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By LEW K. COHN, Inquirer Publisher

A Gonzales woman was one of two people arrested and charged with human smuggling after a high-speed chase in Kinney and Maverick counties in West Texas on Monday, April 10.

Joanna Jeanette Bermea of Gonzales remains in the Kerr County Jail in lieu of $110,000, according to the Kinney County Sheriffs Office and Kerr County Jail records.

Bermea and Cynthia Rashel Vonette Stewart of Quinlan, near Dallas, were occupants in a black GMC Sierra pickup truck when deputies and Texas Department of Public Safety attempted to initiate a traffic stop on US 90 in Kinney County. They evaded officers and began a high-speed chase which took them onto Texas 131 and ended near US 277 in Maverick County.

During the chase, they stopped several times, allowing suspected illegal aliens to bail out and run into the brush.

Many times, this is done in the mistaken belief that drivers can avoid charges if there are no aliens in the car when they're finally stopped. This is not the case, Kinney County Sheriffs deputies said in a Facebook post about the incident.

Both women were hit with 10 counts of smuggling of persons for a pecuniary interest (aka for money) and evading arrest with a vehicle. Bond was set at $10,000 for each count or charge.

Kinney County and Maverick County are both part of Operation Lone Star, of which Gonzales County is also a participant. Operation Lone Staris a joint mission between theTexas Department of Public Safetyand theTexas National Guard as well as other law enforcementalong the southern border betweenTexasandMexico. The stated purposeis to counterillegal immigration and theillegal drug trade.

Since the launch of Operation Lone Star in March 2021, the multi-agency effort has led to over 355,000 illegal immigrant apprehensions and more than 25,000 criminal arrests, with more than 23,000 felony charges reported.

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Gonzales woman charged with human smuggling after West Texas chase - Gonzales Inquirer