(TEXAS SCORECARD) – Seventeen illegal aliens have been found crammed inside a very small compartment of a fake Lowe’s work truck.
Texas Department of Public Safety officers apprehended the driver, who was from Mississippi, for human smuggling and causing serious bodily harm.
The group of foreign nationals consisted of 13 males and four females.
“Troopers reported several males & females were drenched in sweat suffering from dehydration and numbness in their legs as a result of being crammed in 3’ wide space,” posted DPS spokesman Chris Olivarez on X. Olivarez confirmed that medical treatment was provided to those who needed it.
DPS continues to crack down on human smuggling efforts around the state. Earlier this month, DPS stopped another human smuggling operation in Webb County.
Following a high-speed chase on Interstate Highway 35, the driver of a Ford construction truck pulled to a stop. DPS troopers discovered that the truck bed was packed with 11 illegal aliens hiding behind traffic cones.
The suspected smuggler, Israel Alexander Salas of Brownsville, was arrested.
Salas was charged by law enforcement with 11 counts of smuggling of persons with the possibility of serious bodily injury as well as evasion of arrest.
DPS is not the only party working to curb human smuggling efforts. U.S. Customs and Border Protection recently announced new efforts to combat transnational criminal organizations.
Called Apollo X, the new initiative seeks to bring the full force of CBP across the border from El Paso, Texas, to San Diego, California.
“Let me be very clear, if you are making or moving fentanyl across our borders, if you are responsible for smuggling and exploiting people, and if you are profiting from the suffering of others, we know who you are and we are bringing the full force of the federal government to shut you down,” said CBP senior official Troy A. Miller.