A red van fled a crash in south Laredo. Several people got out of the van and ran into the brush. Laredo police say the driver was 17 years old. They say three people caught nearby were migrants.

Police named the driver as Derrek Zatarain. He now faces three counts of smuggling of persons. He also faces a drug charge and a charge of tampering with evidence.

Around the same time, state troopers put out a warning. They said they see more teens being recruited to smuggle people across Texas.

The crash happened on Sept. 26. Police said it was shortly before 7:45 in the morning. The spot was near U.S. Highway 83 and Soria Drive in south Laredo.

Police said the red van fled a hit-and-run crash. After the crash, several people got out of the van. They ran toward the brush.

Officers sent up a drone. It came from the Laredo police Raven Unit.

With help from the drone, officers found the driver. Police said he was hiding by a patio pillar in a nearby neighborhood.

Officers also found a THC vape pen. Police said it was hidden under a tarp. They said it belonged to Zatarain.

Officers held three more people close by. Police said all three were migrants. The U.S. Border Patrol took them.

Jail records show Zatarain was booked into the Webb County Jail. He faces three counts of smuggling of persons.

He also faces a drug charge for having an illegal drug. And he faces a charge of tampering with evidence. The police account does not say what evidence he is accused of tampering with.

Jail records list all of the charges as third-degree felonies. A felony is a serious charge.

As of Thursday afternoon, Oct. 1, he was still being held. His bond was set at $10,000 on each charge. These were personal recognizance bonds. That kind of bond is a promise to show up in court. No cash is paid up front.

The police account does not say what the van hit. It does not say if anyone was hurt in the crash. None of the charges listed is for the crash itself.

In late September, DPS warned Laredo families. DPS is the Texas Department of Public Safety. Troopers said more teens across Texas are being drawn in to smuggle people.

DPS Sgt. Erick Estrada said drivers face a separate felony charge for each person smuggled.

He told parents to look past the phone, too.

"Besides the phone, for them to be aware of who they're hanging around with. Sometimes we do have excellent students who have excellent scores in schools, unfortunately, they decide to hang around with the wrong person or the wrong crowd, and that's usually what motivates them or influences them to go and partake in these criminal activities," Estrada said.

Estrada said the teens in these cases use personal cars. He told parents to keep track of where their kids go. He said to watch how long they are gone with a borrowed car.

Troopers gave one more sign to watch for. A teen who suddenly buys things he cannot afford could be getting paid for smuggling runs.

Nothing in the police account says Zatarain was recruited or paid to drive.

This is not the only recent Webb County smuggling case with a teen behind the wheel.

On Sept. 29, El Tejano reported on a 16-year-old in a separate case. DPS said he led troopers on a chase on Wormser Road in August. DPS said a K-9 team tracked him for nearly a mile and found him in thick brush. Troopers and Border Patrol caught six people from the truck. Read that story here: https://www.eltejanorgv.com/teen-16-ran-from-troopers-into-webb-county-brush-but-a-k-9-found-him/

Police have not said where the van was going. They have not said where the three migrants came from.

No court date shows up in the police or jail information so far.

Everyone is presumed innocent until proved otherwise.