A female suspect is facing a multitude of human smuggling charges after authorities found more than two dozen illegal aliens hiding in the back of a box truck she was driving in Texas.
The disturbing incident unfolded on Wednesday morning in Live Oak County.
A Texas Department of Public Safety (TxDPS) trooper was approached by a concerned citizen following a “minor crash” at a truck stop on I-37 in the city of George West.
“The Trooper made contact with the driver of a white 2005 International box truck. The driver indicated that she was driving to Houston, Texas after picking up mattresses in Alton, Texas,” TxDPS explained in a press release.
“During the interaction, the Trooper suspected inconsistencies in the driver’s travel plans and requested consent to search the truck.”
Officers with the George West Police Department arrived on scene and helped the trooper conduct an investigation, which involved removing multiple mattresses from the cargo area.
They located 25 people “crammed” inside a crawl space within the truck walls that had little to no ventilation.
All 25 were found to be foreign nationals who were illegally present in the U.S.
They were identified as 12 adult males, 12 adult females, and one juvenile hailing from Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, India, Cuba, Venezuela, and the Dominican Republic.
They were all given medical evaluations and then turned over to U.S. Border Patrol.
The driver was identified as Silvia Patricia Santamaria, a 43-year-old resident of Houston, TX.
She was arrested and booked into Live Oak Co. Jail on 25 counts of smuggling of persons.
This article was originally published at InfoWars.com
