Man hidden in buckets in failed smuggling attempt

By Susan Shroder
Thursday, December 16, 2010 at 9:17 p.m.

SAN DIEGO — A U.S. Customs and Border Protection officer checking paint buckets in the bed of a pickup truck at the San Ysidro Port of Entry Wednesday found a human face staring at him from one of the 5-gallon containers.

The officer was walking through lanes of traffic about 5:45 a.m. with a CBP dog trained to alert to people and narcotics when the dog alerted to the 2004 Chevrolet truck.

Several of the buckets had been strapped together in the back of the truck, with painting and construction items inside them, including paint rollers and a sander.

When the officer moved some tools in one of the buckets, he saw a man’s face.

Holes also had been cut in the buckets for the man’s arms, legs and torso. Tools and painting equipment had been placed over his body.

The driver of the truck was arrested on a smuggling charge. The man in the truck bed, a 54-year-old Mexican citizen, will be a material witness in the case and then returned to Mexico, CBP officials said.

susan.shroder@uniontrib.com • (619) 293-1876
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