Truck Driver Faces Smuggling Charges After Over a Dozen Migrants Are Found Under Flatbed Trailer

A truck driver is set to face federal smuggling charges after being caught driving over a dozen migrants in New Mexico.

The incident took place in late June, when the driver was stopped by agents and searched the vehicles, finding a migrant hiding in the cabin and 12 more in a compartment under the flatbed trailer.

"Smugglers showed little regard for human life – all for profit," said El Paso Sector Interim Border Patrol Chief Walter Slosar.

The name of the driver, a U.S. citizen, has not been released, according to Border Report. He faces charges of transporting migrants, while the people found are being subjected to removal proceedings.

In mid June, nine people accused of being part of a smuggling ring pleaded guilty to conspiracy charges. They also admitted to harboring people and transporting them further into the United States.

The people in question operated between at least October 2021 and April 2023, according to Border Report. They took people who crossed the border unlawfully and picked them up in Luna County, New Mexico. Then they took them to stash houses and transported them further into the country, including to Virginia and California.

The outlet added that the ring used peer-to-peer money transfer apps to get payments. One defendant was sentenced to 45 months in prison plus three years' probation, while another one got 37 months and three years' probation. Another one got time served plus two years' probation and another one got one year's probation. They agreed to forfeit vehicles, firearms, ammunition and an all-terrain vehicle.

There have been several such sentences in the past weeks. Just days before, a woman who led a failed human smuggling attempt that ended up with a dead migrant pleaded guilty to federal charges, getting 10 years in prison.

In late May, two Texans pleaded guilty to charging thousands of dollars to smuggle migrants into the U.S. through Laredo. The men in question, Mac Quese Howard and De Richardson Miller, admitted to conspiring to transport migrants through Laredo, in South Texas, U.S. Attorney Nicholas Ganjei said. Earlier in May, a dozen migrants were found hidden inside hollow hay bales following a traffic stop in the state.