CBP finds 20 migrants smuggled inside portable barn crossing into Lonestar state

U.S. Customs Border Protection agents stationed in the Laredo Sector intercepted a smuggling attempt using a portable barn this week, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection said in a statement. 

On June 26, Texas CBP agents assigned to the Hebbronville Station stopped a pickup truck pulling a portable barn on top of a flatbed trailer as it was driving through the primary inspection lane of the Border Patrol FM1017 checkpoint. 

After conducting a search of the vehicle and its cargo, agents discovered more than 20 individuals hiding behind plywood in the ceiling of the portable barn, the statement continued. 

The undocumented migrants were removed from the trailer and transported to the Hebbronville Station for identification and processing. The records checks conducted revealed that the migrants were coming from Mexico, Honduras, El Salvador, and Guatemalan. They will be processed accordingly, the statement added. 

The scheme is the latest that has been uncovered by Border Patrol agents in which human smugglers come up with creative ways to smuggle migrants across the U.S.-Mexico border. 

Earlier this month, U.S. Border Patrol agents and Texas Department of Public Safety troopers in west El Paso stopped a few fake FedEx vans that were used to smuggle migrants across the southern border. 

After stopping several “suspicious” vehicles, border authorities identified three vans that were being used for smuggling. Inside the vans, there were 26 undocumented migrants from Mexico and Guatemala. 

"This tactic has been used before by smugglers, the transnational criminal organizations come up with different ways to try to defeat the Border Patrol's intelligence," Border Patrol Agent Sean Coffey told CBS4 about the scheme.