Migrant smugglers offering $10K travel ‘packages’ of secrets to illegal border-crossers

 Migrant smugglers are now selling their secrets on how to enter the US illegally as part of travel “packages” offered to asylum seekers on social media for $10,000, officials warn.

The newly revealed move is being touted by people smugglers — known as coyotes — as part of what they call an essential package that offers step-by-step instructions on how to avoid border patrol through social media apps such as WhatsApp, Telegram, Tiktok and Facebook, according to Mexico’s National Institute of Migration.

“They are sold complete packages for $10,000 to bring them from, say, Colombia all the way to Tijuana,” NIM Director David Pérez Tejada told Border Patrol. “Then they are met with a guide who shows them where to cross and how to download further instructions.

“They are using these digital platforms, showing them routes, which are then shared with fellow countrymen,” he added. “They also upload TikToks or Facebook [posts] detailing their crossings in real-time so others know where to go.”

Asylum seekers charge their phones at a migration center in El Paso, Texas, while contacting family.

New York Post

Enrique Lucero of Tijuana’s Migrant Affairs Office said the use of technology by migrants and smugglers has only grown in recent years, with coyotes promoting their services on YouTube last month, boasting about how easy it is to cross the border.

Lucero said the latest wave of social media advertisements are enticing enough to keep migrants continuing to sell everything they own in hopes of getting the key to enter the US and share what they’ve learned.

“There are migrants from South or Central America who are paying anywhere from [a total of] $12,000 to $15,000 to get across the border and for further digital instructions,” Lucero said.

US Customs and Border Protection officers examine the papers of a group of migrants in May.

James Keivom

“Smugglers convince them to sell all their properties and tell them someone will greet them when they get here, which oftentimes doesn’t happen and they end up stranded in Tijuana.”

Both Mexican and American authorities have ramped up warnings for migrants not to hire smugglers during a rise in violent incidents across the border, as coyotes are growing more and more desperate to conduct business under the ever-watchful eye of Border Patrol.

Last month, a Border Patrol agent confronting a group of migrants crossing into California through the Otay Mountain Wilderness was shot at multiple times by a suspected smuggler, officials said.

Officials say migrants and smugglers are using social media to spread word of weak points along the border that would assure easy access into the US.

New York Post

“Smuggling organizations are becoming desperate and escalating their level of violence because of the work being performed by U.S. Border Patrol agents,” said San Diego Sector Chief Patrol Agent Patricia McGurk-Daniel in a recent statement.

“Our agents are preventing smugglers from conducting their illicit business and this is their very dangerous response,” McGurk-Daniel added. “This callous display clearly shows that smugglers do not care about the safety of migrants or law enforcement.”

The situation comes as US Border Patrol officials arrested at least 91,000 migrants who crossed the border as part of family groups in August, according to preliminary data obtained by the Washington Post — beating the previous one-month record of 84,486 migrant families arrested in May 2019 under the Trump administration.

https://nypost.com/2023/09/03/migrant-smugglers-now-offering-10k-travel-packages-to-illegal-border-crossers/

How much flood water to damage a car? Does it matter if it is salt or fresh?

 Between hurricanes, record rains and king tides; Americans have been driving through a lot of flooding and puddles.

All that water takes toll on your car.

You may not realize it, but even rainwater is corrosive.

Here is the difference between salt water flooding and rainwater flooding and damage to your car.

“All water can be corrosive because rainwater has acid in it, you’ve heard of acid rain,” said Mike Porcelli, master-mechanic, professor of automotive technology and consultant. “So that can cause a lot of corrosion. And salt water is exponentially worse than fresh water. “

Porcelli calls himself an M.D., Machine Doctor.

Salt attacks metal

“Salt is very corrosive. It attacks metal, especially metals like aluminum, magnesium. With aluminum wheels, if they sit in salt water or even cars that park near the ocean the salt eats away,” he said. “I saw a car the other day, we opened the hood the aluminum brace (under the hood) was all corroded. And I said ‘this car must live near the ocean.’”

Cars sit in flood waters from Hurricane Idalia after it passed offshore in Tarpon Springs, Florida.

