- Gang member Francisco Alanis Jr. of Houston arrested after several immigrants, including children, were found in the back of his car during a traffic stop
- The adult migrants fled the scene, leaving two unaccompanied children from Mexico, ages seven and nine, in the trunk of the car.
- Alanis is charged with human smuggling after the November 3 incident
Shocking footage shows the moment migrants packed into a car flee from a Texas police officer, leaving children in the trunk.
The group was transported to Houston by Francisco Alanis Jr., a confirmed member of the infamous Tango Blast prison gang, when they were apprehended on November 3.
Several adults then exited the vehicle, leaving behind two unaccompanied children from Mexico, ages seven and nine, who were discovered in the trunk of the car.
Three of the immigrants managed to escape into the brush, but Alanis and one of his passengers, J. Isabel De Nova Bautista, an illegal immigrant from Mexico, were detained.
Video shows how Alanis, when he was pulled over in Linney County, initially lied to state police about the vehicle’s occupants, saying, “No sir, no one’s hiding back there.”
Migrants fleeing a Texas state trooper were captured on film leaving behind two children hidden in the trunk of a car
A state trooper stopped the Chevrolet Tahoe on a Linney County road on Nov. 3 because the license plate was partially obscured
The state trooper stopped Alanis because his license plate was partially obscured. However, he soon sees several people in the back and orders Alanis to get out of the car.
He cuffs the gang member who tells him he has no idea how many people he’s transporting and says, “I’m just trying to help them, they needed a ride on the street.”
Suddenly, one of the back doors flies open and a man jumps out, followed by a woman and another man who all start sprinting away from the scene.
State police then swoop on the car and prevent a fourth man from escaping by putting their hands on his wrist.
The man tries to run away, drags the officer with him and eventually throws him away.
As he runs away, state police open the trunk of the car, revealing a terrified boy and girl.
The soldier asks Alanis to check if the children are okay and gives them bottles of water.
The gang member is now charged with human smuggling. His passenger Bautista is charged with evading and resisting arrest.
The driver of the vehicle was Francisco Alanis Jr., a known member of the infamous Tango Blast prison gang
Alanis transported the migrants to Houston, where they then planned to travel to California, police said
Alanis was charged with human smuggling, while his passenger J. Isabel De Nova Bautista was charged with resisting arrest
The Tango Blast prison gang is among the largest and most dangerous in Houston.
Members have previously been linked to human trafficking, drugs and prostitution and are often identified by their tattoos, which include area codes for the Bayou City.
The footage was released just days after eight people were killed when the driver of a car suspected of transporting smuggled migrants fled police and crashed into oncoming traffic on a South Texas highway.
The crash happened around 6:30 a.m. when the driver of a 2009 Honda Civic tried to elude Zavala County Sheriff’s Office deputies and attempted to pass a semi-truck, the Department of Public Safety said.
The Civic collided with a 2015 Chevrolet Equinox, which caught fire.
Everyone in both vehicles was killed, according to DPS. That includes the 21-year-old driver of the Civic, who was from Houston, and his five passengers.
Some passengers came from Honduras, department spokesman Christopher Olivarez said in a statement. The two people in the Equinox were from Georgia.
Last month, Gov. Greg Abbott ordered the state to build another one border wall to keep migrants out – this time along the state border with New Mexico.