Another near tragedy involving smuggled illegal immigrants in South Texas, News Radio 1200 WOAI reports.
Nina Pruneda of Immigration and Customs Enforcement says a state trooper pulled over a big rig on US 77 near Raymondville, and inside the locked 18 wheeler he found 86 illegal immigrants.
He says he spotted them because they were trying to escape through the roof of the trailer.
"They're interviewing each of the individuals who were found inside the locked tractor trailer," she said.Two of the illegals were taken to the hospital suffering from dehydration. The driver and a passenger were arrested.
"We're looking at each of these individuals, who are from Central America," she said.
ICE is performing a threat assessment on the immigrants.
Last summer, a similar case resulted in ten of the immigrants dying of heat related conditions when they were found in a tractor trailer found in a parking lot in south San Antonio. The driver in that case was sentenced to life in prison.
This case if believed to be like the others, where the immigrants pay the Mexican cartels between $3,000 to $7,000 to smuggle them past U.S. border security and into the interior of the U.S.