The Texas Department of Public Safety’s Aircraft Operations Division rescued a human smuggler and numerous illegal immigrants from a flooded canal in Hidalgo County.
The incident happened during Operation Lone Star, according to a news statement from the Texas Department of Public Safety.
The smuggler, an illegal immigrant from Mexico, crashed into the canal while transporting other illegal immigrants to a stash house in the Rio Grande Valley. We retrieved four more illegal immigrants and two dead people from the ocean.
The DPS State Dive Team helped to rescue the suspect’s vehicle from the canal.
The driver and four other illegal immigrants were given up to the United States Border Patrol, which is responsible for the investigation, according to the agency.
