TX - Border Patrol agents find 12 undocumented immigrants Thursday in Hebbronville
By Michelle Villarreal
Posted October 26, 2012 at 7:16 p.m.
caller.com
HEBBRONVILLE — Border patrol agents rescued 12 undocumented immigrants Thursday in Hebbronville after searching a trailer.
Agents at the Hebbronville Station checkpoint stopped a white freight liner hauling a grain hopper trailer. During an inspection, a trained dog alerted agents to suspicious activity, officials said.
Agents removed a tarp and opened the trailer from an outside crank and found 12 people sitting on plywood and sweating profusely, according to a news release. The trailer did not have ventilation and border patrol agents believe the people inside would have suffocated.
There were 10 people from Mexico, one from El Salvador and one from Guatemala inside the trailer.
All were medically checked and one person was taken to a hospital in Laredo where he later was released, officials said.
The driver of the truck, a 57-year-old man from Alabama, and the 12 undocumented immigrants were arrested. The case has been turned over to Homeland Security Investigations for further investigation.
Border Patrol agents find 12 undocumented immigrants Thursday in Hebbronville » Corpus Christi Caller-Times