Video: Suspected human smuggler arrested after high-speed, wrong-way chase on interstate; 12 migrants apprehended

Eduardo Aradas of Florida faces state criminal charges for smuggling and evading, Lt. Chris Olivarez, Texas Department of Public Safety, South Texas Region spokesperson, said in a statement on Twitter.

"I've got a truck tractor going northbound in the southbound lane on 35," a trooper is heard saying in a video of the chase, which went on for "several miles."

A dozen migrants he was allegedly transporting were apprehended and referred to U.S. Border Patrol.

Video of the harrowing chase captured on an officer's dash camera accompanied Lt. Olivarez's tweet.

Texas DPS pursued the truck after the driver refused to stop for a traffic violation, Olivarez explained.

The driver reached speeds up to 85 mph while driving on the wrong side of Interstate 35 in La Salle County, Texas.

The driver eventually veered onto the shoulder and pulled off the highway into the brush, where he got stuck. The video shows the driver and a dozen migrants bailing out of the big rig and uniformed officers rounding them up.

One officer is heard asking Aradas, who was covered with dust and straw-like vegetation, where he was heading.

"San Antonio," Aradas is heard saying.

Olivarez appended the hashtag #OperationLoneStar to his tweet about the chase and the apprehension.

Texas Governor Greg Abbott (R) launched Operation Lone Star in March 2021 to repond to a rise in illegal immigration. He issued a disaster declaration in May that now covers 48 counties, mostly along or near the southern border.

"The declaration directed the Department of Public Safety to 'use available resources to enforce all applicable federal and state laws to prevent the criminal activity along the border, including criminal trespassing, smuggling, and human trafficking, and to assist Texas counties in their efforts to address those criminal activities.'"

Lt. Olivarez reported Monday that in the previous 48 hours, Texas DPS' Tactical Marine Unit had recovered four deceased bodies from the Rio Grande River in Eagle Pass, Texas. One of the bodies was that of an infant.

Watch Texas Department of Public Safety officials teach Eduardo Aradas a lesson after the suspected human smuggler from Florida allegedly leads authorities in a high-speed, wrong-way chase down Interstate 35 in La Salle County, Texas, with a dozen migrants in tow.