Texas Department of Public Safety troopers discovered 17 migrants hidden inside a cloned semi-tractor trailer traveling away from the border in rural southwest Texas. As temperatures neared 100 degrees Fahrenheit on Thursday, the disruption of the human smuggling event may have saved the lives of those on board.
The truck bore fraudulent markings of the popular Lowes home improvement chain and was being driven by a Mississippi man who now faces enhanced charges for placing the migrants in danger.
According to a spokesperson for the Texas Department of Public Safety, troopers encountered the cloned Lowes semi-tractor trailer in Kinney County near Brackettville, Texas. After performing a vehicle stop, a total of 13 adult male and four adult female migrants were found in the vehicle. Troopers reported several male and female migrants were drenched in sweat and suffered from dehydration and numbness in their legs from being crammed in a three-foot-wide space within the trailer.
#VIDEO: @TxDPS Finds 17 Illegal Immigrants Smuggled Inside False Compartment, Mississippi Driver Arrested
— Chris Olivarez (@LtChrisOlivarez) August 31, 2024
8/30: A TXDPS Trooper stopped a Lowe’s box truck on US-277 in Kinney County.
During the traffic stop, the driver, Megel Cazanna Patterson from Mississippi, consented to a… https://t.co/mJ4oEyFhGr pic.twitter.com/guqbTzCqjr
The agency indicated several of the migrants required medical treatment. The driver of the vehicle will likely face enhanced state charges of human smuggling based on the manner of transportation and injuries sustained during the smuggling event.
The incident is reminiscent of the tragic June 2022 incident in San Antonio, Texas, that claimed the lives of 53 migrants.
In that human smuggling event, 65 migrants were discovered in a semi-tractor trailer after smugglers abandoned the vehicle near an industrial park outside the city. At the time of discovery, 48 migrants were found dead inside the sweltering trailer. Five migrants died at local medical facilities within days of the event.
Thus far, four suspects have pleaded guilty for their involvement in the deadliest human smuggling event in the United States. A Guatemalan national, Rigoberto Ramon Miranda-Orozco, was arrested in relation to the San Antonio smuggling event in Guatemala last week. The Department of Justice announced his arrest after the conclusion of a joint enforcement effort with Guatemalan authorities, resulting in the arrest of Miranda, who is suspected of smuggling 21 Guatemalan nationals in the deadly 2022 event. Miranda is alleged to have charged some of the victims between $12,000 and $15,000 to traffic the migrants to the United States.
Randy Clark is a 32-year veteran of the United States Border Patrol. Prior to his retirement, he served as the Division Chief for Law Enforcement Operations, directing operations for nine Border Patrol Stations within the Del Rio, Texas, Sector. Follow him on X (formerly Twitter) @RandyClarkBBTX.
