A 43-year-old Beaver, Oklahoma, resident has been charged with smuggling numerous undocumented immigrants as well as possession with intent to distribute meth, Acting U.S. Attorney John G.E. Marck for the Southern District of Texas recently announced.
On May 16, Juan Nasario-Reyes allegedly drove a tractor-trailer to the Border Patrol checkpoint in Sarita, Texas where authorities noticed his nervous behavior. According to the complaint, he claimed his vehicle was empty and he was alone, but a K-9 alerted to the sleeper portion of the tractor and the front of the trailer.
During a secondary inspection, law enforcement officers discovered four illegal aliens concealed inside the cab area and 38 more inside the trailer, according to the complaint.
The charges further allege the trailer had been latched shut from the outside with no means for the individuals inside to open the doors or escape.
According to the complaint, the temperature inside the trailer was approximately 92.5 degrees.
The illegal aliens were from Mexico, El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala, Ecuador, Peru, Columbia, Cuba and Brazil, according to the charges.
Authorities also allegedly located about 16 grams of meth, a glass pipe and glass funnel inside a headphone box in the cab area.
If convicted of the human smuggling offenses, Nasario-Reyes faces up to five years in federal prison as well as a $250,000 maximum fine, while the drug charges carry a maximum of 40 years.
A total of 13 of the illegal aliens were facing either illegal entry or reentry charges, while the remaining were expected to be immediately removed from the country.
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