OAN’s Brooke Mallory
5:23 PM – Wednesday, March 20, 2024
The U.S. Customs and Border Protection Office reported that in less than 48 hours, five different efforts at human smuggling into the country were foiled at a single port of entry, according to ABC News.
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Five attempts at human smuggling were discovered over the course of the weekend, beginning on Friday morning and continuing until Sunday, according to CBP.
Officers from the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Office of Field Operations (CBP) at the Del Rio Port of Entry in Texas discovered the attempts less than 48 hours apart.
When CBP officers stationed at the Del Rio International Bridge came across a passenger car being driven by a U.S. citizen arriving from Mexico on Friday morning at around 8 a.m., they referred all of the passengers in the vehicle for a secondary examination. This marked the first attempt at a breach.
It was found that the driver had produced two U.S. passports—one for an adult female and one for a minor male—during the inspection and questioning process. According to CBP, an additional investigation revealed that both passengers were without proper entry documentation.
On Saturday, at approximately 3 a.m., CBP officers encountered a second passenger vehicle driven by a female United States citizen arriving from Mexico, and the driver presented a U.S. birth certificate for an adult female, said CBP. A CBP officer decided it was necessary to conduct a secondary examination, which subsequently revealed that the passenger was actually a Mexican citizen with no valid documents to enter or travel to the U.S.
The third attempted breach happened about an hour later, at 4 a.m. on Saturday morning, when CBP officers encountered a passenger vehicle driven by another female who claimed to be a U.S. citizen arriving from Mexico. The driver presented two U.S. birth certificates for two adult male passengers that had been posing as minors, said the CBP. However, the entrance documents did not belong to them, according to CBP officials, after conducting a secondary inspection and interviewing each passenger.
A fourth human smuggling attempt took place on Saturday night at around 9 p.m., just over 12 hours later, when CBP officers came across a passenger car driven by a male Mexican citizen who was arriving from Mexico. After looking into his documentation further, they learned that the driver and his wife, who is also a Mexican citizen, were attempting to conceal an adult male in the vehicle’s cargo area.
“The male was later identified as their adult son, a citizen and national of Mexico, with no valid entry documents,” CBP said.
The last incident at Texas’ Del Rio Port of Entry happened on Sunday morning at around 7 a.m., when CBP agents came upon a passenger car driven by a female resident of the United States who was traveling from Mexico. The driver showed a juvenile female’s U.S. birth certificate, according to CBP.
“A CBP officer referred all vehicle passengers for a secondary examination,” CBP said. “Through interview and examination, CBP officers discovered the minor was [actually] a Mexican citizen with no valid documents to enter or travel to the U.S.”
CBP officials detained the drivers and impounded their vehicles.
“These five significant events serve as a resounding reminder that violating U.S. immigration law can carry significant legal and criminal consequences. The skillset applied in uncovering these would-be smuggling attempts serves as a testament to our unwavering commitment to our border security mission,” said Port Director Liliana Flores.
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