Three Honduran men crossed the US border into Texas jammed into two tool boxes on the back of a pick-up truck.
The three migrants were discovered by Border Patrol agents at the Ysleta Station checkpoint in El Paso, Texas, on Thursday, after the black Chevrolet Silverado transporting them was pulled over for a routine check, according a press release from El Paso Sector US Border Patrol.
The discovery came just days after authorities found an abandoned tractor trailer in San Antonio, stuffed with the bodies of 53 migrants who died after temperatures in the city topped 103 degrees Monday, in the deadliest smuggling incident in US history.
Photos taken by border agents showed the three men, dressed in t-shirts and jeans, crammed into the large toolboxes. The men were found by a K-9 during the routine border check. The unidentified driver, a US citizen, admitted to carrying “a personal amount of marijuana” and a handgun. When asked about the tool boxes, he said he did not have the keys to unlock them, according to the report.
After Border Patrol agents managed to open the tool boxes and found the men, they arrested the driver, who is in custody, charged with conspiracy to transport.
It’s not clear what happened to the migrants after they were discovered.
“Endangering human lives by using dangerous & despicable smuggling tactics is the modus operandi of transnational criminal organizations,” said El Paso Sector Chief Patrol Agent Gloria Chavez in a press release. “I am extremely proud of the actions of our El Paso Sector Border Patrol Agents as they often encounter high risk situations, where if not for their dedication and intervention, events as these would turn into tragedies.”
There were 1,295,900 migrant encounters at the southern border so far this fiscal year, according to statistics compiled by US Customs and Border Protection.