EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) — A 17-year-old who was reported missing earlier this year was arrested and charged with human trafficking after three migrants were found in the trunk of the vehicle he was driving last month near Las Cruces, according to New Mexico State Police (NMSP).
State Police say Leland Antonio Munoz Dominguez, 17, was charged with three counts of human trafficking and one charge of endangerment of a child due to one of the migrants being underage.
On Wednesday, June 26, an NMSP officer conducted a traffic stop on a vehicle on I-25 near Mile Marker 27, which is located just past the border patrol checkpoint.
The driver of the vehicle was identified as Dominguez, who had been reported missing earlier this year.
The officer was planning to release Dominguez to his grandmother when the officer heard knocking coming from the vehicle’s trunk, State Police say.
The officer found three migrants inside, one being 16 years old, and Dominguez was detained.
Border Patrol eventually took custody of the three migrants and the Juvenile Probation Office was contacted along with the District Attorney’s Office which authorized the charges against Dominguez.
Dominguez was arrested and booked into the Doña Ana County Juvenile Detention Center.
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