Man charged after Border Patrol finds 9 people in cattle trailer

Border Patrol agents at the Sarita checkpoint on Tuesday arrested a man after finding nine people in the country illegally behind hay bales in a gooseneck horse trailer.

The attempted smuggling event was thwarted after Barek James Mccann arrived at the checkpoint at approximately 4:35 a.m. in a white Chevy Silverado 2500 HD pulling the trailer, according to a criminal complaint.

“There were no other visible occupants of the vehicle. Mccann stated he was a United States citizen,” the complaint stated. “Mccann seemed uncomfortable about being there and kept shifting in his seat.”

A Border Patrol agent asked Mccann whether he had animals in the trial and he said he did. The agent saw several goats and a cow in the trailer.

“At the front of the trailer, there appeared to be hay bales pressed tightly against the windows,” the complaint stated.

The agent noticed Mccann became increasingly agitated as they inspected the trailer. He told them he was taking the animals to Corpus Christi from McAllen, but wouldn’t be returning to the Valley.

“Mccann continued to look more uncomfortable as questions were asked,” the complaint stated. “Due to the subject’s behavior and my suspicions of there being something behind the hay bales concealing the gooseneck portion of the trailer, the agent asked Mccann if a probe could be used on the hay bales to make sure there was nothing inside.

“At that point Mccann’s eyes got wide and he started stuttering an incoherent response.”

At this point, a canine handler alerted to the vehicle and he was told to pull over for a secondary inspection.

That’s where agents found nine people hidden behind the hay bales.

“The setup of the hay bales was four bales separating the individuals from the animals in a two-by-two configuration,” the complaint stated.

After his arrest, Mccann agreed to speak with investigators and said a friend of his on Sunday offered him $3,000 to pick up cattle in McAllen and he agreed because he recently lost his job and needed the money.

On Monday, he and his brother met with a man in Houston at Plaza Americas. That man was in a parking lot inside the same truck Mccann was arrested in.

“The named male subject told Mccann to follow him in the truck with the trailer. Mccann got in the truck with his brother,” the complaint stated.

They all then started driving toward McAllen where they arrived at a house and the man told Mccann to wait inside the truck while they loaded up the cattle.

However, Mccann later changed his story and admitted to agreeing to pick up cattle and people in McAllen for $3,000, according to the complaint.

He is scheduled to make a first appearance in federal court in Corpus Christi on Monday.

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