On Wednesday, an illegal immigrant caught in a human smuggling effort attempted to leave the scene and hit a Texas Department of Public Safety pilot with an SUV.
“A @TxDPS pilot stopped 13 illegal immigrants from being smuggled onto a plane in Edinburg, TX yesterday. The pilot saw a suspicious group at the airport, & they ran upon questioning. DPS pilot assaulted. Two smugglers from Dominican Republic had chartered a plane to Houston.”
After the Texas official checked a Gulf Stream IV plane’s ramp for any suspicious activity, the event happened.
All of the people tried to flee when the DPS pilot asked the guy who charted the plane questions and demanded identification from the party.
“During their attempt to flee, the DPS Pilot was struck by an SUV, driven by Andreina Felix. He sustained minor injuries. DPS Troopers and Special Agents were able to stop both Diaz Jorge and Felix and determined they were attempting to smuggle 13 illegal immigrants by chartering a plane to Houston,” DPS said in a comment.
According to a DPS employee, one of the illegal immigrants claimed to have paid $7,000 to be smuggled into the country and $4,000 to do so via plane, according to Bill Melugin of Fox News.
“@TxDPS tells me one of the illegal immigrants told troopers he had paid $11,000 to be smuggled. 7k to get into the U.S., another 4k to get on a plane. Smuggler lied and said the group was his employees from an oil company & they were going to Houston for a baseball game.”
