SAN ANTONIO – A dozen people believed to be tied to human smuggling have been taken into custody after a car chase Friday morning that stretched from Uvalde County to far Southwest Bexar County.
Sgt. Kenny Mata with the Department of Public Safety says troopers first spotted the 2018 silver Ford F150 in the town of Knippa and attempted to initiated a traffic stop for a violation shortly before 8 a.m.
“Multiple attempts were made to stop the vehicle. The vehicle continued to evade officers,” he said.
The truck went into Medina County, then through it into far Southwest Bexar County.
It ended up on a farm near Macdona-Lacoste Road and WT Montgomery Road where it crashed into a trailer.
Investigators suspected the group was involved in human smuggling because there were people crammed into every available space in that truck.
“The undocumented persons were inside the vehicle, in the front seat, the back seat and the bed of the truck,” Mata said.
After the truck came to a stop, investigators say everyone inside it scattered across the property.
With the help of sheriff’s deputies from Bexar and Medina counties, troopers were able to track down almost all of them.
“There were eleven undocumented persons that were taken into custody. One driver was taken into custody,” Mata said.
The group included mostly men, and only one woman, he said.
One person managed to get away, but Mata was unable to say if it was a man or woman.
It is unclear in which country or countries the group originated.
Mata said the driver of the pickup is a U. S. citizen and will be returned to Uvalde County to face charges, including evading arrest and smuggling of persons.
The others are expected to be turned over to federal agents.
There were no reports of injuries.