La Joya Immigrant Chase

LA JOYA | IMMIGRANT CHASE

A truckload of suspected illegal immigrants led police on a short chase here early Tuesday morning, ending when the group of 19 fled into the brush.

U.S. Border Patrol agents later picked up three women from the group: a mother and her daughter, both from El Salvador, and a woman from Guatemala. The others escaped, said Officer Joe Cantu, a La Joya police spokesman.

Police began following the coyote, or human smuggler, after he stopped in an employee parking lot at a local medical building along Expressway 83 between Peñitas and La Joya about 5:30 a.m., hours before anyone else would typically arrive at the building, Cantu said.

An officer watched the illegal immigrants cram into the truck. When the officer approached, the coyote drove away, leading police to the Terra Blanca subdivision. The smuggler and at least 16 illegal immigrants fled into the brush and evaded authorities.