Officials discovered 26 people locked inside a tractor-trailer at the Highway 86 checkpoint on Wednesday.
The trailer was inspected at about 9:40 pm, according to KESQ. While agents conducted an immigration check on the driver during primary inspection, a Border Patrol canine detection team alerted agents to the rear cargo area of the trailer.
After opening the trailer, agents discovered 26 people locked inside with no safety restraints.
“The undocumented immigrants were locked and trapped inside this tracker-trailer in below 45-degree weather with no safety restraints,” Chief Patrol Agent Gloria I. Chavez said in a press release. “This smuggling organization had no regard for the safety of the people they were smuggling. Fortunately, our agents were able to remove them from that potentially life-threatening situation.”
The driver presented a California driver license, but was later identified to be a Mexican national illegally present in the United States using a fake ID.
The driver and all 26 people were detained.
