A truck driver says he was forced to smuggle migrants through the border at gunpoint, an arrest affidavit shows.
The truck in question arrived at the US Border Patrol checkpoint along Interstate 35 in Laredo, Texas at 11:29 a.m. on January 12th.
According to LMT Online, a K9 unit alerted to the possible presence of contraband during a routine inspection truck and agents instructed the driver, Montague Fitzgerald Barnes, to stay for a secondary inspection. Agents say Barnes disregarded their instructions and instead drove though the x-ray machine and struck a Border Patrol unit.
Despite the quick pass through, the x-ray machine automatically scanned the rig and detected three anomalies in the sleeper area of the cab and agents were able to find three migrants hiding in the sleeper.
When questioned, Barnes told agents that he had been at a local store in Laredo when he met a woman. He claims that the woman lured him outside where two men were waiting with guns.
“Barnes stated they got into a vehicle and the two unknown men with a gun to his head instructed him to push three subjects through the checkpoint,” the affidavit states.
Barnes has since been arrested and charged with transport, attempt to transport and conspire to transport the migrants.