EL PASO, Texas (Border Report) — Border Patrol agents uncovered two large human-smuggling attempts this week, including one described as potentially dangerous.
The latest and larger of the two incidents occurred Monday morning at the Border Patrol checkpoint on Interstate 35 north of Laredo, Texas.
A Border Patrol canine alerted agents to a tractor-trailer before they referred it to a secondary inspection. Agents said they found 24 people in the trailer and another five in the sleeper cab. All 29 were in the country illegally and came either Mexico, Honduras, Guatemala or the Dominican Republic, U.S. Customs and Border Protection said in a news release.
Smuggled migrants face added layers of danger in tractor-trailers
Homeland Security Investigations took over the case and seized both the tractor and trailer.
On June 24, another drug-sniffing dog alerted agents to a cargo vehicle at the Javier Vega, Jr. Checkpoint in Sarita, Texas, where temperatures have been hovering between the mid to upper 90s.
Homeland Security Investigations had notified the Border Patrol that investigating agents believed a cargo vehicle loaded with undocumented immigrants would attempt to cross the checkpoint, according to a CBP news release issued Friday.
During a secondary inspection, agents found 25 individuals inside the cargo area of the vehicle wherein the temperature was close to 100 degrees.
The 25 individuals were from Honduras, Guatemala, and Mexico, and were present in the U.S. illegally.
Also Monday, border agents assisted the Encinal Police Department after officers stopped a utility truck for a traffic violation. Agents said they found five undocumented immigrants hidden in a rigged compartment in the back of the truck.
