Human smuggling

Human smuggling causes headaches in Texas

On Wednesday, federal prosecutors in New York City charged 10 people for their alleged role in a human smuggling ring that operated along the U-S-Mexico border.

 

Six of those arrested were caught in Texas, renewing concerns over human smuggling and its ties to human trafficking in the Lone Star State.

 

As authorities have cracked down on smuggling, human smugglers have grown increasingly crafty in their tactics. In the Rio Grande Valley, authorities recently indicated smugglers were seeking young, female drivers, who they believed would be less suspicious if questioned by border patrol agents. Women who agreed to be drivers, were pocketing $1,250 per day, according to one report from our NBC affiliate in Dallas.

 

"They are changing their tactics all the time, so we have to be on top of our game," said Susan Peters, Executive Director of Unbound, a Waco-based organization that works to curb human trafficking along the I-35 corridor and beyond.