Smuggler leads troopers on chase to Rio Grande; Migrants bail out, swim toward Mexico

EL PASO, Texas (Border Report) — A migrant smuggler led Texas troopers on a high-speed chase that ended at the Rio Grande with nearly two dozen individuals bailing out and swimming across the river into Mexico.

A dashcam in the unit of a Texas Department of Public Safety trooper captured the chase involving a white utility pickup on July 1 in the South Texas town of Mission.

Video shows the trooper encountering the truck at an intersection and attempting to stop it before it heads into a dirt road.

The truck kicks up a giant cloud of dust and disappears as the trooper approaches a fork in the road.

When the dust clears, the truck can be seen far in the distance.

The trooper eventually catches up, at which point the truck stops on the river banks, and upwards of 20 people get out from the cab and bed.

DPS said most of the migrants swam toward Mexico. Troopers detained two individuals and turned them over to the Border Patrol agents.

In a separate incident, troopers conducted a traffic on July 6 in Del Rio, Texas.

The truck, also a white pickup, stops on the side of the road before several individuals jump out, run away and jump over a fence into the brush.

A woman who could not jump over the fence surrenders, and troopers detain two individuals who could not get out of the truck bed in time.

DPS said they apprehended seven individuals and turned them over to border agents.

Investigators said the truck was linked to Turo, a company that allows owners to rent out their vehicles.