TUCSON – On Tuesday, a Mexican trucker was arrested after U.S. Border Patrol agents found 33 illegal aliens hidden in his trailer at the Interstate 19 Immigration Checkpoint.
According to U.S. Customs and Border Patrol (CBP), Nogales agents working the primary inspection lanes referred the 37 year-old Mexican driver of a 2002 Freightliner tractor and refrigerated trailer to the secondary inspection area for further immigration related questioning.
Agents searched the trailer filled with produce from Mexico and 33 foreign nationals from Mexico and El Salvador hiding inside. The group included 12 juveniles in age from three to 17, a pregnant female, and a convicted felon.
The interior of the trailer was nearly 100 degrees, according to CBP, causing “imminent danger to the people locked inside with no means of egress. Although the trailer was equipped with a refrigeration unit, the driver did not have it turned on.”
The driver was arrested and charged with felony human smuggling violations in a federal complaint. The 33 people being smuggled were taken into U.S. Border Patrol custody to be processed for immigration violations.