Border Patrol agents made a startling discovery in the scorching California desert after finding 31 migrants allegedly crammed into the back of a modified utility truck in a suspected human-smuggling operation.
The packed vehicle was discovered near Ocotillo, a tiny Imperial County community near the US-Mexico border, according to the US Border Patrol’s El Centro Sector.
“Smugglers packed 31 illegal aliens like cargo into a modified utility truck and hauled them through dangerous desert heat near Ocotillo, California,” the agency said.
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But the suspected driver apparently wasn’t sticking around to explain.
Border Patrol said the driver ditched the vehicle and fled across the border into Mexico as agents took the group into custody.
However, his getaway didn’t last long. Mexican law enforcement subsequently arrested the suspected smuggler.
“Apparently thinking the border doubled as a finish line,” the agency quipped. “Mexican law enforcement arrested him too, leaving the getaway driver to trade the steering wheel for a jail cell.”
The alleged smuggling attempt unfolded in one of Southern California’s most unforgiving landscapes.
The El Centro Sector oversees roughly 70 miles of the international border through the Imperial Valley, where agents patrol sprawling desert, mountain ranges and agricultural areas. Its four Border Patrol stations are located in El Centro, Calexico, Indio and Riverside.
Summer temperatures in parts of the desert can rocket past 120 degrees, creating potentially deadly conditions for both migrants attempting to cross the region and the agents tasked with finding them.
The truck discovery comes as overall apprehensions at the southern border have plunged compared with the historic highs recorded in previous years.
