A truck driver tried to hang himself in a holding cell at the Sarita Border Patrol checkpoint last week after agents found nearly 100 people hidden in a tractor-trailer full of rotten fruit, which he was driving, according to a criminal complaint.
The incident happened at approximately 2:45 a.m. Thursday when Ruben Oswaldo Sanchez approached the checkpoint in a 2015 Kenworth Tractor pulling a 1999 Great Dane trailer.
During an inspection, an agent asked Sanchez and his passenger — a woman he recently began dating — where they were headed. Both said Houston, according to the complaint, which said Sanchez told the agent he was hauling strawberries.
Meanwhile, a Border Patrol K-9 alerted to the trailer and agents referred Sanchez to a secondary inspection.
Agents found the trailer doors were secured with two locks and a metal seal, but authorities opened them after Sanchez told them where the keys were, according to the complaint.
Agents found 96 people packed inside the trailer, including three juveniles. Two of those juveniles were unaccompanied.
The woman, who was not identified in the complaint, told agents that Sanchez had asked her to accompany him on a trip to Houston. She described Sanchez as a truck driver who does not work very often, according to the complaint.
She agreed to go because she was not working and said that at about 10:45 p.m. a man later identified as Sanchez’s brother picked Sanchez and her up in a blue Chevy and took them to a lot off of U.S. Highway 83 in the La Joya/Palmview area.
The woman told agents she got into the semi-truck at the lot and laid down because she was tired while Sanchez checked the truck.
She fell asleep and woke up when Sanchez stopped at the Flying J in Edinburg, and after they left there, they did not stop until reaching the checkpoint.
During Sanchez’s interview, he told agents he worked for his stepfather’s trucking company, the name of which was redacted in the complaint.
The complaint indicates that agents do not believe Sanchez was truthful with the number of stops he made prior to being arrested at the checkpoint.
“Sanchez denied knowing anyone was being concealed inside the trailer,” the complaint stated.
A search of his cellphone showed he made a stop at Plantation Oaks Drive in Edinburg for an hour and seven minutes.
The agents asked the woman about that stop and she said she was asleep and only remembered stopping at the Flying J.
“She stated they have not been dating long,” the complaint stated.
When agents approached Sanchez again to ask him questions, he ended the interview, telling the agent “for us to do what we needed to do, and I will do what I need to do.”
He also asked them to apologize to his companion.
“Agents were notified Sanchez had attempted to hang himself using a mylar blanket in a holding cell while at the USBP checkpoint,” the complaint stated. “Sanchez was sent to a hospital for evaluation.”
Further investigation revealed that Sanchez had a fake bill of lading and that the fruit in the trailer was rotten.
“The bill of lading said the load consisted of limes, strawberries, cucumbers, pineapples, and garlic,” the complaint stated. “The rotten produce in the trailer consisted of limes, strawberries, and raspberries.”
Agents also discovered that the produce company on the fake bill of lading said it was a copy of an old shipment.
“Further, the representative stated the bill of lading should be signed by the driver and there should be no reason to stop in Houston, Texas since the load was being shipped to Pennsylvania.”
Lastly, this particular produce company had not used Sanchez’s stepfather’s trucking company since January 2021.
Agents also interviewed the people in the trailer, who expressed concern because the trailer was cold and they were not told how to escape it in case of an emergency.
Sanchez made a first appearance Monday in Corpus Christi federal court in front of U.S. Magistrate Judge Julie K. Hampton, who ordered him temporarily held without bond pending further proceedings, court records indicate.
