LAREDO, Texas — Over a 24-hour period during Memorial Day weekend, U.S. Border Patrol agents in the Laredo sector apprehended more than 160 undocumented individuals during two separate alleged human smuggling attempts.
The first incident was after midnight on Friday, May 28, when a tractor hauling a tanker trailer approached the Border Patrol checkpoint on U.S. 83. During primary inspection, a service K-9 alerted to the vehicle, and agents referred it to secondary inspection. There, a nonintrusive scan revealed more than 50 people hidden inside the tanker. All were Mexican nationals, and were determined to be in the U.S. illegally. The driver, a U.S. citizen, and the hidden passengers were taken into custody by the Border Patrol.
The second incident took place the next morning, when a commercial tractor-trailer approached the checkpoint on Interstate 35. During the immigration inspection, a service K-9 alerted an agent, and the driver was referred for a secondary inspection.
Instead, the driver disregarded the agent’s instructions and drove north on I-35. Border Patrol agents stopped the vehicle near mile marker 31 on I-35 and discovered more than 100 people hidden inside the trailer; the individuals were from the countries of Mexico, Honduras, Guatemala, El Salvador, Ecuador and the Dominican Republic. The driver, a U.S. citizen, along with the concealed individuals, were placed under arrest pending further investigation.
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