Nearly 60 migrants were crammed into the bed of Penske’s truck, officials said.
Texas Department of Public Safety found migrants boarding the back of a well-worn rental truck west of El Paso on Wednesday, Texas DPS said.
The driver, identified as Marquez Ovier, an illegal immigrant from Mexico, has been arrested and faces federal smuggling charges, according to the Texas DPS.
Texas DPS troopers patrol amid police staffing crisis in Austin City
A total of 58 illegal immigrants were found in the bed of Penske trucks in El Paso smuggling raids (Texas Department of Public Safety)
Law enforcement referred 58 migrants, including 49 men and 9 women from Mexico, El Salvador and Guatemala, to border patrols.
Authorities said there were several other border raids, including a child smuggling scandal and 30 illegal immigrants hiding in a cave in camouflage uniforms.
Texas DPS troopers patrol amid police staffing crisis in Austin City
During a traffic stop in Kinney County, Texas, troopers found four illegal immigrants in their car, including girls aged 14 and 16, according to the Texas DPS, which released a one-minute body camera video on Twitter. .
After opening the backseat door, a law enforcement officer can be heard saying, “There are two children in the back,” on body camera video.
A total of 58 illegal immigrants were found in the bed of Penske trucks in El Paso smuggling raids (Texas Department of Public Safety)
Another person was found in the truck of a Jeep Grand Cherokee.
About halfway through the video, the officer tells the woman that she’s been arrested for smuggling and tightens cuffs around her wrists.
Massive group of 1,000 illegal immigrants reach southern border, nearing end of Title 42
“You’re arresting the wrong person,” one of the suspects told officers.
The officer replied, “Who should be arrested?”
The suspect, identified only as a San Antonio resident, said: “Cartels. They’re killing people, sex trafficking and all bad things.”
“These are the same people who sent you here,” the officer was heard telling the suspect.
Texas DPS Air Ops also found 30 illegal immigrants hiding in caves in Culberson County, south of Van Horn in the Big Bend sector.
Footage released by the Texas DPS shows agents pointing to where the migrants were hiding. Immigrants blend into the surrounding rock and are only visible when agents approach them.
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It’s been a daily bust since Texas Governor Greg Abbott launched Operation Lone Star in March 2021 in response to a rise in illegal immigration.
In May 2022, he issued a disaster declaration covering 48 counties, most of which are at or near borders, and instructed the DPS to “use available resources to cover all applicable federal I have directed laws and state laws to be enforced and to prevent criminal activity along our borders: trespassing, smuggling, human trafficking…”
