Two men arrested after Border Patrol agents find 15 people in hauled vehicles

Two men were arrested at the Sarita checkpoint after Border Patrol agents found 15 people illegally present in the United States hidden in two trucks the men were hauling, according to a criminal complaint.

Juan Daniel Peña and Jose Cristian Cantu Jr. were charged with knowingly and in reckless disregard transporting individuals illegally present in the U.S. within the country.

At about 2:45 a.m. on Monday, a silver Chevrolet Silverado 2500 hauling a flatbed trailer carrying a white Chevrolet truck and a black Chevrolet truck entered the primary inspection lane at the checkpoint near Sarita.

The driver and passenger of the Silverado 2500 were identified as Peña and Cantu, respectively.

When asked, Peña stated they were going to Dallas to sell one of the trucks and were taking the other truck to Dallas to get work done on it, according to the complaint.

As that was happening, one K-9 unit alerted to the two trucks on the flatbed trailer.

It was at the secondary inspection area that agents discovered nine people concealed within the cab of the black truck and six inside the white truck.

Peña refused to provide a statement but Cantu spoke to agents.

At around 10 a.m., Cantu told agents that he received a call from Peña asking him to accompany him to Dallas to exchange his truck to which he agreed to since he needed to take his truck to get work done.

Cantu goes on to say that he later received a phone call from an unidentified male who offered him $3,000 to transport people further north into the U.S., according to the complaint.

After accepting the job, the duo traveled to San Benito where the individuals were loaded into the trucks. Cantu stated that both he and Peña were present during the loading.

Once they finished, they traveled on Highway 77 until they were arrested at the immigration checkpoint.

One of the people illegally present in the U.S. spoke to investigators and stated that Cantu transported them to an unknown area where he told him and six others to get inside the white truck after staying in McAllen for a few days.

“Cantu Jr. then drove the truck to another unknown area where the Chevrolet Silverado 2500 was waiting with the trailer,” the complaint said. “Cantu Jr. drove the white truck onto the trailer and then the black Chevrolet Silverado was driven onto the trailer.”

That person later identified Cantu in a six person photo line up as the person who picked him up in McAllen and told them to get into the white truck.

Both Peña and Cantu are scheduled to appear before U.S. Magistrate Judge Jason B. Libby in Corpus Christi federal court for their preliminary examination hearing Thursday.

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