A Texas National Guard soldier was detained on Sunday for allegedly trying to smuggle a migrant across the border between the United States and Mexico. The soldier was stationed at Eagle Pass as part of Governor Greg Abbott’s Operation Lone Star.
In a statement, the Texas Department of Public Safety verified that 26-year-old Savion Johnson faces charges of resisting arrest, smuggling people, and carrying a weapon unlawfully.
The soldier turned around, according to Kinney County Sheriff Brad Coe, when he got closer to a tactical pop-up Border Patrol checkpoint off Highway 674 that had only been in place for a few days.
Agents tried to halt the SUV after being notified by this activity. Spike strips were employed by Texas DPS officers to bring the car to a stop.
When deputies from the Kinney County Sheriff’s Office arrived to help with the arrest, the soldier was taken out of the car so they could search him.
When police discovered that the illegal individual the soldier was attempting to carry had escaped from the SUV, he eventually turned himself in so that Border Patrol could process him.
According to sources, Johnson was promised between $5,000 and $6,000, but he was not able to use any technology, including license plate readers, to help him in his attempts. But the smuggling allegation was increased since, according to the authorities, he was armed.
Coe remarked, “We don’t know what’s going on in their lives to make them do this. But they’re going to get caught.”
Along the same road in Kinney County, two other ladies were apprehended earlier for people smuggling.
“If the allegations are true, the accused is a traitor and criminal,” Abbott stated. “We have zero tolerance for Texans who violate laws that directly contradict the mission we are seeking to achieve.”
