Man Guilty of Smuggling Migrants into Texas in Hidden Compartments

There is smuggling going on daily in Texas, whether it’s drugs or people, we all know that it happens.  

But Texas law enforcement works hard every day to try and shut down the illegal activities going on in the Lone Star State. 

According to KXAN, recently there was a man convicted of human smuggling after 4 migrants were found from an X-ray scan at the U.S. Border Patrol checkpoint in Falfurrias, Texas. 

Arkansas Man Arrested for Human Smuggling 

48-year-old Noel Mercado was driving the pickup as it approached the Border Patrol checkpoint in South Texas on Sunday, January 5th, 2025. 

Upon the initial inspection a canine unit notified agents who sent the truck for secondary inspection.  

That is when the X-ray scan found two people hidden in the wheel wells of the pickup, there were two more migrants found in an auxiliary fuel tank below the truck’s bed. 

The two found in the wheel wells bolted on modifications in an attempt to make it a little safer for the long drive.  

The Court Trail Was Quick for This Case 

It only took a jury two days in Corpus Christi, Texas to find Mercado guilty of human smuggling.  

Throughout the trial Mercado claimed that he knew nothing about the people concealed in this truck. He was only visiting the Rio Grande Valley to trade baseball cards. 

Mercado is now facing up to 10 years in federal prison and a $250,000 fine.  

His next court date ius set for June 11th when he will be sentenced for his crime.