Texas DPS disrupts human smuggling attempt near border

A Texas man was arrested on Saturday after allegedly smuggling six illegal immigrants in the back of his van for a few thousand dollars, video shows.

Texas Department of Public Safety working in Kinney County stopped a Ford Transit van driven by Lennear Ventress from Missouri City, Texas on US Route 90.

During the stop, the responding trooper saw six illegal immigrants from Mexico sitting in the cargo area.

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After spotting the illegal immigrants, the trooper told the driver to sit on the curb because he was being arrested for human smuggling.

Lieutenant Chris Olivarez of the Texas DPS said the driver told the trooper he was smuggling the immigrants from Eagle Pass to an unknown location and was getting paid $2,000. During the investigation, the illegal immigrants told the trooper they paid $8,000 to cross into the U.S. and be smuggled.

Operation Lone Star was launched as a border security initiative in response to a surge in illegal border crossings through Texas, along with President Biden’s immigration policies.

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Texas Gov. Gregg Abbott started the joint operation between the Texas Department of Public Safety and Texas National Guard. 

Since it began, there have been over 300,000 migrant apprehensions and more than 20,000 criminal arrests, according to the state of Texas.