US Border Patrol agents have rescued 17 migrants, including children, who were trapped inside a tractor-trailer traveling on a Texas highway.
Authorities said agents patrolling the Laredo sector of the border spotted the vehicle Tuesday night in Encinal, 40 miles north of the border, and found 17 migrants sitting inside a locked, empty metal trailer.
The Laredo Police Department said the raid, conducted in conjunction with Encinal police on a day when temperatures reached 96 degrees, “thwarted a human trafficking attempt.”
Crime gangs are known to smuggle migrants into Texas in tractor-trailers, an operation that has been in the news since an infamous incident in 2022 in which 53 migrants were found dead in the back of a poorly ventilated truck.
Officials said the migrants rescued during Tuesday’s operation “were detained and processed.”
Authorities did not say whether the truck driver or anyone else was arrested or charged with a crime as a result of the incident.
USBP officials did not immediately respond to The Washington Post’s request for comment.
In addition to Tuesday’s rescue, the Laredo Sector Border Patrol’s marine unit also had to rescue a woman who was drowning in the Rio Grande River after attempting to cross the border illegally with a group of migrants.
“The woman was unresponsive but regained consciousness after prompt medical treatment by crew members,” authorities said in a statement on Thursday.
The number of migrants crossing the border has continued to decline in recent months, and USBP officers continue to crack down on illegal immigrants crossing the border.
Encounters with migrants along the southern border have fallen 55% over the past seven weeks, and the Border Patrol apprehended 83,536 people in June, the lowest number since 2021.
