WATCH: DPS Trooper Finds 20 Illegal Aliens Hidden in Truck During Traffic Stop near Texas Border

A Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) trooper recovered 20 illegal aliens, including four minors, hidden inside the sleeping compartment of a truck tractor on Monday evening. The stop took place near Laredo, Texas, close to where a group of illegal aliens was found dead, locked inside a Union Pacific railcar.

According to DPS, the stop occurred on May 18, 2026, just after 6:00 p.m., when a Trooper pulled over a white Volvo tractor-trailer on IH‑35 near mile marker 28 in Webb County as part of Operation Lone Star.

As the Trooper approached, the driver attempted to flee on foot but was immediately taken into custody. A search of the truck revealed 20 illegal aliens crammed into the tractor’s sleeper berth — a space never intended for human transport and lacking ventilation, restraints, or safety equipment. The “human cargo” appeared to be what Border Patrol refers to as “migrant gotaways” — illegal aliens who successfully cross the border without being apprehended by Border Patrol.

The driver, identified by DPS as Miguel Angel Velazquez Chavez, 25, a Mexican national, was charged with evading arrest and smuggling of persons. He was booked into the Webb County Jail. The illegal aliens— from Mexico and Guatemala — were turned over to the U.S. Border Patrol. DPS CID continues to investigate.

The concealment method used in Monday’s Laredo stop closely resembles the tactics seen in this month’s Croatia smuggling‑death case, where migrants were packed into a cargo lorry under suffocating conditions and abandoned near the Slovenian border, Breitbart Texas reported. In that incident, four migrants were found dead, two were hospitalized in critical condition, and additional bodies were later discovered in nearby rivers.

Croatian authorities are still searching for the suspected smuggler — a 22‑year‑old Montenegrin national — who fled the scene. The case has drawn international attention due to its similarity to the high‑density, high‑risk transport methods used by cartel‑linked smuggling networks in Texas.

The Croatian discovery also echoes your prior coverage of the migrants found dead inside a railcar in Laredo, where smugglers locked migrants inside a sealed container with no ventilation. That tragedy underscored the lethal consequences of treating human beings as cargo — a pattern now seen from South Texas to the Western Balkans.

In all three cases,  smugglers prioritized evading law enforcement over human life, using enclosed spaces that can quickly become deadly.

DPS Troopers and CID agents have repeatedly warned that smugglers are shifting to more dangerous concealment methods as enforcement pressure increases. Tractor‑trailer sleeper berths, rail cars, grain hoppers, and sealed cargo compartments have all been used in recent months.

The presence of four minors in Monday’s load highlights the growing willingness of smuggling networks to place children in life‑threatening conditions.

DPS officials say the investigation is ongoing and additional charges may be filed.