K-9 named Tara alerts agents to 26 migrants in RV
EL PASO, Texas (Border Report) – A federal grand jury has indicted two men in connection with an alleged conspiracy to drive 26 migrants from stash houses in a South Texas town to Houston.
The plot failed when a U.S. Border Patrol canine named Tara alerted agents to suspicious cargo on a travel trailer being pulled through the highway checkpoint at Sarita, Texas.
Tara guided her handler to a door on the side of the Sunset Trail trailer, who pulled on the lever and discovered the more than two dozen individuals trying to remain silent while concealing themselves inside, court documents show.
Border agents escorted the occupants out of the RV and established they were citizens of Mexico, El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala. The find led agents to detain and question the driver, a U.S. citizen named Kevin Flores.
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According to court documents, Flores stated that the RV and the Dodge Ram 2500 pickup he was driving belonged to a friend of his, whom he identified as “Asher.” During the questioning, Flores allegedly said Asher offered to split $5,000 with him for driving three unauthorized migrants through the checkpoint.
Flores gave agents a description of Asher and the vehicle he was driving, and said he had just passed the checkpoint himself, as had a third, unidentified co-conspirator, court records show.
Based on the information, several law enforcement agencies were on the lookout for an orange Dodge Charger. Texas Department of Public Safety troopers spotted and stopped the vehicle and detained Asher Yejezkel Sobalvarro, records show.
Sobalvarro declined to talk to agents without legal counsel. The grand jury on Wednesday indicted Flores and Sobalvarro on three charges of conspiracy to transport illegal aliens stemming from the Sept. 11 incident at the Sarita checkpoint.
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