see also: in January 2007 News Releases:   Membership of Trade/Customs Advisory Committee Announced   CBP Border Patrol Launches Massive Search to Preserve Life   CBP Officers Make 22 Drug Busts at Calexico Ports During Busy Week   3,010 Pounds of Marijuana Seized at Nogales Port of Entry   CBP Border Patrol Makes a Record Drug Bust   Registration Underway for Third CBP Conference on ACE   CBP Officers Nab Mother/Daughter Cocaine Smugglers; Juveniles With Marijuana Loads Also Nabbed This Week ...more on cbp.gov:   CBP News Releases   Press Officers

contacts for this news release

Kingsville, Texas— U.S. Customs and Border Protection Border Patrol agents rescued two persons on January 19, who were concealed in a hidden compartment built under the rear seat of a truck.

The rescue occurred when a truck entered the checkpoint for an immigration inspection. While conducting an immigration inspection on the driver, a 32 year-old United States citizen from Waco, Texas, a Border Patrol canine team conducting a free-air sniff alerted agents to the presence of drugs or persons hidden within the truck. The vehicle was referred to the secondary inspection area, where a search led to the discovery of the two persons, a juvenile and an adult, trapped inside of the non-factory compartment. Both persons, Mexican nationals illegally in the United States, did not require any medical attention and were processed for removal from the United States.

In the ongoing effort to disrupt human trafficking and smuggling, the Rio Grande Valley Sector has created a toll-free telephone number for the community to report suspicious activity – 1-800-863-9382.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is the unified border agency within the Department of Homeland Security responsible for the management, control, and protection of our Nation's borders at and between the official ports of entry. CBP is charged with keeping terrorists and terrorist weapons out of the country while enforcing hundreds of U.S. laws.