TUCSON, Ariz. – U.S. Border Patrol agents arrested a 19-year-old U.S. citizen attempting to smuggle 10 migrants, including three minors, in the bed of a truck near Sasabe, Arizona, Friday morning.
Tucson Station agents stopped a 2000 Dodge Ram for an immigration inspection on Highway 286 a few miles north of the Sasabe Port of Entry. During the inspection, they found 10 undocumented individuals concealed beneath sheets of plywood in the truck bed. The bed’s tailgate was closed, dangerously trapping the migrants on top of each other without means of escape. Agents were surprised to find two little girls, ages 4 and 8, and a 17-year-old unaccompanied minor among the group of Mexican and Guatemalan citizens.
The driver was arrested and faces federal human smuggling charges. The migrants were taken into custody and transported to the Tucson Coordination Center for processing.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection is the unified border agency within the Department of Homeland Security charged with the management, control and protection of our nation’s borders at and between official ports of entry. CBP is charged with securing the borders of the United States while enforcing hundreds of laws and facilitating lawful trade and travel.