The U.S. Border Patrol says the Rio Grande Valley and Laredo sectors are hot spots for smuggling immigrants in tractor-trailer rigs.
In a news release, the agency says in fiscal year 2020 through Aug., the two sectors have seen more than 226 tractor-trailer cases, with 3,740 people hidden in the trucks. They say that is a 37% increase from the same period last year.
“Smugglers are unscrupulous criminals and will stop at nothing to enrich their pockets, even if it involves locking human beings in trailers intended for animals,” said Acting Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Mark A. Morgan. “They treat illegal aliens as a commodity, inhumanely holding them captive in overcrowded stash houses with limited access to food and water.”
The Border Patrol says some immigrants pay smugglers anywhere from $6,000 to $12,000 to smuggle them into U.S. aboard tractor-trailers.
