A routine traffic stop led to the discovery of 12 smuggled migrants packed into the back of an SUV.
How many people have you seen fit into a single SUV? A Nissan Murano managed to fit 12 migrants in the back. They made it seem like a clown car and only got caught because the driver got a flat tire.
12 migrants were found packed into an SUV
52-year-old Aida Maria Reyes and 21-year-old Julio Trevino were arrested for human smuggling charges after their Nissan Murano got a flat tire.
Police officers noticed that the SUV was weaving in and out of traffic. Then the driver got a flat tire as officers pulled it over. The incident occurred along Interstate 35 near Fisher Road in San Antonio.
Deputies were surprised that the Nissan stopped and didn’t try to get away because 12 migrants were found lying in the back of it.
The Murano only has five seats and two of them were taken up by Reyes and Trevino in the front. The rest of the passengers were packed in like it was a clown car.
Only two children, ages 11 and 14, were included in the group. The rest of the passengers were adults from Guatemala and Mexico. According to KSTAT, they were trying to reach various states across the country.
Von Ormy Acting Police Chief Abel Zepeda shared that this is an everyday occurrence. It’s just a matter of being in the right place at the right time. He’s also a member of the Bexar County human trafficking task force.
Zepeda continued to explain that all sorts of smuggling have increased along Interstate 35 in recent years, especially in the south.
The task force is small with a limited number of officers on duty at once. Zepeda admitted that the department is often overwhelmed. It’s a challenge to catch everything that’s going on, including drugs, money, weapons, and people.
