Teens arrested in immigrant smuggling
March 03, 2011 10:22 PM
THE BROWNSVILLE HERALD

A 15-year-old and a 17-year-old were arrested by Border Patrol for allegedly attempting to smuggle three undocumented immigrants Tuesday.

Alejandro Bautista Faustino, 17, was charged with three counts of unlawful transport of a person, according to official records. He has been detained in the county jail, records say. Authorities said he admitted to giving a false date of birth, at first indicating that he was only 16.

A 15-year-old male was detained and sent to a juvenile facility, authorities said. He was not identified.

The two teen said they were paid to smuggle people from El Salvador and Honduras into the U.S., according to a Cameron County Sheriff’s Department affidavit.

They were caught in an area south of the roadway Palacio Real and Calle Milpa Verde Road in Brownsville, the affidavit says.

Border Patrol agents observed a group of five people near the Rio Grande River in Mexico. A short time later, agents found the same group had crossed into the U.S. and after a “brief foot chaseâ€