McALLEN, Texas (Border Report) — Twenty-five migrants were found Wednesday crammed inside a box truck as temperatures flirted near triple-digits in deep South Texas, the Texas Department of Public Safety said.
A DPS trooper found the migrants during a minor crash investigation Wednesday morning along Interstate 37 in George West, Texas, about 160 miles north of the Mexican border. The crash occurred in a parking lot and the trooper had been approached by a concerned citizen, DPS says.
Officers said they made contact with the driver of the white 2005 International box truck who said she was driving to Houston after picking up mattresses in Alton, Texas.
The trooper George West police searched the truck found 25 migrants “crammed inside a small corner of the box truck” trying to hide behind 40 mattresses and inside a crawl space within the box truck wall, according to a DPS news release.
“There was little to no ventilation,” DPS said.
The migrants included an 11-year-old child, 12 men and 12 women from Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, India, Cuba, Venezuela, and the Dominican Republic, DPS said.
Video taken by DPS shows the people coming out of the vehicle single-file.
The driver, Silvia Patricia Santamaria, 43, of Houston, has been arrested and charged with 25 counts of smuggling of persons.
Sandra Sanchez can be reached at SSanchez@BorderReport.com.
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