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A Brownsville man is facing federal charges after Border Patrol agents discovered 18 people inside a tractor trailer he was driving.
According to a federal complaint, Border Patrol agents stationed at the Sarita checkpoint were approached by a tractor trailer at 10:12 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 28.
As the truck came to a stop in the primary inspection area, an agent noticed that the driver of the truck, who was identified as Daniel Rodriguez, was “nervously speaking and mumbling his answers.”
Rodriguez was instructed to pull into the secondary inspection area after a positive canine alert.
Rodriguez acknowledged and “proceeded to continue driving north on highway 77 while completely disregarding the BPA’s instructions to park in the secondary inspection area,” the complaint read. “BPA’s called out over the service radio that the tractor trailer continued north and didn’t stop. BPA’s got in a marked patrol vehicle in an attempt to locate the tractor.”
Agents were able to locate the trailer and conducted a traffic stop. Rodriguez was then escorted back to the checkpoint.
Once at the checkpoint, an agent and a canine conducted a systematic search. During the search, the canine alerted agents to the rear doors of the trailer.
“When the trailer doors were opened, eighteen (18) subjects were discovered sitting on the floor with no cargo inside the trailer,” the complaint read. “BPA’s conducted and (sic) immigration inspection on the concealed subjects and all were determined to be citizens and nationals of Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, Ecuador, and El Salvador illegally present in the United States.”
Agents noted that there were no commodities inside the trailer, which was registered to Rodriguez.
He told investigators that he was driving the tractor trailer to Houston to fix the motor in the refrigerated trailer. Agents noted that when the 18 occupants were discovered in the trailer, the refrigerated trailer had a temperature of 68 degrees.
Rodriguez also told investigators that he’d had no knowledge of the people in his trailer until they were discovered by Border Patrol agents at the checkpoint.
“RODRIGUEZ stated the only stop he made after leaving the truck lot and before arriving at the checkpoint was at the Loves Travel Stop in Combes, Texas to fuel up,” the complaint read.
He also told investigators that he failed to stop at the secondary inspection area because “there was a vehicle traveling too fast and he did not hear the BPA’s commands.” He added that he accidentally drove too far past the secondary inspection area and was unable to pull into the allotted spot, so he continued to drive northbound.
One of the individuals found inside the trailer told investigators that he had illegally crossed into the country on Aug. 27. He was transported from a stash house in Brownsville to a yard and had his phone taken away before being instructed to climb into the cab area of a white tractor where he waited for approximately two hours.
He recalled looking out of one of the windows and seeing four to five individuals standing next to the trailer, one of whom he identified as Rodriguez. He said that he and the other individuals inside of the tractor were then instructed to get inside of the trailer.
“Once they were loaded into the trailer, one subject gave instructions on what to expect,” the complaint read. “The subject told the aliens the driver was going to make 3 stops. The first stop was to put diesel in the tractor. The second stop, the driver was going to do a safety check on the tractor. The third stop was going to be when the tractor trailer would stop and move a little bit and keep doing that repeatedly which meant they would be at immigration and the aliens were instructed not to move or make any noise.”
The man was also able to identify Rodriguez from a photo lineup.
