Rio Grande Valley Sector Border Patrol agents and Texas Department of Public Safety troopers found a group of migrants hidden in a cattle trailer. Human smugglers packed the migrants in an un-ventilated compartment under bales of hay.
Texas DPS troopers stopped a Dodge pickup truck towing a cattle trailer filled with bales of hay, according to information obtained from U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Troopers believed the trailer was equipped with a false compartment and contacted Border Patrol agents for assistance.
Border Patrol agents arrived and a K-9 alerted to the possible presence of drug or human cargo inside the trailer. A search of the trailer confirmed the presence of the hidden compartment and the presence of 13 migrants trapped inside the un-ventilated space.
The driver was allegedly bound for the Falfurrias Border Patrol checkpoint on U.S. Highway 281 in Brooks County before being stopped. “This smuggling tactic placed the migrants’ lives at further risk due to the excessive heat in the compartment and approximately one-hour travel time to the checkpoint,” officials stated.
The photos tweeted by Rio Grande Valley Sector Chief Patrol Agent Brian Hastings show the grants inside the cramped space that forced them to sit with their knees to their chest and their heads bowed over and down.
“If not for the actions of authorities, the driver would have attempted smuggling the group through a border patrol checkpoint, more than an hr drive away,” Chief Hastings stated.
DPS took custody of the driver and two other passengers who are expected to be charged with alien smuggling, officials report. The migrants, identified as citizens of Central American nations, were taken by Border Patrol agents.
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 Facebook.