Border Patrol Rescues Illegal Immigrants Crammed into After-Market Compartment of Chevy Suburban

DEL RIO, TX – U.S. Border Patrol agents from the Carrizo Springs Station arrested a man attempting to smuggle three people inside an after-market vehicle compartment, with only inches of room.  

“Smuggling organizations continually disregard human safety in the cowardly pursuit of profit,” said Acting Chief Patrol Agent Matthew J. Hudak, Del Rio Sector. “Thanks to the vigilance of our agents, this life-threatening situation was successfully resolved.”

On Sept. 28, Border Patrol agents from Carrizo Springs Station performed a vehicle stop on a 2000 Chevrolet Suburban. With the assistance of a Dimmit County Sheriff canine, agents discovered three individuals hidden inside the vehicle. The subjects were located in a small, fabricated compartment with no room to move and poor ventilation. Agents determined the three individuals – citizens of Mexico, Honduras, and El Salvador – were illegally present in the United States.

The driver of the vehicle, a 26-year-old male U.S. Citizen from Houston, was turned over to Homeland Security Investigations for federal prosecution for 8 USC § 1324 – alien smuggling.