Louisiana Men Arrested for Human Smuggling After Texas DPS Troopers Find Illegal Immigrants in Car

Two Baton Rouge residents were arrested in Texas for their alleged involvement in human smuggling after illegal immigrants were discovered in a car monitored by the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS).

The suspects were identified as 26-year-old Donald Ray Graves and 25-year-old Najoua Jabarie Harris. Both of them were charged.

The DPS trooper initiated a traffic stop for a Toyota car in Kinney County on Friday, April 7. The driver of the vehicle refused to stop, so a pursuit followed. During the chase, the car attempted to drive through a gate, causing the car to stop, and the driver and the passenger had to run on foot, but they were later apprehended by Texas DPS troopers.

You can watch the video of the chase below:

Graves drove the car, while Harris was his passenger. Six illegal immigrants, including two that were hidden in the trunk of the car, were found to be inside the Toyota. The immigrants were identified to be from Guatemala, Honduras, and Ecuador, and two handguns were also seized by the Texas DPS from the car.

Baton Rouge Police Department revealed that Donald Graves has an arrest warrant for his alleged involvement in a highly planned and targeted deadly shooting near the Mall of Louisiana earlier this year in February, where two teenagers died. Although police do not hold him responsible for the shooting, they accuse him of being involved in the incident. Texas DPS, on the other hand, confirmed that Graves is a gang member based in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

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The Texas DPS announced that both Graves and Harris are in federal custody, and they will face federal alien smuggling charges filed in connection to the Texas case.

You can catch more coverage of this developing story on 9News at 10 by Lester Duhe’.

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