Tecate, Calif. - U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers at the port of Tecate foiled an attempt to smuggle a man and a woman on top of a load of sand inside a dump trailer.
Wednesday at 11:25 a.m. a CBP officer from the Tecate Port of Entry inspected a white 1998 Volvo tractor truck pulling two 1978 dual-bottom dump trailers and referred the conveyance and driver for further inspection.
During the in-depth inspection, officers instructed the driver to off-load the sand from the trailers. When the sand was off-loaded, officers noticed movement and rescued a 21-year-old man and 38-year-old woman from the pile of sand.
CBP officers immediately checked the two individuals for their safety and, when the woman began to cough up sand, officers trained as medical first responders administered first aid and notified 911. San Diego County paramedics arrived, evaluated them and cleared the two individuals.
The two illegal aliens were both Mexican citizens with no lawful documents to enter the country. CBP officers arrested both aliens and transported them to the Metropolitan Correctional Center.
The driver a 48-year-old Mexican citizen and resident of Tijuana, B.C. is under investigation.
“People expose themselves and others to grave danger when attempting to enter the U.S. illegally. If the CBP officers had not reacted so quickly this might have ended tragically,” said Pete Flores, acting director of Field Operations in San Diego.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection is the unified border agency within the Department of Homeland Security charged with the management, control and protection of our nation's borders at and between the official ports of entry. CBP is charged with keeping terrorists and terrorist weapons out of the country while enforcing hundreds of U.S. laws.
