EL PASO (1080 KRLD) - Border agents in West Texas this week apprehended the largest group of illegal migrants ever encountered by Customs and Border Patrol.
Agents took custody of 1,036 people who crossed illegally in El Paso early Wednesday morning.
A spokesman says says smugglers are making lots of money moving huge groups. "Aside from that, it can be overwhelming to Border Patrol resources to accommodate such large groups, from a transport perspective, from a medical perspective as well as from a capacity perspective."
He says smugglers are also advertising the fact that border officials can't maintain custody of crossers for more than 20 days. "They are advertising this in Central America, almost facilitating near direct travel from Central America into Mexico."
He says smugglers can now move groups from Central America to the US border in three to five days, and it used to take much longer. He says for smugglers "it's highly lucrative. Many of these organization treat these individuals as commodities, not looking out for their safety and well-being."
El Paso Sector agents have previously encountered the largest groups so far of over 400 - on at least two recent occasions.
The most recent was on Memorial Day, when agents apprehended a group of 430 people.
