US Border Patrol and Encinal police officers question a young driver after stopping him in southern La Salle County and discover he is a 16-year-old from Guatemala
A teen driver was arrested after a failed smuggling attempt of five undocumented Guatemalan immigrants in southern La Salle County on Friday, July 7.
Encinal police say they attempted to initiate a traffic stop on the driver of a white GMC Sierra pickup truck traveling 21 miles per hour over the posted speed limit.
The driver, later identified as an undocumented 16-year-old boy from Guatemala, led officers on a high-speed chase for nearly 15 miles before stopping.
According to a report on the case, officers found five undocumented immigrants packed into the back seat of the pickup truck.
Investigators later learned that the teen had picked up the immigrants and the vehicle from a stash house in Laredo.
The driver and the five immigrants were taken into custody by US Border Patrol agents who assisted at the scene.
“Recruiting teen drivers for human smuggling has become more common along the Texas border,” state troopers said in a prepared statement. “The cartels are using social media to recruit the young drivers.”
