ONLY ON ABC-7: Border Patrol agents chase and tackle suspected human smugglers in West El Paso

ABC-7 photojournalist David Avila was coming back to the TV station when he saw agents step out of a Border Patrol vehicle and then chase two suspected smugglers early Thursday Morning.

The video above shows the moment one agent in plain clothes tackles one of the men.

Moments before, our photographer saw that same man hiding underneath the van in the video.

Avila also saw Border Patrol agents tackle the other man before he started recording.

A Border Patrol spokesperson had previously said the two men were most likely migrants.

This all happened at around 6 a.m.on Mesa Street and Executive Center Boulevard.

That’s an area where Border Patrol agents have detained several groups of people in the past few months, since it’s close to the border.

More agents are starting to use plain clothes to capture people who help migrants cross into the U.S. illegally.

“What you’re looking at what you saw this morning are the ones that are aready in the United States,” Border Patrol spokesperson Ramiro Cordero said. “Those smuggling organizations that are operating both in Mexico and in the U.S., and obviously they don’t want to get caught,”