Drone video shows teenage smuggler in action on the Texas border as he leads group in a boat then tries to scale wall with a ladder
A rarely seen video of a human smuggler in action shows a 17-year-old Mexican teenager brazenly leading migrants into the US on a raft equipped with a ladder used to scale the border wall.
The video, made by Drones from the Texas Department of Public Safetyrecorded the trafficker approaching the river separating the US and Mexico, the Rio Grande, near the city of McAllen.
The 16-year-old guide, part of a criminal cartel organization, places a black raft in the water in the images.
People can be seen getting on the ship and taking a ladder with them.
With visibility partially obscured by vegetation, the raft floats over the American side.
Cartel members carry the ladder to the raft to help the illegals enter the US
A rare video shows a human smuggler escorting illegal immigrants into Texas
Once on dry land, migrants run with the ladder toward the nearby border wall.
They can be seen propping it up against the boundary wall, which is 20 to 30 feet high in most places.
But before they can even reach the ladder, state troopers and members of the Texas National Guard arrive to take the illegal immigrants into custody.
The underage smuggler and five Mexican citizens were taken into custody. Lt. Chris Olivarez of Texas DPS tweeted Thursday.
“The DPS Unmanned Aerial System Program (Drone) is critical to the mission of Operation Lone Star in providing close air support and situational awareness,” Olivarez explained.
The Lone Star State is now increasingly relying on its fleet of 300 drones, which have flown 71,118 border missions for the state.
The cartel takes a ladder with them for the journey
Border Patrol agents rushed the group before they could scale the wall
Five Mexican citizens and the 16-year-old smuggler were taken into custody by U.S. Border Patrol
State officials also use them to assist federal immigration authorities.
However, the buzzing aircraft are also used by Mexican cartels.
Criminal organizations use them to spy on U.S. border authorities, to deliver drugs, and have even used them in deadly attacks on rivals and others they view as political enemies in Mexico, the This is reported by the Associated Press.