Two teens, man charged in human smuggling operations near Mexico border

Three people were charged in connection to a human smuggling operation that used a tractor-trailer near the Mexico border, police said.

Angel Villafranca, 17, Juan Garcia Jr., 17, and Fernando Castanon, 20, were taken into the custody of Homeland Security Officials after San Antonio Police reportedly rounded up 20 to 30 men and women reportedly smuggled from various countries in Central America.

The immigrants were seen climbing out of the back of a tractor-trailer at a shopping center.

Officers were reportedly investigating the area when they spotted people running from the truck and scattering across the parking lot of a shopping center in the San Antonio, Texas, area. Some of the immigrants even hid in garbage dumpsters in the shopping center.

Castanon reportedly told Homeland Security Agents that Garcia hired him to provide security for a big rig transporting a group of undocumented immigrants from Mexico to the U.S.

Garcias reportedly told investigators he’d been paid to oversee the delivery of the undocumented people. Once across the U.S. border, Villafranca reportedly instructed him to make sure some immigrants were moved into other vehicles and the others were moved to stash houses throughout San Antonio, according to KSAT 12 News.

Garcia, Villafranca, and Castanon were charged with smuggling persons by Federal investigators.