Illegal Immigrant Caught Hiding in Truck’s Toolbox

TUCSON, ARIZONA, US – US Border Patrol agents at the state Route 86 immigration checkpoint near Sasabe, Arizona, arrest a man for smuggling an illegal alien inside his truck toolbox.

At 2:30 pm on Tuesday, Tucson Sector Border Patrol agents referred a Chevrolet Silverado to a secondary inspection after a canine alerted to the vehicle.

According to a press release by the Border Patrol, agents subsequently located a Mexican man trapped inside the truck bed metal toolbox. The temperature was over 100 degrees Fahrenheit at the time. 

The Mexican national, illegally present in the United States, was examined and cleared by Emergency Medical Services for heat exposure. Hours later he was returned to Mexico.

The driver, a 36-year-old US citizen, will be federally charged for human smuggling.

U.S. Border Patrol officials warn that locking people in compartments, such as trunks and trailers, can be deadly. Such smuggling tactics jeopardize migrants’ lives, increasing the dangers of extreme heat and those posed by a vehicle collision.