17 Undocumented Immigrants Found Locked Inside Tractor Trailer at Edinburg Flying J

Tip from relatives in Mexico led police to truck stop

Seventeen undocumented immigrants were discovered on Sunday locked inside a tractor-trailer parked at a truck stop in Edinburg, Texas, according to Edinburg Police Chief David White.

Dispatch received a call from someone in Mexico who reported that a relative was trapped inside a trailer parked at a Flying J Travel Plaza, said White. Edinburg is in southern Texas, along the US-Mexico border.

The caller said the relative was accompanied by other immigrants and that it was getting too hot inside the trailer, said White.

Officers responded to the scene, where they found 14 men and three women locked in a trailer. They were all alive, said White.

The immigrants originated from a range of countries, including Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras and Romania, White said.

Two people in charge of the trailer were detained, White said. They were of Cuba nationality, he said.

US Customs and Border Protection has taken over the investigation, according to White.