Two neighbors ended up in federal custody after one responded to an Instagram post advertising quick cash for a job paying $10,000 to drive a truck with a travel trailer attached.
Alexies Olivo and Alfredo Patino were arrested Monday at the Border Patrol checkpoint near Falfurrias on charges of attempting to smuggle 16 people illegally present in the United States while using a travel trailer to conceal them.
According to the criminal complaint, the duo were inside a white Ford F-250 towing a travel trailer when they entered the primary lane at the checkpoint at around 5:25 p.m.
One Border Patrol agent began his immigration inspection and identified Olivo and Patino who both stated they were heading to Portland, Texas to apply for a job.
When asked about the trailer, Olivo told the agent that it belonged to his stepfather and that it was empty.
A service canine then alerted agents to the travel trailer which resulted in the duo being instructed to enter the secondary inspection area for further examination, according to the complaint.
“(Agents) discovered a total of 16 suspects concealed inside of the camper compartment of the travel trailer,” the complaint said.
Olivo, Patino and the 16 people found inside were placed under arrest and escorted inside the checkpoint for processing.
Olivo, who agreed to provide a statement without the presence of an attorney, stated that Patino is his neighbor and that they have known each other since they were young.
He added that he didn’t know who the truck belonged to and that he had been contacted by an unidentified number to smuggle people in a travel trailer which he was instructed to drop off in Houston.
Agents asked if he knew how many people were concealed inside the trailer to which Olivo said he was told there were only four people inside.
Olivo stated that he was going to be paid $10,000 to smuggle the individuals and he was to split the money with Patino.
He said that the facilitator of the smuggling event picked both Patino and himself up and drove them to the location where truck and trailer were, adding that when the facilitator would contact him, it would show as “No Caller ID.”
Olivo added that he and Patino agreed to split the money as they needed it, which contradicted what Patino initially told authorities.
Patino said he had no knowledge of the smuggling event, saying that Olivo picked him up at an unknown location earlier in the day with a new truck and trailer.
He stated they were heading to Corpus Christi to apply for a position in a construction job operated by Olivo’s father.
“(Agents) asked Patino if he thought it was strange that Olivo would pick him up in a new truck and trailer for a job interview, to which Patino stated ‘that’s what I’m saying,’” the complaint said.
When reapproached by agents, Olivo stated he knew the facilitator as “Rolex,” who told him to save his number in Olivo’s contacts under the name “Juan,” and instructed him to delete any messages between the two of them.
Olivo added that he met “Rolex” through his old Instagram account where he had seen him add a post advertising how to make quick cash.
He told the agents that “Rolex” picked him and Patino up, drove them to a deserted area near orange fields where the truck and trailer already was with its keys in its ignition and was told that the people inside were well hidden “and that the canine would not be able to detect them.”
Olivo was supposed to call “Rolex” once he passed the checkpoint in order to get the drop-off location, the complaint said.
They are scheduled to appear before U.S. Magistrate Judge Mitchel Neurock in Corpus Christi federal court for their detention hearings on Friday.
