Laredo Sector Border Patrol agents found a group of migrants packed like cargo in a tractor-trailer at a Texas interior immigration checkpoint. The agents found 66 from five different countries.
Laredo North Station Border Patrol agents assigned to the Interstate 35 immigration checkpoint on June 29 observed a white tractor-trailer approaching for inspection. Agents conducted a search with a non-intrusive imaging (NII) system, according to information obtained from Laredo Sector Border Patrol officials.
The NII search revealed the presence of people packed into the trailer. The driver attempted to drive away from the checkpoint to avoid a search of the trailer, officials stated. Agents assigned to the secondary inspection area stopped his apparent escape attempt.
Agents opened the rear of the trailer and found 66 people packed inside. Being locked inside the trailer provides limited air circulation as outside air temperatures reached 90 degrees. It also leaves the migrants with no means of escape in the event of a crash or abandonment by the human smuggler.
An immigration interview identified the illegal immigrants as having come to the United States from Brazil, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Mexico, officials reported.
The Border Patrol agents arrested all 66 and the driver. They also seized the tractor-trailer rig, the statement reports.
Agents turned over the driver and the 66 to special agents with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) for further investigation and possible charges for human smuggling and immigration violations. Frequently, these investigations lead to the discovery of human smuggling stash houses in the Laredo area that are typically operated by Mexican cartel-connected operatives.
“Despite the ongoing international COVID-19 pandemic, alien smugglers endanger the lives of individuals they transport and put at risk the health and safety of our Nation,” Laredo Sector officials stated. “U.S. Border Patrol agents strive to prevent the flow of illegal immigration and slow the spread of COVID-19.”
Masks worn by the migrants in the photo above are provided by Border Patrol agents, officials previously told Breitbart Texas.
Bob Price serves as associate editor and senior news contributor for the Breitbart Texas-Border team. He is an original member of the Breitbart Texas team. Price is a regular panelist on Fox 26 Houston’s What’s Your Point? Sunday-morning talk show. Follow him on Twitter @BobPriceBBTX and Face
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