Border Patrol agents found 18 illegal aliens stashed in a tractor-trailer’s sleeper cabin at a Texas checkpoint Tuesday.
A canine alerted agents during an inspection on I-35, according to a U.S Customs and Border Protection (CBP) press release Thursday. The alert led to a second inspection when the illegal aliens were found.
The individuals were from Guatemala and Mexico while the driver was an American citizen. The driver was arrested while officials seized the tractor-trailer.
All individuals were in good health and were apprehended by agents. (RELATED: Kirsanow: Illegal Immigrants ‘Commit More Crime’ And ‘More Serious Crimes’)
This is not the first time tractor-trailers were used to smuggle illegal aliens across the U.S.-Mexico border.
Laredo, Texas, Border Patrol agents found 34 illegal aliens in a tractor-trailer Wednesday. Five were women while 29 were men, all from Mexico, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Brazil or Ecuador.
Officials from the area also discovered 78 illegal immigrants locked in a refrigerated tractor-trailer on Aug. 11. The driver and passenger in this instance were arrested.
“These criminal organizations continue to use tractor-trailers and view these individuals as mere commodities without regard for their safety,” Laredo Sector Acting Chief Patrol Agent Jason Owens said, according to CBP.
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