Federal agents recently discovered 37 migrants concealed inside a commercial vehicle during a routine inspection in Texas.
On Dec. 15, agents with the U.S. Border Patrol El Paso Sector apprehended the undocumented individuals at the Las Cruces Station checkpoint located along Interstate 25 in El Paso. The migrants were from various countries, including Guatemala, Mexico, Cuba, El Salvador and Ecuador.
According to U.S. Customs and Border Protection, agents became aware of the migrants after hearing movement near the rear of the trailer and “observed individuals attempting to crouch behind freight.”
The agency said El Paso Sector Border Patrol “regularly encounters smuggling tactics used by transnational criminal organizations,” which often involves finding individuals hidden in tractor-trailers.
According to data from CBP, during fiscal year 2024 – which ran from Oct. 1, 2023 through Sept. 30, 2024 – agents in the El Paso sector uncovered 387 migrants in connection with 24 commercial vehicle smuggling events.
“Smuggling large groups in tractor trailers poses extreme dangers due to the lack of proper safety measures,” CBP said in a statement. “Individuals are often crammed into confined spaces without seat belts, adequate ventilation or climate control, often experiencing dangerously high temperatures in the summer and freezing conditions in the winter.”
The dangers of those smuggling operations were in the headlines following a deadly incident in San Antonio in 2022 that took the lives of 53 individuals. Officials with Homeland Security have called the case the deadliest human smuggling incident on U.S. soil.
The discovery of the most recent smuggling attempt came just over two weeks before the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance’s yearly human trafficking initiative.
According to CVSA, this annual five-day event aims to educate “commercial motor vehicle drivers, motor carriers, law enforcement officers and the general public about the crime of human trafficking, the signs to look for and what to do if you suspect someone is being trafficked.”
In 2025, the alliance’s U.S. initiative is scheduled for Jan. 13-17. The group will conduct its Canadian initiative Feb. 17-21 and its Mexican initiative March 17-21. LL
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