Posted Oct 24, 2018, 4:01 pm
Border Patrol agents arrested the driver of a semi-truck after they found 18 people hiding in a near-freezing refrigerated trailer at the Interstate 19 checkpoint Monday night, authorities said.
Agents arrested the driver, a 47-year-old Mexican man, after a dog at the checkpoint alerted to an odor. Agents scanned the trailer, spotting 18 people in the refrigerated trailer, which had been cooled to 36 degrees Fahrenheit, said Rob Daniels, a spokesman for U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
Agents apprehended two Guatemalan nationals and 16 Mexican nationals, ages 15 to 40, Daniels said. The semi-truck was seized, and the driver faces federal human smuggling charges, Daniels said.
Homeland Security is continuing to warn about the danger of using commercial vehicles to smuggle people as part of "Operation Safeguard," Daniels said.
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1 comment on this story
Any info whether the truck was loaded with migrants in Mexico and came through customers undetected, or loaded into the truck in the US after it passed through customs. If the former, will there be an investigation why it was missed?