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Border Patrol agents on Sunday found nearly 30 people hidden inside a white Freightliner tractor that was hauling a utility trailer.
The incident happened at the Falfurrias checkpoint that day at around 11:05 p.m. when Angel Mendez-Hernandez arrived there and told agents he was on his way to California to deliver merchandise, according to a criminal complaint.
He also claimed there was no one else inside the tractor or trailer.
Agents, however, referred him to secondary and a search of the Freightliner tractor resulted in the discovery of four cellphones and four people hidden inside the vehicle.
They then turned their attention to the utility trailer.
“While conducting a systematic search of the trailer (Border Patrol agents) discovered 25 individuals inside the trailer,” the complaint stated.
Mendez declined to speak with investigators after his arrest.
One of the people in the trailer, a Mexican citizen who crossed the Rio Grande on a small boat on July 18, told agents he feared for his life in the trailer because he was at the back and it was becoming difficult for him to breathe, according to the complaint.
Mendez was scheduled to make a first appearance Wednesday morning in Corpus Christi federal court in front of U.S. Magistrate Judge Mitchel Neurock.
