A Texas man is accused of attempting to smuggle over 100 people illegal immigrants enter the USA in a locked semi-trailer truck.
Juan Manuel Aguirre, 49, faces a three-count charge of conspiracy to transport an undocumented alien within the United States and transportation of an undocumented alien within the United States for financial gain, according to a statement released by the U.S. Attorney’s Office Southern District of Texas on Monday.
Aguirre, a resident of the South Texas city of Laredo, was seen by police officers on December 2 loading a large group of migrants into a white trailer in a warehouse parking lot. After the departure, authorities conducted a traffic stop of the white truck towing the trailer and allegedly found 101 undocumented immigrants, including 12 unaccompanied children, crammed together.
Trucks drive over the World Trade International Bridge in Laredo, Texas on June 10, 2019. (Callaghan O’Hare/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
The Ministry of Justice The statement said two of the migrants had difficulty breathing and feared for their lives due to the conditions in the trailer.
Aguirre faces 10 years in prison and fines of up to $250,000 on each of the three counts.
The number of people convicted of foreign smuggling offenses in the United States has steadily increased under the law Biden administrationAccording to the latest data from the US Sentencing Commission, the number reached 4,731 in fiscal year 2023.
Migrants are detained near the border wall in New Mexico on April 12, 2024. (Fox News)
The five districts with the highest number of people smuggling victims are all on the southern border. Because Texas accounts for over 60% of the U.S. border with Mexico, the two counties with the highest levels of human smuggling were in Texas.
In 2023, 64,124 cases of foreigner smuggling were reported. About 10% of foreigner smuggling cases involve unaccompanied minors.
In October, local news source KGNS reported a concerning increase in human smuggling incidents in Laredo, resulting in high-risk vehicle chases and other dangerous situations.
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The Rio Grande is seen from Laredo, Texas on September 19, 2020. (Reuters/Veronica G Cardenas)
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earlier this month Texas Governor Greg Abbott started a new one Poster advertising campaign in Mexico and Central America to warn potential illegal migrants about the dangers of entering the United States illegally.
“We are here to reveal the truth to immigrants who are thinking about coming here, the truth about the human traffickers who attack so many women and children along the way,” the governor said. “The message is: Don’t risk a dangerous journey just to be arrested and deported.”
