Man Charged After 42 Illegal Immigrants Found Hidden Inside Truck at US-Mexico Border

A man has been charged after a truck that was stopped at the U.S.–Mexico border was found to be hiding 42 illegal aliens from a range of Latin American countries in sweltering conditions, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Texas.

In a statement, Acting U.S. Attorney John G.E. Marck said the driver of the truck, Juan Nasario-Reyes, 43, from Beaver, Oklahoma, has been charged with smuggling numerous illegal immigrants and possession with intent to distribute methamphetamines.

The statement said those found inside were from Mexico, El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala, Ecuador, Peru, Colombia, Cuba, and Brazil.

It said Nasario-Reyes drove a tractor-trailer to the Javier Vega Jr. Border Patrol checkpoint in Sarita, where his nervous behavior was noticed by agents.

It added that he claimed he was alone in the vehicle, but a K-9 search dog alerted agents to the sleeping quarters of the tractor and the front of the trailer.

Border Patrol agents inspected the truck and found four people hidden inside the cab and 38 more inside the trailer itself.

The temperature inside the trailer was 92.5 degrees, according to a criminal complaint against Nasario-Reyes.

Trailer Locked From Outside

The complaint says the trailer had been shut and latched from the outside, leaving those inside with no means of escape unless the door was opened for them.

Border Patrol agents found trash, water bottles, and a toilet bucket inside the trailer.

Agents also said they found 16 grams of meth, a glass pipe, and a glass funnel in a headphone box in the cab.

Nasario-Reyes faces a maximum sentence of five years in federal prison and a $250,000 fine if convicted of the human smuggling charges, while the drug charges carry a maximum sentence of 40 years.

It was not immediately clear whether Nasario-Reyes had a legal representative who could comment on his behalf.

13 Others Face Charges

The U.S. Attorney’s Office said 13 of those apprehended face charges of illegal entry or reentry, while the remainder are to be immediately removed from the United States.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Izaak Bruce is prosecuting the case, which follows an investigation—part of Operation Take Back America—by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP).

MyRGV.com, a local newspaper website in southern Texas, reported that Nasario-Reyes made his first appearance before U.S. Magistrate Judge Jason B. Libby in Corpus Christi federal court on May 19, and is due to appear for a detention hearing on May 22.

The checkpoint at Sarita was renamed after fallen Border Patrol agent Javier Vega Jr. in March 2019.

Vega was shot and killed on Aug. 3, 2014, while out fishing with his wife, children, and parents near Santa Monica, Texas.

As two illegal aliens approached the family and attempted to rob them, Vega Jr. attempted to draw his weapon, but was shot in the chest. His father was also shot and wounded.

Gustavo Tijerina-Sandoval, a Mexican national, was convicted of the capital murder of Vega Jr. in 2018 and later sentenced to death.

A second man, Ismael Hernandez Vallejo, was jailed for 50 years in 2019, after pleading guilty to murder.

There have been a number of incidents in the past where illegal immigrants were found inside trucks close to the Mexican border.

In March 2022, 53 people—47 adults and six children—were found dead in an 18-wheeler truck on a remote back road near San Antonio, Texas.

Two human traffickers, Felipe Orduna-Torres, 30, and Armando Gonzales-Ortega, 55, were sentenced in June 2025 after being convicted on three counts related to the transportation of aliens within the United States resulting in death, causing serious bodily injury, and placing lives in jeopardy.

Orduna-Torres was jailed for life, and Gonzales-Ortega for 83 years.