LA SALLE COUNTY, Texas (KXXV) — A Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) trooper found 23 undocumented immigrants hidden inside a truck's sleeping area during a traffic stop Friday evening in La Salle County.
Watch the video released by Texas DPS of the encounter here:
The trooper stopped a white Freightliner truck tractor around 5 p.m. on Interstate 35 for driving on an improved shoulder. During the stop, the trooper learned the driver, 24-year-old John Amaya of Laredo, was operating the vehicle without a commercial driver's license.
With assistance from a Border Patrol K-9 unit alerting, the trooper found 23 undocumented immigrants from Nicaragua, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras and Mexico hidden inside the vehicle's sleeping area.
Amaya was arrested and charged with 23 counts of smuggling of persons, a state jail felony. The 23 people were referred to Border Patrol.
The traffic stop was part of Operation Lone Star, Texas' border security initiative. Texas DPS says it has a zero tolerance for human smuggling.
If convicted, Amaya could face significant prison time.
In 2023, Gov. Greg Abbott signed legislation creating a mandatory 10-year minimum prison sentence for individuals convicted of smuggling of persons.
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