

Lidia Elizabeth Badillo smuggling two illegal immigrants tries to flirt her way out of arrest after Texas troopers pull the woman over amid border surveillance.
If all else fails, flirting is the go to auto-pilot…
Texas authorities have released bodycam video showing a woman they had momentarily pulled over on suspicion of human smuggling attempting to flirt with an officer in a bid to avoid arrest.
Lidia Elizabeth Badillo, 38, was pulled over at 8 p.m. on April 12 while driving a gold Chevrolet Malibu on FM-1017 in Jim Hogg County according to the Texas Department of Public Safety.
During the stop, the trooper discovered Badillo, who lives in Edinburg, was smuggling two immigrants from El Salvador, FOX News reported.
In video taken of the traffic stop, Badillo told the trooper she was going out to get drinks. In a bid to get out of being arrested, Badillo started flirting with the trooper, telling him he was handsome and had ‘nice eyes.’
Illegal immigrants often end up forced into debt bondage, work off debt and even sex trafficking
The remark caught the officer off guard – but he quickly got back on track and found the two young women in the car were carrying fraudulent Texas driver’s licenses in order to pass through a Border Patrol checkpoint in Falfurrias, Texas.
Badillo told investigators she picked the two women up from a stash house in Mission, Texas. Badillo also told the trooper that once she got beyond the checkpoint, she was planning to meet another driver, who was going to drive the two women to Corpus Christi, Texas.
According to Texas DPS, the smuggling method used by Badillo is used to smuggle female immigrants into the U.S., where some of the women are forced into debt bondage and work off the debt through forced labor and sex trafficking.
Texas DPS also said Badillo is a member of LUPE, an organization founded by labor rights activist César Chávez and Dolores Huerta.
LUPE, according to the organization’s website, aims to build stronger and healthier communities through civic engagement. Some of their objectives include fighting deportation and providing English classes.
Badillo faces two counts of smuggling of people with the two illegal immigrants were referred to the U.S. Border Patrol.
Busts continue daily since Texas Gov. Greg Abbott launched Operation Lone Star in March 2021 in response to the rise illegal immigration.
In May 2022, he issued a disaster declaration that covers 48 counties, most of which are along or near the border, which directed DPS 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….’