#VIDEO: @TxDPS Finds 17 Illegal Immigrants Smuggled Inside False Compartment, Mississippi Driver Arrested
8/30: A TXDPS Trooper stopped a Lowe’s box truck on US-277 in Kinney County.
During the traffic stop, the driver, Megel Cazanna Patterson from Mississippi, consented to a… https://t.co/mJ4oEyFhGr pic.twitter.com/guqbTzCqjr
— Chris Olivarez (@LtChrisOlivarez) August 31, 2024
Texas police found seventeen illegal migrants crammed inside a 3-foot hidden compartment of a semi-truck masquerading as a Lowe’s transport Friday.
Incredible bodycam footage shows the moment troopers ripped down the false wall, revealing the group of smuggled immigrants.
Texas Department of Safety cops caught the cloned truck just across the US-Mexican border in Kinney County, after noticing it was traveling with expired tags, the video shows.
Driver Megel Cazanna Patterson — who was wearing a Lowe’s branded T-shirt — explained he was just the driver and had no explanation for anything that concerned the truck before fatefully consenting for a full search of the vehicle.
Officers climbed into the semi-trailer, which suspiciously only contained several white doors.
That’s when an eagle-eyed trooper noticed that one of the trailer’s walls had new wood lining the bottom — and the team of cops gave it a rough tug to reveal the feet of several migrants hiding behind the fake wall.
Following officers’ orders, the 17 migrants crawled out of the small hole one at a time.
“Troopers reported several males & females were drenched in sweat suffering from dehydration and numbness in their legs as a result of being crammed in 3’ wide space,” DPS spokesperson Lt. Chris Olivarez said, adding that some required medical attention.
“Great work by our DPS Troopers in preventing a mass casualty smuggling event.”
Patterson, of Mississippi, was charged with smuggling persons with the likelihood of serious bodily injury or death.
The 17 migrants were transported to the US Border Patrol.
Roughly 8 million migrants have illegally entered the United States in record waves since June 2021, according to federal data.
