EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) – An 18-year-old man was arrested on Friday, Oct. 4 in El Paso for allegedly smuggling migrants and leading law enforcement on a chase that ended up in a multi-vehicle crash, according to court documents obtained by KTSM.
Andre Maurice Marrujo, 18, was charged with smuggling of persons (fleeing) and evading arrest or detention with a vehicle, according to court documents.
According to court documents, at approximately 4:10 p.m. on Oct. 4, U.S. Border Patrol (USBP) agents saw a vehicle traveling towards Texas that was suspected of being involved in human smuggling and requested the assistance of the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS).
A DPS helicopter spotted Marrujo’s vehicle from the air and conducted air surveillance of the suspect’s vehicle as it entered Texas on Country Club Road, according to court documents.
According to court documents, Texas Highway Patrol troopers attempted to conduct a traffic stop on Marrujo near the intersection of Country Club Road/Mesa Street and Doniphan Drive for disregarding an official traffic control device.
Marrujo then fled from the marked Highway Patrol units at a high rate of speed towards Interstate 10, according to court documents.
According to court documents, at the intersection of I-10 and Mesa Street, Marrujo was involved in a multi-vehicle crash. He was extracted from the vehicle by officers and placed into custody.
When officers approached the vehicle, the other four occupants — a man, two women and a 6-year-old child — were observed laying down in the rear seats of the vehicle, attempting to “conceal themselves from outside view,” according to court documents.
All four passengers were determined to be undocumented migrants, according to court documents.
According to court documents, El Paso Fire Rescue arrived at the scene to evaluate all passengers, and they all refused further treatment and transport.
Marrujo had been previously arrested on July 25 for another alleged smuggling incident involving six undocumented migrants. He was charged with smuggling of persons, according to court documents. He was 17 at the time of the first incident.
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