A truck driver was arrested in Arizona on more than a dozen counts after a roadside inspection allegedly uncovered a human and drug smuggling attempt.
Thirty-year old Arizona-based truck driver Eduardo A. Hernandez faces charges of possession and transportation of a narcotic drug for sale, possession and transportation of a dangerous drug for sale, and 14 counts of endangerment, according to the Arizona Department of Public Safety (DPS).
At 7:40 p.m. on May 25, an Arizona trooper initiated a traffic stop on a tractor trailer on northbound I-19 in Sahuarita.
While conducting a routine commercial vehicle inspection, the trooper noted “multiple indicators of criminal activity.”
When the vehicle was searched, 14 people were discovered locked inside the unrefrigerated trailer with a single bottle of water.
The high temperature on May 25 was 95 degrees, “putting the trailer’s occupants at serious risk of heat-related illness,” Arizona DPS said.
Police also found 14.25 pounds of fentanyl powder and 12.55 pounds of cocaine inside the cab of the truck.
The people inside the trailer received medical attention before they were handed over to United States Border Patrol.
Hernandez was booked into the Pima County Jail.