Man arrested after allegedly smuggling migrants in box truck
Texas DPS arrested a Mississippi man on Aug. 30 after allegedly finding 17 illegal immigrants crammed into a hidden compartment in a "cloned" box truck. (Texas Department of Public Safety)
The Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) arrested a Mississippi man after allegedly finding 17 illegal immigrants crammed inside a false compartment of a "cloned" home improvement store box truck in Kinney County, according to police bodycam footage.
Cezanne Megel Patterson, 28, of Jackson, Mississippi, was arrested and charged with human smuggling with the likelihood of serious bodily injury or death.
The DPS said in a press release that one of its troopers conducted a traffic stop on what appeared to be a Lowe’s Home Improvement store delivery truck outside of Del Rio, Texas, on US-277, near the southern border during the early morning hours on Friday.
After stopping the truck, the trooper interviewed Patterson and noticed he was demonstrating "strange behavior" and had multiple discrepancies with his travel itinerary, including expired tags on the truck, DPS said.
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DPS conducted a traffic stop in Kinney County, Texas, and reportedly found 17 illegal immigrants crammed into a false compartment in the cargo area of a box truck made to look like a home improvement store truck. (Texas DPS)
Patterson consented to a search of the truck, and when troopers went inside the cargo area, they found a false compartment toward the front.
Using crowbars and other tools, the troopers opened the compartment and found 17 illegal immigrants crammed inside the 3-foot-wide space, which lacked ventilation.
DPS conducted a traffic stop in Kinney County, Texas, and reportedly found 17 illegal immigrants crammed into a false compartment in the cargo area of a box truck made to look like a home improvement store truck. (Texas DPS)
Video released by DPS showed the migrants in various positions to maximize the number of people inside the tiny space.
DPS said the migrants consisted of four females and 13 males from Columbia, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico and the Dominican Republic.
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Cezanne Megel Patterson faces human smuggling charges. (Texas DPS)
All 17 of the migrants were told to get out of the compartment one at a time and to sit inside the box truck with their legs crossed.
They were also treated for dehydration before being referred to Border Patrol.
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Patterson was ultimately charged with human smuggling with the likelihood of causing serious bodily injury or death. He was taken to the Val Verde processing center.
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