Getty Images

Even salt spray off the ocean disperses salt in the air which can travel.

Porcelli said that literature claims it can travel 60 miles in strong winds.

He said that the side of a car parked facing the sea breeze will show wear faster than the other side.

Cars sit stranded in floodwaters on Sheldon Road south of Ford road in Canton, Mich.

AP

“If you have an electric car or you have a combustion engine or a hybrid; saltwater is damaging to all vehicles,”Lauren Fix, The Car Coach told FOX Weather. “And what it does is it rots out things you don’t think about, like the exhaust system, brake lines and fuel lines.”

She held up two brake lines. One was silver and clean. The other that was on a car in Naples, Florida that recently felt the impact of Hurricane Idalia and was ravaged by Hurricane Ian.

She said the rust and corrosion happens over a very short period of time.

A car is pictured in a flooded street following heavy rains from Tropical Storm Hilary in Cathedral City, California.

AFP via Getty Images

Failure of these lines can cause brakes to not work.

Flammable fuel might be leaking instead of traveling from the gas tank to the engine.

Flooding can be catastrophic for electric vehicles

“Also, electric vehicles, saltwater is very, very corrosive. If you have an electric vehicle that has been in a flood. Do not drive it, absolutely. Don’t even try to start it,” Fix said. “Contact your insurance agent and let them pick it up. Take it to your local shop, see what they can do.”

Several electric vehicles caught fire after Hurricane Idalia floodwater retreated.

A car is submerged in flooded water as Tropical Storm Hilary arrives in Cathedral City, Calif.

ALLISON DINNER/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock

Acid dissolved in rain water damages paint

Salt air and fresh rainwater also eat away at the paint. He said salt water is also acidic.

“It eats into the paint surface. After a rainstorm, you see the water bead up on the car and then after it dries, it leaves a little ring, Porcelli said. “And the acid will eat, it will onto the paint. And the only way to remove that is to remove some of the paint, cut down below the craters that are created by the acid.”

Corrosion is only part of the issue with any water that finds its way into your car. Standing water breeds mold and mildew. 

A car is parked in flood waters as Hurricane Idalia makes landfall in the Big Bend region of Florida’s Gulf Coast.

AP

“If it (water) penetrates inside (the car) then it’s going to need professional help,” Porcelli advises. “Even if it’s just to take the rugs out and dry them, disinfectant them and put it all back together.” 

He said steam cleaning, drying and disinfecting a car should run about $1,000 if caught fast.

After mold and mildew set in, you may have to replace rugs and carpets. Foam in the seats will also get moldy and rot.

Electronics and water don’t mix

The biggest problem with modern cars and flooding though are the electronics though, he said.

Cars are seen stuck in muddy floodwater on a street in Cathedral City, Calif.

AP

“Everything is controlled by computers. The power windows are controlled by a computer. The lights are controlled by computers. So every electronic system from the engine to the transmission, tail lights, even the radio is controlled by computers” Porcelli said. “Some of those computers are down under the seats or up under the dashboard, down low. If water gets into the car and floods the floor of the car, those computers are subject to getting waterlogged.”

He said this is the reason most insurance companies will total cars that were flooded, even with no visible damage.

Driving on salt-treated roads in the snow and ice is just as damaging.

Snow gets packed into the nooks and crannies under a car. Salt residue remains even after the snow melts.

Fight back

Porcelli has several tips to keep your car in shape:

• Wash your car, the sooner the better, to minimize corrosion. Some car washes have optional undercarriage spray.
• Get your car professionally cleaned and waxed once a year. Keep it clean and reapply the wax every month or two.
• Don’t drive through deep water.
• Touch-up dings, scratches and chips before corrosion sets in.
• Beware buying used cars after storms. Porcelli inspects used cars for customers before they by a car for $100-$300. He said ask around for an experienced mechanic to spot flood damage. Car Fax only catches about 85% of reported problems, he said.

https://nypost.com/2023/09/04/how-much-flood-water-does-it-take-to-damage-a-car-does-it-matter-if-it-is-salt-or-fresh/