Thread: Deaths, life sentence haven't stopped truck smuggling

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcont...D8NDOTSO0.html

Deaths, life sentence haven't stopped truck smuggling

02/21/2007

By LYNN BREZOSKY / Associated Press


The discovery of 40 Brazilians loaded into a stifling tractor trailer shows human smugglers are still attempting a tactic that led to the death of 19 immigrants and subsequent life sentence for their driver, federal officials said Tuesday.

"These unscrupulous smugglers created the perfect environment for tragic results," said Lynne Underdown, Border Patrol chief for the Rio Grande Valley sector.

Border Patrol agents discovered the immigrants Saturday at an inland highway checkpoint in Falfurrias, about 75 miles north of the Mexican border. A Border Patrol dog had alerted agents to the scent of people in the trailer, prompting a search.

"As soon as those agents opened the back of the trailer they could just feel the heat coming from inside," said Border Patrol spokesman Oscar Saldana.

The immigrants, including men, women, and children, were found seated shoulder-to-shoulder along both sides of the trailer, which had neither refrigeration equipment nor windows. None requested medical attention and all were being processed for deportation.

The driver, a U.S. citizen from Weslaco, was arrested and charged with smuggling. The driver's identity was being withheld pending an investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Saldana said. ICE spokeswoman Nina Pruneda late Tuesday said the agency had not yet gotten the case.

The discovery comes less than a month after a jury sentenced 36-year-old truck driver Tyrone Williams to life in prison for his part in the nation's deadliest smuggling attempt.

Williams had been driving some 70 illegal immigrants from Mexico, Honduras, El Salvador and the Dominican Republic stuffed inside his trailer in May 2003. While making the trip to Houston from Harlingen near the Mexican border, temperatures inside the airless trailer climbed quickly.

The immigrants kicked walls, clawed at insulation, broke out taillights and screamed for help. Williams abandoned the trailer at a truck stop about 100 miles southwest of Houston after realizing people had died.

Saturday's discovery was at least the second case of tractor trailer smuggling since Williams' trial. On Jan. 8, four people were found inside a trailer at the inland checkpoint near Sarita.

"These unscrupulous smugglers created the perfect environment for tragic results," said Lynne Underdown, Border Patrol chief for the Rio Grande Valley sector.

I think the Border Patrol needs to look at the Administartion's refusal to pardon it's (Border Patrol) two convicted and imprisoned heros!

Substitute the term "smugglers" with "Bush Administration", and the problem would be portrayed accurately!

Anyone ever wonder why the State of Texas is the corridor? Hmmm.....think about that for a minute!