CBP Officers Thwart Human Smuggling Attempt at Eagle Pass Port

EAGLE PASS, Texas – U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers at the Eagle Pass Port of Entry arrested a male and a female subject attempting to smuggle a toddler into the United States.

“The training and experience of our officers halted this human attempt,” said Port Director John Brandt, Eagle Pass Port of Entry. “Our officers are always vigilant and this was an example of preventing a child from becoming a victim of a human smuggling operation from going any further.”

On April 2, CBP officers at Eagle Pass International Bridge, inspected a 2016 Ford Explorer, driven by a U.S. citizen, as it arrived from Mexico. The driver was accompanied by his U.S. citizen wife, a U.S. citizen woman and a toddler. Upon investigation, CBP officers learned that the couple utilized their own daughter’s U.S. birth certificate to smuggle the Mexican citizen toddler traveling in the vehicle.

The driver and his wife, both 29-years-old, from Little Elm, will appear before a U.S. magistrate for alleged violation of immigration law.

The Office of Field Operations is the primary organization within U.S. Customs and Border Protection tasked with an anti-terrorism mission at our nation’s ports. CBP officers screen all people, vehicles and goods entering the United States while facilitating the flow of legitimate trade and travel. Their mission also includes carrying out border-related duties, including narcotics interdiction, enforcing immigration and trade laws, and protecting the nation’s food supply and agriculture industry from pests and diseases.

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U.S. Customs and Border Protection is the unified border agency within the Department of Homeland Security charged with the management, control and protection of our nation’s borders at and between official ports of entry. CBP is charged with keeping terrorists and terrorist weapons out of the country while enforcing hundreds of U.S. laws.