Texas troopers involved in a high-speed chase with an alleged human smuggler discovered 10 migrants crammed inside the car, including at least three in the trunk.
Footage of the pursuit along Interstate 35 in Webb County ended with Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) troopers apprehending the suspect on October 30.
In October, Newsweek reported that border agents were facing illegal immigration hot spots along the southern border where cameras had been inoperable for up to a year.
The chase began when DPS troopers spotted a Dodge Charger suspected of transporting immigrants who were in the U.S. illegally.
Troopers attempted to stop the vehicle, but the driver—identified as Jaime Gonzalez, a Laredo resident—responded by leading officers on a car chase, Chris Olivarez, a DPS spokesperson, said in a post on X, formerly Twitter.
Gonzalez swerved through parking lots and neighborhood streets to evade law enforcement, Olivarez continued.
Using a maneuver, DPS troopers were eventually able to bring the car to a halt. Upon inspection, they discovered 10 migrants from Mexico crammed inside the vehicle—including two children ages 8 and 9, the post said.
Olivarez wrote: "Troopers charged Gonzalez with eight counts of smuggling of persons with the likelihood of serious bodily injury or death, two counts of smuggling of persons under the age of 18, evading arrest with the likelihood of serious bodily injury or death and reckless driving."
All 10 individuals found in the vehicle have been referred to U.S. Border Patrol for further processing.
Hector Garza, the vice president of the National Border Patrol Council, previously told Newsweek about faulty cameras along the U.S.-Mexico border, "This has been a severe problem for at least the last eight months." He added: "We did not realize how severe it was. At first we thought that it was a problem in the Laredo sector, but came to find out that this is a big nationwide issue."
In October, DPS engaged in a high-speed chase, ultimately arresting a Guatemalan national suspected of human smuggling after finding nine migrants in the vehicle.
As part of Texas Governor Greg Abbott's $11 million Operation Lone Star, launched in 2021 to curb illegal migration, DPS has been deployed to disrupt smuggling activities along the border.
Immigration and border security are key issues for voters in next week's election.
Polling by Redfield & Wilton Strategies on behalf of Newsweek showed 68 percent of Americans believed the federal government should adopt a more hard-line approach to immigration.
According to a poll by Gallup, a slight majority of respondents backed Trump's flagship border wall policy from his tenure in the White House, as 53 percent supported significantly expanding the construction of walls along the U.S.-Mexico border, up 13 points since 2019.
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