Within 18 hours, U.S. Border Patrol agents worked collaboratively with other law enforcement agencies shutting down stash houses and interdicted smuggling conveyances to apprehend nearly 300 illegal immigrants.
The first incident occurred during the late afternoon of October 13, 2020 in Laredo, Texas when authorities conducted a consensual search at a residence in which they discovered 123 individuals were stashed inside. The individuals were determined to be in the United States illegally from the countries of Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras. The U.S. Border Patrol took them into custody pending investigation.
Later that evening, U.S. Border Patrol agents stopped a large human smuggling attempt at one of the Border Patrol checkpoints after a Service canine alerted to a tractor trailer. A search of the vehicle led agents to discover 84 individuals inside the trailer. All of the individuals were illegally present in the United States and from the countries of Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador.
Another incident occurred on the afternoon of October 14, when the combined agencies conducted a consensual search of a residence. The search led to the discovery of eight individuals inside the home who were illegally in the United States from the countries of Mexico and Guatemala.
Also on October 14, 2020 agents at another Border Patrol checkpoint encountered a second tractor trailer. After a Service canine alerted agents, a non-intrusive scan was conducted on the vehicle that led agents to discover 74 individuals inside the refrigerated trailer.
In all of the incidents, none of the individuals were wearing any personal protective equipment– face masks had to be provided to the immigration offenders.
