LAREDO (AP) — Prosecutors say a trucker faces up to 10 years in federal prison after trying to smuggle more than 70 immigrants in a locked trailer through a Border Patrol checkpoint in South Texas.
Nelson Vargas-Torres pleaded guilty Tuesday to conspiracy to transport undocumented immigrants. Authorities say the 42-year-old trucker from San Antonio was arrested after a June 11 search of his tractor-trailer rig, along Interstate 35 north of Laredo, revealed 76 immigrants locked in the trailer.
Officers became suspicious when Vargas-Torres said he was hauling plastics but transport documents indicated the big rig was loaded with clutch parts.
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