that Cleveland said Border Patrol agents pinpointed the exact location of what authorities call a lay-up place, where migrants stop after illegally entering the United States.
This is their final stop before being picked up a couple hundred yards to the north on the highway As reporters toured the location, the sheriff informed a newspaper. There is an excellent canopy for shade while they wait to be picked up. This region provides excellent hiding and cover.
Cleveland stated that migrants will stay at these layover locations until a vehicle picks them up and transports them further into the United States. The sheriff of a county with a population of approximately 760 people stated that migrant arrests have increased by 540% during the past two years.
Cleveland remarked that he was surprised to see the lay-up area. Due to the amount of trash they had accumulated, they were certainly successful in this area and did not want to be discovered by agents or landowners.
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Cleveland Demands Support Over Border Crisis
During the bust operation, a border agent posed as a smuggler and waited in a truck, according to the sheriff. According to the Post, he eventually honked the vehicle’s horn and five camouflaged migrants ran from hiding areas and entered the automobile.
Cleveland recently sent a letter to Texas’s Republican governor, Greg Abbott, demanding further support for his three-person team and the 50 Border Patrol personnel permanently assigned to the region.
Cleveland is unable to post a law enforcement officer at the newly identified lay-up place until Texas troopers arrive, despite the state’s willingness to dispatch troopers to the area.
They will return and utilize those locations once more, he warned. It’s a game of numbers. They utilize numerous sites, and they’ll move about for a while until they believe we’ve forgotten about it, but we continue to monitor them because of this.
The Post stated that law enforcement officers saw 7,400 illegal border crossers in Terrell County last year, in addition to 8,000 getaways.
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