33 Migrants Found in Human Smuggler’s Horse Trailer near Border in Arizona

Tucson Sector Border Patrol agents arrested two armed human smugglers who reportedly locked a group of 33 migrants in a horse trailer. Agents also seized two pistols and $16,000 in cash.

Tucson Sector Chief Patrol Agent John R. Modlin tweeted photos from a human smuggling incident where 33 migrants were locked inside a horse trailer.

Agents contacted Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office deputies to assist in the traffic stop, Tucson Sector officials said in a written statement. The law enforcement team stopped the Ford pickup truck pulling the horse trailer at about 2 a.m. on Sunday morning.

During a search of the vehicle, agents found 33 migrants locked inside the trailer. Officials said the smugglers packed the migrants shoulder-to-shoulder inside the trailer.

The agents placed the driver of the Ford truck and the driver of a Dodge Ram pickup truck believed to be traveling with the smuggling vehicle under arrest for human smuggling. Agents found two handguns in each truck and approximately $16,000 in cash.

The two drivers, both U.S. citizens, are under arrest for human smuggling. The agents processed the 33 migrants for immigration violations.

Elsewhere in the Tucson Sector, Nogales Station agents found 88 pounds of fentanyl and 30 pounds of methamphetamine hidden in a sedan during an inspection at the Interstate 19 immigration checkpoint.

The agents found the drugs after a K-9 alerted to the vehicle. Agents arrested the driver, a U.S. citizen, for drug smuggling.