EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) – U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers disrupted a human smuggling attempt when they discovered a man hidden underneath a flatbed of a pickup truck Sunday at the Paso Del Norte crossing.
CBP officers initially encountered a 45-year-old male U.S. citizen who was arriving from Mexico using the vehicle lanes. Following a primary inspection, the driver was flagged for further examination. In the secondary inspection, the vehicle was scanned using X-rays which showed the image of a person in the flatbed area of the truck.
Officers inspected the area and discovered an individual who was strapped with a harness underneath the flatbed.
The individual in hiding was identified as a 33-year-old man, who is a Mexican citizen and had be previously deported.
The driver and the hidden passenger were both arrested.
