Border Patrol K-9 Finds 120 Migrants at Inland Checkpoint

Laredo Sector Border Patrol agents discovered more than 100 migrants in a tractor-trailer after a K-9 alerted to the possible presence of drugs or human cargo at an immigration checkpoint in South Texas.

Laredo West Station agents assigned to the Highway 83 immigration checkpoint observed a black tractor-trailer approach for inspection. During an immigration interview with the driver, the man claimed to have no identification, according to information obtained from Laredo Sector Border Patrol officials. At about the same time, a K-9 agent alerted to a scent it is trained to detect.

The agents referred the driver to a secondary inspection station. As the truck parked, the driver jumped out of the passenger door and ran off into an adjacent field, officials stated. The agents opened the trailer and found a total of 120 migrants locked inside with no means of escape. Fortunately, the weather at the time was unseasonably cool, officials stated.

Agents evaluated the migrants and found none in need of medical attention, officials stated.

After identifying the migrants, agents reported 11 to be Honduran and Guatemalan juveniles. The other 109 were adult males and females from Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Mexico. Agents placed the migrants in custody and transported them to the Laredo West Border Patrol Station for processing under Laredo Sector Guidelines.

Officials did not disclose any additional information about the driver.

Inland inspection stations are an effective tool for Border Patrol agents in their duties to interdict human and drug smuggling efforts. Due to the overwhelming numbers of Central American migrant families and unaccompanied minors who are crossing the border illegally, several sectors have shut down inland inspection stations in order to move agents to the border, Breitbart News reported in March.