LAREDO, TEXAS — Border Patrol agents and Laredo Police Department officers stopped a semi-truck on Highway 35 and discovered 22 people packed inside the sleeper cab, including two unaccompanied minors, in what authorities are calling a dangerous human smuggling attempt.
The 22 individuals included 19 Mexican nationals, one Guatemalan national, and two unaccompanied minors from Mexico. The driver, a U.S. citizen, faces federal alien smuggling charges. No court date has been announced.
Border Patrol called the discovery a grim example of the dangers smugglers put migrants through. “This is the grim reality of human smuggling — people crammed into unsafe spaces, with no regard for their safety. We continue to target, arrest, and prosecute human smugglers to the fullest extent of the law,” the agency said.
All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
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