Texas Deputy Rescues Group from Possible Human Smuggling Ring

A group of people believed to have been driven across the border under "bleak" conditions are "safe and sound" after Bexar County deputies thwarted a suspected human smuggling operation, Sheriff Javier Salazar said Tuesday.

A Bexar County deputy was conducting an unrelated traffic stop on Shepherd Road, near Atascosa, when a passerby flagged him down and reported seeing a group of people being forced into a white utility van.

The deputy spotted the van traveling 45 miles per hour in a 35-mph zone and attempted to initiate a traffic stop, Salazar said. The driver sped past the deputy before turning onto Pearsall Road and into a residential driveway.

Salazar said a well-dressed man jumped out of the driver's seat and fled into the nearby woods. The deputy heard a commotion in the back of the van and released at least six people who were trapped inside.

The people were wearing camouflage clothing and pieces of carpet on the bottoms of their shoes, the sheriff said. They told deputies that they had paid a year's salary to be transported illegally across the border from Mexico.

The people ranged in age from 19 to 27.

After speaking with the people, Salazar said they painted a "pretty bleak picture" and a "heartbreaking story."

They were trucked across the border and walked through the woods for about three days before they were forced into another truck. Salazar said they were told to lay face down and not look at anything. All the possessions they had brought with them were thrown away.

After riding in the truck, they were thrown into the white van that deputies found them in. Salazar said he has seen situations like this end many times in death or slavery.

He said the people hadn't eaten for days, so he and his deputies bought them tacos from a nearby restaurant.

"People will say 'they are illegal,' and I get that, but these people are just looking for a better way of life, and these predators took advantage of that," the sheriff said. "They are just cargo to these predators."

The group was turned over to federal agents with the local fusion center for questioning to see what can be done for them. Fusion centers are designated by Homeland Security to provide information sharing and analysis among federal, state and local governments for major urban areas.

Deputies are using drones and other equipment to look for the van's driver. So far, they have been unsuccessful.

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