According to officials, Texas Border Patrol agents stopped three human trafficking attempts last week, one of which included 48 people who were found hidden in a tractor-trailer.
In the group were 46 adults and 2 children, all citizens of Mexico, the driver of the truck is an American citizen. They were discovered at an Interstate Highway 35 checkpoint near the border city of Laredo, Texas.
A U.S. Customs and Border Protection statement says the driver of the truck approached the checkpoint on May 14 was referred to a second inspection where a giant X-ray used to detect people discovered the people hiding in the back. It was not reported if anyone was injured during the attempted smuggling or how the undocumented immigrants entered the country in the first place.
Everyone involved was arrested pending an investigation.
A third incident occurred near U.S. Highway 59 when a pickup truck was stopped by agents on patrol. They found four undocumented immigrants and one U.S. citizen in the vehicle. All five were then placed under arrest.
Amid the coronavirus, Border Patrol apprehensions have significantly decreased to fewer than 17,000 people in April, compared to over 34,000 in March.
