Migrants found locked in toolboxes in truck in ‘extreme’ Texas heat, agents say
Border Patrol agents found three migrants being smuggled in locked toolboxes during a routine immigration inspection in Texas, authorities say.
The El Paso Sector U.S. Border Patrol agents pulled over a black pickup for the inspection on June 30, the agency reported in a news release.
During the inspection, a K-9 alerted officers to the back of the vehicle, authorities said. In the back of the pickup truck were multiple large toolboxes locked with padlocks.
The driver, a U.S. citizen, told authorities he did not have the keys to open the lockboxes.
Instead, agents used lock cutters to open the toolboxes, photos from the agency showed. Inside, they found three adult men from Honduras.
Agents described the toolboxes as “oxygen restricted containers” that left the migrants inside “without any means to escape.” Despite the “extreme summer heat,” authorities reported that all three migrants were healthy and in good condition.
El Paso hit a high of 97 degrees on June 30.
The driver was held in custody and charged with conspiracy to transport, agents said.
The incident took place about 2 miles from the U.S.-Mexico border in the Ysleta neighborhood of El Paso.
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