Thread: Police chase nabs criminal illegals

Immigrant chase ends on Moody Street bridge
August 21, 2007 - Posted at 12:00 a.m.
BY APRILL BRANDON - VICTORIA ADVOCATE

The pursuit and detention of 16 illegal immigrants in Victoria on Monday by local law enforcement highlights a much larger problem, the sheriff said.
"We've been saying for three years that this is organized crime, not some mom and pop organization," Sheriff T. Michael O'Connor said. "People from Houston are coming to the border area, picking these people up and taking them back to Houston."

O'Connor added that these are well-organized groups, some tied to cartels and gangs. The driver of the vehicle Monday was using back roads through Goliad County, like Farm-to-Market roads 622 and 236, which O'Connor said shows the driver knew the area very well and was purposely avoiding main thoroughfares.

The pursuit began at 9:11 a.m. when Goliad County Sheriff's Office received a report of possible illegal immigrants being smuggled on Tower Road in the Schroeder community.

The pursuit lasted about 25 miles ending at the Moody Street bridge in Victoria. Fourteen of the immigrants were detained right away, O'Connor said. Two of the men in their mid-20s, including the driver, jumped into the Guadalupe River to escape. Officers pulled the driver from the river a few minutes later.

Through questioning, officers found out that the driver is an illegal immigrant who has been living in Houston for the past 10 years with his wife and children.

With traffickers able to earn $2,000 to $5,000 per person per one-way trip, O'Connor said it's simple economics.

"This is more than trafficking. We can't say much more right now, but we know something much deeper is going on," he said.
O'Connor also said that some of the illegal immigrants on these trips through Victoria are smuggling in cocaine and marijuana in their backpacks.

He did not say if the immigrants detained Monday had drugs in their belongings.

He added that the driver will be turned over to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and federal trafficking charges will likely be filed. The other 14 illegal immigrants, which included five juveniles ranging in age from 5-16, will be processed and likely deported to their homes.

The 16th person detained, O'Connor believed, is the one law enforcement was searching for in the Guadalupe River. Rescuers searched the river for three hours, but never found him in the river.

An illegal immigrant, with a description similar to the missing man, was pursued and detained a short time later around the area where the truck stopped near the Moody Street bridge, O'Connor said.

When the man was found, his pants and socks were soaking wet but he refused to verify he was the same man in the river, O'Connor added.

The sheriff said the man will be detained locally until officials can verify he is the same man or they find someone else. Recovery efforts in the river will continue today.

"It's frustrating. We are using a lot of resources trying to look for someone we might already have, but we can't give up on the search until we know for sure," he said.
Aprill Brandon is a reporter for the Advocate. Contact her at 361-580-6514 or abrandon@vicad.com, or comment on this story here.



http://www.thevictoriaadvocate.com/428/ ... 09520.html

Its time to enact.......... something like the RICO laws. Put the Smuggler away for many, many generations; hard labor, hard labor, hard labor until they pass away into the dust

Smuggling is illegal already and they should increase the jail time and fines for those caught. It should also include Cubans as they get smuggled in by go fast boats and often have relatives waiting at the spot they make land. Very seldom do Cubans arrive here on rafts of flaoting vehicles. Smuggling Cubans is big business down here. I was once told that a smuggler with a go fast boat could make $20,000 to $25,000 per run. A few days ago Cuban authorities called the coast guard after witnessing 19 people on a go fast boat. The coast guard caught the boat and passengers where sent back to Cuba and the smugglers were arrested.