EDNA, TX – A possible human-smuggling operation ended with the deaths of six central Americans along US 59 in Edna, between Victoria and Houston.
Four occupants of a 2003 Ford Explorer died at the scene. Two others died in a Houston hospital. One person remains hospitalized.
The other eight are in the custody of federal immigration officials.
That’s right: eight.
Police believe this was a human smuggling operation because 15 people were crammed inside the SUV.
Cops say officers tried to pull over the Explorer for a moving violation around 1:30 this morning. Instead of stopping, the driver took off toward Houston on 59.
The driver appeared to try to overcompensate, and ended up rolling the SUV several times, tossing out many of the occupants.
Police caught several who got up and tried to run off.
Edna police say some of the passengers were from Honduras and Guatemala, but they can’t say right now who, if any, were here legally.
Human smuggling is an every-day occurrence in south Texas. It usually takes a tragedy like this to remind us that people are willing to risk their lives to come to America.
