Texas Border Business
EL PASO, Texas – U.S. Customs and Border Protection Officers working at the Paso Del Norte border crossing disrupted a human smuggling attempt, when they discovered a man hidden underneath the flatbed of a pickup truck.
“Our officers must maintain constant vigilance against human and narcotic smuggling,” said Port Director Ray Provencio. “Often times human smugglers will place migrants’ lives’ in danger in their attempts to illegally smuggle them into the country for their own financial gain.”
The incident occurred on Sept. 25, when CBP officers encountered a 45-year-old male U.S. citizen who arrived from Mexico via vehicle lanes, in a pickup truck. Following a primary inspection, the driver was referred for further examination. In secondary, the vehicle was scanned utilizing a non-intrusive inspection (x-ray), revealing an image of a human silhouette in the flatbed area of the truck. CBP officers inspected the area and discovered an individual who was strapped with a harness underneath the flatbed of the truck.
The individual who was hiding was escorted to secondary where biometric verification confirmed the identity to be a 33-year-old male, Mexican citizen who had been previously deported.
The driver and the undocumented non-citizen were both arrested pending criminal proceedings.
