Two migrants found hidden in gas tank when truck driver is pulled over, Texas cops say
A cylindrical gas tank attached to a truck is what hid two migrants as the vehicle traveled down the interstate, photos from Texas officials showed.
The two people from Mexico were found when deputies pulled the tractor truck over in Webb County and searched it, according to a Nov. 11 post from Texas Department of Public Safety Lt. Chris Olivarez on X, formerly known as Twitter.
An officer performing the traffic stop said the driver “admitted that there’s bodies in the truck,” according to body camera footage.
The footage showed the officers searching the truck, then opening the gas tank on the side of the vehicle to reveal two people cramped inside.
The driver was arrested and charged with two counts of smuggling of persons, Olivarez said. The two migrants found in the tank were turned over to U.S. Customs and Border Protection, he said in the post.
Officials said this traffic stop was part of Operation Lone Star, an effort to “stop the smuggling of drugs, weapons, and people into Texas,” according to a news release from Gov. Greg Abbott.
The operation started in March 2021, officials said. Since the operation’s inception, 525,800 migrants believed to be in the U.S. without proper documentation have been apprehended, according to a Nov. 8 news release from Abbott.
Webb County is about a 160-mile drive southwest from San Antonio.
This story was originally published November 12, 2024 at 5:59 PM with the headline "Two migrants found hidden in gas tank when truck driver is pulled over, Texas cops say."
