Monday August 14, 2017
Seventeen undocumented immigrants were found late Sunday locked inside a truck-trailer in Edinburg, Texas, according to police.
Police reportedly received a call from a family member in Mexico who said a relative was locked inside of the trailer at a gas station along the U.S.-Mexico border.
The caller said the relative was accompanied by other immigrants and complained of high temperatures in the trailer, according to local media.
Police responded by knocking on trailers parked in the lot until they located the 14 men and three women, who were from Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras and Romania.
The immigrants, who locked inside for eight to nine hours, were found alive but their conditions were not immediately known.
Two Cuban nationals were arrested in connection to incident, Edinburg Police Chief David White said, adding that U.S. Customs Border Protection is investigating the case.
The discovery comes a month after 10 undocumented immigrants died in the back of a trailer in San Antonio, Texas, as temperatures soared above 100 degrees Fahrenheit (38 degrees Celsius) while being smuggled across the border.
James Bradley, 60, the driver of the trailer, was arrested and could face the death penalty.