Laredo Teen, 17, Charged in Smuggling of 6 Migrants on Ranch

A 17-year-old Laredo boy faces six felony charges. State troopers say they caught him with six migrants on a ranch in Webb County. Troopers arrested Kalet Alejandro Olivares early on July 14.

Laredo sits right on the border with Mexico. Smuggling cases like this one get filed here often. This case stands out because of who got arrested. Olivares is still a teenager.

Texas Department of Public Safety troopers stopped Olivares around 6 a.m. He was on a private ranch next to US 83 South. That spot sits south of Laredo, in Webb County.

Troopers say Olivares was moving six people. The group had no papers to be in the country. It had two men, two women, and two children. DPS said all six are from Ecuador.

Troopers caught Olivares on foot, right there on the ranch. They took him to the Webb County Jail. Jail records show he was booked on six counts of smuggling of persons. Each count matches one person he is accused of moving.

Medics checked all six migrants first. Then Border Patrol picked them up. DPS did not say what happens to the migrants next.

Smuggling of persons is a felony in Texas. A felony is a serious crime. The base charge is a third-degree felony. That can mean 2 to 10 years in prison if a judge or jury finds someone guilty. Texas law gets tougher when the smuggled person is a child. Under state law, that can raise a charge to a second-degree felony. That can mean 2 to 20 years in prison. Two of the six migrants in this case were children.

Webb County sits right on the border with Mexico. Ranch land along US 83 gives smugglers wide open space. Groups can move on foot or by truck, away from checkpoints and busy roads. That is one reason DPS troopers patrol private ranch land near the highway, not just the highway itself.

Jail records show Olivares got out on July 21. He posted six personal recognizance bonds. Each bond was set at $10,000. A personal recognizance bond means a person pays no cash to get out of jail. They just sign a paper. That paper promises they will show up for every court date.

Court records do not yet show a plea from Olivares. His case will move through Webb County courts. It is not clear if prosecutors will add charges tied to the two children found with the group.