{"id":2262143,"date":"2024-06-07T10:53:05","date_gmt":"2024-06-07T14:53:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/alleged-human-smuggler-claims-fall-flat-on-operation-lone-star-officers\/"},"modified":"2024-06-07T10:56:33","modified_gmt":"2024-06-07T14:56:33","slug":"alleged-human-smuggler-claims-fall-flat-on-operation-lone-star-officers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/alleged-human-smuggler-claims-fall-flat-on-operation-lone-star-officers\/","title":{"rendered":"Suspected human smuggler&#8217;s claims debunked by Operation Lone Star team"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">20<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Falleged-human-smuggler-claims-fall-flat-on-operation-lone-star-officers%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2262143&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>Law enforcement officers along \u2062the\u2063 border\u200c face false claims from \u2063drivers charged with human smuggling. These drivers provide excuses like visiting family or helping out, \u2064but officers \u200bquickly expose \u200cthe lies. The Operation Lone Star Task Force is part of Gov. Greg Abbott&#8217;s\u200d <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/exclusive-tragesser-alternatives-to-immigration-detention-are-deeply-flawed-and-poorly-timed\/\" title=\"Exclusive--Tragesser: Alternatives to Immigration Detention Are Deeply Flawed and Poorly Timed\">border security initiative<\/a>, working to combat cartel crime and smuggling activities. Officers highlight the coordinated nature of \u200chuman smuggling efforts.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>(The Center Square) \u2013 Of the many American drivers pulled over near the border, or along major routes to and from the border, many are charged with human smuggling. But before they are, they make claims that officers quickly identify are false, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/exclusive-mother-3-year-old-son-nearly-swept-away-as-illegals-continue-streaming-across-rio-grande\/\" title=\"EXCLUSIVE: Mother, 3-Year-Old Son Nearly Swept Away As Illegals Continue Streaming Across Rio Grande\">law enforcement tells<\/a> The Center Square.<\/p>\n<p>Drivers leaving a border town with a vehicle full of people have said they are going to \u201cvisit family in Houston,\u201d going to a funeral in Houston, Dallas or San Antonio, are \u201ctraveling with friends,\u201d or a \u201cguy paid me to pick up his workers.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>They \u201cnever know their names [of those being transported], even if they claim to be family,\u201d one Operation Lone Star Task Force investigator in Goliad County told The Center Square. The investigator cannot be named because he works undercover.<\/p>\n<p>OLS is Gov. Greg Abbott\u2019s border security mission; the OLS Task Force involves multiple law enforcement agencies working to thwart cartel crime, The Center Square has reported.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019ve had people hiding in a toolbox and [the driver] says he was just giving them a ride. We also stopped a male driver where the passenger had a guy hiding in the floorboard in front of him,\u201d the OLS investigator said.<\/p>\n<p>An OLS Task Force investigator in Kleberg County told The Center Square one driver he pulled over said he was \u201cheaded south to look at a job site. He was from Houston but headed to a small town by a [Border Patrol] checkpoint for a landscaping job. About an hour later, we got in a chase with him northbound and he had illegal immigrants in his car.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>OLS officers say that those they pull over driving to or from the border claim they are looking for work or are visiting friends, \u201cbut most times can\u2019t give an exact location of where they are going or who they are going to see. Most times when they said they were going to visit someone they can only give a nickname or first name and can\u2019t answer any further about it,\u201d an officer told The Center Square.<\/p>\n<p>Drivers pulled over by Texas Department of Public Safety troopers working OLS often say they picked up someone who \u201cneeded a ride,\u201d or \u201cwas helping someone out\u201d on the side of a road. One alleged smuggler from Georgia made the claim when she was arrested roughly 1,100 miles from home, The Center Square <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thecentersquare.com\/texas\/article_bd0c194e-73fd-11ed-a39f-8bf1f75bfab4.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">reported<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>In other examples, drivers from Houston are responding to social media posts, including Craigslist job ads, The Center Square reported, or claiming they are picking up hitchhikers five hours away from their home.<\/p>\n<p>While one recently arrested Houstonian claimed he didn\u2019t do anything wrong by picking up \u201chitchhikers\u201d in Eagle Pass, OLS officers argue drivers know exactly what they are doing. No one from Houston or Georgia is driving to the border to pick up \u201chitchhikers,\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/georgia-secretary-of-state-investigating-voter-registration-group-run-by-democrat-raphael-warnock\/\" title=\"Georgia Secretary Of State Investigating Voter Registration Group Run By Democrat Raphael Warnock\">law enforcement officers<\/a> told The Center Square.<\/p>\n<p>DPS spokesperson Lt. Chris Olivarez told The Center Square, \u201cOver the course of the last three years, when we talk about human smuggling, there\u2019s been so many excuses that we have heard, anywhere from, \u2018well you know, I was picking up people I saw, people walking on the side of the road;\u2019 \u2018I\u2019m just giving someone a ride;\u2019 or \u2018I pulled over and these people jumped in my car and I\u2019m just taking them to a nearby location.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cA lot of the drivers that we\u2019re dealing with are not from the general area of Eagle Pass or Del Rio, where we see the majority of human smuggling. They\u2019re driving from San Antonio, Austin, Houston, and Dallas to Eagle Pass or Del Rio.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Human smuggling is coordinated, Olivarez said, people are communicating on social media platforms and through encrypted messaging. \u201cThey\u2019re providing GPS coordinates to pick up these individuals that are crossing the border illegally. The intent is there. They know what they\u2019re doing, but again, when they get stopped by law enforcement, they try to distance themselves from the criminal activity.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Olivarez reiterated what he has been saying for years: human smuggling is dangerous and deadly. People drive to areas they don\u2019t know, pick up people they don\u2019t know, and often are involved in high-speed chases that can result in death.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019ve seen so many tragedies involved with human smuggling,\u201d he said. The alleged smugglers \u201care not only risking their lives but they\u2019re risking the lives of the people they\u2019re smuggling and also the general public. So it\u2019s not only the long-term criminal consequences but also could have a very life-ending consequence.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Those being smuggled who\u2019ve been apprehended have been found to be members of criminal gangs and cartels, potentially suspected terrorists, and wanted for violent crimes from other countries, Olivarez added. \u201cIt is very dangerous for anyone to pick up anybody, let alone a hitchhiker.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCriminal networks advertise on social media using deceptive advertising to recruit people, even young drivers, juveniles, who are told they can make $3,000 to$5,000 a person to drive them from one destination to another. But there are consequences,\u201d he said, warning them, \u201cdon\u2019t get involved.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Among several new border security related laws that are in effect, one increases penalties for human smuggling to a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/texas-troopers-apprehend-human-smugglers-gang-members\/\" title=\"Texas authorities capture human traffickers and gang affiliates\">mandatory 10-year minimum prison sentence<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Since Abbott launched OLS in March 2021, OLS officers have apprehended more than 512,300 illegal foreign nationals and made more than 43,400 criminal arrests, with more than 38,200 felony charges reported, according to the latest data.<\/p>\n<p>Among them are more than 7,300 alleged smugglers who were arrested ranging from ages 13 to 77, according to DPS data.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>According to law enforcement officials, numerous American drivers near the border are charged with human smuggling. However, their claims are swiftly debunked by officers as false when stopped on major routes to and from the border, reports The Center Square<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2262144,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/AP23331581613886-1024x683.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[538],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2262143","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-washington-examiner"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/AP23331581613886-1024x683.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2262143","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2262143"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2262143\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2262144"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2262143"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2262143"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2262143"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}