Texas Border Patrol agents say that they discovered dozens of illegal aliens and a “sizable” amount of illegal drugs after chasing down a truck driver who refused to stop.
According to the Laredo Sector Border Patrol, the incident happened in the early morning hours of January 15 southwest of Freer, Texas.
Officers manning the Freer Station say that they observed a truck turn off of U.S. Highway 59 on to Farm-to-Market Road 2050.
When officers attempted to stop the truck, it reportedly kept going for miles before crashing into a fence.
Agents say that several people ran away into the brush when they approached the crashed truck, but that with assistance from a Customs and Border Patrol helicopter, they were able to apprehend 61 people who had entered the U.S. illegally from countries including Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka.
Officers also discovered 19 bundles of marijuana in the cab of the truck that weighed more than 327 pounds. The estimated street value of of the marijuana is $261,732.
Border Patrol agents seized the semi truck and turned the marijuana over to the Drug Enforcement Agency.