The Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) arrested a Mississippi man after finding 17 illegal immigrants crammed into the fake back of a “replica” hardware store truck in Kinney County, according to police body camera footage.
Cezanne Megel Patterson, 28, of Jackson, Mississippi, was arrested and charged with human smuggling risk of serious injury or death.
DPS said in a press release that an officer stopped a vehicle believed to be a Lowe's Home Improvement delivery truck early Friday morning on U.S. 277 near the southern border outside of Del Rio, Texas.
After stopping the truck, officers interviewed Patterson and noticed he was exhibiting “odd behavior” and several inconsistencies in his itinerary, including that the truck's license plates had expired, according to DPS.
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DPS reportedly conducted a traffic check in Kinney County, Texas, where they found 17 illegal immigrants crammed into a fake cargo compartment in the bed of a box truck made to look like a hardware store truck. (Texas Department of Public Safety)
Patterson consented to a search of the truck, and when officers entered the cargo area they found a fake cargo compartment in the front.
Officers used crowbars and other tools to open the vehicle and found 17 illegal immigrants crammed into a three-foot-wide space with poor ventilation.
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DPS reportedly conducted a traffic check in Kinney County, Texas, and found 17 illegal immigrants crammed into a fake cargo compartment in the bed of a box truck made to look like a hardware store truck. (Texas Department of Public Safety)
Video released by DPS shows migrants assuming various positions to pack the maximum number of people into a small space.
DPS said the migrants consisted of four women and 13 men from Colombia, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico and the Dominican Republic.
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Cezanne Megel Patterson is facing human smuggling charges. (Texas Department of Public Safety)
All 17 migrants were instructed to exit the vehicle one by one and sit cross-legged inside the box truck.
They were also treated for dehydration before being released to the Border Patrol.
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Patterson was ultimately charged with human smuggling likely to cause serious injury or death and transported to the Val Verde Processing Center.
