(Cupventi.com) – In a shocking incident on Friday, a routine traffic stop in Texas led to the discovery of 27 illegal immigrants being smuggled in a horse trailer, according to the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS).
A DPS trooper stopped a Ford-250 towing a horse trailer on US-281 in Hidalgo County. The driver, identified as Jose Guadalupe Salinas from Palmview, Texas, initially claimed that the trailer contained two horses.
When the officer asked for permission to search the trailer, Salinas warned that the horses were aggressive before opening the side hatch. Upon inspection, the troopers found 27 people crammed into a storage area, visibly distressed and sweating profusely. The trooper can be heard asking the immigrants if they needed water.
Three females among the group were severely dehydrated and required immediate medical attention due to the extreme heat and lack of ventilation. All the individuals were from Mexico and were referred to the U.S. Border Patrol for further processing.
Jose Guadalupe Salinas was taken into custody by the U.S. Border Patrol and is facing federal charges for smuggling persons.