Human smugglers busted as illegals attempt to board private plane in Texas

 Human smugglers were busted in Texas last week trying to fly four illegal migrants who likely paid for “VIP” packages on a private plane to get into the US, authorities said.

The illegal migrants, two men and two women, were spotted walking onto the tarmac at Gulf Aviation in Harlingen with luggage in hand Thursday, the US Border Patrol said — a scene that’s a far cry from the crowded, sweltering and otherwise often inhumane conditions that many migrants endure trying to cross the border and move further into the country.

Before the private jet could take off, it was intercepted by intelligence agents with the US Border Patrol. The four migrants and two pilots were arrested.

The agency called the use of a private plane “unconventional.” It did not disclose where the jet was headed.

The migrants, from Guatemala and Honduras, likely paid big bucks to sneak into the country in style and comfort, a law-enforcement source not involved in the investigation told The Post.

Federal agents intercepted four illegal immigrants as they tried leave an airport in Harlingen, Texas, on Thursday.

cbp.gov

The average illegal migrant pays anywhere from $2,000 to $3,000 to be led over the border by so-called “coyotes”– or smugglers — on the low end. That fee is for a no-frills service that often involves cramped and dangerous moving vans or 18-wheelers to get them to their final destination.

The use of the private plane for smuggling could easily cost each migrant $20,000, the source estimated.

Cartels have been known to offer “VIP” packages to illegal migrants who are able to pay more.

The four migrants attempted to board a private jet to be smuggled from Texas further into the US, the US Border Patrol said.

cbp.gov

Two migrants who died from heat exhaustion, locked in the back of a tractor trailer in San Antonio, Texas, last summer had each bought reputed “VIP packages” that were supposed to keep them out of the very danger that took their lives.

Pablo Ortega and Julio Lopez shelled out $13,000 and $12,000, respectively, to coyotes who promised them a luxury smuggling package that included boat entry across the river that separates the US from Mexico, a stay at an upscale ranch and pizza, beer and video games.

But once in the US, smugglers forced the men into an 18-wheeler in Laredo without air conditioning and water. Hours went by before they became two of 53 migrants who died of heat exhaustion in the deadliest smuggling attempt in US history.

In the deadliest case of human smuggling in the US, 53 migrants died in June in the back of a sweltering, locked 18-wheeler in San Antonio, Texas.

While the use of chartered flights for smuggling is rare, it has been seen on the border before, former Border Patrol Agent Thaddeus Cleveland told The Post on Monday.

“Every now and then, we’d get a report — whether it was in San Angelo or smaller airports — where aliens would be taken there and they’d be flown to other parts of the United States,” he explained.

https://nypost.com/2023/05/29/illegal-immigrants-busted-boarding-private-plane-in-texas/