FORT BEND COUNTY, Texas – Twenty-eight undocumented immigrants, including two 16-year-old boys are being detained in a Houston-area U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility after being pulled over inside a horse trailer that was being pulled by a pickup truck in Rosenberg.
The stop happened on Highway 59 near Bamore Road Monday around 5:30 p.m. As part of a task force, Fort Bend County Sheriff's deputies made a traffic stop of a black Ford pickup truck that was pulling a horse trailer.
When officers made the stop they discovered that there were two dozen undocumented immigrants. Most were crammed in the back of that horse trailer, but about five or six were inside the double cab F-250 with the driver. Almost all were adult men -- but undercover officers on scene say there were at least two 16-year-olds in the group as well.
It appears those 28 males are from various countries and are now being processed by ICE agents who will eventually determine if and when they would be deported. The driver of the truck was arrested.
The Rosenberg Police Department released a statement that read, in part:
"On Monday, November 2, 2015, a Rosenberg Criminal Interdiction Detective who is assigned to the Fort Bend County Narcotics Task Force was working along Interstate 69. The officer stopped a truck pulling a horse trailer. While walking up to the truck, the Detective observed a tarp in the back of the trailer. The Detective observed movement underneath the tarp. When confronted, the driver who admitted hiding numerous people under the tarp with the intent to smuggle them into the United States. Upon taking the people out of the horse trailer Paramedics were called to the scene to check on their welfare. A total of twenty eight individuals, including three teenagers, were being smuggled under the tarp. Homeland Security Investigators arrived on scene and took custody of the individuals along with the driver. Charges against the driver are pending."