Migrants Found in Cargo Boxes near Border in Texas

Laredo Sector Border Patrol agents disrupted a human smuggling attempt involving a rental box truck. The agents at an interior immigration checkpoint north of Laredo, Texas, found migrants hiding in boxes inside the locked cargo area.

Laredo North Station Border Patrol agents assigned to the Interstate 35 interior immigration checkpoint on July 20 observed a yellow rental box truck approaching for inspection, according to information provided by Border Patrol officials. The agents carried out a non-intrusive inspection and discovered several anomalies inside the cargo area of the truck.

The agents carried out a search of the cargo area and found five Mexican nationals hiding in storage boxes. The agents also found a small amount of marijuana inside the cab.

The agents took the five Mexican nationals and the driver of the truck into custody. They also seized the small quantity of marijuana.

“Human smugglers continue to have no regard for the safety and health of the people they exploit as they are treated like a commodity for profit,” Laredo Sector officials said in a written statement.  Vehicles such as box trucks are increasingly being used when trying to circumvent checkpoints to violate the immigration laws of the Nation.”

“Laredo Sector agents focus on the agency’s enduring mission priorities of countering terrorism, combating transnational crime, securing the border, facilitating lawful trade and travel, and protecting revenue,” the statement continues.

Laredo Sector agents apprehended nearly 87,000 migrants during the first nine months of Fiscal Year 2021 (October 2020 through June 2021), according to the June Southwest Land Border Encounters report. More than 10,000 of those apprehensions occurred in the month of June.