A Titus County man was arrested at the Falfurrias checkpoint after Border Patrol agents found six people inside his vehicle, with one of them telling authorities she feared for her life because she was squeezed tightly under a seat.
Jeremy Wayne Logan, of Mount Pleasant, a city near Dallas, was charged with knowingly and recklessly transporting people unlawfully present in the United States.
On Friday, Logan arrived at the checkpoint about 10:30 a.m. in his white Ford F250. He “failed to make a complete stop and continued to slowly roll until being instructed to stop,” according to a criminal complaint.
Logan also failed to make eye contact with the agent during questioning, the complaint said.
Logan gave the agent consent to obtain an X-Ray of his vehicle during a secondary inspection, and it revealed multiple people hidden within the vehicle, according to the complaint.
One person was found hidden inside an ice chest and another underneath the truck’s toolbox, similar to another failed smuggling attempt that occurred Dec. 1.
Four more people were found inside the cab of the vehicle, two of which “were partially concealed under the backseat with their legs going through to the front seat,” according to the complaint.
During the interview, Logan said his friend “Chris” propositioned him to drive a pickup from Edinburg to Houston in exchange for $1,000.
“Logan explained that Chris made all the arrangements for an unknown man to drop off the 2003 white Ford F250 pickup at the Echo Hotel where he was located,” the complaint said. “Logan claims the unknown man dropped off the pickup truck and only spoke in the Spanish language.”
He added that he was to drive to an unknown location in Houston and believed Chris would provide a location later and pay him the $1,000 as well.
One woman who hid underneath the vehicle seats said she feared for her life because she was tightly squeezed under the seat.
“She felt she had no means of escape in case of an emergency,” the complaint said. That same woman was able to identify Logan in a photo lineup, while the man concealed in the ice chest, who also provided a statement, couldn’t. Logan is set to appear before Magistrate Judge Jason B. Libby for his preliminary examination and detention hearing Thursday morning.
