By Karen Gleason
The 830 Times
A Kyle woman will face eight felony smuggling charges after Del Rio police stopped her with a car full of undocumented immigrants from three different countries.
Jordan Sky Lester, 25, a resident of Kyle, Texas, was arrested about 9:30 a.m. on Sept. 30, according to an arrest report released recently by the Del Rio Police Department. Lester was charged with eight counts of the offense of smuggling of persons, a third-degree felony, the arrest report shows.
DRPD Corporal Dulce Gonzalez, the police department’s public information officer, spoke to the 830 Times about the arrest on Friday.
“She was taken into custody for the smuggling case, but then was not accepted at the (Operation Lone Star) tent, so they had to release her, and they will file at-large on her,” Gonzalez said.
“Officer David Lopez was in the area of Highway 277 South when he heard DPS (Texas Department of Public Safety) communications advise of a possible ‘loaded’ vehicle. Vehicle description was provided: a black Kia Sorrento. Lopez positioned his vehicle just south of the intersection of Dr. Fermin Calderon Boulevard and East Bowie Street, and he saw an 18-wheeler traveling north, with a black Kia Sorrento traveling right behind it,” Gonzalez said.
Lopez checked the vehicle’s speed, noted that it was traveling at 55 miles per hour and initiated a traffic stop, and the Sorrento came to a stop in the 100 block of East Garza Street, Gonzalez said.
“When he approached the vehicle, Officer Lopez could see multiple subjects attempt to conceal themselves under blankets in the second row of the vehicle. He made contact with the driver, identified as Lester, and she was detained pending further investigation,” Gonzalez said.
She said six men and two women were removed from the vehicle. The eight were undocumented immigrants from several states in Mexico, including Coahuila and Michoacán, as well as from Honduras and El Salvador.
“The female driver was informed of her rights, and she waived those rights and stated she was a single mother struggling to make it. She was asked how much she was being paid to smuggle the individuals, and she said she had not received any payment yet and was not told how much she would be paid,” Gonzalez said.
She said the case against Lester would be forwarded to the district attorney’s office for further review, since Lester was released after being detained.
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