Three Californians were arrested on charges of attempting to smuggle more than 50 illegal immigrants over the United States border.
Customs and Border Protection officials spotted a suspicious van and bed truck traveling on Highway 98 just north of the U.S.-Mexico border on Friday morning while surveilling the area using its Remote Video Surveillance System. Officers stopped the truck, and the driver admitted to smuggling 37 illegal immigrants, including 36 Mexican nationals and one adult from Guatemala.
“Agents approached the driver of the stake truck and conducted an interview. The driver, a 22-year-old U.S. citizen man, admitted to having illegal aliens in the rear cargo area of the truck. Agents searched the truck and discovered 37 subjects attempting to conceal themselves under a black tarp in the bed of the truck,” the agency said in a statement about the arrest.
The officers pulled over the van moments later and found two U.S. citizens driving the vehicle with 15 Mexican nationals hidden in the back, authorities said. In total, 35 men and 17 women were smuggled into the country illegally, according to the agency.
The three U.S. citizens were referred for criminal prosecution, and the 52 illegal immigrants detained were placed under federal custody.
