A hay bale, a K-9 unit, a hidden compartment, and a loaded flight to China set the stage for one of the week’s strangest immigration enforcement actions.

1. Smugglers Get Hay Bale Fever

In a post on June 9, U.S. Border Patrol’s Del Rio Sector Chief shared a video and praised a traffic stop by a Brackettville agent and K-9 unit that led to the discovery of two men allegedly being smuggled underneath bales of hay.

The agent was assisting the Texas Department of Public Safety when his canine apparently alerted him to a compartment in the trailer bed. According to the post, one of the individuals found concealed in the compartment had a prior assault conviction in Austin. The driver — a U.S. citizen — now faces state charges of human smuggling.

The video, posted to X, shows at least two Hispanic men crawling out from beneath hay as officers reach into the trailer. Their faces were not visible. Border Patrol did not release the names of any individuals involved, nor did it say whether federal charges were forthcoming.

 

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Under Texas Penal Code §20.05 and §20.06, smuggling of persons can carry a 10-year minimum prison sentence if committed for pecuniary benefit or if it places the victim at risk of serious harm.

2. Trunk & Disorderly: Smugglers Caught at Javier Vega Jr. Checkpoint

Just days earlier, Chief Patrol Agent Gloria I. Chavez posted images of another smuggling incident near Kingsville. Agents assigned to the Javier Vega Jr. Immigration Checkpoint allegedly discovered two Mexican nationals in the trunk of a sedan. The car’s U.S. citizen driver was charged under 8 U.S. Code § 1324 for alien smuggling, according to the tweet.

That federal statute criminalizes knowingly transporting or harboring undocumented immigrants, with maximum penalties of up to 1o years in prison per count if the offense is committed for profit. Convictions can also carry steep fines.

Chavez’s photos show the car’s open trunk with two blurred individuals inside. The agency has not yet released booking information or court documents for the case.

 

 

The nationalities of the two individuals in the trunk were listed as Mexican, and both now face immigration violation charges for illegal entry, according to the Border Patrol.

3. 122 Chinese Nationals Fly Home

On June 3, a special high-risk charter flight departed Dallas carrying 122 Chinese nationals who had been ordered deported by U.S. immigration courts, according to a press release from ICE’s Dallas Field Office. The public was not widely aware of this incident until June 9.

The agency claimed that many of the deportees had been convicted of serious offenses, including murder, rape, drug trafficking, bribery, and human smuggling. ICE identified several individuals by offense and age — including a 47-year-old convicted of murder, a 27-year-old convicted of rape, and a 55-year-old found guilty of human smuggling, The Dallas Express reported.

ICE Dallas Field Office Director Josh Johnson said in a statement that the operation, which included detainees from across the country, was part of a broader DHS initiative to “[enhance] public safety” and “[strengthen] national security.” However, ICE did not release court records, conviction details, or the identities of the deported individuals.

Under U.S. law, specifically 8 U.S. Code § 1231, individuals with final orders of removal must be deported within 90 days if a destination country is willing to receive them. China has historically accepted only a limited number of deportees, making this large-scale removal a significant development.

Just days earlier, The Dallas Express reported that federal prosecutors in Michigan charged two other Chinese nationals with attempting to smuggle a dangerous fungus, Fusarium graminearum, into the United States. Officials alleged the men were tied to the Chinese Communist Party and used a university lab to conduct unauthorized research on the pathogen, which threatens domestic crops.

To read about last week’s biggest border busts, click here: Texas Takedown Weekly: Border’s Biggest Busts (June 6)