TUCSON, Ariz. – Nogales Border Patrol agents arrested two Legally Admitted Permanent Residents at the Interstate 19 Immigration Checkpoint who attempted to smuggle five illegal aliens in their semi-truck sleeper cab during separate incidents this past week.
Last Friday, agents referred a 35-year-old male driver of a semi-truck for secondary inspection and discovered four Mexican men, ages 18 through 24, being smuggled in the sleeper portion of the cab.
turned out to contain illegal aliens
On Wednesday, agents at the same checkpoint referred a 47-year-old driver of a semi-truck for secondary inspection and discovered a 30-year-old previously deported Mexican national concealed in the cab.
Agents seized both semi-trucks and arrested all subjects. The five Mexican nationals were processed for immigrations violations, while both drivers face federal smuggling charges.
In an effort to prevent fatalities at the hands of smugglers, Department of Homeland Security has recently launched “Operation Safeguard” to educate the public and the trucking industry on the life-threatening dangers involved in using commercial conveyances to smuggle humans.