Border Patrol Agents Arrest Human Smugglers, Victims Locked In Truck

human smuggling
Agents discovered seven illegal border crossers inside of a semi-truck stopped at the I-19 checkpoint [Photo courtesy CBP]

TUCSON – Once again, Border Patrols agents have rescued illegal aliens exploited by human smugglers this week. In three separate incidents on Wednesday, agents working near Ajo and Nogales arrested five U.S. citizens for smuggling 11 illegal aliens, including seven who were locked in a semi-trailer.

According to U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), shortly before 10 p.m. during the inspection of a Volkswagen Passat rental car at the immigration checkpoint on State Route 85, an agent determined that two passengers were Mexican nationals illegally present in the United States. The aliens and the U.S. citizen driver were placed under arrest.

Approximately 20 minutes later, another agent patrolling near Ajo conducted a vehicle stop on a car that contained two U.S. citizens and two illegal aliens from Mexico. All four individuals were arrested, and the vehicle was seized.

A few hours later at the I-19 immigration checkpoint a Freightliner semi-truck pulling a refrigerated trailer was sent to a secondary inspection after a Border Patrol canine alerted to the vehicle. Inside the padlocked trailer agents discovered seven victims of human trafficking. The driver was arrested, and agents seized the truck.

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