Eighty-four people were found to be illegally in the country after a concerned citizen reported seeing several people being unloaded from a tractor-trailer in Hidalgo County on Thursday.
Hidalgo County Sheriff J.E. “Eddie” Guerra took to Twitter on Thursday to report that authorities with U.S. Customs and Border Protection and law enforcement officials with Operation Stonegarden rescued 84 people in the vicinity of Mile 12 ½ North and Mile 6 West Road.
Guerra said that a concerned citizen reported a tractor trailer entering a residence there and witnessed that people were being unloaded from the trailer.
Operation Stonegarden funds multi-agency efforts to secure the U.S. borders and includes assistance from CBP, U.S. Border Patrol and other law enforcement agencies.
According to Guerra, the investigation remains ongoing.
The news comes less than five months after 53 people were found dead inside a tractor-trailer near San Antonio on June 27, in which several suspects have since been indicted and face federal charges in that case.
