La Joya PD seizes cars, offers them up for auction
By Zack Quaintance/The Monitor
April 27, 2008 - 11:31PM

LA JOYA - Local police officers often camp out as early as 5 a.m. to observe areas on the city's south side where human smugglers pick up immigrants.



From those surveillances, patrol car videos regularly show drivers and their cargo running into the brush as soon as police approach, leaving the vehicle behind.



City police spokesman Officer Joe Cantu estimates 80 illegal immigrants go through his jurisdiction area each day - as part of a massive human smuggling corridor that runs from Peñitas to the colonia of Havana, just west of Sullivan City. The human smugglers often use large trucks and cars to ferry illegal immigrants across the rural areas of the U.S.-Mexico border.



To stop them, the La Joya Police Department is using state funding under a program known as Operation Border Star to confiscate the organizations' vehicles.



In a matter of six days recently - from April 18 through Wednesday - officers took five vehicles away from people they say were smuggling humans. These cars and trucks now sit in front of the department, up for auction through Tuesday.



There's a 2000 Dodge Intrepid with some damage to the driver's side door.



There's a 1994 green Cadillac that's missing a key, meaning police officials aren't sure how well it runs because they haven't been able to start the vehicle.



And there's a wide selection of the heavy trucks most often used to smuggle humans.



"You can get a car for parts or you can get a good deal," Cantu said. "It just depends on the luck of the draw."



La Joya police plan to continue pressing human smugglers, armed with the Operation Border Star, which allows them to afford the over time pay required to keep officers on the clock to pursue the human smugglers.



The program also facilitates information sharing among the agencies, which at this point include La Joya, Rio Grande City and the Starr County Sheriff's Office - a massive effort to curb the growing problem with human smuggling operations.



BREAKOUT

If interested in a vehicle for auction at the La Joya Police Department, call (956) 585-4855 or visit its headquarters at 100 W. Expressway 83.

Bidders fill out the form, select a car of interest and seal it in an envelope. Currently, there are eight seized vehicles on the block. The cars and trucks are expected to sit in front of the headquarters through Tuesday.

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