Rio Grande Valley Sector Border Patrol agents discovered 40 people illegally present in the United States inside a large metal container trying to cross the Falfurrias checkpoint Tuesday, according to a news release.
K-9 units alerted agents to a truck pulling a flatbed trailer carrying large metal-sided boxes. The vehicle was referred to a secondary inspection area where agents saw a vent about 16×6 inches on one of the boxes, the release said.
When agents removed the vent, they found 40 people sitting inside the box, according to the report.
The box didn’t have any other openings or means of escape for those inside and had to be taken apart by unscrewing multiple bolts using a power tool found inside the truck, the report said.
In addition, agents also found a handgun and loaded magazines inside the vehicle.
While the driver was a U.S. citizen, the 40 people inside the box were determined by agents to be Central American and Mexican nationals, according to the release.
All of them were placed under arrest and the Brooks County Sheriff’s Office took custody of the truck, trailer, firearm and ammo, as well as the driver.
