EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) — One person is facing human smuggling charges after 11 migrants were found padlocked in the back of a U-Haul box truck shortly before midnight on New Year’s Eve, a spokesman for Customs and Border Protection said on Tuesday, Jan. 7.
The migrants were found in the rented truck at about 11:45 p.m. on Dec. 31 in Hurley, New Mexico, the spokesman said. Eleven were in the back of the truck and another migrant was up front as a passenger. All 12 are being processed under Title 8.
The driver, who had a Mexican driver’s license, was arrested and is facing human smuggling charges, the spokesman said.
The Police Department in Hurley, which is about 15 miles southeast of Silver City, had contacted Border Patrol for assistance.
El Paso Sector Border Patrol Chief Anthony “Scott” Good posted about the migrants being found on social media but provided few other details.
KTSM reached out to CBP for further details, which they provided.
Good said in his post that the incident was “a stark reminder of the lengths smugglers will take to evade detection and endanger lives.”
Border Patrol provided some additional information, saying the migrants in the back of the truck had “limited airflow” and were padlocked inside the rear compartment prior to the arrival of law enforcement.
All the migrants were from Guatemala, Mexico, El Salvador and Honduras.