Cartels are using flashy social media posts with piles of money, jewelry and luxury items to entice teens in America and Mexico to smuggle illegal immigrants across the U.S. border – and officials say the young people have no idea what they are getting mixed up in.
Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) officers arrested two Texas 19-year-olds Saturday for smuggling three migrants after they led police on a high-speed chase in a stolen vehicle, then crashed into a rancher’s fence. One of the men in the vehicle, Gerardo Jose Ojeda-Montiel, 33, was a Venezuelan national wanted on murder charges in the U.S. Virgin Islands, Texas DPS said.
Daniele Lopez-Vasquez of Austin, Texas, and Brian Guzman of Del Valle, Texas, were arrested and charged with evading arrest, smuggling of persons, unauthorized use of a motor vehicle and unlawful carrying of a weapon.
Customs and Border Protection could not be reached for comment for more details about Ojeda-Montiel.
Texas DPS spokesman Chris Olivarez told Fox News Digital that the teens likely had no idea they were transporting a murder suspect. Typically, he said, teen smugglers are recruited via TikTok, Snapchat, Instagram or other social media sites. They then use encrypted messaging apps, usually WhatsApp, to communicate anonymously with cartel members, getting audio or text messages instructing them where to pick up their human payloads.
Olivarez said the Saturday arrests followed many of the patterns his agency sees with teen smugglers.
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Author: Dillon B
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