EDINBURG, Texas – U.S. Border Patrol agents from the Rio Grande Valley Sector rescued four illegal immigrants from the trunk of a car at the Falfurrias Border Patrol Checkpoint on Monday. Additionally, agents arrested a convicted murderer in a separate incident on Sunday.
The rescue occurred at approximately 8 p.m., when agents from the Falfurrias Border Patrol Station encountered a woman, who is a United States citizen, attempting to smuggle four people through the checkpoint in the trunk of her vehicle.
Agents referred the vehicle to the secondary inspection area following a K-9 alert. A search of the trunk revealed three people from Guatemala and one from Mexico concealed inside.
The trunk lid was covered in condensation and all four illegal immigrants were soaking wet with sweat. The vehicle was not equipped with an emergency trunk release.
The four individuals rescued from the trunk were offered medical attention but declined. The case was referred to the Rio Grande Valley Sector North Prosecutions Office and the vehicle was seized by the Border Patrol.
The arrest of the convicted murderer took place at 11:30 p.m., when agents assigned to the Weslaco Border Patrol Station apprehended a Honduran man near Hidalgo.
The man was transported to the McAllen Station where record checks revealed that the he had been arrested in Durham, N.C., by the Durham Police Department for voluntary manslaughter (felony) and sentenced to 71 months confinement.
Agents also discovered that he had previously been deported from the U.S. He will be processed for removal back to his country of origin and referred to the RGV Sector Prosecutions Office.
The Rio Grande Valley Sector is part of the South Texas Campaign, which leverages federal, state and local resources to combat transnational criminal organizations.
