Usually around the beginning of the marijuana harvest season, we begin to see an increase in the seizures in this sector.
We're handling it as a suspected alien smuggling case.
We have agents at the airports in Harlingen, McAllen and Brownsville because we're aware that smugglers will try to use all modes of transportation to smuggle their cargo into the interior.
We do adjust patrols according to intelligence we have. We do the same for illegal alien traffic.
The Rio Grande Valley area is an established corridor that smugglers use largely due to the geography, population, and an expanded smuggling network on both sides of the border.
Once we are able to identify dangerous points, we are able to reallocate resources or manpower to these areas.
They try to paint it as easy as they can.
They are being questioned to determine if they are involved. They appeared to be in good health. If they were passengers in the white Expedition, we don't expect them to have any injuries.
This is yet another example of how agents react and adapt to ever-changing immigration trends. When agents started arresting large numbers of Brazilians in the RGV sector, we relied heavily on these agents to translate using their knowledge of the Portuguese language.
I can't comment any further than that because it's an ongoing investigation.