Laredo, TX – U.S. Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) agents recently busted two big rig human smugglers on the same day.

According to CBP, the first bust occurred during the early morning hours of Saturday, January 30, at the Highway 83 checkpoint, northwest of Laredo.

A tractor trailer approached the checkpoint and a Service K9 alerted to the vehicle during an immigration inspection of the driver.

Upon secondary inspection, a search of the trailer revealed 42 individuals inside.

They were determined to be in the United States illegally from the countries of Mexico and Guatemala.

None of the individuals were wearing personal protective equipment (PPE), CBP reported.

They were all medically screened and provided PPE.

They were then placed under arrest along with the driver, a U.S. citizen, pending further investigation by Special Agents of Homeland Security Investigations.

Both the tractor and trailer were seized.

Concerned Citizen Tips Off Agents

Later that same morning, agents assigned to the Laredo South Station responded to a concerned citizen’s report.

The citizen told agents that he saw several individuals get into a gray tractor-trailer near a business along State Highway 359.

Responding agents searched the area and subsequently apprehended 33 individuals, some packed into the sleeper, and others inside the trailer.

CBP said most were not wearing PPE but were medically screened before being arrested for being in the U.S. illegally.

They were from the countries of Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Ecuador, and Nicaragua.

CBP did not provide any information about the driver in this case.

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