Texas Police Find 50 Migrants Locked in Shipping Container near Border

Texas Department of Public Safety Special Agents found a group of 50 migrants locked inside a Conex container in a Laredo junkyard. The search came after the agents apprehended five other migrants being smuggled in a stolen tractor-trailer.

Texas DPS spokesman Lt. Chris Olivarez tweeted images of the apprehended migrants who were apprehended in a junkyard on SH359 near Laredo.

.@TxDPS Special Agents located several illegal immigrants inside a semi-trailer in a junkyard on SH 359 in Laredo. A further search revealed 50 illegal immigrants – including 7 juveniles concealed inside a Conex container. #OperationLoneStar pic.twitter.com/CmWFvjHVD1

— Chris Olivarez (@LtChrisOlivarez) November 29, 2022

Initially, the special agents from the DPS Criminal Investigations Division located a tractor-trailer they suspected was carrying a load of migrants. As the special agents approached the trailer, “several illegal immigrants absconded,” Olivarez said in a written statement. A search of the area led to the arrest of five adult males.

At that point, the CID special agents began a search of the junkyard and came upon a Conex container. When the agents opened the container, they found approximately 50 migrants locked inside.

Border Patrol agents arrived and identified the migrants as residents of El Salvador Guatemala, and Mexico. The group consisted of 35 males, ten females, and eight juveniles, Olivares reported.

Further investigation by the special agents led to the discovery that the tractor-trailer had been reported stolen via the Laredo Police Department.

The DPS special agents turned the 55 migrants over to the U.S. Border Patrol agents who transported them to the Laredo Station for processing.

The Texas DPS CID special agents are criminal investigators for the state law enforcement agency. The special agents are working along the border as part of Texas Governor Greg Abbott’s Operation Lone Star.