Texas border agents apprehend migrants smuggling drugs into West Texas
The drug seizure was part of Texas Gov. Greg Abbott's Operation Lone Star
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Texas border agents recently thwarted an attempt by four illegal immigrants to smuggle drugs into West Texas.
Lt. Chris Olivarez of The Texas Department of Public Safety shared video and images of the encounter on Tuesday.
Aircraft Operations spotted four illegal immigrants, Texas DPS said. (Texas DPS)
Olivarez said DPS’ Aircraft Operations located four illegal immigrants backpacking narcotics through mountainous terrain, roughly 26 miles south of Van Horn in West Texas.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Texas DPS located the four illegal immigrants in the mountainous terrain of West Texas. (Texas DPS)
Several immigrants concealed themselves within canyons and tried to hide the drugs in the brush, Olivarez said. He indicated that the apprehension was part of Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s Operation Lone Star, a border security initiative aimed at addressing illegal crossings and criminal activity.
Olivarez told Fox News Digital that the Aircraft Operations Division encounters illegal immigrants who "expose vulnerabilities along the southwest border by traversing miles on foot through the desolate mountainous terrain of West Texas in order to avoid detection as they are able to smuggle narcotics into the interior."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Texas DPS said several immigrants hid themselves within the canyons. (Texas DPS)
"DPS relies on ground tracking techniques and aerial support to detect, disrupt, and interdict criminal activity," he said.
The drug seizure comes as the migrant crisis, which has roiled the southern border since early 2021, continues to see streams of large groups of migrants cross into the U.S. illegally.
On Monday, a massive group of illegal migrants crossed into the U.S. waving a large Venezuelan flag and – according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) – attacked Border Patrol agents before being pushed back into the river as agents used crowd-control measures.
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Republicans have blamed the Biden administration for the crisis, saying that its policies of rolling back Trump-era border security and enforcement have only served to draw more migrants to the southern border – with many of them being released into the U.S.
Fox News’ Bill Melugin and Adam Shaw contributed to this report.