63 Migrants Found in Tractor-Trailer at Texas Immigration Checkpoint

Laredo Sector Border Patrol agents disrupted a human smuggling attempt when they found 63 migrants locked in a tractor-trailer at an immigration checkpoint on Interstate 35.

Laredo North Station agents assigned to the Interstate 35 immigration checkpoint observed a white tractor-trailer approaching for inspection on the night of January 21. During an initial interview with the drier, a Border Patrol K-9 alerted to the possibility of drug or human cargo located in the trailer, according to information obtained from Laredo Sector Border Patrol officials.

The agents referred the driver to a secondary inspection station. The driver failed to stop and continued north until stopping in a nearby field. The driver fled on foot into the brush.

The agents began a search for the driver. Additional agents opened the rear doors on the trailer and discovered 63 migrants locked inside. Agents identified the migrants as having traveled to the U.S. from Brazil, China, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, and Nicaragua.

After an extensive search of the area, the agents found the driver and arrested him. The agents also seized the tractor-trailer.

Officials turned the migrants and the driver over to Homeland Security Investigations special agents who will conduct a human smuggling investigation. These investigations frequently lead to the discovery of human smuggling stash houses in the Laredo area.

Two days later, in what may be an unrelated story, Laredo South Station agents raided just such a stash house, Breitbart Texas reported. During the “knock and talk” raid, agents found 12 locked inside the house located in the city of Laredo. The agents later identified one of those migrants as a juvenile who had been reported missing by her mother in Mexico. They also found another small child in the group.

Border Patrol Agents and Homeland Security Investigations worked with the Mexican consulate to reunite the mother and child in Mexico, officials reported.

Bob Price serves as associate editor and senior political news contributor for the Breitbart Texas-Border team. He is an original member of the Breitbart Texas team. Follow him on Twitter @BobPriceBBTX and Facebook.