Texas Department of Public Safety troopers stopped an Oklahoma man from smuggling nine illegal immigrants into the U.S. on Saturday, after his truck got stuck in the mud.
Texas DPS said Hayden Franco, 28, of Oklahoma was pulled over for a traffic violation.
Five illegal immigrants were found hidden in the back of a Ford F-150 pickup truck (Texas Department of Public Safety)
As the trooper got out of his squad vehicle and approached the Ford F-150 pickup truck Franco was driving, Franco hit the gas to try and flee. But instead, the truck bogged down and got stuck in the mud.
The trooper immediately pulled out his handgun and pointed it at Franco, ordering him out of the truck. He complied with the trooper’s order and was quickly apprehended.
But in the short period between Franco getting out of the vehicle and getting apprehended, four illegal immigrants were seen on video bailing from the pickup truck and fleeing toward the brush.
TEXAS DEPUTIES ARREST FOUR FOR HUMAN SMUGGLING; ONE ALLEGEDLY PUNCHES SELF IN FACE TO BLAME MIGRANTS
A further investigation revealed five more illegal immigrants, four adults and one juvenile, inside the bed of the truck and hidden under a bed cover.
Ultimately, Franco was arrested and charged with five counts of human smuggling, then taken to the Val Verde County processing facility.
Hayden Franco of Oklahoma was arrested on charges of human smuggling. (Texas Department of Public Safety)
The five illegal immigrants, all from Mexico, were handed over to the U.S. Border Patrol.
Earlier this month, over 1,000 illegal migrants rushed the Paso Del Norte bridge connecting El Paso, Texas and Mexico. While the issue was contained, Republican lawmakers have blamed the Biden administration on an increase in encounters after rolling back Trump-era policies like the Remain-in-Mexico policy, ending wall construction and narrowing interior ICE enforcement.
The Biden administration has pushed back on those accusations and have accused Republicans of failing to vote for more border funding and not supporting a sweeping immigration reform proposal introduced on day one of the administration.
