21 Migrants Found in Horse-Trailer Smuggling Incident in Texas near Border

Jim Hogg County Sheriff’s Office deputies found more than 20 migrants in a failed human smuggling incident involving a horse trailer. Laredo Sector Border Patrol agents reported 17 of the migrants were locked inside the trailer.

Hebbronville Station Border Patrol agents received a request for assistance from sheriff’s deputies who found a horse trailer being utilized as a human smuggling vehicle, according to information received from Laredo Sector Border Patrol officials. The agents responded to the scene where they observed 17 migrants locked in the horse trailer.

A search of the area led to the arrest of four other migrants who fled from the vehicle into the brush after deputies stopped the driver of the truck.

The agents conducted a welfare check and immigration interview on the 21 migrants. They identified the migrants as citizens of El Salvador, Honduras, and Mexico, officials stated.

“Despite the threat of COVID-19 to the people of our communities, human smugglers continue to show a brazen disregard for human life by using dangerous methods in their smuggling attempts,” Laredo Sector Border Patrol officials said in a written statement. “Border Patrol agents continue to protect our Nation’s borders by preventing the flow of illegal immigration and targeting transnational criminal organizations.”

During the month of June, Laredo Sector Border Patrol agents apprehended nearly 11,000 migrants. This represents an increase of 154 percent over the previous June’s 4,040, according to the June Southwest Land Border Encounters Report. The first nine months of the fiscal year, which began on October 1, 2020, led to the apprehension of 86,947 migrants — an increase of 178 percent over the same period last year.